Zanna studied the littered spacescape and an inkling of a smile dawned across her lips. "Then we’ll use that against them. Take us as close as you dare to a smaller vessel and draw their fire."
"That’s suicide!" Jabesh stomped across the bridge, his arms folded across his scrawny chest. "We’ll be no good to Earth if we’re dead."
She bit back a scathing retort. "Don’t worry. I’m not ready to die yet and as long as you’re with me, you’ll be as safe as I am."
"Somehow, I don’t find that in the least comforting." Jabesh lifted his nose in the air and huffed off.
If only he’d walk away for good, half the strife in her life would be eliminated. That is, in her normal, everyday life, not in this demented version.
But she didn’t have time to dream now. Vampire ships blocked her vision for as far as her naked eyes could see.
It’s hopeless. The blood in her veins froze. The enemy outnumbered them. There must be several planets worth of them queued up like a cafeteria line, waiting for their turn at the buffet.
No planet stood a chance against such evil, merciless forces. Not a single planet. Their only chance was to recruit allies and present a united force. But they had no time to do that.
No time….
Chances were so slim they could slip a transport vessel through so many watchdogs, that her spirits sagged. This monstrous force had been three hundred years in the making. Perhaps the ancestors could have prevented this with a truce instead of breeding such violence and hatred.
But how did one reason with monsters?
The one in her dreams seemed quite approachable….
Stop that! The Lion had his own agenda, and he seemed to have more of a carnal lust than a blood lust. But that was only a dream anyway.
A very hot, luscious dream.
If only this was a dream--well, a nightmare.
But another close photon blast that rocked the ship proved it wasn’t a dream. Another civilian transporter exploded before her eyes. Debris littered space and she closed her eyes.
"Dear mother of God…" Humanity was being extinguished under her nose and they seemed helpless to do anything.
She fought back very unbecoming tears that stung the backs of her eyes. She’d lost civilians before. Even witnessed the carnage up close. But she could feel thousands of cries for mercy, deep in her soul. "Fire the photons. Ram everything we’ve got down the rotten bastards’ throats!"
Genco nodded sharply as his fingers flew over the controls. "Aye, Captain. I just wish I could personally behead each and every one of those brutes. They nearly wiped out my family before they were driven off-world in the twenty-first century. Left my great-grandfather orphaned in a stinking orphanage, they did."
They all shared similar genealogy and festered with the bitterness. Humanity had nearly been eradicated then, but they had rallied. There had been far fewer of the enemy, and the adversary had been technically inferior. Then they had sent them away in ships, given them the building blocks of technology and unleashed them on an unsuspecting and undeserving universe.
Raw, her heart bleeding, Zanna slapped the console on the arm of her chair. Cursing the lack of vision that put them in this predicament, she pursed her lips. "I think every man here understands your feelings."
"Is this the end of humanity, Captain?" Genco asked.
"I pray not." But little hope remained in her heart.
Another fleet of transports exploded before her horrified eyes.
"It’s pretty much hopeless, isn’t it Captain? Humanity’s finished," Ananta said, her voice overflowing with emotion.
"We can’t afford to think that way. We can’t give up. As long as we have breath, we have hope." Zanna fingered the rosary beads in her pocket, petitioning the higher powers for salvation hoping they would still listen to her after such a lukewarm relationship with them. If not that, then for a good, honorable death.
"We may all die, but not without a good fight. At least we can spare the universe from as many of those rotten bastards as possible. Get the flag ship in your sights and fire at will."
"It’s highly guarded, Captain."
"Run a kamikaze mission if need be. Communicate our intent on scrambled sub-frequency to the other commanders and tell them to be ready to take out as many smaller ships as possible during the ensuing confusion."
All bridge personnel turned and stared at her, some open-mouthed, others nodding their heads in approval.
"Do we have to sacrifice ourselves to further the cause?" Jabesh faced off in front of her, his fists balled on his hips. "Have we determined this is the final hope?"
Zanna kept her expression blank, careful not to show her distaste for the ass. "I said that we may have to, not that it is a foregone conclusion. It’s to be used only as a final option." Although in her opinion, they were almost out of options. They had to make a move while there was still some humanity left to save.
"That is unspoken always, Captain. You state the obvious unnecessarily." Jabesh bowed slightly and retreated across the bridge to his station.
"Incoming! Activate your shie…" the communications officer slumped over his console before he could activate his.
Zanna reached for hers as everything went black.
* * * *
Dmitri floated over the vixen, drinking in the sight of her perfect body. Relief flooded him that Nikolai nor Ashlok had made further attempts on her life. But how long that would last, he didn’t know. He feared, not very.
Her flowery fragrance fascinated him. Intoxicated, he fixated on her strong pulse. He could hear her blood pump through her veins.
He traced her lips with his tongue. Then he licked her throat with a long sweep of his tongue. Closing his eyes in ecstasy, he reveled in her sweetness. He lifted her hand and licked every one of her fingers and then suckled each in turn. She used to tingle when he sucked her fingers and he wished to awaken her soul, her every carnal desire with decadent pleasures.
Her fragrant scent, the sweetest he’d ever known, kept luring him back.
Hovering a mere fraction of an inch above her, her swollen labia beckoned him and he flicked the reddish folds with his tongue.
In her dream world, she twitched and her clit hardened into a rosebud of desire, inviting him to massage it and pull it into his mouth.
His cock grew hard, envious of his tongue, but he wanted to pleasure her, make her hot for him so that she’d beg him to take her.
He wondered who was seducing who. His cock kept trying to take precedence over his mind, demanding release. He kept a small but significant hold of this seduction.
Ravenous for her honey, he parted her lower lips with his fingers and then delved his tongue inside.
Moaning, the vixen writhed against him, opening her legs wide. Her warm exotic fingers encircled his engorged cock and then stroked its length gently, sending ripples of pleasure through him. When she cupped his balls in her palm, he nearly ejaculated prematurely. The Goddess must be laughing at him. His dream woman was also his mortal enemy.
* * * *
Zanna sighed when a delicious tongue caressed her lips and then her fingers. She writhed when each finger in turn was transported to paradise, licked and then sucked into a warm, seductive mouth. When the ghostlike apparition lowered itself over her body, she opened herself wide to her dream lover, safe in her slumberous cocoon, knowing on some subterranean level that it was only a dream.
But heavens! What a dream!
Shivers coursed down her spine and she trembled deliciously, eager to be held in Dmitri’s arms, to know his kisses, again. But this had to be the last time. When she awoke, she had to drive him away.
But for now, his tongue felt so erotically wonderful it had to be illegal. She lifted her hips to better position herself to take him inside her.
As spectacular as his tongue felt sliding in and out of her channel, greed consumed her. She wanted his big, delicious cock to fill her, to ram in and pull out, then plunge in agai
n. She longed to feel every inch of him, to have him complete her. She yearned to be held in his strong arms, snuggled tightly against his chest.
Most of all, she wanted to kiss him, a soul-shattering, deep-throated kiss that lasted hours. As much as she longed for his cock to slide into her, to know fast, deep, hard-core sex, she craved romance so much more. Deep, erotic, lingering kisses ignited the romance. She hadn’t had a worthy lover in eons, not since her Academy days. Pressure of leadership had been a heavy yoke and she hadn’t found anyone to match her strength on any level.
"Kiss me," she said, out of breath, on the brink of orgasm from his finger sliding in and out of her. She held her arms out to him, eager to nestle in his arms, to rub her hardening nipples against his furry chest.
Instead, he buried his head deeper between her legs and lapped greedily, slipping a second finger inside, stretching her. Arching against his face, wave upon wave of excruciating pleasure undulated through her.
She raked her fingers through his hair, reveling in its glorious thickness, in how silky and erotic it slid against her flesh.
He growled, a deeply guttural, animalistic sound. Her cream flowed swift and heavy despite her best efforts to hold back her climax. Primitive, passionate, and oh-so-hot, he set her aflame.
As the rapture subsided, she licked her parched lips and cajoled again, "Kiss me."
Her dream lover kissed and nipped his way up her belly to her breasts. He suckled each one in turn and nestled his cock between her legs, rubbing sensually against her mons.
When he lifted his face and gazed into her eyes, his glowing fiercely, she inhaled a ragged breath. It was the vampire leader, her arch foe. "You," she said accusingly.
His sexy grin made her heart somersault in her chest and she gaped at him.
"At your service," he said in a middle European accent, his voice so deep and husky it mesmerized her. He plunged into her folds with a sure swift stroke, all the while holding her gaze, making her shiver, bringing her to the brink of orgasm again.
And then he disappeared, leaving her to dangle on the precipice.
Chapter Six
Holy!
Zanna snapped out of her dream and bolted upright in bed so fast she wondered if she’d really been dreaming when the foggy mists scattered faster than her covers. Leaping lithely out of her bed, she shoved her sleep-dampened hair out of her eyes and paced the floor. Had he read her mind? Detected her trap? Obviously, she was no actress and not even a decent whore.
Although, to her chagrin, she hadn’t been faking very long. At least not the pure unadulterated lust. Even now she still quivered from the awesome power of The Lion’s lovemaking, from the tempest of his soul-shattering kisses.
How could she fall in love--lust--so fast with anyone, much less her mortal enemy? Only he wasn’t mortal… And according to him, none of this was sudden, lust at first touch, but a centuries-deep love that had been nurtured and cultivated….
Or harvested?
The unbidden thought threw her more than any previous ones. If her dreams were to be believed he could travel through time. What, then, prevented him from traveling forward? He would have known she would be a threat to him now, so he had played her, set her up, and expected her to be the same wanton, sightless creature he’d wooed through all her reincarnations, easily plied with lusty kisses and sultry, carnal sex.
But she had evolved, and she could see clearly now. And to think she’d started to fall for his seductive ways again.
She couldn’t let herself forget again that she was a soldier and he was her enemy. It had almost been her undoing and the deadliest mistake of her life.
Was she doomed to keep making the same mistakes dispensation after dispensation? Only fools let that happen and she wasn’t ready to write herself off as a fool yet.
Close, but not one-hundred percent.
She sneered at herself in the mirror as she climbed into the dry shower to cleanse herself of her night sweats. If only it could cleanse soul deep and purge her heart… Her heart? No! She had to cleanse her mind of this nonsense.
She allowed only five minutes for recriminations. Soldiers, especially officers, didn’t wallow. After strategic errors, they regrouped to formulate new plans of actions. There was no weakness in falling back to gain a greater position of strength, to gain clearer perspective.
She picked up her lire and strummed it, thinking best when she relaxed. Music soothed her inner beast, and calmed her inner turmoil. Playing by rote, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift along the familiar haunting strains. The ancient melody suited her strange mood, lifting her soul out of the vampire’s morass.
Her mission had failed. Dissecting her steps, she grimaced. While attempting to seduce her rival, she’d laid herself vulnerable and he’d gained the upper hand. Always in control of her emotions before, even in the height of passion, this beast’s power over her disturbed her immeasurably. She’d not gleaned any important data to help her cause, except one very important one. She had to get a much tighter grip on her emotions.
Even if the vampire had meant something to her in a previous life, it wasn’t foreordained that he should be of any personal consequence to her now.
Somehow, she had to contact him on a platonic level, dig into his mind, and discover his plans. Perhaps they’d been attacking on a subliminal level, feasting on her people in their dreams. Like The Lion and his band… They didn’t need to blow the Earth to rubble. They really didn’t want to. Locusts, they coveted Earth’s lush green rewards, especially its humans. Sheep….
Zanna suppressed unwelcome shivers and rubbed her arms briskly unable to erase the chill encasing her heart. A shadow fell across hers and she tensed.
"Have you no sense, appearing in the flesh? My guards have orders to kill you on sight." She whirled around, expecting to confront The Lion and came fact to face with a hairy giant of a man. Almost comically, her glance slid to the weapon across the room.
Wicked laughter danced in the brute’s eyes when she took an involuntary step back. A sneer curled his thick lips. "Expecting someone else? An illicit rendezvous perhaps?"
"Guards!" Where were they?
"If you really want to know, say pretty please." The man started to circle her, looking her up and down.
"Summon help," she said to the computer, cursing herself for letting down her guard.
"I’ve disabled your computer--and your guards. Didn’t you wonder when the intruder alarm hadn’t sounded although I was here?"
Zanna turned, keeping him in her wary sights. What kind of game was he playing?
His gaze locked onto hers as if he was waiting for something. Finally he sighed, shook his head, and put his hands over his heart theatrically. "You really don’t remember me? Tear out my heart."
How many past lives were going to come back to haunt her? And how many psychos?
"Obviously not," she said dryly not at all impressed by his melodramatic display. She took up a defensive pose, ready to strike upon the first threatening move.
Her uninvited guest bowed low, smiling slyly up at her as fangs peeked out his lips. "Then I shall refresh your memory, lovely lady. I am Nikolai, King of the Carpathians, leader of the largest fleet in the galaxy, conqueror of the universe."
Pompous asses didn’t impress her, only the firepower behind them. When her brow started to arch, she quelled it. Sarcasm wasn’t one of her more favorable traits and made for a lousy diplomatic tool. "Ruler of the universe. So why is a lowly captain such as myself graced with your presence? You should be conversing with the ruling council of Earth. I have little influence…."
He chuckled and waved a dismissive hand, light reflecting off the gold of his ostentatious rings. "Ah, but your mother sits on the High Council and she takes much store in your opinion."
Her pulse fluttered rapidly. How did he know that? Had he been delving around in her subconscious, too? Wouldn’t she remember that? She remembered Dmitri--too well….
Or m
aybe he hadn’t slipped into her subconscious at all, but into her mother’s… She’d been wrong not to warn her or the council of her suspicions. She’d been more ally to the vampires than to her own people. High treason!
"You still haven’t figured it out? Perhaps you need a--reminder." Nikolai hauled her against him with lightning speed, his iron grip impossible to break.
Struggling against his superhuman strength, she felt impotent as he held her with what seemed to be no problem.
He dipped his head and licked her neck languorously. "Surely you remember this. You belonged to me. You’re mine!"
The inconsistencies collided inside her until she was almost dizzy and definitely nauseous. "But Dmitri said…."
Nikolai raised his head and roared. Fiery red embers sparked in his eyes. "He stole you from me. You were my intended lifemate."
"No!" Revulsion flooded her and she jerked her neck away from his abhorrent touch. There was no way she would welcome this ogre into her life.
The fiend wound his fingers through her hair and yanked her face towards his roughly. "You are mine and you will bow to my will. I conquered civilizations across the galaxy so that I could return triumphant to claim what is mine."
"I’m not yours." She spat in his face, preparing herself for the brunt of his fury. Physical blows would be far preferable to his despicable kisses. "Neither is Earth. We’ll die before bowing down to you."
Mirth replaced the boiling anger in his eyes and he held her face not even a centimeter from his so that his torrid breath scorched her. "Oh, you will most assuredly die. All of you, so that you may be reborn in our image and unite with our legions."
"You’re insane!"
She remembered what The Lion had revealed. "We have to choose to become vampire, something I’ll never do."
Nikolai’s laughter grew more boisterous. "My old friend, Dmitri, is a liar. We hold the power to turn you whenever we wish."
"But…."
"But The Lion is weak. He refuses to take life. That is why his band grows weak and sickly while ours thrives. Why they cannot be allowed to infect our super race!"
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