by Tana Stone
“What the hell was that all about?” Her face was flushed, no doubt from hanging upside down.
I backed away from the foot of the bed and raked both hands through my hair. “I should ask you the same question. Why did I find you being questioned by my battle chief, when I left you in my bed?”
“You didn’t really expect me to lie here waiting for you like some helpless woman, did you?”
“I expected you not to attempt to steal a ship and run away from me,” I said, the tremor in my voice betraying the fact that I was attempting to remain calm and having a hard time doing it.
“Then you don’t know me very well,” she snapped back.
I dropped my hands to my knees and leaned over, breathing unevenly. I’d just battled my own warrior over her and exiled him from my horde, and she was claiming I didn’t know her? When I looked up at the female on my bed, her eyes flashing defiance, a wave of defeat washed over me, dousing my fury and quelling the heat in my body.
What did I know of her, aside from the truths she’d finally confessed under the influence of the ancient oils? I knew she ignited my desire and enflamed my body. I knew being buried inside her made me feel like a god. But I did not know what truly dwelled in her heart—the heart of an imperial assassin. And I could not understand how deeply the empire had twisted her mind and ingrained loyalty to them, despite abusing her and molding her into a killer.
“You are right. I do not know you.” Straightening, I backed away from her, turning and walking toward the bathing pools.
The red haze of rage had cleared from my vision, but my footsteps were still halting as I made my way into the chamber. I leaned my hands against the long counter and sucked in greedy breaths, the cool stone welcome on my scorched skin.
“What have I done?” I said under my breath, too afraid to utter the words any louder. A Vandar Raas did not doubt his actions or second-guess himself, but how could I not? I’d defended a virtual stranger over one of my officers, and cast him out of the horde. My mind whirled as I tried to recall when a raider had last been exiled, and I clenched my teeth to keep the scream from escaping my lips.
I’d had no choice. Corvak had challenged me. Even if I knew Alana was not who she claimed to be, and my battle chief was correct in his doubts, I could not let his challenge remain unanswered. He’d directly threatened my command and authority. No Raas could let that stand.
I thought of Kratos, wishing desperately he were here instead of me. What would I have advised him, if I’d been majak and he’d been challenged by Corvak over his female? I choked back a laugh as I thought of the former Raas and my friend. I would not have been able to hold him back from killing Corvak.
Kratos had been wild with terror when he’d thought his female had been taken by attackers, and had shown no mercy to the aliens who’d attempted to harm her. He’d put Corvak in his place when the battle chief had questioned his leadership after taking the female on board. I shook my head. No, Kratos would have done no differently than I had.
I peered up at myself in the reflective surface above the counter. Sweat streaked my face, and my hair was tousled. Then why did I feel like I’d failed as Raas? Why did Corvak’s words echo in my head? Why did a part of me believe he was right, and I was making a deadly mistake?
Had he been defending the honor of the horde, while I risked my raiders by keeping Alana onboard? Was I putting my own desires above those of the Vandar? If so, this was a crime from which I could never recover.
I met my own eyes in the mirror, searching for the weakness and treachery my battle chief had claimed to see.
“No,” I growled. My gut told me that Alana was no threat. If she was in danger from the empire, then it was my job to keep her safe. If the Zagrath wanted her dead as badly as she said, then keeping her alive and away from their grasp was my most crucial mission. If she was an imperial asset, then keeping her as a Vandar prize would be a blow to the enemy, regardless of my wants.
My mind drifted to the female I’d left on my bed, and I jerked off my belt and let my kilt fall to the floor. I needed to cool off and rid my thoughts of her. Tugging off my boots and armor, I strode to the shower and pressed a series of buttons to activate the overhead waterfall.
As expected, the water was a cold shock to my system as it cascaded down. I braced my arms on the wall and let it hammer at the knots of my shoulders as it warmed. Slowly, my anger subsided, and my heartbeat slowed. Right or wrong, I’d made my decision. It was done, and I would have to live with my choice.
Then I heard her voice behind me, and desire ignited in my core again. The desire to punish her for her betrayal and to cut down anyone who tried to take her from me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Alana
I watched him stalk away from me, his hands in fists by his side.
Shit. That hadn’t gone like I’d wanted it to. All my intentions to apologize for trying to leave and thank him for defending me had flown out the window the moment I’d felt cornered. He’d done nothing but stand up for me, even when he knew I was in the wrong and his battle chief was right to be suspicious. Now, he’d exiled one of his own raiders, and I was acting like an ungrateful child.
I groaned and climbed off the bed. The least I owed him was an explanation. One that didn’t come with snark or complaints.
Loud breathing echoed from the attached room. The guy was clearly pissed. Not that I blamed him, but maybe I should wait until he cooled off.
“That could take the rest of the journey, Alana,” I told myself. “Besides, since when are you afraid of a guy’s temper?”
If I’d handled the hair-trigger temper of my grappling instructor at the Zagrath academy and his fondness for beating the shit out of me, I could handle the Raas. In my gut, I knew he’d never hurt me. At least, not physically. Like I’d suspected, the Vandar still held to old-fashioned ideas about women. While I didn’t buy into their overprotective-caveman crap, I didn’t mind the certainty that Bron wouldn’t strike me. It was more than I could say for the males I’d known who didn’t see any harm in dominating a woman with their fists. Killing them had always been more of a pleasure than a job.
I took tentative steps toward the attached bathroom. Instead of the splash of water from the pools, the sound of rushing water came out of the open doorway. When I reached the arch and peeked my head around, my breath caught in my throat.
Although I’d seen that the glossy black wall at the far end of the room had buttons, I’d never given much thought to it. Not that my thoughts were very focused now as I watched Raas Bron standing under a torrent of water spilling from a narrow ledge overhead. His arms were braced wide as the water pounded his shoulders and his bare back was to me. And what a glorious bare back it was.
My nipples hardened and heat pulsed between my legs as I watched him. Sure, I’d gotten a good look at him earlier in bed, but it had been dark. Now I could really drink in the sight of his muscular legs, firm ass, and broad back that tapered to a narrow waist.
“Fuck me,” I murmured, confident that he couldn’t hear me over the rushing water.
I forced my gaze away from his naked wet body. You’re here to explain yourself, Alana. Not gawp at him like a horny Burglig. I shook aside the thought of the bug-eyed creatures with no eyelids and walked into the room.
“Hey,” I called over the noise. “I’m sorry.”
Without stopping the flow of water, he turned around.
My mouth went dry. Fuck me. Again.
Without his kilt or shoulder armor or leather forearm guards, I could finally see the massive Vandar completely naked. My gaze shifted from his sculpted chest to his ridged stomach, and finally to the thick cock hanging between his legs, black markings wrapped around the shaft like the ones curling across his chest.
“What?” He swept his hands over his face and blinked at me, water hitting his back and spraying off his body.
I stepped closer, droplets stinging my face. “I said, I’m sorry.�
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He tilted his head then shook it. “You are what?”
Huffing out an impatient breath that the infuriating alien didn’t just turn off the water so he could hear me, I took another few steps to close the distance between us, wiping the spray from my own face as it hit me. “I said, I’m—“
He snaked an arm out and hooked it around my waist, jerking me under the water and then spinning me so that my back was pressed flat to the wall and his body pressed hard to my front to immobilize me.
“What the actual…?” I spluttered, as warm water ran down my face and into my eyes and mouth.
“I should punish you,” he said, his voice a throaty rumble that cut through the sound of the water. Even though the water was warm, his naked body was even warmer against me.
My pulse fluttered nervously. Had I been wrong about the Raas?
“Or maybe I should fuck the defiance out of you, instead?”
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart hammered wildly. Even though I was pinned to the wall by his rigid body, I struggled against him. “I said, I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” His head was next to mine, his mouth against my ear. “Sorry for running from me, or sorry for getting caught? Sorry that you didn’t trust me to keep you safe after I saved your life? Or sorry that I was forced to fight over you and exile one of my raiders?”
I pushed against him, but he was too big to budge. “I’m sorry you still don’t get why I have to leave.”
Not exactly my best apology, but not my worst.
He ground himself into me, his cock now hard. “I told you. You cannot leave.”
Arousal coursed through me, but I shook my head. “You have to let me go. If you don’t, the empire will come after both of us again. But the next time, it won’t be just one person. And they won’t stop until they’ve killed me and you.”
“I will stop them.” He pulled his face back so he could meet my eyes, even as water cascaded behind him.
I believed that he would try, but I also knew the empire. Too well. I hitched in a breath. “I can’t let you risk everything for me. It’s too much.”
“Because I don’t know you?” He cupped my face in one hand.
“You don’t. If you knew me, and all the things I’ve done, you’d be glad to be rid of me.” The truth of my words made a knot form in my gut. No one should want someone like me. Not after what the empire had made me.
He tipped my chin up. “You are wrong. If you left, I would never stop searching for you.” He brushed a kiss across my lips. “You are mine, now. The good and the bad.”
A strangled sob worked its way up my throat. How could he believe that after what I’d done? After what I’d forced him to do? It didn’t make any sense.
“I told you that a Vandar Raas never lies. We also never give up.” He dragged his thumb across my bottom lip. “Do you think that after battling the empire for millennia, I would be scared by them coming after you?” His eyes were molten, searing his words into me. “Let them come, and I will rain fire on them for daring to threaten my mate.”
“You don’t want a mate as bad as me.”
“I want you,” he said. “No matter how bad you are.”
In that moment, I believed him. I was his, and he would die to protect me. I opened my mouth to speak but he tangled a hand in my hair, and jerked my mouth to his.
Need stormed through me like fire, scorching everything in its path as I arched into him, deaf to the water rushing around us. All that mattered was the burn of his flesh against mine, and his hot tongue plundering my mouth.
His mouth claimed mine as possessively as his hands that moved roughly down my body until he reached my ass. He lifted me up with a fast jerk, spreading my legs and wrapping them around his waist as the fabric of my kilt rode up and bunched around my stomach. A desperate breath escaped my lips as he pressed me hard against the slick, stone wall, rocking into me.
I didn’t just want him to fuck me. I needed him inside me, as if being filled by him would burn off the desire that clawed at me like an untamed beast and kill off the creature the empire had made me into.
“Fuck me, Bron,” I said after ripping my mouth from his.
His predatory gaze locked on me, his dark eyes savage as he notched his cock at my entrance. “You could not stop me.”
Then he thrust hard and fast, causing all the breath to leave me. I lost the ability to think, my heart hammering as he impaled me against the wall. Bron’s jaw was tight as he moved thickly between my legs, my own legs sliding down his wet back as water rushed over them.
I clutched his shoulders, heat rolling through me as he fucked me against the wall. His rhythm was punishing, but I welcomed each deep thrust and the spirals of pleasure making me moan and shake.
“You needed this, didn’t you, my bad mate?” he gritted out, the veins in his neck straining. “Needed to be punished.”
I could only whimper in response, as he drove into me without mercy. When my body started to tremble, I scraped my fingers through his hair and pulled his eyes to mine. His claiming gaze scoured my face as I lost control and shattered in his arms, gasping his name.
Lodging his cock deep for a moment as I quivered around him and arched my head back, Bron pulled my face back to him. “My bad girl,” he husked.
Then he pistoned into me with primal fury, roaring as he exploded inside me. My legs slipped down as he sagged into me, and my body hummed from the pleasure of his exquisite punishment.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Bron
“Vaes!” I didn’t turn as the doors to my strategy room opened, but I knew it was Svar, and what he’d come to report.
A quick tap of his heels told me he was standing at attention behind me. “It is done, Raas.”
I stood at the wall of glass, my gaze fixed on the burnished, brown surface of the planet below us. Kimithion III was a class-M planet, with a pre-warp society that had so far avoided war, famine, and imperial rule. It was also the new home of my former battle chief.
I nodded but remained facing the glass. I did not want to see the disapproval on my majak’s face. “You do not agree with my decision.”
He hesitated before releasing a long-held breath. “He gave you no choice.”
“But you would have made a different one?” I pivoted to face him. “If I was still majak, I would also doubt such an extreme action.”
Even Kratos with his dark impulses never exiled a raider, I thought, before pushing the doubt aside.
“The planet is acceptable, and the people do not have any issue with him living among them,” Svar reported, his voice devoid of emotion.
“The residents of the planet are…?”
Svar glanced down at the tablet in his hand. “A mixture of humans and native Kimithions. The natives maintain governmental rule, but the humans appear to live side by side with them and sit on their counsel, although they are not compatible for mating with each other.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“The Kimithions are cold-blooded creatures with scales for skin and an entirely different reproductive system than humans.”
“As long as they can manage to keep the Zagrath at bay,” I said, knowing that Corvak could not endure imperial rule, nor would I be so cruel as to force that upon any raider, no matter their crime.
“I’m afraid there is little of value for the empire to take.” Svar tapped his screen. “Aside from an arid climate that appeals to the cold-blooded natives, it is a barren place.”
I swallowed down the bitter taste of regret. If I could undo my actions, I would, but going back on a pronouncement of exile would be admitting weakness. If I did that, I might as well surrender my horde. Weakness was not something a Raas could indulge. Nor was a challenge as bold as the one Corvak had made.
My majak lowered his device. “He will be safe—if restless—until…”
“You’ve already sent word to the other hordes?”
He inclined his head. “
On an encrypted channel, as you requested.”
I pressed my lips together, spinning back around. “Good. He will not go unclaimed for long. He is a tough fighter.”
Although it had not been done in a generation or two, a Vandar raider could move between hordes. Joining a horde was almost always for life, but there were cases of warriors moving from one to another. I doubted that Raas Toraan would have the stomach for such an impulsive battle chief as Corvak, but Raas Kaalek might appreciate the raider’s thirst for battle and impatience to spill blood. Kaalek had always been the least disciplined of the brothers.
Then there was always the fourth Raas. The one who patrolled the hinterlands and was not related to the three Raas brothers. Would the mysterious Raas Vassim trek across sectors to retrieve an exiled raider?
No one had seen him or his horde since he wrested control from the deranged Raas before him. He’d pledged to restore balance to his horde and cease the violence that had earned their reputation as monsters who feasted upon flesh and torched everything in their path. Rumors drifted across space from the far reaches where Raas Vassim wandered—whispers of debauchery so wild that even the empire had avoided contact—but little was known if these were spread by the Zagrath, or the Raas himself.
“Our transmissions have been received by all and acknowledged by all but one,” Svar said.
He did not need to tell me which one. “Corvak might do well with the unknown Raas. If his horde still flies.”
“We would have heard if it had been destroyed. Even so far away, word would have reached us of such a defeat.”
Svar seemed sure, but I was not. It wasn’t that I believed Raas Vassim would be bested by imperial forces. My concern was that he’d gone rogue and no longer patrolled the ominous space beyond the more populated sectors.
His predecessor had gone insane flying through the emptiness that was the hinterlands. Who was to say the same fate had not befallen Raas Vassim? It had been so long since he and his horde had been heard from that they were not even mentioned on Zendaren. Even the old Raas Maassen who seemed to know all just shook his head and glowered at the mention of the fourth horde.