Fractured Souls (Darkstar Mercenaries Book 3)

by Anna Carven

  “I don’t kill anything I don’t mean to kill.”

  “And don’t be late.”

  “Idiot.” Lodan laughed. Nythian grinned.

  Lodan was never late. They were all drilled in efficiency, but Lodan made punctuality an art form. It was part of his obsessive nature.

  Nythian did a quick mental calculation. It would be more than enough time for what he needed to do here.

  Alexis was looking at him with her head slightly angled, her eyes narrowed, one eyebrow raised. “You know, your eyes go all funny when you use that thing.”

  “Funny? How so?” He found her little observations about him intriguing, because he’d never really cared what anyone thought of him before.

  “Oh, your eyes go a little distant, your eyebrows come together a bit. It’s cute.”

  “Cute?” Nobody had ever called him cute. The fact that she felt comfortable enough to find him cute…

  Strangely, it pleased him.

  “Get ready. We’re going outside.” He unbuckled her restraints, unable to stop his hands from lingering over her waist, her hips, the strong planes of her thighs.

  She responded by giving him a sultry look. “Outside? For what?”

  He went hard in an instant, his cock straining against his armor. Thank the Goddess they were in this private passenger cabin, separated from the rest of the warriors.

  She was making him crazy.

  His horn-buds throbbed. His senses became even more heightened.

  It was like there was a switch inside him, and she could flick it on at any given moment.

  He wanted to taste her again, just a quick little fuck before this mission became unpredictable.

  “Nythian, what are you doing?” She was breathless, leaning forward as his hand found a seamless zipper at her waist. He slipped it open and slid his fingers over her lower belly, down, down…

  He pulled her up out of her chair, curving his arm around her waist. She leaned into him, her body molding comfortably against his.

  Her heady scent surrounded him. He soaked it in, letting it turn him into a mindless savage.

  He would have her.

  “Quickly,” he whispered in her ear, unclipping her weapons belt, slipping her pants down over her hips. Her custom-made light armor was made from a flexible Callidum-fiber and fabric composite. The standard black metal armor worn by Kordolian warriors was too heavy for any human.

  “What if someone comes in here?”

  “They won’t. Trust me.” The soldiers on the upper decks wouldn’t come down until he gave them the all-clear. There was a silent understanding between all of them that when he was with Alexis, he was not to be disturbed.

  Being a First Division warrior had its perks.

  “Come here,” he growled, pulling her against him. She was deliciously warm and soft.

  He closed his eyes and dived headlong into her presence, letting her distinctly feminine scent wash over him.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her with a frantic intensity that he hadn’t seen before. He pushed her up against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his torso, her body lithe and powerful.

  Nythian let his armor melt away completely, his nanites causing a moment of agony as they were absorbed into his skin.

  The pain sharpened his need, turning it into much more than simple desire. When he was with her, even his pain became exquisite.

  Alexis gasped. She ran her hands over his naked body, her fingers searching, frantic, hungry…

  Appreciative.

  “You’re terrible,” she whispered, somehow turning it into a compliment. Her sadness had all but melted away. “I need you to be gentle, Nythian. Just— ”

  “Like this?” He pinned her against the wall, gently grabbing her arms. He kissed her lips, leaving her breathless and surprised.

  Her eyes were wide, her cheeks dusky and flushed. Her heart pounded out a mesmerizing rhythm. Nythian closed his eyes and listened, becoming entranced all over again.

  His erection was almost painful now. He couldn’t hold back any longer.

  “I meant—”

  “Shh.” He kissed her again. Guided by touch alone, he gently eased inside her and was rewarded with a low, quivering moan.

  Her voice cracked as he slowly went deeper, burying himself in her silken warmth. She writhed beneath him, her body moving in perfect sync.

  He went deeper still, and her soft little cries were the sweetest thing he’d ever heard.

  This time, their lovemaking was slow and tender and bittersweet, so different to the intense fury of their first union.

  She buried her face in the hollow of his neck and ran her fingers over his hair, inhaling deeply as if drinking him in.

  Nythian fucked her slowly, savoring every moment, still in control… for now.

  Heat rose between them.

  Her movements became faster and more frantic as her body responded to him, her hips moving back and forth, sending him into a heady spiral of pleasure.

  He could no longer contain himself.

  He thrust hard and deep, deliberately drawing the ridge of his cock over her clit, holding her tightly as she shuddered and climaxed.

  Her legs tightened. Her fingernails dug into his back, drawing blood. Her head tipped back, exposing the graceful column of her neck. His gaze was drawn to the delicate fluttering pulse there, and in that moment she was so vulnerable, so human.

  His response was purely primal.

  He came, spilling his seed inside her, wrapping his broad arms around her and pulling her close, never wanting to let her go.

  All the tension flowed out of her body and she curled up against him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

  For a while, neither of them spoke, until he couldn’t take it any longer. He was confused. “Why are you crying?” he growled.

  Was she sad? Upset?

  “I’m just emotional. Not in a bad way. I can’t really explain it. Just that it’s a good thing. You’re good, Nythian. No, you’re more than good. Best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  He wanted to tell her that she eclipsed even his wildest, deepest desires of anything he could have ever wanted in a mate, but he couldn’t find the words right now.

  So he just held her tightly, caressing her face and hair with the tips of his fingers, hardly believing this tough but fragile human was all his.

  “Huh,” she said at last, looking up at him with a glint in her eyes. “Didn’t you say we were going outside?”

  “We are. I just got a little sidetracked.”

  “Evidently. So what’s the plan, soldier?” She felt so good tucked up against him. She looked so serene and comfortable that he was loath to drag her out into the hot dust and blazing sun.

  But the soldier in him couldn’t leave unfinished business. There would be time for indulgence later.

  “You haven’t finished your training,” he said, gently untangling himself from her warm embrace. “Plasma. It’s important you learn how to use it properly.”

  “I know how to shoot,” she said languidly, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. “Or have you forgotten all those target practice sessions we had on the Fleet Station already?”

  “Shooting in an open air environment’s different. I want you to get a feel for the wind, the sun, the dust. You haven’t done proper long range target practice, have you?”

  “I guess not.” She chuckled. “Well, I’m up for trying new things these days, as you very well know by now.”

  He smiled, marveling at the effect their lovemaking had on her. She was loose and relaxed and content, the dark shadows behind her eyes vanquished.

  Instead, they sparkled with excitement.

  He did this to her.

  The realization pleased him immensely.

  TWENTY-TWO

  “AGAIN.” Nythian’s voice was a sharp whipcrack above the howling wind. The sound of the wind on this planet was like nothing Alexis ha
d ever heard before; it was melodic and haunting. If she hadn’t seen the landscape for herself, she would have sworn it came from some ancient beast.

  Still tingling all over with the afterglow of their quick, delicious fucking, Alexis forced herself to concentrate.

  She raised her plasma gun and fired, her Kordolian-made eyeshield protecting her from the desert’s harsh glare.

  Boom!

  The recoil was vicious, reverberating through her entire body, but this time she knew what to expect. She tensed her right arm—the changed arm—and stared off into the distance.

  The rocky outcrop was completely obliterated, leaving nothing behind but ephemeral strands of grey smoke that drifted lazily into the shimmering air.

  “Hot damn,” she murmured, astonished at the sheer power of this tiny little gun, which seemed to fit so perfectly in the palm of her hand—as if it had been made just for her.

  “Better,” Nythian rumbled. “Three more shots like that and I will be satisfied that you can handle plasma.”

  God, his voice sounded so good when he praised her like that. It made her want to do all sorts of things just to win his approval.

  That was just… crazy talk. She’d never sought a man’s approval in her life.

  “I told you, I’m not a fucking rookie.” She grinned as she turned to him, feeling proud of herself. The Tharian sun shone fiercely on her face, and she soaked up every little drop of its glorious rays, because being out here sure as hell beat skulking around on a cold dark alien warship.

  “Clearly,” he said dryly, giving her a long hard stare.

  His look made her squirm inside, made her get all hot and bothered underneath her fancy Kordolian tech-suit, even though she couldn’t see an inch of him right now.

  He was completely hidden behind his black armor.

  Of course, it was because of the ultraviolet. How could she forget? Kordolians were insanely susceptible to it, and Nythian was no exception.

  Just before they’d stepped off the ship, he’d donned his full exo-armor suit, and she’d gotten a glimpse of how truly formidable a Kordolian warrior could be.

  But really, donned wasn’t the right word for it, because the tiny black nanoparticles had come out of his skin just like that, coalescing to form an impenetrable helm that turned him into a huge menacing faceless killing machine.

  Then there were the weapons. Guns and small blades everywhere. A pair of crossed swords at his back. Of course there had to be freaking swords, as if he were some sort of cybernetically enhanced alien samurai.

  And suddenly she understood that the Kordolians she’d encountered in the forest that night didn’t have a patch on Nythian.

  He was the real deal.

  Like, scarily so.

  She hadn’t seen him in action yet, but she just knew.

  Part of her didn’t ever want to see him in action. Another part of her couldn’t wait, because she was utterly entranced by this beautiful silver-skinned monster.

  “Next shot,” he said, pointing to a dark speck in the distance.

  For a moment, she was distracted by the sight of his raised arm, by a solid line of perfectly sculpted, obsidian-encased muscle, by the sheer power and precision of him.

  Pull yourself together, girl.

  But then her mind and body froze as he became a black blur.

  There was no sound, no warning, just Nythian traveling at the speed of dark light as he scooped her up into his arms and made like quicksilver across the red dust, and suddenly everything was dust; it was in the air, in her nose, in her mouth...

  A deafening roar split the air, a sound of pure bestial fury.

  “What the hell is that?” she cried, her voice hoarse from all the dust.

  “No idea,” Nythian growled as he passed through the ship’s hatch. The doors closed immediately and he set her down. Armor-clad warriors swarmed around her as Nythian barked orders at them. “You stay here. They’ll look after you. Go up to the second deck and wait.”

  “Wait… what are you—?”

  But he was already gone, disappearing through the ship’s mysterious doors as they unravelled and snapped shut in a whirlwind of dust like some gaping maw that had swallowed him whole.

  She spun around and came face to face with a squad of unsmiling Kordolian warriors. They were all decked out in black armor and armed to the teeth.

  Shit. She didn’t know any of these people. If she didn’t trust Nythian implicitly, she’d be a little spooked right about now.

  But concern for her mate erased any wariness she might feel toward these intimidating warriors. “Where’s Nythian gone?” she demanded, suddenly feeling afraid for him. “What was that sound?”

  That bone-chilling roar…

  “Hreeek!” She heard it again, but this time the sound was dulled by the walls of the ship. That made it even more disturbing, because she had no way of knowing what was happening. The plasma gun that could disintegrate boulders now felt useless in her hands.

  She tucked it away in the sleek holster that was attached to her customized belt.

  “Let’s go, human,” one of the Kordolians said, nodding sharply in the direction of the upper decks.

  “But wait… Nythian’s out there… Aren’t you people going to go and back him up?”

  A couple of the warriors chuckled.

  Alexis glared. What was so goddamn funny?

  The one who’d addressed her, a severe looking character with wolfish yellow eyes—she assumed he was their leader—waved his hand dismissively. “Nythian, he’s…” He shook his head wryly. “Clearly, you have not been with us long, human. Why don’t you go up and see for yourself?”

  None of them seemed the least bit concerned. In fact, they were all acting rather nonchalant now that the doors were closed and the storm was raging outside.

  That dust… those horrendous roars… What was out there? Some sort of huge alien beast?

  The warriors slipped into the shadows, disappearing up the ladder until only she and the yellow-eyed Kordolian were left. “I’m Captain Ektans,” he said. For a moment his expression became distant, the same way Nythian’s did when he was communicating through his comm. He let out a short, barking laugh. “Looks like we have a giant sand worm problem.”

  “Sand worm?” Her mind was filled with visions of ridiculous creatures straight out of some cheesy Earth space-movie. Anuk would probably have been able to explain it.

  Ektans shrugged. “I don’t know what the fuck they’re supposed to be called. These things keep repeating themselves. I swear we get some version of this every third planet or so. Sand worms, dust yaagas, desert samimis, whatever. It’s big, it lives underground, and it has saliva… a lot of saliva. Tch. He’s going to be in a foul mood when he gets back, I tell ya. That sand worm’s just chosen the worst possible enemy. That male of yours might seem pretty reasonable on the surface, but he’s got a vicious temper on him… one of the worst out of all the First Division.”

  “Nythian?” She shook her head. “No, he’s not like that. He’s—”

  “Got a temper,” Ektans stated bluntly. “Trust me. You can go up there to the viewing port and see for yourself.”

  “Huh.” Feeling a little indignant on Nythian’s behalf, she shot Ektans a dark look and made her way up the narrow steps that led to the upper decks.

  Strange pounding noises reverberated through the walls.

  Filled with worry for Nythian, she scrambled the rest of the way up the stairs, bursting into a dimly lit chamber.

  She rushed toward the nearest port-hole.

  A couple of warriors were staring intently at the scene outside. She pushed her way around them, not caring that they were fully armed strangers.

  The Kordolians obliged, looking mildly amused.

  Amused? At a time like this?

  Assholes. Nythian was out there on his own, fighting a giant sand worm, and they didn’t seem worried in the slightest.

  The worst thing was, there was no
thing she could do about it.

  Alexis’s heart hammered wildly as she looked outside. It was all dust, red plumes billowing into the blazing sky.

  Boom! Muffled sounds of struggle reached her ears, but the ship didn’t shake or reverberate.

  She couldn’t see Nythian at all. Damn dust.

  Where the hell are you?

  The dust in the center started to darken, coalescing into a long spiral that twisted up toward the sky. It solidified, becoming distinctly serpentine, complete with deep purple scales and tiny arms and fins!

  “Hreeek!” There was that awful roar again.

  “That’s one irritable beast right there,” one of the warriors chuckled. “I’d be pissed off too if someone used my home for target practice.”

  His words barely registered as the creature rose up in the air like a cobra. It had to be at least thirty feet tall, its thick, conical body all flexing, writhing muscle.

  “We could just fire a blast at it from the ship,” the other warrior said as he stared at the creature. “Much easier just to vaporize the thing before it gets too frisky.”

  “We’d give away our position, idiot. Let him handle this and pay attention to how he does it. We might have to slay a few ourselves.”

  The creature reared up, extending to its full height. A pair of fanlike appendages flared out on either side of its vast head.

  It opened its massive mouth, revealing sharp yellow teeth and—Ektans was right—strings of viscous mucus.

  “Where is he?” Worry squeezed her heart like a clamp.

  There.

  She spotted a dark figure standing in the midst of the swirling dust.

  Nythian?

  It was strange that this big, powerful warrior could suddenly look so very small.

  The beast completely dwarfed him, and yet there was something almost insolent about Nythian’s demeanor as he stared up at it. He stood with his arms completely relaxed, not bothering to draw any of his weapons.

  What the hell are you doing, Nythian? At least shoot it or something…

  Alexis was beyond frustrated. She wanted to go down there and shoot the damn thing herself.

  Abruptly, the beast went very, very still.

  Chchk. Then it snapped its mouth shut, making a strange clicking noise that sent a ripple of revulsion down her spine.