Possessed

by Tana Stone

  I pulled her closer to me. “I am not used to be given things freely. Always, I have had to take by force.”

  “Technically, you did take me by force,” she said, her tone teasing.

  I slapped her bare ass. “I took nothing you did not want to give, Raisa.”

  She yelped. “Again with the spanking?”

  I laughed. “You seem to enjoy provoking me.”

  “Not as much as you enjoy smacking my ass.”

  I rubbed her soft flesh where I’d slapped her. “Your gift of perception is more impressive than I thought.”

  She wiggled in my grasp. “Very funny.”

  I moved my hand from her ass and pulled her so that she was completely on top of me. “I will not spank you anymore if you will tell me more of what you see.”

  She stilled. “What I see?”

  “You were right about my majak and my war chief, and you barely spent any time with them. I would like to know what you think about the rest of my crew.”

  She hesitated. “You are sure? You won’t get angry and disappear again?”

  I held her green eyes with my own solemn gaze and saw the pain in their depths. Pain I had caused. “I will never leave you again, Raisa. That is a promise from your Raas.”

  Something softened in her expression, and she drew in a long breath, finally nodding. “As long as you’re sure.”

  As she launched into her thoughts on my crew, her soft voice eagerly rising and falling, I knew I’d never been more sure about anything.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Astrid

  I don’t know why I decided to trust Kratos. It didn’t make sense. He was a warlord of the Vandar who had taken me from my sister and seduced me like a spider luring a fly into a web. He was Raas Kratos, known for raining destruction on the Zagrath Empire and terrorizing anyone who stood with them. He was huge and powerful and used to being obeyed. But he also looked at me like no one ever had before—as if I was valuable and rare and to be cherished. I’d never seen that look directed at me before. It was intoxicating and filled me with a strange sense of power.

  But I’d seen something else in his eyes—a deep-held pain I recognized all too well—that made me believe him when he promised not to leave me again. He knew what it was to be alone, and he hated it as much as I did.

  “You must go?” I asked, fastening his shoulder armor across his chest, my fingers feathering along his bare skin as they expertly worked the leather strap. I’d become used to dressing and undressing him, and I now looked forward to touching him freely, as I stripped away the trappings of war.

  He made a noise in the back of his throat that told me he was not eager to leave me, either. “My warriors have received a distress call from a colony the Zagrath are attempting to subjugate. We must take a short detour from our mission and respond.”

  “You get distress calls?” Even though he’d told me all the ways the Vandar hordes protected others from the choking control of the insidious empire, I was still adjusting my mind from what I’d always been told. It was a different story than the one the Zagrath spread.

  He shifted from one foot to the other, watching me as I tightened the metal shoulder cap. “To races who do not wish to be ruled by the empire and pay taxes for the honor of being controlled by fleets of faceless soldiers, the Vandar are saviors.”

  “I’m sure Corvak is pleased at the chance to engage in battle.”

  A slow grin crossed his face. “No doubt. But, as you suggested, I gave him more responsibility, and he has repaid that with a renewed loyalty.”

  My hands lingered on the hard planes of his chest. “Good. I believe he would be a dangerous foe. You should always keep him close.”

  He looped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. “If my warriors knew I was being counseled by a human female, they would think I was crazy.”

  His heart thumped heavily and reverberated through my own chest, sending frissons of pleasure across my skin. “It will be our secret, Raas.”

  Lowering his head so that his long hair fell forward and brushed my cheeks, he inhaled deeply. “I like having secrets with you. I never imagined a human would become the most valuable member of my crew.”

  “Aside from your majak.” I’d seen how close he and Bron were, and I did not presume to hold a position as valuable as that.

  His hand slipped down and squeezed my ass. “There are some things even a majak cannot do for me. Things that you do very well.”

  My face warmed, pleased that the Raas enjoyed our nights tangled around each other, my moans and cries mingling with his deeper, dominant sounds. I slapped his chest playfully then caught the tip of his tail as he wound it around my waist. “You should stop before you make it necessary for me to undress you again.”

  He growled and the noise tickled my ear and sent a jolt down my spine. “I would not mind that, Raisa.” Then he gave a pointed look at his tail. “And you should stop stroking my tail if you truly do not wish to detain me.”

  I pulled back, dropped his tail, and peered up at him, my face warming. “I forget that touching your tail is a turn on. You should attend to the distress call.”

  His dark eyes closed for a moment, and he released a breath. “For someone who thought we were brutal beasts not long ago, you have become my greatest taskmaster.”

  “If you tell me you want to save people from the Zagrath, I will believe you.” I met his gaze when he looked at me again. “You have never lied to me.”

  He took my hand in his and raised it to his lips, kissing my open palm slowly. “And you have never given me unwise counsel.”

  His lips seared my skin, making my pulse skitter wildly. I pushed him away with my other hand. “You should go before I change my mind and decide that the distress call can wait.”

  Laughing low, he swept me up in a hard kiss, releasing me quickly and backing away. With a final scorching gaze, he spun on his heel, his battle kilt slapping his thighs as he left.

  I had only a moment to catch my breath before Krin was entering the room, his face flushed. I’d grown used to the sight of the boy’s excitement when there was even the slightest possibility that the Vandar horde would engage in battle. The fact that he thrilled at warfare didn’t quell my nerves, though.

  “What happens when the Vandar respond to a distress call?” I asked after the boy had wolfed down one of the knots of bread I’d saved for him.

  He shrugged. “Depends.”

  I swept up handfuls of my skirt as I joined him at the table. “On?”

  He swallowed another bite of bread. “A lot of things—how many Zagrath fighters have been left behind, if there is a full garrison, how many of the residents are armed and willing to join in the battle.”

  “Do the Vandar always win?”

  Krin dragged a hand through his messy hair and gave me a lopsided grin. “Of course.” Then he frowned. “That doesn’t mean the Zagrath don’t come back or send more soldiers. Sometimes the colony is too important or the resources too valuable or the location too strategic.”

  “And the Vandar never leave warriors behind?”

  He wrinkled his nose. “We are a horde. We are always on the move and cannot be locked to one place.”

  I remembered what the Raas had told me about his people. They’d always been nomadic, and it was a tradition they’d maintained when they’d taken to space. It had probably kept them from being decimated by their enemy, but it also meant they constantly put out fires that could be started again. It was no wonder the Vandar and Zagrath had been locked in a cat and mouse battle for generations. It was also easy to understand how the Zagrath had been able to create the image of the Vandar as indiscriminate brutes instead of freedom fighters.

  The sound of pounding footsteps echoed outside the door, and Krin eyed it longingly.

  “Warriors heading for transports?” I asked.

  He nodded. “They’re going down to the planet.”

  I angled my head at him. “Why don�
��t we go?”

  He was already shaking his head before the words had left my mouth. “To the planet?”

  “No. To watch the warriors depart for battle. I’m sure the Raas wouldn’t mind if we stayed out of the way.”

  Krin bit the corner of his lip. “I don’t know. It didn’t go so well the last time you talked me into something.”

  “I told you. The Raas didn’t punish me for wanting to learn how to fight. And I did learn how to defend myself. I may not be able to hold off a Vandar warrior—or an apprentice—but I’ll be ready if mercenaries ever board the ship again.”

  Krin stuck out his chest. “If that happens, I’ll help you fight them off.”

  “See? That’s why the Raas assigned you to me. He won’t mind if we watch warriors depart for battle together.”

  The boy seemed to debate within himself for a moment before finally nodding. “Okay, but we’ll have to make sure the Raas doesn’t see us. Or the battle chief.”

  “Agreed.” Even though I’d advised Raas Kratos about handling Corvak, I knew the Vandar warrior did not approve of my presence. The less he was reminded of me, the better.

  Krin led the way out to the corridor and talked briefly to the guard, who darted a disapproving glance at me before giving a curt nod. The huge Vandar strode off down first one curving staircase and then another, as Krin as I hurried behind him.

  When it seemed like we’d descended into the bowels of the ship and it couldn’t possibly go down any further, we stepped through wide doors and were inside a cavernous hangar bay. The same enormous space where I’d first arrived.

  Menacing Vandar warriors rushed by us toward transport ships, their boots pounding the iron floor. Their bellows were drowned out by the sound of roaring engines as ship after ship tore across the hangar bay floor and shot into space through the open mouth at the far end.

  Krin jerked me out of the way and back against the wall. My heart raced as warriors ran eagerly onto vessels, snatches of the battle cry “For Vandar!” floating on the air.

  My gaze was pulled to a larger ship loaded full of warriors. Raas Kratos stood flanked by his majak and his battle chief as the ramp lifted. He saw me, but his body betrayed nothing. He did not flinch even as his dark, blazing eyes never left mine.

  The Raas was going into battle, and as his ship rocketed across the hangar bay, I felt like a part of my soul was going with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kratos

  It had been all I could do not to storm off the transport and drag her back to my quarters. Even though I had given Astrid the freedom to move throughout the ship, the sight of her watching me go into battle was unsettling. I did not want my pretty, soft female anywhere near the brutality of battle. I did not want her to see what I had to do to protect the galaxy or what it took for me to be Raas.

  It was one thing for her to advise me. It was another for her to be witness to my command.

  My muscles ached as I entered my quarters, and I paused as my eyes adjusted to the dark. The battle had been successful, and we had repelled the Zagrath with no casualties in the colony, but we had lost two of our Vandar warriors in the fighting. I knew they were being welcomed into Zedna as conquering heroes by Lokken and all of the ancient gods and ancestors, but my heart was still heavy.

  I’d returned to the command deck after the battle, locking in our course to the planet I still wished to investigate before leaving my majak in command. Even though my battle chief had looked at me askance as I’d strode off to my quarters, I needed to check on Astrid before I could focus on our mission again. I needed to know she was safe, and see her with my own eyes.

  Once I’d acclimated to the dimness, I could make out the glint of iron above my bed and hear her breathing gently below the welded shields and axes. I unhooked my armor and hung it on the stand next to the door, then tugged off my boots and stepped out of my battle kilt, leaving them all in a heap. I glanced at the small figure in my huge bed. I wanted nothing more than to collapse beside Astrid, but the sweat and blood from the battle lingered on my flesh.

  Padding into the bathing chamber, I flicked on soft lights and lowered my body into the steaming crimson water long enough for the remnants of the battle to melt away, along with the knots in my muscles. I did not linger long, stepping out and shaking droplets of water off me before squeezing the wet tip of my tail. I didn’t bother to stand over the loud drying vents, instead making my way as quietly as possible to the bed—lit now by faint light spilling from the bathing chamber—and slipping beneath the sheets.

  As if pulled by some gravitational force, Astrid rolled over in her sleep and draped one arm across my chest, sighing softly. Even though I wanted to flip her on her back and bury my cock inside her, I did not. I had stopped waking her like that, preferring to see her eyes on me as I claimed her.

  I did stroke my hand down her slender arm, her warmth stilling my breath and forcing thoughts of the battle from my mind. Her presence had become a steadying force—an anchor in the storm—and one I could not imagine being without.

  “You’re back.”

  I glanced down and saw that she’d woken. “Shhhhh. Go back to sleep, Raisa.”

  She lifted her head to meet my eyes. “Are you okay?” She moved her hand over my chest. “You weren’t hurt?”

  “I was not hurt.”

  She let out a breath, sinking back down. “I tried to wait up for you, but I got sleepy.”

  “You should sleep,” I said, pulling her so her body was flush against mine.

  “You’re sure?” Her voice held a hint of teasing.

  “I am sure.” As much as I loved the feel of being inside her, I wanted to stay like we were, our bodies rising and falling as we breathed together.

  “Were you…?” she started to say. “How was the battle?”

  “We were victorious. The Zagrath fled like scuttling insects, and the colony is free to rule itself again.”

  “I’m glad.”

  I held her arm to me. “Are you? You no longer think the Vandar are brutes and me the worst of them?”

  “I know you’re not. I’ve seen the good in you and in your warriors.”

  Hearing the words from her lips made my chest swell. It should not matter to me, a Raas of the Vandar, what a human female thought. But it did.

  She traced one finger over my markings as neither of us spoke for a few beats. “Tell me about these. The Vandar all have tattoos on their chests, but they’re all a bit different.”

  “You wish to talk about my markings?” I asked, amused that she was changing the subject. “Now?”

  “You’ve never explained them to me before. Do they mean rank or status?”

  “They are not tattoos. We are born with them.”

  She sat up halfway to take in the black swirls that curled up and over my shoulders. “I’d thought that might be rumor. Do all Vandar have them?”

  “Only the males,” I told her. “And the females once they’ve sealed the mating bond.”

  “What does that mean?” Her fingers feathered over my damp skin and made me shiver.

  “When a Vandar female mates with the male she is supposed to be with for life, his marks appear on her, as well. And his marks extend to cover more of his chest and arms.”

  Her eyebrows popped up. “So if the marks never appear…”

  “Then the couple is not fated to be.”

  “But what if you fall for someone and the marks don’t appear?”

  My throat tightened. “A Vandar can only impregnate a female with his marks.”

  A look of understanding crossed her face. “So if you aren’t fated, then you can never have children.”

  “And you are meant to be with another.”

  She cocked her head at me. “So you have to screw a bunch of Vandar women to find your match?”

  I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my lips. “It does not usually take so long, but the Vandar do not believe in monogamy until you find your
mate.”

  “And then?”

  I frowned at her. “You ask a lot of questions.”

  She shrugged. “Since I’m living on a raider ship now, I probably should.” Her fingers stilled on my skin. “Do non-Vandar females ever get the marks on them?”

  I’d wondered how long it would take her to think of this. I did not want to tell her, but I could not lie. “I have never heard of it happening, but Vandar do not usually intermingle with other species for any significant amount of time.”

  “I’m guessing a pleasurer has never gotten marks after a wild night?”

  I shook my head. “A Vandar raider’s one true mate would not be an alien pleasurer.”

  Astrid sat up all the way, her eyes not leaving my marks. “I guess a human probably wouldn’t be, either.”

  “I do not know,” I admitted.

  “So, you took me captive and claimed me and told me I was yours but that’s not really true, is it?” Her voice was almost a whisper. “I’m just something for you to amuse yourself with before you find the right Vandar female.”

  “You are not amusement for me. You know that.” I sat up and wrapped my arms around her back. “You are my Raisa.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t understand what that means.”

  “I was not completely honest with you before,” I said. “Raisa does not mean lady. It means queen. A Raas’s queen.”

  “I can’t be your queen if you need to ditch me someday.”

  I tried to swallow, but my throat was too thick. Everything she said was true. Without mating marks, there was no future for us. As perfect as she felt for me, the human could not be mine forever. Not unless I wanted to defy the traditions of my people.

  I stroked her pale, unmarked skin. “You will always be my Raisa.” I wanted to tell her more to assure her—to explain that I didn’t care about marks or fate or even children if it meant losing her—but the ship shuddered and a siren began to wail.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine