Dark Cure

by Cynthia Sax

  With love. He loved Chamele—not merely the planet—the entire system.

  Yet he had chosen her happiness instead of his home. Was that decision based on his genetic bond with her or did he care for her that much?

  She wanted him to care for her.

  As they entered the settlement, residents turned and gawked at them. Gisella squirmed with embarrassment. Her ass was sticking in the air. Her pose wasn’t professional at all.

  Oghul placed one of his palms on that part of her body. He extended the claws on his other hand. His muscles flexed, his biceps bulging.

  Arousal bloomed inside her.

  Her primitive warrior was sending a clear message to everyone around them. She was his. He would hurt anyone who touched her.

  Beings within the Refuge received that communication. They hurried out of his way, the path before them clearing.

  Oghul carried her into the beverage outlet, headed directly for their shared private chambers. The corridors were vacant. Most of the modified humanoids remained on the battlefield, celebrating.

  She and Oghul would have their own celebration. The doors to their chambers opened and closed around them. He plopped her on their sleeping support. She bounced.

  Her barbarian gazed down at her for a moment, his shoulders squared, his feet braced apart. Dried blood flaked off his golden skin. His long black hair flowed down his back, framing his form.

  He was primitive and fierce, a warrior intent on claiming what he was due.

  She was his prize.

  “Free your hair for me.” The dominance in his voice quashed any protests she might have considered.

  Gisella uncoiled the long strands, allowed them to fall around her face. He growled, that low, deep sound making her tremble.

  “Remove your jacket.” That was his next command.

  “I’m dirty.” She hastily discarded that garment, her fingers shaking with need. “We should—”

  “We should bond.” He approached her with a gleam in his eyes, and a tremor of excitement rippled through her. “Now.”

  He raked his claws over her form, shredding her flight suit. Her heart pounded as she stayed still.

  She’d seen the damage he could do, how he’d dispatched the enemy with one swipe of his big hand, cutting through skin, flesh, bone. If his control slipped, even by a breath, those deadly tips would slice through her.

  That wouldn’t happen. He’d never hurt her. But the possibility of danger turned her on.

  He stripped her in mere moments, rendering her nude except for the boots on her feet. Cool air swept over her body.

  She reclined, spreading her thighs, showing her warrior how she dripped with desire, how much she craved him. He gazed at her with his dark eyes, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in her musk.

  “Others might benefit from your healing but only I see you like this.” Pride and possessiveness edged his voice. “Your beautiful hair loose, your pale skin bare, your pink pussy wet and ready for me.”

  “This is all for you, only you.” She cupped her breasts, pinching her nipples, giving herself a hint of pain. “How do you want to take your reward?”

  Her barbarian retracted his claws. “I want to take you every way possible.”

  He flipped up his flimsy ass coverings and stroked his long thick cock. A bead of pre-cum formed on his tip.

  The sight of him working his shaft aroused her. He was all male, all savage, and he was hers.

  She fanned her folds, thinking about him, about them, about the possible combinations. “I could lick you, suck you, bring you close to release and then you could come on my breasts.”

  His gaze flicked from her pussy to her chest. “We’ll do that next.”

  He planned to fuck her multiple times. She wiggled her ass. “What are we doing first?”

  “This.” He grasped her legs and pulled her toward him. Her skin rubbed against the sleeping support, the burn warming her all over, his rough treatment stimulating her. “Show me your sweet hole.”

  Stars. The battle had made him more forceful. She parted her pinkness for him, displaying that intimate part of her.

  “This is mine.” He circled her entrance with his cockhead, tracing it round and round. “This was made for me.”

  “It is yours to take.” She would give him her body willingly.

  “Watch as I mount you.” He pushed into her and her flesh pulled tight around him, the pressure, the fullness, divine. “Look at how you embrace me.”

  He stopped moving. His tip was inside her. Her pussy lips hugged his shaft.

  The connection between them intensified, flowing from him to her and back again. That link and the pulse of his veins reassured her. He was alive, was with her.

  “This is our world, not Carinae E, not Chamele 2.” He squeezed her upper thighs. “You are all I need. Right here, inside you, is where I belong.”

  How had he sensed her fears? “Would you be satisfied with this?” Emotion strained her voice.

  “This is all any male could ever desire.” He pushed deeper and they both groaned, their pleasure shared.

  She studied his scarred face. He was all any female could ever desire also. She would make him happy, ensure he didn’t regret the decisions he’d made.

  He stopped moving, looked down at her, a glint in his eyes. She hooked her legs around his hips and tried to draw him closer.

  Her barbarian didn’t capitulate to her silent demands. Instead, he hauled her toward him, drawing her over his shaft, using her like a fuck tool.

  She had to comply. His grip on her hips was unbreakable. Her warrior was big and strong and in control. He knew what he wanted.

  Her feminine folds connected with his unrelenting base. She was full of rigid cock, stuffed with him.

  He didn’t give her time to adjust to that invasion. Her savage male pinned her into place and fucked her. Hard.

  The sleeping support slammed into the wall. Skin smacked against skin, his pace punishing. His jaw jutted and his countenance darkened.

  He used her with an appealing ruthlessness, pounding into her. Unable to move, all she could do was take it. She was an outlet for his passion.

  And stars, she loved it. She clutched her breasts and released them, clutched and released to the same rhythm. Her panting punctuated his thrusts. He grunted, the veins on his forehead becoming more accentuated.

  Sweat flowed between his pecs, cleansing the dried blood from the battle, shining the gold of his skin, polishing the silver of his scars. Memories of the fighting, the dead, the wounded, the fear she had experienced, temporarily faded, sucked into the whirlwind of need spinning within her.

  There was no healing better than this, no cure finer than her barbarian’s fucking. When he drove into her, she felt alive, wanted, desired.

  She drifted her hands over her body, luring his gaze lower. His clasp on her intensified, his muscles flexing.

  He’d leave bruises on her, would mark her. She’d wear proof of this encounter for planet rotations, that thought making her pussy drip.

  “Touch yourself.” He issued that order.

  She orbited her clit with her fingertips, drawing smaller and smaller circles on her flesh. Her chest grew tight. Her breathing became ragged. A hum rose from her throat.

  Her only thoughts were of him, of his hands and cock and the ruggedness of his profile, of the pressure he was building inside of her.

  “Oghul.” She shifted on the sleeping support, tortured by yearning, ready to fall into release, not wanting to descend alone.

  “Don’t come until I give you permission, gerel.” That brusquely-spoken command yanked her back from the edge.

  She had to please him. Her lips flattened, the strain of holding on extreme. She was strong. She could do this.

  One tap of her fingers against her clit would cause her to come. Seeking to remove that temptation, she pulled her hands away from her pussy.

  “Did I say you could stop touching yourself?” Her
barbarian frowned at her.

  Shit. She curved her hands over her mons, spreading her fingers around his shaft. He jerked. His thrusts turned erratic, his base swelling.

  Their bodies bumped together. Seeking to stabilize herself, to give herself a moor in the erotic storm, she clenched down on him, her steadfast male.

  He roared, driving into her with a bone-jarring severity. A blast of cum hit her, shredding the last remnants of her willpower, taking her by surprise.

  She screamed, flying upward, anchored only by his grip on her hips, his cock in her pussy. Her body gyrated in the air. Her teeth rattled. Colors flashed in front of her eyes, the brightness temporarily blinding her.

  “Mine.” He slowly lowered his body.

  She fought her containment, biting his right pec and raking her fingernails over his arms. He pushed her down, trapping her between the sleeping support and his hard muscle, as he filled her with his essence.

  She thrashed her arms and legs, the bliss too acute for stillness, but there was no escaping him. He’d captured her, wouldn’t release her.

  Finally, the bombardment of ecstasy ended. He shuddered, slumping against her. The vivid hues dazzling her faded. The rush in her ears quieted.

  He breathed heavily, his chest pressing against her breasts. She tried to smooth the red lines she’d left on his arms.

  “I have pain inhibitors if you need them.” She hadn’t meant to hurt him.

  He chuckled, his fit physique shaking against her curves. “You’re perfect for me. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  Gisella frowned. “I don’t ever doubt that.”

  She questioned whether or not she was making the right decision for the two of them. She never questioned whether or not they were right for each other.

  He laughed harder.

  A disturbing thought passed through her brain. “Do you doubt it?”

  His mirth ceased. He lifted his head. Gold sparkled in his dark eyes. “No, I don’t ever doubt it. I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were mine.”

  She relaxed. “You’re very intelligent for a barbarian.”

  His lips twitched. “You’re very savage for a medic.”

  Her gaze lowered to the mark she’d left on his right pec. Oh, fuck. He never wore chest coverings. Everyone would know she’d bitten him. “I’m covering that with gauze.”

  “My warriors will ask me where I got that wound.” He grinned, the damn male finding her mortification amusing. “I don’t lie to them or to anyone else.”

  “You don’t have to answer their questions.” She shook her head. “Conceal the truth this one time for me. I won’t bite you again.”

  “I’ll conceal the truth for you.” He rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Their bodies remained joined. “If you promise to bite me again.”

  She met his gaze. His expression was sincere.

  Her male was a primitive being. Her toes curled in her boots.

  She liked that.

  Chapter Twelve

  Oghul woke to the sound of buzzing. He flung his gerel behind him, ignoring her shriek, and crouched on the sleeping support, his claws extended.

  There was no one in the chamber. All of the viewscreens flashed.

  “It’s a communication.” His gerel slapped his back, that sexy pain dissipating the daze clouding his thoughts. “I’ll answer it.”

  She climbed over him, brushing her breasts against his right shoulder, and his brain switched instantly from fight to fuck, his cock hardening. He retracted his claws, ran his hands over her lush ass.

  She wiggled before wrapping a covering cloth around her curves, impishly giving him a show. Then the playfulness faded, replaced by resolve.

  His gerel had become a medic once more, professional, calm yet still adorable. She padded over to the nearest viewscreen, placed one of her hands on the surface, and an image of a female in a white jacket appeared.

  The communication was for her.

  He relaxed, admiring his little human as she chattered with a member of her team. She appeared sweet and innocent with her long hair loose and her bare feet braced apart, but only a fool would discount her. His gerel had the courage of a seasoned warrior and the emotional strength of three males.

  He was honored she was his.

  She ended the transmission. “I have to go to the medic bay.”

  “I assumed we would be leaving.” He handed his gerel a flight suit and her white jacket.

  She dressed quickly. The situation must be urgent if his dirt-detesting medic didn’t believe she had the time to clean herself.

  He wrapped his ass coverings around his waist and donned his boots. “I overheard some of your conversation.” The Palavian’s growth had returned.

  “We shouldn’t discuss patients with unauthorized beings.” She slipped her feet into her boots. He’d polished them during the rest cycle.

  “Is a warrior assigned to protect the medic bay an unauthorized being?” He grabbed two nourishment bars, put one in her jacket pocket, bit into the other.

  “Anyone on my team would be authorized.” She flashed him a cock-tugging smile as she collected her gun, handheld, mini-medic pack. “That’s why I said we shouldn’t discuss patients, not I shouldn’t discuss patients.”

  “I’m part of your team now.” He grasped one of her hands, honored by her inclusion. His medic guarded her patients zealously, would never share their information with a being she didn’t completely trust. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t.” There was no doubt in her voice.

  That pleased him.

  They walked through the doors, along the corridors. Warriors nodded to him as they passed, gazed at Gisella with an amusing wariness.

  They exited the structure. The sun hadn’t yet risen, the sky above them black. The air was hot and dry, sucking the moisture from his skin.

  He extended the claws on his free hand, sending a clear message to everyone they saw. His gerel was under his protection. If they touched her, they would deal with him.

  No one tested him. Beings moved out of their way.

  He sucked back his disappointment. A physical confrontation would have been a great way to start the planet rotation. He would have to burn his excess energy off in the fighting ring.

  “I normally communicate with my team before I make additions to it.” She glanced up at him as they walked.

  He understood what she was implying. The other medics might not react well to his presence if they weren’t forewarned about the new role.

  “I won’t guard your medic bay this shift.” He had his own team to build, warriors to approach, skills to evaluate.

  “If you train, be conscious of your wounds.” She stopped outside the structure. “Try not to hurt yourself.”

  The caring in her voice warmed his chest. “I’ll try.” He bent his head, brushed his lips over hers.

  Her face turned pink. “This is a respectable medic bay.” She glanced furtively around them.

  “We’re not in the medic bay. We’re outside of it.” He chuckled. “Go. Save males not worthy of being saved.” He squeezed his gerel’s hand before releasing it.

  “Everyone deserves medical care.” She gave him another fleeting smile and walked into the medic bay, her hips swaying.

  He gazed at her, wanting to follow, but—

  “Walk with me.” Kralj strode out of the shadows, his long lean form covered with black leather and blood. He carried body parts impaled on a spike.

  Dita skipped beside him. The Ruler’s mate juggled a severed head. She grinned at Oghul.

  Oghul grinned back at the tiny assassin. She amused him.

  A rumble rose from Kralj’s chest. “Did I give you permission to look at her?”

  A manufactured wind blasted Oghul. Granules of sand peppered his boots. “No.” He snapped his gaze back to the male. “Sir.”

  That scary being deserved additional respect. Oghul had heard the stories. Kralj could kill ever
yone in his terrain with a mere thought.

  “I prefer to kill them slower.” The Ruler hefted the remains of his last victim higher on his shoulder. “And I wouldn’t target everyone. I only end the lifespans of beings who break my rules.”

  Was he being targeted? Oghul swallowed. Hard. “Did I break the rules?”

  “Not yet.” Shadows obscured Kralj’s face.

  Not yet. He considered that response. “I would only kill another being inside the Refuge if he or she threatened my gerel.” He kept pace with the male.

  “The Palavian will die.” Kralj was blunt. “If you stay in the Refuge, the brothers will either kill your gerel and I will kill them or you will kill them and I will kill you. Those are the two possible outcomes.”

  “Zondoo.” Either way, his lifespan would end. If his gerel died, he would die. He wouldn’t want to live without her.

  “If you stay in the Refuge.” The Ruler repeated that part.

  “And if we don’t stay in the Refuge?” They could choose to return to Chamele 2 now, rather than voyage there at a later planet rotation. “Will the brothers kill someone else?”

  His gerel wouldn’t agree to leave the planet if her departure put anyone on her team at risk. She was extremely protective of the medics she led.

  “When the brothers can’t find you, they’ll look for a fight elsewhere.” Kralj shrugged. “They’ll find it with one of my warriors, a warrior who can control his emotions around the males.” His tone was dry.

  He wasn’t a weak being. Oghul frowned. He had restraint.

  “No warrior has that much restraint.” The Ruler glanced at Dita. “I lose control when beings threaten my mate.”

  She nodded at her male, the two of them communicating without a word.

  Oghul didn’t want to be in the Refuge when Kralj lost control. He wagered that was messy.

  “It was very messy.” The male’s attention returned to him. “My warrior won’t kill the brothers but he will convince them to leave…permanently.”

  The danger would pass. Oghul could return to Carinae E with his gerel, make the Refuge their home.