by Hunter, Luna
“What about Luan?”
A light bulb goes off. “That’s just crazy enough to work. However, I don’t control Luan directly, he has a mind of his own, and a tendency to wonder.”
“Then I’ll lead the way,” Caia says decisively.
“Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent.”
Our gazes lock, and I nod.
“Oh, look at you two,” Kariza says. “You two are so damn cute together!”
Caia rolls her eyes. “Did you have to ruin the moment like that?”
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Kariza says. “I’m a love bot, I’m programmed to find things cute!”
Kariza sends the plans for the ships interior to both our comms. “I’ll give you a moment to prepare — meet me upstairs in the situation room when you’re ready.”
“Situation room?”
“It has a better ring than broom-closet,” Kariza says as she closes the door behind her.
“This is it,” I say to my mate as much as to myself. “Our moment has come.”
“Not quite,” she says. “We still have to get ready.”
“What are you saying?”
She throws the covers away, exposing her exquisite naked form to me.
“As long as I don’t have clothes on, we’re not ready, and so we can’t go anywhere,” she says with a smirk. I watch her rise and saunter towards the bathroom. “Are you coming?”
I intend to.
I follow her and find her already showering, the hot water trickling down her curvy and perfect body.
“We don’t have time for this,” I say, fighting every instinct inside of me.
“Please, Leto,” she says. “We’ve come all this way. What is five more minutes? I just want to hold you, one more time.”
How can I say no to that?
I strip my clothes off and join my mate in the shower. She wraps her arms around me and rests her head on my chest. I hold her and gently stroke her hair.
The calm before the storm.
“Are you ready?” I ask after a minute has passed.
“Not quite,” she says as she moves her hand between my legs. My cock is already quite hard, and stiffens up considerably at her touch.
“What are you planning?” I say, barely suppressing a smirk.
She looks up at me with a coy smile on her lips. “You don’t seriously expect me to go on a suicide mission without first having tasted your cock, do you?”
That does the trick. My cock grows as hard as a fucking rock, resting against her stomach, and Caia laughs warmly.
“That’s what I thought,” she smiles as she sinks down to her knees in front of me.
She grabs my member with both hands, stroking it gently, as her eyes grow as big as saucers.
“You’re so freaking big, Leto,” she laughs. “I can never fit this in my mouth.”
I have won countless tournaments, I have ridden off into battle more times than I can count, but nothing has ever made me feel more alpha, more manly, more alive than the look of sheer adoration in Caia’s eyes.
She rests my throbbing, turquoise cock on her face, my unit covering half of it, as her lips kiss the base of my member.
“See, it’s humongous,” she says.
Her tongue drags up the length, all the way to the head, which she engulfs in her mouth — though only just barely. I love the contrast of my Zoran cock and her human skin, I love how her tongue swirls around and makes me weak at the knees… I love every damn thing about this.
“Use my mouth,” she whispers to me with a wicked grin. “I want to be completely yours one more time.”
I grab a fistful of her hair and thrust forward — careful not to choke her on my cock, but enough to make her struggle a little — as I use her for my pleasure. Her fingers dip between her legs, and I love seeing her struggle to frown and moan at the same time as my cock fills her mouth and throat.
Already my cock is growing bigger and bigger, the sight of her so subservient between my legs driving me absolutely wild.
I pull back and she gasps for air, saliva dangling down her chin. It’s the hottest damn sight I’ve ever seen, and it makes me growl with lust. I grab her hair and force her head back down, right onto my massive, cum-filled, Zoran balls. Her tongue goes to work, covering them with saliva as I stroke myself with the other hand, the overwhelming sensations driving me to the brink of madness.
I pull back once more, my knees quivering, my cock trembling, and Caia knows what’s up. She wraps her lips around the head of my cock and strokes me with two hands, her hands becoming a blur, her eyes begging for my cum.
I can’t say no to that.
My cock fires off load after load of my seed, and she tries to swallow it all. Several spurts drip out of her mouth and onto her chest. Her own fingers bring her to an orgasm at the exact same time as mine fills her mouth, and she moans my name, the pure pleasure making her body tremble.
I lean against the wall for support, my balls drained and my knees weak, and the sultry, wicked smile Caia gives me, her lips still dripping with my seed, is one I will never forget.
“Now I’m ready,” she says, licking her lips.
“You are wild,” I laugh.
“Only for you,” she says as I help her up to her feet.
I lean down and kiss her deeply, lifting her right off her feet and not caring about anything else in the moment. She is my mate, and I love her with my entire body and soul.
“Let’s go save the world,” she says, her hands resting around my neck.
“Let’s.”
Chapter Thirteen
Caia
Kariza points at the ventilation shaft in the ceiling.
“That’s your starting point.”
She has beamed the map of the massive flagship to my comm, as well as to Leto’s. The way to the command center is lit up by a red line.
All I have to do is follow it and I’ll end up at the heart of this entire ship, where I can hopefully pull the plug and disable this flying killing machine.
The key word being hopefully.
I take a deep breath to steady myself. This is it.
Leto wraps his arms around me and kisses my neck. Kariza starts ohhh-ing right away, but I try to ignore her.
“Are you sure about this?” Leto asks. “There could be another way.”
“I’m sure,” I say. “There is no other way. I have to do this. I’ll be fine, I promise.”
I’m trying to convince myself as much as him. After one final, long kiss I climb into the shaft, Leto giving me the necessary boost.
He summons forth Luan, and the spectral lion leaps into the shaft gracefully. It’s a small miracle he can fit his figure into the small space, but then again, the spirit animal doesn’t seem bound by conventional laws.
And so, we set off, an unlikely duo.
The ventilation shafts are long and dark, but I can’t stop or turn back now. there’s a massive spectral lion right behind me, sniffing and growling. The only way out is through.
“How are you doing, big guy?”
Luan growls.
“I’ll take that as a ‘I’m doing great, thank you for asking, human.’”
There are many twists and turns, but I feel like I’m still on the right path.
Voices in the distance grab my attention. I slow down to a crawl and edge closer to the source, holding my breath. I peek through the slits in the side, and my heart skips a beat.
I see a man in a dark suit, sitting in a plush chair. He’s seated at a large, round table, together with two other men — only they are both holographic images.
In the middle of the room, suspended high above the table, is a giant face. Hovering menacingly in the air.
I squint my eyes. That can’t be real, right?!
The image shifts and flickers before my eyes. It too is a hologram.
“Wellington. Please inform the Council of the progress you have made.” The face booms. Its voice sounds femal
e, but it’s hard to tell due to the distortion.
“It is going very well, madam! I already have more than half the essence I need to stabilize the Rift!”
The face glowers at the other two holograms.
“See? How hard is it?! You have two have disappointed me. Who knew that the Wellingtons would prove to be my most loyal assets, while the Takeshi’s and the Zuberi’s let me down, again and again.”
“Please, madam,” one of them pleads. “We tried our best, but those damn Chosen have such great powers, it’s not my—“
“SILENCE! I won’t listen to your petty excuses one moment longer! You got bested by a human female. You sicken me, Takeshi. If my father was still alive to see this, he would have you flayed alive.”
He glances down at the floor, afraid to say a single word more. I understand. That face is beyond terrifying.
It’s almost no longer human. It seems she’s had so many body modifications that she’s more cyborg than human.
“Wellington will lead the way! Soon, the Rift will be ours, and these pesky Zorans won’t bother us any longer. Cloning, gene manipulation, unshackled AI research — we’ll finally have the tools we need to get rid of them once and for all!”
I feel myself glowing white hot with rage as I watch the conversation unfold. This is the heart of SINTRA, I realize. This is what they are really like, behind the scenes, when you take away the veil.
Behind me, the spirit lion sniffs and paws at the floor. He nudges my behind, but I ignore him, my eyes focused on the conversation that is playing out in front of me, my hands resting on the floor.
What else are they up? Every little bit will help me in taking them all down. Even the smallest hint can be important.
Luan nudges me again.
“Stop it,” I hiss, reaching back and slapping his golden snout. To my surprise, my touch singes his whiskers.
Huh?
I look at my palm.
It’s white hot.
And then it’s too late.
The ventilation shaft groans and shifts.
Oh please no —
The entire contraption collapses. I realize a second too late that I’ve been so damn angry that my palms have been melting the ventilation shaft itself. Luan tried to warn me, but I was too stupid to realize it. And now it’s caving under my weight, and I’m falling, I’m falling, I’m —
SMACK!
I land unceremoniously in the middle of the table, disturbing the holographic image of the corrupted woman.
“What is this?!” She barks. “Another human female deciding to drop in?! Wellington, explain yourself!”
The threee men look at me with wide eyes. The two holographic ones sever their connection, leaving only Wellington. He rises to his feet and flicks open a blade.
“You,” he says with a low sneer. “You dare to interrupt me in front of the grand mother herself?”
“What?” I say. “THAT was your grandmother?!”
“No, the grand mother! Two words! Ah, you simpletons are all the same, the intricacies of language escapes you. No matter. I’ll teach you a new thing or two!”
He jumps onto the table. I can’t help but notice how exceptionally shiny his shoes are, and at the same moment I curse myself for thinking something so silly at a time like this. I crawl backwards as quickly as I can, but it’s not fast enough.
Casper Wellington looms over me, his blade glittering in the light, a wicked smile on his gaunt face.
“Feel free to scream,” he says. “It’s more fun for me.”
With a deafening growl, Luan leaps down and sinks his claws into Wellington’s back. He collapses with a cry, blood dripping down onto the table. With surprising agility he rolls onto his wounded back and swipes wildly with his blade, and to my horror, connects with the golden lion’s exposed underbelly.
The spirit animal cries out in pain, and in a puff of smoke, disappears.
I’m left with horrible thoughts haunting my mind.
Is Luan okay?
Is Leto?!
Or did that swipe of Wellington’s blade end both of their lives?
Wellington stumbles back onto his feet, his expensive suit ruined, and turns back to me, the look in his eyes even wilder than than before.
“Now... where were we?!”
Chapter Fourteen
Leto
A deep cut wounds me deeply. I’m stabbed in my very soul, the sharp point of the blade puncturing me.
I stumble back, gasping for breath.
“What happened?!” Kariza asks.
I try to recall the images, to make sense of what I just saw. I could see through Luan’s eyes, but I am a guest there. It’s like looking through a fogged up window. You see shapes, but it’s hard to form the whole picture.
I do know one thing though, with every fiber of my being: My mate needs my help.
“Caia!” I say. “She’s in danger!”
I rush out the door, not even bothering to explain myself to Kariza. There’s simply no time. I race through the corridors and up the stairs as fast as I can, my heart beating in my throat, every muscle in my body begging for a gasp of air as I lose count of the amount of steps I’m racing up, my body pleading with me for a moment’s respite, but I ignore it all and push through.
My mate, my love is in danger, my spirit animal wounded. Everything I’ve ever done in my life boils down to this moment.
I reach the upper levels of the ship — the one guarded by battle bots. I rush past them before they even have a chance to respond, pushing them out of my way. In the distance I hear the guns mounted on the ceilings whirring up, getting ready to turn me into Marbitian cheese.
I rush to where Caia is, where I feel that she is. With a heavy kick I break down the door, and that’s when I see him.
The slick bastard has his back turned towards me. His dark suit is now torn to shreds and colored crimson. His knife is raised up high, and it glitters with thick red droplets of fresh blood.
Am I too late?
“YOU BASTARD,” I scream as I rush towards him. He turns to me with a disturbing glint in his black eyes.
I tackle him, slamming him down into the round table as hard as I can. The table collapses under our combined weight, burying Wellington. I quickly scamper back up and turn to Caia, who is lying on a pool of what I fear is her own blood.
Am I too late?!
I rush to her side and grab her blood-soaked arm. It’s covered with cuts and bruises, and I wrap my fingers around hers.
“Are you okay?! Caia?! Talk to me!”
“You’re too late.”
The soft voice behind me is filled with glee. Wellington.
“You’re too late, Zoran. Didn’t you listen to what I told you last time? Your part is already played out. You were dead the moment you woke up on my ship. Hell, you’ve been a dead man walking your entire life. It is your fate to end up a cog in my machine. You think yourself a hero, but you’re nothing more than a footnote in my story.”
I ignore his rambling as much as I can, but his words cut as deep as his blade. I hold Caia’s cheek and rub it gently.
“Please, baby,” I say. “Open your eyes.”
To my great relief, her eyes flutter open.
“Hey,” she says, weakly. “You made it.”
“Of course,” I say, fighting back tears. “Of course I made it.” I hold her hand as tightly as I can, planting small kisses on the back of it. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
“I might,” she coughs.
“Save your strength,” I command. “You need to rest. I’ll get you fixed up, don’t you worry.”
“No, I need to tel you,” she sputters. “SINTRA, their plan... it’s...”
Her eyes go big as she looks at something over my shoulder. I turn to see a wooden table leg headed straight towards my face. I duck and roll out of the way, the leg grazing my cheek.
Wellington is wobbling on his feet, slamming the makeshift club on the ground over and
over again as I roll out of the way.
“Why won’t you stand STILL!?”
With a sweep of leg I take him out. He tumbles over backwards, and I quickly jump up and kick the table leg out of his hand.
“Surrender, Wellington, and I might let you live,” I say. “It’s more than you deserve, but I’m feeling uncharacteristically generous.”
“Never,” he laughs, blood dripping down his thin lips. “Never!”
My fists are antsy. They want nothing more than to give him the killing blow he deserves, but I know deep down that his death won’t make the universe a better place. He needs to stand trial for his crimes. The whole world needs to see that his megacorp is rotten to the very core.
Giving him a quick release — if anything, it’s mercy he doesn’t deserve.
At that point Wellington’s robotic army comes rushing through the door. Before I have a change to look up I’m already tackled, two synths holding my arms down.
I struggle to break free, but their cybernetic strength is more than a match for mine.
“Took you bloody bots long enough,” Wellington barks. “What took you so damn long?! He nearly had me!”
“Apologies, sir!” One of the synths says. “There was an overload of inquiries, and so our systems couldn’t make the critical calculations in time!”
“Bullcock,” Wellington complains as he rises to his feet and dusts off his jacket. A ridiculous gesture, considering it’s ripped to shreds and dripping with blood. “I’ll deal with you when the time comes.”
“Let me go,” I struggle, kicking and flailing wildly, with absolutely no avail. The synths have a tight grip on me, and I can barely move an inch.
A few feet from me Caia lies on the ground, writhing in pain, and seeing her like this makes my heart break into a million little pieces.
She trusted me to save her, and what did I do?
I let her down.
Wellington takes a step towards me, sneering.
“See? What did I tell you, big guy? I ALWAYS win. That’s what being a Wellington is really about. Winning.”
“You may have won this battle, but you’ll never win the war.”