by J. L. Oiler
Chapter Four
Seated in the far dark corner of the little tavern a few blocks from her apartment, Kat waited. From her vantage point she could easily observe who came and went without drawing attention to herself. Barak and his companions had insisted on accompanying her, and now they mixed in among the crowd that occupied the establishment. She'd done her best to convince them she did not need their help, but secretly she was glad they came along. If things went to hell, as they had back in the alley, she would need them. She could only hope she had Drake's arrogance pinned correctly. She was betting he would make a beeline straight for her without calling the others first.
"The one you seek has arrived," Barak said, leaning in to whisper the words. His breath danced against her neck. He had been determined not to leave her side, still insistent she was his Zi mate. She was not so certain about this Zi thing, but he definitely had an effect on her libido. Just the touch of his breath had her panties wet. Damn, he made her want to straddle him right there and ride his cock until they both had their fill, which meant Drake's arrival saved her from drawing more attention than a streaker at Sunday service.
"Wait until I draw him out back before you and your friends move in," Kat told him. She stood, intent on putting her plan into action. She could not help but smile when Barak brought her hand to his lips and brushed a gentle kiss across her knuckles before she walked away. She was in way over her head, she knew that, and not just with those turncoats she'd been teamed with. No, Barak had her wrapped so tight, Kat was certain she was heading for a cataclysmic fall. She just hoped he was planning to be there to catch her.
Making sure to keep her back toward Drake, Kat moved unhurriedly toward the tavern's rear door. If she played it right, he would not know she was aware of his presence until it was too late. Stepping out into the small, empty courtyard, she began walking as though she had some particular destination in mind, though in reality she was just making certain there was enough space between him and any escape before they sprang the trap.
The back of Joe's Tavern was a courtyard the establishment opened up in the late spring to accommodate those larger crowds who milled around the area when it was warm. However, that time was a few months gone, leaving the area an eerie collection of leaves precariously dangling from skeleton limbs and vacant cobweb-covered tables and chairs set among the crisp smells of autumn. The area would have made an excellent location for a Halloween party, and Kat even thought about asking if they had one, once her business concluded. Of course, that thought was not one she would be acting on — nothing like waving a red flag over the location of a murder scene to draw attention to you.
About five hundred feet upwind from the tavern's rear exit, Kat turned to face her pursuer, giving him a smirk more sinister then any movie psychopath's. "Drake, imagine meeting you here." The look and tone had been enough to make his eyes go wide in realization, but still his arrogance got the best of him.
"You should've just disappeared when you had the chance, Katrina. Now you'll make me a hero. I can see tomorrow's headlines already: 'Hero cop takes down murderous former teammate in local shootout.' Hell, I'll probably get a reward."
It was just like the egocentric bastard to be thinking about his own benefits. That attitude had most likely made him a prime target for the flip. Willingness to do anything for the right price or benefit was in high demand with any asshole seeking to buy himself a cop or two. However, it looked as if the supply was going to be a man down.
Stepping back toward the male she faced down, Kat ran her index finger along her lower lip as if to remove a smudge of her passion pink lipstick. "Too bad you'll never see tomorrow's edition," she told him with a raised brow, while pulling the handgun and silencer from the holster at the small of her back. The shot was quick and on-mark. A small blossom of red formed in the center of his chest while his body crumpled backward.
Kat put the gun away and walked over to where the body of her former teammate now lay against the dark pavement. Stepping over him, she looked up at Barak, who had been leaning against the wall a few yards away, and smiled.
"He always did talk too much."
The large male stared at her with a look of pure satisfaction. Evidently, he liked what he had seen, because those eyes said he was hungry for more than conversation.
"I want you," he said, moving toward her, the intensity of his voice sending a fresh flow of moisture through her already throbbing pussy.
Wrapping his arms around her waist, Barak pulled her tight against him and captured her lips in a kiss that demanded her submission. Kat's head swam with the intensity of his embrace, and it was only moments before she gave herself over fully to his kiss. He lifted her into his arms and began to move, but still his mouth danced upon hers until she was certain the world was a mere blur around them. When he placed her on her feet again and released her lips, she gazed around in awe and confusion.
They were at the hotel's rear elevator.
Chapter Five
"How?" It was the only word she could get out before the bell rang, signaling the arrival of the private elevator that would take them to the upper floors. Kat's questions on the speed of their arrival instantly swept away once Barak again captured her lips. His fingers slid across the fabric of her bodice, tugging on the hard ridge of her nipples pressed against the intrusive material. When the elevator opened at their floor, he placed both hands beneath the curve of her ass and lifted while Kat wrapped her legs about his tapered waist. Walking hastily toward the back bedroom, she was unaware of the clearing throats and grins of the men who sat in the front room as they passed, though she was certain she had heard one refer to Barak as 'lord'.
Kat kept herself wound tight around him until she felt the soft push of the mattress against her back. He lowered her down and crouched above her. Grinning down upon her, Barak began to trail his tongue along the curve of her neck, his hands working to push the thin cotton of her blouse up and over her head. He slid the moist caress of his tongue along her shoulders, and then worked to open the clasp that held the thin lace of her bra.
She could not help but chuckle at the low growl that resounded from deep in his chest while he fought unsuccessfully to release the tiny hooks holding the thin elastic band. His irritation finally managed to get the best of him and instead of unfastening it, Barak tore it from her body and tossed the troublesome scrap of material across the room. If Kat were not more careful, he would cause her to need a completely new wardrobe in no time.
She was just about to chastise him for his impatience when he caught one nipple with his teeth and gave a not-so-gentle tug that drove all sane thought from her mind. The constant pull on the sensitive bud sent waves of heat shooting through her body and pooling in her cunt. She could not recall how or when he disposed of both her pants and the thin thong she had been wearing; all she knew for certain was that she lay beneath him completely nude, squirming and wriggling while he ravished one breast, then the other.
After sliding one hand down her abdomen, Barak teasingly stroked the outside folds of her pussy, before thrusting two large digits deep into the moist heat. Instantly Kat arched into his palm, attempting to take him deeper. "Please," she whined She wanted to feel him inside her, to ride his hard cock until she shuddered with release.
****
Instead, he added another finger to the two already buried in her throbbing wet cunt, and increased the pace. She moaned her disappointment. "I need to make certain you are ready for me," he whispered against her ear. "I don't want to hurt you." Kat barely heard his words because the first orgasm washed over her and she screamed.
Pulling his fingers from inside her, Barak raised up so that he could smile down at her flushed face. "One more like that and you will be ready, my Zi mate," he told her, then slipped his digits into his mouth and sucked the sticky sweet essence of her pleasure from his skin.
"I am ready. I want you now," Kat purred in response, though he paid little heed to her procla
im. He was taking no chances. Barak intended to see that she took release at least once more before he breached that tight cunt of hers with his thickness.
****
Kat was still trembling slightly from his last ministrations when Barak slid down her body and pushed her thighs wide. The moment his tongue pushed into the wet folds of her cunt, a loud throaty moan echoed through the room, a sound she barely registered as her own. Her body was hot and boneless. He continued to lap at the fluids covering her sex, feeding on her as though he were a lost man in the desert and she was his oasis.
"Please," Kat begged, needing to feel him surge deep inside her. She attempted to pull him to her, burying her hands in his hair, intent to bring his face to hers. Instead, she wrapped her fingers around the rigid pair of bonelike protrusions that sat to either side of his head. Instantly Barak stilled and raised his head to look at her. He waited breathlessly for her reaction, uncertainty crackling like electricity around him. She did not say anything or release her hold, instead rose up until they both sat face to face. Looking at him with an unspoken request, he responded and dropped his head forward so she could see the matched set of alabaster-colored horn stubs his dark hair had hid so effectively from view.
Releasing her hold, Kat pushed the hair away to get a better view of the object that was coming out of the side of her lover's head.
"What are you?" she asked in an almost eerily calm voice.
"I told you I was Zironet."
"You have horns."
"Yes."
"I don't understand." Her voice had trailed off to just above a whisper, and her eyes doubled in size. Kat ran a finger across the rough outcrop in a state of complete awe.
"Those from my plane are very different from this one," he told her pulling her hand from his head and placed it on his chest. "Please do not fear us, Kat. I would never harm my Zi mate."
"This cannot be real," Kat said, staring deep into his eyes, as if trying to find a way to reason it all out. Barak wrapped one large hand around the back of her neck and brought her face in to meet his for a sultry kiss.
****
"That is very real." Relief echoed through his entire being when she met his kiss with no apparent reservations. Now he just needed to make her as his own before she had the opportunity to change her mind.
Sliding his hand along the curve of her waist and then along her inner thigh, Barak was pleased to find Katrina's tender folds still hot and wet. Slipping two fingers knuckle-deep, he began to fuck them into her as his need to take his mate pressed at him. "Come again for me, Kat. Let me know you are ready to accept all of me." As if her body responded to his command, Kat bucked up to meet his fingers, yelling out her release.
Before she had a chance to recover from the latest orgasm, Barak pushed her thighs wide and settled between them. The engorged dark head of his cock perched at her molten opening.
She trembled, caught between the desire to have him and the need to resist. Still his hands danced magically across her skin, tempting, teasing, until her entire being longed for him. "Please," Kat whispered, breathless with her own desire.
"Will you surrender?" he asked
"Yes," she responded, her teeth worrying her lower lip in a silent seduction of their own.
"Do you give yourself to me completely?" Barak asked before he teased one erect peak with his tongue.
"Yes," she answered once again, fisting his hair.
Hearing the promise on her lips left him undone, and all hope of restraint dissipated like the morning fog.
Grabbing her hips, he flipped her entire body so she faced away from him, a trembling thigh across the outside of his own. In one forceful thrust, Barak filled her tight cunt, stretching her with rapid force. A loud moan escaped from his lips when her hot, wet muscles gripped him tight. She was tight, too tight, but still he could not reign in his control and he thrust madly into her. Even when he heard her pleas to stop, he could not. The beast refused to relinquish its mate until its need to mark her had been satisfied.
His only hope was to find a way to allow her to accept his massive size more easily. Reaching around, he found the tight knot of Kat's swollen clit and massaged it in a slow circular pattern, stopping every few moments to roll it gently between his thumb and forefinger. Soon her body relaxed against him, hot sticky moisture covering the fingers that stroked her.
She shuddered again and moved to meet his forceful thrusts, his own release building; still he fingered her clit, pleased when she screamed his name. Pulling her still convulsing body tight to his, he bit down into the soft flesh of her shoulder. His cock exploded inside her, marking his woman so none could ever doubt his claim on her.
"You are my Zi mate, the other half to my soul, and mother of my hopes," Barak breathed against her wounded flesh, a smile pasted on his blood-painted lips.
Chapter Six
Kat awoke spooned tight against Barak, a thin sheet covering their nude bodies. After several slow tactical moves, she was finally able to free herself from the tangle of limbs without awaking him. Grimacing with each move of her shoulder, Kat made her way to the bathroom. She felt as if her neck and upper arm were on fire, and she was in desperate need of a shower. Her body was wrapped in the smells of cigarette smoke from the bar, sweat, and some truly mind-blowing sex.
She walked straight to the shower, stopping only long enough to turn on the faucet, and climbed beneath the pounding water. Allowing it to wash across her face, Kat permitted the full force of the events from the previous night to sink in.
She could mark Drake off her to-kill list. One down, three to go. Only thing to do next was determine where to find Tie, Jones, and Randolph, and how to draw them out so she could put them in the ground. Then there was the man — or Zironet, though she was still not certain exactly what that was — who thought she was his destined mate. Not that she would mind spending her nights wrapped in his arms, having the most perfect sex imaginable. However, until she cleaned up some loose ends and cleared her name, she did not have time for any romantic delusions. Of course, there was also the fact he had horns.
"Kat, are you well?" Barak asked from nearby.
"Fine, just finishing up," she called back, rinsing the remains of the shampoo from her hair.
"I feared you were angry with your marks." His voice was closer now, just outside the curtain.
"Marks? What are you talking about?" she asked, confused by his comment. Stepping out of the shower, she reached for the towel she had placed on the rack nearby, only to discover it gone. Turning toward Barak, she found him holding her thick cotton towel, his eyes glued to her upper body — more precisely, her shoulder. Looking down and taking in the dark swirling marks covering her from shoulder to elbow, her mouth dropped open. "Whoa, where did that come from, and how did it get there?"
"It is symbolic of our union, declaring us a mated pair," he told her, moving forward to dry her off.
"You did not say anything about this," she accused, jerking the towel from his hands and hastily began to rub the moisture from her skin. "You know the department has strict rules about tattoos being visible when we're in uniform. What am I suppose to do, dress in long sleeves all year long?"
"In my world it is a badge of honor that represents our clan and signifies our union." He sounded a bit annoyed with the fact she was thinking of how to cover the twist of symbols that matched his own.
"Well, when we're in your world, I'll show it off to everyone we meet. However, as long as we're here in the real world, I cannot go around with your neon sign that reads 'mine'." Kat was not certain what she had said in her haste to dry off and get dressed, but by the large grin that now covered his face, it had been something he liked.
Slipping her white tank top over her head, she turned to face the mirror and take in her appearance. Well, she had to admit, with a little hair dye and her new marking, she could be on top of her enemy with his throat cut before he knew what hit him. "Can you send someone down to the drug st
ore? In addition to some hair dye, I need a clean phone. I'm certain they have my line tagged by now."
Barak looked confused again, but he nodded and yelled for Adrik. At least he had not argued the point; maybe there was hope for him yet.
"Can you ride? A motorcycle, I mean," she asked while she began searching through the end table for a pen to make a list of everything she needed picked up.
"The loud two-wheeled devices?" he asked. His choice in description made her chuckle; it really took the macho out of the image.
"Yes, that would be them," she said, making a quick list on a scrap of paper she'd found.
"Then, yes, I can ride them," Barak said, handing her list to his companion.
"Good," she said, resting her hand along the side of his jaw. "I think I know where to find both Tie and Randolph. Jones will be a bit more difficult."
****
Barak knew that any attempt to take her from the outerplane before she accomplished her revenge would be unsuccessful. Kat needed to breach the division between the two worlds willingly, and though she appeared to be accepting of him being something other than human, he had yet to bring up the topic of her returning to his plane. Therefore, it was in the best interest of all that he and his clan assist her in disposing of these last individuals.
After sending Adrik to retrieve the items she requested, he joined Kat in the sitting room, watching her look through the thick book of names and numbers. "This book will tell you how to find them?" Barak questioned while she continued her search through the pages. He liked the way she worried her lower lip with her teeth when she concentrated. Barak could not wait to spend eternity discovering all her little habits and vices.
"Not exactly, but it will let me get in contact with someone who might," she said, circling one of the entries.
"When you have eliminated these traitors, we must talk, my Zi mate. We have much that must be discussed," Barak informed her. Looking up he nodded a greeting to a returning Adrik. "I believe the things you required have arrived."