Ravik's Mercy (Braxians Book 2)

by Regine Abel

  Keran smiled. “And then, follow in Krygor’s footsteps. Once Braxia is back under control, lead by example with your reformed laws on hybrids.”

  With one last squeeze of my shoulder, my son turned around to leave.

  “You make me proud, Son,” I called out as he reached the door’s threshold.

  Keran stopped and looked at me over his shoulder. “As do you, Father.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Mercy

  Warm, callused hands roaming over my skin stirred me from my slumber. My eyes still closed, I smiled and purred as Ravik’s hands traced my Veredian markings on the side of my calves. The heat of his breath fanned along them before his lips peppered them with soft kisses, trailing a path up my inner thigh. His broad shoulders forced my legs opened as he settled between them. My stomach fluttered and my pulse picked up in anticipation.

  He blew hot air over my pussy, making me shiver, and then covered it, too, with light kisses and gentle nips. I squirmed, wanting more.

  “Stay,” he grumbled in a commanding tone.

  I fisted the—predictably—maroon bed cover, grinding my teeth with impatience. His tongue teased me, systematically avoiding the seam of my pussy. His fingers continued to caress my markings, sending a steady stream of pleasure straight to my groin. Ravik had quickly discovered that my markings darkened when aroused, which also made them erogenous. He could literally make me climax just by touching them. The ones at the base of my neck that tapered off between my shoulder blades were the most sensitive.

  His finger, long and thick, teased my slit in a slow motion before dipping inside me. Shallow at first, it sank in further with each stroke. It was just enough for the nerve endings of my inner wall’s ridges to awaken and throb with need. The ridges not only enhanced a Guldan female’s pleasure during penetration, they gave their partner’s cock rippling caresses and an extra squeeze as it moved in and out of her. Unlike most other female species, we didn’t have a G-spot, but multiple ones; each of the ridges along our inner walls acted as such. There was no missing our sweet spot.

  I whimpered, needing more. Ravik chuckled and inserted a second finger. At long last, the burning heat of his mouth wrapped around my clit while his fingers continued to work me over. Fiery tendrils twisted and coiled inside my stomach, my nipples hardening painfully as pleasure built up within. I pinched my nipples hard, the sting sending another jolt of bliss straight to my pussy. I wasn’t a masochist, but a bit of pain and a good spanking always excited me. The memory of Ravik’s massive hand choking me for challenging his virility while he rammed his cock inside me had moisture pooling between my legs.

  Ravik grunted in approval, the movement of his hands inside me and of his tongue on my clit accelerating. My breath grew labored and my skin tingled as I neared the edge. Letting go of one of my breasts, I took a fistful of my man’s hair, my pelvis rising. With his free hand, Ravik raked his nails over my markings, strongly enough for a nice burn.

  I exploded with a throaty shout, my back arching off the bed. A white haze descended before my eyes, my body seizing in spasms of ecstasy. Before I could regain my senses, Ravik flipped me onto my stomach. His large hand smacked my right butt cheek with a meaty sound, sending another bolt of pleasure straight to my pussy. While his hand soothed the sting, his teeth sank into the fleshy part of my left butt cheek. My legs jerked in response, and a strangled moan escaped my throat. He kissed the flesh he had bitten and gave my right butt cheek a second solid slap.

  Dripping wet and aching with need, I didn’t resist when Ravik grabbed my ankles and dragged me to the edge of the bed.

  “On your knees,” Ravik growled, his hands pulling my hips up towards him.

  I’d barely done so when I felt the tip of his cock pressing against my opening. Although careful not to harm me, Ravik wasn’t gentle. And I fucking loved it. Thick and long within me, I’d never felt so full, so utterly possessed. One hand holding on to my hip, the rough palms of the other caressed my back as he pumped in and out of me. When his fingers brushed over the markings between my shoulder blades, it felt as if lightning had struck my clit and spread electric tendrils along my legs and up my spine. I cried out and nearly collapsed.

  Ravik held me up and slapped my ass twice in lieu of punishment, each strike resonating blissfully in my pussy. Letting go of my hip, both his hands wrapped around my horns, forcing my head to tilt back as he pounded into me. I screamed his name and begged for more.

  Guldans loved having their lovers grab their horns while we fucked. The nerve endings at their base became erogenous when aroused, just like my Veredian markings. Pulling or applying pressure on our horns sent sparks of pleasure down our spines.

  I came undone again, shouting his name. Ravik cried out, no doubt fighting the urge to climax as well from my inner walls clenching spasmodically around him. Boneless, overwhelmed by sensations, I would have collapsed face first into the mattress if not for him holding me up by the horns. No doubt realizing the danger of hurting me, he let go of my horns, one arm wrapping around my waist and one hand closing around my neck as he forced me to arch back into him.

  “You’re so fucking tight, little bird,” Ravik grunted, his face inches from mine. “You feel so damn good around my cock. My woman…”

  Between strings of naughty words, Ravik’s hot breath came in short bursts in my ear as he continued to fuck me hard. His movements became erratic as he neared his own orgasm. Without relenting on his punishing pace, he tightened his hold around my neck, partially constricting my airways while his fingers found their way to my clit, rubbing it feverishly.

  A blinding white light exploded before my eyes as I crested again, liquid fire coursing through my veins, setting my skin ablaze. My ears rang from the roar of his release. His seed shot out inside me in hot, powerful bursts as my inner walls rippled and squeezed him from all sides. Holding me impaled on his cock, Ravik got us down on the bed, spooning me while we both caught out breath. I trembled, cocooned in his embrace, having never been so thoroughly fucked.

  “My goddess. You were made for me,” Ravik whispered, his strong arms holding me with a care that sharply contrasted with the unbridled way he had taken me.

  I interlaced my fingers with his and pressed my back against his hard, burning chest, feeling safe, sheltered, and revered. Feeling home.

  * * *

  An hour later, Ravik and I bathed—or rather he washed me—in his huge bath, similar to the one aboard his ship but a couple of square meters bigger. Here, however, the white walls made the room look even more spacious. Vertical strips of intricate tribal symbols were carved in evenly spaced intervals on the wall, with sconces placed in the flat sections. The maroon edges of the pool offered the only splash of color, surrounded by the dark grey rubbery floor.

  When a mostly naked Braxian servant walked in, asking my man if he needed assistance for his morning ablutions, I nearly lost my shit. Ravik promptly sent her away, stating her bathing services would not be required in the foreseeable future. When the door closed behind her, I glared at him, itching to claw his brutish face as my blood boiled with an irrational jealousy. Warm water lapped at our naked bodies as we stood near the edge of the pool.

  “You have a fucking slave coming to bathe you?” I hissed.

  He held my furious stare, expressing no guilt whatsoever. “Muna is not a slave, but a servant,” Ravik said impassively. “I abolished slavery on Braxia three years ago. All my servants are paid and here of their own free will.”

  He took a step towards me. Still upset, I backed away until the edge of the bath prevented any further retreat. Ravik placed his hands on top of it, on each side of me, cornering me.

  “It is custom on Braxia for males to have bedroom slaves—now servants. It doesn’t necessarily mean sex is involved, although it commonly is,” he said. I bristled at that comment, but Ravik ignored me and continued. “Wives and honored female guests may also have a female servant assist them in bathing. Maybe I should get
you one and watch while she lathers that delectable body of yours in soap.”

  When his attempt at lightening the mood failed, Ravik allowed his irritation to show through.

  “I am fifty-one years old, Ravena, a third of my potential lifespan, with two adult sons. Where do you think they came from? Did you expect me to have been celibate this whole time while waiting for you to enter my life?”

  That stung, all the more because I’d known my jealousy to be stupid in the first place. I had not minded the strippers last night because their performance had not involved them planning on touching my man. But this female—this Muna—had come here with that specific intent. The thought of her writhing beneath his body had me seeing red. He was mine! Annoyed and embarrassed, I tried to push him away, but he might as well have been a mountain.

  “The past is irrelevant. Only now matters,” Ravik said, pressing himself against me. “My body is yours. My cock is yours. As long as you will have either, no other female shall lay hands on me.”

  Although I’d never admit it, his words made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Yet, for some irrational reason, I wanted to remain grumpy a while longer.

  “Yeah well, I don’t do pledges,” I grumbled.

  “I didn’t ask for it, nor do I need one,” Ravik said, a hard glint in his eyes. Releasing the edge of the bath, he placed his hands under my bum and lifted me high enough for him to rub his erect cock against my slit. “I will slowly and painfully kill any man who touches what’s mine. And if you allow it, the Ancestors help you.”

  I opened my mouth to deliver some snarky remark but a strangled cry came out instead as Ravik impaled me with his cock. The burning sensation quickly abated as my body, having grown familiar with his, quickly adjusted to his girth.

  “You are mine, Ravena Mercy Vrok. All of you belongs to me. And I don’t fucking share what’s mine,” he said before starting to pump in and out of me, his mouth swallowing my moans.

  Water splashed around us as he quickly had me singing his name in ecstasy, before joining his voice to mine in a powerful release. After catching our breath, we hurried through our bath and then to his bedroom to get dressed. A hearty first meal with cold and hot meats, breads, and other foods I didn’t recognize, had been laid on the breakfast table of the bedroom. Located on the third floor of the Magnar’s Hall, it had a large patio carved directly into the mountain face that rose in the back of the building. The right side of the room overlooked one of the main plazas of the Xeldar Clan’s compound—Ravik’s ruling clan.

  From what little I’d been able to see, a Braxian clan essentially lived within a compound reminiscent of ancient fortified cities. The Clan Leader, the Elders, and the elite of each clan lived inside the walls, while the rest of the clansmen lived in small clusters of homes right outside the walls; except for the farmers who were far more spread out.

  As we ate our meal, Ravik informed me of his wish for me to join them in the hunt. I had mixed feelings about his honesty as to the motive behind the invitation. Part of me felt aggravated at yet another male thinking I needed protection, even though his concerns had merit. The other part looked forward to it. I’d heard of joarkals and the kind of havoc they could wreak if allowed to rampage unchecked. The thought of hunting one had my adrenalin flowing. Although he didn’t come out and say it, the lineup of men who would accompany us clearly indicated the Braxians feared another assassination or kidnapping attempt.

  Not wanting to take risks in case things turned sour, I equipped my Tuurean belt and bracers. Their clever design made them resemble fashion accessories. But once activated, the nanites would unravel to shield me into the most resistant body armor in the known universe. To my belt, I attached a pouch of seeker nodes. The small metal balls used the planet’s magnetic field to travel a straight line in any given direction and deliver whatever had been encoded in the nanites it carried. I plaited my hair in a long braid, weaving a broad, silver ribbon through it. A large tassel-like decoration hung at one end; one of my latest inventions.

  While early morning air on Braxia hovered on the cooler side, daytime temperatures required lighter clothes. I couldn’t justify wearing another long-sleeved turtleneck to hide my Veredian markings. Anyway, it would have interfered with my Tuurean armor should the need arise to wear it. To my utter displeasure, I applied my arm prosthetics so that I could wear a sleeveless crop-top. As I would wear another pair of leggings to hide my legs, no prosthetics were needed there.

  So much for no longer living in hiding.

  I tried not to let the thought depress me, but it was taking its toll. After my father’s death, I had promised myself to start living at last. Yet, here I was, repeating the same old routine. Beyond concerns for my own safety, there always seemed to be someone important to me who required my genetics to remain secret for their own welfare. Maybe I should have just gone to Haven to find myself a Braxian hybrid and dragged his ass back home to Tuur or Xelix Prime where I could stop hiding and live without fear.

  A surreptitious side-glance at my beast of a mate as we made our way to the stables, where the men were gathering, erased all thoughts of any kind of hybrid. Beyond the Tuning that dictated I would eventually fall in love with him more than I ever could any other, Ravik was genuinely growing on me. While our still fairly short relationship had been heavily sexual, we’d also been doing a significant amount of talking during our trip here from Venus Hive and between bouts of feral sex.

  One would never suspect such a rough, brutish exterior to host as brilliant a mind as Ravik’s. While swift to flare, my man’s temper didn’t control him. Even when murder shone in his eyes, he remained rational in his decision-making and in his actions. His dedication to the welfare of his people, even those who showed open hostility, commanded respect. Ravik carried the weight of the Braxian world on his shoulders. The near impossible feat of reversing the decline of his people could literally be the death of him. And yet, he didn’t complain, plowing forward with single-minded determination.

  I understood well the emotional and mental strain that Ravik faced, fighting against the culture of the society he grew up in while juggling his own internal conflicts. I’d witnessed my father being torn apart between his love for my mother and his deep-rooted Guldan beliefs that demanded he enslave her and the rest of the Veredians.

  In spite of that, Ravik had earned the undivided loyalty of fierce warriors. The incident on the ship had been an eye opener. But even now, as we walked through the dark stone streets of the compound, all eyes—males, females, and servants alike—shone with respect as they rested upon him. It made my chest swell with pride.

  My beast of a man.

  Despite being as hard and harsh as its people, the Braxian countryside held an undeniable beauty. The buildings within the compound, although simple in their mostly square and rectangular design, stood proud and elegant under the shimmering silver sky. Once again, the similarities between our worlds struck me; with Guldan’s own sky also shimmering but in hues of gold. Built in different shades of grey stones, white, maroon, or silver accents decorated their facades. Most of them had the same kind of ornate carvings in evenly spaced vertical stripes as I’d seen on the walls of Ravik’s bathroom.

  My jaw dropped as we approached the stables. Outside, many Braxians stood next to nightmarish creatures. The six-legged beasts vaguely resembled horses in their shape. Thick scales covered their bodies, including their draconic heads. Razor sharp, dagger teeth filled their massive jaws. Horns of various sizes rode from the middle of their snouts up their foreheads. Fan-like appendages sat folded on each side of their faces. I suspected bad news followed if they ever opened. A long, scorpion tail and massive, sharp claws at their hoofed feet completed the tableau. Despite my height of 6’4, my chin barely reached the back of the beasts.

  Although not afraid, I gave the creatures the proper respect—and space—they deserved.

  “They are karvelis,” Ravik said, “the distant cousins of the Xelixian cava
s.”

  My eyes widened, the similarities now visible to me, although the cavas only had scales around the face, neck, and underbelly. A soft, leathery skin covered their backs.

  “Are they as smart?” I asked, intrigued.

  “As much as I’d like to say smarter than the cavas, equally would be the honest answer,” Ravik said, gazing upon the creatures with pride. “My clan breeds them. In times past, they were the greatest battle steeds a warrior could have. Now, they make formidable hunters to regulate predator population near vulnerable cities and villages. Some of our clients use them for search and rescue missions. More recently, we’ve been raising a new breed that is proving quite phenomenal in animal racing.”

  I perked up. “Oh Goddess, I love racing! Can they be mounted?”

  Ravik frowned. “Well… yes. But it’s dangerous.”

  My back stiffened. The look on my face must have said it all, as he took on an uneasy expression.

  He sighed. “I do not challenge that, given the opportunity, females can perform as well as males on many fronts—better, even, in some.”

  “But?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “But, karvelis are scaled to Braxians dimensions. They do not tolerate saddles or reins that would give the rider something to hang on to. With their size and phenomenal speed, few species can safely ride them while racing,” Ravik said, in a reasonable tone. “Once the hunt is over and you’ve had a chance to look into your brother’s business, I’ll take you to see the new breed. Whether you get to mount one, let alone race with it, is still to be determined.”

  Although aggravated by the finality in his tone, he’d made a strong case. Being raised according to Veredian values, while also learning about my Guldan heritage, made me extra sensitive to any male behavior that even remotely hinted at male superiority. I’d done stupid things in the past in response to that, deliberately putting myself in harm’s way to prove a point, that having tits and a pussy didn’t make me inferior or incompetent. I still struggled with that knee jerk reaction but had greatly improved since, forcing myself to pause and assess arguments against what I wanted.