by Lili Zander
Thrax places my hand on his cock, and my fingers barely meet around his thickness. “I want to sink into you, Ryanna,” he growls. “I want to hear you cry out our names as our cocks slide into your body.”
Me too, I start to sob out, and then my common sense makes a very belated appearance. What am I doing? There are no condoms on the prison planet. Even if there were, would the rubber serve as a barrier against a pair of determined Draekon sperm? I can’t run the risk of getting pregnant.
You know what’s worse than seeing the guys you’re half in love with mate with someone else? Adding a child to the mix.
“I can’t,” I whisper, pulling my hand back, bracing myself for their frustration and anger. “Please stop.”
“Of course.” Thrax pulls back at once.
“Do you want us to leave you alone?” Zorux asks, his voice gentle.
I gulp. I am the world’s biggest cock-tease. Do Draekons get blue balls? “No,” I mumble, my cheeks flushing with shame. “I don’t want you to go. Can we just take things slow?”
Zorux brushes a kiss across my cheek. “We can do whatever you want, sweet one. Take all the time you need. We’re not going anywhere.”
Thrax pulls a thin blanket over me. “Sleep well, Ryanna.”
Their dicks are still hard and ready. But they act like it’s no big deal. They’re not angry. They’re not frustrated. They’re being so kind and understanding that I want to burst into tears again.
It takes me a very long time to fall asleep.
11
Zorux:
Once she’s asleep, I disengage myself and move to the mouth of the cave.
For sixty years, we’ve lived in the Lowlands, never venturing this far west. This area is unfamiliar to us. The predators are different here. The creatures that attacked Ryanna are new to me.
Thrax and I will take turns guarding the caves tonight. Just in case.
Two hours later, Thrax rouses from his slumber and prepares to keep watch. “Before you go to sleep,” he says to me, his voice low, “I wanted to ask you about something.”
“What is it?”
“Earlier this evening,” Thrax says, settling himself across from me, “when I said that I’d dress Ryanna’s wound, there was something in your expression. Are you angry I kissed her?”
I know exactly what he’s talking about. I’d wanted to tend to Ryanna as well, but I’d stepped aside. I’d told myself that wanting the human woman was fruitless. My secret marked me for death, and I had no business getting involved with anyone.
And now?
Now, I’ve felt her soft body pressed against me. I’ve seen her face contort with desire; I’ve heard her breathy moans as we brought her to pleasure.
There’s no going back.
But there’s no going forward either. I can’t risk it.
For sixty years, I’ve kept to myself. I’ve deliberately stayed isolated from the others. I haven’t made close friends. I’ve done everything in my power to protect my secret. Not for me, but for my family.
Now, the threat is even greater. Arax will uphold the laws of the High Empire; the trial of Beirax made that abundantly clear. A Cloakship represents a way off the planet. Raiht’vi undoubtedly wants to return to the homeworld. If the truth is revealed, Daerix, Kaenix, and Sila’vi will be killed.
I cannot risk their lives for my own selfish desires. Exiled on the prison planet, I will never see my siblings again, but I cannot live with their deaths on my soul.
As much as I want the human woman, as much as her sweetness feels like a balm to my injured heart, I cannot allow myself to have her.
“No,” I answer Thrax, my voice curt. “I’m not angry you kissed her.” I get to my feet and stretch. “Wake me in two hours.”
Walking inside the cave, I settle down next to Ryanna. I can see her face in the moonlight. Her eyes are closed, and her expression is peaceful. Taking care not to touch her, I shut my eyes and will myself to fall asleep.
Sleep doesn’t come for a long time. It’s not until she whimpers and reaches for me that my nerves calm. Cradling her next to me, I finally drift into oblivion.
Ryanna:
The next day, we swing into treasure-hunt mode. Thrax surveys the map and points due north. “If I’m reading this right,” he says, “there should be another container about two hours away.”
More walking. At the rate I’m going, the soles of my sneakers are going to wear out, and then what? It isn’t like Nike has an outlet on the prison planet.
Though, let’s be honest, worn-out soles are the least of my worries.
Thankfully, neither Thrax nor Zorux are acting weird this morning. I was afraid that after our heavy petting session last night, things would be strained between us, but they’re acting exactly the same. In other words, Thrax is his usual cheerful self, and Zorux wears a frown on his face.
I’m not intimidated by Surly Draekon anymore. He’s done his best to hide it, but the large Draekon is a genuinely nice guy.
We set out in the direction of the second package. I can see why Beirax’s friends picked this spot for a supply drop. Unlike the Lowlands, this part of the prison planet is mostly flat. Visibility is good, and there are no obstacles that might prevent us from retrieving the twenty-one containers. Fingers crossed.
Thrax strides ahead with boundless energy, and Zorux isn’t far behind. I’m a slower walker than the two of them, so I bring up the rear. Of course, after my total, utter uselessness yesterday, both men keep me in sight. Because I’m completely incapable of looking after myself.
“So you’re bedding them?”
Raiht’vi. Great. And she wants to gossip. I think I preferred her sneering at me.
“What do you mean?” I ask evasively.
One eyebrow lifts. “You weren’t in the cave when I woke up in the middle of the night, Ryanna. It’s perfectly obvious you were with the Draekons.”
No matter what Zorahn norms might be, I’m not going to kiss and tell. “Is it really any of your business?” Usually, I’m sweet as pecan pie, but if Raiht’vi’s going to ask nosy questions, I’m happy to return the favor.
“Perhaps I do not wish to be abandoned on this mission when another pair bond impregnates their mate.”
“That won’t happen.” Even if it takes all my willpower not to spread my legs.
“Do you think you will not get pregnant simply because you aren’t their mate?”
I wince. Just because I know I’m not their mate doesn’t make hearing it out loud any easier.
Raiht’vi continues her lecture. “If the two claim you together, there is still a chance of conception.”
Wait a second. She’s actually told me something useful. As long there’s no double penetration, I don’t have to worry about getting pregnant. Thank you, Raiht’vi. A wide grin spreads across my face. That was almost as useful as Draekon condoms.
“This is no laughing matter,” Raiht’vi hisses.
The censure in her voice gives me a chill. You don’t think of us as people, Zorux had accused. “Why do you hate the Draekons?”
Her gaze slides away. “I don’t,” she replies.
It’s my turn to scoff. “Oh please,” I mutter, rolling my eyes at the obvious lie. “I might not be a fancy-pants scientist, but I’m not an idiot. If you don’t want to tell me the truth, that’s your prerogative. Don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me.”
She gives me a sidelong look, wondering if she should confide in me. “For more than a thousand years, every citizen of the High Empire has been taught to fear the Draekon mutation,” she says finally. “We’ve been taught that during the Great Rebellion, cities burned and thousands died. The mutation causes madness.”
I stare at her. “But your people created the Draekons. You know that’s not true.”
“Yes, we created the Draekons,” she agrees. “We created creatures that were almost impossible to kill. We taught them how to be the galaxy’s most ruthless soldiers. And then we
lost control of them.”
“So you’re afraid of them.”
“I used to be.” She takes a deep breath. “I believed that a madness possessed the Draekons when they shifted into dragons. I believed that it was my life’s work to understand why the Draekons shifted and how to prevent it.”
What the hell is she talking about? Raiht’vi can be maddeningly indirect sometimes. “You’ve lost me.”
She snorts impatiently. “I was working on a vaccine.”
“Is that why you recruited the ten of us?” I feel a momentary surge of sadness when I realize that we’re not ten anymore. Janet Cane, the high school guidance counselor from Pittsburgh, didn’t survive the crash. Olivia, May, Felicity, Bryce, and Paige are missing, kidnapped by another exile batch. Of the ten women who set out from Earth four months ago, only four are left.
She nods. “After the rebellion, all our records were destroyed. It was forbidden to create new species, and Earth was placed under an embargo. I wasn’t able to make progress.”
I connect the dots. “But things changed when two thousand Draekons were found,” I guess. “Suddenly, the vaccine became a higher priority.”
“We’re not that different, humans and Zorahn,” Raiht’vi says dryly. “To get back to the earlier topic. I thought the Draekons lost their minds when they transformed, but I was wrong.”
“So you’re not afraid of them anymore?”
“I didn’t say that,” she says quietly.
I give her a disbelieving look. “If your vaccine succeeds, there won’t be any more Draekons. You flew on Dennox’s back. You trusted him not to drop you from the skies, but you still fear them?”
“Is fear rational? I don’t fear the Draekons because they might harm me. I fear them because I cannot stop them if they do.”
Is fear rational? Of course it isn’t. Raiht’vi is being ridiculous.
She’s not the only one, is she?
Take me. Even though I’m safe on this planet, I’ve come up with a whole new list of things I’m afraid of. Last night, I didn’t want to stop. I told myself it was because they might find another mate, but the truth is that I’m afraid to put my heart on the line again. Thrax and Zorux want me. Instead of taking a chance, I’m choosing to hide in a corner.
No more. Mike took two years from me. I won’t let him take the rest of my life.
I want Zorux and Thrax. If they still want me, I’m not going to deny myself anymore.
12
Thrax:
We find the second container without too much difficulty. After a break for lunch, we make our way to the third, which is only a short distance away from the second. Since we can’t carry more than two containers, we head back to our caves, leaving the boxes at the base of the sheer rock face. So far, we’ve collected Container 1, Container 5 and Container 7, leaving us four to go. With any luck, we’ll be done well before Dennox gets back.
The sun is high in the sky. This time of year, we have another six hours of daylight left, but though Zorux and I are used to walking for hours at a time, Ryanna isn’t.
“How’s your arm?” I ask, sidling up to her side.
“Much better.” She sinks to the ground and removes her strange alien footwear, sighing in relief and wriggling her small, perfectly shaped toes. “Give me a second, and I’ll get the food ready.”
That’s so typical of Ryanna. She’s always doing something to keep herself busy, to be helpful. “Don’t move,” I order her. “I’ll get it.”
She starts to protest, then she gives me a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
I rummage through our supplies and pull out some dried meat and pickled vegetables. We’ll need to go hunting soon. I’m not sure what kind of game we can find here, but there’s bound to be some. The rolling grass is perfect for grazing.
As we eat, I survey the map with a frown. Most of the containers are scattered in the meadows in a three-kath radius, but five containers are much further away, south-west of us, in what appears to be a forest. Every time I look at them, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I feel uneasy.
“What’s bothering you?” Ryanna asks me, picking up on my mood.
I extend the map to her. “Tell me what you see.”
She bends her head over the screen. “Looks like one of their drops got away from them,” she says, her brow furrowed, pointing to the same set of containers that I was looking at. “It’s going to be one long walk retrieving this lot from the middle of a jungle.”
Zorux looks at the map too. “Maybe their drop got away from them,” he says slowly. “Or maybe someone moved those containers there.”
We all look up. My skin goes cold. “The other exile batch. You think they’re hunting for the containers too.”
His expression is serious. “We have to prepare for that possibility.”
Ryanna’s face is pale. “Suddenly,” she whispers, “this doesn’t seem like a piece of cake anymore.”
Ryanna:
Zorux and Thrax head out after lunch, but they refuse to allow me to come with them. “You were injured yesterday,” Thrax says. “You need to recuperate.”
“There are no tracks of any kind leading up to these rocks,” Zorux says. “But just in case…” He hands me Beirax’s gun. I didn’t even know he had it. “You know how to use this, don’t you, sweet one?”
I cannot believe that after my display of ineptness yesterday, they’re giving me a weapon. Warmth fills my chest. They don’t think I’m useless. They trust me.
Once they’re gone, Raiht’vi gets back to the various Cloakship components strewn around our cave, an expression of frustration on her face. “Mannix would have assembled this in an hour,” she mutters.
I wish I could help her, but the instruction sheet she’s reading is in Zor, and I’m not handy at all. Feeling more than a little useless, I leave Raiht’vi to it and head to the mouth of the cave.
For a long time, I close my eyes and drift in and out of sleep. The sun beats down on my face, and the air is pleasantly cool. Though I feel a little guilty about it, it’s nice to do nothing. Back in Georgia, I picked up every spare shift I could get, trying to pay the back taxes on my grandparents’ farm so it wouldn’t be foreclosed. I can’t remember the last time I had an afternoon to myself.
But I don’t want to think about Earth, about Georgia, the grocery store I worked at, or Mike. I’m tired of dwelling in the past. I’d much rather fantasize about the two Draekons that have become so integral to me.
God, they’re hot. Last night, it had taken all the willpower I possessed to keep from jumping them. When Zorux nipped my neck, nibbling my shoulders as his large hands explored my body, I’d wanted to push him on his back and ride him. When Thrax’s dark head had bent over my nipples, tweaking the erect buds, I’d wanted to push him lower, to get his mouth on my pussy.
Viola and Harper can’t seem to keep their hands off their mates. I always thought it had something to do with the mysterious Draekon mating bond, but I’m having no better luck resisting the tall, muscled dragons than they did.
It’s not the best time to be thinking of sex. Harper’s going to have a baby, and it looks like it’s a complicated pregnancy. Olivia and the others are still missing. Now, we might have stumbled upon the other exile batch’s location, but because we’re miles away from Arax and Nyx, we have no way of telling them. No cell phones on the prison planet.
But I can’t help myself. I’ve denied myself for so long. The pressure’s built inside me, and I’m at a breaking point. For months, my right hand has been working overtime, but my fingers can’t take the place of a hard body pressing down on me, a thick cock sliding into my pussy.
I haven’t been on a date since high school. Primping hasn’t been on my mind since we crashed here, but suddenly, I want to pretty myself up for them. I can’t wax anything. I can’t agonize over the three nice dresses I own, wondering which one of them makes my tummy look flattest. While I did pack a razor and some lip gloss
for my space voyage to Zoraht, they’re in my luggage, back in the Na’Lung camp.
Pre-date grooming on the prison planet: Remember to bathe.
Entering the cave where my packs are stored, I glance at Raiht’vi. Her head is still bent over the instruction sheet, and her expression is annoyed. “I’m going to the stream,” I tell her, searching for the oily berries that serve the purpose of soap.
She grunts. The assembly isn’t going smoothly. If it’s anything like the time I assembled flat pack furniture, she’s going to get to the end and discover she has three screws left over. I’d offer to help, but I know I’ll only get in the way. Leaving her to it, I grab my soap and wander away.
I’m washing my hair when the hair on the back of my neck rises. A prickle of awareness runs through me. Turning around, I see Zorux and Thrax looking at me, their gazes hot and intense.
My heart starts beating faster. “How long have you been watching me?”
“We just got here.” Thrax’s eyes slowly trail a path over me, and I swallow. My nipples harden, and my insides clench at the way he’s checking me out.
He’s not the only one. Zorux’s eyes are locked on me as well. “Should we leave?” he asks.
It’s the moment of truth. I can stay afraid, or I can be bold.
I take a deep breath and gather my courage. “No,” I whisper. “Join me.”
My heart thumps faster as they strip off their clothes and stalk toward me. Thrax has a big grin on his face, but even Zorux’s eyes are lit with excitement. This time, Zorux reaches me first, sliding his hands around my waist and planting a hard kiss on my mouth.
Thrax pries the soapy cloth from my fingers. “Let us help you wash, sweet one.” His voice, smoky and smooth, sends a shiver of desire through me. Goosebumps rise on my skin, not because of the cool water of the stream I’m knee-deep in, but because of the two sexy men that stand next to me.