The Thief's Dark (Renegades Book 3)

by L P Peace

  The top levels were docks. Daris manoeuvred the ship over a railing, onto a level which was as large as five of the lower shopping levels. The dock seemed to be abandoned, except for one figure standing on the floor in front of them. Zoe gasped at the visage he made.

  ‘How is he going to get on the ship?’

  Beside her, Daris laughed. ‘We’ll have to meet him in the docking bay.’ He powered off the ship and rose. ‘Coming?’

  Zoe looked out of the window at the alien again. ‘What is he?’

  ‘Iladar.’

  ‘Iladar,’ Zoe said, looking at the massive green male. ‘Iladar.’ With that, she fixed how he looked onto that name.

  She rose and followed Daris down the spiral stairs. As he reached the bottom, he hit the door control and the platform lowered. Almost immediately, the alien made his way on board, ducking.

  He was at least ten feet in height. His skin was dark green and he had black scaling of some kind on his shins, forearms, shoulders, and back. The black was actually graduated to dark green, she realised. He had four arms, and lime green tendrils hung from his head like hair, though much thicker. Like dreadlocks, but fleshy. He was completely naked, his massive cock swinging back and forth to the front, his twin-pronged tail swaying back and forth to the back as he walked on digitigrade legs, like a cat’s hind legs. Zoe blushed and kept her eyes firmly on his face.

  ‘Could you shift, friend? My female isn’t used to seeing naked males, and you’re making me uncomfortable.’

  ‘Wouldn’t want to make a mated Maruzen uncomfortable,’ he said. His voice was so deep it rumbled through her. It was so deep she was sure only a whale would be able to hear him clearly.

  ‘What do you mean shift?’

  Before the words were even out, something like an optical illusion occurred. The Iladar, Kallidan, began to shrink.

  The tendrils that made up his hair were the first to change. They fell halfway down his back, hanging over his shoulders in a way that was almost attractive. The long, black claws on his fingers shrank back into smaller nails, then suddenly, the rest of his body caught up. The scales diminished, then suddenly disappeared, as though absorbed into his body. Before her eyes, he shrank by around two feet. The massive muscles of his body became lean. His tail, which had been thick a moment ago and dragged behind him like a weight, was suddenly flicking back and forth in a light, playful way. He looked much the same, but the more defensive and offensive portions of his body, the swollen muscles and his size, were suddenly gone.

  Except for the cock. The cock was disproportionately big, remaining at the same size.

  ‘All the way, Kallidan,’ Daris complained.

  ‘I thought the human might like to pick,’ he grinned.

  ‘Kallidan…’ Daris’s growl was a promise of violence.

  The Iladar chuckled before his cock began to shrink as well. ‘How about this?’ he was looking at her as he spoke. ‘Or this? She’s adorable, Daris!’

  Zoe had placed her hand over her eyes. He could choose the size of his cock? What the hell! More than anything right now, Zoe desperately wanted a hot chocolate and gab with the girls. She could just picture Tara and Sophia’s reactions when she told them that piece of news! It was almost enough to make her laugh!

  ‘You can look now, my mate,’ Daris said. ‘He’s covered.’

  Hesitantly, Zoe looked up at Kallidan. He’d dropped another foot or so until he was only marginally taller than Daris. His cock had disappeared altogether. Zoe realised it was inside him! An internal penis like some animals on Earth.

  ‘How much control over your size do you have?’

  Kallidan smiled. ‘This is as small as I get, and you could call this my natural form. However, they’re all my natural form. Some I just have to put more effort into than others.’

  ‘That’s remarkable. Can your whole race do that?’

  ‘No, just us kaita.’

  ‘Kaita?’

  ‘Erm, protector,’ Daris supplied. ‘The kaita are the chieftains, leaders, protectors of their tribes.’

  ‘Leaders?’ What is he doing here?

  ‘Yes. For those who want it.’ Kallidan’s upper lip curled. Obviously, being a leader was the last thing he wanted.

  ‘To business.’ Daris walked over to Kallidan. He looked out of the hold towards the only door, seemingly nervous. ‘Tolomus.’ His voice was quieter, almost a whisper. ‘Where’s he going? What auctions is he planning on attending?’

  ‘None.’

  ‘What?’ Zoe took a step down from the spiral staircase where she’d been standing.

  ‘Tolomus sent out word that he’s holding mid-flight auctions and he’s laid a hefty bounty on you.’ He looked from Zoe to Daris. ‘And your female.’

  Zoe found herself taking a step back up. How hefty? Hefty enough to tempt the male in front of them? He turned to her, his eyes lit with amusement.

  ‘Those who’ve bought their way out of the pit don’t betray each other. Regardless of the price.’

  Daris simply nodded, one hard jerk of his head like Kallidan spoke gospel. Perhaps, for them, it was.

  ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to bring Tolomus to you, Daris.’

  Daris let out a long breath. ‘It would be better anyway. That way, I can control it.’ He nodded again, as though in answer to some question or idea inside his mind. ‘I know what I have to do. I’ve just got to—’ Daris looked over Kallidan’s shoulder, a look of shock.

  ‘Daris?’

  ‘The syndicate.’

  Zoe frowned and looked out of the open bay. For a moment, she saw nothing, then a long red tail flicked out from behind a crate and was gone.

  ‘Stay here,’ Daris said, his voice seemed almost distracted. ‘I’ll go talk to them.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Kallidan said. ‘From what I hear, Adalth wants you bad.’

  ‘It’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time Adalth has been angry at me. They’ve never turned me over before his temper tantrum ends. They won’t now.’

  Despite the light tone to his voice, there was a tension in Daris’s shoulders that worried Zoe. She watched him head out to the clear space in front of the ship. A moment later, a male appeared.

  He was black, like midnight. He had long black hair that fell around his shoulders, and his eyes were black on black with the barest amount of white sclera showing. He moved towards Daris with a strange, shifting gait. It wasn’t until he stepped out from behind the crates that Zoe realised why.

  ‘What the fuck is that?’ She managed to whisper the words, but still, Kallidan turned and looked at her.

  ‘Hieladan. They are the Calidon Crime Syndicate who Daris works for.’

  ‘They have tails like snakes!’

  Two more had appeared. Zoe shivered at the two blue males as they joined the black one. Though their skin was mostly scaled, there were patches of blue skin. She could see the difference because of the iridescence of the scales. The black one seemed to have more scales. In fact, though she couldn’t see very well from this distance, she could just about make out that he was all scales except around his face and some patches on his arms and hands and the top of his head.

  Without warning, one of the blue males struck out with his tail, and Daris was on his back.

  Zoe screamed. Her screaming grew louder when she saw the midnight blue blood leaking from his wound.

  All of them turned to her, and for a moment, she almost thought she saw concern on their faces. Then they turned to Daris, two of them picking him up and suspending him between them as the black one wailed on him with a flurry of blows.

  The world narrowed in focus to Daris. Zoe was running down the ramp before she even knew that she had moved. Arms grabbed her and she screamed, struggling against them.

  ‘I’ve got him, little human. But I can’t get him if you go out there. Stay here.’ Kallidan dumped her on the ground unceremoniously. He walked out onto the deck and roared. His roar must ha
ve echoed across the station as he shifted from his small form to the ten-foot form she’d seen minutes ago.

  The Hieladan dropped Daris to the ground and turned to face the new threat. Almost immediately, Daris was on his feet. He did something, and one of the blue Hieladan fell to the floor.

  ‘Go!’ Kallidan roared. ‘I’ll delay them.’

  ‘You’re sure?’ Daris called.

  ‘Get your mate off this station,’ Kallidan shouted before he barrelled into the black and blue Hieladan.

  There was a moment of hesitation, then Daris ran to the ship. Hitting the door control, the platform raised as he stopped in front of her.

  ‘My ahdali, we must get to the bridge.’

  Zoe stared at him in shock for a moment before her mind caught up with events. ‘Err, yeah.’ She turned and stumbled up the stairs. Daris steadied her, and when they were on the deck, he picked her up and deposited her in her seat before taking the pilot’s seat.

  ‘Port Authority. Requesting permission to leave. Now!’ Daris’s voice was panicked.

  Outside, Kallidan was standing like a barrier between the crates and Nevalis.

  Daris hit his quick start, and the board went green once more before Daris lifted the ship off the deck and they backed out of the port level.

  In front of her, four more of the snake men appeared. Looking through the rest of the males as they moved to surround Kallidan, she saw the two blue snake men, one with pale blood running down his chest. A red one appeared next to one who was gold. Another was pure white, and a green one appeared to be the smallest of them. They moved around Kallidan, forked tongues flicked, they hissed at him, tails moving in violent, angry sways.

  ‘Kallidan!’ Zoe gasped. How could he take these aliens on?

  ‘He’ll be fine, my ahdali. This isn’t the first time he’s come up against the syndicate. They always end up leaving him alone.’

  The ship turned then, and all sight of the Iladar was lost. Despite Daris’s words, Zoe got a premonitory feeling that something terrible would happen to the giant shifter.

  The ship dipped and headed to the airlock.

  ‘I don’t give a vrok if I’m not scheduled. Open that damn airlock or I’ll blast my way out.’

  Zoe looked at Daris, who was snarling down the com. Finally, after another exchange of angry words, the airlock opened. A few minutes later, they were out in space, and Daris took them to FTL.

  The screen lit up, and Vella was sitting at Tala’s controls.

  ‘Makios, get up to the bridge.’ The female took her finger off the com and looked from Daris to Zoe, waiting for him to introduce them.

  ‘Zoe, this is Vella. She is one of the pilot’s and a heavy on Makios’s crew. Vella. This is my—’ He hesitated for a moment, then gritting his teeth, he plunged ahead. ‘This is my mate.’

  Vella crooked an eyebrow at him, then turned to Zoe. ‘Pleasure to meet you, little human.’

  ‘You’re a member of Makios’s crew?’

  ‘Indeed,’ she said.

  ‘How come I’ve never seen you on Earth?’

  Vella smiled. ‘I was deemed “too alien” for your people.’ She grimaced. ‘A few of us were.’

  ‘Like Deyuul?’

  ‘Yes. We’re hoping to be able to go there on the next visit if we get Endurance back.’ With that, she looked at Daris.

  Daris stayed quiet as the door opened behind her and Makios walked in, followed closely by Rhona, who shot a grin at Daris, then Zoe.

  ‘Well?’

  Daris shook his head. ‘Tolomus is doing mid-flight auctions to exclusive customers only while he looks for me.’

  ‘Fucking bastard,’ Rhona said.

  ‘Don’t swear in front of the young,’ Makios snapped.

  ‘I’m always in front of the young,’ Rhona snapped back, pointing to her swollen belly.

  ‘So don’t swear,’ he said, walking over to her and planting a kiss on her lips. She growled at him, an ineffective human growl, then stuck her middle finger up at him, a smile quirking up the corners of her mouth.

  ‘What do we do?’ Makios said, looking at Daris.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Daris couldn’t hide how startled he felt to be asked. ‘But you get back to Thanesh, I’m sure he’ll have ideas.’

  ‘You’re right,’ Makios said. ‘I’ll keep you updated.’

  ‘Makios!’

  Makios’s hand hovered over the com. He looked up into Daris’s eyes. ‘I want that deal. Whatever I can do to get that “whatever I want” deal.’ Daris was almost surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth.

  Makios nodded and Zoe waved at Rhona and the crew as the screen went dark.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting the news. Tolomus was still out there, and he was looking for them.

  Thankfully, space was incomprehensibly big, so it was unlikely he’d simply stumble onto them. It was more likely he’d have people hovering by jump stations or space stations in the hope Daris would wander by.

  Daris felt the beginning of a plan form.

  A sniffling at his side caught his attention. Daris turned to find Zoe crying.

  ‘Ahdali.’ He jumped out of his seat and pulled her into his arms. She buried her head into his shoulder and sniffed again before a small, self-deprecating laugh erupted from her.

  ‘I’m being stupid.’

  ‘You’re never stupid, ahdali. We’ll find Tolomus. We’ll get your crew back. Anything I can do ahdali, I promise.’

  Zoe drew away from him. She looked into his eyes; they were misted with tears. His heart rending, he brushed them away and kissed her forehead.

  ‘It’s not that. I mean, that’s horrible. But it’s…’ She pushed back from him, wiping her eyes and nose with the heel of her hands, her uniform absorbing the moisture. ‘I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, or how I can stop being like this. I don’t know anything except I can’t be without you.’

  She closed her eyes, though more tears escaped, catching on her lashes before running in fresh rivers down her face. ‘I thought they were going to kill you.’

  Daris was sure his heart had stopped, sure his lungs would never pull fresh air into them again. His world had stopped.

  ‘I don’t want to give up my career, but I don’t want to give you up either.’ She looked at him, her lids opening to expose the beautiful grey of her eyes. She watched him, then frowned. ‘Daris?’

  Breath tore through him and his heart started once more. She wants me! His eyes closed as relief followed his breath in a violent path through his lungs, sparking his nerves and dancing across his body which was suddenly hypersensitive with awareness. My mate wants me!

  ‘Unless you’ve changed your mind!’

  Daris opened his eyes, seeing the uncertainty on her face. Without a word, he placed his palm on her cheek and captured her lips in a kiss. He’d lost his breath once more when he withdrew, leaning his forehead against hers.

  ‘There is no changing my mind, ahdali,’ he whispered. ‘Even without the instinct, I would choose only you.’

  ‘But my career?’

  Daris grinned. Serendipity was a thing. ‘Thanesh offered me whatever I wanted if I helped capture Tolomus.’

  Zoe frowned in response.

  ‘What if what I want is for you to have a role in the Tessan Protectorate as their official liaison to Earth?’

  Zoe gasped. ‘I’m not a politician.’

  ‘Then we make your role the liaison for finding and rescuing your crew?’

  Zoe’s eyes lit up. ‘I could be there for getting them all back?’

  ‘Yes, ahdali.’

  ‘But—’ She swallowed, her eyes flicking nervously to his. ‘The… domination. I don’t think… Can we do it without?’

  His instincts roared to life at her words. He gritted his teeth but nodded. ‘For you, yes.’

  For a moment, Zoe grimaced, then suddenly her lips were on his again.

  ‘Daris, pl
ease take me to bed,’ she whispered.

  All of Daris’s instincts to dominate reared their heads at once. Images of the things he wanted to do to her filled his mind, but he pushed each one down. Instead, he picked up his mate and carried her to the bed.

  ‘We need to take off everything right now!’ he said, ignoring the drawer with the underwear he’d brought with him from The Crucible.

  Daris didn’t wear much. Boots, pants, a top were his mainstay. He was halfway through taking his boots off when Zoe undid her uniform. It was on some kind of track, and she pulled a tag slowly down her body, revealing her skin underneath. She was without underwear. Daris realised he hadn’t given her any, so when the track-tag combination reached her groin, he saw the golden hair covering her sex. He almost fell to his knees when he smelled the proof of her arousal scenting the air. He struggled to get his second boot off and whipped his top off, leaving only his pants which, in his struggle, refused to undo. A growl, a proper Maruzen growl of frustration, ripped from his throat and his claws extended. He tore through the catch to his pants, then shredded the rest.

  Zoe was staring at him wide-eyed, a smirk on her face. Seeing it, Daris stopped and chuckled.

  ‘Come here. I need to lick your cunt!’ He could almost taste her on his tongue. It had only been a rote, yet he felt like it was solars since he’d held her, shaking, his tail brushing her sex while she begged—no! He had promised her and he wouldn’t let her down.

  From the look on Zoe’s face, she was as eager for him to touch her, taste her, as he was. She stepped forward, but the same hesitant look as before filled her face. She felt like he was ordering her. Daris walked over to her and swept her up into his arms before laying her down on the bed. Her legs parted, and her ahdali bloomed before him. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped him, or the sudden jerk of his hips into the mattress as he lay down, his cock eager to be buried inside her.

  He crawled up her legs, brushing his lips over her skin even as his eyes couldn’t move from his ultimate goal. He licked up the side of her thigh and noted she was already shaking. He looked up at her face. Her eyes were focused on him, her lower lip caught in her teeth, her golden skin flushing with heat and need. Daris suppressed a smirk. He wanted to make her wait. He wanted to draw her need back into a taut string and only let it go when she was primed and desperate for him.