by Mira Maxwell
“Incoming!” I shout at my men. It’s just enough for Kjallak to step back as the arrow flies past his chest, nicking the front of his armor.
I need to get to the last one.
Still favoring my right arm, I pull myself up. My breath is loud in my ears, blowing puffs of white clouds in front of my face. The clang of battle axes and swords echoes off of the mountains behind us.
Just before I make my move, there’s a loud sound that comes from the ship. It sounds like the engine is starting up, whirring slowly at first and then picking up speed.
I look over and see the exterior guns on the ship moving. Then there’s a thump, thump, thump as the weapons fire into the Argali and the last Salthu warrior sitting on top. The guns smoke as the orange flashes of light move almost faster than my eyes. Round after round fire from the ship until we are the only things left moving.
Then, the weapon powers down, the whirring slowing to small clicks until the guns stop spinning. The sounds reverberate off of the mountains and echo around us. What should be a field as quiet as death, pulses with the aftermath of the ship’s steel cannons.
Branyx and Kjallak come up behind me, staring at the smoking Argali lying dead on the ground.
“That was loud enough to bring the entire clan down on us,” Branyx growls. “That human is going to get us all killed yet.”
“Watch your tongue Branyx,” I say, “She was trying to help us. By this point the entire clan knows we’re here anyway.”
“Ah, princess,” Kjallak says with a smile.
“She doesn’t like the pet name you have created for her, Kjallak.”
“I know, Lodyn. That’s what makes it so entertaining.” I look over at my brother and a small smile passes between us. Adrenaline is still coursing through my veins. And now we need to get ready for the second wave of the Salthu’s attack.
The clever beasts are never far away and they’re always in our business.
But now they want something of my mate’s and to me that is the same as threatening her directly.
For the first time in my life, there is only one thing that will be able to calm the steady pounding of the blood through my veins after this fierce of a battle.
Picturing her now, I’m sure she’s sitting at the controls of the exterior cannons with a smile on her beautiful face.
It figures my mate would be as stubborn as me.
Nine
MARGO
There’s no use hiding when the three Attalans make their way back inside. There’s no hiding what I did when it was heard for miles. I wasn’t just going to sit by and hide when I can be an asset in any fight. And something snapped inside of me when I saw that arrow take Lodyn down. I felt panic well up inside of me and I had to help. I’ve done my fair share of fighting, for fuck’s sake, and I’m not going to be told to hide under the bed. I think the fact that I stayed on the ship was admirable in and of itself. Every instinct inside of me was urging me to get out there and help.
I hear the hatch open and know they’re coming back inside. Not that it’s a surprise…I’ve been watching everything unfold out the window in the hatch from the beginning. I’m anxious to see Lodyn and make sure he’s okay. I want to go to him and clean his wound, lay him on my bed, and tend to him. But I can’t keep crossing that line. It means more to me than just helping a friend, I know it deep in my soul.
I keep playing the fight over in my mind. I’m in awe of how they fight. It’s like they were specifically built as fighting machines. And with the genetic enhancements that Lodyn was telling me about, I guess they are.
Lodyn’s fingernails elongated and became sharp claws, small steel pikes on the ends of his fingers. He was using them a lot to strike at close distances. The other two didn’t have them but Kjallak was able to jump like nothing I’ve ever seen from a human before.
Before I can analyze it any more, Lodyn’s large muscular form fills the end of the corridor and he stalks toward me. An intense look radiates off of him and I don’t know him well enough to know how he’s going to react. I’m assuming he’s angry as hell so I find myself instinctually backing away from him as he strides toward me.
“Come,” he says, grabbing my arm when he reaches me. He doesn’t wait for a response, just pulls me behind him.
I follow. There’s really no way I couldn’t.
His hand is so hot on my arm. His heat radiates through my clothes and it feels as if his skin is directly touching mine. My heart is fluttering wildly in my chest but I don’t know if I’m scared or if it’s just what happens when Lodyn is this close to me. My body always reacts when he’s near.
He leads me into the sleeping quarters and slides the door closed behind us, locking it before turning and pushing me onto the bed. I make a disgruntled noise and right myself, miffed at his rough treatment. He stalks back and forth in front of me, taking deep breaths.
“Why don’t you let me look at your shoulder,” I say calmly, trying to figure out what’s going to happen right now and what kind of mood he’s in.
He waves his hand, brushing off my comment, grumbling, “It’s fine.” Then he finally turns to me, glaring down at me. I’d be afraid if I didn’t see adrenaline filled passion in his eyes right now. “You don’t listen,” he says.
That gets my blood boiling. The apprehension that I was feeling is gone. I’m so tired of his caveman ways. It’s obviously okay to boss around and dominate the females on their planet, but it’s not going to happen with me. Standing up, meeting him face to face, I poke my finger in his chest and say, “I don’t have to listen to you.”
He takes my hand and moves it off of his chest. “Yes, you do.” He annunciates every word using the clearest English that he can muster and it makes me want to smack him. Injury or no injury. “It is my job to keep you safe…and alive. You made so much noise when you fired that weapon the entire tribe will be marching down on us in a matter of days. Less if we’re really unlucky.”
Crossing my arms I drop my head and think for a moment. That didn’t seem important when I thought he was about to be crushed by that huge wooly mammoth-looking creature. We’re practically strangers but he means something to me already. I like the way I feel when I’m around him and as long as I’m on this planet, I want to be close to him. “I thought you were in trouble,” I finally say. “I wanted to help.” Looking up at his handsomely chiseled face, the anger melts away and all I can think to say is, “I couldn’t just stand by and watch you die.”
He follows my actions and takes a deep breath himself. He moves his hand to my face, rubbing his huge thumb along my jaw, gripping me underneath my ear. His way of showing affection is quickly becoming my favorite way to be touched. He’s always so hard and bossy but when he caresses me in this way, I see softness flood his features. He looks at me like I’m the best thing in the entire world. It’s the only glimpse I get of anything other than the strong, fierce warrior that he needs to be all of the time. “It takes a lot to kill me.”
And then he claims my mouth but this time there is no softness like the kiss before he left me to go fight. This time adrenaline is still pumping through his veins and he’s fighting for control. His hands move from my face down to the back of my thighs where he grabs me and lifts me right off the ground, laying me down on the bed. He climbs over me, supporting his weigh with his arms.
Instinctively I spread my legs for him so he can settle between my thighs. I’m lost in his kiss, the ravenous nature of it. He’s kissing me like my mouth is the oxygen he needs to survive. And I can’t get enough.
I pull my shirt over my head. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” I can’t stop kissing him, though. I don’t ever want to stop. I’ve never really made out with anyone before and it’s a lot of fun, to say the least. “Lodyn, really…this is wrong, isn’t it?” I reach behind my back and unclasp my bra, pulling it down my arms and letting it drop to the floor.
His hands immediately move to my breasts, gripping them tightly in his hands
. “I won’t penetrate you,” he says, even now using his authoritative tone that lets me know he’s in charge right now. He has no intention of stopping. “You are so soft here,” he says, brushing his fingers over my supple breasts, cupping and rubbing my skin. “But here, it is hard.” He pulls at my nipple with his fingers, making my back bow off of the bed.
“That feels so good.” I let my fingers trail up his muscular arms while he explores my body. “Put your mouth on me.”
He leans down and pulls my nipple into his mouth, gently sucking and nipping it with his teeth. “Oh, yes.” I moan, my hands moving to his hair as the soft strands slip through my fingers. My hips press up off of the bed, seeking friction from his body above me. His cock is completely erect and deliciously hard against my aching core. “Take this off,” I say, tugging at the armor that still adorns his body. “I want to feel your skin on mine.”
Sitting up on his knees, he pulls his body armor over his head, followed by the armbands. My eyes find the gash in his shoulder but even though there’s blood surrounding the area, the actual wound is only a scratch.
Instinctively I sit up and reach for his shoulder. “It has already healed?” I ask.
“I told you,” he says, pushing me back onto the bed, “It takes a lot to kill me.”
I have more questions about that but I’m quickly distracted when he pulls my pants off of me and drops them on the floor.
“I’m dying to taste you,” he says, running his hands over the smooth skin of my thighs, spreading them wide so my cunt is fully exposed to him. He remains still at the end of the bed, staring at my sex. I would feel shy at this moment if not for the look of absolute want on his face right now. “Have you ever mated before? With someone from your planet?” he asks.
“No,” I answer quietly. My hands cover my face as an embarrassed squeak escapes from my mouth. “Have you?” I ask.
“Yes. I had women for pleasure before I took the oath to become part of the guard. Never one that made me feel the way that you do.”
He leans in with his fingers and spreads my folds and then the next thing I feel is his tongue. There’s a definite texture to his tongue that makes me feel every lick in a profound way. “Where does it feel the best?” he asks. His fingers take the place of his tongue while he asks me his question. His finger circles my entrance and just slightly dips inside of me. “Here?”
“That feels good.”
“But?”
“Move a little higher.” I take my hand and cover his finger, moving it up to my clit. “This spot feels really good.”
“How about this?” He asks as he moves his finger back to my entrance and pushes inside of me. I gasp and tighten, not used to something the size of his finger going inside of me. Not to mention his fingers are just as massive as the rest of him. Before I can focus on any discomfort, his mouth is hot and greedy on my clit, using his tongue and lips to stroke it and suck it. “You taste,” he pauses for a minute while searching for the correct word, “I guess there is no translation in English. You taste like Heasira.”
“Hopefully that’s a good thing,” I say and feel a vibration between my legs as Lodyn chuckles.
“It’s the best thing.” And with that, he closes over my clit again and continues licking me. His finger is gently moving in and out, taking the time to explore how I feel. His finger slowly circles inside of me, brushing over a spot that sends tingles shooting down my legs.
“Oh, do that again.”
“With my finger or tongue?”
“Your finger.” He searches inside of me until I gasp, “Yes, right there!”
He rubs his finger in a delicious circle over my G-spot while his tongue continues to lick me. The feeling building inside of me is so strong I don’t know how I’ll ever keep quiet. As it is now I find myself squirming on the bed, desperate for release.
I grab the pillow from behind me and scrunch it up to my mouth. My orgasm hits so hard I have to scream into the pillow. It feels hot and so wet in my pussy and Lodyn’s tongue continues to lick at my core. That was the strongest, most incredible orgasm I’ve ever had. My entire body is limp and I’m breathing heavily into the pillow when the bed shifts next to me and the next thing I see is Lodyn’s handsome face.
“That was so amazing. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” I immediately say.
He smiles down at me and there’s a glow of pride in his eyes. He looks much more relaxed, all traces of anger gone.
“How can I pleasure you that way?” I ask.
“No need. I stroked my cock in my hand, spilling my seed when the warm juices from your cunt spilled from you like nectar.”
“Shit, Lodyn.” I cover my face, embarrassed by the bluntness of his words. It is pretty sexy how he seems to get such pleasure from my body, though.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he says, pulling my hands away from my face. “Your body is perfect. I will never want another.”
“Hmmm, I like this sweet side of you.” He leans down and gently kisses me.
Then he lays down next to me on the bed, clearly exhausted from the tiring events of the day. “Now that I can think straight, we need to figure out what to do next.” He throws his arm over his head, covering his eyes while he sorts through all of the things we still need to figure out. “How long until the ship will be able to fly again, do you think?”
“I think I’m pretty close to getting it up and running again. I restored power to one section of the controls on the main deck of the ship. I think if I do the same thing for the other two power grids I’ll have everything back in working order. It looks like some of the wires were fried from some sort of electromagnetic field when we entered your atmosphere. I don’t know exactly, I’m not the engineer…I’m the pilot.”
“You are very clever, my mate. Clever and beautiful with the most delicious-tasting cunt.”
“Okay, okay, enough talking about how I taste. It embarrasses me.”
He doesn’t reply but there’s a deep rumble that comes from his chest that gently shakes the bed. He’s laughing at me again. I’m glad he finds me so amusing.
I lean over and rest against Lodyn’s warm body. Closing my eyes I take a deep breath and relax into him. “That was so much better than my dream,” I say. It’s quiet and it comes out as a whisper.
“Much better,” Lodyn says.
“You think so?” I ask, thinking that he’s teasing me again.
“The real thing is always better than the dream. But I won’t deny that I’ve been aching to get between your thighs ever since it happened.”
“You had a dream too?”
“I had the same dream, my mate.”
Ten
LODYN
“Okay, questions,” she says, propping herself up on her elbow, suddenly very alert again. “How is it possible to have the same dream?”
“On our planet, there is no question when two are mates. There is a link that is established, physically and telepathically.”
“Telepathically? Like mind-reading?”
“Well, yes, but the mind-reading comes last. Shared dreams and sensing the other’s emotion happens first. I would be able to tell if you were afraid or in danger.” She’s very still beside me, her face crinkled in concentration. “This link doesn’t become strong until the mating is…official.”
“Like until sex?” she asks quietly.
“Yes, sex.”
“Is that why you had to take an oath of celibacy when you joined the guard? To keep you from being able to take a mate?”
“I don’t really know. Like we talked about before, they put a lot of money into our training and physical enhancements. From what we know, they don’t want to waste money on an investment. And it can be distracting.”
I smile at the irony of that as she says, “Right,” and smiles knowingly back at me. I trace my thumb along the lines of concern creasing her forehead. “So you think we’re mates?” she asks, “Or would be mates if you weren’t bound by
your oath?”
“Yes. There is no doubt in my mind. Can’t you feel the connection between us?”
“I do, but how is it possible for you to mate with a human? I would have thought something so strong would happen with a female from your planet. You haven’t had many humans visit your planet before, right?”
“I’ve never met another before you.” It is a daunting concept to try to understand. It’s clear fated mates is not something that happens on Earth. She had to fly halfway across the universe to find the other half of her heart as well.
“Well that really sucks then, doesn’t it. I mean, I’m here on a time-sensitive mission to find Iryudite . So we need to find it as soon as possible and get back home. My stay is temporary. And then you’ve taken an oath to your brotherhood. Essentially keeping you from ever taking a mate. I guess we’re both screwed aren’t we?”
There is no direct translation for the word “screwed” but I get her meaning from her ramblings and the concerned look on her face. “I should have controlled my urges. It was wrong of me to give in to my desires again.” I understand the apprehension she feels. It would be wrong to consummate something that would inevitably end.
“Well don’t apologize, it was a mind-blowing experience. I guess we shouldn’t get used to it though. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around all of this.”
I smooth her hair, enjoying the softness of it under my fingers. “Let’s worry about one thing at a time. For now, you work on getting the ship up and running and I’m going to meet up with Kjallak and Branyx and figure out how we will defend the ship if the rest of the tribe shows up.”
“Okay. Will you stay with me for a little while first? You’re so warm and I feel so damn good when you’re close to me.”
“Of course. Rest for now.”
Within minutes she’s sound asleep in my arms and there’s no other feeling in the world that compares. Somehow she brings calm to my otherwise violent and conflict-filled existence. It’s getting much harder for me to deny that she could be something really great.