The night... and the morning

Cassie lay awake long after Zaren left. Ashley slept behind her, an arm draped around her waist.

Ashley, ever the empathetic friend, had stayed close to comfort her. The strange warmth he left behind hadn't faded completely. It still hummed beneath Cassie's skin, making her irritatingly conscious of every little touch. The warmth of Ashley’s body against her back. Her breath against the nape of her neck...

Cassie shifted, her toes curling just a little under the sheets. She wondered if Ashley’s mind had felt… cloudy, too. Ashley's sleeping arm tightened around her, pulling her closer, and Cassie froze, biting her lip. This is Ashley, she reminded herself. Somehow, it wasn't helping.

Cassie frowned as her thoughts drifted back to Zaren: his closeness, his touch, the kiss. She hated that, for those few terrible seconds, she'd kissed him back. Worse, she still remembered how good it had felt. He'd told her to make him stop. She didn't.

Eventually, Cassie's eyes grew heavy. She fell asleep thinking about Zaren. She told herself that tomorrow, when he came back, she’d be ready for him.

• • •

Cassie’s eyes snapped open to the sound of the door opening. Ashley jolted awake beside her, both women snatching the sheets up to cover their nearly naked chests.

A young alien woman, dressed just as revealingly as they were, entered with a silver tray and set it near their feet. A smiling Zaren followed her through the door, lifting the cloche as the servant girl quietly withdrew.

A rich, savory aroma rose from the tray, making both women painfully aware of their empty stomachs.

“Not hungry,” Cassie lied pointedly, gathering the sheet a little higher.

“Good morning to you too,” said Zaren. “And that’s a pity. I brought it especially for you.”

Cassie stared at him as his smile widened.

“Ashley,” he said, “will be joining me for breakfast.”

“What?” Cassie scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

Ashley glanced toward the open door. “Actually... maybe I will.”

Cassie stared incredulously at her, but Ashley leaned closer. “He’s letting me out. Maybe I can find out where we are.” She squeezed Cassie’s hand. “Or find a way out.”

“And him?” Cassie said.

Ashley glanced at Zaren, then back at Cassie. “I’m a Power Ranger,” she smiled. “I can take care of myself.” She slipped from beneath the sheet and climbed out of bed, self-consciously adjusting what little clothing Zaren had given her.

Zaren offered his hand. Ashley looked back at Cassie and swallowed before taking it. Cassie watched Zaren lead her through the doorway, still holding her hand, before the door slid shut and locked behind them.

• • •

An hour or two later, Cassie was pacing. Ashley had been gone too long. Long enough to eat. Long enough to look around. Long enough that whatever excuse Cassie had been making for her absence had stopped sounding convincing.

She tried the door again. Still locked.

“Come on, Ash.”

Cassie hated this. Ashley was alone with Zaren, without her morpher, dressed in practically nothing, and Cassie couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Every time she pictured Ashley with Zaren, her mind drifted back to last night. To him. To… the kiss. Cassie scowled and turned sharply toward the door.

No. This wasn't about that. Ashley was out there alone with him.

Where the hell was she?

• • •

Ashley was completely naked, straddling Zaren's lap and kissing him hungrily, like a breathless, shameless bride on her wedding night. They were on a chaise in his personal chamber, her yellow bra crumpled beside Zaren’s boots, her panties strewn beside it.

Her hair had fallen loose around her shoulders and her cheeks were flushed. His arms pulled her nude body in as she melted into the kiss, her own fingers curled around his collar to keep herself pressed against him. Her stiff, bare nipples dragged against his muscular chest as she ground her hips against the hard cock tenting against his trousers.

It would have horrified her... if she could have held onto the thought long enough.

The alien prince's hands roamed her back, gripping her firm ass with possessive hunger. His fingers dug into her supple assflesh, kneading and squeezing until she moaned into his mouth. She heard it fade, her own voice trailing off into a whimper she couldn't explain.

Her hips moved again. Ashley felt herself press closer and, for one bewildered second, became intensely aware of what she was doing. How tightly she was holding him. How desperately she'd been kissing him. How good it all felt.

Somewhere beneath all that heat, Ashley's thoughts struggled to surface.

How did I get here? She remembered breakfast. Zaren sitting beside her while she ate, close enough that their knees kept brushing. She'd been asking questions. Searching for exits. Looking for anything that might tell her where they were or how to escape.

Zaren's lips left hers and traced slowly along her jaw, and as Ashley’s eyes fluttered shut, his mouth curled into a rakish grin.

Ashley's thoughts scattered like startled birds. For a few seconds there was only the warmth of his breath against her skin, his arms around her, and that strange, intoxicating scent. It seemed to grow stronger every time she breathed him in, seeping into her bones, making her pliable…

No. Wait.

Breakfast. She'd been remembering breakfast.

What happened after breakfast? A corridor. She remembered walking beside him. Asking where they were. His hand settling briefly against the small of her back as he guided her through a doorway.

His chamber. The chaise. She remembered sitting beside him.

He pressed his thumb to her lip, and she opened her mouth without thinking. Her tongue darted out, lingering against his skin as her eyes slipped closed. Another tiny moan escaped her.

The chaise.

Ashley's eyes opened. She remembered sitting beside him on the chaise. But she didn't remember climbing into his lap. She definitely didn't remember stripping naked.

That should have frightened her more than it did.

Zaren's hand tightened against her bare hip, and she tilted instinctively toward him, silently offering him more. His smile widened. Her thighs tightened around his waist, pressing her pussy eagerly against the hard line of his cock. “Zaren...” she breathed, and she kissed him again.

• • •

Cassie had stopped pacing.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door. Ashley definitely should have been back by now.

What the hell were they doing?

Cassie immediately regretted the wording.

She couldn't stop picturing them together. Zaren leaning too close. Touching Ashley's hair. Giving her that infuriating smile. Kissing her. His hands all over her, while she was in that ridiculous scrap of yellow he'd dressed her in. Or maybe she wasn’t anymore...

Cassie’s stomach tightened. Was Ashley fighting him? Could she fight him? Was she giving him what he wanted? Was he enjoying her?

Cassie closed her eyes. Why was she thinking about this? Why did he take her? I should have gone instead. He should’ve taken me. Why didn’t he take me?

Fuck.

Cassie stalked back toward the door and pounded her fist against it.

“Ashley!”

• • •

Zaren's hand slid down Ashley's spine as they made out like horny teenagers. Her arms were now looped around his shoulders, and she arched into his touch like a cat. A moan tore out of her throat and against his lips, wanton and shameless. She hated how good it felt. She hated how her nipples tightened into aching peaks. She hated the slick heat spreading between her legs, soaking her folds.

The scent of Zaren's pheromones hit her like a wave of hot water. It poured into her lungs, cloying and sweet and impossibly warm, and she felt every muscle in her body soften at once. She tried to hold on to something. Cassie. The Astro Megaship. Andros.

Andros! She’d barely thought of him since… since when?

Ashley's stomach lurched as a surge of guilt crested within her. She tried to picture him. His face. His voice. The way he smiled at her. She tried to anchor herself to any of it, but Zaren’s pheromones washed through her mind like syrup through a sieve, and every memory came apart in her hands before she could grip it.

“That's it,” he purred. “Stop fighting. You were made for this, little Ranger. For my pleasure. For my collection.”

“I… mmmmmm,” she moaned into Zaren’s lips as he kissed her again. “Nghhhh… collection,” she repeated, dull and distant. Her arms trembled. Her thighs clenched. A thick, helpless heat bubbled up from her core, and another pleasant wave of dizziness rolled through her, scattering all those pesky thoughts away, whatever they were about.

He pressed his thumb to her lip, and she opened her mouth without thinking. Her tongue darted out, lapping at his skin, and she tasted salt and something else, something electric, and the world dissolved into warm static. She pressed her nude body shamelessly against him, and her hips rolled of their own accord. She could feel the dampness running down her inner thigh. Zaren could, too.

“Please,” she heard herself say, the word slurred and needy.

Zaren's hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head back. His smile widened again, his eyes deep red pools of amusement and hunger. “Please what, little Ranger?”

She was grinding her naked cunt against his lap. She could feel the heat of his cock through his trousers, thick and long, and God, she needed it. She reached down to stroke the contour of that big, hard dick through the fabric, gasping as her fingers wrapped around its girth.

“Please,” she whispered. “Fuck me.”

• • •

Cassie sat on top of the bed with her knees drawn to her chest, her fingers curled into fists, nails biting into her palms.

She'd stopped thinking about what Zaren was doing to Ashley. She was thinking about how good it must feel.

And she hated it. She hated how she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss from last night. She hated how, despite herself, she didn’t really want him to stop. She could have let another moment or two pass before she pushed him away. She could have just let him kiss her. If only Ashley hadn’t been standing there…

She hated the tiny, treacherous voice asking why he'd wanted Ashley instead of her. She hated how much she wished it was her he’d led away, kissing him while the rest of the world melted away around them. She hated that she was here, alone, her pussy damp while she thought about the man who abducted her.

Cassie squeezed her eyes shut, spread her thighs, and reached down into her drenched, barely-there thong, slipping two fingers into her dripping slit.