Story Excerpt
Tank fought to shake the tight grip the wormhole had on the Lady Blue. His mate was sitting right next to him and there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do to protect him. If the wormhole collapsed, they were all dead.
“Just stay close to me, Z.”
His mate looked up at him, hopelessness shadowing his beautiful diamond-blue eyes. Tank reached a hand out and cupped Zackary's face. “If we don’t make it out of this alive. I’m very proud to call you my mate.”
“Ah, geez. Don’t sound so gloomy. We’ll make it out,” Zackary said with fear marring his musical voice. “We have to. You haven’t met my mom yet or even tried her fruitcake. You can't die without tasting her fruitcake. That would just be wrong.”
Tank smiled down at his mate. Although his partner in crime hadn’t allowed Tank to claim him yet, Tank would never regret the time they had together. Zachary was special and made each day worth living. It would be a shame if they died and he didn’t get to taste a piece of heaven.
“I love you, Zackary.”
“Yeah, me too.” Tears sparkled in Zackary's beautiful eyes.
Tank moved his hands away from the steering controls of the Lady Blue and reached for Zachary, pulling his mate close. There wasn’t much they could do now but wait and see what was going to happen. If they made it through alive, then they would take it from there. Until then, Tank wanted Zackary by his side, close enough to breath his mate’s scent in as they faced this together.
Tank held Zackary close as the Lady Blue was pulled into the wormhole. The ship rocked and shuddered until Tank wondered if they were going to be ripped apart. It felt like the air was starting to be sucked out of the room when suddenly everything stopped as they were tossed out the other end of the wormhole.
“We made it,” Tank exhaled as he hugged his mate tightly before letting him go and quickly reaching for the controls once again. Fuck if the crew of the Lady Blue didn’t live off of miracles lately. Tank was beginning to wonder if they were cursed from the accumulation of events lately.
“Yeah,” Remy said from behind him, “but where the fuck are we?”
"I'd like to be able to tell you, Remy," Crank, the explosives expert, said from the navigational console, "but this quadrant isn't on any star map we have in our data base. I haven't got a fucking clue."
"Well, there is good news," Tank said as he leaned over and looked down at his screen, his eyes scanning the readout once more. "Whoever was chasing us didn't make it through the wormhole with us. There's no sign of them."
"And that’s good news?" Blade snapped.
Tank rolled his eyes. Sometimes the coyote shifter had little to no patience. He calmed down a lot though since mating the Orillian, Adwaka. "It's better than being chased through a system we know nothing about."
"I'm still waiting for the good news," Blade snorted.
"We’re all alive," Zachary interjected with a bit of an attitude, "and that just might be better than my mom's fruitcake."
Tank chuckled at his mate and gave him a little squeeze. Zachary and his fruitcake. He'd never understand the strange connection his mate had with his mom's fruitcake, but if it made Zachary this happy, he'd try and get some, even if it was just to hide some away and bring it out as a surprise on special occasions.
Maybe he could get the recipe.
"Try and plot us a course somewhere other than here," Remy ordered. "Maybe if we move around a bit we'll come across something we recognize or at least an outpost of some sort. I don't know how long we can float around in space before we need to stop for supplies."
"Zachary," Tank said as he set his mate on his feet, "see if you can get the cloaking device working again. We might need it."
"Will do." Zachary hopped over to his console and pulled out his new vid-pad. His mate had thrown such a fit back on Hyberian that Tank had dug up a new one and given it to him as a present.
Tank watched Zachary's fingers move across the console for several moments, awed by how fast his little mate moved, until he heard Remy clear his voice behind him. He chuckled and looked back down at his own console and tried to plot them a course to… somewhere.
“I have a solar system mapped out, but the computer isn’t recognizing the layout. There is a life-sustaining planet close by. Do you want me to set the coordinates for it?” Tank asked as he looked over his shoulder at his commander.
“It beats sitting here doing nothing.” Remy exhaled as he ran his hands over his head. “Go for it.”
“To strange ass places we shall go,” Tank said as his fingers did the walking across the console. He didn’t like taking his mate into the unknown. Tank’s number one priority was keeping Zachary safe, and that included keeping Zackary safe from Zackary at times.
“I have good news and I have bad news,” Zackary huffed from beside Tank. “Which do you want first?”
“Give us the good news,” Remy interjected.
“Well, the good news is, we’re lost.”
Tank cocked his head at his unorthodox mate as Zackary’s tongue hung out the side or his mouth. Tank groaned as the little pink appendage slide across very kissable lips. What he wouldn’t give to see said tongue sliding across one of his appendages.
“Okay, Z. We already knew that,” Remy growled. “Now tell us something we don’t know.”
“My cousin, Livewire, is going to have to fix the cloaking device. It’s a hardware problem, not software. So sorry,” Zackary chimed as he went back to whatever the hell he was doing. Tank couldn’t figure out half the time what Zackary did at the helm. He was clueless, but wouldn’t tell his mate this.
“I’ll go inform our resident mechanic that he has a job to do,” Remy said as he stood and left the bridge.
“Hey, I’m just a guy that delivered the bad news," Zachary said quickly as he watched Remy leave the bridge. "Make sure he doesn’t shoot me out of an airlock.”
Tank chuckled as he sat back. “I’ll make sure your sexy little ass doesn’t leave my side.”
“Speaking of sexy little asses, have you seen my collection of Paktillian collectable vid-cards?”
Tank once again was confused as hell by his mate. Zackary never made sense half the time and the other half... he tortured the crap out of Tank just by sitting next to him. His mate was so far out of reach that Tank would have to plot a course just to hold his hand.
He couldn’t understand Zackary’s reluctance to mate but didn’t want to upset his little Paktillian by asking. Tank was catching a serious case of the blue balls as he sat next to the man. If he didn't get some relief soon, they might fall off.
“No, I haven’t seen it. Maybe you can show me tonight when I get off.” Please let him get off soon…with Zackary.
“Maybe.”
Tank groaned under his breath. Zachary was out to kill him. He just knew it. The man dangled himself right in front of Tank then yanked himself away when Tank reached for the prize. It was getting to the point that Tank didn't know if he was coming or going. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He definitely knew he wasn't coming.
Adult Excerpt
Zackary sighed as he laid his head on Tank’s broad chest, wondering if he could explain this correctly without his mate getting angry with him. Zackary didn’t want Tank angry with him.
“Just tell me what we need to do, tweak,” Tank’s deep voice rumbled through his chest as he spoke. “Whatever it is, we’ll do it.”
Zackary leaned back, staring up at his mate with surprise. “Really?”
Tank nodded as he leaned forward and kissed Zackary on the tip of his nose. “Really.”
“Well, the custom says we can’t claim each other until we perform the rituals of my people, so no intercourse." Zachary licked his lips as his eyes dropped to Tank's mouth. "It doesn’t say anything about not doing other things.”
Tank growled as he swiped his tongue across Zackary’s lower lip. “What do you have in mind, tweak?”
“Blowjobs and hand jobs are acceptable, I think.” He sure hoped they were because he was going to melt into the floor if they weren’t.
“And you waited so long to tell me this because?” Tank asked as he nibbled his way around Zackary’s neck, teasing his earlobe with his hot lips.
“I’m not s-sure. But remind me to kick my ass later for making us both wait,” Zackary moaned as Tank’s lips continued to make his brain malfunction.
Zackary gasped when Tank fiddled between them, his large hand unfastening Zackary’s pants and freeing Zackary’s cock. Tank picked him up and spun him around, showing Zackary the galaxy as his hand began to stroke Zackary's cock.
“Should we be doing this right here?”
“We could go someplace else,” Tank said as he nipped at Zackary’s ear. “But I think the view is worth staying right where we are.”
Zackary’s head fell back as Tank’s thumb caressed over the head of his cock, smearing the river of pre-cum that was leaking out. “Right here is good.”
Tank’s hand was so large that it wrapped around Zackary's cock and still had plenty of room.
Zackary groaned as Tank quickened his pace. Zackary's back arch as his mate took him to a higher level, making Zackary want to beg to be fucked. He knew fooling around was dangerous, especially since they couldn’t have sex, but Zackary was too far gone to stop his mate and his masterful hand.
Zackary's fingers curled into the helm as he cried out, ribbons of seed erupting from his cock. He slumped back, feeling sated and sleepy. Gods he needed that.
He took a quick peek around Tank to make sure no one else had come onto the bridge before twisting around and falling to his knees, wedged in the apex of Tank’s legs. Zackary reached out to pull Tank’s pants free when two large hands circled his wrists, effectively stopping him.
“You don’t have to,” Tank said.
Zackary could see the control Tank was using and knew there was no way he was going to leave him hanging. “I want to.”
Tank studied him for a moment before releasing his wrists, giving Zackary a slight nod. Zackary wasn’t so sure about his commitment once he freed Tank’s cock. The sucker was huge. Zackary tried to wrap his hand around it but his fingers wouldn’t even meet. He glanced up at his mate before leaning forward and licking the pre-cum from the mushroomed shaped head.
“Tastes better than ice cream,” he teased before wrapping his lips around the head.
“Oh hell,” Tank gasped as Zackary took as much as he could into his mouth. If it brought Tank that much pleasure, Zachary knew sucking cock was a feat he was going to master.
He sucked vigorously as he reached a hand underneath and pulled at Tank’s balls. His mate moaned and his hips hitched as Zackary sucked Tank’s cock to the back of this throat. He gagged and pulled back, taking a deep breath before trying again. He wasn’t a pro by any means and Tank tipped the scale on the ginormous side of things.
“I’m about to come,” Tank warned as Zackary sealed his lips around his mate’s cock once again. He breathed through his nose as he tried his best to swallow every drop that splattered across his tongue. Zackary stole a peek at Tank as he drank down his mate’s seed.
“Fuck,” Tank exhaled, his breath becoming ragged as he slumped back in his chair. Zackary licked Tank’s cock clean before pulling back.
“Tastes better than fruitcake.” He laughed.
Zackary ducked down when he heard the bridge door swoosh open. Shit. If only whoever it was had waited two more minutes. He glanced around Tank to see Remy staring right at him.
“I… uh…” Remy stammered then quickly backed away and scrambled off the bridge.
Zackary began to laugh as he tucked his mate’s softening cock back into his pants.
