by Tana Stone
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alana
My back throbbed, and my ankle ached as Bron lifted me out of the bathing pools in his quarters. Even though it had been a brief dunk, the hot water had washed all the blood off both of us, and then Bron stood over the powerful drying vents as air blasted away the last traces of water. After he wrapped swaths of fabric around both of us, he set me down on a chair facing the fire. It was only then that I allowed a wave of relief to rush over me that Bron and I were both alive.
“You are sure he didn’t wound you?”
“Just bumps and bruises.” I flinched as I rearranged the fabric around my chest. At least I wasn’t gushing blood, or lying splattered in the bowels of the Vandar ship.
Raas Bron crossed his arms as he watched me. “You want to tell me who that was?”
I thought of Rennick and tasted bile in the back of my throat. “An imperial assassin sent to finish the job I hadn’t—and to punish me for my failure, although I suspect he was doing that part for his own enjoyment.”
The Raas’ expression darkened. “My ship seems to be overrun by imperial assassins.”
“He snuck on when your raiding ship returned from the mission. Probably in a small cargo hold or storage unit on the transport. It’s a trick I made famous.” I cringed when I saw him glowering at me. “Sorry.”
Scraping a hand roughly through his unkempt hair, Bron grunted. “It’s not your fault. I was too eager to raid the imperial ship. I should have known it was a trap.” He took long steps to stand in front of the snapping blue flames. “By the time I realized the crew on the Zagrath ship was all wrong, the first raiding ship had already returned to the warbird—apparently with a stowaway.”
I told you keeping me would bring trouble.”
He shot a look over his shoulder. “And dropping you off somewhere would keep you safe?”
“No,” I admitted, “but it would keep you and your crew safe.”
The Raas whirled around, his broad body blocking the light from the fire and casting him in shadow. “Why did you do it?”
I couldn’t see his face clearly, but the tremble in his voice gave him away. “Do what?”
“Choose not to carry out your mission. You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble by doing what you’ve always done.”
I flinched at the truth of his words. Killing people was what I’d always done. But I hadn’t been able to kill him. “I told you. I only kill bad people.”
He snorted out a mirthless laugh. “I doubt that is true.”
It was true, but only partly. I couldn’t kill Bron because I recognized a kindred spirit in him—the warrior who’d lost his parents and embraced the horde and his fellow raiders as his only family. I saw in him the same lonely child I had been long ago. Maybe it was that kinship that made my pulse flutter at his touch, or maybe it was something more, something deeper and more primal. Whatever the reason, killing him was impossible. Even thinking of him not being alive made my chest contract painfully.
“All you need to know is that I decided not to kill you,” I said. “You and your horde are in no danger from me anymore.”
He spun back to the fire, stretching his arms wide and bracing them against the obsidian stone, the fabric around his waist slipping low. “But you remain in danger from the empire.”
“Which is why you should drop me off somewhere. I’ll only continue to draw imperial wrath.”
Raas Bron chuckled, the low sound echoing off the wall. “If you think a Raas of the Vandar would ever run scared from the Zagrath, you have not been paying attention to the ghost stories they tell about us.” He glanced at me over one shoulder. “And if you think I would abandon a female I pledged to protect, you have not been paying attention to me.”
“Are all Vandar so stubborn?”
He turned, closing the distance between us in two strides and towering over me. “When it comes to our mates, yes.”
I opened my mouth to argue again, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and lifted me to my feet.
“I have claimed you by my words and given you the protection of my horde.” His body heat pulsed into me as his bare chest brushed my cheek. “But my warriors must believe that you are mine, especially Corvak.”
My breathing was shallow as I tipped my head up to meet his molten gaze. His voice had become silken as his whispered words caressed my skin. “He will not be swayed by words alone. He will know if my claims are hollow or if I’ve fucked you well.”
A tremor skated down my spine, sending heat curling in my belly and twitching between my legs. I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t want him. But I did, and more desperately than I’d ever desired anything.
He lowered his mouth, barely feathering his lips across mine. “But I will not take you against your will. You must want this, too.”
A jolt went through me, sending frissons of pleasure dancing across my bare flesh. I leaned into his embrace. “I…I…I want….”
What did I want? At the moment, I wanted the muscular alien warrior to keep touching me so that the raging desire storming through me would be quenched.
He gathered both my hands in one of his large ones, his other hand roaming up my body until he tangled his fingers in my hair and tilted my head back. The furry tip of his tail moved up the inside of my thigh, tickling the sensitive flesh there. “Tell me.”
Surges of pleasure coursed through me as his breath mingled with mine. My head swam, and my mind was almost as muddled as it had been the night before. “Tell you what?”
He shifted his weight and pressed my body so that I could feel his hardness against the swell of my belly even as his tail flicked between my legs. “Tell me to fuck you and make you mine.”
Shivers rolled through me, desire nearly making me whimper. I’d never felt such raw hunger before or the white-hot heat that gathered in my core and made a whimper escape my lips. As the last remnants of control dropped away, I jerked one hand free and hooked it around his neck. “Fuck me, Raas.”
With a velvet stare that almost made my eyes roll back in my head, he hitched my legs around his waist and strode across the bedroom until he reached the long dining table. He sat me on the end and dropped down, hooking my knees over his shoulders.
I gripped his bare shoulders, my fingernails cutting into his flesh. “Raas?”
His eyes were half-lidded with desire as he looked up at me. “I will fuck you soon enough. First, I want to taste what is mine.”
I fell back with my elbows on the table as he pushed up the fabric wrapped around me and spread my legs, his hot tongue parting my folds. I moaned as he licked me, slowly at first and then his tongue swirled faster when he reached my clit. Lifting my head to watch him drew another strangled gasp from my throat. The sight of his dark head between my legs was almost more than I could take, and I threaded my fingers in his hair as the low simmer ignited in my belly.
My hips twitched as he sucked me, my breath escaping in jagged gasps. I rocked into him, even though I knew I should not be letting myself go so completely. I couldn’t stop, and I couldn’t hold back, the tremors wracking my body as I detonated. I threw my head back, my hands holding him to me as I jerked and writhed. When his thick finger slid inside me, my body clenched hard around him, and I reared up with a scream.
I collapsed onto the table panting, as he kissed his way up my stomach, tearing aside the fabric and stopping to suck each of my hard nipples as I made soft noises of desperation. I could hardly move, much less speak, and my body prickled with anticipation. Even with my eyes closed, I could hear him tugging off the fabric circling his waist and it hitting the floor.
“Raas,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering as I struggled to steady my breath.
He slipped his arms under my back and lifted it off the table, so I was sitting with my ass on the edge and my legs still spread around him. He notched his cock at my slick entrance, and I looked down as he pushed his broad crown inside me. Black swirls like the ones on his
chest curled around his thick cock.
I caught my breath as he stretched me, my hands bracing on his chest.
He paused, holding himself partly inside me as he locked his gaze on mine. He cupped my face in one hand, dragging his thumb across my bottom lip. “Call me Bron.”
Then his mouth crashed to mine as he drove himself deep.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bron
I thrust hard, the squeeze of her tight heat nearly blinding me with desire. It had been too long since I’d been with a female, but even the pleasurers did not feel as intoxicating as this. I filled her to the hilt, holding myself while she caught her breath.
She moaned into my mouth, her tongue swirling around mine as she curled her arms up under mine and jerked herself closer to me. The human might be small, but her warmth stretched perfectly around me. Pressing my eyes shut for a moment, I savored the tight squeeze of her and the sweet taste of her mouth as she responded eagerly to my kisses.
I’d never been with a human, and I hadn’t expected their small bodies to be so adept at giving pleasure. Tearing my mouth from hers, I heaved in a breath as her brown eyes widened, and her mouth opened. My mind drifted to the sight of her battling the imperial assassin and the feeling of clutching her hand before she fell. What had started as a way to protect her and my people had become much more. She was mine to protect and mine to possess. A rumble escaped my throat as I rocked my hips to fill her completely.
“Bron,” she whispered.
Hearing my name on her lips sent a thrill through me. I drew myself out and thrust deeper, the need to claim the female storming through me like a fever. I fisted a hand in her hair and held it tight. “Mine will be the last name you cry out.”
Her response was to bite her bottom lip and emit a breathy moan, her soft sounds driving me even wilder. I slid my hand down, pressing the flat palm to the small of her back, holding her to me as I moved thickly between her thighs. Every thrust claimed her as mine. Every moan was for me alone.
I looked down to where our bodies met, flesh slapping against flesh, and my cock plunging into her again and again as I claimed her. Unlike the pleasurers I’d enjoyed in the past, I would never share her. Alana was mine.
“You like watching yourself fuck me?” she purred.
I growled and dragged my cock out until only the crown was inside her. I locked my eyes on hers. “I did not think you could take all of me.”
She arched her back, her own gaze dropping to watch me slowly thrust myself deep. “I love taking every bit of that thick cock, Raas.”
My body jerked at her words, and I rolled my head to one side and tried to hold onto my last shred of self-control. “Alana,” I said through gritted teeth, the word both a warning and a caress.
“Raas Bron,” she whispered, pulling my head down so that her lips buzzed my ear. “Your cock was made for me.”
I jerked at her whispered words. Stifling a roar that was building in my chest, my hips moved quickly as my control shattered. I drove into her again and again, her rapid breaths spurring me on.
She was mine. Her perfect body was mine. No one else would touch her. No one else would fuck her. Mine. My mate.
A growl escaped my lips, and I drowned it by crushing my mouth to hers. Her lips parted willingly, and she let me in with a breathy gasp. The sweet taste of her drove me over the edge, and I pounded into her wildly, swallowing her desperate cries.
“Harder, Raas.” Her legs tightened around my waist, as they started to tremble.
Even as I hammered hard, giving her what she asked for, her body fluttered around my cock and then clamped down like a vise. Alana arched her back, her hands clawing at my shoulders. I barely felt the scratches. They were nothing compared to the ecstasy of her velvet heat quivering around my cock. Nothing had ever been as intoxicating as Alana coming around me.
She ripped her mouth from mine, letting out a shaky sigh. “Yes, Bron.”
Hearing my name on her lips made my thrusts fast and desperate, and I drove into her hard before knifing up and holding myself deep as I roared my release, pulsing hot into her.
Alana sagged in my arms.
My legs trembled, and I braced one hand on the table, the other circling her waist and keeping her from collapsing. We breathed together without speaking until she let out a throaty laugh.
I cocked my head to one side as I looked down at her.
“Sorry,” she said, putting a hand to her mouth. “Now I understand the rumors about human women falling for Vandar raiders.”
“There have not been many humans, but now I also understand the appeal of your kind.” I swept a damp lock of hair from her forehead. “I never imagined such a small creature could…”
She gave me an arch smile. “Handle you?”
I twitched one shoulder. “Humans are much smaller and Vandar males…”
Alana licked her lower lip. “Have really huge cocks.”
I cleared my throat. “I was going to say that we have significant sexual appetites.”
She put a hand on my sweaty chest, dragging it down to bump across my stomach muscles. “You don’t have to threaten me with a good time.”
I placed my hand over hers. “Me claiming you was about more than a good time.”
She sighed. “If that was about protecting me, then you can protect me as much as you want.” She grinned up at me. “And in as many different ways as we can think up.”
My slowing heartbeat thumped faster, and my cock—which was still inside her—swelled again, but I attempted to maintain control. I wanted to tell her about the marks, even though I could not know if she would ever wear mine. “Being claimed by a Raas of the Vandar is—“
“Better than I expected,” she finished for me, shifting her hips.
A rush of pleasure sent heat simmering in my core again, muddling my thoughts. “Does that mean you would like more?”
She jerked her body hard, rolling me over so I was sitting on the edge of the table and she was straddling me. She raised herself slightly, then came down again, letting out a breath as she held on with one hand gripping my slick shoulder. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to get enough of this.”
My eyelids fluttered as her snug warmth enveloped my cock. I cupped her bare ass cheeks, lifting her up and down, savoring the sharp gasp as she took me to the hilt.
She might not understand what it meant that I had claimed her body, but I did. Alana was mine, and she was the Vandar’s.
My gaze wandered to the soft skin of her chest. As soon as my marks were emblazoned on her, it would be done.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alana
“Are you sleeping?”
His deep voice roused me, and I rolled over. Raas Bron lay naked on top of the bed, his muscular arms bent over his head and his head resting in his hands. The furry tip of his tail curled around one leg and lay still. The lights in the room had dimmed, indicating that it was officially the ship’s sleep cycle, and the blue glow from the fire cast dancing shadows over the sharp lines of his face.
I’d never been particularly modest, especially since being an assassin had usually meant seducing my victims, but the Vandar had absolutely no hang-ups about being naked. I suspected they only wore their short, leather battle kilts to keep their junk from being cut off in battle. My gaze fell to the warlord’s sizable cock, now stretched down his thigh as he rested. Yep. You would not want something that big swinging loose during a battle.
Bron cleared his throat, and I jerked my gaze to his face.
“I’m awake now.” I was covered by the silky sheet, but I draped a bare arm across his chest, welcoming the warmth of his flesh.
Waking up with a man I’d fucked wasn’t something I did often. Actually, it might have been a first. Usually I was tugging on my clothes and making excuses so I could return to my place, or even go drink in a canteen for the rest of the night. Curling up next to a male—even one who’d just fucked my brains out—wasn’
t my thing. Either I didn’t want to get attached because I was planning to slit their throat, or I couldn’t get involved because I’d be moving on soon.
With Raas Bron I didn’t have much choice. I was sleeping in his quarters, and there was only one bed. A bed we’d used thoroughly before collapsing beside each other and falling asleep.
“Who’s Lokken?” I asked, as I traced a finger along one of the dark swirls that curled toward his collarbone.
He glanced down at me. “Lokken?”
I lifted my head and rested my chin on the hard swell of his chest muscle. “You yelled something about Lokken the last time you came.”
Pink tinged his cheeks, making me wonder what secret I’d unearthed.
“Lokken is one of our ancient gods,” he said. “The father of all other gods who forged the universe.”
I blinked at him. “So, you were basically yelling ‘oh, God?’”
“Humans do not name their gods?” His brow wrinkled in obvious confusion. “How do you keep them all straight.”
“I can’t speak for all humans, but most human religions have just a single god. Not all, but most of the big ones that we practiced after everyone left Earth.”
He shook his head. “One god to create all existence? That would be a very tired god.”
I laughed. I’d never given much thought to gods or religions. The Zagrath didn’t practice any faith, or tolerate it from any of the planets they controlled, and I didn’t know what religion was observed on Faaral, or if my family had believed. My faint memories didn’t contain much but hazy images and sounds, many from the night I was taken that I didn’t want to think about.
“What is wrong?” He asked, lowering one arm and wrapping it around me.
“What?” I shook the thoughts from my mind. “Nothing.”
“Your face suddenly looked pained.” He pulled me closer. “Are you sore?”
I laughed again. “Yes, I am sore, you huge brute.” I slapped his chest. “But I’m okay. I promise. I just thought about a bad memory.”
