Her Cold-Blooded Mercenary

by Lea Linnett

  She wanted more, wanted to feel closer, so she slammed her hips forward until her knees hit the cot behind him. They both grunted as their bodies pressed flush, Kamanek’s cock finding a groove in her despite the layers of clothing separating them.

  He hissed, abandoning her breasts and thrusting into her through the fabric. But it wasn’t enough.

  “Take them off,” he whispered into her ear. Taz didn’t need telling twice. She launched off him, almost wishing she hadn’t even dressed after the chem-shower as her fingers fumbled with the catch on her rumpled bra.

  Kamanek undid the clasps and zips on his clothes with practiced ease, but Taz still finished first, and she drank him in hungrily as he peeled the layers away one by one. He hooked his fingers into his skintight underwear, drawing them down over his hips painstakingly slow and revealing a perfectly proportioned body, hairless all the way down. His cock fought the fabric, and when it finally slid free it bounced heavily, fighting gravity.

  Taz licked her lips. It wasn’t much different from a human cock in terms of shape, and just like his lips it was void of scales, she was thankful to see. Kamanek palmed it lightly, pulling back the foreskin to reveal a glistening pink head, already beading with precum—more precum than she’d ever seen from a human.

  She waited as he shucked off the last of his clothing, her body tensed in wait for him to make the first move.

  But there was no defense against the way he barreled into her, pressing her naked body into the wall and capturing her mouth again. The kiss was rougher now, his hands less gentle, but Taz met every touch. It was like a battle, she began to realize, except each blow was aimed to bring pleasure rather than pain, and they were fighting for an entirely different kind of dominance.

  Strong hands dragged down her sides when she dug her nails into his chest. A smooth, muscular thigh pressed tight against her clit when she hooked a leg around him. His cock dug hard and insistent against her hip as he kissed down to her shoulder, and she reached for it, teasing what she could reach of his length. He groaned into her skin at the touch, making her grin triumphantly, but then strong arms took hold of her raised leg and her equilibrium shifted.

  He picked her up like she weighed nothing, holding her against the wall with ease. She clung to him with both arms and legs, fearing she might fall.

  But Kamanek had her. He was breathing heavily, his chest squeezing hers with each inhale, but his arms were strong and stable around her, the muscles of his stomach clenched tight. This close, Taz could see the flecks of brighter green in his eyes, peeking around blown out pupils. She could see the tiniest of scales ringing his eyes, and his complete lack of eyelashes.

  “Your skin is shining,” he whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

  Taz bit her lip. “You should see me after training,” she joked, trying to catch her breath but immediately losing it as Kamanek reached down with his left hand.

  Cool digits explored her core, pressing through the folds and brushing her clit just gently enough to make her whimper. Kamanek stared at her, his dark eyes measuring her every reaction as he slowly circled it, and Taz knew her hips were moving in counterpoint, chasing the pleasure.

  “I thought you hadn’t been with a human before?” she asked, trying to find some clarity as her body shuddered.

  “I haven’t. I’m just a fast learner.”

  She laughed, pitching it too high as a second digit traced her opening.

  “I wonder where this leads,” Kamanek said, and she could feel his breaths coming in shorter against her chest.

  Their gazes met in one final confirmation, but Taz didn’t want to stop. She stared him down, almost daring him.

  Two smooth, clawless fingers slipped inside her, plunging easily through her wetness and making her whole body shudder. He kissed her desperately, like it had been torture for him to ever stop, but his pace was still slow as he thrust his fingers in and out, his thumb working her clit. It was all she could do to hold onto him as she rode out the rhythm, and Taz was surprised that such a gentle exploration could still turn her limbs to jelly.

  Kamanek realized what she liked far too quickly, hooking his fingers to rub that spot inside her that made her bear down, her legs like a vise around his hips, trapping his arm between them. They rocked together, until Taz was sure that this was as far as they would get, but then Kamanek halted.

  His fingers left her, his thick, plated brow landing against hers with a soft thunk. She moaned unhappily, missing the friction, and felt the shudder that passed through him as if it were her own.

  Kamanek held her gaze as he shifted beneath her, hiking her up a little higher in his arms, and that’s when she felt it: the velvety tip of his cock lining up against her folds. She held still, not wanting to squirm and make him drop her at this crucial moment.

  Then, a new thought came to her.

  “Wh-what about…?”

  Kamanek hesitated, watching her carefully. A muscle jumped in his jaw. “What’s wrong?”

  “We can’t… I can’t get p-pregnant,” she managed, the words fighting to stay inside.

  “It’s all right. I’ve had all my shots.” He brought a hand up to cup her face. “So it’s not possible.” At Taz’s frown, he added, “I’m a mercenary. I would never want to walk out and leave my child to be raised without me.”

  “Me neither,” she said, the words slipping out. They stared at each other, and for a moment, it felt as if Kamanek knew her better than anyone—even Cara. Her pulse raced.

  “You can trust me,” he said, voice gone so soft the words were barely breathed between them. She stared up at him, at this levekk who should be the last person on CL-32 that she trusted, except…

  She did.

  She nodded. “I trust you.”

  Kamanek leaned in, his lips gently brushing hers as he teased her entrance with the tip of his cock. Taz gasped, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss. It only took two languid thrusts for him to seat himself to the hilt inside her, her walls slippery with desire, and Taz arched into him, her legs locking him in place. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt this full, or this out of control, held upright by nothing but Kamanek’s strong body.

  Although their hips stilled, their kiss did nothing of the sort. Kamanek inhaled her, swallowing her breathy moan as he pressed deeper, as if he might somehow reach further than their bodies would allow. They were pressed so tightly against each other that neither of them could move, and it took a soothing hand running along her thigh for Taz to relax enough to allow Kamanek to pull out.

  He wasn’t gone for long, slamming back into her hard enough that she was sure her spine would be bruised later, but she didn’t care. He did it again, faster this time, and she couldn’t stop the high-pitched moan that spilled from her mouth.

  Each of his thrusts rammed her back into the wall, and Taz clung to his shoulders, her skin burning with friction as it brushed his scales. Hot breaths fanned across her skin, followed by the graze of round teeth on her neck, but he didn’t break the skin, laving the spot with his flat tongue.

  Taz was close, she realized, her body already on edge by the time he’d entered her and dangerously close to spilling over now. She whispered as much into his ear, loving the way he shivered beneath her hands, his thrusts losing their steady rhythm.

  A hand enclosed hers, pulling it down between them as he whispered hotly in her ear, “Come with me.”

  She understood immediately, finding her clit with sure fingers, and it didn’t take much for her to crest the mountain she’d been climbing. She let out a high moan, her hips stuttering, and clamped down.

  Kamanek groaned, his huge body flattening hers as his thrusts abruptly halted, replaced by the pulsing of his cock that she could feel as he spilled inside her.

  They collapsed against the wall, and Taz didn’t know how he didn’t crush or drop her when her own pleasure-drunk muscles seemed to have forgotten how to hold her head up. She pressed soft kisses to his neck as he shifted he
r weight, carrying her to the cot.

  The sheets felt rough against Taz’s skin, and she rolled into Kamanek when he laid down at her side. His skin was far drier than hers, the scales free of anything even resembling sweat, but she couldn’t find the energy to be embarrassed. Her muscles ached like they did after a good training session, her chest heaving against his. She felt comfortable pressed up against him, despite the narrowness of the cot, and after a bit of shuffling they came to a rest with her head on his arm.

  “Did you get what you wanted?” he asked her, breathing the question into her hair. The question wasn’t one of insecurity. No, this was more like him taking note for next time, and the thought made her blush.

  “Completely,” she answered. She looked up at him shyly, for once not worrying about whether the red dusting her cheeks made her look weak as she curled into him.

  Kamanek wordlessly pulled her closer, a smile curving his lips as he smoothed his hands over her side, following the shallow curves of her body. She felt lips touch her forehead, and the soothing brush of fingers through her short hair. “Sleep, Firecracker,” he murmured, but Taz’s eyes popped open.

  She’d slept enough. Instead, she traced loose patterns into his sculpted chest, and pressed a kiss to his sternum, running her hands down a flat abdomen and further, tickling the base of his cock. It was hardening again, and Kamanek hissed. “Already?”

  “What, you tire yourself out? I thought you weren’t going to stop at one?” she teased, looking up at him through her eyelashes, and Kamanek let out a breathy chuckle.

  “I didn’t say that. I can take you as many times as you want, Firecracker.”

  But Taz grinned, raising an eyebrow. She felt like a fire had ignited in her chest, her spirits soaring like they did when she fought. “Maybe it’s my turn to take you,” she said, rolling them over and pushing him back against the cot. She kissed his chest, leaving behind a trail of saliva as she moved lower.

  “You can take everything,” the levekk whispered, almost too low for her to hear.

  19

  Taz was asleep in his arms, her smaller body shifting almost imperceptibly with her breaths, and Kamanek had never felt so whole.

  It was early afternoon and their corner of the room was bathed in shadows. They softened Taz’s features, darkening her thick eyelashes as they fluttered in her sleep. Her lips were parted, soft and brown against her olive skin, and they flickered with unformed words every so often, her dreams threatening to escape into the outside world.

  They’d paused in their joining to eat a couple of hours earlier, after which Taz had promptly fallen asleep. Kamanek had cooled during that time, lying in the darkness by her side, but Taz was still warm, like a heat pack shaped just for him. He curled his body easily around hers, soaking up that warmth and drawing small circles on her back with a claw.

  He thought about how different things could be if he’d been brought here by someone like Niro, or one of his old bosses. Some business owner or military bigwig looking for some extra muscle to help throw their weight around. He imagined being brought here during CL-32’s Settlement, a fresh-faced soldier whose sense of self had half-disappeared into the levekk military’s brainless swarm. Would he have blindly followed orders, cutting down humans like Taz without a second thought?

  She looked vulnerable like this, with the softest parts of her pressed flush against him. He knew better, of course, having just witnessed her body’s strength, its suppleness, and he was grateful, suddenly, to be allowed to see her this way. She would call it weak.

  But he could never see her that way, not when faced with the full scope of the scars littering her arms and torso. There were splits and cuts caused by knives and fists during sparring, the marks of battle she’d no doubt charged into without hesitation. She was someone who reveled in the clash of weapons and fists, and in a way, he could relate.

  He’d been forced to sate his body’s frustrations in battle. Bred for fighting as he was, tenderness had been discouraged. And being a mercenary wasn’t much better. It was either take joy in the work or go mad.

  He was no stranger to bloodshed, so he understood most of the injuries that littered Taz’s body. Except one.

  Lying in his arms like this, her body arching towards him, it was perfectly on display. Her short hair was mussed from sex and sleep, sticking up in all directions rather than plastered down over the injury and hiding it. Three jagged lines running across her cheek. Not knife marks, nor the precise lines of decorative scarring (which humans didn’t seem to practice, anyway). No, these were claw marks, and he’d be a fool not to recognize what kind of claws had caused them.

  He traced them with his own now, retroactively panicked over how close they came to her eyes, how serious the injury could have been. If he’d been there, he would have ripped the perpetrator limb from limb without question.

  The firmness of that conviction surprised him. Injuries happened during combat. They weren’t personal—especially when they happened to others.

  He thought of Taz staring down that kind of danger, steadfast as she always was and recklessly facing whatever injury was in store for her. His heart seized for a moment, before kicking back into gear at twice the pace. His body tensed, as if he were the one under attack.

  Pursing his lips, he tried not to dwell on that particular reaction too much. It was natural for him to want to stay wrapped up in her like this. They’d just shared something intimate, something that he valued deeply, despite his flippancy when it came to sexual matters. Taz had entrusted her body to him, and that was something he cherished.

  And after the way he’d yearned to fulfill her every desire between the sheets and enjoyed collecting food for her, however primitive the desire was, it made sense for him to want to protect her.

  But the feeling would fade. It always did. He had an affection for his partners, an affection that helped him give their bodies the pleasure they deserved. But the heady, syrupy intoxication always faded, eventually. It was better to keep things simple, to move on before things got too serious. He wasn’t the type to get stuck, or to fall in love.

  Not like Tanis had been.

  He looked down at Taz as she shifted in her sleep, stretching and arching her back like a sehela. Watching the play of her trim muscles beneath her tanned, olive skin, Kamanek half-wished that he could get stuck. Taz’s body seemed molded to fit his perfectly, her limbs wrapping around him and anchoring him to her so strongly that he’d thought he would never be able to extricate himself. And he could spend years worshiping her body—a fighter’s body, strong yet flexible, a match for his own.

  He cut off that train of thought, closing his eyes as if that would blind him to her allure. He knew how dangerous it was to grow attached. He was acutely aware of the damage it could cause, and who it could hurt. That was why he would have to leave, just like he always did.

  But he could still enjoy this while it lasted.

  He settled in closer, relaxing into the moment and appreciating it even more for how fleeting it would be. He might be at Taz’s side for a week. He might be at her side for a month. But he’d never forget the silky soft slide of her leg against his thigh, or the warm breaths she puffed onto his collarbone. He nuzzled the top of her head, indulging himself by brushing his lips across the soft skin of her forehead (which had no crest like the females of his own species—no protection from injury).

  She stirred slowly at first, her limbs stretching lethargically, but then she must have felt his scales against her skin or his breath on her face, because her eyes snapped open. She blinked up at him, looking guarded for a moment as she looked him over, before relaxing into his hold. A hand landed on his chest, tracing the scales there.

  “Hi,” she said, gasping when Kamanek swooped in, capturing her lips like he’d wanted to for the past hour.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked somewhat breathlessly when they broke apart.

  She smiled, her eyelashes fluttering in a way that
Kamanek definitely appreciated. “Hot,” she said. “And a little sore. But the good sore, like after training.”

  “See? I told you we should spar sometime.”

  She laughed, the sound almost alien coming from the reticent human, and Kamanek wanted to hear it again and again.

  “We could spar again,” she whispered, her gaze dropping tentatively to his mouth.

  “Yes please, I like winning.”

  She scoffed at him good-naturedly, but her hesitance disappeared as she reached up to pull him closer, kissing him fiercely. He let her direct them for a while, until she rubbed against him, and he took control, loving how she opened like a flower beneath him.

  It was quick and dirty, her body already used to him, and if she lifted a few of his scales with her fingernails, he didn’t mind. He was almost surprised at how enthusiastic she was, how wanton, after all of her refusals, but soon realized that this was just how she was. Whether she was bruising his neck between her teeth or lunging at him with a knife the size of his finger, she did it with flame-like ferocity, and he let her engulf him now, basking in her warmth until they both climaxed.

  They lay there, tangled around each other, and Kamanek kept expecting her to remember the window. He waited for her gaze to drift away from him to the small bench that they’d each sat upon, but it never did. Either she’d forgotten, or she didn’t care, and Kamanek didn’t have the strength to remind her. He didn’t want her to be anywhere but here, coiled around him and breathing the same air, their chests brushing on every inhale.

  After a while, his curiosity got the better of him, and he began tracing her scars again.

  “What’s this one from?” he asked, trailing a claw across a short gash on her upper arm.

  “Rekel,” she said. “Advanced knife training. He caught me off guard, and when a five hundred-pound pindar is colliding with you, it doesn’t matter if it’s training or not. You get out of the way or you get run over.”