by Cynthia Sax
He firmed his resolve. She trusted him not to hurt her. He wouldn’t abuse that trust.
Dare gripped the bottom of her chest covering. The fabric was slightly moist. Swallowing a grimace, he lifted it over her head and tossed it on the floor beside the doors.
His dagger, two flashy rings, the memory chip and other items skittered across the chamber. His lips flattened. His little thief had added to her illicit bounty.
His gaze returned to her and all of his irritation evaporated.
His female was exquisite, her form subtle slopes and gentle dips, dainty and feminine. He wanted to both ravish and protect her, bathe her in his fire and wrap her in his arms.
She wasn’t completely bare from the waist up. Strips of cleaner fabric had been wound tightly around her chest, ruthlessly confining her curves.
She was shapelier than he expected.
He stared at her, both parts of him riveted by the deep valley between her breasts. “You bound your chest.”
His mate gazed at him as though he was lacking intelligence, which he might be, his brains rattled by her near nudity. “Boys don’t have breasts.”
The rags, the stench, the hair, the dirt had all been a disguise. The universe was a harsh place for a female on her own. His mate had survived by acting like a boy.
She was clever…and beautiful.
His gaze drifted over her once more. His fingers twitched.
“I can control my beast.” He told himself.
“Your beast wants to eat me.” She smelled of fear, the scent bothering him.
He was her mate. Even his primitive Drache didn’t wish her to be scared of him. “My beast wants to mate with you.”
Her gaze lowered. “Ohhh…” She gaped at the bulge in his ass coverings.
His cock, liking her attention, bobbed. Her eyes widened.
“When you bit me,” she whispered. “I thought…”
She thought he wanted to kill her. His heart twisted.
He couldn’t assure her he wouldn’t have ended her lifespan. His beast had been free. There was no predicting what he would have done. “Biting is a part of mating for a Dracheon.”
A normal Dracheon ensured the bite wasn’t too deep, that there was no slashing, no ripping. He might not have that restraint.
“I won’t take you. Not now.” He would wait until they returned to the Refuge, where Kralj could help him. “I told you I’d clean you and that’s all we’ll do. I always keep my word.” Even if it killed him. “The bindings will stay on.”
“There are bindings around other places.” She skimmed her fingertips across her hips.
His mouth dried, his mind mentally removing the fabric. “Good.”
He wouldn’t unwrap her. The bindings would remind him of the areas not to touch, put a visual barrier between them, a chain on his beast.
She gazed at him for several moments through her long black lashes, her expression doubtful.
He didn’t move, waiting, waiting, waiting.
“You can clean me.” She finally gave him the permission he desired.
“Thank you, Faylee.” He crouched before her, removed her boots.
They were too large for her feet. The left boot contained a dagger. He set that aside and straightened.
“Turn around.” He instructed, his voice husky.
She obeyed him without a sound.
The silence must be part of her disguise. No one, after hearing her talk, would mistake her for a boy.
“You can speak openly when you’re alone with me.” He tugged her ass coverings downward. More fabric was wrapped around her hips, flattening her curves. “I know your secrets.”
“I’ll try,” she whispered. “I’ve watched my words all my life. It feels strange to speak freely with someone.”
He stared at her. “You’ve been disguised as a boy your entire lifespan?”
She dipped her head. Her shaggy hair fell over her face, partially concealing it.
Frag. Maintaining that act for that long required willpower…and intelligence.
He grasped two cleaning cloths, gave one to her. “Tidy your hands.”
She brushed the fabric over her fingers, revealing brown skin and too many scars. His mate had known pain.
She didn’t say anything.
“The proper reply to that is ‘I will.’” He pushed her for a response.
“I will.” She recited it dutifully.
That pleased him…a bit too much. Dare pushed back his desire.
Starting at the top of his female, he tidied her hair, snapping the cleaning cloth to refresh it. The strands, once clean, were gleaming black, straight, fine, and decadently soft.
“Your hair is beautiful.” He sifted it through his fingers, reveling in that experience.
“I cut it myself.” She looked down at her dirty fingernails.
He smiled. “I wasn’t admiring the style.”
Her lips twitched.
He cupped her chin, lifted her gaze to his. Humor added gold specks to her brown eyes. He flicked the cleaning cloth, converting the dirt to oxygen, and then skimmed it over her forehead. “Why are you on your own? What happened to your parents?”
“I don’t have parents.” Her slender shoulders raised and fell.
“Everyone has parents.” He smoothed her eyebrows. “Mine live on my home planet.” He hadn’t seen them in solar cycles. They refused to associate with him.
His mate pursed her lips. “I’ve belonged to Three-eyed Mak as long as I can remember.”
She belonged to him now. He kept that comment to himself, snapped the cleaning cloth, ran it down her nose. “Why do you owe him credits?”
Her gaze lowered once more. “I wasn’t always as skilled as I am now. He protected me, ensured I ate, drank.”
Three-eyed Mak had done that for a price. Dare’s lips flattened. “He forced you to steal for him.” He rubbed the dirt off her chin.
A dark bruise colored the skin along her jaw. He growled, a red-hot rage coursing through him. Someone had hit his mate.
Not trusting himself, he retreated to the far side of the chamber, putting a safe distance between him and Faylee. His claws extended. Fire burned in his chest. His beast wanted to punish, hurt, rip the being to pieces.
No one harmed his female. He glared at the offensive mark.
“Fine.” That bruised jaw protruded. “Judge me for stealing…like all of your kind do.” She crossed her arms and braced her bare feet apart. “I don’t care. Choices are few for cave dwellers and I’m good at relieving high-credit beings of their overpriced trinkets.”
He couldn’t say he didn’t judge her for stealing because he did. “Who hurt you?” That was the information he required right now. “Tell me his name and I’ll hunt him down. He will never hurt you again.”
She looked at him. Her forehead furrowed. “You would fight someone because he hurt me?”
“I will protect you.” His voice softened, his anger dissipating. “Always.”
“You don’t know me,” she mumbled. “I don’t know me.” She sighed, that forlorn sound pulling at his heart. “This is all very confusing.”
His mate had always been on her own. Suddenly having a mate must be a huge adjustment for her.
“You’ll get used to it.” He returned to her side and resumed his cleaning, seeking to comfort her with his touch. “It’s a change for me also. This was supposed to be a simple mission.”
He relayed the details of it while he tidied her. They would never be apart again. His secrets could now be her secrets.
That pleased him. On Dracheon, he had no one to confide in. He had friends at the Refuge. Dare told her about those warriors also, sharing stories about them. But there was a deeper level of trust with a mate.
He cleaned her to her toes, skipping over the strips of fabric. Her natural scent grew stronger and stronger. He breathed it in, the fragrance tormenting his already hard cock, taunting his beast.
She shivered.
“You’re cold.” He exchanged the cleaning cloth for a much larger square of fabric, wrapped it around her.
“I’m always cold,” she murmured, drawing the square upward until it covered her chin. “I can never get warm.”
That was because she was a Dracheon’s mate. He drew her to him, rubbed his palms up and down her back. Once he fully bonded with her, her body would change to be compatible with his. He could then cover her with his heat, with his fire.
If she survived their bonding.
He pushed that dark thought away and turned his attention to his mission. “After we’ve eaten, you’ll take me to see the Rebel agent.”
“Can’t do that,” she murmured against his chest.
Was everything to be a battle with his mate? He clenched his jaw, sexual frustration increasing his irritation. “You will take me to her, Faylee.”
“No, I won’t, Dare.” She stiffened. “I only know where your Rebel agent is at sunrise. I haven’t tracked Vicuska’s routine at any other duration in the planet rotation.”
“Oh.” He felt like a fool. “Then you’ll take me to see her at sunrise.”
“If she’s alive,” his mate muttered.
He frowned down at her. “Why would you say that?”
“You’re hunting her. The Humanoid Alliance are hunting her.” Faylee blew out her breath. “And she knows nothing about hiding.”
“She’s an agent.” She must know something about hiding.
“She hides as well as you do.” His mate met his gaze. “You drew my attention immediately.”
He would draw her attention. He was her male.
But he was also not skilled at hiding. Despite Dita’s coaching, he had felt the gazes on him as he moved through the settlement. “We have to be covert.” Or they’d lead the Humanoid Alliance straight to the Rebels. “At sunrise, you’ll show me how to do that.”
His female’s chin dropped. “You’ll have to get your silver scales dirty.”
He suspected that would be part of it. “Then I’ll get them dirty.” That would thrill his Drache. His beast enjoyed any opportunity to act primitively.
“Your Rebel female won’t like it.” His mate sang that warning.
“She won’t like being dead either.” And the Rebel wasn’t his female. The little thief standing in front of him was. “Clean your garments.” He swatted her ass. “They stink.”
Chapter Four
The Dracheon warrior wanted her. Faylee didn’t trust his promises of protection, his vows of always, but she did believe in the hardness of his cock, the flames in his eyes.
She hid in the cleansing chamber while the objects he’d requested from the domicile’s owner were being delivered. The space was immaculately clean and brightly lit, as different from the caves as a sun was different from a moon.
This planet rotation would be a respite from reality, an escape from the soul-crushing poverty. It could also be her opportunity to finally experience physical closeness with a male.
Dare realized she was female. Once the domicile workers left, they’d be alone. None of Three-eyed Mak’s minions would uncover her true identity or her activities within the domicile.
They’d only be together for a short duration. She had to leave him, wasn’t free.
But they could fuck before they parted.
If she could figure out how to communicate that to him. A lifespan of living as a boy had kept her alive. It hadn’t prepared her to seduce a sexy Dracheon male.
She unwrapped her breasts and gazed at herself in a reflective surface. Her curves were smaller than those of the Rebel female, but they were larger than the breasts some of the pleasure workers sported.
Males paid to fuck those females. Dare could mount her for free.
The pleasure workers enticed males by flashing their bare skin. That was an extremely effective strategy. She could do the same.
Faylee removed the fabric from her hips and exhaled deeply, the freedom liberating, her confidence building. She had a plan.
“The workers are gone, mate.” Dare’s low rumble flowed down her body and coiled in her womb, verbal heat warming her all over.
It was time to take action. She gathered the covering cloth around her body and exited the cleansing chamber.
He stood by the door, tall, broad-shouldered. Black fabric was draped over his head, covering his body, casting his face into shadow.
It couldn’t conceal his eyes. Lit with low flames, they called to her.
The freshly manufactured nourishment bars beckoned also. Their delectable scent filled her nostrils. Her stomach growled. Loudly.
Her face heated. She grasped her midsection.
“Your Drache is ravenous.” Dare grinned, displaying sharp white teeth. “Sit.” He pulled out the chair.
It was the only one in the chamber. “You sit there.” She perched on the edge of the horizontal support. “I’m fine here.” She was accustomed to sitting on any flat surface.
The space was covered with a variety of nourishment bars and fancy containers of beverage. She gazed at the display, her eyes wide, her stomach twisting with hunger.
He turned away from her. She snatched a nourishment bar, hid it under the covering cloth.
He removed his chest covering, discarded an impressive stockpile of weapons. His scales were shiny, his muscles defined.
She gawked at him, temporarily distracted. The male was fit, every section of him toned and tight.
He sat in the chair and perused the horizontal support. His gaze paused at the space where the nourishment bar had been. “I ordered the nourishment bars for you.” His tone was dry. “You don’t have to steal them.”
Shit. The male was observant. She bent her head and nibbled on the nourishment bar, watching him as he poured a container of beverage, slid it to her.
The beverage was clear. She sipped it cautiously, having never tried liquid that pure. “Mmm…” It tasted delicious.
“I thought you’d like it.” His smile was adorably smug. “It has a hint of smoke to it.” He poured a container for himself, leaned back in his chair, his big body relaxed.
He didn’t look at her but he was aware of her movements and that made her nervous. She devoured the nourishment bar, waited until he took a drink, snatched another one.
The first nourishment bar had meat added to it. The second one was flavored with a type of fruit. If it was a good planet rotation, she treated herself to one of the deformed plain nourishment bars the merchants sold for low credits. She’d never had luxury bars like she was now eating.
Stealing them was against Three-eyed Mak’s rules. She was to target the visitors to the settlement. The residents and the merchants had the power and ability to not only catch and execute her but also make trouble for all of the cave dwellers, including her boss.
By the fourth nourishment bar, Faylee’s stomach was full to the point of extreme discomfort. She stole one, two, three more, hiding them under her covering cloth.
“You don’t have to hoard nourishment bars.” The Dracheon had seen those thefts. “You’ll eat and drink every planet rotation. I’ll ensure that happens.”
Those were words only a male who’d never been hungry could speak. He arrogantly believed nourishment bars would always be there because, for him, they always had been there.
Having experienced hunger, she knew that wasn’t reality. She planned to leave him and when she did that, her access to nourishment bars would go away.
Before she left, she wanted him to touch her. The pleasure workers smiled at their clients. Faylee offered her mark her most seductive smile. It felt unnatural, forced, fake, not her.
That was the point. Being herself wouldn’t attract any being.
Dare, the male she was trying to interest, frowned. “Did the nourishment bars upset your stomach?”
Her cheeks heated.
The smiling wasn’t effective. More drastic tactics were required. She parted the covering cloth, showing
him her naked breasts.
His gaze lowered. The flames in his eyes blazed. He slid his forked tongue slowly over his bottom lip and her nipples tightened.
It was working. She’d soon have his mouth on her skin, his palms on her curves. Faylee’s pussy dripped with anticipation.
Dare leaned forward, reached out his hands. They were big and scaled. What would they feel like on her body?
She’d find out in a moment. His warmth swirled around her. Her breath caught. This was happening. He—
He pulled the covering cloth closed, concealing her breasts once more from his view. “You’ll become cold.” His smile was aggravatingly gentle.
She didn’t require the covering cloth to keep her warm. Her face was the surface temperature of the sun.
Her second attempt at seduction had failed. She didn’t know why. He desired her. Her gaze lowered. His cock was hard.
Maybe he was shy. She tilted her head to the side, examining his handsome face.
Some of the pleasure workers, thinking she was a boy, believed she was the same way. They would beckon her closer, ask if they could give her a little kiss.
Faylee had never kissed anyone but it didn’t look difficult. Lips brushed against lips. She could do that.
“I want to kiss you,” she blurted.
He stared at her with those fascinating flame-filled eyes of his, didn’t say anything.
She squirmed, ready to implode with embarrassment. “Just a little kiss,” she whispered. “I’ve never experienced one and I thought…”
She didn’t know what she’d thought. This was going horribly wrong.
“You’ve never been kissed?” His voice was husky.
“Everyone believes I’m a boy,” she mumbled, bowing her head, feeling like a failure.
He sighed. “Come here.” He held out his left hand.
This would be a pity kiss but she’d take it. She hopped off the horizontal support, leaving her pilfered nourishment bars behind, and slid her free palm over his.
He pulled her to him, positioning her between his legs. Warmth radiated from him. His touch soothed the uneasiness inside her. He smelled like smoke and fire and dominant male.
Their physical connection surpassed any she’d ever had but she was greedy, wanted more. She tilted her body toward him. “Does this mean I can kiss you?”