Draekon Pirate

by Lee Savino

  21

  Mirak

  She makes me lose my mind.

  Diana is pink-cheeked and starry-eyed. I’ve never seen anyone so lovely. I gently close my fist around a handful of her dark, wet hair, just to prove that she’s real. That she’s here. That this moment is not a dream, but instead a miracle.

  The rathr is a distant memory, banished by her touch. I’ll never forget how it felt to thrust deep into her. To see her eyes go hazy with lust. To hold her in my arms as she fell apart. My cock is already hard and aching for more.

  And she knows it.

  Diana presses close. “I’m going to wash you now,” she purrs, running her hands over my chest. Little seductress. She knows the effort is unnecessary. I wanted her from the moment she threw the knife. All our sparring, verbal and otherwise, has been foreplay.

  Her hands slide lower. Down my abs, perilously near my cock. She smiles up at me, water dripping down her face, and gets on her knees. “Diana,” I groan. Her name on my lips is part need, and part plea for mercy. “You’re going to kill me.”

  “Maybe someday. Not tonight.” She takes my length in her hand. Her tongue delicately licks a drop of water from the tip, and my cock jerks in her hands, growing impossibly hard.

  I’m so turned on, I see stars.

  “Diana,” I beg again, threading my fingers in her hair and tugging gently. “I want to touch you.”

  “You got to taste me.” There’s a stubborn glint in her eyes. “It’s my turn.”

  She places her hands on my thighs. She kisses up one side of my length and down the other. My toes curl in pleasure. I grit my teeth against the onslaught of sensation and fight for control.

  Then she closes her lips around the head and flicks it with her tongue.

  I bite my lower lip to keep from crying my surrender. My head falls back, and a harsh groan escapes me.

  “Mmm.” Diana opens her mouth, taking me deeper.

  “Oh fuck, yes,” I hiss. My fists open and close, clenching on air. Her cheeks hollow as she sucks hard. I hit the back of her throat, and she sputters but forges on. She grips the back of my thighs, holding me in place when I would back away. Her tongue laps along the bottom of my cock, and I sag back against the shower wall, my knees threatening to give out in the onslaught of pleasure. She hums happily around my cock, her eyes going half-lidded. She’s genuinely enjoying this.

  I can’t take any more. With a growl, I pull out of her mouth and tug her up. Her laugh bounces around the wet shower as I whirl her around and bend her over. I wedge myself deep in her pussy, slamming into her tight wet heat. Her muscles tighten around me, and I almost come undone. Diana’s laugh turns into a groan.

  “Brace yourself, spitfire.”

  She plants her hands on the wall and looks over her shoulder at me. “Do it,” she dares. And I do, slamming into her so hard her cries bounce around the shower cube. I pull out and thrust back in, hard and deep. She plants her feet and pushes her ass back at me. She wants this and more. She’s strong enough to take it. Strong enough to take me.

  I fist a hand in her dark hair, drawing her head back so I can see her face. Her eyelashes flutter, her gaze hazy. Her pussy squeezes my cock. I hammer into her, driving myself deeper with every thrust.

  “Come for me,” I order, releasing her hair and reaching around her hips to stroke her swollen clit. I pound her from behind, a relentless rhythm. Her climax consumes her, and she shudders, her inner muscles clenching me like a fist. I prop her up and keep thrusting, my vision darkening to a point. Nothing exists but Diana. Another climax rolls through her. And another. She’s half slumped against the wall, but still meeting my thrusts. Mumbling my name. Yes.

  And then I explode, roaring her name.

  Mine. My mate. Forever.

  22

  Diana

  My legs are rubbery stalks as I exit the shower. Mirak is all gentlemanly, helping me out, steadying me on the bathmat. He dries me off, as gentle and caring as he was fierce and commanding before. It was hot. So hot. I still feel him deep inside me.

  I’ll ache tomorrow. The thought makes me smile. I’ll have to remember to keep my expression blank when I’m back on duty; otherwise, the crew will think I’m crazy, grinning like a dopey fool.

  I collapse on my bed, tugging Mirak down with me. I know I should ask him to leave, but the words refuse to emerge.

  He pulls me against his side. For a few moments, I just lie there, luxuriating in the strength of his body. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” I say at last. “I was having a bad day.”

  “Because Zabek killed the Blood Heart soldiers?” I raise my eyebrow, and he shrugs. “It’s the second-biggest topic of conversation right now.”

  The first being my sex life. Ah well. I don’t particularly enjoy being the subject of gossip, but I’ll live. I’m not the first person to hook up on the Mahala, and I won’t be the last. Lisa and Hani’vi are doing it, and nobody seems to care.

  Besides, Mirak isn’t going to be here for any length of time. As soon as he talks Thel into doing his bidding, he’ll leave.

  And Thel joining the Rebellion is an excellent idea. Thel’s disease makes physical exertion difficult, but there’s nothing wrong with his mind. He’s sharp as a blade. Tarish would be lucky to have him.

  I don’t want to think about Mirak leaving right now. “What did you do with the money you stole from us?”

  His lips ghost into a smile. “Still holding grudges, spitfire? The Rebellion was broke, so I helped them out.”

  I prop myself up on an elbow and stare at him. “You’re so full of it,” I tell him, shaking my head, unable to bite back my smile. “You keep insisting you don’t believe in causes, and yet, you’re robbing banks for the Rebellion. You’re recruiting Thel for them. Before you know it, you’re going to be a full-fledged member.”

  He shudders. “Perish the thought, spitfire.” He pulls me back into his arms. “I don’t care about the Rebellion. I just want to stop First.” His voice turns troubled. “In a very real way, the five of us are responsible for the deaths he’s caused. We knew what he was capable of. The moment we were out of stasis, we should have hunted him down.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  His lips twist. “I could tell you that it’s because Tarish sent us to look for you humans, the ones on the Sevril V,” he says. “But the real truth is something else. I don’t think any of us wanted to kill him. Deep down, we all held onto hope that he would change.”

  “And now?”

  His gaze hardens. His face looks like it’s carved from a block of ice. “He’s not capable of change,” he says grimly. “When I’m done here, I go back to the others. We stop everything we’re doing, and we hunt him down. We destroy him.”

  I wriggle closer to him. “Hate can be corrosive,” I whisper.

  He brushes a kiss on my forehead. “Why did you rescue the Draekons in Avela?”

  “I’m Jewish,” I tell him. “It’s a religion on Earth. I’m not very observant. I don’t keep kosher. I eat pork. I combine meat and dairy.” I stop talking. Mirak isn’t human. I don’t need to give him a primer on Jewish dietary restrictions. “Through most of human history, my people have been persecuted. Then, almost a hundred years ago, a man named Adolf Hitler came to power. Hitler and the rest of the Nazis hated Jewish people. They called us Untermenschen. Subhuman. And they exterminated us like we were vermin.”

  His grip around me tightens. “My grandparents—my father’s parents—were murdered by the Nazis. The world stood by and allowed that to happen.”

  “You won’t let it happen to the Draekons,” he says quietly.

  He gets it. I can see he does. “I can’t. It hits too close to home.” There’s a part of me that’s surprised I’m telling Mirak this most personal of stories. And a much larger part that’s glad I did. Telling Mirak feels right.

  I stare at the ceiling. “We imprisoned the Zorahn scientist who ran the lab,” I tell him. “He might be able to fin
d a cure for Thel. Once I checked on the injured Draekons, I went to see Zabek, but he was with Thel, and Thel was so happy that I couldn’t ruin the moment.” I heave a deep sigh. “But I can’t let this fester. I have to deal with Zabek.”

  Mirak growls, deep in his throat. I give him a sharp glance. “I’ll deal with him,” I repeat. “You stay out of it.”

  He gives me a bland smile.

  “Mirak, I’m serious. I can handle my business.”

  His eyes soften. “Diana, I know you can.” He shows me his palm. A thin scar runs down the middle. The scar left by my knife. “I have complete confidence in you. I won’t do or say anything to Zabek.” His jaw tightens. “Unless he threatens your life. Then, all bets are off.”

  23

  Mirak

  I can’t stay.

  Caeron, I want to. My mate is warm in my arms. When she sleeps, she looks so defenseless, vulnerable in a way she doesn’t let herself be when she’s awake. I can breathe the citrusy, floral scent of her, underlaid with an aroma that is entirely Diana. My dragon rumbles in contentment, and I understand, now more than ever, why Kadir and Ruhan couldn’t resist their mates. This bond is powerful. I crave Diana. She’s essential to me, as necessary as air and water and food.

  I have to make myself leave.

  I know what First is capable of. I have seen him kill, cold and merciless. First never had any doubts about the wars we’d been sent to fight. He’d never once asked himself if he was fighting for the right cause. Never once questioned his orders, no matter how insane. The Supreme Mother would deliver her commands, and First would obey with single-minded precision.

  We all have stories about First. We’ve all seen him do things that we would prefer to forget about. In Alyanar, I saw him take a woman to bed. She’d been a poet whose work inspired her home planet and gave them hope against the harsh rule of the High Empire. The next morning, we’d received a new set of orders. Kill the Alyanaz. The rest of us had tried to resist. But First hadn’t. He’d woken his lover up. She’d looked up at him, sleepy and trusting, and he had slaughtered her.

  Diana’s on a dangerous path, a collision course with a killing machine.

  I can’t ask her to stop what she’s doing. After hearing the story about what happened to her grandparents, after hearing the heartbreak in her voice, I know that she’ll never stop trying to help. It’s too closely woven into her identity. I cannot keep her from passing on messages from Theldre’s spies to the Rebellion, and I cannot stop her from rescuing the captive, defenseless, tortured Draekons that the galaxy has forgotten.

  Neither do I want to. I’m in love with her passion, her courage, and her tender heart.

  I’m in love with Diana.

  The realization doesn’t hit me with the strength of a thunderbolt. It washes over me like a warm, welcome wave of water. I think I’ve been a little in love with her from the instant I caught her knife out of the air.

  And my job is to keep her safe from First.

  Diana is strong and smart. She is more than capable of taking on most challenges. But First is different. He will destroy her without the slightest pause, and I cannot allow that to happen.

  I can’t stay. Not here, with my arms around her. Not on the Mahala either. She’s my mate, and I love her, and the thought of leaving slices through my heart like a frost-tipped blade. But I must go, because protecting her from First is more important than the needs of my soul.

  Her head rests on my arm. Her leg is flung around my hip. Softly, without waking her, I disentangle myself from her embrace and slide off the bed. I get to my feet, my eyes adjusting to the dark. The bedside table is piled high with Diana’s discarded knives. Her weapons belt lies on the floor, where she’d dropped it. I step over it, a smile tugging at my lips. My dangerous little human.

  Don’t look at Diana. Fight the urge to sink back into bed and stay with her forever. Focus on your mission.

  Theldre ab Beni is sick. I saw him limping on Besep 3, but intent as I’d been on getting to Diana before the Pajeon killed her, I hadn’t thought anything of it.

  I focus on it now.

  This could be a key piece of the puzzle. Diana said they imprisoned the Zorahn scientist who ran the lab in Avela. She hoped he could find a cure for Theldre.

  The Rebellion has a few talented scientists of its own. Raiht’vi might be Brunox’s daughter, but she earned her white robes through ground-breaking research in autoimmune diseases and the infections associated with them. I haven’t read her work—I wouldn’t understand a word of it—but Sixth has. He’d been impressed, and it takes a lot for that to happen.

  Then there’s Joya’vi, who lives in Ashara. Another brilliant white-robed scientist, Joya’vi, used to be on the Council of Scientists. Decades ago, when her bondmate tested positive for the Draekon mutation, she’d suspected that her son, Hurux, was also Draekon, and she developed blockers for him.

  Neither of them has done any research on Ektons, as far as I know. But they are both extremely skilled. If anyone can help Theldre, it’s one of them.

  Dariux doesn’t know about the pirate’s illness. If he had, he’d have already dangled Raiht’vi in front of the Ekton. It’s an intelligence failure, and yet another sign of how badly they need Theldre’s spy network.

  I need to revise my pitch. But before I do that, I need to check in with the Rebellion. I don’t want to be making commitments on Raiht’vi’s behalf, not without confirmation that she’ll uphold her end of the bargain.

  I tiptoe to the door. I turn back to give Diana one last glance, and then, I let myself out.

  Lisa Kwok, the human woman, is waiting in the corridor. She gives me a long, considering look. “I’d ask you what your intentions are with Diana, but given that you’re sneaking out of her room, I think it’s obvious.”

  She doesn’t wait for my reply. “I’m going to give you a warning, Fourth. Diana is awesome. Yes, you’re a powerful, fearsome dragon. But if you take one step out of line, if you hurt Diana even a little bit, every member of the crew will kick your ass. Including me.”

  “I’m not going to hurt Diana.” Even as those words leave my mouth, I know them to be a lie. If it’s a choice between Diana’s safety and my happiness, I will pick her safety every single time. “Is that why you’re here? To warn me away?”

  “No.” Her face turns expressionless. “Thel would like to see you.”

  “So, you’re sleeping with Diana.” Theldre regards me unsmilingly. “Do not try to lie to me. I can smell her scent on your body.”

  Ah, we’re off to a great start.

  “Yes I am.” I look steadily at the other man. Theldre is important to Diana, and I don’t want to make an enemy of him. But I will not let him come between my mate and me.

  Why not? You’re letting First come between Diana and you.

  I ignore that unwelcome reminder. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  He doesn’t give me a direct answer. “She is kin to me. What is she to you?”

  “She is my mate.”

  He looks less surprised than I expect. He waves his hand in the direction of a chair. Limping to the small food prep station in the corner, he emerges with a pot and two mugs. “How do you like your civa?”

  “Light, please.”

  He pours the steaming hot beverage into one of the mugs and pushes it my way. “Does she know?”

  “No.” I take a sip and change the topic. “You have a spy inside Blood Heart. He or she is feeding you information that Diana’s passing on to the Rebellion.” I give the Ekton a hard look. “This is a dangerous game.”

  He stares back. “If she’s indeed your mate, Fourth, then you already know that this isn’t a game to Diana.”

  “You don’t know how dangerous First is,” I say flatly. “You haven’t seen what I have. You should be terrified, all of you.” I lean forward. How can I convince Theldre to take the threat seriously? “Diana is kin, you said. Yet your spy network is endangering her. Her, and every s
ingle other person on the Mahala.”

  Theldre inhales sharply. “I’m not the only one endangering her. So are you, by your very presence on my ship. Or am I to assume that you and First are on cordial terms?”

  We stare at each other. I cave first. The pirate is part of Diana’s family. “We’re arguing,” I murmur. “That is not my intent. If I have offended you, I offer my apologies.”

  He refills my civa. “You speak the truth as you see it,” he says. “And your desire to keep Diana safe is admirable.” He stretches out his swollen ankles, wincing with pain. “My days as a pirate are coming to an end. I was a liability in Besep 3, as you know. Had you not appeared when you did, we would have all died.”

  “It is not your ability to run and fight that has made you a legend.”

  He chuckles at that. “A legend. You flatter me, Fourth.”

  “Mirak, please. Fourth was an Empire designation.”

  The civa is real, not syn. Still fresh, still pink, each fragile pod hand-picked under moonlight. Real civa is astoundingly expensive. I’ve tasted it once, during an Empire banquet where the Supreme Mother was being honored for her work in creating the Draekon race.

  The fact that Theldre offers it freely to me, a man that he barely knows, says a lot about him. He’s rich enough that money is irrelevant.

  And then there are his targets. Docarro. Zorahn scientists. Theldre preys on the greedy, parasitic scum of the galaxy. Theldre ab Beni might be a pirate, but he cares deeply about doing the right thing.

  “There’s nothing wrong with your mind, Captain,” I continue. “The Rebellion wants to make a difference. So do you. A partnership will—”

  He lifts his hand. He’s clearly done discussing his spy network. “Tell me something, Mirak,” he says. “Diana’s your mate, yet you haven’t told her. You bedded her, yet you offer no pharsan, you perform no rituals of commitment. You do not speak words of kinship to me.” He fixes me with ten piercing eyes. “Diana is human. She doesn’t know the Ekton norms. But you do. Allow me to be blunt. What are your intentions?”