by Cynthia Sax
Her male cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between his thumbs and index fingers, sending waves of need cresting over her form. “You can watch for the Humanoid Alliance.” He worked her curves as he dragged his lips along her shoulders. “I’m watching you.”
He was doing much more than watching her. Her desire for him built. She kicked off her boots, wiggled out of her garment, keeping her gaze on the terrain before them.
“I’ll watch for them.” She reached back and grasped his leather-covered thighs. “While I touch you.” She stroked his legs. “Give me more to touch, barbarian.”
He hastily stripped, dropping his garment to the ground. “You can touch all of me.”
Their bodies collided once more. His cock pressed against her, and she moaned softly, wiggled her ass into that hardness.
“Don’t tease me, gerel.” His voice deepened. “I’ve been wanting you since our last rutting.”
His constant need matched hers. It gave her a heady sense of power. With one twitch of her ass, she could enthrall the big strong warrior behind her.
“We’re destined to have fast first fucks.” She smiled, leaning against him.
Their second, third, fourth fucks were more leisurely, a slow burn rather than a fast flame. But for now, she would dance in his raging fire, savor his heat. She rubbed his legs up and down, navigating the dips and swells of his muscles, unable to reach his cock, the prize she most coveted.
He had access to all of her, slid his palms down her form, over her mons, dipping into her wetness. She spread her legs and rocked into his fingers, giving herself the pressure she craved.
Her male sucked on the base of her neck, adoring the place he had bitten, had marked, during previous fucks, and he strummed her delicate flesh, diving deeper into her with each repetition. They moved together under the darkening sky, two wild creatures losing themselves in a rhythm older than the universe yet specially conceived for them.
The next heartbeat might bring danger, killing, death. In this moment, they were both alive. They had each other, caring, passion, acceptance, love.
He nudged her forward and lifted her onto the sleeping support, positioning her on her hands and knees. Her view was of the land before them—sand, rock, portable domiciles.
“Ariq.” She preferred to see his primitive face.
“Watch for our enemies.” He bumped his knees against hers, widening her stance.
Her barbarian was an arrogant dominant being. Her pussy dripped.
“Fuck you.” She looked over her shoulder, deliberately defying him.
“I said watch for them.” He gripped her nape, gave her a thrillingly hard shake. “And you won’t fuck me. I’ll fuck you.” He ran his hands down her back.
Her spine bowed. “I can do both—watch for threats and fuck you, Chamele.”
“You can do both.” He surprised her by admitting to that. “But you don’t have to do both.” His tip grazed her entrance and she trembled. “You have me now, all of me.”
He gripped her hips and thrust hard, filling her with unrelenting cock, and she shrieked with pleasure, with satisfaction, wanting, craving that connection with her male. Her fingers curled against the sleeping support. He stretched her to her limits every damn time. She loved it, loved him.
“Zondoo, gerel, you feel like home.” He drew back to his tip, paused, surged forward, drew back, paused, surged forward, the impact swaying her form, her skin heating at all points of contact.
She pushed backward, meeting him midway, fucking him as she had promised. Their bodies crashed together, his hips smacking against her ass. The sound of their joining echoed around them.
He covered her with his large form. His chest glided along her back. He clutched her shoulders, holding her to him as he thrust again and again.
They were one with each other and one with the planet. The sand shifted in front of her. Insects hummed. Ariq fucked her faster, harder, grunting with exertion.
Sweat beaded on their skin, slicking the slide, meshing their molecules, making it impossible to determine where she ended and he began. Stars. He had become a part of her, the best part, and she couldn’t envision her life without him.
The thought of losing him brought out a savagery, a need in her she hadn’t previously realized existed. She took him with a heart-racing vigor, impaling herself on his cock. The heat and passion and yearning between them spiraled upward, racing toward the sky like a rocket, out of control, desperate, extreme.
“Xareni.” A plea edged his voice. The ridge at his base swelled.
But she couldn’t, wouldn’t, slow down. She feared if she did, it might end, their fucking, their relationship, everything, might disappear. She panted. Her muscles strained. Her arms and legs quivered, yet she continued at that breakneck pace, demanding he match her.
“Xareni.” He drove into her. “Xareni.” His hips swiveled.
And she exploded, going supernova, bursting into flames, engulfed by rapture. Her inner walls constricted violently around his shaft.
He bellowed, pushing into her, dragging her hands and knees across the sleeping support. Hot cum shot from his tip, blasted her intimate flesh. He bit down on the base of her neck, piercing skin, that pain adding kindling to the roaring fire of her release.
She screamed, bucked, and writhed under him, unable to escape, caged by strong arms and defined chest and unmoving male. He pulsed inside her pussy, battering her with powerful jets of essence, branding every part of her.
It was too good, too much. She collapsed. He caught her, holding her to him, giving her more and more until there was nothing left, only aftershocks of bliss, a brain fog of fulfilment.
“Zondoo.” He flipped over, landing on his back, taking her with him. Their forms remained fused. It would be several moments before they could physically separate.
Xareni would need that time to recover from their fuck. “Yes, zondoo.” She utilized his word for what they’d experienced. It shouldn’t have been possible to feel more pleasure with him.
Yet she had.
That worried her, but it no longer scared her. Her heart was Ariq’s. She had accepted that. He would break it when he left.
The only question was into how many pieces.
Chapter Fifteen
A flicker of pain struck Ariq’s right foot, waking him. The sun peeked over the horizon. Xareni slept in his arms, her form relaxed, soft, her trust in him to protect her humbling.
The slight hurt recurred. He looked around them.
Spark was already awake. The little drakon perched on the edge of the sleeping support. He faced the east, his form attentive.
Frost stood to the right of him. The modified humanoid gestured toward the east also, in the direction of the Refuge. He spread his fingers and thumbs three times and then held up two fingers.
Zondoo. Ariq sat upright. “Wake, gerel.” He murmured that instruction in her ear.
She opened her sky-blue eyes. Her gaze was unfocused.
“They’re attacking.” He handed her garments to her, reached for his own. “They have thirty-two beings with them.” They would be all males. The Humanoid Alliance didn’t value females.
They must not have met a female like his.
His gerel hastily dressed, stuffed her feet into her boots, ran her hands over her weapons. Her expression was fierce, resolute.
Ariq performed a weapons check also. The primitive protective part of him wanted to sling her over his shoulder and run, carry her far, far away from the upcoming battle.
But she was a warrior, as he was. He had to respect that as he respected her, have faith in her skills, adhere to her code of honor.
That she was willing to sacrifice that integral part of herself for him still stunned him. And it told him the truth his gerel might never express in words—she loved him. Only a deep love, a caring any male would kill to obtain, would cause her to propose that drastic action.
Engines hummed in the distance, warning of t
he danger to come.
“They’ll soon be here.” He grabbed one of her leather-clad hands and ran with her to the edge of the site.
Spark flew after them, landed on Xareni’s shoulder.
Yesun was handing the triplets the packs of venom-coated rocks. The winged warriors strapped the packs to their forms. All of them wore hand coverings.
Ariq, seeking to be a good example, donned a pair also. “Don’t get too close to the sand.”
They had dumped more liquid from the cave snake there. That defense had a low probability of being effective. The venom would dry quickly without having a closed wetted pack to preserve the moisture, to shelter it from the sunlight. But they had implemented every option they could devise.
Frost turned an open-air transport, positioned the missile launcher fixed to its back to face the attackers. The vessels would also serve as shields.
They dragged containers and other objects to fill in some of the gaps, placed their weapons within arm’s reach.
“We hold our positions. Wait to shoot until I give the command.” Ariq reminded them.
They moved into their assigned stations. Frost and Libor would operate the open-air transports’ big guns. They had knowledge of those weapons, had enhanced senses, could down targets situated farther away from them.
The triplets would drop their makeshift bombs from the air, attacking from that direction.
The rest of them would start shooting with the long guns. Seven-One and Xareni would be stationed around Frost’s vessel. Ariq and Yesun would be situated near Libor’s transport.
The young warriors aimed their weapons. It wasn’t their first battle. Seven-One had fought with his clone Warlord on several planets. Yesun had fought the Humanoid Alliance during their previous trip to Carinae E.
As had Ariq. They were a formidable enemy, wouldn’t be easy to defeat.
But they would prevail. The alternative was unthinkable.
Ariq grasped his gerel’s hand and pulled her to him, pressing her curves against his muscle. “This time, we both defend.” He paraphrased his words from their first training session.
“We both defend.” She tilted her head back and leaned into him, balancing on the tip of her booted toes.
He bent his head, captured those offered lips. They kissed with a heart-pounding passion. Ariq was achingly aware it could be the last time they touched like this.
They were skilled, but battle was always uncertain, as was the future. He savored the taste, the feel, the scent, of his gerel, imprinting the moment in his soul.
She drew back from him, meeting his gaze. “If anything happens, you should know…I should tell you…Fuck.”
“I do know.” He rested his forehead against hers, wouldn’t force her to say the words. “And you know my truth also.” He framed her beautiful face with his leather-covered hands. “I would rather fight one glorious battle by your side than spend an eternity at peace with someone else. You are and have always been the one for me, gerel.” He brushed his lips over hers again. “This, right here, is our destiny. You are my fate. I—”
Spark flapped his wings, beating both of their skulls.
“He has spotted them.” Xareni stepped away from Ariq and he fought the urge to hold onto her, to keep her with him. Forever. “Fight hard, Chamele.” She grabbed her long gun.
“Fight hard, gerel.” He jogged to his post.
The two of them, being the more experienced warriors of the four, were stationed at the far sides of the transports, with Seven-One and Yesun situated between them.
Jeden, Vietor, and Dialo circled high in the sky.
Waves of heat rose from the sand, bending the air. The Humanoid Alliance males appeared on the horizon. Beings on mounted transports led the charge. Open air transports sporting big guns followed them.
There were no signs of warships or larger ships. Some of the tension in Ariq’s form eased. The enemy was overly confident, was likely relying on the element of surprise.
He aimed at one of the males positioned at the front—and waited, waited, waited.
The enemy didn’t slow, didn’t show any signs they’d noticed the wires. They passed that point, and for a moment, nothing happened.
The wires must have snapped. They—
Screams ripped through the engine noises. The top halves of the frontline males slid from the rest of their torsos, the wires having sliced them into two. Blood gushed. The mounted transports crashed into the sand.
The transports directly behind them collided with that debris. Sand sprayed everywhere. The humans tried to shield their eyes. Transports swerved, snapping the wires.
“Now.” Ariq yelled that order, and he pulled the trigger, downing one of the Humanoid Alliance males.
“Woot.” Yesun shot more enthusiastically than accurately.
“Zondoo.” Seven-One was less thrilled with the shooting, but his aim was accurate. He killed the beings he targeted.
Ariq glanced at his gerel. She was calmly picking the enemy off one by one, her skill with a gun impressive. Spark crouched low on her shoulder.
The triplets pounded the enemy with rocks.
An open-air transport exploded, bursting into orange-and-red flames. Shrapnel impaled nearby beings. One male gazed down at the thick shard of metal sticking out of his chest. His eyes widened. He fell to the sand, his blood painting it red.
“Downed one.” Frost claimed the hit.
A missile hit another transport. Humans shrieked. A severed leg flew through the air. It hit a being on a mounted transport, sending him careening into another vessel.
“Downed two.” Libor paused. “One and a half.” He amended his tally.
Projectiles pinged around them as the enemy returned fire. The humans must have finally realized they were under attack.
“Hold your positions.” Ariq shouted that reminder as he crouched beside his assigned transport. He targeted the next being and the next.
A projectile skimmed his right arm, leaving a trail of pain. His breath hitched. He continued shooting.
One, two more open air transports blew up. The remaining humans must have realized they were sitting in large, slower moving targets. They abandoned them for smaller mounted transports.
Libor and Frost ensured they couldn’t alter that decision. The modified humanoids stopped the open air transports…permanently. More plumes of flames reached toward the sky.
The enemy approached at a worrisome speed. Their targets had multiplied with the switch to mounted transports. Ariq shot as many as he could, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop them.
The Humanoid Alliance males raced toward him, toward his gerel.
Ariq switched to his other guns, preparing to fight at close range. “Consolidate.” He sprinted behind the transport, joined Yesun.
Xareni moved behind Seven-One. Her blonde hair had darkened with sweat. But she was unharmed.
Ariq released his breath. They would survive this.
Spark remained perched on her shoulder. The drakon’s gaze was fixed on the enemy.
“There are a lot of them left.” Yesun downed a male.
“Take out their mounted transports.” The enemy would be easier to defeat on foot.
“Consider that done.” Frost blasted the sand with a barrage of missiles. As did Libor.
A wall of the granules rose upward. The mounted transports hit them, went flying.
The triplets released a barrage of rocks from the sky, pounding the enemy.
“We’re running out of ammo.” Dialo’s yell pierced the noise.
“Then fight with us.” Ariq shouted that order. “We’ll need more claws.”
“Talons.” Jeden landed directly behind him. “We have talons, Chamele.”
Yesun looked at the male. “Does it—” He shuddered, fell. “Zondoo.” Blood gushed from his shoulder. “I’ve been hit.”
He gripped the wound, pressing on it. Projectiles bit into the sand around the young warrior.
&nb
sp; “Zondoo.” Ariq grabbed Yesun, dragged him behind the transport.
“I’ll have another scar.” The warrior summoned a smile. His face was pale.
Ariq looked at the wound. The projectile had passed right through the male’s form. “You’ll live.” He tore a strip of leather from his ass coverings, tied it around the wound. “Stay here. Shoot with your other hand.”
“You Chameles and your scar fetishes.” Xareni shook her head as Ariq returned to his post close to her. Her tone was edged with concern.
Her hands, in contrast, were steady on her guns. She aimed, pressed the triggers, aimed, pressed the triggers.
Only two humans on mounted transports remained upright.
Dialo, still airborne, folded his wings close to his form and sped like a missile toward one of the males. He collided with the enemy. They tumbled to the ground.
The other male shifted toward Xareni. He pointed his gun at her beautiful head.
She calmly tapped her triggers. There wasn’t a hint of concern on her beautiful face.
One of her projectiles whipped the weapon out of the Humanoid Alliance male’s hand. The impact threw him backward.
The riderless mounted transport continued to zoom toward Xareni.
“Move.” Ariq flung himself at his gerel.
They smacked against the side of Frost’s vessel. Spark shrieked, flying upward. The handlebar of the pilotless mounted transport rubbed against Ariq’s back, the friction burn removing layers of his skin.
“Fuck, barbarian.” His gerel’s laugh was shaky. “This isn’t the time for cuddles.”
Stars. He adored her. “There will be time for that later.”
He kissed the tip of her nose and turned to survey the scene. All the warriors were on the ground, fighting. Talons clawed through flesh. Light reflected off blades.
“Cover my back.” He extended his claws and waded into the fray.
“You die, monster.” A Humanoid Alliance being ran toward him, waving a sword. Blood dripped down his face from a head wound. His expression was fixed, appeared unnatural.
Ariq raised his claws.
A projectile pierced the male’s eyeball. It popped. Guck ran down his cheek. He fell to the sand, his arms and legs gyrating, and his brains splattered out the hole in the back of his skull.