by Renee Rose
He flicked on the feed and found her chamber.
Oh holy Zandian moons. No.
His female slumped with her back against the door, as if she’d just come in. Tears streaked her beautiful face.
Had things gone badly with Lily? Did she feel guilty over their lost years?
“Seke,” she whispered. Her hands came to her throat, and he realized they held the collar he’d used on her. Where had she found it? He’d sent all the equipment to storage. The fact she’d sought it out and stolen the collar for her own keeping made ice flush through him.
Veck.
The tears were over him. The pain he’d caused her. He’d hoped she hadn’t grown as attached as he had, but he should have known. She’d given him her heart. And he’d vecking handed it back without so much as a kiss.
Without thinking, he found himself on his feet, moving out the door. He didn’t stop to give Lundric orders, didn’t pause for anything. He put his oxygen helmet on. The hatch opened and closed behind him. He boarded his ship and flicked on the switches. With the ship in cloaking mode, he took off, on the most direct course for the palatial pod.
Veck the vow. Veck everything.
Leora was his.
~.~
Leora pushed her damp hair out of her face and swiped at her tears with the back of her hand. She couldn’t cry forever. There had been worse things in her life. She’d had her three-year-old taken from her. Had lost her mate. Had survived as a slave for over forty solar cycles.
Life was easy for her now. She’d been offered freedom. She wasn’t required to work. She lived in beautiful, luxurious surroundings with servants who tended to her needs. Why, then, did it feel like she couldn’t go on?
She voice-commanded the lights off and curled up on her sleepdisk, even though she knew sleep wouldn’t come.
The door to her chamber slid open.
She jerked the covers up to her chin and blinked. A huge Zandian male stood silhouetted in the doorway. By the breadth of his shoulders and the tilt of his horns, she knew it must be her Zandian.
“Seke?”
The door shut, enclosing them in darkness.
“Forgive me, Leora.”
She flew off the sleepdisk, throwing herself in his direction, unable to see but knowing he’d catch her.
He did.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, arms banding around his neck. He returned the embrace, pulling her tightly against his warm body, one arm hooked under her bottom, the other around her back. He twisted, rocking her from side to side.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “I shouldn’t have left you. I will never leave you like that again.”
“Seke.” Her voice choked with emotion. “I’m sorry I pushed you. I shouldn’t—”
“Shh. Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong. I alone am to blame.”
“No. Stop shouldering the galaxy.” In the dark, she sought his face and laid her palm against his smooth cheek. “I will share your burdens.”
Seke went still. “I believe you would.” His voice was hoarse. “But I would never ask that of you, little one. A Zandian male protects his mate.”
A burst of joy exploded in her chest. “Mate?”
“Will you wear my crystals?”
“Yes,” she gasped, hardly daring to believe her ears. Happy tears sprang to her eyes and coated her lashes.
His lips found her neck, and he nipped her, lowering her hips until her mouth came flush with his. He claimed it, tongue licking between her lips, lips demanding. She lost herself in the kiss, hardly noticing he’d set her on her feet and was backing her up to the wall.
The sound of fabric tearing made her jump. Seke ripped her robe from her shoulders. He spun her around. “Hands on the wall, little one,” he breathed in her ear.
She flattened her palms against the wall, arching and pressing her bottom back at Seke.
She heard the rustle of discarded clothing, and Seke’s arms came around hers, forearms planted on the wall just outside her hands.
“Spread your legs, Leora. I need to put my cock in you now or I won’t go on breathing.”
“I’m ready,” she whispered. Her pussy, already moist from their kiss, had turned molten the moment he’d given the order to put her hands against the wall. His dominance triggered instant arousal.
Without needing his hands to guide him, he positioned his cock at her entrance and thrust upward.
She cried out with pleasure as he nearly took her off her feet.
“I’m going to veck you so hard you’ll go hoarse from screaming.” Seke’s coarse, growled speech preceded a bite on her ear.
She moaned her assent, offering him full control of her body. He gave her his cock in deep, hard thrusts, wrapping one arm around her waist to hold her steady for the assault.
“This pussy belongs to me, now,” he growled. “Doesn’t it?”
“Yes, master.”
He chuckled. “I am still your master, aren’t I?”
Her eyes rolled back in her head as waves of pleasure swept through her. “Yes.”
“I’m going to veck you like this anytime I like. Anywhere. In every position.” It was a good thing he held her up, because her legs had turned to jelly. “I’m going to give you more pleasure than you know possible. And you’ll learn to pleasure me.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Tell me what you need, sweet Leora.”
“You,” she panted. “I just need you.”
He vecked her so hard stars danced behind her eyes.
“You have me.”
He grabbed a hoverseat and dropped into it, seating her on his lap, facing away from him. “Ride my cock, love.” He gripped her hips and moved her rapidly up and down over his thick cock.
Her head hung forward, breasts bounced, and the need to come made her scream in her throat.
“Who do you belong to?”
“You,” she whined. “You, Seke. Please, oh veck, please.”
He reached around and found her clit. The moment he rubbed it, she lost control, legs shoving straight out in front of her, feet flexed, her entire body convulsing as her pussy squeezed Seke’s huge cock.
“That’s it, little human,” he growled and slid her up and down a few more times before he, too, went off with a curse and a shout.
~.~
Seke didn’t want to ever leave the sleepdisk. Leora lay cradled against his body. Her sweet, citrus scent filled his nostrils, copper hair fanned out behind her on the sheets. He hadn’t meant to be rough with her again, but he couldn’t help himself. She brought out the beast in him.
But he’d make it up to her. They had a lifetime in which he could learn to take his time and find out exactly what she liked—where she wanted his mouth and fingers. What made her scream. Not that their first attempts hadn’t been explosively satisfying for both of them.
Her dark lashes fluttered open, and her green-eyed gaze fell on him. She made a contented sound and tossed one leg over his hips, bringing her small palm to his chest.
He held it there, against his heart.
“Are you at peace with this? With us?” she asked.
“Yes. I believe—” He stopped and cleared his throat, which was closed with emotion. “I believe I made the only decision available to me when the Finn invaded. I couldn’t have saved my family—there was no time. Dying with them wouldn’t have served Zandia. I’ve put my guilt to rest and, with it, the vow that served no one.”
“Seke, I have something to tell you.”
She sounded serious, and he had to work to keep from stiffening. “Tell me.”
“When Zandia was invaded, Rok was in the palace, too. He told Lily a guard helped him escape, along with two other children.”
Seke didn’t move. His breath had stopped as he waited for her to go on.
“Lamira believes they were yours.”
His heart jammed up in his throat so tight he couldn’t speak. “My daughters? They escaped?”
/>
“They were shot down over Stornig. Rok doesn’t know what happened to them, but Lamira believes they’re alive.”
Seke dropped his head onto the pillow, unable to hold it up. His eyes smarted. “Lamira thinks?” He choked. “My daughters are alive?”
“Yes.” She straddled him and found his hand, picking it up with both hers and squeezing it. “We’ll find them, Seke.”
He opened his arms. “Come here.”
She smiled and slid down, draping her delicious little body over his larger one.
He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t do anything but hold his female tight. Loving her was the best reason for living he had. She was his heart—his life—an extension of his very soul. To think he could have her—and his daughters—seemed like more than he’d ever believed he deserved. More than was possible.
But here she was. Her lithe body wriggled over his, a serene smile playing over those perfect lips as she offered to help him find his daughters.
“Thank you,” he whispered, closing his eyes to savor the moment.
She kissed his chest. He kissed her hair. And then he flipped her on her back and pinned her wrists, ready to give her the first vecking of the day.
His Human Rebel
1
Cambry must have a flashing molest me sign over her head. She’d been trying to give off the don’t come near me vibe, but maybe it didn’t translate on this forsaken planet.
Sleep on the death pod would be impossible. Even without the constant shuffle and murmur of low voices filling the hall packed with two hundred human refugees, Cambry didn’t trust the human male who’d settled his sleep pad next to hers.
What she really needed, more than decent sleep, was a weapon. A laser gun would be amazing, but she’d settle for a piece of piping or a stick. Even a sharp nail.
She’d seen the human chatting up another female at dinnertime. He gave off that creepy vibe she’d learned at an early age to beware. When the female rebuffed him and joined in a close pack with several other beings, he’d changed his focus to Cambry.
Cambry knew the fact she hadn’t joined or formed her own little protective grouping made her a target, but bonding with strangers wasn’t really her thing. She hadn’t survived twenty-three years living in the slave tenements below the factory where she worked without a healthy wariness for all other beings, male or female. She’d never trusted anyone but her only family member, her younger brother, Tal.
The pang in her chest at his loss nearly took her breath.
The squeak of a boot passed nearby, and she lifted her gaze. One of the Zandian guards strolled a few meters away. Nearly seven feet tall, broad-shouldered, and hugely-muscled, the male oozed masculine power and virility. Though he appeared young, she’d seen him giving orders to the other guards. He must be some kind of supervisor. “Hard to sleep in this animal pen, isn’t it?” he murmured, coming closer.
Great, now she’d attracted attention from him, too. That flashing sign must be really bright.
He crouched down, which surprised her. Making her crane her neck up to look at and answer him would be the usual bullshit authoritative thing to do to a human slave. Beings who thought they were superior didn’t usually get down on her level.
“Yeah.” She made a weak attempt at a smile.
Like all the Zandians who had supposedly “rescued” them from death, he had peachy-purple skin and horns on the top of his head. The intensity in his long-lashed brown eyes made her catch her breath. What did he see? He studied her like he really saw, like he really wanted to see. It made her itchy, as if all her vulnerabilities might be exposed if she let him keep looking.
“Can I get you something? A blanket or sleeping pad?”
She swallowed down more surprise. Was he actually being friendly? Chivalrous? Did that even exist between prisoners and guards? Slaves and masters? Aliens and humans?
Because that’s what they still were. If the Zandians thought Cambry bought their so-called “rescue” of the beings on the death pod, they were sorely mistaken. Yes, they’d prevented her death that day, but anyone with a brain knew they’d only delayed it. Now, they wanted to send them all on a death mission to take back their planet Zandia. Naturally, they wanted humans on the front lines—their deaths didn’t matter.
“No thanks.”
“You don’t dare shut your eyes, do you?”
Perceptive male. Third time he had surprised her. She vowed not to let it happen again. Whatever his game, she needed to figure it out—quick. Before she fell for it. Because the handsome Zandian oozed charisma. That must be how he’d worked his way into a position of power at such a young age.
When her non-answer served as acknowledgement, his gaze turned to a smolder, making flutters cascade in her belly. “I’ll keep watch so you don’t have to. I promise no one will bother you tonight.”
Her heart picked up speed. Not because it was a good line, but because something in the solemn utterance made her actually believe him. But why would this male promise her anything? What did he care if she slept well or not?
His promise produced a visceral reaction in her. Heat curled low in her belly as she measured his physical ability to defend her. His arms bulged with solid muscle; pectorals stood out in stark relief beneath the finely woven white uniform tunic. She’d already noticed he moved with a grace and ease belying his large stature. Yes, he probably could effectively handle any threat that came his way. And it shouldn’t turn her on so much that he’d offered her his protection.
When her nipples stiffened beneath her tunic, she folded her arms across her chest to hide them, fighting off her attraction for the obviously virile male. “Don’t bother. I don’t trust you more than any other being here.”
His lips quirked. “Smart female. Well, I’ll watch over you just the same. I don’t like seeing you unprotected.” He reached for his sword belt and unclipped a slender titanium object about the length of her palm and the width of two fingers. He offered it to her.
She looked at it without moving, then, when she realized what it was, snatched it out of his hand before he changed his mind. Grasping the handle, she unsheathed the small dagger and held it to the dim light, examining the blade. Razor sharp. Gleaming. Praise our long-lost Mother Earth.
A shock of warmth traveled through her chest. Another being had understood her well enough to offer the tool she desired most at the moment. It threw her off balance. She was used to males seeing her as an object, looking at what they might take from her. This one—a being in a position of power no less—looked and gave her something.
His lips turned up even more at whatever he saw in her face—the shine of appreciation, perhaps. Or maybe awe at his generosity and trust. Because he should’ve seen she was far from trustworthy. She’d be using the dagger and any other means she could find to escape this rathole as soon as possible.
She wet her lips with her tongue, trying to ignore the way his gaze dropped to her mouth and heated. “Thank you.”
“I’m Lundric.”
She blinked. Not Master Lundric or Captain or whatever his title was. Just Lundric. She supposed she owed him her name in return, though it went against her personal code of keeping herself closed off.
He waited.
“Cambry.”
“Cambry,” he repeated in a soft voice, as if savoring the sound of her name on his tongue. He stared at her another moment, like he was drinking her in, then stood and positioned himself against a nearby wall, making his intent clear. I promise no one will bother you tonight.
She and her brother had always looked out for one another. They’d been a team, watched each other’s backs. But she couldn’t trust anyone else to do it. Even so, a chink fell from her shield, jumbling her emotions. Fear and loss warred with the stirring of something warmer. The idea of having Lundric watch over her should not make her feel safe. She needed to stay vigilant, look for her opportunity.
She palmed the knife and lay down on her side with her ba
ck to the wall and her face toward her creepy neighbor. No, she was on her own until she found and freed Tal.
~.~
Cambry. The name suited the exquisite female. Lundric had been fascinated by the auburn-haired human from the moment he saw her. She held her chin high, walked with an aggressive swagger, and carried herself with ready alertness, like she was prepared to address any threat. She also gave off attitude in waves. He had no doubt she could defend herself with the proper weapon. Which was why he gave her one.
A woman so beautiful would have admirers. And he didn’t trust any male here—human or Zandian. He hated thinking of her being vulnerable to attack. The mere idea of it had him clenching his fists, a red haze seeping in and stealing rational thought.
So he leaned up against the wall near her nest on the floor to watch over her. He ought to make the rounds—walk the perimeter of the large hall to make his presence felt, but nothing could tear him away from his vigil.
He’d already decided she belonged to him. His little human.
He’d been raised to believe humans were inferior, weak. They were an enslaved species, after all. Yet Zander, the prince of his species, had taken the human slave, Lamira, as his mate. Rok, his superior here, had mated her sister, Lily. He’d heard his mentor, Master Seke, the Zandian Master of Arms, had been given their mother as his slave concubine.
So why shouldn’t he have one, too? There were no Zandian females of mating age left—his species was nearly extinct. And rumor had it Daneth, the prince’s physician, had determined Lamira to be the best gene match for Zander to breed. If humans were the closest, most beneficial species for them to mate, he would gladly take one. This one.
They were headed to war. His whole life had been spent preparing for it. It only made sense for him to also breed before they left. Daneth had already taken and frozen Lundric’s seed as a precaution, but wouldn’t leaving an actual child be better? He had to do his part to preserve what little was left of Zandian genetic code.
