by Mary Auclair
Far in the back of his mind, a small voice suggested: Take her. Take the female. She’s yours.
His hand slid to her breasts, kneading them softly until her nipples perked, hard and needy, through the fabric. His fingers rolled the hard knobs of flesh and she arched her back, whimpering in pleasure, making her breasts protrude even more.
“Pretty Thing, you don’t know how I hurt for you.”
“Then don’t hurt anymore. Take what you want.” She managed to talk through the panting. “I want you, too.”
Karian’s lips landed on her throat with all the hunger of a long held starvation. The impulse rushed through him and he opened his jaw to enclose the fragile flesh, fangs at the ready. Mating Venom coursed through his veins, veiling his thoughts with the need to make her his, to seal the bond with the bite. His jaw tightened and the fangs pushed against her skin, piercing the membrane slightly. The taste of blood entered his mouth, coppery and salty. It made the rage all the more urgent, the possession all the more pressing. He had to take her. He had to make her his mate.
“Are you going to hurt me?” Rose’s voice came, shaky but still laden with desire.
Her words reached him through the dense fog of lust. She was afraid. She should be. He was seconds away from giving in to his instincts to bind her life to his irremediably. Without her approval, without her knowledge.
He should be ashamed of himself.
With a supreme effort, he opened his jaw, releasing her throbbing throat. His breathing was fast and jagged, and his entire body vibrated with frustrated need.
I resisted this time, but I won’t be able to resist much longer.
As soon as the thought formulated, he knew it was true. He had no idea how he was able to resist the Mating Urge, maybe it was the fear in Rose’s voice. Maybe it was because he knew it was wrong to mate her without her approval. Whatever the reason, he managed it this time. He wouldn’t be able to a second time.
With firm hands, Karian lifted Rose away from his body. She disentangled her legs from his hips and sat in the sand beside him. Holding a shaking hand to her neck, she then brought her fingers up and watched with wide eyes as the black stains of blood were revealed under the light of the stars.
She bit her lower lip and swallowed. He could smell her arousal mixed with her fear, the potent mix of pheromones threatening his tenuous hold on the Mating Urge.
He had to get away. He had to go now.
“Time to set the plan in motion.” His own voice was alien in his ears. How could it be so cold, so controlled, when his mind was prey to a hurricane of desire? “Stay hidden until I come back with the transport.”
CHAPTER 10
ROSE
Rose blinked and searched the desert landscape for Karian’s silhouette, but her night vision was poor and he was too far away. All she could to do now was wait for him to return with the transport so they could get far away from the pod—and the Cattelans.
As she waited, rubbing heat into her goosebumps covered flesh, Karian’s face hovered in her mind. No matter how much she tried not to think of him, the stubborn obsession came back, each time a little stronger. She had to face the truth; getting away from him was going to be much harder than she thought.
The more time she spent with him, the more the Eok warrior surprised her. His gentleness, first of all, but also his selflessness. That was perhaps the most perplexing of all. She was at his mercy, he could do whatever he wanted with her, yet he hadn’t taken her. He wanted her, she was sure of that—both his body and his words told her so, over and over again.
Then why doesn’t he just take what he wants?
He was a mystery. One minute Karian was a cool warrior, calculating and ruling with an iron fist over whatever he decided to rule over, particularly her; the next minute, he was all over her body, kissing her with a burning passion, making her feverish under his touch.
As the night continued to unfurl, Rose took comfort in her memories of Karian’s touch, how warm she felt when he kissed her, when his hands ran all over her body. She craved him at least as much as he craved her.
Behind her, the sands shifted, tearing her away from her daydreams.
She turned, still rubbing her arms. He was back faster than she thought, but then it was hard to keep track of time in this desert. A quick glance at the sky showed her the night was still young. Rose frowned, then her eyes locked on a tall figure standing between two rocks, black hair shining under the starlight and a cruel smile spreading across his mottled green face.
He stalked toward her with slow confidence until they stood merely ten feet apart.
“We meet again,” Arrik said, licking his lips. “No escape pod for you to run to now.”
Rose was paralyzed, her eyes wide and her limbs frozen as Arrik stepped ever closer, his unhurried gait a telltale sign that she was doomed. Finally, she broke free of the curse and backed away from him, pushing the dirt with her feet.
“Keep your dirty hands away from me or you will lose them.” She muttered the empty threat, backing up until her back brushed the cold of a giant rock. Out of desperation, she raked the ground with her eyes, hoping against all hope to find a weapon to defend herself. Her gaze landed on the makeshift spear, lying on the ground between two shriveled husks of vegetation. She grasped it, holding it between fingers slippery with a sudden cold sweat. She wasn’t going to best him a second time. She could see it in the dangerous, hateful glint in his eyes.
Her hands squeezed the frail spear so hard her bones hurt. She lifted it in front of her like a sword, feeling every inch of its useless, pathetic length. Again she was reminded how defenseless she was. Arrik was trained in combat and twice her size. Last time she’d fought him, her only advantage had been the element of surprise, but now she had nothing going for her.
“Stupid, stupid human whore,” Arrik said, passing a long, forked tongue over his yellow teeth. “I’m going to fuck you until I tire of you. Then I’ll give you to my crew to enjoy until I deliver you to your new owner. He’s going to be pissed you’re damaged, but he’ll forgive me when I give him a whole village of humans to compensate. Who knows? Maybe he’s even going to give you to me in compensation.”
The words sent a shiver of horror down every single cell in her body.
Arrik’s hateful eyes narrowed and a ripple traveled down his long, bulky limbs. She saw the tightening of his muscles, and the moment of absolute stillness in his body. He was going to jump her, and she knew the outcome. She was no match for him.
Despair gripped her in its cold embrace, ripping away every hope of warmth. There would be no salvation. There would be no more of Karian’s hot, blazing touch on her body.
No, she thought. I won’t allow it.
On the edge of her broken hope, she brought the spear to her neck, just under her chin, where her jugular vein pulsed a crazy rhythm. Her breathing became a threadlike wheeze as the tip of the weapon pushed against her flesh, the throbbing of the vein like a drumbeat, counting the remaining seconds of her life. It was one thing to say she wasn’t going to allow Arrik to capture her alive, that she was going to sacrifice herself to protect her family, but it was another to do it. “I’ll die before I allow you to take me.”
Arrik froze, his eyes going wide.
In that instant, the balance returned slightly to her side. It was shitty leverage, but she was worth nothing dead. Her fingers tightened on the spear. If she killed herself, he was screwed. In a flash, she wondered just how screwed he would be.
“How much do you owe him, huh? The male who bought me?” Rose smirked, tears gliding down her cheeks. “My guess is that if I die here, so do you. You’re in way over your head.”
“Don’t do this!” Arrik’s face was a mask of pure terror. “We can talk this over. Lower the spear.”
He lifted his hand toward her, his fingers spread out wide, then took one more step.
“Stop!” She pushed on the spear and a sharp pain burned under her chin where the
wood pierced the skin. A warm trickle of blood slid down her throat and hot wetness spread on the light fabric of her sweater. “You’re not touching me.”
“You don’t have it in you.” His eyes were two deadly slits, but he lowered his hand and took a single step back.
“Don’t test me.” She did her best to sound detached, like she didn’t care about pushing the wood deep into her own flesh. Like she didn’t care about lying there on the alien sand while her life gushed from her throat.
Her gaze locked with Arrik’s and they were both immobile. They were stuck there, then. He wasn’t letting her get away, and Rose wasn’t fast enough to outrun him.
Her only hope was to stall him long enough for Karian to come back.
Long minutes passed while Arrik and Rose faced each other in silence. The wind blew over the desert sand, and the moons shone as they faced each other. There was a strange kind of intimacy in this, like their lives were tied together in a perverted way.
A humming sound rippled through the night and Arrik’s eyes slid to her side, in the direction of the pod. The sound could come from nothing else than the transport.
Elation filled her. Karian had done it! He had killed the Cattelan guards, taken their transport, and now he was back. They were safe.
“You’re dead.” Rose enjoyed every bit of the savage smile that spread on her lips. “Karian will kill you.”
“Is that so, human?” Arrik straightened, his face a mask of strange satisfaction.
Rose paused, confused. The Cattelan should be terrified of a confrontation with Karian. She didn’t have time to reflect on Arrik’s response. The transport glided through the air past Rose and stopped at Arrik’s side. She watched as two tall figures threw a limp, muscular body on the sand. A whimper escaped her lips and her hands started to shake.
“Karian! What have you done to him?”
Arrik smirked an ugly, hateful grin, exposing his yellow teeth. Rose barely registered the two other Cattelans moving out of the transport to stand on the ground on each side of Karian. All she was able to focus on was Karian’s unmoving form, flat on his back. His face was turned to her, his eyes closed. Her eyes slowly glided down to his chest. She didn’t see it moving.
Oh, God, no. No, no, nonononono.
Her mind was lost in a whirlwind of denial.
Her strength wavered and the spear lowered by an inch. From the corner of her eye, she saw Arrik take a furtive step in her direction. Rose snapped the spear up instantly, harder than she meant to, and blood gushed down her skin. She had cut herself good this time. It wasn’t just a warning nick, it was nearly enough to pierce the vein, and then she would bleed out in seconds. Arrik couldn’t bring her back from that.
The Cattelan froze, his arms extended toward her, his wide eyes shining in the starlight. She snapped her head to him.
“Is he dead?” Her voice filled the night with fury, stronger and more savage than she thought possible. “I swear I’ll have your life if he is.”
“You care about this animal?” Arrik tilted his head, his eyes glinting with calculation. “He’s not dead yet, but he will be if you don’t lower your weapon.”
Arrik snapped his fingers and the two Cattelans unsheathed their weapons, pointing long, shiny blades at Karian, one at his head, the other at his chest.
“Don’t hurt him.” Rose heard the edge of panic in her own voice. “If you kill him, I’ll plunge this spear into my neck before you can stop me.”
“I’ll make you a deal.” Arrik lifted his chin and pursed his lips, his gaze never wavering. “You come to us without harming yourself, and we let him go. I’ll even throw in a bonus. We won’t touch you.”
Arrik’s words penetrated her mind, one syllable at a time. She knew even before he finished that he had won. She would never allow Karian to die for her.
“He’s going to die if you leave him here.” Rose cast a quick glance around the shadow-filled desert landscape. How many monsters lay in wait there, ready to pounce on defenseless prey? “You have to bring him back to the pod.”
“He’s Eok. He’ll be fine. And if he’s not, the universe will be a better place without another one of those animals in it.”
Arrik spit on Karian, and with a rash of viciousness, kicked him squarely in the ribs. Karian didn’t even stir.
“Think fast, human, my patience is not unlimited.”
“Okay,” Rose breathed. “Just don’t hurt him.”
She opened her fingers and the spear fell to the sand at her feet with a muffled hollow sound. Arrik didn’t lose a second, he jumped, and she was tackled to the ground so hard her ears rang from the shock. She was flipped onto her stomach, a knee digging into her back. She screamed in pain but he didn’t change his stronghold on her body, instead clasping her wrists tightly.
He jerked her to her feet, and her back throbbed where his heavy weight had dug his knee. Rose knew there would be a bruise there, and the side of her face was battered, bloody and raw where she had hit the ground.
The ugly Cattelan’s face came to her side and his putrid breath licked her skin.
“You’re mine.” Arrik pulled her in to his body, his arousal digging into her back. A wet, raspy tongue slid along her throat, from the base of her neck up to the corner of her lips. Rose couldn’t fight the whimper of revulsion that escaped her. “Now I’m going to fuck you until you wish you’d slit your delicious little throat.”
“You gave me your word.”
Rose hated how her voice shook. How stupid she had been. She choked back a cry, despair and fear washing over her at the same time. Then her eyes landed on Karian, still unmoving on the ground. She could see it now. His chest moved up and down in a slow, steady rhythm.
A strange calm overcame her, washing away some of her despair. Whatever happened to her, some good was coming out of it. She had saved him. Karian would live.
The crazed panic tearing through her ribcage slowed. Rose turned her head to Arrik, returning his glare. The yellow, glowing eyes slid to her fallen companion, then back to her. A predatory smile stretched his lips, and she knew.
She had lost everything.
“Farnick, Azil, kill him,” he whispered softly, not looking away from Rose, as though he were murmuring loving words into her ears. “And make him suffer.”
Rose’s wordless screech filled the night. She writhed and fought like a banshee, but to no avail. Arrik and the other two Cattelans laughed, the cruelty of the sound filling her with a new kind of emotion, something she had avoided all her life. No matter how harsh or painful her situation had been, she had never felt bloodlust before. Now she knew how it felt. In a way, that made it possible to understand how her father felt about the breeding facility and those who ran it.
The desire for violence was a fire that consumed her until nothing was left, and now she truly wanted to end the Cattelan’s life. She would kill anybody who hurt Karian, with a hate spawned from the pit of the darkest corners of her mind.
Arrik dug his fingers into her wrist, hard enough to leave a string of bruises in the pattern of his fingerprints on her skin, while the two others kept laughing, looking at her with cruelty in their eyes.
“Did you let him fuck you? Did he taste that sweet, sweet little pussy and ravage it? Did you like it?”
Arrik’s left hand slid over her breast, while the other yanked her wrists higher up behind her. She cried out in pain and arched her back. His finger pinched her nipple, hard, sending a shot of pain all the way to her brain.
“You’re so soft, I can’t wait to know how you feel inside.” Arrik rubbed his erection against her, underlining his intention. “I bet you’re every bit as good as they say you are.”
The hand left her breast and slid down her stomach, an inch at a time, kneading her supple flesh with unbearable anticipation. A choking sob escaped her throat.
“The best.” Arrik licked her neck again. Despair washed over her like a wave, depriving the world of oxygen. “I bet you’re
going to bleed when I fuck you.”
Then a flash of glowing blue eyes ripped through the murky despair of the night, and a male scream filled the air.
CHAPTER 11
ROSE
T he first thing she was aware of after the initial scream was Arrik’s hand deserting her flesh. The relief that rippled through her body was enough to make her head spin, but she held on to consciousness like a drowning woman.
It’s him. He’s alive.
Karian was awake, and his retribution would know no bounds. Arrik was petrified against her back, his erection melted from the fear.
Karian was magnificent. Even half-starved and injured, his body moved with speed and accuracy through the air, slashing at the Cattelans with his talons fully extended. Blood spilled under the blue light of the stars in a strangely beautiful dance, the glowing droplets catching the starlight in a deadly ode to the night. One Cattelan soon lay on the sand, his throat slashed in Karian’s initial attack.
“Azil!” Farnick called the name of his fallen comrade. “You killed him!”
There was a lull in the fight. The remaining Cattelan watched his companion’s lifeless body while a pool of blood spread underneath it, disappearing into the thirsty ground.
Slowly, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to fight anymore, Farnick turned to face Karian. His face was a mask of fear and despair. He knew Karian was the better warrior, and that he was going to die. Rose almost pitied him. Almost.
Karian and Farnick circled each other, the Cattelan holding his weapon up between them. It was a long blade, sizzling with a strange array of electrical sparks. An ionic blade, Rose’s brain screamed. One touch and Karian was dead, killed with a million volts of electricity, searing through flesh like mere air.
She wanted to scream, to tell him to be careful, but she didn’t dare make a noise.
They kept moving. For the first time, Rose noticed Karian was walking with a slight limp, favoring one leg. A long gash ran along his thigh, dark blood running black under the star light. His face was a landscape of hatred, the face of nightmares on the battlefield, his body a weapon every bit as lethal as the ionic blade.