King Cobra (Naga Brides Book 2)

by Naomi Lucas

  I wonder what’s happening with the team. After a few minutes, I rub my face and turn away.

  Ignoring the cage and the bed, I head for the other two doors. I aim for the one on my left first, the one on the same wall as the bathroom, saving the right door, the one beside the cage for last. I have a feeling that one is the “play” room.

  And I’m right once again, entering a closet. I almost gape again.

  The closet is twice the size of my room on The Dreadnaut, filled to the brink with clothes, shoes, and everything else a person could ever want. Silks and lace, velvet and leather, there are dresses and suits, underthings and casualwear. In the center is a large island covered in glass bottles, decorative candles, and jewels. Dazzled, I walk around the island, wanting more than anything to touch the beautiful things.

  Why does Zaku need all of this stuff? None of these clothes would ever fit him, and there’s not another woman here…

  Taking a risk, I lift a sparkling sapphire necklace from where it’s placed on a velvet frame. My lips part in awe. I’ve never seen something so exquisite…

  Someone treasured this once, and then they died. I set the necklace down gently, ensuring it’s perfect upon the velvet it lives upon.

  There’s a large locked jewelry box beside it. I test it. It doesn’t open. Beside it, half covered in a swathe of silk, is a picture. I push the silk aside and take hold of it.

  Several men are standing together framed by flags. Two of the men are shaking hands while facing the camera, like it’s a staged moment. A photo-op. The main focus, the man in a crisp black suit, is beyond handsome with haughty features and keen eyes. I notice something is standing in the background, in the shadows.

  My brow furrows as my eyes go to the creature half-hidden behind the flags. I squint, trying to make it out.

  It’s a Lurker.

  I swallow, staring at frightening reptilian eyes that seem to stare right back at me. I’ve seen Lurkers in digital media before, except this one is different. There’s something not quite right about it.

  The word evil flits through my head. A quiet, ominous whisper.

  The longer I study the Lurker, the more my uneasiness grows. Unsettled, I put the picture down and wipe my hands on my clothes, feeling icky, feeling...scared.

  Glancing around the opulent closet again, I wonder why there’s a picture like this in here.

  This place of Zaku’s has to be a human dwelling, not a Lurker one. The closet is full of human things. The knowledge doesn’t comfort me. If I were in a Lurker dwelling, eventually Peter, Collins, and the rest of the team would find their way here, and I could use that to get back on The Dreadnaut.

  For the next while, I dig through every corner, searching for a weapon. At the end, the nail file from the bathroom wins out.

  The sun is setting when I finally leave the closet. The robot is gone as well, and my stomach is growling. I go to the bathroom and pour myself a cup of water from the sink. When I’m done, I’m still alone.

  My stomach growls again, and I try the door to leave the room. It doesn’t budge.

  I call out for Zaku, and I get no response. I call for the house, and nothing. A niggling, uncomfortable sensation churns my stomach.

  Where is he?

  It’s going to be dark soon. I chew on my lip.

  Grabbing some pillows and several blankets, I set up my spot by the window this time and lie down, staring out across the landscape, hoping that someone might see me and rescue me.

  No one comes.

  No one.

  I’m alone, and I don’t know why… The Lurker in the picture steals my mind and try as I might, I can’t push it out. I see it in the glass, staring back at me. Terrible, intelligent eyes that see right through me focus just enough on my soul to let me know that it’s watching me.

  There are scarier beings out there than the ones I’m facing. Scarier creatures that don’t offer food, water, and shelter.

  I fall into a fitful sleep, wishing I wasn’t alone with it.

  Wishing I wasn’t alone at all.

  Twelve

  Zaku’s Return

  Daisy

  I hear something behind me, and I shoot upright. Rubbing my eyes, I search for the source of the noise.

  Is he back?

  Moonlight bleeds through the room, and elongated shadows give the otherwise empty space an ominously quiet appearance. The bars from the cage cast dark lines on the far wall and the swing… It jostles from a breeze that doesn’t exist. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, tension leaves my shoulders.

  I’m still alone.

  Something moves by the door, and I pause as light pierces the gloom. A robot.

  I slump, annoyed.

  Facing the clear night sky and Earth’s moon, I wonder why The Dreadnaut hasn’t sent anyone else down. I shake my head and turn away. I haven’t seen or heard any ships descend. And if I missed them while sleeping, they leave trails in the skies that last for days.

  The robot moves toward me, and I snag my blankets and pillows close. “You can’t have them. They’re being used.” If it tries to clean me out, it’s got another thing coming.

  My nose twitches, and I notice the robot holding something.

  It sets a platter beside me and moves away. The wall opens up, and the robot vanishes within it before I can think of darting into the hole behind it. Dragging the platter next to the window, I scrutinize the plate.

  Meat. My tummy roils with nausea even though the meat is cooked and served with one of those red orbs Zaku gave me the first day. I’m not hungry for meat or strange food, but I’m not about to let sustenance go to waste. I gorge, polishing off everything. When I’m done, I push the plate aside and go to the bathroom, wash my hands, and splash water in my face.

  Sighing, I abandon the bathroom. The sun is cresting the mountains when I reenter the room.

  I turn toward the last door.

  The “play” room.

  The one I haven’t dared to peek inside of yet. Maybe it’s because of the picture of the Lurker in the closet. Shaking out the fear that wants to drag me back down, I head for the playroom’s door.

  Clutching the doorknob, it gives under my hand, opening inward. I see my face staring back at me on the other side. Stepping inside the room, I’m surrounded by floor-to-ceiling mirrors on every side. There are only mirrors.

  How odd.

  Moving to the one before me, I study my reflection. My brow furrows and I glance around. Seeing something above me, I walk to the side to get a better look at whatever it is.

  A hook. A small one. Like something is to be hung from it...

  Deep, vibrating hissing floods my ears. I spin toward the door.

  My heart ramps. Leaving the playroom, I return to the main room and close the door behind me. My gaze shifts to the locked door on the other side.

  He’s back.

  I brace for it to open, taking a step back. I don’t know which Zaku I will get, the one who looks at me like he’s starving or the caring one who draws me a bath and cradles me in his arms.

  Maybe it’ll be neither. I shift further away as the hissing grows louder. It sounds like it’s coming from all around me, piercing through the walls. My nerves vibrate with it, making my toes curl.

  The knob turns and the door swings open, revealing a beast. One that is dark, dirty, and covered in… blood? Dark eyes catch mine in a trap, and I gasp, releasing a shriek. The Lurker is real! Scrambling to the window, I try to get away. It rushes me, grabs me, and lifts me in his arms.

  The stench of blood invades my nostrils. Flailing, I strain away. “No!” I scream, wild with terror.

  “It is me! Zaku! Your male. Your king. Calm down,” he barks.

  I hear him, but only see the dried blood caking Zaku’s large body, covering his mouth, hands, and arms. He’s a different color—his pupils golden and striking and wild. I kick out frantically as I mumble his name.

  “Zaku?”

  I stop kicking a
s I take in his face.

  My...male?

  His gaze searches mine. “I have returned to you.”

  Zaku slowly lowers me, placing me on my feet. The dirt and blood on his scales have diminished his yellow coloring to the point of unrecognition. And as he leans back, removing his hands from me, my gaze trails over his giant form, making sure it’s really him.

  Making sure he’s not another monstrous naga seeking to hurt me, or something worse.

  “Zaku,” I say again, almost in reassurance. It is him. I reach out and touch him with the tips of my fingers to make sure.

  He’s disgusting. My nose twitches from the stench wafting off of him. He reaches up to grasp my hand and I tug it away, hugging it to my body, because the gore on him is all over me now too.

  He lifts his hand, outstretches his clawed fingers, and brushes a tendril of my hair behind my ear. “Your fear will end today,” he says. “I promise, little mate.”

  I flinch.

  “What happened?” I whisper, bunching my sleeve around my hand to cover my nose. “Where have you been?” Why do I even care? I back away from him, wanting to put distance between me and the blood cloaking him, not liking the way he towers over me, intimidating me. It reminds me of my father.

  Still… I’m relieved. I almost press forward to see if I can get a whiff of his scent despite the coppery tang of blood invading my nose.

  Zaku’s chest puffs and he straightens onto his tail, commanding all of my attention. I almost smile from his obvious peacocking. How did I ever see a Lurker? Zaku looks nothing like the alien in the picture.

  And then I glimpse his enormous cock.

  My mouth drops. It’s outside of his tail. A shaft of sunlight hits it directly, saying: “look here!”

  It’s huge! I squeak, my eyes widening, and look away.

  Was that—is that—possible?

  I forget about the smell, the gore, even my predicament, because what Zaku’s packing is big enough to eclipse everything else. Fuck. He starts to say something that goes in one ear and out the other; I’m too stunned by his… monstrous nether region.

  Don’t look at it, Daisy. I want to look at it. Damn the light haloing it.

  “—I have battled and won—”

  Educational curiosity?

  I try to focus on what Zaku’s saying all while backing away and trying my hardest not to glance at his package. If he thinks he’s getting that inside me, he’ll be sorely disappointed.

  We don’t fit. We never will. It’s not possible.

  “—your king has made these lands safe again—”

  I’m vaguely aware of Zaku showing off his muscles and indicating his body to me like he’s a god, but his cock has literally cock-blocked him; it won’t even disappear into his tail. It jerks in the periphery of my view. It’s begging me to look at it.

  Zaku strains, rising up, peacocking some more, and I can’t help it any longer. Fuck, fuck, fuck. My eyes drop back down to his monster, swaying and bobbing with every one of his movements. Staring hard now, I can’t help it. It’s not like he’s not displaying it for me to gaze at anyway…

  “—no female of mine should ever know fear from another, only me—”

  Is it… getting bigger?

  I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes. There’s a bulge in the middle of it that’s turgid and swollen, and I swear it’s growing. He keeps moving, making it hard for me to decide. Regardless, it looks uncomfortable, and I don’t envy him. I’d be an angry, bloodied-up naga too if I were in his boots—uh, tail.

  Liquid beads on the tip and drips to the floor.

  I hold in a squeak as his seed—alien snake seed—leaks from cock’s head.

  Zaku stills and so does his “monster” after a final bounce. My gaze shoots to his face, and he’s staring at me with an intensity that makes my soul try to shrivel and hide. I tense up when I realize what he’d just caught me doing.

  Gazing at his cock…

  The golden spark in his eyes gleams and brightens, making the coloring of his facial scales darken further. I inhale sharply and snap my mouth shut, discovering his gaze tracking my lips.

  Suddenly, I feel his mouth back on mine.

  My heart jumps into my throat.

  And then I see what he must see in his head—my mouth choking down on him.

  I stiffen, straighten. I’m the only daughter of a great war commander; I’ll never suck a man’s cock. An alien’s cock. Any cock. It doesn’t matter how far I fall.

  “Female,” Zaku rasps. And though he couldn’t pose himself kinglier, he somehow does, jutting out his chin, flaring his cowl wide, and straining his muscled-packed arms.

  Something in me… shifts and stutters, pauses and ponders, and then starts to warm up. I would roll my eyes if I weren’t appreciating his muscles so much. My lips part and I curl my fingers into my palm to stop my hand from reaching out and feeling Zaku’s arms.

  This alien man wants me. He wants me. I don’t even need the evidence of his swollen dick to know this, nor do I need his words. I see it in his eyes. I shiver, losing my train of thought as I stare into them.

  I recall his muscles pressed against me. I recall his warmth.

  Inhaling, and that delicious scent of his, the one I smelled the first day invades my nostrils. My skin warms, lips part. I suck it into me like I’ll starve if I don’t. He’s bloody, disgusting, and those smells are in the air as well. They no longer bother me. All I want is to move closer to him and breathe him in.

  Wrenching my eyes close, I shake my head.

  Why does he have to smell so good? My skin heats even more as I breathe it in. A sensation of emptiness knots my sex, and I think it’s because of his scent…

  Wait? What was he just saying? Something about not having to be afraid anymore? I cover my nose.

  “I have brought you a gift,” he announces, his voice low, his tail coiling forward.

  “A what?”

  I don’t get a chance to brace for what comes next because I’m suddenly face-to-face with a sagging, horrifyingly bloody, dismembered head.

  Thirteen

  The Head

  Zaku

  Daisy recoils, bringing up her hands. The color drains from her face.

  I’d just watched her skin turn rosy. She was staring at my member, exciting me. Now her face is ashen?

  Gripping the Python’s scalp tighter, I lift his head higher. “He is the one who hurt you and mated you against your will, and for that, I bring you his head,” I announce again in case she needs reassurance. “You do not need to be afraid anymore.”

  Now, she will accept me. Now, she will lead me to my nest.

  Daisy bows over and heaves, clutching her stomach. I furrow my brows, dropping the head and rushing to her side. “Are you hurt?” She tries to shake out of my grip; I tighten it. There’s spittle on her parted lips.

  I slip my tongue out to taste the air before them, my tongue a finger’s width from her mouth. I long to taste her again. She is delicious and sweet, and everything I would think a daisy flower should taste like.

  I glimpse her horrified expression. “Are you hurt?” I ask again, worried and frustrated by her response and lack thereof.

  “Let me go—please let me go. You brought me his head,” she gasps, tearing at my hands. She’s making a sickened face, and I notice the dirt and blood on her, how the mess is getting all over her. Hissing, I release her.

  “I brought you his head,” I agree. “So you will know that he is gone and will never trouble you again.”

  She scurries away from me as if she doesn’t hear my words, and I clench my hands to stop them from snatching her up again.

  “His head...” she utters with disbelief, refusing to look at the offering again.

  “Yes. The Python’s head,” I grunt, tossing it to the corner of the room. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be with another. They do not always agree or do what I want.

  I thought once her fear was gone, she would sing, sh
e would submit.

  “House, prepare the bathroom,” I rumble thickly. I hear the shower turn on soon after. I will clean her, clean myself, and then present her with the Python’s head again. Then, she can put to rest what happened, knowing he’s in the bellies of pigs, probably scattered across the forest by now, and let me finally fill her with my member.

  My mouth waters. I absently palm my knot as I think this. I hear Daisy’s breath hitch. She’s in the corner of the room where I left her the first night, watching me warily. Color has returned to her cheeks and she’s holding her hand over her nose.

  There wasn’t wariness on her face when she was staring at my member moments ago. I could feel her eyes on me, petting me. I thought that she’d been pleased, earnest after my story about battling the Python. That I brought her a gift. That I planned to spoil her. Her cheeks had warmed, her eyes took me in.

  I strain my muscles again, wanting her gaze back on them.

  I go to her and she presses away.

  My eyes narrow. “I will not touch you again while his filth is on my hands. For that, I apologize. I am—” I slip my tongue across the roof of my mouth “—eager to see you… settled.”

  But my frustration grows.

  “Can you put that away?” she asks, catching my eyes and then glancing at my member. “Please?”

  She wants me to hide my want for her? After I killed on her behalf?

  “It no longer fitsss,” I grate.

  She regards me, closes her eyes hard, and opens them. Her hand tightens around her nose. I don’t understand what she’s doing, and at this point, I just want to get the Python’s blood off of her.

  I’m liking his smear on her less and less. I miss seeing her perfection, the glimpse I got of her when her tears dried after the ship left her on the plateau.