by Lili Zander
My insides clench, and my vision goes blurry. Sharp pleasure fills every inch of my body. I don’t build to my orgasm, I hurtle toward it, helpless to resist. I’m hot with desire; I’m burning with need.
“Please,” I sob into Nero’s cock. Blood pounds in my head, aching need claws through my core. “Don’t stop.”
Zeke licks a long, slow passage up my slit. “You want me to keep doing this, kära?”
Saber’s hands glide over my back, and he cups my ass. His thumb circles my anus, before pushing into my tight opening. I exhale hard as my entire body tightens from the unexpected heat. “You want this?” he breathes into my ear. “Two of us at once?”
Yes.
His thumb wriggles deeper, almost to the first knuckle. Just then, Zeke sucks my clitoris between his teeth, and I can’t hold back anymore.
My climax rushes toward me in a thunderous, explosive burst. When it hits, I scream into Nero’s cock. “Yes,” I dimly hear Zeke say. “Yes. Let yourself go, Raven.”
Wave after wave of bone-melting release washes over me. The muscles in my core tremble and throb, and my entire body goes limp. Zeke’s tongue keeps flicking over me, and I whimper and let myself ride the waves, one after another, until my skin is damp with sweat, and I’m completely and utterly sated.
But not for long. “More,” I whisper. “I want to feel you in me. Everywhere.”
Saber kisses me, light and soft. “It can hurt if we take you at the same time,” he says. “There’s no hurry. We can find our release some other way.”
My cheeks flush. There’s not a lot to do for entertainment in the camps. “I’ve done it before.”
“In that case…” His fingers move lower, and he slowly pushes a finger into my anus.
Nero’s cock bobs once again near my face. Oh right. Overwhelmed by my orgasm, I’ve forgotten all about him. Poor Nero. Determined to make it up to him, I part my lips and take his length into my mouth, as deep as I can.
Zeke—is it Zeke? —once again plays with my folds. He rubs his cock up and down my cleft. Every muscle in my body tightens in anticipation. Hurry, Zeke. I need you now.
He thrusts into me in one deep, fluid stroke.
It’s intense. It’s overwhelming. It’s perfection.
My breath comes in gasps. I clutch Nero’s hips as his cock fills my mouth. He sets the rhythm now, hot and urgent and insistent. Zeke pounds my pussy, his fingers digging into my hips. Saber’s fingers push into my anus, twisting and turning, preparing me for his cock.
They’re taking me everywhere.
Sensation assaults me from every direction. I’m a whimpering mess, overwhelmed by the raw heat that flows through me.
I can feel the thin mattress dip as Saber shifts position. I can feel his cock at the entrance of my ass. My fingers dig into Nero’s hips as Saber enters me, slow yet relentless. Bit by bit, my muscles stretch to accommodate his thickness, and then his entire length is in me.
Nero’s cock in my mouth. Zeke’s length buried in my pussy, and Saber in my ass.
This should feel dirty. Wrong. It doesn’t. From the instant we met, everything has been leading up to this moment of complete connectedness. To this moment when our bodies are entwined.
We aren’t human or vampire anymore. Those distinctions don’t belong in this shelter. Here, isolated from the rest of the universe, we’re just people.
Nero thrusts into my face. He moves faster now, shaking with his own need. My body tingles as Saber and Zeke start to drive into me. They coordinate their thrusts, both pulling out of me, leaving me feeling empty, then thrusting in unison. I’m shaking. I’m so close. I’m filled, so filled, that even though I want to prolong my orgasm, I can’t.
Nero bucks, his entire body going rigid before he cries out.
Zeke’s fingers on my clit drag me back to my pleasure. That’s all it takes, his touch on my oversensitive bundle of nerves. I explode between them, almost sobbing with the intensity of my climax. They’re not too far behind. With groans of need, they claim their own releases.
We stay huddled together in one sated, exhausted heap. I hold them tight, savoring their warmth, luxuriating in their strength.
I never want this feeling to end.
25
Saber
Boarus 4
Past midnight, TenthDay of FourthMonth
It’s been more than ten years since I made love to a human woman.
For a long time, I lie in bed, my arm around Raven, sated and content. There are things I need to attend to, but nothing seems more important than staying exactly where I am.
“I can’t go to Starra, can I?” She’s staring at the ceiling. “If you could smell the disease in my blood, so can every other vampire.”
She can’t go to the capital because that’s where Levitan is. “Some hospitals can do a full-body blood transfusion. We’ll take you to one of them.”
“You’ll need some of my blood first though, right?” She props herself up on an elbow and looks at me. “For a cure…”
“Yes,” I admit. “The scientists need to be able to synthesize a vaccine. We can’t do it without you.”
She nods, expecting my answer. “I hated Olaf Vander,” she says, her voice soft. “He was a bully with a vicious temper, and he deserved to die.” She covers her face with her hands. “I just wish I hadn’t killed him. I never wanted to kill anyone.”
I put my hand on her shoulder. She’s such a remarkable person. After everything she’s been through, it would be perfectly understandable if she hated all of us. If she wanted every single vampire on Boarus 4 to die. But she doesn’t.
“I still can’t believe that Overlord Zimmer built such a weapon.” Her voice is muffled. “Especially not one that targets his own people. It just doesn’t seem like him.”
Zeke gives me a warning look. She’s going to discover the truth any minute now. I need to distract her from exploring this train of thought.
“One of Zimmer’s most productive mines collapsed ten years ago,” I tell her. “And the planet’s output has never been the same again. Maybe he thought he needed an insurance policy in case the Empress wanted to depose him.” I kiss the palm of her hand. “Who knows why? All we know is that somewhere on Boarus 4, there’s a secret laboratory.”
“You can’t find it?”
Zeke shakes his head. “I've been searching, spying on the Overlord’s communication, but while Zimmer is careless about many things, this is not one of them. There's nothing in his records to help me narrow it down. It’ll be somewhere on Glacis, that’s all I know. Somewhere remote enough that no one can stumble across it.”
Raven’s lost in thought for a few minutes, and then she sits up. “West,” she exclaims. “That’s got to be it. It's west of here.” She pulls out her map and lays it on the bed. “Somewhere in this area,” she says, tracing a section with her fingertip.
“How can you be sure?” I ask her.
“We had a saying in the camps,” she replies. “West is death. We would get lost on the ice sometimes, but we all knew that if we went west, we wouldn’t return. Every year, it happened to a dozen people.” She smiles faintly. “The older residents told us that a monster lived in the western reaches, one that would suck us dry if it caught us.”
Nero bends over the map. “What are these?” he asks, pointing to a couple of markings on the way.
“Abandoned boarium mines,” she replies. “They’re all over Glacis. Be careful of mine shafts when you’re walking around.”
Zeke gives me a questioning look. “It would be helpful to get proof of what Zimmer’s up to.”
He’s right. “How far away is this place?” I ask Raven.
“A ten-hour walk,” she replies. “An hour by skimmer, maybe?”
An hour to get there, an hour to get back. At least a couple of hours to find the facility and to neutralize it. I work the numbers out. “It’ll be sunrise before you get back.”
“We have vigilene,” Nero repli
es. “And the skimmer is shielded from the sun’s rays.”
It’s a perilous search, but I don’t know if I have a choice. Blood diseases can annihilate us. This strain in particular… An image of Olaf Vander’s body swims in front of my eyes. The onset period is swift, and the outcome is fatal. Levitan can’t be allowed to get away with this. His insane power grab threatens every vampire in the Empire.
But once again, just like the attack at Rothis, I lack proof. I can’t bring down Levitan without it.
The weapons facility is our best place to find what we need. If we can find anything that ties Harek Levitan to it, then I can approach the Empress with the evidence.
At the same time, I cannot leave Raven alone, unprotected. I make a decision. As much as I hate the thought of sending Nero and Zeke into danger, it can’t be helped. “Let’s split up. You two go look for the facility. I’ll stay with Raven.”
“Oh, no,” Raven’s chin lifts in the air. “I don’t need someone to watch over me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
She’s been taking care of herself since she was ten. Her independence is hard-won, and I don’t want to take that away from her. “I don’t doubt your strength, Raven,” I say gently. “But if something were to happen to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. Humor me in this, please. Put up with my protectiveness.”
She looks uncertain. “What if I come with you and help you find the facility?”
Absolutely not. There’s not a hope in hell that I’m going to risk her life. Thankfully, there’s a very good reason that she can’t search for Levitan’s secret laboratory. “The drones. They wouldn’t have tracked you today; Zimmer wouldn’t have wanted any witnesses to his assassination attempt. But tomorrow, they’ll be filming you. Right now, we’re not too far from the flags. No one has any reason to be suspicious. But if you come with us while we search for the facility, then Zimmer is going to know that something is up. He's going to be forced to act.” I take a deep breath. “A cornered animal is a dangerous one. You've got to stay where they are expecting you to be.”
She nods reluctantly. “I don’t like it, but you’re right.”
Just then, Zeke’s comm pings. His eyebrow rises. “It’s Adam.”
Adam Masev, who knows far too much about this weapon. I promised Zeke I’d turn a blind eye, and I keep my word, but I don’t like it. Masev’s a wildcard. “Pick it up. Don’t let him catch sight of Raven.”
Zeke swipes his screen and answers the call. “Adam. What’s going on?”
Adam Masev's expression is serious. “Zeke, I have a confession to make. I've been hiding something from you.”
How bad is this going to be?
“I'm a high-ranking member of Equality Pact.”
Really bad.
Equality Pact is a rebel organization. They believe that all sentients—vampires, humans, Oensi, Jowth, and Zaddyth—should have equal rights and be treated as full citizens of the Empire.
I happen to agree with that viewpoint. But Equality Pact chooses to bring about its agenda through violent means, and I’m never going to get on board with that.
“You are?” Zeke flinches. “How is this possible? I've known you for most of my life.”
Adam grimaces. “You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to keep the truth from you,” he says. “How many false trails I've planted to keep you from discovering my identity. Not to protect me, but to protect you. If it came out that you were friends with one of the leaders of Equality Pact, your career would be over.”
“Why tell us now?” I ask him pointedly.
Adam leans forward, his expression somber. “For days now, I’ve been fighting my conscience. I know what the weapon is, Zeke. And if it were to fall into Equality Pact’s hands…” His voice trails away. A long pause follows, then he takes a deep breath and seems to gather himself. “There are thousands of humans ready to rise up in rebellion against the Empire. Humans who are angry, humans who believe that all vampires deserve to die. Humans who wouldn’t hesitate to deploy the weapon against every vampire in the galaxy.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Raven stiffen with shock.
“I’ve been a part of Equality Pact for ten years,” Adam continues. “At the start, we organized protests, walkouts and strikes. We raised awareness about how humans were being treated in places like Boarus 4.” He grimaces. “People didn’t want to see the problem. Too depressing, they said. Or they thought we were exaggerating. Holo-shows wouldn’t cover the injustices. The pace of change was slow.”
He draws a deep breath. “Then one of us set off a bomb in Sarnac, and for weeks, the incident got coverage. People started investigating the Overlord there, and she went to prison for her crimes. A dozen people died in Sarnac, but we also improved the life of every single human on that planet. Was it worth the tradeoff?”
“That’s a slippery slope,” Zeke says, his voice hard. “And it doesn’t end anywhere good. Violence is never the answer.”
“You’re a vampire,” Adam retorts. “You’ve never been enslaved. You’ve never had to pay the blood tax. It’s easy to claim the high ground when your life isn’t affected. Choices become greyer when you’re fighting for survival.”
I hate to admit it, but Masev’s right. On Boarus 4, vampires aren’t sent to re-education camps. Humans are. We don’t have to fight for survival. Raven does.
But there’s still a flaw in Masev’s logic, and he knows it, which is the reason he’s talking to us. “Who decides where to draw a line?” I ask him. “How much vampire death is acceptable?”
Masev sighs. “Exactly. Some of us want to get our hands on the weapon and use it against vampires. But the disease doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t just kill those who oppress us. It will affect everyone, friends and foes.” His gaze is steady. “If the weapon falls into our possession, I can’t be sure we wouldn’t use it.”
It’s a warning. It’s not just Levitan who will want Raven. It’s practically everyone in the galaxy. Every two-bit underground rebellion will be salivating at the prospect of her blood.
Adam’s put Zeke in one hell of a spot. I nod to the man. “Thank you for telling us.”
“Are you going to have me arrested? I’ll run before I let that happen.”
I should. Except I promised Zeke. “The Empire is far from perfect,” I tell Masev, my voice cold. “Yet anarchy and genocide are never the answers. You got in too deep, I can understand that. But now you know what your so-called friends are capable of. Walk away from Equality Pact. Or I will find you, and I won’t be understanding. I will bring the full might of the Empire down on you.”
Zeke hangs up. There’s a long moment of silence as we digest what we heard, and then Zeke looks up. “I’m sorry,” he starts, an expression of misery etched on his face. “I should have…”
I hold up a hand to stop him. “You’ve earned my loyalty a thousand times over. You’re not responsible for what Masev does.”
Raven clears her throat. “Are you going to turn me in to Prince Ragnar?”
“What?” I stare at her, aghast. “Of course not. How could you even think such a thing?”
“I’m not a fool, Saber. I carry a terrifying disease in my blood. If the wrong person got a hold of me… It would be in the Empire’s best interests to kill me.” She gives me a steady, unflinching look. “You've been a member of the Imperial Army for a long time. Not surrendering me would be treason.”
“You’re not a pawn, Raven. You’re a person.” I take her hand in mine and stare into her eyes. “I've been disillusioned with the army ever since I lost more than half my team. Maybe even longer than that. I've seen too many things that I can't dismiss. Too many wrongs that people tolerate in the name of the greater good. To Zimmer and Ragnar and Equality Pact, you’re just a tool.” I cup her cheek. “You’re important to me. I’m not going to let them have you.”
She doesn't look at us. “Tonight was just one night,” she mumbles. “One time. It doesn'
t have to mean something.”
She thinks the reason for our protectiveness is because we bedded her? She’s beautiful, and when I think of her soft body pressed against mine, my cock jumps to attention. But this is about so much more than that.
This is about her strength, the fact that after everything she’s been through, she can still smile. Still feel. This is about the loyalty that made her drag our unconscious bodies back to shelter.
This isn’t about sex; it never was.
Nero sits next to Raven. “The first few months I lived on the streets were really hard,” he says. “No one would hire me, and I wasn’t very good at stealing. I could find some human food to eat, but not blood…” His lips twist. “Older vampires could take it by force, but I was a skinny kid, weak and undersized.”
I’ve known Nero for a long time, but I’ve never heard this story.
“I was slowly starving to death,” he continues, his voice matter-of-fact. “Then, one day, a human found me, a man called Audric Coffer. He offered me his veins. Told me to take what I needed. I asked him why, and he said he couldn’t stand by and watch me starve.”
She looks up, expressionless.
“I drank from Audric, of course, but I didn’t believe him. Words are easy.” He smiles in remembrance. “Yet despite my skepticism, week after week, Audric showed up.” He squeezes her hand. “There’s nothing I can say right now that will convince you, and I understand that. You have every right to be skeptical of us. But Raven, we’re going to keep showing up.”
He gets to his feet. “We should go. There's not too much night left, and we need to hurry.” He embraces Raven. “Remember to collect your flags, little one,” he says with a grin. “I have a bet on you with the Oensi Federation, and I want to win.”
She chuckles. It’s a weak laugh, but I’ll take it.