Warlord's Mercy: 4 (Barbarian Claims)

by Cynthia Sax

  Her forehead wrinkled. “I don’t hear anything. I—”

  “Run,” Tolui barked. Lea’s spine snapped straight. “Now,” he urged, unwilling to take any chances with his female. She sprinted forward, her hair streaming out behind her, her leg coverings stretching tightly across her firm ass.

  “Faster.” Tolui ran behind Lea, preparing to defend her, to kill for her, to die for her if he had to. The roar of a ship’s engine grew louder and louder. He spotted the entrance to the tunnels.

  Lea panted, her breathing strained. The ship appeared on the horizon, a menacing black dot, a threat to his mate.

  “Faster, Lea.” He shoved her toward the entrance and Lea pitched forward, falling face first. Tolui accelerated and caught her, caging her small, fragile form with his larger body. They rolled on the cavern floor. The contents of the packs jabbed into his spine. Stone scraped against his arms.

  Tolui landed on his back with his little human female nestled into his stomach, her body curled into a tiny sphere. The ship passed over them, rattling stones, the engine temporarily deafening him.

  Tolui held his breath. Are we deep enough in the tunnel to block the life form scanners? The ship didn’t slow, the sound of the engine fading, and he exhaled, sagging on the rock floor. “That was too close.” The packs dug into his body. He shifted and tossed them to the side.

  “How did you know the ship belonged to the Chameles and not to your clone warriors?” Lea’s gaze met his, her brown eyes wide.

  “I didn’t know whose ship it was.” Tolui brushed her damp hair away from her flushed cheeks. “I wasn’t taking any chances with your safety.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, tasting the salt of her skin. “You aren’t interchangeable, gerel, not to me.”

  “You aren’t interchangeable to me either.” Lea drifted her fingers over his right arm, leaving a trail of arousal on his battered skin. “Although I know you don’t believe me.” She traced his torn flesh. “You’re bleeding again. You have to take better care of yourself.”

  She cares for me. Warmth spread across Tolui’s chest. “I’ll heal.”

  “You’d better heal.” She leaned over him and covered his lips with hers, her hair framing her face, the soft tendrils caressing his cheeks.

  He stilled under her, docilely allowing Lea to tease him. She brushed her small pink tongue over his lips, wetting his skin. Her breath wafted against him. Her chest rose and fell, her nipples tight under her brown leather top.

  Lea nibbled his lips, her teeth flat and blunt, her bites thrillingly playful. Tolui slid his hands under her hair and splayed his fingers over her back, holding her to him.

  She smiled, her eyes sparkling, and he tilted his chin upward, pride filling his chest. This beautiful female is mine. He rubbed his fingertips into her chest covering, yearning to feel her naked against him.

  Lea sucked on his bottom lip, pulling on him, and his cock hardened, pressing against his leg coverings, his body pulsing with need. “Open for me, warrior.” Her voice was husky.

  He obeyed his strong female’s command, the master becoming the slave, and she pushed her tongue between his lips, exploring his mouth, her tentative touches enthralling him. She tasted of the fragrant plants she lovingly cared for and of sweet willing female, his female.

  Tolui twined his tongue around hers and she moaned, the sexy sound making his cock bob. He lowered his hands to her ass, cupping her curves. She stroked into his mouth with her tongue, ravishing him as he wished to ravish her.

  “You taste good,” Lea purred, her lips curled into a small smile. “If we were in our chambers, I’d lick you all over.” She traced one of the scars on his cheek with her fingertip.

  Tolui silently cursed. “We aren’t in our chambers.” He’d forgotten he was at war, their enemies all around them. “We can’t do this here.” He pushed on Lea’s shoulders, forcing her to sit up, conscious of how vulnerable she was to attack, how exposed she was.

  “We were kissing. That’s it.” Lea stood, brushing the sand from her leg coverings. “I wouldn’t rut with you in the open. I’m not that type of female.” She retrieved her pack. “I might have given you that impression when I rutted with you so quickly but that was because you were you.” Her gaze slid to him. “You being Tolui, not merely some Chamele or a random clone,” she clarified.

  Tolui jumped to his feet, his lips twitching as he listened to his feisty female.

  “Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Is that why you think I’ll rut with your clone brothers?” She slapped his chest, her blow having the force of a light breeze. “Because I rutted with you so quickly?” She glared up at him, her adorably small fists planted on her hips. “Can’t you feel the connection between us?” Her gaze lowered. “Or is it all in my mind?” Her shoulders slumped.

  “Our connection isn’t in your mind.” Tolui lifted her chin once more. “You’re my gerel. That bond happens once.” He took one of her hands, linking their fingers together. “When we return to our chambers, I’ll prove that to you.” His cock strained against his leg coverings, his body anticipating their rutting.

  “You said our chambers.” Lea swung his rapidly healing arm as they walked. “Chamele 4 is our home. Admit it.”

  Tolui stifled a groan, his mate impossibly stubborn. “I won’t admit it as Chamele 4 is not our home.” He found his packs. “Put that idea out of your mind, foolish female.”

  “In two planet rotations, we’ll determine which of us is the foolish being.” She danced around him, her boots tapping on the stone.

  Tolui remained silent, determined not to claim the desolate planet as their home, unable to dampen her joy.

  Chapter Four

  Lea woke surrounded by a delicious warmth. She languidly stretched her arms and legs, sliding her fingertips along skin-covered ridges. “You’re still asleep?” She opened one eye and grimaced, shutting it again. The reflected sunlight filling the underground chamber was blinding.

  “No, I’m awake as you should be,” Tolui drawled, his breath tousling her hair. “If I had been an attacker, you’d be dead.”

  Blasted sunrise worshipers. Lea blindly lowered her right hand, found his hard cock and wrapped her fingers around his shaft. “Would you have killed me with this?” She slid her hand up and down him, savoring the combination of soft skin over rigid male. “I might beg for that slow death you’ve been threatening me with.”

  Tolui chuckled, his chest shaking under her. “In times of war, a warrior must use whatever weapon he or she can find.”

  “I agree.” Lea smiled up at Tolui. The silver scars around his eyes were creased and his lips curled upward, her warrior relaxed and happy, happier than she’d ever seen him.

  “I plan to use my hands.” She pumped him harder. “And my lips.” Lea gave his right hip a lusty kiss, inhaling his scent. “And my tongue.” She licked along his hipbone, tasting salt and minerals.

  “That’s a deadly combination.” Tolui clutched the hide underneath them. “It would slay any warrior.” A bead of pre-cum formed on his tip.

  “But you’re not any warrior.” Lea swiped her thumb over him, spreading the glistening substance. “You’re Tolui, my male.” She licked his broad cock head, savoring his essence, and his knuckles whitened. “You’re mighty.” She teased his slit, gazing up at him. His eyes darkened, his expression thrillingly intense. “And powerful.”

  Lea pushed her lips over his tip and swirled her tongue around his rim. Tolui’s muscles contracted, his biceps flexing, his abdomen delineated. She’d never seen a male with such strength, such control, and in this moment, he belonged to her.

  She took more and more of him into her mouth, sliding her tongue underneath his shaft, exploring each raised vein. Her grim warrior groaned, the animalistic noise rumbling up his chest, exciting her.

  His cock head tapped the back of her throat, too much of him remaining exposed. Lea tilted her head back, taking more of him but not all. She covered the interesting ridge at his base with her
fingers and withdrew, gliding her lips over him. She released him with a pop.

  “You’re too large,” Lea murmured, disappointed she couldn’t take all of him.

  Tolui’s lips twitched. “Clones are—”

  She slapped his upper thighs, leaving her angry red handprints dangerously close to his cock. “You are,” she corrected, gripping his base hard.

  His black eyes gleamed. “I am genetically enhanced.” Tolui’s voice deepened, the low tone drawing moisture from her pussy. “Before I was developed, the scientists had experimented with developing matched pairs—warrior males and their females.” She stroked him as he talked. “Except they never bonded. The females weren’t their gerels. And without bonding, there was no offspring. It was thought the only way a clone could reproduce was to clone himself.”

  “But I am your gerel.” Lea licked his shaft and he shuddered.

  “Yes, you are my gerel.” Tolui lifted his hips. “Suck me with your hot mouth, female.”

  She obeyed him, sinking down on his cock, pushing him back into the rock vulture hide. He threaded his fingers through her curls, guiding her up and down him, his rhythm unrelenting and steady.

  Tolui controlled Lea’s movements but she controlled him, varying her suction, keeping him off balance. She indented her cheeks around him and she flicked her tongue, teasing him, her genetically enhanced male.

  He grunted, driving his hips upward as he pulled her down on him, both of them working together for his satisfaction. They were a couple, a clone warrior and his gerel, a gerel scientists didn’t think existed.

  Lea tugged and released, tugged and released, her lips humming, her head spinning. If she pleased him, if she showed him how perfect they were together, he might not leave her, he might stay here on Chamele 4, making the planet his home.

  She cupped his sac and he jerked, his cock bobbing in her mouth. Lea grinned around Tolui’s shaft, watching his face as she rolled his balls in her fingers. His thrusts became more frantic, less controlled, blue flashes of energy snapping in his black eyes, the cords on his neck lifting.

  He battered the back of her throat with his cock head, his passion stimulating her. As she sucked him, she straddled his thigh and rubbed her wet pussy over his skin, branding him with her scent, pleasuring herself with his body.

  The ridge around his base swelled. “Off,” Tolui barked, yanking on her hair, pulling her away from him. Pinpricks of pain shot over her scalp.

  Lea squeezed his balls in retaliation and he roared, driving forward. She moved with him, cradling his tip with her tongue and opening her mouth. A blast of hot cum surged down her throat.

  Tolui’s essence hit Lea’s stomach and she screamed his name, the wave of ecstasy catching her by surprise. She writhed on his thigh, her pussy clenching down on nothing, frustratingly empty yet shockingly satisfied.

  He pumped the air once, twice, three more times and she sucked on him, drinking up every last drop, his cum prolonging her climax. Lea shook, clinging to his hips, digging her fingernails into his skin.

  Tolui collapsed with a groan, closing his eyes. She draped her form over his, her mind and body and soul drained.

  “That was a surprise attack.” Her voice sounded raw, her throat soothed by his release. “You’ve slain me.”

  “Neither of us survived this battle.” Tolui’s laugh was shaky. “You’re a worthy opponent, Lea.” He swept his rough hands over her back, smoothing her hair.

  “You’re a worthy opponent also.” She smiled, pleased by his admission.

  * * * * *

  “I shouldn’t have agreed to this.” Tolui flattened his body against the sand dune. His tiny female lay beside him, breasts down, a filled pack on her back. The blood-red sun was positioned directly above them. To the left and right and behind them was empty desert.

  Tolui was most concerned with the scene before them. Throngs of beings, mostly male, gathered under brown hide tents, chattering and exchanging goods. A bearded blue-skinned male showed passersby metal containers. A one-eyed male traded servings of water for dried meat.

  “There are more beings here than I expected,” he murmured. There were no offspring and very few females. None of the females appeared young, their hair gray and their skin wrinkled. The males were armed with daggers and swords. All of the beings, both male and female, were larger than Lea.

  “It is trading day.” She nudged his shoulder, the contact reassuring him. “We want more beings. We’ll get a better trade for our garments.” Lea tapped her pack. “It’s safe. See that hide over Har’s tent?” She pointed to a black square flapping in the hot breeze. “That’s his signal, telling me it’s safe. Daisun and his brutes aren’t expected at the trading space today.”

  “Your Har appears nervous.” Tolui studied Lea’s friend. The older male pulled at his bushy gray eyebrows with his long thin fingers, his gaze constantly moving, his three silver eyes operating independently.

  “Har always appears nervous.” Lea shrugged. “There’s a bounty on his head and there’s been talk of bounty hunters in this system.”

  “The gerels of the three Chamele Warlords are bounty hunters.” Some of Tolui’s concerns eased with her logical explanation. “You’ll stay by my side at all times.”

  He clasped her hand and stood, lifting her to her booted feet. Lea wore yet another chest covering, the spiral design intricate, the leather clinging to her firm curves. Tolui shook his head, bemused by his female’s need for numerous garments, his repaired leg coverings all that he required.

  Heads turned toward them. A female shrieked. Males ran.

  Lea sighed. “I did advise that you wear a hooded garment.” She stomped toward the tents. “No squatter will be happy to see a Chamele. Chameles wish to eject us from their planet.”

  “You told me I’m Tolui. I’m not a Chamele and I’m not a clone,” he teased, squeezing her hand.

  “I’ve been telling you that for planet rotations and you choose to embrace that truth now?” Lea waved her free hand. Daggers decorated her leg coverings, his female heavily armed for a day of trading. “Now we’ll have to trust Har to complete our trading for us.”

  Tolui grunted, not trusting her Har or anyone else. None of them were strong enough to stand up to Daisun, their weakness putting his female’s safety at risk.

  “Lea, who have you brought to the trading grounds?” Har stood behind his pile of hides, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “You know we don’t trade with his kind.” He inclined his gray head at Tolui.

  Tolui narrowed his eyes and the older male swallowed hard.

  “Tolui is one of us, a being without a planet.” Lea patted Tolui’s chest. The scent of warm willing female mixed with the aroma of leather and aged sweat. “He means us no harm.”

  “Unless you mean Lea harm,” Tolui added, his gaze fixed on Har’s creased face. “If any being touches her, I’ll kill him.”

  Lea laughed, her pitch high and shaky. “He’s always threatening to kill beings.” She removed her pack. “Can I leave garments here for trading?” She extracted carefully crafted leg coverings, chest coverings and hooded cloaks.

  Tolui glanced down at her oversized boots. Crafting footwear was beyond her capabilities. “We wish to trade for boots to fit Lea.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “I’ve never seen boots that small here.”

  Har nodded.

  Tolui scowled. “Then I’ll have a pair of boots replicated.”

  “You will?” Lea gazed up at him as though he’d promised her a planet, a vibrant resource filled planet, not a dead wasteland such as Chamele 4. “You’d do that for me?”

  “I’d do anything for you,” Tolui replied gruffly. Har’s gaze turned to the right and the older male stepped back.

  “Move behind me.” Tolui pivoted on his boot heels, stepped in front of Lea and extended his claws. “She’s mine.”

  A pack of five large males surrounded them. They were weathered and scarred and hard, swords, whips, and dag
gers in their multiple hands, each being hosting four arms. The middle and largest male was Daisun. Tolui recognized him from his sunrise trek. Daisun’s bald head was fixed directly to his torso, a series of black markings curving over his massive muscles.

  “The little human is mine, Chamele.” Sunlight reflected off the swords held in Daisun’s four hands. “This isn’t your fight. Walk away now and we’ll allow you to live.”

  “Walk away, Tolui,” Lea urged, gripping two of her daggers. “Save yourself.”

  His name echoed through the trading space. Members of the gathering crowd murmured about clone armies, the resistance, and freedom.

  “Is it truly Tolui?” The smallest brute asked. The male beside him shrugged, his wide forehead furrowed with lines. They stared at him.

  Tolui watched their leader. He’d signal any attack. “I’m not walking away from this fight. You’re my gerel, Lea.” The chatter around them increased in volume. “I’d die for you.”

  Daisun smirked. “You will die. Bring me his head,” he commanded.

  His males hesitated. The smallest brute juggled one of his swords between his top right hand and his top left hand. “But, Boss—”

  Daisun lunged to his left, swung a sword and decapitated his male with one blow. Blood sprayed from the falling torso. The head rolled on the sand, the dead brute’s eyes wide open.

  Lea gasped, the scent of her fear agonizingly heavy, but she didn’t move, standing bravely by Tolui’s side. He spread his claws, ready to defend her.

  “Kill him now,” Daisun roared.

  The males surged toward them. Tolui leaped forward to meet them, targeting the brute closest to Lea. Before he reached the young male, a dagger whizzed by his right ear and lodged in the attacker’s throat. The male gargled blood, grasped his wound and fell forward, his arms and legs twitching.

  My female is fierce. Tolui had no time to commend her kill. He turned to the next male, ducked a dual bladed ildu and sliced his claws over his opponent’s muscular stomach, digging the tips through his thick skin. The male screamed and toppled to the sand.