by Kora Knight
But Chet’s curt snarl quickly yanked him back to reality. “Show’s over, guys. Help me find something to cut this rope.”
The whole team snapped to attention fast.
“Those might work.” Jamis pointed beneath a shrub.
Nice. Rock shards. And a lot of them, too. The guys snatched them up and got busy sawing, even as their minds kept on reeling.
“Man,” Bailey murmured. “That was some crazy shit.”
Noah shook his head. “Dragons… Unreal.”
Zaden frowned over his shoulder. “Makes you wonder if there’s anything that Kríe pack can’t hunt.”
Alec slid him a look, knowing exactly what Z meant. Even if they did manage to cut their leash in time, would they really be able to evade Gesh for long? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce the answer to that one.
Chet scowled, clearly coming to the same conclusion, and sped up the pace of his sawing. “We gotta fucking try. I refuse to just give up.”
He was right and Alec knew it. Hell, everyone did. Taking his lead, they all worked faster, steadily severing the fibers of their rope.
Jamis glanced toward the river. “They’re completely preoccupied. We should definitely have time to—”
“What are you doing?” came a velvety purr from above.
Alec froze, then discreetly shoved the shard into his pocket.
“Goddamn it!” Chet threw his to the ground.
Naydo’s chuckle descended like a warm, weighted blanket. “Do not fret. Had you not tried, I would have thought less of you for it. Perhaps next time I will let you run free, let you frolic a bit before rounding you up.”
“Fuck you,” Chet bit out. “You big purple dick.”
Naydo threw back his head and laughed some more.
Alec sighed. “Chet, seriously. Don’t encourage him.”
Beside him, the trio’s lips twitched.
Zaden, however, watched Naydo intently as he untied their rope and jumped down. There was a look in his eyes that Alec couldn’t quite place. But considering who he was looking at, Alec suspected it had something to do with Naydo—and what those two did during the team’s little swim. Alec still didn’t know what to make of that, but hadn’t really had a chance to mull it over yet. So it wouldn’t surprise him if Zaden was presently trying to wrap his brain around it, too.
CHAPTER SIX
* * *
Led back to the others, Alec finally got his eyeful. Talk about a massacre. The three dragons lay motionless, covered in blood, as a handful of Kríe skinned and sectioned them.
“You eat flyer meat?” Bailey asked Naydo as he stared at the carnage.
“Mah.” No. A voice that wasn’t Naydo’s. But a voice Alec recognized all the same. He turned in its direction as Miros arrived, Roni coming to a stop by his side. “We do not eat meat, but we do trade and sell it.”
Jamis coughed in surprise. “You don’t eat meat?” Incredulously, he eyed Miros’ bulky frame. “Then how the hell do you stay so big?”
Miros shrugged, his gaze flicking over to Alec. “We find what we need in other things.”
Alec shifted under his stare, then noticed his bleeding arm. Looked like a flyer got him good.
Naydo lifted his chin to Miros and Roni. “Does Gesh want to take all that meat to the homeland?”
Roni nodded. “Yes, but preparing it for transport will take some time and Gesh does not want to wait. Some will stay behind and meet up with us later.”
“What’s the hurry?” Chet muttered.
Roni slid him a smirk. “Gesh is anxious to sell his other wares.” Slowly, his gaze roamed down Chet’s body. “Wares I will certainly miss.”
The whole team immediately stilled at his words.
“He’s going to fucking sell us?” Alec bit out in disbelief.
Roni shrugged. “Or give you as gifts.”
The science trio paled.
“Give us as gifts?” Chet balled his fists. “Over my dead body.”
“To be given as gifts is the highest compliment, especially when gifted to our king.”
Holy what the fuck?
Alec’s eyes shot to Zaden, who looked equally floored.
Roni smiled and rubbed Chet’s skull-cut head. “Do not worry. You and I, we will still have our fun.”
Chet seethed and shoved his hand away, then flat-out lunged at the male. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” he barked, his bound hands gunning for Roni’s throat. “Or, swear to God, I’ll—”
Roni dodged and slammed Chet’s back into a tree. Alec and the team stumbled with them. Hello, still attached to the same lead! But neither Chet nor Roni seemed to notice as Roni pinned Chet’s body with his own.
“Or you swear you will do what?” Roni purred super smug.
“Untie me, bitch, and I’ll show you.”
Roni chuffed in amusement and licked Chet’s cheek. “For some reason I like when you call me bitch. Soon I will call you the same.” Stepping back abruptly, he removed Chet’s collar, then glanced at Alec as he untied Chet’s hands. “I am going to help your friend release some tension. Do not worry. I promise not to kill him.”
Alec stiffened. “Uh, yeah, thanks, but I don’t think so. The size difference is—”
“Boss,” Chet grit out, eyes flashing fire. “For the love of God, let me fucking do this.”
Alec shouldn’t have been surprised. Chet was practically part Pitbull. One of the reasons Alec hired him on. But he couldn’t afford to risk the guy getting injured. Chet was vital to the team’s survival.
“Chet,” he chuckled tensely. “Come on, man. You’re angry. And clearly not thinking straight.” He gestured to Roni. “He’s freaking huge. No way you could—”
“Please,” Chet persisted. “He’s been nothing but a punk. Gimme a chance to put him on his ass.”
Roni crossed his arms and smiled at Alec. “You are smart. Understand that your kind is inferior. At least one in your unit shows intelligence.”
Alec’s blood boiled at the insult. But even though he knew Roni was blatantly goading him, he couldn’t tamp back human pride. Eyes narrowing, he gave Chet a single nod. “Have fun,” he muttered. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Yes,” Chet hissed, his excitement palpable.
A sly grin spread across Roni’s face. “Bellah. Nenya.” Good. Come. He led them to an open space.
As Alec’s team looked on, Gesh and some others came to watch, too. Honest to God, if Chet wound up dead, Alec was going to fucking kill him.
Slowly, the two males began to circle, eyeing each other intently.
Roni raked another hot gaze down Chet’s body. “Will you give me a prize, warrior, if I win this exchange?”
“Sure. But if I win, I want the same deal.”
Roni’s fangs flashed wickedly. “Agreed. Name your prize.”
“Alright… If I win, no more tying me up.”
Roni’s lips curved. “I accept. If you win, no more ropes. But if I win, you must fully submit.”
Chet’s brows furrowed warily. “Fully submit how?”
“By becoming my plaything. My bitch.”
Chet paled and glanced at Alec.
Alec groaned and shook his head. Roni just played them like a goddamn fiddle. No way would Chet’s pride let him fold.
Roni came to a stop and pompously smiled, giving a big beefy shrug. “If you are scared, it is not too late to change your mind.”
Chet bristled. “Fuck you, Roni. I don’t back down.” Without warning, he rushed him, plowing his shoulder into Roni’s gut, his arms snapping tight around Roni’s waist. At six foot three and two hundred and twenty pounds, that was definitely no lightweight hit.
Roni grunted, stumbling back, and damn near falling, as he tried to grab hold of Chet, too. But Chet just kept charging, boots chewing up the ground, until he slammed Roni into a tree.
Alec grinned. Gesh laughed.
Roni coughed up a chuckle, too. “Bellah kai, kensa. Reeka moons
ah may.” Very nice, warrior. Give me more of that.
Chet glared as he pinned him, but before he could reply, Roni hefted him up and head-butted him in the face.
Alec cringed as the rest of his team winced in sympathy. Chet had to be seeing stars.
Cursing through a groan, Chet palmed his eye as Roni marched them from the tree and slammed him. Right on his back atop the unforgiving ground. Air punched from Chet’s lungs, but he was far from defeated. Roni loomed above him all arrogant and superior. Chet glowered and lurched to his feet.
“More?” Roni grinned.
“More,” Chet growled.
Again, Chet lunged with the exact same move. But when Roni anticipated and tried to dodge, Chet anticipated, too, and nailed him. This time, however, when Chet shoulder-rammed Roni’s midsection, he aimed the hit slightly further down. Enough that he could grab the backs of Roni’s knees and yank the things forward until they buckled.
Roni grunted as his back slammed hard into the ground.
Tackle!
Alec’s eyebrows shot high. Well, look at that. Though he probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Chet had played offensive lineman in college. The science trio whooped, blatantly jazzed, as across the way, Gesh and company smirked. Alec frowned at their expressions, but was quickly distracted when Chet scrambled up and sat on Roni’s body. Muscular thighs straddling the huge Kríe’s lean waist, Chet hauled back and clocked him in the face.
Roni stilled, then slowly grinned wicked wide. As if the pain Chet just inflicted turned him on. Chet snarled, cocked his elbow, and threw another punch. But this time Roni deflected Chet’s fist with his forearm and nailed Chet with a “snake strike” to his sternum.
Chet grunted, then grimaced and wheezed for breath. But that brief pause would be the beginning of the end. Roni’s big hand slammed the side of his face, sending him sprawling to the ground. And just like that, Roni was on top of Chet, pinning him flat on his back. Noses nearly touching, the Kríe bared his fangs. “Tah, Chet.” Yes. “Your anger excites me.”
Chet cursed and tried to shove him off, but his efforts were hopelessly futile. Roni outweighed him by a good hundred pounds. Adding insult to injury, the Kríe reached between their bodies and cupped Chet’s tender nuts. Chet gasped. Alec cringed, knowing that couldn’t feel good. Didn’t matter that Roni wasn’t even squeezing.
Roni chuckled and grazed his fangs down Chet’s throat. Chet froze, then thrashed harder to get away. To Alec’s surprise, Roni actually let him go. Well, sort of. The second he lifted up and Chet rolled out from under him, Roni shoved him back to the ground on his chest. And this time he didn’t let Chet off the hook so easy. Grabbing his wrist, Roni twisted Chet’s arm and pinned the thing painfully against Chet’s spine.
“Ah!” Chet howled. “Goddamn it! Aw, fuck!”
Roni grinned and settled his body atop Chet’s, then ground his dick against Chet’s ass. A dick that was undoubtedly rock hard. “Do you yield?” he murmured, lips brushing Chet’s ear.
Features tight, Chet panted. “No way.”
Roni rumbled happily and licked Chet’s neck. “Good. I am so very glad to hear it.”
Using his own knees to spread Chet’s wider, Roni wedged his cock even deeper between Chet’s cheeks. Evidently his fun wouldn’t be deterred by Chet’s shorts. Chet cursed. Then stifled a needy moan.
Roni grinned and nuzzled the side of his neck. “You want my cock.”
Chet coughed. “In your purple fucking dreams.”
“Oh, no,” Roni chuckled. “Not in my dreams. In your tight little warrior ass.”
“Fuck you,” Chet bit out.
“I would rather fuck you.” Roni rocked his hips, slow and steady. “I think you would rather that, too.”
Another restless moan escaped Chet’s lips as his eyes rolled back into his head. Roni nuzzled him again, then nudged Chet’s wrist higher.
Chet’s eyes flew back open. “Ah, shit! Motherfuck!”
“Do you yield?” Roni repeated, biting Chet’s ear.
Chet’s brows pinched furiously, his mind clearly at odds. “No,” he grated. “I don’t fucking yield.”
Again, Roni chuckled. “Very well, when you are ready. But you will have to say the word. I will not be asking again.”
“Yeah?” Chet rasped. “And why is that?”
“Because,” Roni purred. “From here on out my mouth will be very busy.”
And that was the only heads up that Chet got.
Roni sank his sharp fangs between Chet’s shoulder and neck.
Chet gasped, eyes wide, every muscle going stiff. That is, until Roni started to suck. Once he did, holy freaking hell. Chet’s hips started thrusting like mad.
“Fuck!” he panted. “Aw, shit! Aw, fuck!”
Seemed Roni’s fangs were some potent little bastards. Chet fisted and clawed at the damp, lush ground as his eyes kept rolling back in his head.
Alec swapped uneasy looks with Zaden. Roni said he wouldn’t kill him, and Chet’s predicament didn’t look fatal. But what if Roni was sucking him dry or something, while everyone just stood around watching? No fucking way would Alec let that happen. Whether the stubborn fucker yielded or not.
Stepping forward, he readied to open his mouth, but Miros appeared and quickly intercepted.
“He is not in any danger. I assure you, he is fine. Kríe bites are very common practice.”
“But—”
“Trust me.” Miros slid him a roughish smile. “Chet will be yielding any moment.”
Alec frowned and looked back at the team’s pinned bodyguard. Face flushed, Chet was still trying to fuck the ground as Roni suckled and dry humped him from above. But just like Miros said, when Roni sank his fangs deeper, Chet arched in a howl of surrender.
“Ah! Okay! Goddamn it! I yield!”
Gesh’s pack raised their fists.
Chet’s team bit back groans.
And Roni loosed a long, happy growl.
Gently, he eased his teeth from Chet’s neck and lazily lapped at the wounds. “Such a good little bitch. Tonight you will submit, and lead the way for your team.”
“The way?” Chet groaned.
Roni grinned. “Indeed. To show them they have nothing to fear.”
“Nothing,” Chet repeated. “You sure about that?”
“Well… Nothing and absolutely everything.”
* * *
With festivities over and everyone patched up—compliments of the team’s first aid kits—the caravan was back on its way. Chet, however, stayed pretty quiet for the journey. And honestly, Alec was grateful for that. The guy’s predicament was uncomfortable to think about. Almost as uncomfortable as the fucking rope dragging back and forth across Alec’s balls. God, they were getting so engorged and heavy. If they—or his dick—filled any fuller, Alec feared something was going to split.
Yeah. Awesome visual.
Muscles tense, he ambled next to Zaden, since their leash lent a couple of yards between each prisoner. But Zaden wasn’t talking much either. By the grim look on his face, the guy was busy working shit out. Maybe like what happened between him and Naydo. Man, that shit was crazy. And hot.
Alec groaned up at the trees. He must be getting delirious. After all, they hadn’t really eaten much and this non-stop bodily torment was exhausting. And then there were the mental aspects. Every tree they passed—and being in the jungle, there were a lot—Alec sized up as a worthy object to grind against. And those huge-ass flowers? With their long, fat pollen tubes? He fantasized shoving those up his ass. Maybe a couple at once, in one big bundle. Which was such a foreign feeling to him. Never had he wanted things crammed up his rectum. But now he yearned for it even more than he yearned for a hot, wet hole to shove his dick in.
So messed up, and yet, that was his reality.
His other messed up reality was how he kept checking out Gesh’s pack, like a horny dude ogling chicks. Scrutinizing their bodies from head to toe, lingering on the parts he liked b
est. Like their broad, bulging shoulder blades. And that ravine down their spines. Or how their abs looked like literal washboards. He especially liked their golden eyes, their wicked smiles, and tiny, pierced nipples. Or how their long dreads swept across their backs every single time they moved. Shit, in all honesty, the list could go on. Everything about them fascinated him.
Which, again, he realized was totally messed up. Because instead of captivating, he should find them vile, for all kinds of sordid reasons. The stunt Gesh pulled with that fruit, for one, of which Alec’s team was still suffering. For taking them captive. Treating them like pets. And planning to sell them for profit. His teeth clenched angrily. They were self-serving scoundrels… whom Alec found utterly engrossing.
He cursed under his breath. He knew what was happening. It really was pretty clear. His debilitating need to come had his mind playing tricks on him. Making the things that his body needed look overly attractive and appealing.
He knew it was true, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it. His eyes slid back to Miros, walking up ahead, who had all but offered Alec his dick. Now Alec wanted to take him up on that. Not that he ever would. Because, honestly, no matter how the dice rolled, their parts just weren’t compatible. Miros was too big. Straight-up. End of. Simple unfortunate fact. Which in itself made Alec feel kind of queasy. Because with his team unable to find release alone, and Gesh’s pack too large to do the job, how in the hell were they going to get fixed?
His mind churned anxiously. Ugh. He needed to stop thinking.
Raw, potent pleasure blazed through his junk and shimmied into his sensitized ass. Alec hissed and looked down, finding that yet again he’d been feverishly stroking his crotch.
Zaden turned at the sound, then frowned dejectedly. “I can’t take this much longer, Alec.” He shook his head. “I’m seriously gonna lose my mind.”
Alec winced as he ground his palm down his length. “I know. It’s getting worse. Everything below the belt…” He groaned and forced his hand away. “I can’t even think straight anymore.”