by Emma Vance
But I pushed forward anyway, ignoring Sarah’s call, ignoring the males bumping into me as I pushed them aside and made my way to the fighting circle.
It was him. There was no mistaking it. His muscular shoulders, dusted with golden fur, stood heads above most of the other aliens in the room. His black hair was tied back, and his long tail flicked insistently. Heat pooled in my belly at the sight of him, at the strength in his flanks as he ran forward, the power in his arms as he fought. My pussy throbbed as I watched him move through the ring like an acrobat, and I could already feel wetness between my legs.
What made me think I could keep away from him? When one look at him turned me into a sex-crazed mess?
I made myself pay attention to the fight.
Otun’s opponent was a serpentine alien with a whip-like tail that was barbed at one end. The alien was unipedal and balanced on it’s thick tail like a rattlesnake about to strike. I held my breath as the alien’s hooked tail lunged for him, cracking through the air, the barb pointed towards Otun.
But Otun sidestepped the snap of the vicious tail neatly, as if he was expecting it. The barb sank into the dirt floor of the ring, and Otun rushed forward, fists punching in an upper cut directly to the creature’s chin. The snake-like male staggered back, but Otun kept moving forward. He arched his right fist into the male’s face, and it snapped to the side with the blow.
I watched with fascination as Otun’s body rippled during the fight. He was shirtless, with only a pair of short-like bottoms on. His muscles were flexed, and his sweat made the fur on his body stick together. He had a small drizzle of blood at the corner of his eye, and a frown of concentration curving his mouth.
He looked like hell. Filthy, sweaty, bruised and disheveled. But he was still one of the most attractive males I had ever seen.
Who knew I’d get turned on from a dirty fight club match?
I managed to push to the front of the circle gathered around them, edging my way past the shouting aliens who were clamoring and cheering every time a punch was thrown.
The serpentine male slid across the dirt floor towards Otun, clearly pissed off from the two punches Otun had just landed on him.
I screamed, surprised at how fast it moved.
Otun’s head snapped my direction, his eyes searching. I melted into the crowd around me. The last thing I wanted was him seeing me watch him fight, like I was so desperate to see him I had hunted him down. I tried to step back further, but someone pushed me, and I found myself tumbling forward.
Instead of falling into the row of aliens in front of me, they moved aside, and I tumbled into the ring with Otun and the snake.
I looked up from the ground just in time to see the forked barb of the alien’s tail coming straight for me.
Chapter Twelve
Otun
I was about to end the fight. I’d toyed with the Eurigi male for far too long, allowing him to think he’d have a chance against me. I could have knocked him out instantly, but I needed the fight. I needed to feel my muscles work, feel the give of flesh beneath my fists as I pounded this frustration from my system.
As I tried to purge Nisha from my system.
I thought this would take my mind off things, give me something else to focus on, but all it did was hone my focus on her. With every punch, kick and lunge, I thought of the male that had attacked her. I thought of all the danger she’d be in in the future and how little I could do to protect her.
I even imagined that I heard Nisha’s voice during the fight, her scream echoing through my mind as real as she was standing in the room. I turned my head at the imaginary sound, but of course she wasn’t there.
But when Nisha toppled into the dirt ring, I knew I hadn’t imagined her scream. As the Eurigi’s ferocious tail whipped towards her, I didn’t think.
I lunged between the tail and her, throwing my entire shoulder in front of it, shielding her with my body. The barb sunk into my flesh and I bit back a curse, holding myself over Nisha.
When it tore out of my shoulder, I did curse, hurling every insult I could think of at the creature. The Eurigi male laughed, his tail finally finding its mark. He wouldn’t be laughing long.
Nisha’s soft fingers pressed into my chest and I looked down at her.
“Otun, are you okay?”
I didn’t answer her anguished question. Instead, I lifted her up off the ground and thrust her towards Wit, who was collecting bets from my fight.
“Watch her,” I growled. He blinked at me in surprise but pulled her beside him in the crowd.
Confident that she was now out of harms way, I turned back to the Eurigi male in the ring.
“I should thank that female. Perhaps I will after I defeat you. You are hit, guard. Soon my venom will render you helpless and I will walk away from this fight triumphant. And rich,” the male hissed at me, lips broadening across his face in a macabre smile.
I could feel my shoulder beginning to numb, and I knew he was right. I didn’t have much time. But I only needed a few seconds.
I ignored the loss of feeling beginning to creep down my right arm and rushed forward, my fists tightened in anticipation. The Eurigi male wasn’t expecting my sudden attack, and I used the surprise to my advantage, leveraging my entire body weight into the assault.
I slammed my fists into the male’s face, one after the other. The crowd roared behind me, but I didn’t care. The only thing I saw was Nisha’s face as this bastard’s spiked tail hurtled towards her. Then, I delivered a final blow to his face that had the desired effect. He collapsed into the dirt, completely knocked out.
The males surrounding the ring cheered. Money exchanging hands and arguments broke out. My gaze went immediately to Wit and Nisha. Wit had a grin plastered over his face as he counted the money coming his way. Nisha was watching me with wide, liquid brown eyes.
I nodded at her, my gaze sweeping her body ascertaining she was safe. Then I let the poison overtake my limbs and tumbled into the dirt.
Chapter Thirteen
Otun
“Otun. Wake up.”
I must have been dreaming, because Nisha’s throaty voice was in my ear, her breath tickling my neck, and the sweet smell of her filling my nostrils. I was lying in bed, and she was next to me, her warmth plastered to my side.
I turned my body towards her. My hand drifted over her hips and I grabbed a handful of her flesh with a sigh of pleasure. I’d had this dream many, many times.
She released a high-pitched squeak and grabbed my hand.
“How can you think of that right now, you are poisoned!”
Dream Nisha usually sighed in response and opened her legs to me, murmuring in my ear. The squeal was not expected. I cracked an eye open.
She was no dream.
She was flesh and blood and as real as anything.
I blinked at her, her blurry face slowly coming into focus in front of me. “What are you doing here?”
“So much for being glad to see me,” She grumbled, sitting up in bed and crossing her arms over her chest. I tried to ignore the way the movement pushed her full teats upwards and my eyes flickered back to her face.
“You were at the fight,” I said, a statement, not a question. The memories came flooding back to me.
“Yes.” She nodded, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
I tried to sit up, but a searing thread of pain tore through my shoulder and I laid back again.
I looked down at myself. The wound in my shoulder was washed and bandaged. My body had recently been cleaned and was no longer caked in the grime and blood of the fighting rings. I was completely naked.
“What are you doing?” She demanded, leaning over me. “You are injured! I’ve spent ages trying to patch you up and it’s like you are trying to reopen the wound.”
I touched the bandage at my shoulder, and the memory of the barb ripping out of my flesh flashed through my mind.
“How long have I been unconscious?” I took in the
smudges of purple underneath Nisha’s eyes and her disheveled hair.
“A day,” Nisha said.
“A day?” I moved to sit up again.
“Oh, don’t you dare!” She pushed me back down.
“I’ve missed my patrol,” I growled.
“Wit got it covered. He also got a couple of other guards to haul you up here and gave me a salve to heal your shoulder and treat the poison. He’s quite handy.”
I contemplated her words and wondered what Wit thought of a luxury female tending to my wounds. “Do you not have to go to the choosing?”
She shook her head. “I still have some time off from what happened. I don’t have to go back until tomorrow.”
Something in my chest lightened, and I folded my arms behind my head, watching her.
“You tended to me for an entire day?”
Her skin flushed, and I watched the play of rosy color on her face with fascination. The human species was so easy to read, with no protective covering to mask their emotions or feelings. No wonder they did so well on Stryxx. That was rare in the galaxy, being able to read someone’s true feelings.
“I did,” she said slowly, as if she didn’t want to answer me. Then she met my gaze. Her eyes were warm and deep. “I wanted to pay you back for saving me. You risked your life, and without you, I would be dead.”
My heart fell. “You don’t need to ‘pay me back’, Nisha. It was not a transaction. I helped you because I wanted to. Because I had to.”
“Even though we’ve only slept together once?”
My mouth lifted at the corner. “Female, we did a lot more than sleep.”
She waved her hand as if brushing my words away. “Yes, it’s a human expression.”
I sighed and sat up, ignoring the dizziness I felt. “I didn’t want to see you hurt by that Turxxian male and I did what I felt I had to do. That does not mean you owe me any obligation or, gods, that you owe me your body.”
She shook her head. “I know that. When we first slept together, I was just using you. But only because I felt safe with you. And then when you saved me,” she swallowed, and her voice dropped into a near whisper. I strained to hear. “I . . . I haven’t felt protected in such a long time, it was nice to feel that way.”
She laughed a little and wrapped her arms around herself. “Listen to me. Nice. What a bland word. What I mean is, when I saw you fall in that ring, I knew I had to help you. Just as you helped me. Not for pay back as I said earlier but because I wanted you to feel like maybe someone was looking out for you.”
When was the last time I felt what she described? When was the last time that someone ‘looked out for me’ as she said, or cared enough about me to even have any concern?
I knew exactly when.
When my father was killed, all those seasons ago. I’ve never known anyone to care since. I studied Nisha in the scant light, the flame from the torch illuminating the gold in her skin, and the shimmering threads of her hair.
“I would like that,” I said, my voice surprising me with how rough it sounded. I lifted my hand and traced her jaw, keeping my fingers light, as if I were trying not to startle a wild animal. “Were you? Looking out for me?”
She hesitated. “I want to be. I know that sounds ridiculous. I am a sex slave, and you are a guard here. Nothing can come of it. But being with you made me feel the safest I’ve ever felt. It made me feel less adrift. I don’t know if I even make sense. But I feel good when I’m with you.” She smiled, and it lit up her eyes from within. I tried not to notice the way my breath caught in my chest when she smiled like that. “I feel really, really good,” she added in a throaty whisper.
Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore. The air crackled, as if the torch flame had ignited it between the two of us. My hand trailed down her neck, skimming the soft skin and I heard her swift intake of breath.
I smiled, and I knew my grin was feral. She felt it too. And I was willing to bet any amount of coyne that her arousal was not a result of the lansian poison running through her veins. It was because of me. Because of what was happening between us.
It was too late to turn back. I was addicted now, like the nose powders that were given out freely at the gladiator pleasure house, except she was my drug. I inhaled, the fresh scent of her filling my senses, and my cock rising in response.
I leaned forward, as if pulled towards her by an invisible string. My hands cupped the base of her neck, bringing her to me. She came easily, but stopped a breath away, her lips so close to mine I could feel the heat from her.
“We shouldn’t,” she whispered, but still moved closer. “You’re still injured.”
“Really? Because I feel in fighting health,” I whispered back. “And besides, I seem to recall you don’t have to be anywhere tonight.”
“That’s true.” She swallowed, and I watched the movement of her throat, mesmerized. As if she came to a decision, she pushed forward, grabbing my face with both hands and pressing her lips to mine.
Gods. It felt as if a desert lightning storm had struck my body, sending a frisson of excitement through me. I hauled her against me, my tongue tangling with hers. She moaned low and the sound made my cock harder, if that were even possible. Then, she tore her mouth from mine, pushing my shoulders down on the bed as she climbed on top of me.
“You shouldn’t do any physical exertion after your injury.”
“I told you, Nisha, I’m perfectly in order.”
She placed her fingers over my mouth, and I stopped talking. “That’s why I’m going to be doing all the work tonight.”
I arched a brow at her words, a zing of pleasure shooting through my body. My breath hitched as she straddled me, flinging her leg over my hips and nestling her soft cunt against my cock. I groaned and arched up at the feel of her.
“Gods, Nisha. You feel like no other female I’ve ever known.”
She chuckled huskily, and the sound shot straight to my cock. “You aren’t even inside me yet.”
As if I were in one of my dreams, she bunched up the gauzy fabric of her dress, lifting it up over her head so her breasts bounced with the movement. She flung her dress across the room. Nisha leaned forward, her bare body against my chest, the feel of her skin against mine made me groan aloud. I still wore my lappets, and I fumbled with the buckle at the side, unclipping it so I was down to my loin covering.
Nisha raked her nails down my chest, rocking her pelvis back and forth on mine at the same time. Her wet cunt hugged my swollen member, her juices coating my cock so that it slid easily along her seam. She ground the top of her cunt against my cock and moaned.
I knew she was stimulating the little bud at the top of her sex and it made me even more wild. I thrust my hips upwards, my hands clasping her hips tighter to mine, rubbing her sensitive nub against me even more.
Her eyes flew open and she looked at me, her eyes glazed over. She rocked against me harder and cried out, her body shuddering with her release.
My hands cupped her waist. Gods, she was small. My fingers nearly circled the span of her. I lifted her up, her body limp from her release and positioned my hard cock at her entrance. She whimpered as the tip of my cock probed her soaked cunt.
“Yes, Otun. Please. I need you.” Her whispered words shot straight to my sac. In response, I drove forward, sheathing her to the root of me.
We groaned in unison when I filled her, and she arched back, wriggling her ass against me as if adjusting to my girth. Then, she began to move. I thought I was prepared for the feel of her cunt, but nothing could have equipped me for the tight clasp of her around my hard length. With each lift of her ass, she milked me, a warm, sucking embrace.
I was near mindless. My hands returned to her hips and I worked her faster up and down my cock. She groaned at the increased pace, and followed my lead, bouncing her body furiously on me. I reached up and kneaded her breasts, pulling and twisting the nipples in time with her thrusts. They were heavy and swollen, and she moaned low wit
h each tug.
Nisha threw her head back, riding me faster and faster. I knew she was close to completion. I also knew what would throw her over the edge.
My fingers found the little nub of flesh she’d rubbed against me earlier, nestled between the slick folds that gripped my cock tight. She jerked when my thumb brushed against it, and then bore down on me hard, sliding my cock in and out of her at a furious pace.
“Otun,” she begged, her eyes shut tight, “please.”
“Almost there, Salana. I promise,” I said as I cracked my hips forward, pulling her nipples with one hand and rubbing her sensitive bud of flesh with the other.
She flew apart. Nisha released a low moan, and arched backwards, her breasts jutting out. The walls of her cunt squeezed me and I exploded inside her.
I froze as my release hit me. I gripped her hips, holding her to me as my cock erupted.
She fell forward. Her warm body collapsed against my chest, and her breathing was stilted. I wrapped my arms around her, gasping for breath myself as I stared up at the ceiling.
“I’ve never experienced pleasure with such force,” I admitted, stroking my hands down her smooth back.
“Me neither,” she responded, sounding depleted.
She snuggled up to my chest, and I pulled the blanket up around us both.
Soon her breathing was deep and even, and her body melted against mine.
It was true. I’d never felt the way I had with any female as I did with her.
My protective instincts roared to life when she was near, and though we’d only known each other a short period, I knew I cared about her.
I also thought about what I’d called her earlier, something I’d also never called another female. Salana.
My mate.
I didn’t know how to examine that, or even if I should.
But as she slept on top of me, her soft body rising and falling, my body more sated and satisfied than it had felt in years, I knew what I had uttered was the truth.
Chapter Fourteen