Better Than the Rest

Skavak quietly crept into the room, his blaster aimed at her sleeping form—if she was really sleeping. He took his time checking out the security and was honestly a bit surprised to find it so lacking. No wire traps or motion sensors, not even a camera. He put the tech scanner back in a pouch on his belt and snuck closer to the bed. He watched her chest softly rise and fall, her face completely relaxed. So she really was sleeping.

Her invitation, her dare really had been on the level. His blood started rushing in excitement. He looked at her lying there in peaceful slumber, moonlight filtering in through the open window to highlight her prone position—her tee twisted around her torso, hiked up to show off her flat stomach, the thin sheet barely covering her legs, her head tipped away to expose her tender neck.

Skavak reaffirmed his grip on the blaster. Would he do this? Really? Could he trust her? No. Would she trust him? Skavak wondered just how similar they were. He bent down and reached under her pillow, pausing only to look at her face up close, at her mouth… He thought about kissing her and leaving, let it begin and end there, but he knew he would never stop at just that. He gambled with more than just credits. This might be a stupid idea, but he was lined up to get something out of it, something he wanted badly, something that was a long time coming.

He pulled a vibroknife out from under the pillow and stepped back. This little gesture of hers really turned him on.

Alico's eyes fluttered open and looked at him. For a moment, there was just a soft breeze blowing in and them staring at each other, each half-cloaked in shadow. He kept his blaster pointed at her, waiting for her to make a move, which she did. Her hand slowly snaked up to her pillow but he clicked his tongue and held up the knife. A small grin played on her lips, amusement and heat in her eyes.

"We're too much alike, Captain," he mused, desire thick in him.

"What about the one behind the headboard?" she asked.

"You're bluffing."

Skavak closed the distance between them, hooked the blaster barrel under the sheet that barely covered her, and tossed it away to expose a small pair of panties, no shorts or sweats. A barely-contained feeling was vibrating under his skin. Anticipation, lust, possession. He exhaled slowly and gently removed her underwear, fighting the urge to touch her, to run his hands along her legs. Not yet. Soon. He thought of Green Eyes, the feeling he had back then: that fucking Alico would be a pleasure and a punishment. So he slipped the vibroknife under her shirt and cut it off of her.

When she was naked, he took a few minutes to look at her, features highlighted in the moonlight and the rest of her cast in shadow. Like him. Like their whole lives. Shadow games, glimpses of their true identity through the haze of many masks, the assets on display and the flaws kept hidden. But looking at her now, he couldn't see anything wrong with that body, just her personality—because it was just like his—which is why they were in this mess to begin with. He was a thread away from the event horizon that was whatever was about to happen, to have her vulnerable to him and resist betraying her, to be vulnerable to her in the only sense he ever could be.

"This is a one-time-only, Captain," he murmured, establishing boundaries in the final moments before he crossed the point of no return and touched her. "Come morning, I'm off this rock and we go back to trying to kill each other."

"One night," she agreed with a nod. "I promise to play by the rules if you do."

Good enough. Skavak tossed the weapons to the couch across the room and pulled his shirt off. He knelt on the bed and lowered his lips to her neck, finding the strength to hold back a little longer. He didn't touch her, not yet, just inhaled her scent.

"This doesn't change anything between us, Captain," he murmured, his mouth ghosting over her body, touching her with his breath and nothing more.

"Nothing," she agreed breathily. "I still hate your guts."

Hearing those words—I hate your guts—turned him on even more. He hummed deep in his throat.

"I know." As he passed over her chest, his tongue flicked out to lick one of her nipples. Her chest rose with a sharp intake of breath. He drifted over her stomach and pelvis, inhaled the scent clinging to her thighs, her excitement and anticipation. "You're going to hate me even more after this."

Skavak dove into her core and felt her whole body jerk in response. He had been with enough women to know the common ground of what made a girl crazy; after that, it was just a matter of finding the particular strokes and angles that pushed a specific girl over the edge. And he was finding Alico's. He gripped her thighs firmly as they fought to clench around his head, spread her legs and lifted her higher off the bed to give his tongue deeper access to her depths. She gasped, still fighting him in her ecstasy.

She was a fighter and he liked that.

Skavak savored her taste, savored the little noises she made. He devoured her like his favorite meal and she melted in his mouth. It made him harder. She tangled her fingers in his hair, tightened her grip, held him down. He groaned into her skin. It was a gesture of submission as well as control, a battle he acknowledged that was the legacy of their relationship. But he would win this round.

He pulled away as her breath began fluttering, muscles clenching in a coming release. He denied her that release. It wasn't time. He was going to watch her face when she found it, watch her expression as she came undone at his mercy. He roughly glided his palms up her thighs and hips as he crawled over her. She was frowning slightly, eyes glassy with pleasure, lips parted as she caught her breath. She couldn't hide it—how good she felt—and she wanted to, he could tell.

"So that's how you got all the girls," she whispered.

"No, sweetheart," he said, grinning. "That's how I kept them."

Skavak kissed her in one long and firm kiss, sharply breathing in. Her fingers glided up his arms and gripped his shoulders, legs rubbing against his. He briefly thought of Coruscant, of that quick kiss that had gotten his blood pumping. This was better, so much better. He drew back for a single breath and kissed her again, exploring her mouth with his tongue.

"Don't expect the same trick to work on me," she warned him when they broke apart for air. He mentally smirked. That defiance. He loved it. He loved knowing she still believed she could walk away from this unimpressed, unchanged. But he would hook her like he hooked all the others. There would be no coming back from this.

"If you think you can resist me, Captain, you're welcome to try."

He kissed her again, losing himself in the feeling, the thrill. It felt good, felt different. Maybe because he wanted it, maybe because she was one hell of a kisser. So many women had merely let him kiss them, lying under him like submissive dolls. But Alico chased him with her mouth, sought him out. It promised good things to come.

A thought ran through his mind as he bobbed back and forth across the hazy line of being alert and unaware. What about the one behind the headboard? He had accused her of bluffing. Now he wondered. As they explored one another's mouths, he reached behind the bed and felt it, the handle of a hidden vibroknife. He broke the kiss and stared at it. She hadn't been bluffing. She had a back-up plan for a back-up plan. She also hadn't used it.

"Oh you bitch," he murmured affectionately. "I could almost fall in love with you."

He tossed the knife away and dove into her mouth with a new energy, kissing her with a hunger she matched. They tangled up in one another, their hands roving over their bodies in anxiousness to map out every curve and line. It was a frenzy of passion, barely contained.

"They say sex is like war, Captain…" he whispered between kisses as he undid the buttons on his pants. "Up for a wager on how this thing between us will end?"

"I enjoy a good bet." She pinned him against the headboard and tugged his pants off. "Sex is like war, huh?" She kissed him and he felt her fingers on his cock, gently stroking. He twitched in her hand, his fingers gliding up her sides, thumbs caressing her ribcage. "So… the first to come loses?"

"Not a good deciding factor, Captain. I'm going to bring you there at least twice." He flipped her onto her back and pressed against her, his erection hard against her stomach. "First to say the other's name is the loser."

"Terms?" she asked as she slipped her hand between their bodies and continued to stroke him.

"Titles don't count," he told her, unable to stop the grunt of pleasure as she toyed with him. "I can call you Captain all I want."

"Nicknames count," she insisted, gently squeezing his length.

"Mmm, deal," he conceded with a hot sigh.

And then all of that barely contained passion was released. They rolled around, kissing and touching like animals in heat. He wanted to feel her again, to bring her close to her peak and see that expression of complete ecstasy and abandon. His fingers sought the hot depths of her core and she immediately clenched around him in anticipation. It didn't take long before she was grinding against him, desperately seeking that release he had denied her earlier. She lost herself, wildly bouncing on his fingers, and he held her up, watching her face transform, watch her lose control of her carefully crafted mask of seduction.

And just before she unraveled, he stopped. She gasped raggedly at him, tortured by the denial.

"You promised at least twice," she complained. He couldn't stop the grin that formed, inciting a flare of hatred and desire in her eyes.

"Slow down, gorgeous," he growled. "We have all night and I don't plan on wasting a second of it."

"All night?" she echoed, intrigued. "Can you last that long?"

Something devious triggered inside of him. "You have no idea what I'm capable of," he growled and watched her eyes light up. There wasn't an ounce of disbelief or skepticism on her face. She completely believed he would deliver and was looking forward to it. "You should see your face right now, Captain," he murmured, gently caressing her cheek. "You're completely hooked. I have you in the palm of my hand."

He went to stroke her lips but she took his fingers in her mouth instead, gently sucking. He hummed appreciatively and tilted his head back.

"Oh, Captain…" he mumbled, enjoying the feel of her hot, wet mouth. She pushed him up against the wall and straddled him. He looked at her through heavy lids, his erection hovering just below her core, brushing against the sensitive, swollen skin whenever he twitched in excitement. His hips reflexively rose, the tip nudging at her slit in warm desire, but she lifted her ass, denying him entry.

"I'm going to ruin you," she whispered when she released his fingers. She lowered her head to softly bite his chest. "I'm going to ruin other women for you. After me, you'll never be satisfied the same way." As she blazed a trail of wet kisses and gentle bites down his hard abdomen and stomach, he realized what was about to happen. His stomach tightened, erection throbbing. He wanted to feel her so badly that he could barely focus on a decent comeback to her incredulous declaration. "You'll try, and you'll probably lie and pretend nothing's changed… but after me, you'll never want another woman like you'll want me."

"Don't delude yourself, Captain," he groaned as her hot breath pulsed over his erection.

"Never," she promised.

And then she took his full length in her mouth. He moaned and thrust up to meet her. The girl had tricks, which he hadn't expected. She wasn't anything like he expected, from beginning to end. She was gorgeous and feisty, good in a fight and quick on her feet, smart and sexy and morally ambiguous, and she was good in bed. In the haze of satisfaction, he thought working together wasn't such a bad idea.

Skavak's breathing hitched, became heavier and breathier. He grabbed a fistful of her hair in pleasure as she brought him back into her throat. He groaned gutturally.

"Captain…" he growled and she hummed in response, causing his hips to buck against her. He pulsed and throbbed in her mouth as she worked him, feeling himself start to slip over the edge. "Oh, sweetheart," he muttered, hand gliding over the back of her head to find a better hold in her hair. She hummed again and, after a few more moments, withdrew. She ran her tongue along his length before kissing her way back up his body while he panted in the aftermath, mind thick with bliss. He gripped her arms and crushed his mouth against hers, unable to wait, to resist touching her, kissing her, desperately wanting more, needing more. His mind was filled up with nothing but her, but Alico.

She sank onto him and he was surrounded by tight heat, soft and wet, clinging to him. Ali, Ali, Ali. Skavak moaned and threw his head back.

"Ali," he groaned when he had temporarily lost all clarity. For a moment, he hadn't even realized he'd said it. And then he saw her staring at him hazily, waiting for confirmation, not an ounce of victory in her expression, just relief. He mashed her lips with his thumb as cupped her cheek. It had been a stupid bet, but at the time he hadn't counted on becoming so unraveled. He had thought he would do all of the affecting, betting on their pride, but they were both undone.

Skavak bit her lip in a quick kiss as punishment before squeezing her against him and diving into her breasts, licking and sucking and nibbling at her nipples. He rocked in and out of her while she clung to him, filling her up entirely. She grinded on him, hips rotating and sinking into his every thrust. It wasn't long before she was shuddering on his length in a long-awaited orgasm. He watched her come undone, that sexy expression she made.

"Skavak," she moaned as her legs trembled. Something inside of him snapped.

He pinned her to the bed, hoisted her hips, and rammed into her, frenzied. She called out his name and he called out hers, over and over again. When the fever passed, he slowed the pace a little, letting their passions resume. They fucked long into the night, attentive to each other's needs and wants, almost like they were making love. When was the last time Skavak had ever made love to a woman? It had felt like this, though. Mutual, thorough, passionate—involving every ounce of his being. And he kept saying her name—Ali, Ali, Alico—as she called his back to him—Skavak, Skavak!

When he felt her shudder on his length again, he spent himself inside of her, body trembling as pleasure flooded every limb, vision momentarily going white. They collapsed tangled together, slick with sweat and sex, gasping for breath. He couldn't remember the last time it had been this good. Had it? He didn't think so, but he couldn't really think straight.

"Mmm," Skavak hummed, panting. "That was definitely worth the risk."

He was already wondering about the next time when the euphoria abated long enough for him to realize just where the hell he was and who he was with. Alico, his nemesis. They had had their fun, but he didn't trust her and she didn't trust him, and he would be a fool to lay there any longer like some love-struck chump.

He pushed himself up and started to leave—leave like he always did—but hesitated. He was tired. His body was still tingling. She felt so good. He was a fool, she was dangerous, he needed to leave, but he wasn't ready. The honesty of it all was what did him in. There were no delusions about who he was, about their relationship, or about the sex. He wore no masks, played no roles. They were both flying their true colors, enemies, out for blood, and getting off on it. His only loyalty was to himself—and she knew that. Yet she had been beneath him, legs wrapped around his hips, screaming his name. This is a one-time only, he had said, but it was also a first-time, too.

"We promised a night," she said quietly. "You earned some sleep."

Alico rolled over and hugged her pillow, muscles relaxing as if she trusted he wouldn't suddenly try to kill her. He stared at her, debating on whether to stay or not. She was damn beautiful, naked and sweaty and marked by his passionate kisses and excited grips. It didn't take long to decide. He would be up before she was, gone before she realized it. And for some ridiculous reason, he wasn't going to try to kill her. Just this once.

Skavak put his arm around her and lay down with her back pressed to his chest. She was so small in his arms. It was strangely comforting. He thought he felt her push against him but he was already falling into darkness. He groaned and tightened his arm around her, and he slipped from consciousness.

He awoke when the sun was just starting to rise and Alico was still fast asleep, twisted into his body, her head on his shoulder. He kissed her as he climbed out of bed, got dressed, collected his blaster, and headed for the door. He stopped to pick up her ripped shirt, pressing it to his nose and taking a deep breath. He glanced back at her, a little regretful that their one night was already over.

And then he left.