Dark Flight (Refuge Book 2)

by Cynthia Sax

  A large black-haired female sat behind a horizontal support, her voluptuous curves barely contained by a low-cut chest covering. Each of her three breasts was larger than Rhea’s head. The female was older yet striking.

  All the females in the domicile were gorgeous. Rhea’s shoulders rounded. Orol, with his good looks, his wit, his skills as a warrior, could have a female like that.

  She must only be a mission for him.

  The black-haired female looked up and smiled, her joy accentuating her beauty. “Wings.” She rushed around the horizontal support.

  “Queen.” The affection in Orol’s voice sounded real. He folded his wings behind him and surged toward the female.

  His abrupt abandonment bothered Rhea, which it shouldn’t. He was her captor. She shouldn’t care if he forgot about her, if he left her alone and unprotected.

  She could protect herself.

  Orol wrapped his arms around Queen’s generous form, his hug so enthusiastic; he temporarily lifted her off the floor. The female’s smile widened. He grinned back at her.

  Rhea shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment, wondering if she should leave.

  Their embrace finally ended.

  “Still sexy as ever, I see.” The female, Queen, slapped his ass, her laughter throaty, sensual. “And who did you bring me this planet rotation?” She turned her attention to Rhea. “Oh, my.” She covered her mouth with her crimson-tipped fingers. “She is exquisite.”

  The female circled her, looking her over as though she was an object to be purchased. Rhea forced herself to remain still, hid her feelings under a blank expression, not knowing what to do, what to say.

  “She’s like a droplet of sweetness resting on the tip of one’s tongue.” Queen uncoiled Rhea’s hair and Rhea stiffened, not appreciating being touched by a stranger. “And this hair.” The female shook it out. “It’s long enough to wrap around a male’s cock.”

  Rhea’s face heated. That was not why she wore her hair long.

  “Her garment is hideous.” Queen wrinkled her nose. “One can’t determine her shape under all that fabric.” She cupped Rhea’s breasts, squeezing them. Rhea twitched, glaring at Orol under her lowered lashes, wishing he’d tell his friend to back off. “And what a shape she has. Her breasts are perfect, small and firm.” She said that as though small and firm breasts were desirable. “She’ll make the males feel big, strong, powerful. They’ll fight to fuck her.”

  No one was fucking her. Rhea stepped back from the female.

  “She’s mine.” Orol pulled her to him, tucking her under his left arm, folding his wing around her. The tension inside Rhea immediately dissipated. He would manage the situation. “No other male will touch her.”

  “She’s yours.” Queen’s eyelashes fluttered. “You’re keeping this one?” Her gaze returned to Rhea. “She is a rare prize but I never thought I’d see the planet rotation when our free-flying Wings was grounded by a female.”

  She was his mission, not his female. Rhea waited for him to correct his friend.

  He didn’t. His fingers curled over her hip, his grip tight, almost possessive. Dozens of beautiful females waited outside the chamber and he was holding onto her.

  Rhea blinked. The ridge in Orol’s ass coverings pressed against her, physical verification of his unabated need for her. Queen thought she was a rare prize, believed males would fight to fuck her. Her words sounded genuine.

  Could the older female be right? Could Rhea inspire passion in others?

  The males in her settlement had jeered at her, mocking her non-existent curves, calling her a boy. Marowit had considered it a sacrifice to fuck her.

  Yet Orol wanted her. Rhea glanced up at his set chin, hard eyes, beautiful face. He would betray her, deliver her to his boss, whoever that truly was, but he was sincere about lusting after her.

  She might taste that emotional truth before she died.

  “We’re looking for the site of the next battle.” Orol was blunt.

  “You can’t leave that behind, can you?” Queen’s smile held sadness. “Much as I benefit from your battles, I’m not happy about that. The quest for excitement will end in your death, sexy.”

  He rested his chin on top of Rhea’s head. “This will be my last fight.”

  “It might be.” Queen clucked her tongue. “My sources say it happens in two planet rotations in the mining fields. You have time. Sit and talk with me for a while.”

  One of the muscular males placed a backless chair in front of the horizontal support. Queen returned to her power position behind the intricately carved slab of burgundy rock. Orol sat, placing Rhea on his lap.

  She looked at him, lifting her eyebrows. They didn’t have time to talk. They should go to the fighting ring now, rescue her sister now.

  He shook his head, strapped his arms around her waist.

  “Should I expect to see you after the battle or are you keeping that prize, too?” Queen’s brilliant blue eyes sparkled.

  “I won’t be returning.”

  “Interesting.” Queen tapped her fingertips against her lips. “Though if she is anything like this one…” she nodded at Rhea, “…I understand.” The older female smiled at her. “I was a prize, too, many, many solar cycles ago.”

  “It wasn’t that long ago.” Orol’s protest sounded sincere, as though he believed it.

  “Not to you, a being who has lived for countless human lifespans.” Queen threw back her head and laughed. “I could be your prize’s mother.” Her attention returned to Rhea. “Wings freed me also, gave me the credits to buy this structure. I’m not the subservient type like you are. I need to be in charge of my future.”

  She was cautious, not subservient. Rhea remained silent. They were in Orol’s domain. She was navigating unfamiliar depths.

  It was best to say nothing. A lifespan of being the daughter of spies had taught her that.

  She, for some reason, hadn’t employed that lesson with her winged captor. He drew the words from her, provoked her into speaking, into responding.

  That put him at an advantage. She should curb that inclination.

  But it felt good to talk to someone, even if they shared half-truths, even if he was the enemy.

  “My prize knows whom she belongs to.” Orol tested Rhea’s willpower with that statement.

  She moved her right hand to the hilt of a dagger strapped to his chest covering, warning him not to push her. He covered her hand with his, his palm rough, warm, arousing against her skin. The bulge in his ass coverings pressed between her ass cheeks. His strength surrounded her.

  She wanted him. Rhea wiggled and the bulge in his ass coverings grew larger. He wanted her also. That proof prodded her, reassuring her, building her confidence.

  “How are the females?” Orol asked Queen.

  “The females you rescued?” Queen gave him updates on the females, where they now were, what they were doing, stories she had heard about them.

  They talked as Rhea suspected genuine friends did. She wouldn’t know. Her friendships had been built on lies, on secrets. They were as fake as she was.

  Rhea reluctantly listened to their chatter, having no other choice. She didn’t want to learn that her captor, her enemy was a good being, that he rescued females, that he had earned the friendship of a dynamic, forceful personality like Queen.

  It was doubtful she could escape him without harming him, killing him. Seeing him as a feeling, caring being would make that task more difficult.

  She shifted in his lap.

  “It’s late for humans, Wings.” Queen acknowledged. “And your prize must be tired. The chamber you used last time is available.”

  Rhea expected Orol to reject that offer, to tell his friend they had to leave.

  “Thank you.” He stood, cradling Rhea in his arms, saying nothing else. She pinched his arm. He ignored her not-so-subtle hint, striding from the chamber.

  More females stared at Rhe
a and called to Orol. They wanted him. Rhea saw the lust in their eyes, the sexual welcome in their sultry smiles.

  He could have any of them yet he desired her.

  “We should leave,” she whispered against his chest. “We know where my sister is. We can retrieve her.”

  “She’s their prize.” Orol strode with her into a chamber with a clear ceiling and an entire wall made of transparent material. “They’ll guard her heavily.” He set her on the sleeping support. It was huge, dominating the space. “Any rescue attempt will likely result in your sister’s death.”

  “Then what do we do?” She looked into the blackness of the night. Her sister must be frightened. She was alone, surrounded by strange males.

  “There is no we.” Orol removed his chest covering, revealing his tanned chest, flat pecs, cascading abs, every bit of him honed, muscular, male. “I will transport you to the Refuge where you’ll be safe and I’ll retrieve your sister.”

  “You’re not retrieving her without me.” Rhea rolled to the edge of the sleeping support and stood, her legs stiff from sitting for so long. “I won’t allow it.”

  “You don’t have a choice, captive.” He kicked off his boots.

  “I’ll escape and rescue her myself.” Rhea gripped her long gun. She’d shoot him if she had to.

  He grabbed the weapon and tossed it to the side. “How do you plan to do that? You don’t know where the mining fields are.”

  That was true. “I’ll ask someone.”

  “And why would they tell you?” He unfastened his ass coverings.

  What was he doing? She dragged her gaze away from that glimpse of hard cock.

  Why would they tell her? Queen believed males would fight over her.

  “I’ll convince them.” Rhea opened her flight suit slightly, displaying the shallow dip between her small breasts. To save her sister, she’d give them anything they asked for.

  Orol’s eyes glowed. “You won’t convince any male other than me.” He tugged his ass coverings lower.

  Rhea’s gaze dropped and she gulped. Stars. He was large. His cock was long and thick, his base hairless. His balls already hugged his shaft, attesting that he was close to his breaking point.

  He spread his feet, standing proudly naked before her, all primitive male.

  She swallowed hard a second time. “There are other females who want you.”

  “They aren’t mine.” He lifted her until their gazes met directly. “I want you.”

  She should tell him she didn’t want him, fight him, put some much-needed distance between them. “I’m rescuing my sister.”

  “Then convince me to take you with me.” He tossed her onto the sleeping support.

  She gasped, bouncing. Before she stopped moving, he was on top of her, his lips claiming hers, his chest pressing her body against the surface, holding her in place. He utilized his tongue like a sensual whip, flaying her, his kiss brutal, punishing, his cock pushing against her stomach.

  She smacked her hands against his shoulders. His wings spread and her nipples tightened. He was a beast, in this moment, her beast, and he wanted her, his wild desperation to have her feeding her own desires.

  His talons extended. He raked them over her flight suit, slicing the fabric to strips, rendering her nude except for the boots on her feet. His mouth sealed over hers, flesh mashing against flesh. His nanohumanics bubbled inside her.

  Orol retracted his talons and cupped her breasts, squeezing them, molding them to his palms. She moaned into his mouth, rubbing against him, his savagery thrilling her.

  Words couldn’t be trusted but she could believe this. The passion was real, raw, right. Rhea slid her hands over his chest, relishing how his muscles rippled under her fingertips.

  “Touch me, Tiny Warrior.” He dragged his mouth over her chin, down her neck.

  “I’m convincing you.” But they both knew she was touching him because she needed him, because she couldn’t stop caressing his skin. Being his captive, being under his control was an excuse to indulge, a way to assuage her guilt over fucking her enemy.

  Because they would fuck. That was as undeniable as her lust for him.

  Rhea opened to her winged male. He settled between her thighs, his shaft pressing against her pussy lips, hot and unrelenting. She wrapped her legs around his waist and stroked him with her flesh, wetting his length. He rumbled, moving against her, teasing her clit with his rim, the contact sending shivers of bliss along her body.

  “I can’t wait.” His voice lowered.

  “Because you want me.” She said that with wonder.

  The black in his irises expanded, engulfing the brown. “I want you more than I want my next breath.”

  “Then take me.” She nipped his neck and his cock bobbed against her. “I’m not asking you to wait.”

  “Frag, yes.” He bumped his tip against her, searching for her entrance. She shifted her hips, assisting him.

  He pushed into her. She winced, digging her fingernails into his shoulders. He was huge, stretching her to the point of pain.

  “You’re too tight.” He paused, only his tip inside her. “I’m hurting you.”

  He was hurting her but it was a good sort of agony and she didn’t want him to stop. Ever. “I’ve had bigger.” She lied. The crescent moons she was clawing into his skin told the real story.

  The grim set of Orol’s lips eased. “Your pussy says you haven’t.” He sank deeper and deeper, reshaping her body with his cock.

  Her gaze met his. She would be ruined for any other male—in more ways than one. She’d never met a being like him and she doubted she ever would. He was beautiful, powerful, unyielding.

  His base flattened her feminine folds and his advance finally stopped. He was inside her, part of her. The link between them, always there, intensified.

  “There will be no others, Rhea.” His words were heard and felt. “If another male touches you, I’ll kill him.”

  Her inner walls clenched around his shaft, her body responding to his dominance.

  He groaned. “I won’t last long.” He withdrew to his tip. “You feel too good.” Orol thrust deep and she gasped, her pussy not yet accustomed to his size.

  He didn’t wait, pulling back and driving forward, pulling back and driving forward, the force of his advances smacking her ass against the sleeping support, the contact as stimulating as the spanking he’d given her.

  Rhea had no choice but to hold on to him and take the sensual assault. She was truly his captive, pinned beneath his fit form. He ravished her again and again, his balls slapping against her skin.

  She gradually eased around him and the pain flowed into the most delicious pleasure. Rhea lifted her hips, meeting his thrusts, panting with the effort.

  Her nipples grazed his chest. Her hips, ass, all of her heated. Sweat beaded on her skin.

  He didn’t sweat, didn’t breathe heavily. Strain, however, grooved lines around his mouth and clenched his jaw. Orol gazed at her with a breath-sucking ferocity.

  Above his head, she saw the darkened sky, sparkling stars on a covering of black. It felt as though they were fucking outdoors. Any being could be watching them, watching him pound his cock into her pussy, witnessing his all-encompassing passion for her.

  That excited Rhea even more. They’d know she was wanted, desirable.

  “Harder, sir.” She acknowledged his ownership of her, pressing the heels of her boots against his clenched ass cheeks. “Fuck me harder.”

  “Mating.” Orol complied, the power of his thrusts slamming the sleeping support against the wall. “We’re mating.”

  He drove into her. She rose up to greet him, the muscles in her legs straining, sweat streaming down her back. Need swelled inside her. Her pussy constricted around his shaft.

  “Can’t.” He grew even larger, pressing against her. “Need.” He flapped his wings, causing the air to swirl around them. “Need.”

  She lifted her head and bit his left nipple. He howled and t
hrust deep. Hot cum spurted from his tip, splattered against her inner walls.

  Rhea pressed her lips together, silencing her scream, bliss ripping into her, piercing her very soul. She writhed and twisted, clawing at his skin, fighting for escape, not truly wanting it.

  Orol, her captor, her winged male pinned her under him, restraining her, forcing her to take the pleasure. He came and came and came, every round of release giving her an almost unbearable ecstasy. She thrashed her head from side to side, shaking.

  He shuddered and collapsed, his wings fluttering. His weight pressed Rhea into the sleeping support. His chest rose and fell against hers. His cock remained inside her.

  Rhea gradually quieted, stared unseeingly at the sky.

  Marowit’s half-hearted fucks had loosened her tongue, caused her to make a mistake. That had resulted in her parents’ deaths.

  The mating with Orol was more intense than all of those encounters combined.

  Much more. In a different galaxy more.

  She was in big, big trouble.

  Chapter Six

  The only way to rescue his mate’s sister was to emerge as the victor of the upcoming battle.

  The fights were to the death.

  Orol lay on his chest, his female tucked against his side, his left wing over her. The sun shone down on them yet the chamber remained artificially cool. He sought to warm her, protect her.

  Her bare skin pressed against his. She smelled of him. They’d mated three times over the rest period and his desire for her hadn’t diminished. He wanted her with him. Always.

  But, if he brought his female to the battle and he died, she would be claimed by another male. The male would truly be her captor, forcing her to perform acts, to pleasure him, others, against her will.

  Orol’s talons extended, that thought making him want to kill someone. She was his. His to safeguard. His to care for.

  She was also aggravatingly stubborn and extremely intelligent. If he left her at the Refuge, she would convince Kralj to let her go. She would then follow him to the fighting rings.