by Nina Croft
“Maybe it’s more that I don’t want you to think that you’re like all the other women we shared. They didn’t matter. You do.”
“I know that. Come on, let’s go save the universe. Starting with Zak.”
He gave a nod and put me on my feet, then turned back to the door. There was no lock, just big metal bolts at the top and bottom. He slid first the top bolt and then the bottom bolt and pushed the door open. As he stepped inside, Zak launched himself straight at him and they both crashed to the floor.
“It’s me, you great idiot.”
Zak didn’t seem to hear. His hands were around Kill’s throat. He was nearly a foot taller, and twice as broad. Kill didn’t stand a chance. Without giving myself time to think it was a really bad idea, I jumped onto Zak’s back and pulled his hair. I leaned down and screamed in his ear, “It’s us, Zak. Let him go.”
He went still. Then slowly released his hold on Kill’s throat.
Thank God.
“Shit, Kill, I’m sorry. I thought it was the guards…that they’d come back to…” Zak shook his head and I unclenched my fingers from his hair and scrambled to my feet, watching him warily.
“Nice to see you, too, big guy.” Kill sounded distinctly pissed.
Zak stood up and backed into the far corner of the room. His hands were shaking. “Sorry.” He gripped his fist in his hair, as if he could hold all the crazy stuff in. “I can’t think straight.”
Killian sat up, rubbing at the red mark on his neck. “I know. Ruby’s going to help you with that.” He pushed to his feet, crossed to Zak, poked him in the chest. “You be careful. You don’t hurt my girl, got it?”
Zak turned from Kill to me, and his nostrils flared, his eyes glowing midnight blue. I couldn’t move, like a prey animal caught in the glare of some great predator. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Well, sort of knew. At least under normal circumstances. And not on purpose.
Unfortunately, this was far from normal.
Zak was stunning, nearly seven feet of pure muscle. With a dick to match.
I swallowed. Forced myself to take a step toward him.
The air filled with a sweet musky scent. Some sort of pheromones, Killian had told me last time. Whatever, my blood thickened in my veins, until I could feel the steady throb, matching the pulse between my thighs. I cast a quick glance at Kill. He wasn’t immune. His eyelids drooped, and a dull flush stained his cheeks. I peeked lower at the bulge at his groin. He was turned on by this. And I liked that.
I untied the knot beneath my breasts and shrugged out of the shirt. Then I unfastened the rope at my waist and wriggled out of my pants, kicking off my boots at the same time. And voila, I was naked.
Zak hadn’t moved. He appeared fixed in place, in a daze. Sweat gleamed on the blue skin of his chest and a truly amazing erection pressed at his pants. Saliva flooded my mouth, and I could feel the slippery wetness between my thighs.
Closing the space between us, I rested my hands on his shoulders and stood up on tiptoe. I still couldn’t reach to kiss him. “Help me out here, Zak.”
He shook himself and then grinned. His big palms cupped my ass, and he lifted me. I slid my hands into the hair at the back of his head and kissed him. For a second he didn’t respond, then his mouth opened and his tongue pushed inside me. He tasted so different from Kill, with an almost feral flavor. And my nostrils filled with the scent of musky pheromones mixed with sweat and blood from the wounds on his chest. Amazing, and my sex swelled and softened.
He held me with ease—I suppose to him I wasn’t much of a weight. I’d have liked to take my time, but we had the rest of the plan to fulfil, so I slipped my hands between us and pushed inside his pants to grip his cock. It was hot and hard and huge. The last time I’d taken anything close to this size was his lesbian sister’s strap-on dildo, not an experience I wished to remember. But Zak was holding himself in check. Being careful, every move slow and concentrated.
I ran my fingers along his length, felt the hard nodules along the underside.
Suddenly impatient, I pushed his pants down over his hips and he kicked them off. He stepped forward until my back was balanced against the wall, freeing up one hand. He pushed it between our bodies, over my mound, between my legs. One big finger slipped between the folds of my sex, found my swollen clit. He massaged it gently, the ring making me even more sensitive than I could have imagined, and I closed my eyes, letting the sensations wash over me. The pleasure built fast and furious and I came in what seemed like seconds.
With the ripples of my orgasm still thrumming through my body, he shifted me in his arms and the head of his cock pushed inside. Oh God, he was so big, stretching me. He pushed in slowly, an inch at a time. It wasn’t going to fit. He would run out of space. But he kept going, and finally he was lodged deep inside me.
I had a feeling this wasn’t going to last long.
He pulled out, the nodules rubbing the sensitive inner walls of my pussy, sending tremors through me. Then in, harder this time, and I gasped. I opened my eyes and looked straight into Kill’s.
He had his cock in his hand and was pulling on it while his gaze was fixed on us, hot and heavy. A fire lit in my belly, and flames flickered along my nerves, coalescing between my thighs. Zak moved inside me easily now, using both hands to hold my hips in place while he plunged into me. The world reduced to nothing more than the feel of his huge cock inside me, swelling, heating. With each stroke, he ground against my clit until I exploded in an orgasm so intense, the world went black around me.
I was vaguely aware of Zak pumping his seed inside me. He threw back his head and roared.
We stayed in place for long minutes, his forehead resting against mine, and then he raised his head and kissed me gently on the mouth. I searched his face. The madness had gone from his eyes and he appeared at peace.
“Thank you.”
I would have said any time, but I didn’t think I could take too much of that. Maybe just occasionally. Across the room, Kill watched us. He’d straightened his clothes and a lazy post-coital smile played across his lips. I was pretty sure he’d come as well.
Zak lowered me to the floor. Cupping one breast, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the nipple ring. “These are new. I like.”
Actually, I quite liked them now as well.
Then he slowly pulled out of me. Immediately I felt the moisture trickling down my inner thighs. I was going to have to live with it. The cell didn’t appear to have bathroom facilities other than a hole in the floor.
Kill picked up my clothes and handed them to me. “Let’s get going. I want out of here.”
So did I. I pulled on my clothes while Kill spoke quietly and quickly to Zak, bringing him up to date on what had been happening while he was incarcerated.
“What do we do now?” Zak said when Killian finally fell silent. “I suggest we get the hell out of here and far away as fast as possible.”
Killian shifted from foot to foot, appearing a little discomforted. “Actually, we’re going to rescue Rekowski and Ruby’s friend and then we’re taking them back to Earth.”
Zak’s brows drew together as he looked between the two of us. “Have you turned my best friend into a goddamn do-gooder?” he asked me.
I nodded.
He looked at me a while longer. “Well, I guess we all have to grow up some time.”
Wow.
Chapter Six
Killian
I’d been worried I’d feel wildly jealous seeing Ruby with Zak. But it had actually been a bigger turn-on than ever. I knew she was mine. This didn’t take away from what we had together. Only added to it.
I’d wanted to stay and make love to her, but we had to go. There would be time later. All the time in the world. We’d have the long trip back to Earth before we had to make any important decisions about what to do next. Serious grown-up-stuff decisions.
First, we had to find Rekowski. Hopefully he’d be somewhere close by.
I crossed the room
and opened the door, peered down the corridor, but there was nothing moving and everything appeared quiet.
“Come on, let’s go.”
I led the way, Ruby came next and Zak brought up the rear. He looked a mess, but the wounds were superficial, and he’d heal quickly enough.
Zak had his own decisions to make.
Would he come back, fight for the position he was born to? I hoped so. That way, there might be a chance for everyone on the planet, and for the slaves in the asteroid mines.
I peered through the grill into the next cell, but it was empty. So was the next. Where the hell was that bastard Rekowski? This was taking too long. The more time we took, the more likely the dead guard would be noticed. Or that something else would trip them up. I wanted to suggest we leave the bastard and get the hell out of there, but I knew Ruby would argue. I’d give it five more minutes. We must have nearly looked in all the cells anyway. Maybe they’d already executed him, or he’d died under interrogation.
We turned a corner and I looked into the next cell. And there he was. Slumped on the floor, his eyes closed. He appeared unconscious. I bent down to slide open the lower bolt as a laser blast whistled over the top of my head. I leaped to the side and out of the way then instinctively turned to check on Ruby. She was pressed back against the wall, Zak covering her with his big body.
More laser shots. We had to get out of there.
They were up ahead of us, a whole load of them from the quick glimpse I got. We had no choice but to go back the way we’d come. Crouching low, I gestured to Zak and Ruby. “Go back.” I mouthed the words, and they both nodded and then we were off. I had a fleeting thought of regret for Rekowski, but there was no way we could help him now. I seriously doubted we could help ourselves.
Shots whizzed past us. Zak was keeping himself between Ruby and the soldiers. Sharp pain sliced through my shoulder as I was hit. I ignored it. Sparks flew as a laser blast hit the metal of my cybernetic arm. We turned the corner and earned a few moments of safety.
We ran.
The shots found us once again as we reached the staircase. Up the stairs. We were nearly at the doorway. Maybe we could lock it from the other side, which might give us enough time to get out of the palace. Presuming there weren’t a whole load more soldiers waiting for us at the top.
We were almost there, when a shot took me in the leg. It buckled under me. Something thumped me in the back as I crashed to the floor, slamming my head into the stone stairway, and everything went black.
My last thought was of Ruby.
Keep going, Ruby
…
Ruby
I was breathing hard, my legs like lead, but we were almost at the door. A crash sounded just behind me, and I whirled around, slamming into Zak.
“Keep going,” he yelled.
But Killian was on the floor, and he wasn’t moving.
A silent scream rose up inside me.
Noooo!
Fear like I’d never felt before swamped me, threatened to lock me in place. Zak shoved me from behind, and I fell through the doorway at the top of the stairs, onto my knees. I scrambled up, turned around, needing to go back. But Zak stumbled through the doorway dragging Killian behind him. He slammed the door. But there was no lock. Nothing to stop them.
I couldn’t think about it. Couldn’t think about anything but getting to Killian. I dropped back to my knees and rested my shaking hand against his chest, holding my breath as I searched for his heartbeat.
I almost collapsed as I felt the slow steady thud beneath my palm. “He’s alive.”
“Probably not for long. We have to keep moving.”
“Wake up, Killian.” I shook him, but his eyes stayed closed. “He won’t wake up. Oh God.”
Zak reached down and hefted him over his shoulder. Then we were running again.
But I could hear them behind us. They were through the door and coming after us fast. Heavy boots beat on the stone floor, loud and getting louder. I struggled to keep up with Zak, but his legs were twice as long as mine, and I was falling behind. He glanced back over his shoulder. A shot hit him in the side, but he didn’t flinch.
We had to find some way to slow them down.
Up ahead, the corridor turned. Once we were sheltered from the blasts, Zak dropped Killian to the floor, grabbed his laser pistol and shot around the corner. The footsteps skidded to a stop, and everything fell silent.
I peered around. There were so many of them. Ten at least. There was no way we could take them all, and they’d soon realize they could rush us and it would be all over. A laser blasted out, and I ducked for cover.
Killian was still dead to the world, though thankfully not actually dead. His chest rose and fell with his shallow breaths.
“Go,” Zak said. “I’ll hold them off. Give you a chance to get away.”
My feet twitched with the need to run. I didn’t want to die.
I could get out of the palace. Hide away. Survive.
But at what cost?
Killian would die. So would Zak.
And there was something else. Inside of me, every cell screamed that I couldn’t let them win. This whole thing was set up so they could exploit Earth, tear it apart and enslave its people.
No fucking way.
Which meant someone had to get back to Earth. Tell Pendleton what had really happened. Make sure the vote went the right way.
I couldn’t do that. Not alone.
But Zak could.
And he could take Killian with him. There was a chance Killian could get out of this alive, and that eased some of the terror inside me. Kill would come back afterward, help the rebels and do some good. I wouldn’t die for nothing.
I took a deep breath. I could do this. Just get the words out. “You have to take Kill and get out of here. I’ll hold them off.” My voice sounded small and shock flashed across Zak’s face as though the idea hadn’t even occurred to him.
“No way.”
“I can’t carry Killian. If I go, you both die, and I can’t face that. I love him and you can take him to safety.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
Shit. How was I to convince him? Get past that innate sense of chivalry? “Come on, Zak, how long do you think I would survive out there alone?”
“Then we all stay. We’ll get out of this. We’ve been in worse situations.”
“No, you haven’t. Any moment now, they’re going to realize there are only two of us, and they’re going to overrun us. Then we all die.” I rested a hand on his arm. “You know I’m right. Kill’s your friend, and you can save him. You know the city, where to hide. You could steal a ship. I can’t do any of that stuff. Please, Zak.”
His face was a mass of confusion. At least he was no longer adamant.
“And there’s another thing,” I continued, speaking fast, conscious that any moment they could overrun us. “I want to succeed. I came here with one purpose—to make sure that the vote for Earth went the right way. Promise me you’ll get to Earth, tell them what really happened. I can’t do that. But you can. And that means more than anything. This can’t have all been for nothing.”
Every muscle in his body clenched as though he was fighting what he needed to do. Then he sagged, and I knew I’d won.
It was a bittersweet victory.
He cupped my cheek and leaned down, kissed me on the forehead. “You’re a hero, Ruby Robbins.”
My eyes pricked, but I blinked away the tears. They wouldn’t help, and I was pretty sure Zak would not be able to physically abandon a weeping woman, so I had to look strong. “Go. And look after Kill.”
He stepped back and scooped up Kill’s unconscious body, tossing him over his shoulder. I stroked the hair out of Killian’s face and touched my lips to his. “I love you,” I murmured.
“Ruby—”
“Go,” I interrupted Zak before he could talk himself out of this.
He nodded once, and then he was off at a run. And my heart cr
acked, because I was in love and I knew I’d never see them again.
I could hear the shuffle of feet, and I peered around the corner, letting off a burst of laser shots into the mass. They dived for cover, and I leaped back and pressed myself up against the wall. Zak was out of sight; he’d only need five minutes to get out of the palace and then he could lose himself in the maze of the city.
Five minutes. Surely I could give them that.
Would it hurt?
They were on the move again. Time for some action.
My hands were shaking as I stepped out and pressed my finger to the trigger. My eyes were clamped closed, and I forced them open. The soldiers were clearly unsure how many of us there were. But now they were returning fire. A shot blasted the wall beside me and I ducked back.
This was it. Hopefully it would be quick.
I stepped out again, stood legs apart and shot a continuous blast.
Pain fired through my arm as a blast caught me, and my pistol dropped from my useless fingers. I stood unarmed, staring straight ahead as a shot hit me in the chest. I felt burning pain and then everything went black. Dying wasn’t so bad after all.
Something poked me in the side.
What was with that?
I slowly opened my eyes and groaned. Every bit of me hurt. A pair of boots stood close to my nose and I followed them up.
Oh shit.
It was Zak’s sister, the one who had tried to kill him. The lesbian princess from hell who’d purchased me in the slave market and…best not go there. Bad memories.
“I’m not dead?” Pretty stupid thing to say, but in my own defense, my brain wasn’t really functioning any better than the rest of me.
“You didn’t expect it to be that easy, did you? You were stunned, that’s all. Now where the hell is my brother?”
“Long gone.”
I hope.
She turned to the guards behind her. “Find him. Scour the goddamn city, but find that bastard.” She stepped closer, leaned in toward me, and breathed deeply. “You fucked him, you little bitch.” She straightened. “Take her to the courtyard. We’ll execute her in the morning in my brother’s place.” She stared at me, her upper lip curling. “You die at dawn. And don’t expect it to be quick.”