by Lili Zander
She giggles. “A home run,” she corrects. She chews on her lower lip again, no doubt remembering all the reasons we shouldn’t complete the mating bond.
“We’ll do as you ask,” Liorax says. “We won’t claim you together, but Olivia,” his smile is strained, “I ache to sink into you.”
“There’s nothing we can do right away about the ship,” I add. “We have the entire month to find it. And since we’re not in a hurry…” I smile at her. “Take off your clothes, little human.”
Olivia:
“Bossy,” I chide with a grin.
“I’m not hearing a protest, little human,” Zunix says implacably, his stern tone softened by the twinkle in his eyes.
Laughing, I put my hand on his chest. “Why don’t you sit down?” I give him a playful shove, and he willingly falls to the couch. I strut in front of him, getting close as I whip my shirt over my head. “You want me naked?” A smile curls on my face as his eyes blaze with heat. “Like this?”
When his hands reach for me, I swat them away. “Not yet.” I whirl around and peel my pants off slowly, bending at the waist and wriggling my ass to give him a little show.
The big Draekon growls. I turn and straddle him on the couch, sliding my arms around his broad shoulders and dipping my head for a kiss.
He pulls me against him with an eager growl. His hands knead my ass, his lips on mine driving me wild. I grip his short hair, grinding frantically against him. Nobody has ever made me lose control like these Draekons. Nobody.
Zunix devours me with his eyes as I kiss down his chest, coming to my knees in front of him.
“Take these off,” I order, tugging at his pants. When he complies, I waste no time closing my mouth over his cock. He groans, hands fisting in my hair, but I have all the control. He’s too big to take all the way—my deep throating fantasies are going to have to remain unfulfilled—but I lick him up and down, watching his restraint shatter as I squeeze my lips around his cock.
Liorax moves behind me. His fingers trail down my spine, squeezing my ass, and sliding between my legs. My breathing catches as he strokes my pussy. “So wet,” he murmurs. “So irresistible.”
Zunix watches me, his eyes hooded. A wicked idea strikes me. I lean forward, holding my breasts, and squeeze his big dick between them, moving up and down until a groan is torn from his throat. “Little human,” he rasps, a shudder running through his body, “What are you doing?”
Blowing your mind, baby. That’s what I’m doing. Whenever the crown of his cock appears between my breasts, I lick it for good measure. “I want your cum,” I tell him boldly. “Give it to me.”
“So demanding.” Zunix’s breath comes in gasps, his gaze divided equally between my chest and my face. I smile at him, licking my lips, and his head falls back with a groan. A final thrust and his cock erupts. I throw back my head and let him paint my chest with his cum.
“Olivia,” he rasps, tugging me up to kiss him.
“You’re not done, little human.” Liorax rubs his thumb over my clitoris, and I gasp at the sudden burst of sensation that floods through me. His fingers attack my core, stroking and teasing, and in a matter of minutes, I’m panting, my muscles trembling as he strokes me to orgasm. My fingers dig into Zunix’s muscular shoulders in an effort to stay upright.
“Cum for us,” Zunix orders, and his command pushes me over the edge. Before I can collapse, Liorax catches me with an arm around my waist and draws me to the couch. I straddle him like I did Zunix, kissing him and running my fingers through his long hair. But when I start to go down on him, he stops me.
“I don’t want your mouth.” With a wicked glint in his eyes, he sets me on his thick cock. One snap of his hips, and he’s inside me. I moan, body turning liquid as he surges inside me, hot and hard and huge.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I chant, digging my nails into his broad shoulders as every nerve ending in my core blazes to life. For a split-second, I hesitate, but then the need takes over. They’re not claiming me at the same time, I reason. As long as I hold off on that final step, I won’t upset the status quo.
“Is this what you need?” he asks, his hands on my hips, slamming me back and forth on his cock. “Is this a home run?”
I bite my lip as he fills me again and again. My mind is soaring, but he’s too in control if he’s making sports metaphors. Squeezing my inner muscles, I pulse against his cock until he jerks and curses. I cup my breasts and pluck my nipples. Holding Liorax’s eyes, I raise my sticky fingers—courtesy Zunix—and lick them clean.
“Mmmm, sweet.” I bat my eyelashes. “Draekon cum is amazing.”
Liorax curses under his breath and loses his rhythm. I grin triumphantly. That’s more like it.
Zunix moves behind me, rubbing his still hard cock on my back, squeezing my bottom. He smacks one cheek and then another, and I blush at how hot it gets me. Then his finger finds my puckered anus. It’s my turn to moan and curse. He’s stretching me, and it feels wrong, but oh, so right.
“One day we will claim you here,” he promises, his breath warm against my ear. “Soon.” He stretches my tight hole as Liorax moves under me, sawing in and out of my slick pussy. “We will fill your mouth, your pussy, your ass until you cry out our names.”
Sounds pretty damn good to me. I close my eyes and picture it, picture both their hard cocks thrusting into me at the same time, and it pushes me over the edge. I explode, Zunix’s finger in my ass, Liorax ramming into my pussy. The long-haired Draekon loses control soon after, his cock spurting inside me as my muscles twitch and pulse around him.
Boneless and sated, I fall off his cock, sprawling on the couch to catch my breath.
The next thing I know, Zunix is kneeling beside me, squeezing out a wet cloth. He hands one to Liorax, who sits between my legs. My heart stutters as both men gently wipe me clean, murmuring how beautiful I am, how perfect, and finishing with a soft kiss that leaves me breathless.
You’re a lucky girl, Liv.
I’m ready to jump them all over again—gotta be fair to Zunix, right?—when shouts drift across the water. Liorax and Zunix have better hearing than me, and their expressions turn tense, and they jump to their feet. “Someone’s been killed,” Liorax says tightly.
Killed?
Things are about to get very ugly.
18
Liorax:
We hurry to the main clearing. Herrix and Belfox are standing in the middle of the woods, and at their side is a body. People are crowded around them. “Someone is attacking us,” Herrix says loudly. “Someone has already killed one of us.”
The other Draekons part as we approach. I close in until I can see the dead man’s face. It’s Jorix. I haven’t seen him in years, not since he left camp after his fight with Dariux. Time has not been kind to him. His clothes are tattered and torn, and his body is gaunt. Blue blood is crusted around a gaping wound in his throat.
At my side, Olivia makes a small sound of distress. I turn to her in concern. Her face is pale, and her grip on my hand tightens, but she nods resolutely. “I’m fine,” she tells me before I ask.
Swearing softly, Zunix kneels next to the dead man. “Where did you find him?” he asks Herrix and Belfox.
Belfox answers. “We were on the eastern bank of Lake Tuli,” he says. “We found a small treehouse nearby. Jorix must have been living there. Until this happened.”
A pang of regret cuts through me. We should have looked for the others. Both Zunix and Dariux have excellent tracking skills. I should have insisted. But I’d reasoned that the men that left the camp knew where we were. They could return any time they chose. If they preferred to be alone, I respected that.
But now Jorix is dead. Someone killed him. Who could do such a thing, and why?
The air around us is tense. Everyone is nervous and angry. The human women look frightened, and their mates flank them protectively. Zunix’s sharp eyes take it all in. “I do not have a good feeling about this,” he says to me, his voice
pitched low. “Where’s Dariux?”
Dariux is nowhere to be seen, and neither is the human woman, Bryce McFarland. I stifle a curse. They must have gone on another foraging trip. I have no love for Dariux, but the man is coldly logical, and right now, that’s exactly what we need. We need to stay calm.
Unfortunately, Herrix seems intent on whipping everyone into a frenzy. “We are about to leave to find the other women, and we’re attacked,” he shouts, his voice carrying through the clearing. “Is this a coincidence?” He stares at each one of the assembled Draekons. “I don’t think so.”
“What are you saying, Herrix?” someone calls out. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that the other exile batch must have killed him,” he says flatly. His expression is hard, his eyes angry. “We have done them no harm, and they have attacked us.” He pauses for an instant. “I don’t have to tell you why. You already know.”
“They’re coming for our mates,” Luddux yells. Extremely convenient timing. Olivia’s right. Luddux and Xanthox are allying themselves with Belfox and Herrix. “The four humans with them must have told them about our women, and they are coming to claim them.”
Zunix exchanges a glance with me. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he snaps. “You don’t know who killed Jorix.” He looks around at the assembled Draekons. “It could be one of us.”
“No, Zunix.” Herrix’s expression is triumphant. “We are all innocent in this.” He pulls a knife from his pack and holds it up in the air. “I found this blade near Jorix’s body. Take a look. Tell me if you’ve ever seen this metal before.”
Zunix takes it from him and examines it carefully, his face growing bleak. “You’re right,” he says finally. “This knife isn’t one of ours. Our weapons are syn-made, and this,” he sighs, “isn’t.”
“Exactly.” Herrix surveys the assembled Draekons. “They’re not coming here to talk to us. They’re not coming to join up with us. They’re coming to kill us and take our mates.” He raises his voice. “Are we going to let that happen?”
A wave of angry sound fills the clearing. “No.”
We’re losing control. The men have become a mob now. They’re not thinking clearly. Blood is running hot in their veins. I can feel their rage, their anger, their determination to protect their human mates.
“Is it a plant?” Olivia whispers. “Do you think Herrix killed that guy?”
Zunix shakes his head. “I don’t know what he’s doing,” he says softly. “I don’t know if I should stop this or not. I don’t even know if I can.”
“They think they can attack us and steal our women,” Herrix shouts. “They think we are going to stand aside and watch, passive and afraid. Are we going to let that happen?”
“No,” everyone shouts again.
Every instinct tells me that Herrix is up to something, but like Zunix, I don’t know what to do. Jorix is dead. Someone killed him. Who? Why?
“We must set guards around the perimeter of our camp,” Belfox says. “We must patrol the skies. If they have transformed, they will be able to rain fire down on us.”
“Never,” Luddux screams. “We will burn them first.”
Just then, Bolox points to the sky. “Look,” he exclaims. “There, coming in from the east. Do you see something?”
I follow his gaze, and I see it. Two dots on the horizon, growing larger as they approach rapidly toward our camp.
Two dragons.
One crimson red, and the other as black as night.
Six Draekons in our camp can transform at will, and they are all here. These dragons aren’t ours. They have to be from the other exile batch.
Snarls of rage fill the clearing. The ground shakes beneath our feet as one by one, each of the six Draekons shifts into his dragon and unfurls his wings. “Attack,” Herrix screams. “Kill them.”
I can only watch, frozen with horror, as the six dragons take to the skies. They surround the two Draekons, and someone—it’s Luddux, impulsive and hotheaded as ever—opens his jaw wide and exhales a stream of fire.
The dragon trapped inside me roars in rage at the senseless violence. There are six of us and only two of them. We have them surrounded. There’s no need to burn them; the two outsiders cannot go anywhere.
But the others follow Luddux’s lead. The sky fills with flame and smoke.
“Oh no,” Olivia puts a hand over her mouth as the black dragon’s wing catches on fire. The crimson dragon dives in front of his companion, but it’s too late to protect him. The injury is too great, and the black dragon starts to fall, tumbling, wheeling and gathering speed as he hurtles toward the ground.
The red dragon makes a valiant effort to save his friend, diving in pursuit, but there’s not enough time. I watch, my heart in my mouth as the two dragons streak head-first toward the ground.
Then there’s a thunderous noise, and the dragons crash into the cold still waters of Lake Ang.
Zunix is already running toward them. “Get the boat,” he screams. “They will transform back to men when they lose consciousness. We can’t let them drown.”
I can only hope it isn’t too late.
19
Olivia:
I can swim, but I’m no Draekon. Created for battle, the men have speed and strength far beyond even the most elite soldiers back on Earth. Zunix and Liorax race to the lake, moving so fast that their bodies are a blur, and then they dive in. Paige and May’s mates follow.
Instead of diving into the water, I run to Zunix’s house. With shaking fingers, I loosen the ropes holding the canoe tied in the air and lower it into the water. “Use the boat,” I scream at the nearest Draekons.
Yasix hears me. He changes direction, swimming toward the boat. He pulls himself into the small canoe and grabs the paddle in the bottom. Now that he has the boat, I try to locate Zunix and Liorax. Where are they? What if the dragons haven’t shifted back to men, and what if they attack my mates instead?
My mates.
I guess I’ve figured out where my allegiances lie.
Minutes tick by. Finally, Liorax emerges from the water, dragging a dark-haired man behind him. I shudder with relief, one that fades quickly when the man is helped from the water. One side of his body is badly burned. His skin is red and purple and blistered, and my stomach churns when I look at him. Damn Luddux and the other Draekons.
Zunix breaks the surface of the lake just seconds later. “I have the other one,” he shouts, his voice sounding strained in a manner that I’ve never heard. His arms are wrapped around the other Draekon’s shoulders. “Find Dariux. We need the med-kit. Now.”
Zunix:
We have done some stupid, foolish and misguided things before. We let Herrix chase away the Lowborn. We let Jorix and his friends walk away after their confrontation with Dariux.
But all of that pales in comparison with what we’ve done now.
Because the moment I glance at the man I rescued, I recognize him. He is older now, and much of his face is covered with a beard. His hair is long, hiding the ritualistic tattoos on his skull, but I would know this man anywhere.
Arax, Firstborn of Zoraht.
We have attacked the High Emperor’s son.
Liorax has pulled the man he saved into the boat. He reaches into the water to give me a hand, and then his face goes blank with shock. “What in the name of Caeron?” he whispers.
“Don’t let the others see his face.” I’ve never been as afraid as I am right now. We have attacked the Firstborn of Zoraht. Civilizations have been razed to the ground for far less provocation. According to our laws, Arax is well within his rights to demand the death of every single person in our camp.
Including Olivia.
If the others find out who they attacked, there will be mass panic. I can’t allow that to happen again. “I’m going to take them to the mansion,” I say, using Olivia’s nickname for the large treehouse we built for the human women.
Liorax nods. “They might not recognize him,” he says. �
��Not if they only catch a glimpse of his face. I’ll distract them.” He jumps to the shore and starts calling out orders, his voice firm and authoritative. “Enough gawking. We have work to do. Rezzix, Magnux, go in search of Dariux. We need his med-kit. Luddux, take five men and set up a perimeter patrol. Bolox, we need a grave dug for Jorix.”
Mutters of assent greet his commands. Obedience to the Highborn is instinctive to all of us from the High Empire. When the Lord of Laris issues an order, it will be followed, especially because Liorax so rarely uses his birthright as a weapon.
“What’s going on?” Olivia’s voice makes me jump. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“In a manner of speaking.” My throat is dry with fear. Olivia’s life is in grave danger. “I will explain everything. But we need to get them to the mansion first.”
She notices the way I’m shielding the Firstborn’s face. “And you don’t want people to see him.” She nods. “Okay, I’ve got you.”
She runs into the middle of the clearing and starts to scream, shout and sob. “What if they’re more of them?” she cries out, tears streaming from her eyes. She clutches at Herrix. “I’m so scared. I don’t want to be kidnapped.”
My lips curl into a smile. Herrix pats her on the back and peers down her shirt at the same time, and though I want to tear out his throat for touching her, I appreciate what Olivia’s doing.
She’s brave, and she’s smart, and she’s our mate.
If we can survive the oncoming storm.
Dariux returns to camp two hours later and immediately makes his way over to the room where the two Draekons are sleeping. “Well, well, well,” he says, looking down on Arax’s sleeping face. “Look what we have here.”
Dariux’s tone isn’t one of horror. It’s one of satisfaction. Unease trickles down my spine. “I don’t like your reaction,” I say slowly.
He ignores my words. “Has he woken up at all?”