by Leslie Chase
Rising from his chair, Athazar slid his arms around my waist and lifted me. It never ceased to amaze me how casually he could do that, how easily he could carry me. I kissed his red skin, tasting him as he carried me off the bridge and into the nearest cabin.
The door opened for us, but I had no eyes for my surroundings. Only for him. For his strong face, his scarred, beautiful body, his sparkling, loving eyes.
With a hungry growl, he flung us down on the bed, landing on top of me and pinning me. I arched under him, loving every second of our contact, hating the clothes that got between us.
I could feel him growing hard, and I ached to feel him inside me. But this time we had all the time we wanted, and privacy. I could explore him, enjoy him. My hand roamed his back, brushing over old scars and powerful muscles.
Athazar kissed my neck, sharp teeth scraping my skin and making me shudder and arch under him. His hot breath washed over me, sending tingles down my spine as he kissed and nipped me.
My body ached for him, and I felt the heat between my legs as his mouth moved down to my breasts. His touch felt better than anything I could imagine, and his gentle lips were perfection.
I groaned, a passionate need filling me as I clutched Athazar to me. His hands pulled at my skirt, unfastening it and throwing it aside as he lowered himself. I knew what he wanted, and my breath caught as he spread my legs wide.
Kissing down my body, he growled hungrily. My hands coiled in his thick hair as he parted my folds with his tongue, tasting me and driving me wild. I whimpered, eyes squeezed shut as he slowly, teasingly licked and kissed.
Pulses of purest ecstasy burned through me as his tongue circled my tight bud, his hands gripping my hips and lifting me to his mouth. Rational thought was gone, lost, driven out by the wonderful sensations he flooded my body with. Opening my eyes, I looked down at him and met his gaze.
That was the final thing I needed to push me over the edge. Shuddering, shouting, clinging to him, I came hard and shook against him. His arms held me, keeping me safe as I returned to myself. Panting, gasping, shivering, I looked up at Athazar.
He smiled down at me, pleased, happy, adoring. His hands stroked gently across my body and I smiled back, my face flushing as his hand slid between my thighs. He wanted more, and so did I.
With trembling fingers, I undid his belt. Pulled down his pants, freeing his hard alien cock. A tremor ran through him as my fingers brushed it, and I grinned.
“Your turn,” I breathed, pushing him down onto the soft mattress and kissing my way down his body. The scars felt strange and erotic against my lips and his sounds of need made me grin with anticipation.
His cock hummed in my hand as I reached it, taking a good look for the first time. It was strange, alien, and amazing. Hard ridges vibrated against my palm and I remembered the feeling of him burying himself inside me, how those ridges had felt sliding in and out of me.
A deep blush spread across my face and chest as I impulsively kissed it. Athazar growled, hungry and eager, his hand sliding into my hair and guiding me as my lips parted.
The feel of his cock in my mouth was strange and amazing, and I swirled my tongue around the head. Athazar’s breathing grew ragged, and his grip almost painful as he urged me on. Looking up at him, I saw the rapture in his eyes, the sheer joy making my heart sing.
He was close, I could feel it, but before he reached his climax, he drew me back and looked into my eyes.
“Emma. Stop.” I shivered at the tone of command he used, my body responding to it.
“You don’t like that?” I teased, kissing his cock again and marveling at the texture. Like velvet over steel.
“Of course I like it,” he said, smiling a hungry smile. “Too much. I have other plans for you, and do not wish to lose control. Come here.”
Mischievous, I leaned back in and licked up the length of him, making him moan. The ridges of his cock felt delightful on my tongue, and I could feel how much he enjoyed it. That made my heart beat faster, and I breathed quickly as he pulled me up beside him, kissing me urgently.
Rolling me onto my back. Pinning me to the bed. Sliding between my legs, parting them, pressing against me.
I felt him vibrate, his cock pressing against my entrance. My sharp gasp of need filled the room and I nodded eagerly. Yes, this was a better plan. No doubt about it.
When he thrust, it was a long, slow motion that drove him deep into me. I felt each ridge as it entered, stretching me delightfully, his cock filling me and making me groan with delight. I arched up against him, my body pressed to his. My hands clutching at him, urging him deeper.
The soft growl of his pleasure filled my ears and he pulled back. Thrust again, harder. Deeper. Each movement making me quake in his arms, driving me wild. The vibrations inside me sent waves of pleasure crashing through me, and each thrust took me closer. Closer.
Athazar spoke, words lost in the tempest of my sensations. But the tone wasn’t: amazed, loving, passionate. I answered with wordless cries as I reached the edge of my climax, suspended for a moment before crashing over into an orgasm that shook me to my core.
My inner muscles squeezed hard, and Athazar shuddered, words ending in a cry that shook the room as he reached his own climax. I felt that amazing cock pulse inside me and my eyes rolled back as I lost myself in wave after wave of pleasure.
“You are amazing,” Athazar rumbled as I came back to myself, cradled in his arms. “Everything I could have dreamed of.”
I pressed myself to his chest, nuzzling him and trying to form words. My mind was still recovering, and I couldn’t manage more than a murmur of wordless love. He held me, gentle now, and I heard the beating of his heart as I lay against him.
Finally, I had a chance to look around the room we lay in. Space stretched above us, the ceiling a window into the void. The walls were decorated with delicate dark patterns that blended with the emptiness of space, and the bed we lay on was a wonder of soft-but firm materials. I could get used to this.
Athazar stretched, grinning and sighing. Looking back to him, I saw the new wounds still healing on his chest.
“Will they scar?” I asked, tracing the injuries carefully with my fingers.
“I hope so,” he said, surprising me. “I want a memento of this time.”
His eyes were filled with a strange melancholy, and I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Powerful hands stroked my skin and I saw his sadness growing. “When you are back on Earth, beloved, I want something to remember you by. Better scars earned fighting for you than those Tlaxanna left on me.”
Taking a deep breath, I tried to focus past the shock of his words. I had to think about the future again, face the choices I needed to make. During the escape I hadn’t thought more than ten minutes ahead — it had seemed pointless to plan beyond our likely deaths.
Now, though, we were alive and safe. The future was open, and Athazar seemed certain of the best course. Was he right? Should I go back to Earth, leave him behind? I shuddered at the thought. His words hurt like daggers even though I knew he was trying to do what was best for me.
My thoughts buzzed around inside my head as I tried to find the words for my thoughts, and Athazar kept talking. His hand gripped mine tight.
“You must return to Earth,” he said, painful resignation in his voice. “I wish I could come with you, but we both know I can’t. I could never pass for human, and if I tried, I’d only get myself killed. Perhaps you, too. No. But I will, at least, have these scars to remember you by.”
26
Athazar
Emma sat up abruptly, looking at me as though I’d gone mad. That hurt, but I had to press on.
“I know the pain of leaving my home behind, and I would never let you suffer the same,” I told her. “You will get what I can never have — the chance to return home to your friends and family and live a full life. A normal life.”
My heart ached, but I knew it was the only way. I would treasure our tim
e together, more than I could express in words, but if I kept her from returning home, I’d be no better than the bastards who abducted her.
I was better than that. If it broke my heart, I would be better than that.
Emma looked at me, her eyes narrowed, and I knew this hurt her too. But there was no choice. No other way.
She would come to understand. She had to.
“Emma, I am taking you home.”
“The fuck you are.” The anger in Emma’s voice stunned me, and I started to rise. But her hand struck my chest, pushing me back. I could have ignored her — despite the muscles a gladiator’s life had given her, I was still far stronger — but I didn’t resist.
“Athazar, you’re an idiot. I’m not going back to Earth, not if it means leaving you behind.” Her eyes blazed as she spoke, determination overwhelming.
“I will not exile you from your home,” I replied stubbornly. “I will not cause you that pain.”
“But you’re trying to,” she said. She leaned in close, looking me straight in the eyes. “Athazar, my home is where you are. I’ve got nothing on Earth that I wouldn’t give up to be your mate. I know that you miss the world Tlaxanna snatched you from, but don’t let your pain blind you to what I need. To what we need, because you want me to stay with you too.”
“Don’t you?”
My heart broke all over again at the question. Her mask of confidence slipped, showing me the fear beneath. Fear that I didn’t want to spend my life with her.
How could I have let her think that?
Grabbing her, I pulled her close in an embrace that knocked the air from her lungs and kissed her with a ferocity I hoped showed the depth of my feelings.
“Beloved, I want to be with you more than I can say,” I told her when we parted, both of us breathless. “But I will not let my own desires keep you from your homeworld. And my life is not safe, it will never be safe. If you stay with me, you will always be in danger. Next time something goes wrong, I may not be able to protect you.”
Her glare melted. “I don’t want safety, Athazar, I want you. I’m yours if you’ll be mine, and whatever fate has in store for us we’ll face it together. And kick its ass!”
I couldn’t believe my luck. Not only had I found the perfect woman, but she wanted to stay with me too. Grinning wildly, I kissed her again, taking her small hand in mine.
“I am yours,” I told her. “By all the stars in the galaxy, I am yours. Come here, my mate.”
We celebrated for hours, losing ourselves in each other, before hunger forced us out of the captain’s cabin. The others had already found the galley and convinced the ship to make them a buffet, so we found a room full of happy, well-fed gladiators. Tybin and Mixal bickered about something, Gennafera sat with her arm around Armax’s shoulders, and Corven had the autocook’s inspection hatch open.
Ssarl sat apart from the others, looking nervous and a little out of place, but I knew the others would accept him. He’d saved all our lives by following me here in the Shadow Hunter, after all.
A few knowing glances told me we’d been far from discrete, but that hardly mattered. At least not to me: Emma blushed bright red, though she said nothing.
Once we’d filled our plates and had a chance to eat something, Gennafera cleared her throat.
“So, ah, we’ve been talking,” she said. “And we kind of need to know what we’re doing next?”
I blinked. With my focus on what to do about getting Emma home, I hadn’t thought about the escaped gladiators beyond how they might get in the way of that. But now all eyes were on me and my mate, and it was clear they expected me to have a plan.
“We can let you off at a free port,” I started, thinking as I went. That wasn’t a great option — without money, what would they do? They had fighting skills but nothing else. Inside a week they’d be working as thugs-for-hire, or worse. There had to be a way to avoid that. “With a share of the ship’s wealth, if there’s anything portable aboard. We stole it together, after all.”
Corven laughed. “I stole it, boss. Well, me and Emma — the rest of you are just along for the ride.”
Tybin threw a roll at him and the rest of the gang booed good-naturedly. Corven laughed again, snatching the roll out of the air and biting into it.
Looking thoughtful, Armax spoke up. “I had a look around. There’s a strongroom — couldn’t get into it without the captain’s say-so but looking at this place there’s probably enough wealth in there to do us for a while.”
The others grinned, and I smiled to see them thinking as a group. Armax could have tried to break into the strongroom, but he’d chosen to share with the rest of us instead.
Our escape had brought us together in a way I wouldn’t have thought possible when I arrived at the arena.
That gave me an idea. “We’ll split the prize evenly with anyone who leaves. Anyone who wants to stay aboard, I think I can make a better offer to.”
The group quieted down and looked at me. Emma smiled and squeezed my arm, encouraging, and I continued.
“We all hate slave owners, right?” A chorus of agreement, and a couple of angry snarls. Good. “And I have connections with the Anti-Slavery Patrol. Instead of going our separate ways, let’s stick together and see what we can do to free more slaves from the Empire.”
Silence filled the room, and the ex-gladiators exchanged glances. Emma grinned and nodded.
“You’re all good fighters, or you wouldn’t be here,” she said. “And you’ve all got other skills, too. Together, we can make this work.”
“I don’t know,” Armax said. “It’ll be risky work. I mean, we’re all escaped slaves, aren’t we? Get caught and—”
“—and they’ll throw us back in the arena or worse,” I said, nodding. “It’s risky, no doubt. No one’s going to force you to take part. But look at this ship, tell me it wouldn’t make a good base. We’d be on the move constantly, we’ll make it hard for the bastards to catch up with us.”
“And we’ll be able to hit the people who hurt us,” Corven said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m in.”
Gennafera nodded quickly. “You know I’m up for it,” she said. “You killed Prodrirs, and I owe you for that. I’ll stick with you at least until I’ve paid back that debt.”
Ssarl hissed something, looking nervous when the gladiators turned to him. He shrugged. “I’m not a fighter, but you’ll need someone to look after the accounts. If I can use my skills to hurt the slave trade, that’s a better fate than I’d expected.”
My smile broadened as the room swayed to my side. Just like that, I had a crew and a mission. A way to keep others from suffering what we had. And if we rescued any more fighters, they could join our team. This might work.
Emma’s eyes gleamed as she hugged my arm and whispered in my ear. “I know you came up with that on the spot, but I’m proud of you. This is a great idea.”
“I’m glad you think so, darling,” I told her, slipping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her tight. “Because we can’t do this without the ship’s captain.”
She grinned. “So I get to keep the ship?”
“None of the rest of us could take it,” I pointed out. “It’s bio-locked to humans. So unless you want to sell…”
“No, I like the idea of being a dashing captain on a rescue mission.” My mate laughed, a touch self-consciously. “Does that mean I get a rakish captain’s hat?”
“Beloved, you get whatever you want.”
She beamed a smile I would have killed for. Or died for. But, better than either, it was a smile I could live for.
Epilogue
Snow drifted down around the Promise of Freedom, settling on my ship and the trees around the landing field. Outside, the ex-gladiators played in the cold, snowballs flying with deadly accuracy as they hunted each other.
I preferred the warmth of the ship and Athazar’s embrace. In the months since we’d started our new mission, we’d spent a lot of time
together, but we’d been busy. It was nice to relax together, to enjoy a quiet moment.
“Don’t you want to join them?” I asked, not wanting to keep my mate from his fun. He laughed.
“I’d much rather spend my time with you, beloved. Besides, it would be unfair to go out there and kick their asses.”
I chuckled too, snuggling back into his arms and watching the snow settle. We’d been busy for too long, and this break was a nice change. Some breathing room.
Our crew of misfit-gladiators weren’t exactly what the ASP wanted, but we weren’t about to let that stop us helping them. There were more slaves out there and we were all eager to save them. Not to mention getting some revenge on the slave traders.
And now we had a home base, somewhere safe to retreat to. A quiet world outside the reach of the Silent Empire. The landing pad was large enough for the Promise and the Shadow Hunter to sit side-by-side, and Ssarl had worked out a way to buy the land rights with the ship’s treasury.
A home in the mountains. Who’d have thought I’d ever have one of those? It was like a dream come true, even if I was going to leave again soon. We had another mission planned after our little break.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here this time?” Athazar asked, as he always did. “The mission will be dangerous, and I don’t want to lose you.”
“You’re going,” I pointed out. “I won’t let you get yourself in trouble without me. Besides, I’ll stay safe aboard the Promise.”
He chuckled and pulled me to him, nuzzling into my neck. “What if I promise not to get into trouble?”
“Then I’d say you’re lying,” I said, giggling and squirming. He knew just where to kiss me to break my concentration. “Stop that, or we’ll never get going.”
He laughed and bit down gently, making me squirm. “No one will care if we stay aboard a while longer.”