by Tana Stone
I glanced at the clock on the wall. It had taken me a day or so to adjust to the rudimentary method of telling time, but I now could tell from the moving sticks that I didn’t have long before Sienna expected me to meet her. From the warm light slanting inside from the few windows, I knew the suns were low in the sky, and soon the moons would take their place.
Shoving the sugary bread into my mouth, I made quick work of it while I proceeded to the kitchen and chugged water from an earthenware pitcher I’d filled that morning. I would never get used to the faint brine that seemed to tinge everything on the planet. Everything except the breads that Sienna’s sister baked. I ate another roll, this one without sugar, the crust crackling apart as I bit into it and the pillowy insides almost melting in my mouth. I hadn’t known how ravenous I’d been, but I polished off the entire bundle of bread while I stood. When I was done, I let out a contented sigh.
The light had faded from the room, so I took the map and stepped outside again. It wasn’t yet time, but I didn’t count on being able to find the exact location right away. I also wanted to give myself time to go slowly enough that I could ensure I wasn’t being followed or watched. Even though I’d gotten no sense that the people of the planet had been tracking me in any way, it was my instinct as a battle chief of the Vandar to be cautious to the point of paranoid.
Was, I reminded myself. I was a battle chief of the Vandar. Now I was stuck teaching battle strategy to fighters who could barely throw a punch.
I pushed those thoughts from my mind as I walked down from my quarters, this time, being careful to pass silently by the open windows of the other homes cut into the cliffs. The village square below me wasn’t the bustling place it had been during the day. As the moons rose over the shards of mountain peaks jutting into the distant horizon and the glowing orbs were reflected in the vividly turquoise shallows, the planet’s inhabitants had melted away, disappearing into their homes and closing the shops that ringed the square.
I trudged on silent feet down the stone path, skirting the edges of the square and leaving it behind. Once I’d passed the amphitheater and the path leading to the waterfront, I unfolded the map and followed the line that had been drawn. It led me behind the mountains that housed the villagers and into a scraggly forest of trees, pale bark curling off their trunks and branches fanning out only at the very top. Once I’d gone far enough into the forest that I could no longer see the beginning of it behind me, I stepped into a clearing. Although it was ringed by the forest, the ground was flat and free of trees or even trunks.
“I guessed you’d be early.”
Sienna sat to one side of the clearing, perched on a log that had fallen but gotten wedged between two other trees before reaching the ground. She was dressed much as she was the day before—pants and top that hugged her body, but no cloak. That was draped beside her across the tree trunk.
“I didn’t know I’d have to trek halfway across the planet,” I said, folding the map and shoving it under my belt.
She laughed. “Don’t tell me the Vandar warrior is tired already? Did the other fighters wear you out?”
I frowned, not wanting to admit that it had been wearing to work with pupils who were so lacking in ability. “Do you wish to learn, or do you wish to talk about my day?”
She slid off the log, wiping her hands on her pants and grinning. “Okay, tough guy. We can skip the gabbing.”
I was unfamiliar with the phrase, but I was growing fond of the way she spoke. It was more colorful that the more formal Kimitherian speech, and it fit her. Although I shouldn’t have been surprised, I was disappointed to see that her hair was still pulled up in a tight knot. I flashed back to imagining my fingers buried in her loose hair while my cock was buried inside her, and heat coiled in my belly. I pushed those thoughts from my mind before my cock could swell in response. I had no desire to fight with my hands in front of my crotch.
“You ready?” Sienna stood opposite me, her hands on her hips.
“I am a Vandar. I am always ready for a fight.”
This made her smile. “So how do you want to start? Hand-to-hand combat again?”
I crouched into a battle stance. “Come at me, and I will deflect you.”
“You mean, you’ll try to deflect me.”
Even though Sienna was confident to the point of cocky, her confidence did not bother me like Donal’s did. I liked that she knew she was good. She reminded me of myself.
I returned her grin as I beckoned her forward with one hand. “We’ll see, female.”
She didn’t run at me right away. Instead she circled me slowly, getting a bit closer each time and reversing her direction several times. Just as I was about to ask her if she’d forgotten the point of the training, she lunged at me. Ducking low to avoid my grasp, she spun around my back. It was the move she’d used on me when we’d sparred in the amphitheater, so I was ready. I whipped my tail around to grasp her by the waist as I spun to face her, jerking her flush to my body and pinning her arms to her side.
“Hey,” she said as she struggled. “You used your tail!”
“Of course, I used my tail.” I looked down at her. “Your opponents will use everything they have at their disposal as well. This is not a game.” I released her, swatting her ass with my tail as she stumbled back. “Vandar use our tails for many things.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Again.”
I missed the feel of her body against mine, but backed up, clearing my throat and ignoring the twitching of my tail. “If you can avoid turning your back on your opponent, you should. Keep your eyes trained on me, and watch how I telegraph my movements. Most opponents will have a tell. Look for it. Study them as you face off and plan your attack based on how they move, not how you do.”
This information would have gone right over the heads of the fighters I’d been working with earlier in the day, but Sienna absorbed it all, her gaze tracking my feet and hands as I stalked ever closer to her. When I lunged at her, she deftly hit the ground and rolled away from me, jumping up behind me and landing a hard kick to my back.
Even though the impact stung, I turned and kept coming at her, forcing her to defend herself again and again, ducking and weaving around me, skillfully avoiding my tail when it curled too close to her.
“Good,” I said, when she was breathing heavily, and strands of hair had pulled from her topknot and were flopping into her face. “Like I said yesterday, you’re a natural.”
Sienna reached up and pulled the rest of her hair free, and it spilled around her shoulders in a cascade of golden brown. “I’m just getting started, tough guy.”
My mouth went dry, and whatever self-control I’d had started to crumble.
Chapter Twelve
Ch 12
Sienna
I shook out my hair, glad to have it out of the bun. It actually hurt from being pulled up for so long, and I scraped a hand through it. Having my hair away from my face made it easier to fight, but it felt more natural to have it down. Besides, Corvak had long hair, and he managed.
The momentary pause had given me time to catch my breath, but my body tingled for more. “Ready?”
He stood staring at me for another second, then he gave his head a brusque shake. “You’re skilled at keeping yourself from your opponent’s grasp, but what happens when you’re caught?”
“I won’t get caught.”
He huffed out a breath. “Confident, but not realistic. You need to know how to fight off a close-in attacker or get yourself out of a death grip.”
My pulse quickened. “Death grip” didn’t sound great. “You’re sure this isn’t some excuse for you to actually catch me?”
He cocked his head at me. “If I wanted to catch you, female, I would.”
The deep rumble of his voice made me believe him and want to run. But I’d come here to learn, which meant doing things that scared me. And that definitely included being put in a death grip by a Vandar.
I st
raightened from my fighting stance. “Okay. Show me.”
He closed the distance between us until he was so close to me I could feel the heat pulsing off his body. He took me by the shoulders and spun me around so that I was facing away from him. “You need to know what to do if you’re grabbed from behind.”
I sucked in a quick breath as he wrapped one arm across me from my shoulder to my hip. The iron muscles of his chest were pressed against my back, and I instinctively raised my hands to grip his roped arm.
He dropped his head so that it was beside mine as he held me motionless against his hard body. “Now what do you do?”
I fruitlessly attempted to jerk him over me, but he didn’t budge. Then I tried to slip out from under his arm, but his grasp was too punishing. My heart hammered in my chest as he breathed hot in my ear.
“I’m too big for you to use leverage against me. You need to go for your opponents’ weak spots.”
I jerked my hips back as hard as I could, hoping to land a hit to his balls, but my ass just bumped his thighs.
He chuckled low and deep. “Not bad, but not many of your fellow fighters will be your size. And imperial soldiers wear codpieces to protect them, so your blow would not have done much good against them. Now, if you were facing me, bringing a knee up between my knees would not have been a bad idea. Vandar do not wear anything under our battle kilts.”
That bit of information sent heat flooding my cheeks. Nothing? He wasn’t wearing anything under those loose flaps of leather?
“Other weak spots include the instep and the eyes, if you’re fighting someone who isn’t wearing a helmet,” he continued. “Bring your foot down hard on the inside of your opponent’s—"
Before he could finish his instruction, I dropped my head and bit down on his bare arm while jamming my foot down hard on the inside of his boot. My quick succession of moves startled him enough that he loosened his grip on me. I ducked down under his arm and spun around so I faced him then I swiftly brought my knee up between his legs. At the last moment, he caught my knee in his hand, blocking it while lifting and wrapping it around his waist. His other hand curved around my back as he fell forward, taking me with him as we hit the ground with me pinned underneath him.
His hand behind my back had taken the brunt of the hit to the ground, but his entire body was pressed against me, and my leg was hitched around his waist. The impact left me gasping for breath as I attempted to push him off me.
“That was a good try,” Corvak said, his face so close to mine his breath tickled my face, and I could have run my tongue down his scar.
“I can’t breathe,” I whispered, pressing my palms on his chest and pushing.
He lifted himself so that his body was braced on his elbows, giving me just enough space to bring my knee up again. This time, he wasn’t fast enough to deflect me.
When my knee made contact, a look of surprise crossed his face then it contorted into a grimace as he rolled off me, moaning. “That was a trick.”
I leapt to my feet, leaving him clutching both hands between his legs. “All’s fair in love and war, right? You told me to find weak spots.”
He grunted in response as he lay on the ground, doubled over in pain. My victory wasn’t as sweet as I’d expected. For one, I’d injured my teacher, not an imperial soldier intent on invading my planet. And the more he moaned on the ground, the more I worried that I’d really hurt him. I didn’t know all that much about males—and even less about Vandar males—but could a knee do serious damage?
“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping closer.
Another guttural groan. Great. If I’d done real damage, what was I going to do? I couldn’t exactly carry the guy back to the village, and if I went for help everyone would know what we’d been doing. It would be a disaster for both of us.
I dragged a hand through my hair and glanced around. It was nighttime now, with all three moons high in the sky and the mating calls of water bugs punctuating the quiet. At least no one could hear his agonizing moans from where we were in the forest. That also meant that I was all alone in solving this problem.
I crouched down, patting his back. “Do you think you can stand?”
In response, he brought one hand up and closed it around mine, then flipped me over his back onto the ground and pinned both hands over my head as he shifted his body on top of mine.
I let out an indignant squeal. “I thought you were seriously injured. I was worried about you.”
His dark eyes flashed. “Make no mistake, you did hurt me. Just not as badly as I pretended.” His mouth quirked slightly. “What was the saying you used, all is fair in love and war? You tricked me, and I tricked you back.”
I was very aware of how close we were, and how heavily we both were breathing. His fingers were interlocked with mine over my head as his gaze roamed my face and settled on my lips.
“I like your hair down.” He lowered his head to my neck, inhaling deeply and sending an unwanted tremor of desire down my spine. “It carries the scent of sugar.”
My heart was thudding so hard in my chest I was sure he could feel it echoing through his own.
“Sienna,” he husked, sliding his hands down from mine and tangling them in my hair. His lips brushed my ear as he held me, and my hands went to his hair, my fingers burying themselves in his dark locks.
Need stormed through me, but also fear. This Vandar raider was so much bigger than me. He’d proven that he could take what he wanted from me, even if I fought against him. Not that I believed he would do so, but I also didn’t think I would stop him if he tried. His touch was the first one that had ever provoked desire in me, and as much of a mistake as I knew it was—he had no intention of staying on my planet—I still wanted him.
He will leave you, a little voice in the back of my head reminded me. He will leave you and never return.
I knew what it felt like to be left, and as much as I wanted to surrender to my desire, I couldn’t go through that kind of loss again.
“My sister’s baking,” I said as the fog of arousal cleared from my brain. “Our entire dwelling smells of it. As long as my father’s fermented algae doesn’t overpower it. At least my hair doesn’t smell like that.”
His body stiffened, and then he loosed a breath and pushed himself off me. When he was standing over me, he offered me a hand up but didn’t meet my eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
Ch 13
Corvak
I helped Sienna up, but my face burned with shame. I’d been so close to losing control. I’d been so close to claiming her that my cock ached, and my skin burned. I turned away so she couldn’t see how my desire strained against the heavy flaps of my kilt, or how my chest heaved.
Disgust and self-loathing wracked my body, making me fist my hands by my sides. What was happening to me? A human female was the reason I was exiled. They were a weakness I’d always disdained, and one I never wished for myself. How could I desire one? How could I want one so powerfully my body trembled from the need to touch her again?
“Speaking of my sister’s baking,” Sienna said, her voice artificially cheery. “I snuck some rolls out with me. Are you hungry?”
I bit back the sharp retort I wished to make. None of my troubles were this human’s fault, as much as I might want to punish her for it. The sad fact was I was stuck on Kimithion III, and she was the only human who’d proved to be at all interesting. I almost laughed at myself. Interesting was too tame a word for what I thought about her, but I also couldn’t think those things about her. Not when I was planning to leave the planet and use her to do it.
When my cock had relaxed and my heart rate resumed a normal pace, I turned to her. “I’ve been hungry since the moment I arrived.”
The smile that crossed her face was one of relief. She hurried over to the fallen log, digging around in her cloak before producing a cloth-covered bundle and waving me over to sit next to her.
When I sat next to her on the tree trunk, it sett
led a bit lower from my weight, and she cut her eyes to me as she passed me a crusty roll. “Let’s hope we don’t end up on the ground again.” Then her cheeks colored, and she turned her attention to her roll, no doubt thinking about what had almost happened down on the ground.
I’d never apologized to a female before. I’d never had to. I’d also never been with an innocent one who hadn’t known exactly what to expect from a Vandar warrior. Even though Sienna looked much more like a grown woman with her hair spilling around her face, she was still out of her league when it came to a Vandar raider—in every way. I was used to fighting and fucking with the same level of abandon. I was not used to tempering my desire or pulling my punches.
“Thank you,” I finally said, not glancing over at her as she bit into her bread. “And I am sorry if I scared you.”
Her head snapped to me. “You didn’t scare me. Not that you aren’t a big badass Vandar and all, but I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be.” I bit into my own roll and crumbs cascaded onto my lap.
“Why? Because you’re bigger than me and stronger than me and know how to kick my ass a thousand different ways?”
No, because I want to fuck you a thousand different ways.
She took a quick breath before continuing. “You might be a tough guy, Corvak, but you’re not a bad guy.”
I thought back to the prisoners I’d tortured in my oblek and even to the human female—Raas Bron’s female—that I’d strapped to the wall so I could extract information from her. My life had been about fighting and death, all in the name of the Vandar cause and to free the galaxy from imperial rule, but I’d still spent years inflicting pain on others. “You don’t know that.”
She shrugged. “If you were a bad guy you wouldn’t be sweating it out every day in the amphitheater trying to teach a bunch of clueless males how to defend their planet. You didn’t have to teach them or me.”
