Dark Fire (Refuge Book 4)

by Cynthia Sax

  She moved her palms along him. He lifted his hips, pushing into her hands, seeking more contact, more softness, more her. His beast clawed at his insides, desperate to be fully free.

  Faylee gazed at him with wonder, with appreciation. In her eyes, he wasn’t damaged, a Dracheon with control issues. He was invincible, a warrior without equal.

  She folded her right hand over his balls and his entire body stiffened. He clung to the edge of release, not wanting to plunge into that abyss yet unable to stop the momentum, the surge of need sweeping over him.

  If she remained still for a moment—three heartbeats—he could control himself. He could—

  She squeezed and he roared, flames shooting from his lips, cum jetting from his tip. The orange-and-red inferno billowing against the transparent wind blocker was nothing compared to the vortex of bliss inside him. He thrust upward, blindly splashing his essence over her hands, his skin.

  She extracted every last drop from him, rolling the exquisite pressure of her hands up his shaft. His Drache was under her thrall, unable to resist her. Ecstasy wrapped around him.

  He held his stance as long as he could and then fell, his ass smacking against the wreck of a seat. His eyes closed.

  “Dare.” She smacked his thighs. “You’re flying the ship.”

  Fraggin’ hole. His eyes opened, the pleasure-infused haze immediately clearing. The ship puttered along at its same slow speed, not verging from its linear path.

  They hadn’t crashed. Relief washed over him. His mate remained unharmed.

  “I kept my hands on the console.” He’d passed her test.

  “That was mere luck.” She tore a strip off her chest covering, used the fabric to clean him.

  He didn’t say anything because it had been mere luck. They could have flown into a black hole and he wouldn’t have noticed.

  “It still counts though.” She grinned at him. “You succeeded in your mission.”

  He’d succeed in all of his missions. They would arrive at the Refuge safely. He would protect his mate.

  ***

  The sun was touching the horizon when Dare spotted the wall of sand. It took a few more moments for his mate, with her human vision, to see it.

  “What is that?” Her mouth dropped open.

  “Kralj, the Ruler of the Refuge, can move objects with his mind.” His leader could also read thoughts. “That’s the border to his terrain. Beings can cross it only with his permission.”

  Once they were past that point, they were safe.

  He leaned forward, pressing his chest against his mate’s back, peering at the scene before them. “The Humanoid Alliance are waiting for us.” He lifted Faylee off his lap, shifted his body to the other seat. “We’ll have to shoot our way through this stopping point.”

  “Talking our way through the stopping point worked last time.” She placed her palms on the control panel.

  “There are three Humanoid Alliance males standing by the border, guns in their hands, a new ship behind them.” The males must have already seen them. They had positioned their blockade in the hauler’s direct path. “There are at least eighteen other vessels, all different types, located around them.”

  Her eyes widened. “They’re killing the beings they’re stopping.”

  “That was my conclusion also.” Dare drew two of his guns, holding one in each hand. He hid the weapons under the black cloth covering his head, shoulders, chest. “I can only kill two beings at a time. There are three of them.”

  “Don’t shoot until they approach us.” Faylee’s eyebrows lowered. “I’ll distract the one closest to me.”

  He didn’t like the idea of any male being near his mate. “What do you plan to do?”

  “What I do best.” Her smile held mystery. Her message required no interpretation.

  She planned to steal from the Humanoid Alliance male. His little thief would likely take a weapon.

  He didn’t like it. She was putting herself in danger. But a missing gun could slow the enemy’s response. Dare merely needed a heartbeat’s delay to kill all three males.

  He knocked on the back of the hauler, warning the Rebel agent of the upcoming confrontation. Metal banged against metal as she closed the space.

  “Don’t take any unnecessary risks,” he told his mate.

  “Like leaving everything and everyone I ever knew behind me and driving straight into a Humanoid Alliance ambush?” Faylee’s tone was sarcastic. “I’ll try not to.”

  He grinned, appreciating her sense of humor.

  His grin faded as they neared the Humanoid Alliance males. They had the power stances and irritating smirks all bullies and brutes sported. He’d faced many of their type on his home planet.

  One male remained close to the Humanoid Alliance ship, his fingers on his triggers. The other two males swaggered toward the hauler, the biggest one targeting Faylee.

  Dare couldn’t stop his Drache from rising to the surface and he didn’t try. Anyone looking at him closely would be able to determine his lineage. The grime hid the shine of his scales, not the fine ridges.

  He doubted his identity would make a difference. The air smelled of blood, of death. The males planned to kill them, whether they were the beings they hunted or complete innocents.

  The ship creaked to a stop. The big Humanoid Alliance male leaned over Faylee’s side, pointing his gun in her face. “What do you have in the back?”

  “Rottin’ vegs, shit, dead things, all the stuff ye fancy arses ain’t wantin’.” His female utilized the same words that had worked the first time. “Goin’ to the Refuge. They got more shit there.” She ran her hands along the male’s gun. “This be a fancy piece. What’d cost ye?”

  “I killed some beings for it.” The male pushed the muzzle under her chin. “I like killing beings.”

  Fraggin’ hole. Dare adjusted his aim under the covering cloth, preparing to fire. He would slice the male’s hands off for threatening his female.

  His fearless mate smiled, smiled in the bastard’s face. “That be good news fer me. If ye have any dead things, put ‘em in the back.” She bumped the gun as she waved behind her. “If ye fill it, I ain’t gotta go to the Refuge.”

  “I’ll fill it.” The male drew his gun back. “With—”

  Dare blasted the other two males with projectiles, targeting the middle of their foreheads, each entry wound perfectly placed. Their attention had been on their friend. They didn’t raise their weapons.

  The brute threating Faylee had time to react. He pressed the trigger of his gun. Nothing happened. He looked down at the weapon.

  Dare shot the male between the eyes. The enemy fell backward, his arms and legs gyrating, blood gushing on the white sand.

  The death was too fast, too clean for his beast. He leaped out of the ship. His claws extended. He swiped the tips over the male’s arms and legs, severing those limbs.

  His Drache demanded more. He clicked his back teeth, sparking his fire, and blazed the flames over his dead adversary.

  Flesh crackled. Hair sizzled. He inhaled deeply, the scent of scorched being flavoring the air. The other two males would burn also. They—

  “Dare.”

  Faylee’s whisper had the impact of a scream, cutting through his killing haze. He spun around.

  She shook in her seat, her lips white.

  His little human was in shock. She needed him.

  “You’re safe.” Dare lifted his mate, climbed into the chair, set her on his lap. “No one will hurt you.” He rubbed her back. “They’re all dead.”

  “There c-c-could be more of them.” Her teeth clattered.

  “There aren’t any more Humanoid Alliance males.” But he’d take precautions. He reached over and tapped the control panel, putting the ship into forward motion. “I will always protect you.” He paused. “I might need your help as I did this planet rotation.” He admitted to that necessity. “But I will always safeguard you.”

  “I p-pushed the lever on h
is gun to the off setting.” She peeked up at him through her hair, her expression adorably naughty.

  Dare chuckled. “You’re a clever female.” He hugged her close to him, grateful she was his, relieved she was safe.

  Moments passed. He held her.

  “No one believes I’m female,” she whispered.

  “They see what they want to see.” He parted her chest covering. “We can remove this now.” He detached the voice-changing device from her skin.

  “Don’t destroy it.” She snatched the device from him.

  He hadn’t planned to destroy it. “You don’t need it.”

  “We don’t know that.” She slipped it into one of her many pockets. “And it was a gift from a friend, the only gift I’ve ever received.”

  He opened his mouth to argue with her. She had his dagger.

  But she’d stolen that weapon. He hadn’t given it to her.

  Dare mentally listed the objects she had of his. They were all stolen.

  Although the sunstones had been bestowed freely, he had specifically told his mate they were for the boys, her young friends. He hadn’t indicated she could keep some of them.

  She had nothing, was painfully poor, yet he hadn’t rectified that situation, hadn’t treated her to a single trinket.

  Fraggin’ hole. He was unworthy of her.

  When they reached the Refuge, he’d lavish gifts on his mate. She wouldn’t want for anything. He would make that a mission of his.

  Their current mission was coming to a completion. The wall of sand lowered as the ship touched it. The knot of tension in Dare’s nape unraveled as they crossed the border. His female was safe.

  Ghostly fingers caressed his mind.

  Faylee touched her forehead. “What is happening?”

  “Kralj, the Refuge’s Ruler, is reading our thoughts.” The modified humanoid could do that without being detected. He was notifying them as a courtesy.

  She swallowed. Hard. “He’ll know everything about me?”

  Dare nodded. “He knows things about me I don’t know.” He thought about the impact of the Ruler’s abilities on his little thief. “Don’t steal from Kralj, mate. He’ll view any theft of his property as a form of disrespect.” His all-powerful leader wouldn’t react well to that. “He kills beings who disrespect him.”

  “I-I’ll try.” She wrapped his arms around her. “Sometimes I can’t stop myself.” Her voice lowered more and more, as though she were ashamed of her words. “I do it without thinking. I see something shiny and the next moment, it is in my hands.” She opened her palms, revealing the packet of sunstones he’d hidden in his holster. “Sorry.”

  “Keep it.” He closed her fingers over the packet. “Consider it to be a gift.” It would be the first one he’d give her.

  “Will Kralj be that understanding?” she whispered.

  “No.” He was blunt. If she stole from the Ruler, they’d both end up dead…because Kralj would have to kill him to reach her.

  “This is going to be difficult.” His tiny mate slumped.

  “Yes, it will be.” And life would be even more challenging for her on Dracheon. “You’re clever, mate. You’ll adjust.”

  “It doesn’t appear like I have a choice,” she grumbled.

  Chapter Ten

  Once they were safely inside Kralj’s terrain, Dare stopped the ship. He opened the back of the hauler. Both of them helped a sweat-soaked, red-faced Vicuska climb out of the space.

  The female now sat in the First Officer’s seat. Faylee curled up on Dare’s lap, happy to have that contact with her big male.

  Because she was scared. The possibility of meeting his boss terrified her. The male could read minds. Even if she stopped herself from stealing from him, he’d know she wanted to take his things.

  “I hope that Kralj being doesn’t have a sensitive nose.” Vicuska laughed.

  They had tidied themselves as best as they could, using the cleaning cloth Faylee had brought with her. They couldn’t remove the stench. It clung to them.

  “He’s a modified humanoid. They all have enhanced senses.” Dare dashed that hope.

  “Shit.” The female uttered what Faylee was thinking.

  She already had several strikes against her, being a thief and coming from the caves. The repugnant odor sticking to her garments and skin wouldn’t improve the Ruler’s first impression of her.

  She wanted him to accept her. Dare reported to the male and admired him. She’d heard that in his voice. A rejection from Kralj would quicken the end of their relationship.

  She didn’t want it to end, didn’t want to return to being on her own, unprotected, lonely. Seeing Dare with other females would destroy her.

  They approached what had to be the settlement, her male’s temporary home. White stone walls stretched upward, into the clear blue sky. The hacked-apart remains of beings were impaled upon metal spikes, that gruesome display circling the Refuge.

  What had they done? She looked at her warrior and lifted her eyebrows.

  “They broke one of the Refuge’s few rules.” He explained the system to her.

  That was what happened to rule breakers – they were brutally torn to pieces, their parts exhibited for everyone to gawk at.

  She gulped air, feeling faint. “I’m going to end up on a spike.”

  “There’s no rule against stealing.” Her Dracheon’s lips flattened. “But don’t take anything from Kralj or his mate.”

  Or his mate. The list of beings she couldn’t target was expanding.

  “Yeah, don’t irritate Kralj.” Vicuska nodded. “He can make beings explode with his mind.”

  She could explode or be hacked apart—those were her possible fates. Faylee pressed her hands together to stop them from shaking.

  She would say or do or think something wrong. That was a certainty. She had little experience with fancy arses, as Three-eyed Mak called them, other than stealing from them.

  This wasn’t her world. She wouldn’t survive in it.

  “I should stay outside the settlement.” There were beings lingering around the perimeter, living beings, not merely the sun-dried heads.

  “You aren’t leaving my side.” Dare tightened his hold on her.

  That wasn’t a good idea. She wiggled, her concerns about meeting his boss compounding. Her honorable male would be doomed by association.

  Dare parked the ship. Between them and the Refuge’s open gates, the biggest warrior she’d ever seen stood beside a tall, leather-clad male.

  The big warrior sported green skin, a bald head, and a daunting expression. The second male’s face was masked by unnatural shadows. Power radiated from him.

  She slowed her pace as much as possible. He scared the shit out of her.

  I should. Those words echoed in her head.

  The second male must be Kralj. The Ruler truly could read her thoughts.

  A female peeked around Kralj. She was human, as short as Faylee was, gazed at her as though she was evaluating her.

  Faylee tried to look like one of them, not like a thief, normal.

  Normal? The voice inside her head scoffed. I am a monster and my mate is a highly trained assassin. We’re far from normal.

  That response reinforced the fact that she didn’t know what normal was. She glanced at Dare. If she imitated him and didn’t steal anything, she shouldn’t embarrass her warrior.

  He clasped her hand, linking their fingers. The contact bolstered her courage.

  She survived the caves. Her chin lifted. She could survive this.

  “We don’t have that many rules.” Kralj’s tone was dry. “Your mate has told you most of them. The others aren’t actions you’d consider.”

  “I’ll try not to steal from you,” she mumbled.

  “What did I say about not irritating Kralj?” Vicuska moved away from her, putting more distance between them.

  Damn it. Faylee bit back a curse. She was already fucking this up.

  Air blasted her, partic
les of sand biting into her skin.

  “You will respect me.” Kralj’s words came from everywhere and nowhere. “You will not steal from me or—”

  He looked over his shoulder. The moment stretched.

  Was he contemplating how she’d die, whether he’d hack her to pieces or make her explode? She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  The Ruler stepped to the side.

  The short female bounced forward, her blue eyes sparkling, a smile on her face. “You can steal from me, Faylee.”

  She knew her name. Faylee blinked. “What?” Was this some sort of trick?

  “Steal from me.” The female widened her stance. “I don’t think you can.”

  Faylee looked at Dare. What was happening?

  “Kralj’s mate, Dita, thrives on challenges.” He informed her. “You’re being tested. Show her your skills.”

  If he wanted her to steal from the female, she would.

  Faylee eyed her mark. Kralj’s mate was an assassin and she expected the theft. It wouldn’t be easy to take an object from her undetected.

  But she could do it because she was the best.

  “Thief isn’t an honorable role.” She sauntered forward, slipping her hands in her pockets, attempting to look as non-threatening as possible. “I take what doesn’t belong to me.”

  “I’ve killed beings in their sleep.” The female glided her hands over the daggers sheathed to her hips. “Some would say I’m not honorable either.”

  “They wouldn’t say that within my terrain.” The shadows around Kralj’s face darkened.

  “We do what we must to survive.” Faylee stood close to Dita. “I’m glad to finally meet you.” She pulled her hands out of her pockets as though to grasp the female’s arm. The memory chip fell to the sand.

  “Hey. That’s mine.” Vicuska moved toward her.

  At the same time, Faylee bent over to retrieve the memory chip. As she scooped it into her palm, she slid a dagger out of Dita’s right boot with her other hand and pocketed the weapon.

  “Sorry.” She handed the memory chip to Vicuska. “I can’t help myself.” Her gaze met Dita’s. “I’m very good at what I do.”