by Alison Aimes
Panicked fingers tore at his grip. DaKar barely noticed.
A faint internal voice whispered this was not the Martian way. That such insults should be handled with a challenge and conducted along established codes. That this undisciplined, rash act was precisely what his father would have done. That killing his half brother and being charged with murder would only make it harder for him to claim his mate.
At that final thought, his grip loosened. Mate? He did not have a damn mate.
Peller dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.
DaKar loomed above. “My mother was an innocent victim. Abducted, raped, and forced into a breeding contract by a bastard who didn’t give a bleek about anyone but himself. Our élithe sire is the true savage in that tale. If I ever hear you say anything like that about my mother again, I won’t wait for the legal process to take its course. I will take matters into my own hands and you will suffer. Painfully.”
One of Peller’s friends gasped.
“You’ve shown your true self now.” Peller’s look of terror faded to calculated glee as he stroked his throat. “When the judge hears of this, he’ll have to take my challenge seriously. Gods, you call Father a savage, but you’re as bad. Maybe worse.”
“Go ahead Peller, tattle on me as always. But remember, to use that obnoxious mouth of yours, you’ll have to be alive.” Then, because his hand itched to close around the bastard’s throat again, he clenched his fists and let his horns come to full aggression mode as his fangs dropped and he rumbled one word. “Run.”
They did, the frantic storm of bodies and feet as they tripped over one another and fled soothing the worst of his rage.
He took stock.
Shanus. He hadn’t killed the asht-hat, which was good, but he had just undone any slim progress he’d made this wheek to appear harmless. He could only imagine how fast the juicy details of his threats would travel.
It would likely fan those idiotic thief rumors, too.
His anger flared. To hell with that. He didn’t care. Let his half brother, and everyone else, realize what was at stake when they impugned his mother. There was only so far he’d let himself be leashed.
A movement down the corridor caught his attention. It was little more than a blur, disappearing around the corner within an instant, but his nostrils flared, the hunter in him recognizing the scent and shape without question, the blaze of heat that gripped his cocksto only confirming what he already knew.
Lady Aurora Blake.
Returned at long last and slinking along the corridor. Clearly trying not to be seen.
With a growl, he prowled after her.
11
Aurora hurried down the unfamiliar hall, the bracelet she’d stolen from the hostess of tonight’s ball strapped to her thigh, the freedom of movement after so many lunar rotations trapped in her room almost enough to offset the painful slam of her heart against her ribs.
She’d been sneaking back to the ballroom when she’d heard commotion ahead and detoured down this drafty hall. The last thing she wanted was to be seen near the Monroe’s private quarters, the soon-to-be scene of the latest theft.
She could not afford any more mistakes. Nor give her stepfather any more excuses to touch her. She’d bathed a thousand times during her confinement and still felt unclean.
With little time to do anything but plan for the last seven lunar rotations, she’d reaffirmed her scheme to steal as much as she could, as fast as she could. Time was running out with Whetherton. If she did not escape soon he would rape her. She could not pretend otherwise any longer. She needed to buy passage off world. If she remained on the planet, he would find her. Her only hope was to disappear among the stars and for that she needed funds. Funds gained by pawning gems like the ones in the bracelet she’d lifted tonight.
Fast approaching footsteps thundered behind her. She scanned for a place to hide.
“Lady Aurora.” The Warlord’s low husky voice rumbled against her skin like a caress. “No balcony this time. Still a nice surprise.”
Her pulse skipped. Her thighs quivered. Of course. Her body had known all along.
She whirled to face the man who’d proved equally as inescapable the last seven nights in her dreams.
He loomed near the end of the hall, even bigger than she remembered. Adorned in a deep-blue dinner jacket that hugged his broad shoulders and fawn trousers stretched tight over muscular thighs, he was as beautiful as ever. And even more intimidating.
It took her a moment to realize what it was that was different. His skin had deepened to a richer gold while the veins at his neck bulged and his horns stood rigid and thick off his forehead as if ready to gouge someone.
Power. Aggression. It poured off him, charging the corridor with dark energy that crackled against her skin.
It only made her wetter. Her desire to submit and surrender sharper.
She sensed he knew it, too. It didn’t help that the nearly-sheer white gown her stepfather had insisted she wear tonight slashed near to her navel and was made to display rather than cover, revealing the rising gooseflesh on her skin—and the tightening of her nipples.
“Good evening.” She struggled to keep her voice steady, her behavior above reproach. She hadn’t been able to learn about the Martian mating heat and its impact on other races during her confinement—the last thing she wanted was for her stepfather to stumble upon her conducting such research—but she had reaffirmed her refusal to let it affect her.
If the Warlord believed he could conquer the mating heat, then she was certain she could, too. She’d always been stronger than she’d been given credit for. And this man was the last distraction she needed right now.
“Excuse me,” she continued, “I need to return to the ballroom. I got lost returning from the ladies retiring room.”
“Why rush off?” He remained motionless. Except for his golden eyes. Like a wild animal, they tracked her progress intently. Lasered in on her puckered nipples.
Her breathing picked up, her stomach doing flip-flops.
“Do you fear me?”
His question surprised her, halting her in midstride. “I’d be a fool not to.”
“I’d never hurt you.”
But others did. And in his own way, he already had. Not perhaps with his fists, but his words had stung all the same. But she couldn’t tell him that so she went with a more obvious truth. “You’re angry.”
“Not at you.”
It wasn’t a risk she was willing to take. Nor a story she wanted to hear. Already the golden tendrils of his damn Martian heat were brushing at her defenses, tantalizing caresses that urged her to know him, to open herself up to the longing inside, whispering she didn’t have to be so alone.
She started forward once more. “Polite behavior necessitates you step aside for a lady.”
He didn’t budge. “I’m far from polite and we already know you’re not always such a lady.” He closed the rest of the distance between them, his voice deepening. “I like that.”
Heat rippled through her. “I need to go.”
He blocked her path once more. “I want to apologize.”
Shocked, she could only stare. Especially as the thick, ridged horns her fingers itched to touch folded once more, wrapping against his forehead like a regal crown. His message clear: he was in control.
It put him in stark contrast with Whetherton.
“My behavior the other night lacked honor. With you, the Marian heat screws with my senses and my self-control, but it’s no excuse. I want to fuck you. Bad.” Jaw tight, he cleared his throat. “But I’m a big boy. I should be able to handle rejection. I should have told you about the music. And I definitely should have taken better care of you, not flaunting you in my arms in front of all those uptight, gossipy harpies’ faces.”
He’d been proud to be dancing with her? The sincerity in his gaze and the mix of sweet and dirty in his admission softened her animosity. “You don’t like the élithe much.”
“No.” He stepped closer. “But I get the sense you don’t either.”
She was too surprised to pretend to object.
He advanced another step. “We’ve met before, you know?”
She reeled on her feet, his one-two punch leaving her feeling exposed. “We have? When?”
“Well, perhaps crossed paths is a better explanation.” He told her about the ball at his parents’.
“Why did you not come find me?” She regretted the question the moment it left her mouth, the tinge of loss and accusation in her tone far more revealing than she’d intended.
His hands fisted by his side. “I, ah, I had to cut out suddenly.”
He was leaving much out. She was certain of it, the sharp, dark prick of deception scraping along the stubborn golden threads that refused to be brushed aside no matter how hard she tried.
But she didn’t need to open herself up further to surmise what he was afraid to say. Even then, he hadn’t wanted her or the connection.
“I-I thought it was a dream.” Even now, she could still feel the glory of that moment, when something beautiful and right had slammed into her, filling her chest and for the first time in her short life she’d been complete, safe and less alone. But she could also remember the agonizing pain that came soon after, when the connection was abruptly severed and she was left with a gaping dark hole where the light had snuffed out, even more adrift than before.
The next rotation her stepfather had sent her away from everything she’d ever known and she’d never seen her mother again.
“I’ve upset you.” He sounded frustrated. “When I meant to do the exact opposite.”
It was kind of sweet. The big bad Warlord who knew a million different ways to kill and fuck, but was stymied by one small apology.
“I just wanted you to understand a little more about why we’re drawn to each other,” he explained, “and why I behaved like such an asht-hole before.”
Guilt roared through her. She didn’t deserve his kindness. She’d framed him for her own sins.
“I appreciate the explanation, but you were right to call me on my behavior.” It was strange to tell the truth after a planetary rotation of subterfuge. Strange, but nice—and not at all something she could get used to. Already she had no idea how much she’d inadvertently revealed through the golden threads trying to connect them.
Throat tight with regret, she forced the next words out. “I’m glad we spoke. I’m sorry for my part in all of this and, now that I know, I’ll stay far away until the fever passes. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
He stepped fully in her path. “Stay.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.” Choking off her impulses, she forced herself to think only of survival. “You need to stop.” She gestured between them even as he prowled forward and she took a step back. “W-whatever this is needs to end now. I’m not like that female in the garden. I can’t be your next conquest.”
Her spine smacked the wall behind. Her pulse a wild beat that proved she was the liar, not he.
“Don’t retreat now. You were doing so well. Finally saying what’s really on your mind.” He placed his mouth next to her ear, his breath a caress against her skin. The exotic licorice scent of him curled through her lungs. “So, tell me the rest. I can feel your lust even now, begging me to act.”
“Ignore it.”
“Or you could put us both out of our misery and let’s turn this damn Martian heat on its head, use it as we want. Fuck like animals and let me control it—just as I will you.” He nipped at her ear, his fangs scraping the sensitive skin and making her moan. “Tell me how even now you’re dying for me to command you to surrender and submit. To let me lift you up against the wall, slide my hand between those soft thighs and force you wide, working that sweet, slippery-wet chanti until you’re swollen and creaming all over my palm.”
Oh, Goddess. She did want that. Her nipples so tight they hurt, her body as taut as a bow string, every nerve crackling with need.
She reeled her reckless impulses back in. “W-we don’t all get to have what we want.”
“But you can.” His cock pressed into the V at her thighs, hitting just where she ached most. “Reach out with both hands and grab for it.”
Her body trembled. He was so big, so thick. She knew without question he would have to work to fit inside her, her tissues stretching in pleasure-pain as he demanded she take every inch. The longing to follow his command and find out almost impossible to resist.
Until she remembered the cost.
She couldn’t afford to open to him. Already she was too exposed. Too in danger of being discovered. She had a stolen bracelet strapped to her thigh, for Goddess’s sake. How had she forgotten that?
Ducking beneath his arms, she smoothed the lines of her skirt and put a good arm length between them. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested.” Steeling herself, she did what was necessary. “I need you to stay away from me. No more flirtations. No more talk of wild interludes. It’s too dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” Concern flashed in his cool depths.
She thought fast. “To my reputation.”
It was definitely the wrong thing to say, the air crackling once more with a dark energy.
“I see.” Temper simmered in his golden eyes, those horns not quite as flat against his forehead as before. “The precious élithe reputation. One that would be easily tainted if you were found slumming with a half-Martian”
“You misunderstand.”
He spoke over her. “I thought you were different, but I guess not.” He swept to the side. “Don’t let me keep you any longer. Whoever you were on your way to fuck that’s less damaging to your reputation won’t wait forever.”
She started. “I wasn’t meeting anyone else.”
“Right. You were out here because you’re lost. Come on, Balcony, we both know that’s yet another lie.”
Ice pooled at the base of her spine. He saw too much. And yet he knew nothing at all.
“Y-you have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” His golden eyes glittered bright. “Well, I do know this. No pale Earther male with the right pedigree will ever satisfy that greedy chanti like I would have.”
“You arrogant ass.” She barely got the words out, her body throbbing with every aggressive growling word leveled her way.
He prowled closer. “Do you think I can’t see the flush along your chest? Or scent how wet you are for me? Or feel your hunger clawing at my chest, aching for me to hold you down and fuck you hard despite your words to the contrary, despite your concern for your precious reputation?” He trailed a calloused finger along the exposed skin at her neckline, his hand rising and falling with the fevered pace of her breath. “Or did you think your lust for a Martian half-breed is less obvious than any other female’s? You can deceive yourself, but not me. The Martian heat exposes you for the little liar you are.”
“Your apologies need work.” She shoved past him.
“As does your honesty.”
She didn’t bother turning around. “Go to hells.”
“Already been and I have no intention of returning.” He called after her. “But go ahead, Lady Aurora. Run away and join them, protect your precious reputation above all else. I’ve encountered hundreds of hypocrites just like you—and forgotten them even faster.”
Once she reached the safety of the corner, she whirled around. “Forget me, by all means. I certainly will you. But that won’t make you less of an arrogant ass and a bully—and I don’t need the Martian heat to tell me that. You’re so busy accusing others of prejudice, so busy with whatever happened in your past, that you can’t see you’re just as bad as they are. It’s no wonder everyone either fears or suspects you. Did you ever consider my refusal has nothing to do with you and everything to do with my own concerns? I thought it was shameful the way the élithe were treating you, but now I see you�
��ve gotten just what you deserve.”
She picked up her skirts and ran.
12
She’d gotten just what she deserved.
He nudged her over the bank with the tip of his boot, enjoying the colorful kaleidoscope of spattered crimson blood, white skin, and mud.
She was even prettier now than when he’d choked the life from her.
Yellow hair flying, she rolled down the incline, building speed as she went, headed toward the flat base that had once been a river, but was now nothing more than dry rock and clay.
Her body hit bottom with a thump. Startled by the sound, a pair of geese searching for food in the waning light took flight. Their high-pitched squawking a lot like a human scream.
His shaft hardened, memories of earlier searing through him. She’d fought hard. Her shrieks and pleas so lovely as they rang through the Forbidden Zone. So desperate. And so necessary.
He shuffled to the edge of the bank for a final goodbye, careful not to get too close to the edge.
Though maybe the female below would say he already had.
With a chuckle, he allowed himself one final satisfying glance. She’d rolled all the way to the bottom. Just like the others. Impure trash. Discarded as was right.
He flicked a drop of mud from his cuff. Best to be on his way as well. There was much left to do. So much revenge to be had. So many more lives that needed to be snuffed out.
13
Aurora cast a side-glance at the frowning servant looming at her side, his arms filled with her ridiculous purchases. It was mid-rotation and the Forbidden Zone market was already crowded, floaters zipping overhead while merchants from all over hawked their wares down below. The air thick with sweet and savory smells and the clash of different languages that made it seem as if the whole universe was packed into this small section of the domed city. Overhead, soot from the dome tinged it all an orange hue.
Usually, she loved this place. This rotation, she couldn’t have cared less.
All of her focus was on losing the man at her side.