The creature that was Andi made an odd sound. Half growl, half whine. Moving a few steps away from her kill towards him.
“That’s it. It’s safe now. You can come up. Come up to me, Andi.”
Quick as a flash, she leaped up to dig her claws into the opposite wall and launched herself off. Diving through the hole she’d made in the glass. It was an impressive move. One he recognized. He had given her that memory. That specific maneuver through the information download.
She hit him like a battle cruiser. Took him to the floor hard enough to drive the breath from his lungs. Hard enough to make the glass shards beneath him, slice up his back. He forced himself to ignore the pain.
“For so tiny a thing in your human form, my one, you are impressively large. Ga’rae will be beside himself with curiosity to know you can take a half form.”
At the sound of the medic’s name, he saw the barest flash of his mate inside the feral female’s eyes. She recognized the name. His words. He moved slowly, easing his palms down the fine hairs on her arms. Turned his head to let her snuffle at his throat. The blood on her muzzle was beginning to congeal. Sticky. Cold.
“Gwen will be quite jealous. To know you can shift half way and completely? All of the Sarazen females will be jealous. You have made a mess of our enemies and left none for me to dispatch, my heart. Once word of this is spread, perhaps these traitors and their accomplices will think twice about attempting to take our mates. It would please me very much if you would change back. I need you in my arms, Andi.”
Her throat rattled with a soft whine. The beast turned her cheek to rub it on his chest, her claws digging into the floor on either side of his head. So sharp they made barely any sound at all as the metal gave way. He wasn’t afraid that she would hurt him on purpose. He wasn’t even afraid that she might harm him unintentionally. All he cared about was that at the end of all this, she was alive and alright.
“Can you do that? Can you shift back? No? I can help you. Do you remember when you changed for the first time? How frightened you were. You trusted me to guide you. You let me in, Andi. Can you trust me again?”
“Ohlen!”
Brennaugh’s voice, booming down the corridors had Andi crouching over him. The same way she had over the corpse in the cell below. Her roar was more of a shriek. An ear piercing sound that made the broken glass vibrate on the floor around them. Bounced several monitors off the table to the left. Brennaugh would see her like this and know she was in thrall to the blood-lust. See her crouched over him and assume the worst.
“Shh, it’s our friends. Our pride, Andi.”
He shifted his head farther to the side, activating his com with a nudge of his shoulder.
“Brennaugh, don’t come any farther.” he kept his tone calm and smooth. No change to his voice. Hoping the sound of it continued to soothe Andi.
“Report! What’s going on?” the commander barked.
Andi picked him up off the ground like he was a cub. Carried him into a corner with her to…to protect him. Gods, if only she could feel him through their bond. He would have stood a chance of reaching her then. If Brennaugh and his team advanced, there was no guarantee that Andi would be able to keep from trying to kill them. And they would be forced to kill her. Then him soon after.
“Andi has shifted into a half form. She is responsible for the carnage in the halls. You need to stay away until I can reach her.”
His warning came too late. Brennaugh and three other warriors spilled into the room. Andi lunged. He threw himself in front of her, arms spread wide.
“No!”
Ohlen was uncertain why Andi stayed behind him. He knew his body was not enough of a shield to protect her, but if Brennaugh ordered his warriors to fire, he was going to die with his mate.
“Ohlen, she’s a slave to her blood-lust. You know as well as I do there is no return from that for our females.” Brennaugh spoke with sorrow. Like Andi was already dead. Already lost to him forever.
“Then you may as well shoot us both now. She’s protecting me,”
The words left his mouth and her tongue stroked across his back. Across the bleeding wounds where she’d pressed him into the glass. Brennaugh grimaced with pained understanding. Shook his head and all four of the warriors lowered their weapons.
“She is too far gone. Look at what she’s doing, Ohlen.”
He braced his feet at the rasp of her tongue along a particularly deep cut. Felt the sting ease immediately. Hope surged almost savagely at her gentle trill.
“She’s cleaning my wounds. Healing them. She doesn’t want to hurt me.”
Twenty One
She doesn’t want to hurt me…
Andi’s ears popped. Like someone had stuck a pin in a balloon. Sounds came rushing back to her in a boom of overwhelming noise. Ohlen’s voice. Brennaugh’s voice. The smell…oh god, what was that smell? She gagged. The scent of blood and decaying flesh was so thick. Oh god! It was all over her…
“Andi? Easy, don’t panic. I’m right here, shh, you’re alright.”
Ohlen put his hands on her, but that didn’t make the panic ease by much. She tried to tell him something was wrong. She felt wrong. What came out instead was an inhuman, garbled, whine.
“If you let your beast loose again, my one, there is no guarantee you’ll come back to me. Calm, just breathe. Can you change back?”
What? Change back? Why did he look so short? What was going…Another inhuman sound of terror came out of her. Something huge and hideous had just passed by her. She saw its reflection in the mirror. Blood all over its grotesque face. Blood all over everything. It took her a moment to realize that grotesque creature was her. Andi looked down at herself and saw all the blood. The short fur that lay so flat to her hideous body, covered in gore. Thick. Sticky. Disgusting. Ohgodohgodohgod!
“Andi. My one, look at me.”
She tore herself away from looking at the disgusting thing she’d become. Looked at Ohlen and saw none of the same disgust she felt in his expression. He was relieved. She could see that. Smell it.
“Change back. Come back down here to me. I’m getting a crick in my neck looking up at you. Is this how you feel all the time?” humor danced in his eyes. Crinkled the skin at the corners.
He thought this was funny? She was hideous! He just kept talking her down. Promising her everything was alright. Told her how much he wanted to take her out of this terrible place. Take her home. She wanted that desperately. Needed to get out of here. Needed to not smell everything with such precision.
“I know the smell is awful, my one. But you must breathe to center yourself. Focus on me. On my scent. Let me take you out of here. Let’s go home.”
Andi groaned as her beast finally retreated. As her bones twisted and crunched loudly to take their previous human shape. It was agonizing. Almost as bad as the very first time she’d changed. The taste in her mouth was so disgusting she gagged. It was so horrifyingly awful, she dropped to her knees and heaved her guts up in the corner. Until all that came up was bile.
“Find me a blanket!” Ohlen roared at someone. His arms came around her to pull her back into the heat of his body. Pressed her face tight to his shoulder.
“Here,” Something soft and warm was wrapped around her. Something with Ohlen’s scent all over it.
She didn’t know if she was hurting him, clinging to him as tight as she was. He didn’t say if she did. He just stood up and carried her away from this terrible place.
****
Ohlen hurried through the hallways. Kept Andi’s face pressed tightly to his shoulder to prevent her from seeing the carnage her beast had created. The open hatch sent a gust of fresher air towards them, blowing the stench of death farther back into the installation. Someone had activated the stairs, allowing him to take them two at a time to get up to the surface.
Brennaugh’s cruiser was waiting for them in the snowy clearing just beyond the open hatch. Waiting and surrounded by ten more warriors. Tarut
was nowhere to be seen but he gave the old beast little thought. Ohlen ran up the ramp, sagging with relief to see Ga’rae and Gwen both waiting. Ga’rae’s nostrils flared, his brows slamming down as the scent of blood from the handful of dead warriors, hit him in the face.
“Where’s all the blood coming from? Is she hurt?” Gwen demanded, rushing with him towards the med bay on board.
“She is physically unharmed,” Ohlen answered.
Andi struggled as he tried to put her on the table. Clung to him so tightly he could feel her muscles trembling with the strain. He tried to soothe her with his rumble. Rubbed his cheek on her hair and bent to whisper in her ear.
“I have you. I will not leave you. Likely not ever again. I can’t sense you through our bond. I need you to allow Gwen to examine you.”
“You can’t feel your bond?” Gwen gasped, “Moose, need the anti-toxin.” Ga’rae slapped a vial into Gwen’s outstretched hand. Growling under his breath to his mate about her unflattering endearment.
“Andi, honey, I’m going to give you an injection on your thigh. Okay? It’s antidote to that pollen shit.”
Gwen’s warning garnered no response from Andi. The tiny human looked at him for permission before moving the blanket away from Andi’s thigh. Pressing the injector into her leg.
“How quickly will it take effect?” Ohlen wanted their bond back. Now.
Gwen lifted her shoulder. “Within a few hours. I made Ga’rae test it on me.” Gwen cast her mate a little smile, getting a narrow glare from the medic.
Ohlen guessed Ga’rae had not voluntarily participated in that test. It mattered little at this point, so long as it worked. He asked Andi again to allow Gwen to scan her. Needing to know that nothing had been done to harm her physically.
“Shower,” he had to strain to hear what Andi said,
“What?”
“I want. A shower.” he raised his brows at the fury still edging her voice. Of course she wanted to bathe. No doubt she could smell the reek of her kills all over herself. What a fool he was.
“Honey, I know how you must feel-” Andi’s head whipped up off his shoulder to pin Gwen with such a hot look, the smaller female took a step back.
“Do you? Do you, Gwen? Have you morphed halfway into a hideous monster and spent the night snacking on entrails? Pretty sure you have no ideahow I must feel. I want. A shower.” Ohlen bit back a wince. Andi remembered what she’d done during her blood-lust.
Gwen stared back at Andi. The redheaded medic struggling with whatever she wanted to say. In the end, Gwen was blunt and to the point.
“I hear you. But you might have physical evidence on your body that we can use to identify the people trying to kill us.”
Andi shuddered and made to respond. He beat her to it. He had mistakenly thought Andi was too frightened to listen to reason. Clinging to him like she had been, he had thought she was afraid and relieved to be out of the underground lab. It was no good excuse, but her scent was just so muddied. Had their bond been in effect he would have known. His mate was angry.
“There is plenty of physical evidence in the abandoned installation. Feel free to collect as much as you want. Andi, you will allow an exam once you are clean. Understood?”
Ohlen made sure there was no confusion as to his intention. He was ordering her to allow the scan. Thankfully, Andi nodded. Turning around to put her nose back to his throat. To take in his scent. Used the smell of him to block out the scent of anything else. Ga’rae was still staring at Andi with his brows furrowed. The medic’s confusion was plain. No doubt wondering how it was possible that a female had come back from blood-lust. Ohlen didn’t care. So long as Andi was alright.
****
As soon as he got them into the enzyme shower the knotted muscles in Andi’s body started to release. He could feel her relaxing, shivering intermittently. Ohlen’s heart dropped to his toes when she flinched away from the kiss he touched to her cheek. His immediate thought was that she was angry with him. Blamed him for her abduction. She should blame him, he had failed her, but it still made his chest ache to be faced with her reaction.
“Don’t. I’m hideous,” she whispered.
Relief hit him so hard, he almost burst out laughing. He rubbed the enzyme into her skin, into her hair. Gave her no choice but to lean on him.
“Were you able to sense my feelings you would know I think you are still the loveliest thing on two legs or four.”
“I turned into a monster. I think…I think I ate people.” her voice hitched on a little sob.
The scent of her shame was clear now that the blood was being washed away. He remembered well the feeling of such shame. The horror of waking up to find proof of his fury littered in pieces around him. The taste of death in his mouth. He sighed softly, making sure no part of her was untouched by his hands or the enzyme.
“You are no monster, my one. You have not seen a female Sarazen in her shifted form. Your half form is much more attractive.”
“Ohlen,” her tone was a warning. As though she thought he was being untruthful.
“I vow it to be truth. What you experienced was blood-lust and I do understand how it feels. That, my heart, is a memory I did not share with you. Commander Brennaugh will have questions, as will Ga’rae and Gwen. So I will not ask anything of you now. You will speak of it all at once, and only once. After that, we will not speak of it until our bond is no longer silenced. Alright?”
Andi nodded quickly, letting him hug her close. He might not ever let her go again. He activated the enzyme wash a second time. Smiling when she did her familiar shifting dance, still holding onto him. Her soft body rubbing against his uncontrollably hard cock. Just like the very first time. She must have caught the scent of his desire because her head lifted to meet his gaze.
“Don’t kiss me until I can sanitize my mouth.” she ordered. Glaring at him when he smiled slowly at her.
Andi must have forgotten that was the purpose of the enzyme wash. He gripped her thighs and hoisted her up. Right into his kiss. Pressed her back against the stall of the shower to do his best to kiss her soul. She fought to pull back for all of two seconds. Even if she’d tasted like death, it wouldn’t have mattered to him. So long as she was alive for him to taste. But because of the enzyme, she tasted like…Andi. Like his mate. Her struggle to stop kissing him ended and she was suddenly ravenous. The scent of her need exploded in the narrow stall. Going straight to his head like an entire alehouse full of brew.
“I can’t feel you inside me. I need that, I need you,” she panted insistently. Her fingers scratched at his shoulders. Her legs hooked around his waist to pull him closer. Rubbed the wet heat of her sex on his belly. The action made his beast rabid to have his mate.
Andi could feel that fury rising in her again. Feel her beast, the other one. The one who had tasted blood, pushing at the boundaries of her mind. Ohlen wasn’t inside her, his thoughts, his warmth. Gone. She felt empty. Out of control. That dick scientist was right, she needed Ohlen to function. She tried to articulate why. Despite it being mostly inarticulate sounds of need, he understood.
His arm banded around her hips, lifted her higher. Looking into her eyes when he dropped her down hard on his shaft. She was so wet that he was in to the hilt in less than a heartbeat. The rush of pleasure was instant. Her neck tipped back to give the keening growl room to escape her throat. Ohlen’s breath washed over her shoulder. Goosebumps broke out on her skin. Despite how roughly he had filled her, he stayed still. Like he was savoring the feeling of their bodies reuniting. He touched a kiss to her throat. To the soft hollow behind her ear. Tracked a string of kisses along her cheek until he got to her mouth.
The tenderness and the passion in his kiss made her melt. The panicked need eased. The furious roaring of her beast quieted enough for her to think. To feel Ohlen inside her. It wasn’t their bond, but his heat, his heartbeat. She could feel that where the thick stalk of his shaft pulsed inside her.
Need forced her
to move. To curl her arms around his shoulders. Tighten her thighs around his hips to pull him closer. To slide up and back down again. Slowly, savoring the stretch of her muscles and the way his thickness nearly split her in two. His eyes flashed indigo, such a deep purple they were nearly black.
“I need you.” she repeated.
The sound of his beast filled his mouth. Vibrated between them so roughly that it made her nipples pebble up. Chaffing against his chest as he picked up speed, bouncing her roughly on his cock. Pushing her back harder against the wall, like he was trying to fuck a hole through it. Like it had been months instead of hours since they’d been together last. She was making incoherent noises at this point. Ridiculous screams and moans. She didn’t even care. Ohlen caught her mouth in a quick, rough kiss. The tension building inside her growing to a fever pitch. The sounds they both made echoed loudly in the narrow stall. So erotic she could barely stand it. He nipped at her lip, a quick little sting and that was it. All it took to set her off like a rocket. Her pussy rippled around his cock, her orgasm pulling him into his own.
He let out a wild roarthat vibrated her bones. A vibration that acted as a trigger to loop her right back into the swell of ecstasy. They clung to one another as the fervor eased. Shivering, panting as they tried to catch their breath.
“Ohlen?”
“Did I hurt you?” she loved how he always took care with her. Even when it seemed, felt like, he was out of control with desire. He wasn’t.
“No. Not at all. I just wanted to tell you, before we go back out there-”
“My one, if you can speak, I have done you a disservice.” she couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of her. He sounded wrecked. Groggy. Groaning when her pussy weakly fluttered in reaction to his beloved voice. She struggled to focus.
Sarazen's Vengeance: Book 1.1 Page 13