Dark Strength

by Cynthia Sax

  If anyone could make that vow the truth, it was him. “They might bump into me.” And she would melt down. Right there. In the middle of the settlement, with beings watching.

  “I could carry you.” He spread his huge arms. “If you trusted me to do that.”

  He was tall. She’d be high off the ground, out of reach of other males. “You won’t hurt me.”

  “I’m Balvan,” he murmured. “I won’t hurt you.”

  He wasn’t a human male. He was her great green giant.

  Elyce studied his open honest face. Their earlier exploits had been real. He had promised not to touch her, not to move, and he had kept that promise, even though he obviously had desperately wanted to take action.

  “I trust you to carry me.” She conceded as much as she could.

  A smile spread across his rugged countenance, lighting his eyes, causing her body to tremble. Not with fear, but in a good way.

  “These are for you.” He retrieved the garments and boots from the floor, held them out to her.

  She took one tentative step, then another toward him, grasped his offering, then backed away from him. He didn’t advance, staying where he was.

  She gazed down at the garments. “I haven’t worn clothing since…since—” The ball of emotion in her throat choked her words.

  Marowit allowed her to wear nothing except for the collar around her neck, the restraints on her wrists and ankles. He enjoyed humiliating her, having other males stare at what was his.

  Balvan, in contrast, had given her garments, was treating her like a normal female, a female he respected, valued. She caressed the soft leather boots, touched by the gift.

  The footwear looked new. She’d take good care of them, watch where she stepped, not dirty the boots. He wouldn’t regret giving them to her.

  “The Humanoid Alliance kept us naked when we weren’t fighting.” His voice was brusque.

  He understood her and she understood him, better than the pampered Paloma ever could. Elyce looked at Balvan. “You’re wearing garments now.”

  He was free, had that choice.

  “You’ll be wearing garments soon.” His eyes glowed, the connection between them undeniable.

  She was free, had that choice also.

  Elyce donned the light-blue flight suit. It was a strange sensation, wearing clothing after over half a solar cycle of being naked.

  It felt restrictive yet empowering. She could control who saw all of her, could keep a part of her for herself, for the beings she cared about.

  Her gaze returned to her big warrior.

  “Allow me.” He took one of the boots from her grasp, cradling the outsole in his big hands, as careful with the gift as she had been. Balvan kneeled before her.

  She froze in place, stunned by the action.

  He sought to serve her. Her. A female who had been used by so many males, who’d merely been an object, to be taken, abused. Feeling cherished, treasured, she clasped his shoulders with trembling hands and slipped her foot into the boot.

  He fastened the footwear, helped her with the other boot, then straightened.

  Stars. She looked up, up, up at him. He was massive.

  And he was hard. His cock pressed against his ass coverings, the shape of him clearly outlined in the leather.

  Although he didn’t act on that arousal, she didn’t have any illusions about him or how the universe worked. He’d eventually want sex in exchange for any assistance he gave her, desiring the physical satisfaction she suspected Paloma wasn’t giving him.

  Balvan might be huge and green, but he remained a male.

  He’d be gentle when he took what he wanted, however. Her warrior wouldn’t hurt her, and she might enjoy the encounters, might find more moments of pleasure with the big male before they parted.

  That would make it harder to leave him. She would miss him. Elyce knew that already.

  “Are you ready, little female?” He lifted his eyebrows, once again asking for her input, giving her some control over the situation.

  “I’m ready.” She walked toward her big green warrior, willingly moving yet again toward him, toward a male, something she never thought she’d do.

  But this was Balvan. He was the exception…to everything.

  Chapter Six

  Balvan scooped his little female into his arms, keeping his grasp on her light, not wanting to frighten her more than she’d already been this planet rotation.

  He didn’t know what had happened while he was gone. Elyce clearly saw Paloma as a threat to her well-being for some not-yet-known reason, threatening to inject the girl with nourishment capsules if she didn’t leave the chamber.

  Paloma wasn’t the easiest being to be around. She was in the emotional stage between offspring and fully grown female, had suffered the loss of her parents, had been forced to leave everyone and everything she knew. The girl was highly volatile, dangerously self-absorbed, and foolishly rebellious.

  But Balvan had never witnessed her being overtly cruel.

  He’d uncover the issue eventually. His higher-priority mission was to convince Elyce to stay in the Refuge, where he could best protect her.

  “Is this acceptable?” He scanned his female’s beautiful face, looking for fear or discomfort.

  “This is acceptable.” Elyce rested her cheek against him, that small act of trust squeezing his heart.

  She was so soft, smelled so good, her unique fragrance teasing his nostrils. He wanted to lick her all over, touch every part of her.

  That would scare his nervous mate. And she wasn’t yet fully healed.

  Balvan ducked his head, carrying her through the doorway. Medic staff scattered, rushing into the nearest chambers.

  “The medic bay is situated in the center of the settlement.” He walked with her through the structure. “The facilities and the medics are the best on Carinae E.”

  He’d give his female a tour. The knowledge might decrease her fear and convince her to stay.

  They exited the structure and the controlled quiet erupted into noisy chaos. Males fought. A merchant argued with a customer over the price of a garment. A weapons designer banged a flattening tool against a piece of metal, sparks lighting the shadows around him.

  “There are too many males.” Elyce pressed her face against his bare chest, her tiny form shaking.

  “None of them are near us.” A circle of open space surrounded Balvan. Beings took one look at him and moved out of his path, scurrying beyond the reach of his arms.

  In the past, that reaction had irked him. Although he looked like a monster, he rarely acted like one. He could control his urge to crush skulls.

  This planet rotation, he was glad for his fierce appearance. Elyce gazed around them, noting the wide berth residents gave him. Her trembling stopped.

  “They’re scared of you,” she whispered.

  “There’s no reason for you to be scared of me.” He reassured her. “I would never hurt you.” She was his mate. He’d protect her with his lifespan.

  “Other males could hurt me.”

  “No, they couldn’t…” Balvan strode toward the gates, holding Elyce. “…because you’re in my arms and under my protection. If a male touches you without your permission, I’ll rip his limbs off.”

  “And crush his skull?” She peeked up at him.

  “His brains will be mush under my boots.” His threats of violence against her enemies seemed to reassure, not frighten her.

  His little female had been hurt badly. He cradled her in his arms. She needed a champion and that was a role he would gladly fill.

  “And if a male touches Paloma?” She said the girl’s name with distaste, her nose wrinkling. “What would you do?”

  “I’d inform my friend Orol of the situation, allow him to deal with the male.” It wasn’t his place to seek vengeance for the girl.

  “She belongs to your friend Orol?” Elyce lifted her eyebrows.

  “If Paloma belongs to anyone, she belongs to
Rhea, her sister.” Balvan, having been enslaved by the Humanoid Alliance, had struggled with the concept of free will after he escaped. He understood his female’s thinking. “She is a child.”

  “She looks like a grown female.” His mate frowned, her expression reflecting her doubt.

  “She has sixteen solar cycles.” He had thousands. Alarmed, he glanced down at his female. “How many do you have?”

  “Many more than Paloma has.” She sighed. “Sixteen is a child.”

  Elyce wasn’t a child. Balvan relaxed. He’d thought she was a grown female but her ordeals could have given her a maturity other beings didn’t have.

  “My abduction wasn’t her fault.” She muttered. “I’ve been hating her and it wasn’t her fault.”

  “When I escaped the Humanoid Alliance, I hated all humans,” he confessed. And now a human female was the most important being in the universe to him. “I believed they were all alike.”

  “I thought she had spurned him, knowing how he’d react.” His little female shuddered. Balvan yearned to kiss away her bad memories, fill her mind with pleasure and joy and him. “That she didn’t care he was taking his anger out on someone else. But she was a child. She didn’t know.”

  Did he remind his Humanoid Alliance tormenters of someone? His female had asked him. “He wanted Paloma yet took you.”

  “She escaped him.” Elyce dropped her gaze, her face turning pink. “I look like her so he abducted me instead.”

  “You don’t look like her.” He climbed up the steps to the top of the wall, his second trek there this planet rotation. “I’ve seen thousands, perhaps millions of females, all over the universe and no one is as beautiful to me as you are.”

  “I’m not beautiful. I have scars.” She touched her neck.

  “Your scars are the most delicate pink.” The marks were a testament to his female’s strength and a reminder to him to handle her with the care she deserved. “If you gave me permission, I’d kiss each one.”

  Her gaze met his, her light-blue eyes wide with wonder. “I have quite a few scars.”

  “I’d devote planet rotations to the task.” They reached the top of the wall. Although warriors patrolled sections, they wouldn’t disturb Balvan and his mate. Due to his size, he was visible half a stretch of wall away. “No one will touch you here.”

  He lowered her, sliding her curves over his muscles, tormenting his body, until her booted feet touched the white stone. Reluctantly, he released her.

  She stayed where he’d put her, her form pressed against his. “How many gates are there?”

  “There’s one main gate.” That was the gate he guarded. “The others are normally blocked.”

  Elyce peered over the edge. “There are beings close to the walls.” She held onto his waist.

  “The beings are there because Kralj allows it.” The Ruler of the Refuge knew everything. “He monitors terrain much larger than the settlement, doesn’t allow anyone inside the borders he doesn’t want there.”

  “He erects walls of sand to keep them out.” She nodded, her curls bouncing against her cheeks. “I remember seeing those. They lowered for me.” Balvan’s female paused. “And then he spoke to me.” She touched her forehead. “Inside my head.”

  “He reads minds, can move objects, kill beings with a thought.” He took a chance on telling her that, hoping Kralj’s powers would make her feel safe, not scare her.

  She winced. “Does he know everything about me?”

  Balvan inclined his head. “He knows everything about everyone within his terrain. I suspect he knows things about me I don’t know.”

  “Oh.” The lines on Elyce’s forehead multiplied. She looked upward. “There are no walls of sand up there.”

  “There is a ceiling of air above us ships can’t navigate.” No one could access the Refuge if its Ruler didn’t allow it. “Kralj’s terrain is a sphere around him, as high and as low as it is wide.”

  Her lips parted.

  “He has only left it once since the settlement was constructed.” Balvan answered what he suspected was her next question. “And that was because Dita, his mate, was in danger. Neither of them have left his terrain since that planet rotation.” It was too risky for everyone.

  “You believe I’m safe.” It was clear from her expression she didn’t believe that. “But you don’t know Marowit. He’ll find a way to get to Paloma and if I’m here…”

  If she was here, her abductor, this Marowit creature, would get to her also, hurt her. His female believed that and Balvan couldn’t convince her that wouldn’t happen. He didn’t know her enemy as she did.

  The situation had to be approached from a different angle. “If you’re not here when he arrives, if you’ve left the Refuge, traveled to another planet, will he give you up, allow you to escape him, to be happy, free?”

  She paused for a moment before answering. “No.” Her shoulders drooped. “He doesn’t truly want me. He wants Paloma. But he’ll kill me rather than allow me to be free. He’ll make that his mission.”

  Balvan made killing Marowit one of his missions. The two of them would meet and only one male would survive, only one male would touch Elyce.

  He would be that male. There was no doubt in his mind about that.

  He’d trained his entire lifespan to protect his mate, had endured the harshest torment to hone his skills, better himself as a warrior. Thousands of solar cycles of battle would be utilized against his puny human enemy.

  Balvan looked forward to that reckoning.

  “In the Refuge…” he kept his voice soft, non-threatening, “…Kralj and hundreds of my brethren, my fellow modified humanoids, will protect you.” He would safeguard her wherever she was. “I know every hiding place, every darkened corner in the settlement. We have walls of stone and walls of sand surrounding us.”

  The Refuge had been designed by Kralj, Orol, himself, and some of the other warriors. They’d been trained to infiltrate and destroy settlements. That knowledge had been utilized in their home’s construction.

  It was as unassailable as a settlement could be.

  “If we voyage to a new planet, what defenses will we have?” he asked Elyce. “How will we keep Marowit away from us?”

  “We?” She blinked.

  “I’m not leaving your side, little female.” Balvan crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You have control over every other decision but not that one.”

  “You’re staying with me?” His mate tilted her head back to meet his gaze.

  “I’m staying with you.” His future was with her.

  The relief reflected in her eyes almost toppled him. “I won’t face Marowit alone.”

  “You won’t face him alone.” He confirmed that fact.

  “Thank you.” Elyce wrapped her arms around him, hugging as much of him as she could grasp…which wasn’t much of him. His female was tiny.

  He yearned to touch her. “Can I hug you back?”

  “You can always hug me back.” She gave him permission to respond and he didn’t hesitate, engulfing her with his muscle. “Only you, though. No one else.”

  “No one else.” Warmth filled his big chest. His female had awarded him the exclusive gift of hugging her back. She didn’t view him as a monster. He was her protector, her partner, maybe even her friend.

  She’d taken a couple more steps toward loving him.

  They stood at the top of the wall, their bodies entwined. Elyce rested her cheek against his chest, her breath wafting over his bare skin, and he propped his chin on top of her head, savoring the softness of her golden hair, the sweet scent of her.

  “Do you have more to show me?” Her tone was teasing.

  If she were any other female, he’d think she was flirting with him. “I have much more to show you.” He lifted her into his arms.

  She fit against him perfectly and didn’t hesitate to touch him, her fingers flattening against his pecs. A contented sigh escaped her lush lips, her reaction echoing his
.

  He hastened down the steps with her. Some of the stone crumbled under his boots, falling to the ground below them.

  He jumped past the five remaining steps, landing on the packed sand, bending his knees, absorbing the impact. His female wasn’t jostled.

  Beings rushed out of his way as he stalked through the settlement, his female in his arms. Balvan showed her the extra security inside the main gates, how well maintained the walls were, the barriers blocking the emergency exits.

  He introduced her to some of his modified humanoid brethren. The males kept their distance, all of them having heard of his female’s trauma. They obligingly demonstrated their unique gifts, extending claws or displaying pointed teeth or shooting spikes from their palms. All of them were faster, stronger than any human male, he explained.

  “You’re the largest, though,” she murmured, gazing up at him, her eyes glowing, her hands on his body. “No one compares to you.”

  His spine straightened with pride. “I’m not the handsomest,” he joked. His friend, Orol, had that honor.

  “Many beings think Marowit is handsome.” Lines appeared around Elyce’s lips. “They don’t see the evil in his eyes until it’s too late.” Her gaze locked with Balvan’s. “You have the most beautiful eyes. There’s good in them, hope, caring.”

  He didn’t know what to say. No one had ever called any part of him beautiful, no one except her.

  He moved with her along pathways, wondering where else to stop on their tour of the Refuge. What would convince his female to call the settlement her home?

  “I could get accustomed to this.” She yawned, her fingers splayed over his chest, her innocent touching keeping him in a constant state of arousal. “I like being carried.”

  He mentally kicked himself. His female had been through trauma, was recovering. She required rest. “I’ll carry you back to the medic bay.”

  “We could rest in your domicile.” She dragged her knuckles over his right nipple and pleasure shot through him. “If it is closer.”

  It wasn’t closer but he wanted her to see his private space. The vision of her blonde curls spread over his sleeping support appealed to him. Greatly.