by Roxie Ray
I sighed. “No, Akzun, I told you: I didn't have much of a life on Earth. What I really want is to build a new life with you. But I can't do that if you won't talk to me. – if you refuse to tell me what you're so scared of, why you're so intent on keeping your distance from me. It can't just be because of what happened with Elrisa. You can't possibly still mistrust me that much.”
He shook his head sadly. “It's not that, Carly. I do trust you. I believe you when you say that you care about me, that you would never betray me the way she did. That's the problem. I… care about you, as well. Too much to risk harming you.”
“So you're telling me there's really no way for you to drink from me without… what? Hurting me, or something? I mean, if it's just pain we're talking about, hey, I can take it. I could probably get used to it. Hell, maybe I could even learn to like it, in a weird way. Humans are like that, you know?”
“There are ways for my race to feed without causing any serious injury, yes, under normal circumstances. But this is different. I am in the grip of a condition that occurs in all Valkredians at a certain stage of our lives. A bloodlust. It makes feeding… dangerous. Once I begin drinking from you, there is a very real possibility that I could lose control and end up damaging you irrevocably, or killing you.”
“Then why did you buy me?” I asked, confused. “It doesn't make any sense.”
“You are correct – it does not. When I first purchased you from Nos, I believed my actions were based on a superficial need to feed– I thought the jealousy I felt over you was merely a product of the bloodlust. But the more time I spent with you, the more I realized that this was not my true intention after all. It never was. I claimed you for my own because I could not bear the idea of anyone else having you. Because… I want you for my mate.”
“But earlier, you said mates could feed from each other,” I pointed out. “You said it made the cravings easier to control.”
“Again, under normal circumstances, yes. However, my bloodlust means that in this case, we cannot proceed in such a way.”
“Isn't there any cure for this bloodlust? Doesn't it go away eventually?”
“It is difficult to say. The outcome differs among members of my race. For now, though, it seems to show no signs of abating.”
I crossed the distance between us, holding his face in my hands and bringing his eyes up to meet mine. He resisted for a moment, then relented.
“I might not know much about the Valkred,” I said, “but I know that there must be some way for us to move past this. And I know we'll find that path together. What we have is too important to give up on. And until we figure out how to beat this, I'm not leaving you – I'll do anything it takes to help you feel better.”
I leaned forward, kissing him and stroking the sides of his head tenderly. I felt him pull back for the briefest of moments – felt the hesitation in his thoughts, the fear, even though I was relatively certain he was trying to guard his mind against mine.
Then, suddenly, it was as though a dam inside of him broke, and everything within him spilled out into me – his desire, his need to connect with me, to trust me.
To be with me. To make me his, no matter the cost.
I planted a series of soft kisses down his neck and chest, slowly lowering myself to my knees in front of him. It was sexual, yes, but it was more than that, too. I wanted to make him tower over me, to make him feel powerful. I wanted to make him believe that whatever happened, he would be fully in control. I wanted to make him feel like he was a worthy leader, and a worthy mate.
His cold fingers ran through my hair, stroking my temples, encouraging me. I undid his trousers, releasing his cock from its confinement – it was already stiff for me, reaching out, searching for the comfort only I could provide. I took it in my hands, running my palms up and down the shaft.
Akzun let out a lustful sigh, and when I looked up, I could see that his eyes were closed, his head tilted upward, allowing himself to fully bask in this moment, this sensation.
Good.
I breathed gently on his cock, teasing him. He looked down, surprised, and I gave him a mischievous grin, coaxing a smile from him.
You take yourself way too seriously sometimes, Akzun, I thought, hoping he'd hear me.
Then I took the tip of him in my mouth, sucking him lightly as my fingertips kneaded the base of his shaft. He inhaled sharply and resumed caressing my hair. The tip of my tongue flicked against the sensitive spot just under the tip and he let out a long, low, appreciative moan. I waited until I was sure he couldn't take it anymore, then moved my head forward, taking his entire length all the way to the back of my throat.
I felt a shudder travel up the length of his spine. Oh, my precious Carly. No one has ever made me feel the way you do.
Then you’d better get ready, Blood Ruler, 'cause I'm just getting started.
I let my tongue travel up and down the underside of his cock, feeling it throb against the roof of my mouth. His hands tightened on the back of my head, grabbing fiercely at locks of my hair. Just when it felt like he might lose control, I pulled back, sliding out of my pants and spreading my legs wide for him. I was wetter than I'd ever been in my life, and I couldn't wait to have him inside me.
I'm all yours, Akzun. Take me. Show me what it means to be your mate.
Akzun lunged on top of me – no hesitation this time, no holding back, an unstoppable force of pure desire. He slid between my legs like a champion diver slipping into a pool, and as he penetrated me, I embraced him, screaming his name with my voice and my mind.
I tightened the lips of my pussy around his shaft – feeling him move in and out as I ran my fingers over his wide, muscular back. He plunged into me so deeply and passionately that the room started to spin around me, and for a moment, I thought I might faint from the pure sensory overload of his lovemaking… his voice echoing in my head, his feelings pushing into my heart, the jagged words and phrases overlapping like the shattered shards of some perfectly beautiful stained glass window.
His mate. I was his mate. He'd never wanted anyone so desperately before, and he knew he never would again. He had to have me forever. He wanted my body, my soul. He craved my blood, fevered for it, but he could never hurt me, never, never, never, not for anything in the galaxy… he…
(... Loved? Was that a concept he knew, something he understood, something he was capable of?)
He needed me.
I was his strength, his heart, everything he'd spent his life looking for.
He surged and pulsed within me, his cock finding places inside me that no one had ever reached before. I was aching, spasms of pleasure and pain twanging the muscles of my inner thighs like guitar strings, and I was breathing so hard I thought I might hyperventilate.
I felt his climax rain down on my core like a sudden, deliciously cold monsoon. My own orgasm followed swiftly, pouring through me, pure ecstasy drenching and saturating every cell in my body. My hips bucked and twitched against his, and we held each other so tightly that it felt like we might merge into a single being of pure joy.
20
Akzun
As we held each other, there was a knock at the door of the observatory. I stood and wrapped my clothes around my waist, answering it. Zark was standing outside, and I expected him to make lewd jokes about having interrupted us – but for once, his expression was deadly serious. Several palace guards stood behind him, studiously ignoring our state of undress.
“Our military intelligence services have received numerous reports indicating that a group of Mana saboteurs are here on Valkred,” he said.
“What? How the hell did they make it past our sentry posts?” I demanded.
“We don't know. But they've been spotted in the Tor'Ador Sector. And there's only one high-value target in that area…”
“The gem mines. One of our planet's main trade resources. If they succeed in disabling or destroying them, they could financially cripple Valkred for years, perhaps even decades
. Damn them.” My hands curled into fists. “Have you contacted M'ruvev?”
“Yes. He's on his way, and our defense forces have been ordered to let him through so he can help us deal with this.”
“If we take the Wrath, or any other vessels, they'll see us coming and scatter,” I mused aloud. “We probably won't have another chance to round them up. And we need them alive, Zark. We need them to tell us who's been behind all of this.”
“What are you going to do, Akzun?” Carly asked, putting her clothes on behind me.
I pulled my own clothing on quickly, and then unfurled my wings. Zark did likewise. “We'll have to fly there. Carly, you go up to your chamber and wait for me there. Don’t answer the door for anyone but me.” I turned to the guards. “You're coming with us. Let's go find these cowards and end their campaign of violence and treachery once and for all!”
The guards cheered, raising their laser-staves and extending their wings. I saw the nervous look on Carly's face and kissed her. “Don't fret, my dear. I'll deal with these Mana swiftly and return soon.”
“Just be careful,” she pleaded, handing me the blaster I'd previously given her. “And kick some ass for me. I’ll be fine.”
I took it, placing it back in its usual holster. “I will. I promise.”
I flapped up to the windows near the ceiling, with Zark and the others following me in close formation. Inwardly, I wished I had time to adorn myself with armor and more formidable weaponry, but at least I had my blaster clipped to my side – it would have to do.
We soared high above the capital city and beyond, the people busily teeming far below us like colonies of Korvaat Labor-Ants. Soon, the gem mines came into view on the horizon.
“Fan out around the entrance to the mines,” I ordered the guards. “Search the area thoroughly. They'll probably have remote-detonator explosives rigged to create a cave-in and entomb the workers inside. Zark, you're with me.”
The guards nodded, veering off. Zark and I surveyed the flat grey plains surrounding the mine.
“Look, brother!” Zark exclaimed after a few moments, pointing at a sloping grassy area.
I followed his gaze, squinting. “I don't see anything.”
“Exactly. So what's casting those shadows on the ground?”
Then I saw it – a cluster of murky shadows, vaguely humanoid-shaped. My eyes widened with understanding. “By the stars. They're using personalized cloaks.”
Zark nodded. “We knew they'd been trying to develop cloaking technology. We assumed it was for their vessels – and years away from being deployable – but what if it was for their troops instead? It'd take far less energy to build and power such devices, not to mention less time.” He spoke into his communicator. “All units, converge on our location. We've found them. They're cloaked. Proceed with extreme caution – we don't know whether they've armed the explosives yet.”
“Understood, sir,” the lead guard replied.
Zark and I touched down on the plain, aiming our weapons at the area where the shadows were standing.
“We know you're there, and we know what you're planning to do,” I announced loudly. “Disengage your cloaking devices and surrender at once.”
No answer. I may as well have been talking to thin air.
“Very well,” Zark smirked. “The hard way, then.” He fired his laser-staff, and the air shimmered and crackled where the bolt connected with its target. There was a plume of smoke that seemed to drift up from nowhere, and a yowl of agony.
Then, one by one, the cloaking devices disengaged – revealing half a dozen figures in modified Mana battle suits and helmets, armed with trident-shaped blasters.
They took up offensive positions and returned fire.
There was nowhere for us to take cover, and the hail of lasers pelted us. I took a hit to the left shoulder immediately, followed by another hit to the right hip. The pain was sharp, but I fought through it, focusing on my aim as I squeezed the trigger.
I hit one of the attackers in the head and he went down, his face reduced to a smoldering crater. Another pair of shots from my blaster cut the legs out from under a second one.
A blast grazed the side of Zark's head, charring his long purple hair. He let out a shriek of rage and fired wildly, managing to catch a third enemy square in the chest.
Three to go. We needed to take them alive, but how could we in the face of such a barrage?
A fourth saboteur charged straight for me, ignoring several blasts to his torso and arms until he was close enough to raise his gun right in my face. I tried to block it, but there was no way I could survive a shot at point blank range. Was it all over for me?
Then a bolt from above incinerated him, and the rest of our guards swooped in, swiftly knocking the tridents from the attackers’ gauntlets and bringing them down to the ground in a single coordinated strike. The saboteurs were hopelessly outnumbered.
“Blood Ruler!” one of the guards exclaimed. “You've been hurt!”
“I'll be fine,” I hissed through clenched teeth. The pain was almost unbearable, but I couldn't afford to let it show. “Contact our orbital defense forces and find out whether M'ruvev has arrived yet.”
“We just received word that he has, sir.”
“Good. Have his ship routed to these coordinates,” I ordered. “Let him see what his own people tried to do, and let's clear this up once and for all.”
“That… might be a bit easier said than done, brother,” Zark said uneasily, pulling the helmet from one of the attackers. “Look.”
I peered at the face of the would-be saboteur, and my jaw dropped.
He was a Valkredian.
“What is the meaning of this?” I roared, marching over to him and putting my boot on his throat. “Why are you wearing these Mana uniforms? Why were you attempting to destroy the gem mines?”
“Because our people deserve to know what a threat the Mana are, and how foolish their Blood Ruler is for ignoring that!” he gurgled, his fangs bared. “That is why we plotted the destruction of the Aquavor, and the dismantling of the gem mines! We needed Valkred to reject this inane treaty before it's too late, and the real Mana come to take everything from us!”
“Are any others working with you?” Zark demanded quietly.
“No, but it doesn't matter,” he wheezed. “There were only eight of us, and look at all we've managed to accomplish! So go ahead, take us into custody. Let the others of our race see what true courage and determination looks like. Let them hear our motivations, and the righteousness of our cause… then watch as our eight becomes eight hundred, then eight thousand! Our movement will spread across the empire, and we will see you ousted as Blood Ruler! Replaced with someone who truly has our best interests at heart! Someone with strength, with the will to fight this war and win it!”
I looked down at his face, saw the fanatical devotion burning in his crimson eyes – just as a shadow fell over us all. A Mana shuttle was hovering overhead. It touched down softly, and the hatch opened, revealing M'ruvev and a pair of armed Mana guards.
M'ruvev peered at the Valkred in Mana battle suits, and his wet, glassy eyes twitched. “What in the name of all the oceans is going on here, Akzun?”
“We've found the terrorists responsible for attacking the Aquavor, M'ruvev. We caught them trying to blow up our gem mines. Their goal was to sow fear and mistrust between our people, in order to prolong the war.”
“I see.” M'ruvev nodded pensively. “I am deeply relieved to hear that you've managed to resolve this, old friend. Now, I feel it would be appropriate for us to take them into custody, so they can face justice for their crimes against our world.”
“We're eager to cooperate with you,” I told him, “but letting you take them alive might pose a bit of a problem.”
“Oh? How so?”
“We're concerned that others who hear their testimony might be sympathetic to their cause,” Zark explained. “They could spawn imitators… not just on Valkred, but on your
planet, as well.”
“Then what do you propose?” M'ruvev asked.
“We could end this right here,” I suggested. “We could kill them, and claim that they left us no other option. Then we could jointly announce that the treaty has been restored, without anyone asking too many questions about the negotiations that led us to such a conclusion. It's not a perfect solution, but to me, it seems like the best course of action.”
M'ruvev nodded again. “That outcome would be acceptable. I can only hope that no one else gets the same idea these Valkredians had, and attempts to threaten the peace again.”
“They might,” I conceded. “For that matter, your people might, as well. But you and I can take this opportunity, here and now, to continue to enforce the treaty – no matter what. To trust in each other, and to work together from this point forward in rooting out such conspiracies among our own. Ideally before they result in any more deaths.”
“I am willing to commit to that,” M'ruvev agreed. “However, I do have one final request: that I dispense this justice upon the remaining traitors myself.”
“They are Valkredians,” I reminded him. “Honor dictates that they die by my hand, not that of an outsider. That is the way of the Valkredians. And more than that – it is my prerogative as Blood Ruler, after the way they've betrayed me and my people.”
M'ruvev's eyes burned coldly. “I am afraid I must insist. They destroyed my flagship. They killed my people. They pretended to be members of my race, in an attempt to sully our good name. You want a return to the peace we negotiated, Akzun? This is the price, and it is not negotiable.”
I didn't like it. But if it meant so much to M'ruvev that he was willing to abandon the treaty over it… the well being of my people had to come before my pride and before tradition. “Very well. If that is what must transpire here, then so be it.”