by Lea Linnett
“I want to hear you,” he hissed, dipping his fingertips into her wet heat. Taz shuddered against him, her vision blurring. “I want to feel you come around these fingers. Are you still watching?”
Taz froze, her attention flying back to the warehouse. The shock fought off some of the bone-melting fog of pleasure, but it also made her even more aware of him. Suddenly, her breasts felt even more sensitive to his touch, her pulse raced, and her skin tingled in every place where their bodies met. “Of course I am,” she said, her eyes on the warehouse as she thrust back against his cock.
Kamanek’s breath hitched, and he kissed the back of her neck. “Good thing I have more tricks up my sleeve.”
Taz gasped as his slick fingers found her clit. Her hips rolled in an effort to chase the pleasure, and Kamanek answered her rhythm as if he’d known her body for years. She was barely aware of reaching up and wrapping an arm around his neck, anchoring her body to his. She spread her legs wider, seeking more, and felt his plated head touch hers as he tucked his chin over her shoulder.
She let out a whimper of relief when Kamanek angled his hand, dipping two fingers inside her while his thumb rested on her clit. They sank in deep, and her body arched against his, her chest exposed. Anyone in the buildings across the street would be able to see her, but she didn’t care. Her world had boiled down to the places where Kamanek’s scales touched her skin, to the need to ride whatever he would give her to completion.
She laid her head back against his shoulder again, moaning as she lifted her hips, riding his fingers. “More,” she gasped, and felt Kamanek shudder.
He turned her head roughly, still fucking her as he drew her into a hungry kiss, his tongue mirroring every thrust of his fingers and sending Taz so close to the edge that she groaned.
She only distantly heard the sound of the door banging open.
Taz crested just as a garbled shout sounded from behind them, and right as she melted back into him, she felt Kamanek go stiff against her.
“The fuck is going on here?!”
That was Deeno’s voice, Taz registered, the first cold shard of ice penetrating the pleasurable warmth she was basking in.
Kamanek’s hands moved quickly, pulling her shirt down and her trousers up to cover her, but then he raised his arms, leaning away. She blinked down at herself, her mind still sluggish, before reality crashed back in and she buttoned up her fly, finishing what he’d started. She then spun around, turning wild eyes to the door where she found Deeno standing with his gun raised, pointing directly at them.
“Get away from her!”
“I’m not touching her,” Kamanek said, his voice surprisingly calm. His jaw was locked, however, and his eyes kept darting back to Taz in concern.
Deeno stepped forward. “I said get away!”
“All right!” Kamanek snapped, rising off the bench. Taz felt naked without him covering her, her cheeks flushing. She opened her mouth to tell Deeno to back off, but then she caught sight of the other figure in the doorway.
Cara’s lips were parted, her eyes wide. She looked more shocked than angry, but a wave of guilt washed over Taz, nonetheless. She’d never wanted to see that pain on her sister’s face again, especially not at her hands.
She rose from the bench, her face draining of color and her throat swelling shut.
“Cara…”
24
Taz took a step toward her sister, coming up short when she noticed Deeno’s loaded handgun still pointing past her at the levekk. Kamanek stood to the side, his palms raised, and she reddened as she caught sight of his fingers, still glistening in the light from the window.
“Taz, get away from him,” Deeno snapped.
But she stood frozen, her mind reeling. She’d had nightmares about this moment, about the icy fear that would crawl through her, but nothing compared to the real thing. Her booted feet were cemented to the floor, her hands shaking at her sides and her shoulders climbing up around her ears. Part of her wanted to stand firm at Kamanek’s side, while the other wanted to shrink back and walk away.
She reached out a hand to her sister, who still hovered by the door. “Cara, I…”
But the words wouldn’t come. She wasn’t even sure what words she wanted to say.
Deeno raised his gun a little higher, his teeth audibly grinding as he stared at Kamanek down the barrel. “Taz, come here. It’s all right, he won’t touch you again.”
“Come on, Deeno. Is this necessary?” Kamanek asked from his corner of the room. “Can we talk?”
“Be quiet,” the cicarian growled dangerously. “We talked already, lizard. And I said if you so much as touched her, I’d—”
“Deeno, put the gun down,” Taz said, finally able to force out the words. “Please. I’m fine.”
“Fine? He had you—”
“And I said it was fine,” she repeated, her face flushing with heat. She stared at the floor, unable to meet the cicarian’s eye and unable to even face her sister.
“Didn’t we agree that Taz could look after herself?” Kamanek said in his usual drawl, but he backed up a step when Deeno jerked his weapon.
“I told you to be quiet—”
Taz’s body moved without her as she threw herself between the two aliens, her arms outstretched. She backed up until she could feel the hard planes of Kamanek’s chest against her back again, but she couldn’t savor it. Deeno’s already large eyes were round like dinner plates, his grip on the gun slackening. She heard a soft intake of breath behind her.
“Put the gun down,” she ordered, staring down the barrel and trying to imagine she was playing bodyguard again. The thought galvanized her, strengthening her voice from the terrified whisper it had been reduced to.
Deeno blinked at her. “What are you doing?”
“Put it down.”
A hand grasped her waist, trying to push her aside, but she dug her heels in instinctively. The grip tightened. “Taz…” Kamanek breathed.
“Don’t touch her!” yelled Deeno, and the hand disappeared.
But Taz had had enough. “Would you please just calm the fuck down?” she snarled, a bolt of hot impatience striking through her fear. “He didn’t do anything I didn’t want. It was all—”
Her mouth clamped shut as her brain caught up with her mouth. Deeno’s jaw dropped, his whole bearing sagging. Behind her, she felt the rise and fall of Kamanek’s chest suddenly quicken.
“Put it down, Deeno,” said a new voice, cutting through the shocked silence, and they all turned to Cara. She still stood by the door, her arms crossed at her waist, and Taz was surprised to see she had no weapons drawn. Only a few months ago, Cara would have been on instant alert if any Lodestar had even breathed a good word about a levekk, but now…
“I’d like to speak to Taz alone,” she said, glancing at Deeno. “Can I trust you not to kill him?”
Deeno scoffed, but nodded, lowering the gun.
Taz was distracted by the hand reappearing at her waist, and she looked up to find Kamanek’s dark eyes searching hers. “Are you all right?” he whispered.
She clasped his hand in hers. “I’m fine.”
He glanced at Cara, who was watching them expectantly, and pulled Taz closer. “I’ll stay with you,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically serious. “You don’t have to answer to them.”
For a moment, she wanted him to stay. The thought of facing Cara terrified her, and it would be easier with Kamanek there. But she’d never allowed herself to choose what was ‘easy.’
“Go with Deeno,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I can handle myself, remember?”
They stood frozen, each unwilling to drop the other’s hand. She half-expected Kamanek to kiss her, but he hesitated, his breaths coming out strangely short. Instead, he brought her fingers to his lips, kissing them softly, and then he was gone, cautiously following Deeno from the room.
Taz blinked after him. The outrageous levekk had never held back before, so why…?
T
he door shut with a snap, leaving her and Cara in silence. Her sister’s face was unreadable, caught somewhere between disgust and something Taz couldn’t name, but none of it was the hot anger that usually preceded a fight. Taz almost wished it was—she knew what to do in a fight, but this stillness was alien to her.
“Cara, please. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Her sister’s eyes closed, but still she said nothing.
“Cara?” Taz took a step closer and paused, waiting for some kind of reply. When nothing was forthcoming, she felt her fear turn into fidgety frustration. “Would you say something? Please.”
“How long has this been going on for?” The words were steely, making Taz gulp.
“Not long. It started the day you arrived. And since then, we haven’t…”
Cara winced, her gaze darting to the bench behind her, and Taz’s flush deepened. She suddenly felt very small, nothing like the fighter that stuck to Cara’s side all these years, protecting her from anyone who dared to hurt them.
“And he didn’t force himself on you?” Cara asked, frowning dubiously.
Taz hesitated. This was her last chance to lie, to pretend she’d never wanted it in the first place. She could avoid ever having to answer to the disappointment on her sister’s face. But the thought made her feel physically ill, her stomach churning with guilt for even considering it.
She forced herself to look Cara in the eye as she said, “He didn’t force me. Everything was consensual. Has been from the start.”
Cara didn’t move. “Why?”
Taz frowned. Why did she want him?
“I like him,” she said simply, before mentally kicking herself. It sounded so juvenile. “He’s funny. Infuriating, and honestly a bit of an asshole, but there’s another side to him. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without him helping me. I think he cares about people, deep down.”
“He’s a mercenary.”
“Yeah.” Taz worried her lip. “But that’s not all he is.”
Cara’s face crumpled. “So, you’re not just fucking.”
Taz felt like someone had tipped ice-water down her spine. Were they doing more than fucking? Was there more to this than the ‘stress relief’ that Kamanek always went on about? Suddenly, she realized she didn’t know how to tell the difference anymore.
But she knew what she wanted. She wanted him by her side when they walked into that warehouse later that night. She wanted to eat with him and spar with him and crawl back under the sheets of the cot with him and pretend Cara and Deeno had seen nothing. She hadn’t known him long, but part of her felt their time together ticking down even faster now. Part of her wished it wasn’t ending so soon.
Could there be more to what they had than sex?
She gulped. “I don’t… I don’t know.”
Cara looked crestfallen, her eyebrows tenting in pain, but then she covered the slip with a frown. “He’s a levekk. A mercenary,” she repeated. “You think he cares about you? You think he’ll stick around once he’s got his claws on Mila’s credits?”
Taz’s stomach fluttered. Would he stay? She hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t asked. But she knew one thing. “I’ve seen the way he acts around sub-species. I think he cares more than you know. More than he’d like to admit, even.”
“That doesn’t change why he’s here. That doesn’t change what he’s done,” Cara insisted. “Did he tell you about Siikas?”
Taz went still. “No, but—”
“Did he tell you that he worked for him? Accepted his credits?”
She jerked back, her voice coming out small. “What?”
“He worked for Siikas,” Cara said again, stepping closer to Taz and holding her gaze. “He took his money and did whatever he asked. Can you imagine what that entails? Siikas is transporting humans across the Constellation for rich assholes to enslave. He has his claws in the worst pies this world has to offer. And your lizard helped him accomplish all of that.”
“Niro works for Siikas,” Taz bit out, latching on to the only defense she had. “And you’re happy enough to work with him.”
“At least Niro is doing what he does for a cause. He’s helping us. Giving us a chance to ruin Siikas completely.”
“So they’re not so different, then.”
“Kamanek’s only here for the credits, Taz. You know this.” She reached out, taking Taz’s hand in her own. “You know the only reason Kamanek hasn’t skipped the planet entirely is because he has Mila’s paycheck waiting for him if he stays.”
Taz wrenched her hand away. “I don’t think that’s true. There’s more to him than that.”
“Is there really?” Cara said, and her voice had turned cold and hard. “You’ve heard the way he talks. Do you really think he’s here for any other reason than to get his share of credits and mark ‘fucking a human’ off his list of exploits? He’s a tourist.”
Taz’s jaw dropped, each cruel word sinking deeper than the last. It wasn’t any different to what she’d thought of him herself, when she first saw him. But now…
Now she hoped they were wrong.
Confusion rocketed through her, making her take a step back, and she instantly regretted it. What was wrong with her? She never backed down. Not when it mattered.
She clenched her fists at her sides, pushing past Cara and away from the bench and the window. She couldn’t stay in this room any longer, couldn’t allow it to break her down any more than it already had.
“Maybe I made a mistake,” she said, turning again to face Cara. “And I’m sorry that you had to see all that. But I think you’re wrong. I think we’ve been wrong about the levekk, in general. You and I are different people. We don’t share the same desires, we don’t do the same things. We’re individuals. Maybe the levekk are, too. Maybe it’s unfair to blame all of them for what some of them have done.”
“What about what he’s done? He—”
“Maybe you’re right!” Taz yelled, backing towards the door and snagging her small pack from beside it. “I don’t know anymore! All I know is that I’m sick of being watched and interrogated. I’m sick of hiding. I need some fucking space!”
She opened the door, pausing only to glare at Cara over her shoulder.
“Call me when Niro says we’re ready to go. He seems to be the favorite lizard around here.”
---
“You’re lucky I don’t cut your throat right now,” said Deeno as he walked Kamanek into the room at gun point. “The only thing stopping me is that we’re making our move on the warehouse tonight, and unfortunately we need your muscle.”
Kamanek moved to the center of the room, barely aware of his surroundings.
“Hey, you listening to me?”
He wasn’t. He was too busy running over the final few seconds before Taz clenched around his fingers, one question rolling over and over in his mind: Why didn’t I hear them coming?
It wasn’t like him. He’d been trained to fight from childhood, was trained to listen out for orders long before that, and had a life’s worth of experience in watching his back, protecting himself from enemies and mishaan alike.
But he hadn’t heard Cara and Deeno walk in. He hadn’t heard their footsteps approaching the room, either. The flophouse was old, the walls thin. He should have been aware of anything that passed through their orbit.
He was too caught up in Taz to notice, though. Her clinging hands had drawn him in, her soft gasps and moans had filled his ears, and his senses had tunneled down to the feel of her tight core gripping him, his every thought focused on how to keep her riding on the brink.
And it couldn’t have resulted in a worse outcome. Well, he supposed taking a bullet from the enraged cicarian wouldn’t have been fun, but even that was nothing compared to what Taz had done next.
She’d stepped in front of him. She’d protected him.
She’d endangered herself for him.
The simple act brought back too many memories, ones that pushed against th
e delicate walls he’d constructed. He couldn’t face them. He couldn’t relive what had happened to Tanis. It hurt too much.
All he knew was that he couldn’t let Taz put herself in that position again. He couldn’t lose anyone else.
He crossed to one of the cots, his heart sinking like a stone.
When had he begun to care for her so deeply? When had she become the center of his world—a world that had once seemed so vast and hungry for new experiences, and which was now more content to simply revolve around her like a planet around a sun?
He knew the answer, of course. It was when they first met, when she came flying at him with nothing but a knife and the belief that she could take him. He’d never known anyone who cared so much and so deeply for their people that they’d put themselves in such danger.
But that was the problem. She wasn’t supposed to care that deeply for him.
“How do you live with yourself? Preying on people like that?” Deeno’s voice snapped him back to attention, and his eyes were full of hate.
“I didn’t force her,” Kamanek growled, looking up at Deeno from under his plated brow.
The cicarian sneered, too angry to be intimidated. “You expect me to believe Taz would willingly submit to you? After everything she and Cara have been through?”
A sliver of frustration cut through him as he sniped back. “Jealous?”
Deeno’s scowl deepened, but he didn’t blow up like Kamanek expected. “I’ve known Taz since before she joined the Lodestars. She’s as much my sister as she is Cara’s. And I know that she would never fall prey to one of your kind,” he said solemnly.
Well, that explained the over-protectiveness, at least. “You must have been wrong.”
Apart from a disgruntled flutter of his wings, Deeno didn’t react. “We’ll see about that.”
But Kamanek didn’t think it really mattered anymore. It was clear to him what he had to do once this mission was over. There was only one way that he could see to protect Taz from harm.
He had to leave. There was no life for him on CL-32. The sub-species hated him, and he had no good reputation left amongst the levekk. To the military, he was a disgrace, and to everyone else he was a liability. Siikas would have made sure of that.