by Roxie Ray
“I don't need any of that. I just need you.” I paused, and then added, “Well, okay, I guess I'll need at least one. Unless all the women on Valkred walk around naked.”
His laughter was rich and deep. “Even if they did, none of them would look as perfect as you do.”
Seconds later, our uniforms were rumpled piles on the floor and our nude bodies were hungrily entwined, our palms sliding over each other's skin. I looked at the tattoos on his flesh, thinking of how they would disappear once he was returned to his own form – wondering what he'd look like without them.
I couldn't wait to find out.
I reached down and wrapped my hand around his shaft playfully, bringing him forward so he could feel how slick and willing my labia were. The ridge around his tip flared against my fingers, soft but insistent. A husky moan escaped his lips and he suddenly lifted me off the floor, carrying me over to the floating bed and throwing me down on it. The sensation of the alien material on my bare body was delicious, like nothing I'd ever felt before... as though I were rolling around on a refreshing cloud.
Then he was lying next to me, cupping my breasts and rubbing his cool thumbs against my nipples. They were already firm and pebbly, and he gently nipped at my earlobe with his fangs. From the appreciative chuckle he gave at my reaction, I could tell he liked the way I writhed and tingled at his touch.
I could feel beads of moisture forming high between my thighs, and I looked deep into his emerald eyes, silently begging him to take me. He nodded wordlessly in response, wrapping his arms and wings around me so tightly I could barely breathe – I could only give myself over to him, revel in his majesty, his intensity. The sound of his heartbeat filled my ears, my entire being.
I spread my legs, wrapping them around his waist and bracing myself. A single push and he was deep within me – so deep I almost imagined I could feel him penetrating the innermost parts of my soul. I wanted to cry out, but his mouth was on mine again, consuming my screams of lust, swallowing them before they could emerge fully formed. It felt like he was stealing my breath, taking it into himself, then releasing it back into my lungs soaked with his own magnificent essence.
Our hips bucked and rolled together, our sweat mingling into streams that trickled across our naked flesh. My eye fell upon the window again, and it was as though the stars themselves were voyeurs, pushing in closer to watch the awesome sight of our lovemaking.
Good. Let them. I wanted the entire cosmos to watch how happy we made each other.
I raked my nails across his back and he snatched my wrists in his hands with supernatural speed, pinning them to the roiling surface of the mercurial mattress below me. One look in his eyes and I could see that he needed to claim me – to make me understand that I was his alone, and would be forever.
The thought of it lit a thousand fires inside me, and when my climax exploded within my core, it blazed so much brighter than the destruction of the barren planetoid outside Karcerikus had. The shockwave was epic, all-encompassing, raging and burning through every cell of my being. In response, his orgasm reached out to quench the flames like a torrential rain, soothing and calming me once more.
Then we were sighing happily in each other's embrace, his feathers tickling my face as I drifted into the most restful sleep I'd ever had.
23
Surge
“Fortunately for you,” Khim said, preparing the injector module, “purging Hakkas' genetic materials from your body should be a far easier process than it was to bond them to you. And once that's done, we can remove the nanocortical replicator rods from your cerebral cortex, and you'll no longer be struggling to distinguish your own thoughts from his. I must admit, I have many questions for you about what this experience has been like. For posterity, of course. Based on what you tell us, we'll be able to record this in medical journals, experiment with the technology to find new uses and benefits...”
“I will be sure to include all relevant details in my report,” I assured her. “Now reverse the process.”
“As testy as ever, I see.” Khim rolled her eyes, turning to Paige. “And you're sure you want to be this man's mate? You can see for yourself how difficult he can be to deal with.”
Paige smiled down at me. “I've never been more sure of anything in my life.”
“If you say so,” the healer sighed. “Though personally, Surge, I think you should seriously consider hanging onto Hakkas' looks, at least for a while. At least this way, the horrid tattoos and perpetual scowl match the ugliness inside you.”
Paige laughed, but I didn't.
“You may practice your jaundiced sense of humor on a patient who finds it more amusing,” I said through clenched teeth. “Give me the injection at once, before I lose my patience completely.”
“Ahh, this is you being 'patient.' I see. Well then, I suppose I'd better proceed without additional comment unless I wish to risk life and limb by angering you further, eh? Here we go.” Khim inserted the module's tip into the crook of my arm and pressed the button. I felt the substance enter my bloodstream, and counted the moments as my heart pumped it through the rest of my body.
Paige's blue eyes were on me, and I felt myself growing more nervous by the moment. I'd faced and defeated countless enemies in my time as a spy. I'd even bested a Lunian in single combat, against all odds. I had marched into dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of battles in my life without a moment of anxiety.
This was different, though. The uncertainty threatened to drive me insane.
What if it was Hakkas who'd identified Paige as a mate, and I felt nothing for her when his essence was removed from me? What if when she saw my true face, Paige was no longer attracted to me? Either outcome seemed more painful than I could bear after everything we'd been through together. Khim's joking aside, there was some tiny part of me that was tempted to remain half Hakkas.
But then I'd never know for sure, would I? Neither of us would. And we'd always wonder whether what we had was real, or merely an illusion, a trick of science.
So.
Time to find out.
I looked down at my body and saw it transform, Hakkas' musculature reverting to my own. My bones and muscles hurt fiercely as they contracted to conform to my former physique. His hair fell out once more, and I felt the sensation of hot needles on my scalp as my own grew back to replace it. My fangs moved around in my mouth, rearranging themselves to their old configuration.
Then the process was done, and I was looking up at Paige, waiting for her reaction. “Well?”
She smiled, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh, Surge. You're even more beautiful now than you were before.”
“To be fair, Hakkas did set the bar rather low to begin with,” Khim deadpanned. “Now then. I'm sure I can find other duties to attend to, so that you two can... enjoy each other's company for a while.” She turned and left the room, whistling tunelessly as she shut the door behind her.
“Do you mean it, Paige?” I asked. “You truly prefer me this way?”
She climbed onto the exam bed next to me, cupping my face in her soft hands and kissing me. “Surge, you are, without a doubt, the handsomest space vampire I've ever met.”
I threw my head back, laughing for the first time in what felt like centuries.
“But what about you?” she asked, tilting her head. “Now that Hakkas is gone, do you still feel the same way about me?”
I searched my feelings... and was surprised to find that if anything, I felt an even deeper desire for her than I had before. A stronger certainty that in all the universe, she was the only one for me. It had been my mating urge, not his. If anything, his presence in my head had only diminished it.
Now he was gone, and it was just the two of us, forever.
I answered her by embracing her, pressing my body against hers with all my might.
Tomorrow, I resolved, I would tell Dhimurs and Akzun that my days of stalking and killing in the name of Valkred were over. It was time to turn my back on vio
lence at last, and enjoy the rest of my life with Paige in peace and contentment. I would speak with Carly, Miranda, and Judy about establishing a colony for the human slaves of Karcerikus on one of the many planets in the Valkred system, so they could live free and forge their own destinies. I would look for a pleasant little home to share with the woman I adored, and think of new ways to occupy myself that didn't involve bloodshed and war.
Yes. All of those things would wait until tomorrow.
But tonight...
I undid the buttons on Paige's shirt, preparing to make love to her as myself for the very first time.
I couldn't imagine anything more perfect.
24
Suzanne
After the riot, everything changed... for some people, anyway.
The Valkredians took over the entire prison, quelling the uprising without lethal force – and with the help of the Sives, who'd always been good at keeping the rest of the scum in line. The inmates who'd assisted Paige and Surge with their plan received time off their sentences, and full pardons in the (rare) cases where they'd been arrested for nonviolent crimes, like theft and smuggling. As a result, about a quarter of the Sives were turned loose, with another quarter of them set to be freed within a year or two.
Once they got up to their old tricks out there and rebuilt their criminal empire, I wondered if the Valkredians would regret the bargain they'd made.
Well, either way, it wouldn't be my fucking problem, would it?
The human slaves were officially set free by proclamation of the Valkred government. Which basically accounted for every Earthling in Karcerikus, except for me and Kelso – we were the only two who had actually been sent here because of crimes we'd committed. There was talk of the released humans being granted asylum by the Valkredians, and granted a little outpost to live on. That sounded nice.
A plaque was erected to commemorate the convicts who had lost their lives resisting Karaak. Cute gesture, right? A bunch of thieves, killers, and degenerates who only cooperated because they thought they had a chance at a better life in here, and now their names were immortalized in the corridors, like the goddamn Vietnam War Memorial back on Earth. Who says the universe doesn't have a sense of humor? Not me, that's for sure.
The terra-pods that had exploded weren't going to be replaced. In fact, the few that remained were headed to the nearest orbiting scrap yard. Karcerikus wasn't a private, for-profit terraforming operation anymore. Now that the Valkredians had taken over, it was going to be a normal prison: House the dregs of the cosmos, wait for them to serve their time, keep them from killing each other, and then turn them loose when they'd paid their debts to society. There'd be gymnasiums, real food, visiting days, all that shit.
There was a lot to clean up and repair in the aftermath, and they needed volunteers to do it. I was the first one with her hand in the air.
It'd be dirty work, sure. Dangerous, even.
But I didn't care.
Because getting up to my elbows in the guts of this goddamn prison station would give me plenty of opportunities to build a new series of tunnels. Ones that would let me move around Karcerikus and go wherever I pleased, whenever I wanted, all without anyone knowing.
Ones that would eventually allow me to escape.
I may not have had some cushy Earthling refugee colony waiting for me out there, but I had plenty of connections on the outside from my all-too-brief stint as a freewheeling pirate and marauder. A month, maybe two, and I'd hijack a transport shuttle out of here.
The galaxy wouldn't know what hit it.
About a week after the riot, just as everything was settling back down to normal, all the cell blocks were called to an assembly in the new cafeteria. The guard bots stood in a ring around the room and the new jailers formed a line against one wall as a male alien entered, clearing his throat for silence.
Wow.
Just... wow.
I'll admit, I hadn't seen too many Macurians in my travels, and certainly not in Karcerikus. They were generally a primitive tribal people who didn't leave their homeworld of Macur – they didn't have their own interstellar technology, and they didn't want it, either. They were content to build their little huts under the blazing suns, harvest fish and crops from the pools and caverns beneath the planet's surface, and hunt for big game in the deserts.
But of the few I had seen, none of them looked like this guy. In fact, I bet no other Macurian anywhere looked like him.
His body was so thick and muscular that his chest and arms bulged inside his expensive tailored suit of triple-patterned Delvanian armored silkwool, threatening to tear it at the seams. His peach-colored skin was inked with the intricate runes and symbols of his people, and his long, shiny black hair was braided and pulled back into a ponytail. His hands were large, and he kept them folded in front of him, as though he were physically restraining himself from reaching out to crush someone between them. Everything about him radiated a strength and intensity that could barely be controlled.
And those eyes. Jesus, those eyes!
They were as black and stormy as an ocean on a moonless night. A gal could drown in those eyes, and love every minute of it.
“My name,” he announced in a deep and throaty growl, “is Tol'Hor. I will be taking over for Karaak as warden of this facility. I have been briefed on the appalling conditions that were previously in effect here. It is my intention to bring about numerous reforms, and to ensure that those among you who show me the proper respect will be respected in return.
“For those among you who do not intend to show me the respect I deserve and demand, I offer this one warning – just because I happen to be Macurian, do not mistake me for some superstitious backwater barbarian who throws laser spears and worships ancient idols. If you fuck with me, hear this: I will fuck back harder.”
The sound of his voice was enough to make me damp between the thighs.
And suddenly, I wasn't in such a hurry to escape after all...
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Claimed By The Warrior
Prisoners Of Karcerikus: Book 2
Roxie Ray
© 2020
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).