by Cynthia Sax
Her gaze lowered to the barbarian’s groin. His cock was large and rigid, jutting from his form. Her pussy dripped. They would fuck. She wanted him as much as he appeared to want her.
“I hope you have a change of garments in that ship of yours.” Her lips twisted. “Your boots, ass coverings, and the weapons they contained, are likely gone from wherever you left them.”
The Refuge hosted the best thieves in the universe. Her gaze flicked to the still-celebrating boys. Some of them were positioned at the top of the settlement’s walls.
“I left my boots and ass coverings with Balvan.” Ariq lifted a corpse, extracted guns and daggers from the deceased male.
Some of the tension inside Xareni dissipated. Whatever reservations the Chamele had about raiding the dead seemed to have vanished.
“I doubt he’ll steal my things.” He shrugged.
“Balvan doesn’t steal.” The modified humanoid had no use for that. “He prefers to stomp on skulls with his big boots.” The male was a fellow monster. “He likes the sound that makes.”
Her barbarian chuckled. “In battle, you fight with whatever you find.”
They plundered the downed males of anything useful.
Spark flew to them, landed on Ariq’s right shoulder, digging his talons into the male’s skin.
That must have hurt the Chamele, yet he didn’t protest, showed no signs of pain.
“Spark.” She patted one of her leather-clad shoulders.
“Leave him where he is.” Ariq rejected her softhearted attempt to save him some agony. “I need a few more scars.”
“I don’t need any more fuckin’ scars.” She straightened. “We should return to the little monsters on the wall. They’ll have another target for us.”
The boys usually did. Many beings preyed on the young, the defenseless.
“We’ll have more dirt-encased flattened nourishment bars.” The damn Chamele grasped one of Xareni’s leather-clad hands. “Mmm…mmm…delicious.”
“I suspect they were originally delicious.” She walked with her barbarian and her drakon partner toward the settlement’s gates. “Balvan’s mate, Elyce, fabricates nourishment bars for the orphaned children in the Refuge. I would wager my best dagger the boys stole their payment from her.”
“Nothing is wasted on Carinae E.” Ariq’s lips quirked upward.
He listened to her, accepted her, wanted her. Warmth spread across her chest. His cock was unrelentingly hard, and he acted not at all contrite about that.
They passed a second fire. The elderly couple she had shooed away from the first fire were huddled around it. Their garments were frayed. The packs by their booted feet were small. Their forms were frail.
Fuck. In their state, with nothing to trade for protection, they wouldn’t last three planet rotations in the Refuge…if they were granted entry to the settlement at all.
Xareni blew out her breath. “Wait here for a moment.”
She walked toward the aged male and female, attempting to look as small and weak and non-threatening as she could appear. As she approached them, she palmed the credits she’d obtained from the Humanoid Alliance males.
Those males wouldn’t need them anymore. The couple before her, gazing at her with apprehension and fear, would benefit from the males’ certain-to-be wrongdoings.
“Thank you for giving us the privacy we required.” She extended one of her leather-covered hands.
The elderly male hesitated for a heartbeat and clasped it. His fingers trembled.
His eyes rounded as she transferred the credits to his palm. “Some transactions should occur in secrecy.” She looked to the right and left of them pointedly.
If it was known the couple now had credits, they could be robbed, killed, or worse.
“We won’t tell a soul, miss.” The male gazed at her with an uncomfortable amount of gratitude. “Thank you.”
She grunted. It was merely a handful of credits. That was nothing to get all mushy about.
She returned to her barbarian’s side, kicking the sand as she walked.
“The terrifying Xareni monster strikes again.” Sarcasm edged Ariq’s voice. “That couple was lucky to survive the encounter.” He shuddered dramatically. “Their screams…of thanks…are ringing in my ears.”
“Fuck off.” She clasped his hand and pulled him toward the gate. “And gather your ass coverings. Balvan can’t be expected to watch them all shift. He has shit to do.” She scowled. “If you’re intent on running around naked, we’ll leave them with my things.”
“I think she cares for me.” Ariq reached upward with his free hand and scratched Spark’s belly. “What do you think, Spark?”
The drakon snapped at his fingers, screeching with displeasure.
“Yes, I think so too.” The foolish barbarian pulled his hand out of peril. “She definitely cares for me.”
“I think you can both fuck off.” Xareni’s cheeks heated.
She didn’t care for the barbarian. He was leaving.
And she was a monster.
Monsters didn’t care about anyone.
Chapter Nine
Ariq’s gerel was glorious. He squeezed her leather-clad fingers. She hunted with a cock-hardening passion. Her skill with daggers was impressive. She dispatched beings with zeal.
When he realized his gerel, if he had one, would be found outside the Chamele sector, he thought she wouldn’t accept the os khonzon, the side of him that needed to fight, to lose himself in battle, to kill. Many Chameles, including Second, didn’t understand that dark side of him.
But his little human did know of his issues…because she felt the same need.
With her by his side, he would no longer feel excluded. He would fit in once more with Second and Qulpa and their gerels, would have more things in common with them.
They’d return to Chamele 2, would eventually reside in the settlement he matured in. Every so often, when the yearning to fight, to kill, became too great, he would travel with Xareni to Chamele 4, the hunting planet, and they would take the edge of that wanting.
They couldn’t sate it. Rock vultures didn’t provide same challenge as humans and humanoids did. But it would be enough to satisfy them.
That future appealed to Ariq. His tread lightened.
“I’m retrieving my boots and ass coverings.” He informed Balvan as he scooped the garment and footwear off the ground where he’d left them.
The huge gatekeeper grunted.
Spark screeched, dug his talons deeper into Ariq’s shoulder, hanging onto him as he moved. The little drakon had given him his trust, and that pleased him.
He was earning Xareni’s trust also. Her hips swayed in front of him as he followed her into the settlement. “You have a great ass.” His cock bobbed with appreciation.
“You are an ass.” Her bemused tone softened that harsh statement.
He heard what she didn’t say—his compliments were appreciated. She was starting to believe in him, in his desire for her, in their bond.
With his warrior female, one had to push past the tough talk and listen to more than her words. He had to watch her actions.
His gerel talked about being a monster yet had killed a little boy’s tormentor, removing that threat to him. She barked at an elderly couple to leave the fire they’d claimed as theirs yet had given those same two beings all the credits she’d pilfered.
She told him to fuck off yet had taken his hand within the same heartbeat.
Xareni was complicated, had a kind heart she fiercely guarded, a sense of honor she hid under scowls and gruff responses.
He wouldn’t want her to be any other way.
They climbed to the top of the wall. He leaned forward, tempted to bite her shapely ass.
“Do it and I’ll kick you in the head.” His gerel must have read his mind.
“Mmm…” He narrowed his eyes, studying that part of her, considering if sinking his teeth into her ass, marking her as his would be worth the pain of
her response.
“Don’t do it.” She gave him that advice. “It’s a long drop to the ground.”
“I’ll bite your ass later.” He made that decision. “When I have two booted feet on the ground.”
“Then I will kick you in the head later.” She shook her head. “You won’t have your two booted feet on the ground for a long duration.”
“I look forward to that challenge.” He chuckled.
His female was a delight.
She was also a hero to a group of boys. They cheered as she reached the top of the wall, the children bouncing around like projectiles in a blast-proof container. Waves of bad fumes wafted from their dirty forms. Bare feet smacked against the stone.
“Did he shit himself?” The smallest boy, the being who had assigned the target, wanted more details about the kill. “When your creature blew fire that first time, it looked like he shit himself.”
“He smelled strongly of urine.” His gerel’s voice was gruff.
“He pissed himself.” Another boy crowed with delight, clapping his hands. “That was how scared he was. A grown male pissed himself.”
“He ran, crying like a big baby.” That was also said with glee. “He knew death was coming for him.”
“And it did come for him.” The smallest boy slapped the wall. “Bam. The creature breathed fire on him, and he screamed, and his head melted, and he fell to the sand. Splat.”
He paused. His little face turned solemn.
“Stars. I wish Ooze could have seen that.” He murmured that heart-wrenching yearning.
“Yeah, he would have liked that. Very much.” One of the other boys nodded.
Heads bowed.
Silence fell upon the group.
It was similar to the quiet after a fierce battle. Warriors remembered the fallen, their brethren who hadn’t survived. That grief lingered, became part of beings.
The boys’ loss would change them also.
“You gave him justice.” Ariq offered them that consolation.
Their heads lifted once more.
“Justice for Ooze.” The boys shouted that to the sky, raising their hands.
“On the topic of justice.” Ariq’s gerel pushed one of the squashed nourishment bars toward the smallest boy. “The death was excruciatingly painful, and the target felt great fear before he died. But it didn’t warrant the torture premium. One nourishment bar is your price, not two.”
Ariq suspected the nourishment bars were all the boys could afford to offer her. She didn’t need them, yet she treated the payment with the respect it warranted, honoring their dignity.
His chest expanded with pride. He was proud she was his.
The boy touched the returned nourishment bar and then he looked at his friends. “We have enough for another death, a fast one.”
The boys rushed to the side of the wall, looked over it. They discussed who they should choose. Many of their greatest tormentors weren’t visible.
Xareni crossed her arms under her breasts, leaned against the stone. She remained silent, didn’t contribute to the debate.
Ariq moved to her side, set down his ass covering and boots, and waited also. The length of him pressed against the length of her, the contact with his gerel soothing him.
Spark repositioned to the shoulder closest to his mistress, leaving a trail of small wounds over Ariq’s skin as he crept along his form.
He hoped his gerel had a scar fetish also, as she called it, because he would be adding many more of them to his already-high tally.
The boys argued about whether or not the smelly fucker, as they referred to the target, was worthy of death.
The male must have been extremely fragrant as the boys weren’t well-acquainted with cleaning cloths themselves. Putrid odors rose from them, especially the second-smallest one. Ariq’s nose twitched. The boy seemed to fart with every exhalation.
“I’m done.” Xareni pushed away from the wall and strode toward the steps.
“Wait.” The tallest boy called out to her.
She stopped, didn’t turn to face him.
“You can’t go.” The boy beseeched her. “We don’t know when you’ll be back.”
“Last time, you stayed away forever.” The smallest boy’s voice lifted into a whine.
“You’re our only hope to stop them.” The farting boy stepped forward. “The Ruler and his warriors won’t touch them because the fuckers stay outside the walls.”
He punctuated that relay of information with a long and loud discharge of fumes.
Zondoo. Ariq’s eyes watered. What had the boy been eating?
“I have an assignment to complete.” Ariq’s gerel’s voice was brusque. “When I return from that task, you’ll have another opportunity to hire me.”
“Promise?” The smallest boy’s hands twisted. Her returning, giving them another opportunity, was important to him.
She was important to the boy. Ariq’s spine straightened.
“I said I would and I will.” Xareni shook her head. “My word is my promise.” She stomped down the steps.
Spark lifted off, flew to his mistress, landed on her shoulder.
“She will come back.” The boy whispered that to himself.
Ariq donned his ass coverings and his boots, followed his gerel. He didn’t know where she was going, but he would go there with her.
“Don’t die.” The boy yelled that advice over the edge of the wall. His tone was adorably serious.
“Yeah, don’t die.” The other boys chimed in.
“I don’t plan to die.” His gerel muttered that to herself.
“I’m glad to hear that.” The thought of her dying twisted Ariq’s stomach. “It would devastate them.” And it would kill him. He wouldn’t want to live in a universe without her in it.
Chamele biology would also ensure he didn’t survive her death. They were bonded for life. If she died, he would die. They couldn’t live without each other.
“The boys should learn to fight their own battles.” She didn’t mean that. He heard that in her voice.
“If they did that, you wouldn’t have access to those delicious nourishment bars.” He increased his pace as they reach ground level, caught up to her, placing one of his hands on the small of her back. “Mmm…mmm…that would be a tragedy.”
Her lips twitched. “The one we earned is yours then. I had planned to give it to someone outside the walls but if you want it—”
“I don’t want it.” He laughed. “Be true to your monstrous heart and give it away. That might be the worst torture we could inflict on another being.”
“Those other beings are grateful for the nourishment bars.” Her reply told him his refusing-to-be-seen-as-anything-other-than-evil gerel had relayed past payments to those in need. “And I’ve eaten worse.”
He didn’t doubt that fact. His fingers splayed over her back. Her scars were detectable under her garment.
His gerel was a survivor, and she’d seen strife. She would choose living another planet rotation over the flavor or appearance of a nourishment source.
“I’ve eaten worse also.” He rubbed her back as they walked. “It’s considered a rite of passage to eat a rock vulture eyeball.” He grimaced. “They taste terrible.”
“Spark would relish that challenge.” She drifted her fingers over the drakon’s stomach.
Spark snapped at her.
Ariq grinned. “He’d show the other warriors how it was done.”
He hadn’t yet determined how to transport the drakon to Chamele 2 without endangering everyone on board their warship.
Head of Ship And Weapons Design might have some ideas about how to accomplish that. Qulpa’s gerel had crafted the schematics for the vessel.
Ariq pushed away his concerns and moved with his gerel through the settlement.
Beings, once they saw Xareni and saw him, hurried out of their way. His human’s pace was fast. Her stride was long. To an outsider, she appeared focused on reaching a specific
destination.
After their second circle of the Refuge, he suspected they were merely wandering, burning off some of his gerel’s excess energy, perhaps giving the boys time to vacate their section of the wall.
That extra time and passion could be utilized more…pleasantly. He grabbed her arm, pulled her onto a darkened pathway between two structures.
Spark shrieked, flapping his wings.
Xareni’s lips parted. Her eyes flashed with protest.
Ariq claimed her open mouth, invading that space, thrusting into it with his tongue. His blood roared in his ears, his desire rising quickly. He pushed his gerel against the side of the structure, handling her rougher than he’d normally treat a human female.
But this was his human, his female. She was strong, and she not only absorbed his aggression, she matched it.
Xareni coiled her tongue around his, sucking on his flesh, and she grabbed his hips, drawing him closer. They ground together, lips and chests and hips. The metallic taste of blood—it could have been his or it could have been hers—mixed with her unique flavor, the combination exciting him.
Claws dug into his cheek, carved along the side of his head. Spark, that irritable drakon, climbed upward, ripping out Ariq’s hair. He perched on top of his skull and batted his wings as though in victory.
Ariq ignored him. His full focus was on his gerel, on the press of her body against his, the musk of her arousal, the way she was inhaling his tongue.
A soul-deep groan escaped his lips. He wanted that suction on a different part of his form.
“The hunt made you horny.” She reached down and cupped him.
He jerked, almost coming in his ass coverings. That was how tightly he was wound, how much he wanted her. “You make me horny.”
“Hmmm…” She gazed at him with narrowed eyes as she worked his cock through his garment, running her leather-covered hands up and down, up and down his length.
Her touch, combined with the tantalizing humming and her severe expression, shredded his non-existent control. His jaw clenched. Pressure gathered at his spine.
“Fucking against the structure is appealing, but it requires stripping.” She tilted her head. “I’m not doing that here, barbarian.”