Dragons of Mars Box Set

by Leslie Chase

  "You have minutes at best," Kosar told her. The grin on his face was almost manic, and his eyes sparkled. "I have confidence in you, my love."

  She laughed, dialing up the power and ignoring the warning popups on the display. "Easy to say, you're not the one who might kill us both with the touch of a button."

  "We're definitely dead if you don't do this," he said, embracing her from behind as she worked. The stardrive started to whine, an ominous high-pitched noise that Ashley could barely hear. Is that a good sign? Maybe I'm finally hearing what a hirvu sounds like. The settings she was using were all guesswork, she was running more on intuition than on science, and she realized then that she'd rarely felt more alive.

  Another shot rocked the ship and more alarms blared. Ashley thought she could feel a faint breeze as air escaped. They were out of time.

  At the last second, she hesitated, her hand hovering above the switch that would power on the humming stardrive. It was all guesses, and the stardrive was badly damaged. Was she about to commit suicide, and take Kosar with her? Could she do that?

  His strong hand took hers, and she knew that Kosar was with her whatever happened. Together they lowered their hands to the switch and pressed down.

  The drive flashed with a blinding light and space unraveled around them. Everything was still, and everything was moving with blinding speed, as the universe fell apart.

  Ashley felt everything. The ship, its ancient history, the people aboard it. The dead and dying pirates. The cold metal of her tools, the warm crystal of dragon technology. The endless empty dark of the space around them.

  The touch of the Black Sail on the edge of her awareness, caught mid-fire. The pulses of energy from its weapons, on their way to destroy the Grace of Herendar.

  Most of all, though, she felt the hot flame of Kosar standing beside her. Their hands touching, their souls pressed together. She could feel his love, his strength, his pride in her. His confidence that she'd made this work, and his acceptance that their fate lay together. For just a moment, she saw herself through his eyes, saw how beautiful he thought she was.

  I hope he can see himself through me, she thought, and realized that he could. Right then, in the gap in space the stardrive had carved, she saw every part of him and he saw all of her in turn.

  And accepted every part of her, just as she did him. There were no secrets between them, finally.

  24

  Kosar

  The universe snapped back to normal, and for a second Kosar couldn't remember which parts of it were him and which were separate. Then he looked at Ashley, smiling up at him, and it all snapped back into place.

  "Wow," she said, taking a deep, shaky breath. "Is that... does that happen every time you use the stardrive?"

  Kosar laughed and shook his head. "It's new to me, my heart. I expect one of the things that's not working would usually stop it."

  "I'm glad," Ashley replied, looking at the device again in wonder. "I'm not sure I could take that every time."

  She squeezed his hand in her own. "This once was enough."

  He knew what she meant. The sensations were fading fast now, no more real than a dream, but they'd been overwhelming in the moment. And he wouldn't want to share that intimacy with anyone other than his mate. Though having that moment of looking into her soul was something he wouldn't want to give up, either.

  The ship had stopped shaking, but the sensitive membranes of his wings could still feel a draft where there shouldn't be one. A leak, somewhere, that needed to be plugged. They'd have to look at what other damage the battle had done, too. There wasn't time to stop and talk about the experience.

  Still, he pulled Ashley back to him for a long kiss, holding her against him and savoring the moment. They'd survived the impossible, and both needed a moment before they got back to work.

  That moment had to end, though. There was work to do before they could truly relax, and space was an unforgiving environment. If they didn't deal with the problems that faced them soon, they might never have a chance to. So, reluctantly, they let go of each other and went looking for trouble.

  The leak was easy enough to find, a ragged hole punching through into the bridge, large enough that the airmakers couldn't quite keep up. By the time they reached it, several of the bodies had been sucked out into the vacuum of space, including Dr. Cooper's. Good riddance, Kosar thought. A burial in space was more dignity than he deserved.

  Kosar left Ashley to patch it while he dealt with the bodies of the rest of the pirates, piling them into the ruined airlock and sealing them in. That would do until they got back to civilization and handed them over to the authorities.

  The next thing to do was tend his injuries. On Mars they'd be trivial, a quick trip to a healing bath all that was needed. Here his options were more limited. The first aid supplies he'd brought were intended for mild accidents, not multiple gunshot wounds.

  But they were still dragon technology, and they would serve. The bandages contained nanotech compounds which started healing him as soon as he applied them. He might end up with scars, and it would take time for his strength to return, but he would heal. Kosar felt his strength returning and smiled. I'll make it home, he told himself, and then frowned. If we ever do get back to Mars, that is.

  That was the big question — where were they? It wasn't something that he'd worried about before they hit the button, but now that they'd survived it became a pretty important question.

  "How far do you think I sent us?" Ashley asked as he rejoined her on the bridge. "I tried to use minimum power, but... well, I really don't understand the stardrive."

  Kosar smiled. They thought alike, it seemed.

  "You understand it better than literally anyone else in the solar system," Kosar reminded her. "So your guess is as good as mine, or better. Let's see what the computers say."

  The Grace's own computers weren't functioning, of course, and Ashley's human system wasn't designed for navigation. Improvising a system to check their location took further hours and lots of swearing as they modified their radio to scan for broadcasts from Earth or Mars.

  If they had left the solar system, that would be futile. But it was the only way they had of finding out where they were.

  Outside, the stars wheeled past as the ship slowly tumbled. Ashley looked away from the view, tensing up, but Kosar watched until he saw the starlight glitter off something. A wrecked remnant of the Black Sail, he realized. It had been on an attack run when they hit the button, and part of it had been close enough to be pulled along. A large part. Kosar doubted that the ship could have survived having that much of it torn off.

  "See there," he said, pointing it out to Ashley. "I don't think Mr. Johnson is going to be giving you any more trouble. I told you that the stardrive doubled as a weapon."

  Ashley shivered at the sight but stared until the turning of the ship took it out of view. "Good riddance," she said finally. "I'm just glad that we didn't end up that mangled."

  Kosar nodded, holding her shoulders. It was good to know that their enemy had gotten what was coming to him, but still a little unsettling to think how close they'd been to sharing his fate. It would still have been worth the risk, he thought.

  The computer beeped, and they turned as one to look at its display. This would determine if they were going to be okay or not, if they were going to survive. Kosar dreaded learning that they had jumped to a different solar system, or simply into the vast gulf between the stars.

  Ashley got to the screen first, and her sigh of relief let him relax. The news couldn't be too bad.

  "Where are we?" he asked, trying to look past her shoulder.

  "We didn't go too far," she assured him, scrolling quickly through the data. The computer wasn't designed for navigating space and the information they were looking for didn't come through in a nice clean display. Which made it useless to him, but apparently Ashley could make some sense of it.

  The suspense started to build in him as he watch
ed her work and he tried to distract himself figuring out what supplies they had on hand. That didn't take long — the ship's airmaker would last longer than either of them would live, and the foodmaker could keep them fed for years if need be. And if either of those broke down, there was no hope of repairing them with what was on hand so it wasn't worth worrying about.

  Finally, Ashley pushed back from the display, floating back into him. "I have good news, bad news, and great news," she told him triumphantly as he caught and steadied her.

  "Let's start in the middle. What's the good news?" he asked cautiously.

  "We're still in the solar system, and we're falling inward," Ashley told him, and he could feel her relief. "That means we'll be able to set up a rescue and get back to Mars safe and sound. And I think we've even set a record! This is the furthest a human has ever been from Earth, as far as I know."

  Kosar rumbled a laugh at that. "Unless one of my people took some of your ancestors to the stars, I suppose that's true. What's the bad news?"

  "Well. We've jumped out to the orbit of Jupiter." Ashley turned to look up at him. "And since we don't have any thrusters, we're drifting. It's going to take us months to get back to where a human ship can meet us and escort us home."

  At least we're going to get there eventually, Kosar thought. They could just as easily been drifting outward, away from the sun. In that case it might not have been possible for anyone to come and rescue them. As bad news went, it could have been a lot worse.

  "What's the great news, then?" he asked finally. Ashley's eyes sparkled as she looked up at him, and her grin made his heart leap for joy.

  "It's going to take months for us to get home," she repeated, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. Her hands pulled at his tunic. "We'll have to entertain ourselves somehow, but I think we can find something to pass the time."

  Kosar heard himself growl as her touch reminded his body of how much he wanted, needed her. They'd been through hell together and come out alive and relatively unscathed — and together, which mattered more. Wrapping her in his arms, he pulled his mate to him, kissing her with an urgency that made her gasp and shudder against him as they spun through the bridge.

  Spreading his wings, Kosar took control of the tumble. Ashley moaned, her hands holding on tight as he carried her back to his cabin. The rest of the universe could wait, they had more important matters to attend to.

  25

  Ashley

  Floating in zero gravity was strange and terrifying for Ashley, but Kosar's presence made everything feel better. He drifted back to look at her, his wings giving him complete control of his movement in the still air.

  Ashley hung there in the center of the room, helpless. It should have felt terrifying, but with Kosar watching her it felt exhilarating instead. For once she felt safe while flying, she knew that he wouldn't let any harm come to her. And that let her enjoy the sensations.

  The way he watched her certainly didn't hurt. She spun in the air, slowly turning, and Kosar's gaze tracked across her body with an intensity that made her blush. It felt powerful, indecent, and wonderful.

  As she turned back towards him she reached for the fasteners on the front of her suit. Kosar's approving growl was all the hint she needed to start to undo them, taking her time and letting him watch. Her breathing came quick and shallow as his eyes narrowed and she saw the bulge of his cock against his tight pants.

  God, what am I doing? I've never stripped for a guy like this. I must look ridiculous. But that doubt was washed away by the powerful lust in Kosar's eyes and by her memory of how he saw her. She couldn't remember it in detail, but the feeling remained. He'd thought her beautiful, sexy, irresistible. Ashley drew confidence from that, biting her lip as she undressed.

  It wasn't easy in zero gravity, but before she could get too tangled up, Kosar was there to help. His strong hands steadied her and guided her, pulling her arms out of the sleeves and stroking down them.

  Not long ago, she realized, he'd been stuffing her into this suit so that he could push her out into space. Being undressed by him is so much better, she thought, her breath catching as Kosar slid the spacesuit over her hips and down her legs. Despite his strength and his bulk he moved with a delicate precision that sent shivers through Ashley's body, his every touch making her ache more for him.

  Her own hands pulled at his clothing, baring his chest, and she pulled herself closer, kissing and biting at his armored skin. Faint marks of the fight still showed there, darkening the scales where bullets had glanced off, and fresh scars where they'd punched through. On impulse, she kissed along the wounds, feeling Kosar shudder at the touch of her lips.

  The sound he made was filled with so many feelings. Desire and love and need, pain and pleasure. It sent a shudder through Ashley as her body responded, and then his powerful hands gripped her gently, pulling her away.

  For a moment she was on the verge of protesting. Her hunger for his body was overwhelming, but she knew Kosar wouldn't deny her for long. Not when she could see that he was feeling as much desire as she was. She could wait and see what he wanted, she told herself, though patience didn't come easily.

  Floating in the middle of the room she watched him, taking the time to admire his muscular body.

  His fascinating, incredibly hot, muscular body.

  Oh my god, she thought, her breath catching as he undressed. Fine alien cloth slid off a finer alien body, revealing his muscular body beneath. Kosar looked amazing, even better than she remembered, and she bit her lip as her gaze fell on his erection. Ashley could feel her cheeks heat, a flush spreading down across her bare skin as Kosar approached slowly.

  His hands cupped her breasts, and she moaned at the touch. Kosar's lips pressed against hers again in a powerful kiss that rocked her to her core. Caressing her breasts, Kosar kissed her neck, teeth nipping at the skin and making her shiver and gasp. His laugh shook them both as her writhing sent them into a spin.

  "Kosar, I need you," she pleaded. He looked up at her, alien eyes bright with lust and joy. Ashley knew that she would get what she wanted, but when he wanted. She was helpless in his hands.

  And for once, she was glad of it. Happy to let go and let him take charge. Happy to be his.

  He kissed his way down to her breasts, then across them, biting just hard enough to make her squeal and writhe. Each kiss sent pulses of hot lust through her until she wasn't sure she could control herself.

  Then down along her stomach, down to the eager hot wetness of her pussy. Ashley gasped as his lips found her, and she arched her back, her fingers clutching at the empty air as she shook. Kosar chuckled, sending a maddening wave of desire through her body and making her pant with need.

  He's so damned good at that, she thought as she slid her fingers into his hair, holding on tight and grinding herself against his eager, hungry mouth. Panting, moaning, she threw her head back as he quickly pushed her to an orgasm that made her scream for joy.

  This isn't fair, she thought to herself as she panted, recovering. Kosar wasn't finished with her yet, but she wanted to please him as much as he pleased her. Wanted to make him scream and writhe and lose control, to see him shudder and gasp and moan.

  She pulled away from his tongue and mouth, shaking with the aftershocks of pleasure, and turned. Floating weightlessly as they were, it was easy to swing herself around, kissing her way down Kosar's body, lips and fingers tracing the contours of his abs until she came to — oh.

  His cock stood proud and erect, and Ashley gasped again at the sight of it. The ridged red length of him was intimidating and enticing all at once.

  With a moan of need, Ashley slid her mouth over it, tongue dancing across the head. And Kosar groaned with pleasure above her, pulling her back to him and burying his face between her legs. Waves of pleasure hit her hard and, whimpering, she tried to focus on him. On his pleasure, for once.

  Kosar groaned, and she felt his cock swell as she slid him deeper into her mouth. His muscles t
rembled as he fought for control, and he pulled her up and off him. Ashley tried to protest, but he silenced her with a fierce growl. He clearly knew what he wanted and would brook no argument.

  Ashley was fine with that.

  His hands gripped her hips, positioning her, and she whimpered at the touch of his erection. Her body needed him as badly as he wanted her, and when he thrust she cried out again, clutching at him and pulling him close. He slid deep inside her, each ridge of his alien cock sending a little tremor through her as it entered.

  For a moment he was still, buried as far inside her as he could go. The only sound was their breathing and the beating of their hearts as they clung to each other.

  Then he moved.

  Slowly at first, gentle but strong, letting Ashley adjust. Then faster, faster, until she groaned, a low noise in the back of her throat. Her orgasm was coming on quickly, building up fast as his breathing sped up to match hers.

  "Come," he told her, halfway between a request and an order. Ashley didn't need to be told twice.

  She cried out as the orgasm overwhelmed her, her whole body tensing around him as the intensity of it hit. Kosar didn't let up, keeping on going as the sensation washed through her, filling every inch of her body.

  His own orgasm came fast and hard, shaking him as he buried himself deep inside her. She felt him, felt his seed fill her as they cried out together in a shared joy that left them both weak and shaking.

  The Grace of Herendar echoed with the sounds of their passion, and then silence fell as they clung to each other, panting and recovering. Drifting in mid-air surrounded by the remains of their clothes, it took a while before either of them had the strength to speak or move. Ashley's throat was hoarse from screams of passion. Flushed and exhausted, she snuggled into her alien lover, holding on tight.

  "We're going to be stuck here alone for months," she whispered when she finally found her voice again. She kissed Kosar's scaled chest again, and he rumbled a laugh.