King of Ends

by Sam Ryder

  Blindly, I pawed at the ground for my weapon.

  My fingers closed on Beta.

  Before he could hit me again, I brought the gun up and fired point blank into his abdomen.

  Much like punching him, this felt like shooting a brick wall. The bullet didn’t rebound, but it also didn’t make the satisfying sound it should have. It did, however, penetrate his flesh, and the Ender clutched his stomach and doubled over.

  As he stumbled backwards, I took aim, prepared to “Finish him!” as they say in Mortal Kombat. “Not so cocky now, are we?” I taunted, letting my anger get the better of my mouth. He lifted a hand in protest while I pulled back the hammer of the gun.

  “No!” Gehn shouted, diving over the bar to block my shot.

  “Will you knock it off?” I said. “I’m trying to work here.”

  “Stop right now!” Gehn said. “Do not kill him.”

  I rolled my eyes. She didn’t move.

  For the love of all that is holy...

  I lowered the gun, staring daggers at this Ender woman and her recklessness.

  Gehn turned to Belenie. “Fix them,” she barked. I’d never heard her speak with such brash confidence and command. Where was the scared, broken Ender woman I’d first encountered all those weeks ago in The Last Stop?

  “Fix them?” I said with more than a little disbelief in my voice. “These bastards were trying to kill me! They deserve what’s coming.”

  “Just fix them,” she said again to Belenie, calmer now but with the same level of command. “Cutter, let’s take a walk outside.”

  The entire bar just stared at us. I couldn’t blame them. We had made a bit of a commotion.

  Still, I was ready to defend myself and everyone else in my party. Why didn’t Gehn want that protection?

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” I asked her as we stepped outside. “I’m in there trying not to get killed, and you’re defending them! Don’t you get what’s going on here?”

  Gehn was not fazed. “Yes. You’re the one who doesn’t get what’s happening.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We are in Ender country now, Cutter,” she said. “This place is run by Enders. Through and through. We aren’t here to kill Enders. We’re here to recruit them.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not interested in recruiting jackasses. There will be others.”

  “Cutter, if you kill an Ender, that’s it. The mission is over. Everything you’ve worked for is done. Because killing an Ender around here is good enough to get yourself killed. It doesn’t matter why you’re here or what you’re trying to accomplish or even if you do it in self-defense. They will only see it as yet another human killing yet another Ender.”

  She had a point. I had to admit that much.

  “So what happens when they come out here?” I said. “If they threaten me again, I have to defend myself.”

  “Males,” she said. “I’ll talk to them. Plus, with Belenie healing their injuries they’ll be less hostile to you on the way out. Don’t get me wrong, you’re not going to be BFFs or anything, but…maybe you can all go your separate ways without any more bloodshed. That is, as long as you can go five seconds without pulling a gun on them.”

  I looked up at the sky in frustration. My vision was still a bit foggy and my head was ringing like a bell. But I understood what she was saying. A few minutes later, the male Enders stepped outside into the light, blinking. They spotted me and their eyes narrowed. Here we go, I thought, prepared for round two. To my surprise, they gave the smallest nod in my direction, one that almost looked like it included a degree of respect. I nodded back, tipping my hat.

  Then it was over and they marched away.

  Back inside, Belenie ran up to me, touching my shoulder with her hand and stroking down my arm. “Are you okay?” God, I appreciated how much she cared.

  “I’m hurting,” I said. “I don’t know how much damage they did, but I am definitely in pain.”

  “I’ll take care of you,” she cooed.

  “You did the right thing by leaving,” Gehn said. “Male Enders have bad tempers.”

  No shit.

  “So what am I supposed to do, then?” I asked. “I’m trying to keep all of us safe here. This doesn’t do us any good if I’m dead.”

  “You walk away,” she said. “You walk away and you remove yourself from the situation. Enders will not chase you down if you don’t give them a reason to. They’re slow. Just get yourself out of the situation entirely and move forward.”

  Well, shit. That’s not exactly what I want to hear. Run away? It wasn’t exactly something that was in my DNA. You’re doing it for the greater good, asshole, I reminded myself.

  “Okay,” I said. “I trust you.”

  The expression on Gehn’s face told me how much my trust meant to her.

  Belenie did her healing thing on me and my head cleared. I felt like a thousand bucks again. I thanked her but she shrugged it off. Finally, we left the bar, apologizing to the barkeep for all the trouble and damaged. She didn’t seem to mind; with all the male Enders around, violence was probably a regular part of her day.

  Gehn led us through the ramshackle city once more, but then unexpectedly ducked into a small building on the right side of the road. I looked at Hannah and Belenie, but both women shrugged. Apparently Gehn hadn’t shared her plans with either of the other women yet. Confused, we followed her in.

  Gehn walked up to a desk with an Ender woman sitting at it. It seemed incredibly out of place in this town. The woman looked like she could be Miss Sweden, her Viking-esque features statuesque and jaw-dropping compared to the grotesque males I’d just encountered.

  “We need a room for the evening,” Gehn announced. “Doesn’t have to be fancy. A big bed. Shelter.”

  She had the right idea. The day was winding down, and we needed our rest. Then again, I wanted to meet the leaders of the city as soon as possible. I pulled her aside. “I was hoping to take another shot at those big dumb guards so we can speak to Sierra.”

  “I disagree,” she said. “Let’s take a breath, clean up, relax, get some sleep. We all need it.”

  “And what if word spreads amongst the males that this is where we’re holed up? What if other Enders hunt us down? We aren’t exactly getting a warm welcome here.”

  “You said you trust me, right,” Gehn said. I nodded slowly. I did, but still…I felt like a fish out of water in this place. “So trust me. We’ll be okay for the night.”

  Easy for you to say. I was the one dragged out into the middle of the wastelands by a male Ender who wanted to crush my skull between his bare hands. “Okay,” I said. “I asked you to lead us around Paris, and you’re doing just that.”

  “Still want the room?” the Swedish goddess asked. Gehn nodded and paid her a portion of our remaining coin. “We are crowded tonight. More and more Ender refugees arrive to Paris by the day, and we put them up here until they can get settled on their own. You’ll be in one of our additional huts, okay?”

  Refugees? I thought. That didn’t sound good. I wanted to ask a dozen follow up questions, but held my tongue, trusting Gehn. “That’s fine,” she said.

  The woman led us outside the building and around to the back. A few female Enders were outside, watching us the entire way. I winked at one of them and she raised her eyebrows. When we reached one of a dozen or so smaller, thatched-roof huts, the woman said, “It’ll be a little tight, but at least you’ll all be able to sleep comfortably.”

  “Where’s our room key?” I joked. The woman, stone-faced, frowned at me. Damn, my sense of humor missed the mark there, eh?

  “Let me know first thing tomorrow whether you need me to hold the hut for another night,” she said. “Or else I’ll have to give it to someone else.”

  “Of course,” Gehn said, smiling. “Thank you.”

  She pushed open the door into the hut.

  Chapter 5

  Time for you know what

  I wi
sh I shared Gehn’s confidence about sleeping in Paris.

  Every time I closed my eyes that night, I saw flashes of the big blue ogre that had ambushed me in the wasteland in the middle of the night, dragging me from sleep’s embrace and beating the living shit out of me until I was able to turn the tables on him. I sighed, tossing and turning in the big bed as I tried to get to sleep.

  A hand touched my shoulder and my instincts kicked in. I turned rapidly, grabbing my attacker by the shoulders.

  Belenie gasped. “I’m sorry, I was only trying to…”

  “Sorry,” I said quickly. “Bad habits.”

  “It’s okay,” she replied. “You were a soldier, right?”

  “Yeah. For a long time. Deployed several times. I’m used to sleeping with one eye open and a finger on the trigger. Still, I can usually sleep okay. This city though…I’m having a helluva time sleeping.

  “I might be able to help with that,” she purred, her eyes meeting mine. She dropped her hand to my knee, running it up my thigh and between my legs.

  “I’ll always accept your help,” I said, reaching up to touch her gently sloping jawline.

  She smiled, biting her lip, then looked back at the other two, who were sleeping soundly on the other half of the bed. “What about Hannah and Gehn? Should we invite them to join in the fun?”

  My heart be still. After the last time…it was tempting as hell. But they were exhausted and needed a good night’s rest after many nights sleeping on hard ground.

  “Let them sleep,” I said. “Tonight I just want you. We’ll just have to be quiet so we don’t wake them.”

  My words seemed to spur her on, her lips eager as she leaned in to kiss me. Her lips were as gentle as her healing touch, caressing mine like the undulations of small waves on a sandy shoreline. I reached around the back of her head, careful not to spike my hands on her now-glowing horns, tucking them into her hair and pulling her tighter against me.

  After every few kisses, she pulled back to look me in the eye while she ran her hands down the sides of my body. Then she would return to kissing. It was as though she was trying to drink it all in. It was also sexy as hell.

  My cock pressed against the seam of my pants, begging to be released. Her hands migrated down, and she let out a sigh while rubbing up against the rapidly-growing erection pushing out of my pants.

  She undid my belt and unbuttoned my pants, drawing out my penis with teasing fingers. It had been a few days, so I was desperate for this encounter.

  Belenie scooted down, dropping her head to taste me.

  Her approach was different than any other woman I’d ever been with. She kissed it tenderly, flicking at the tip with her tongue, allowing it to get as hard as possible before finally slipping it into her mouth. The effect was insane and I couldn’t hold back a small groan from the back of my throat. I check Gehn and Hannah, who didn’t stir. Next Belenie ran her tongue up and down my shaft, making me so hard I didn’t know if I would last much longer, which was very unlike me. It took all my restraint to hold back, wanting this encounter to last much, much longer.

  She seemed to sense the same thing, pulling herself away and sitting up. “Help me,” she murmured, tugging at her shirt. I gladly complied, my hands lingering on her breasts as I slipped the shirt over her erect nipples. I kissed each one in turn before getting to work on her pants, pulling them over her hourglass hips. Moonlight streamed into the room through cracks in the walls, revealing her naked body, which was a vision of water to a man dying of thirst in the desert.

  I smiled at Belenie, who touched herself for a few moments between her legs, preparing herself for what was to come. Then she spread her legs and pulled me by the back of the neck, begging me to go down on her. No problem, I thought, more than willing to return the favor. I slid into her warmth, running my tongue around the perimeter of her pussy as she gasped in pleasure, barely able to hold back from making more noise, which would surely wake the others.

  After a few circles, I slipped my tongue inside her, stimulating her g-spot. Her legs tightened up, and she clamped her thighs around my ears, keeping me as tight as possible.

  I pushed my tongue in as far as it could possibly go, to the point that it ached. But the deeper I went, the more she seemed to enjoy it, moaning a little now.

  I could sense the time was more than right for both of us, so I withdrew, slowly running my tongue up her body, over the swells of her breasts, lingering at her nipples, flicking them in and out of my mouth. She wrapped her legs around me, pulling me closer. I brushed the hair from her face and slid myself between her legs. Her wetness invited me in, and I thrust my hips forward rapidly, our skin slapping together so loudly I worried the others would wake up.

  They didn’t.

  Belenie rolled over away from Hannah’s sleeping form. Thankfully, the bed really was huge and there was enough space for us to go, with her on top and me still inside her. I lifted her slightly, then pumped my hips up, pounding her while I held onto her tits. She threw her head back, trying to keep herself from screaming. Her back was arched and she grabbed the backs of my hands, urging me to touch her harder.

  She rebounded back, assuming a seated position, steadying herself with one hand on my thigh. She rocked her hips, riding me with enthusiasm. Her other hand pressed onto my chest, and I put my hand on top of it while I gripped her hip with my other hand, rocking her body back and forth and up and down, grinding her against me.

  She lifted her knees and moved her feet under her so she could push herself up in the air, then bounced on my cock, moaning quietly with each thrust. I cupped her ass to help her gain even more momentum and friction, holding back my own moans of pleasure.

  If we continued like this, we were both going to make a helluva lot of commotion when we climaxed, which would probably wake half the city. Still it was tempting to go for it, what with this beautiful Ender woman on top of my, her horns blazing red. “We should slow down,” she said, making the decision for me, for which I was thankful.

  “Yes,” I said, drawing her slowly on top of me, her breasts smashing against my chest. I could feel her heart beating wildly through her skin, echoing my own. For a moment, we just held each other, while I savored the feeling of being deep inside her.

  I ran my fingertips down her back, reached around and traced the lips of her pussy. She trembled, and I wrapped my free arm around her to hold her tightly. She ran her fingers through my hair, then kissed me tenderly on the lips again.

  Though we’d staved off orgasm for the moment, she was far from done.

  Belenie climbed off and laid down, her back facing me. I lifted her leg and slid my cock into her from behind, and she wrapped her arm behind my head, pulling me in to kiss her on the back of the neck as I thrust inside of her.

  I cupped her breast and picked up the pace, fucking her hard. She gritted her teeth, doing whatever she could to stay quiet. Her back arched in ecstasy once more, and she reached down to rub her clit as I penetrated her deeper.

  She brushed the hair away from her neck and invited me kiss her on the back of her neck once more. I complied, sucking harder as she gyrated in passion.

  She then rolled onto her stomach and spread her legs ever so slightly. I climbed on top of her, straddling her legs and tucking my cock between her legs and guiding it back into her wetness. It was becoming an endless fuck, and I had no problems with that. Grabbing her sides, I pushed deeper and deeper, her heat engulfing me.

  Belenie buried her face in the bed so she could let out a light scream without being too loud, which only spurred me on more. I wanted to make it as hard as possible for her to keep quiet. She pushed herself up onto her elbows. I leaned to the right so I could watch her tits swaying wildly the harder I pumped.

  Not wanting to finish yet, I slowed down once more, carefully sliding myself in and out of her, letting her slick pussy enjoy every inch as much as I was enjoying it. She sighed, a smile on her face, as sweat dripped down from her temple. I leaned
forward and kissed her on the back of the neck again, which made her tremble with pleasure.

  I pulled out of her and rolled her onto her back, pushing her ankles into the air and resting them on my shoulders. I tilted them toward her, then slipped myself in as deep as I could. She pulled me in for a kiss, bending herself in half and allowing me to go even deeper.

  Belenie gathered her hair in her hands and held it to the top of her head, trying to stay cool as we heated up. My skin glistened with sweat, and her body dripped with it. I squeezed her tits, massaging them and gently pulling on her nipples while she begged me to go faster.

  I pumped as fast as my body could go now, finally unchaining myself from any semblance of restraint, and she stared deeply into my eyes as her muscles clenched, building to her climax. She wrapped her legs around me and held me tightly while her orgasm took over, and she trembled before her muscles finally lost all strength.

  She sighed in pleasure, laughing slightly. It was music to my ears. I hadn’t finished, which made her eyes widen. “Fuck, Cutter,” she said, staring at my erection.

  “Sounds good to me,” I joked.

  “I said I would help you relax and I’m a woman of my word,” she said. She pushed me down and spun around to give me an amazing view of her round ass and the flower in between, propping herself up on her hands and knees. I slipped my cock back inside her and pumped as fast as I could while she did the same. So much friction, hardening me to the world’s biggest diamond.

  She could feel my orgasm building inside her. When she knew I was close, she pulled me in deeply, tugging on a portion of my cock just as I released myself, exploding inside her. As the warmth filled her, she gasped, arriving at a second orgasm while I achieved my first.

  I collapsed next to her on the bed, cradling her in my arms. She stared back at me, stroking the back of my neck.

  The sex was magic. There was something about it that felt just perfect. The passion, the chemistry—all of it worked with this remarkable woman. Chance had brought her into our group, but it felt more like fate. She fit us like we fit her, a glove on a hand.