by Cynthia Sax
Their brethren watched the human, amusement glittering in their eyes. Killing was what modified humanoids were designed to do, and they enjoyed it. Vastly.
“I have to crush a skull now.” It was Balvan’s turn for vengeance. He smacked his lips against Elyce’s as he set her down. “Will you be okay here for a moment?”
She should be safe where she was. The enemy’s forces had been defeated. His brethren surrounded them. He wouldn’t venture far from her.
She gazed up at him, concern shining in her eyes. “He won’t harm you?”
Balvan blinked slowly. His female was worried about him, not herself. “He won’t harm either of us.” His voice was gruff.
“Then take your time crushing his skull.” She summoned a smile.
He grinned at her. His little female was perfect for him. He turned and stalked toward Marowit.
A keening sound came from his female’s throat.
He spun around, his heart pounding. Had someone harmed her?
“What happened to your back?” Her beautiful face was even paler than usual. “That is not a scratch.”
That sound had been for him, for the pain he had endured. “Elyce—”
“He did that to you.” His little female drew her gun.
Fraggin’ hole. She was going to end Marowit’s lifespan right now. Balvan glanced at his adversary.
“He’s a monster, Paloma.” Marowit must have reached that same conclusion. He held his bloody stumps of arms in front of him, as though that would stop a projectile. “You wouldn’t shoot your Master for harming a monster.”
“My name is Elyce.” She pointed the gun at the male. “And he’s not a monster. He’s my mate.” She pressed the trigger.
Marowit shrieked again, falling to the sand, a huge chunk blown out of his right thigh. Although painful, it wasn’t a life-ending wound.
“Good shot.” Balvan was impressed with her projectile placement.
Her face turned red. “I was aiming for his head.”
The warriors around them laughed.
“I’ll train you, female.” One of them called out.
“You won’t train her.” Balvan glared at the male. “She’s mine.” He turned his attention back to Marowit. “And you hurt her.”
“Don’t. Don’t.” The human crawled along the sand, leaving a trail of blood behind him. His pretty face was contorted in agony. Spittle covered his lips. “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
“You’re sorry someone is finally holding you accountable for the pain you’ve inflicted. That’s not nearly enough remorse to stop this.” Balvan grabbed the male’s boots and twisted.
Bones snapped. Marowit screamed.
Human males were frail. Balvan clasped Marowit by his neck and lifted him higher. “I’m going to kill you slowly.”
Marowit met his gaze. Balvan saw the exact moment the male switched tactics, his eyes hardening, his feeble chin firming.
“I took your slut in every way a slut could be taken.” Marowit spat on him. “And she begged me for mo—”
Balvan gripped the male’s jaw and squeezed, crushing it in his palm. The sound Marowit uttered didn’t sound human.
“I know what you did to my mate, the torture she endured, what she had to do and say to survive.” Balvan spoke loud enough so everyone, including Elyce, could hear him. “Her strength, her intelligence, her resilience makes me love her more, not less.”
His female’s breath hitched behind him.
Had she not known how he felt, that he loved her with everything he had? “You’re not even half the being she is.”
Balvan yanked on Marowit’s right arm. It was disappointingly easy to remove. He tossed the limb to the side and detached the male’s left arm. Crimson sprayed over Balvan’s chest.
Marowit made strange noises, his eyes widening.
Balvan broke bone after bone. The male bled, too quickly. He wouldn’t last much longer.
Balvan dropped Marowit on the sand. “Elyce?” He looked at his female.
Her eyes glowed. “Crush his head for me.”
Fraggin’ hole. He loved her. Balvan set his right boot on Marowit’s head and slowly transferred more and more weight to that foot.
The male’s eyes bulged. His face turned red. Veins lifted on his forehead.
There was a satisfying pop and a smoosh, the resistance replaced by squishiness. The warriors cheered.
Balvan met Elyce’s gaze, half expecting to see disgust, horror in her eyes, confirmation that he was truly the monster everyone believed him to be.
Instead, he saw relief.
“It’s over.” She smiled at him. “We’re free.”
“We’re free.” He strode toward her.
Her smile widened. “I can now love you the way I want to love you—with all of me.”
He’d crushed a skull and heard a declaration of love from his mate. Balvan swung Elyce into his arms. This planet rotation couldn’t get any better.
Chapter Seventeen
They had defeated Marowit. Together.
Her tormenter was dead. Elyce was finally free.
His death had been brutal and grisly but she had needed to view it, to confirm he could no longer hurt her, Balvan, or anyone else she loved.
He had harmed Balvan before he died. The bastard. Seeing her big male’s wounds, the crimson covering the length of him, had scared the shit out of her.
It took her too many moments to convince her stubborn mate to go to the medic bay. He grumbled that it wasn’t necessary. His nanohumanics would heal him.
She had seen his back. It was necessary. He required a medic.
She told him she’d walk by his side during the trek to the medic bay. Her fear for his life was stronger than her fear of strange males.
Balvan, however, had insisted on carrying her, his massive arms wrapped around her. She capitulated, her focus on getting him help quickly.
He traveled through the settlement at modified humanoid speed, not showing any strain from his efforts. That reassured her a little but not much.
The doors opened. He ducked under the frame, folding his body over hers. Beings shrieked and scurried out of their way.
She glanced up at her big male. He did look a sight, all covered in blood and gore, but the beings were medical professionals. They should be running to him, their prospective patient, not away from him.
“We need a medic,” she yelled, trying to be heard over the ruckus.
“I don’t need a medic.” Balvan lumbered along a corridor with her. He turned to enter a chamber, the same chamber she’d inhabited when she first arrived at the Refuge.
There was no medic in the chamber. “Why are we here?” Elyce raised her eyebrows. “You’re hurt.”
He needed immediate assistance, not somewhere quiet to wait.
“Kralj had this sleeping support custom-fabricated for me.” Balvan set her on the edge of it. Longer and much, much wider than the normal human-sized sleeping supports, it was new, but that didn’t solve their lack of medic problem.
“Then sit on it.” Elyce patted the spot next to her. Her big male was hurt, had fought their enemy, carried her. He might need to rest. “I’ll go get help. You stay—”
The doors opened and the medic who had tended to her rushed into the chamber. The older female glared at Balvan. “What did you do to her this time?”
His face turned an alarming shade of green.
“Back away from her.” The medic waved her hands. “I’ll tend to her.” She cupped Elyce’s chin, lifting her face, and looked into her eyes.
The medic had the wrong patient.
“I’m not injured.” Elyce protested. “He is.”
The medic turned toward Balvan. He took a step back.
The female’s gaze scanned his big form. Her forehead furrowed. “What body part do you need reattached?”
Had he lost body parts in the past? The chamber spun around Elyce, the mere thought making her dizzy.
“N
o. Projectiles in the back.” He showed her his wounds. The blood had stopped gushing. The holes in his skin didn’t gape as much as they once did.
The medic took a handheld out of her jacket pocket and scanned his back. “There’s no shrapnel. Your wounds are closed.” She pinched him. “New skin has formed.” She stuffed the handheld back in her pocket. “I have non-modified humanoids to tend to, beings who don’t self-heal. Why are you wasting my time?”
Balvan gazed at Elyce.
She looked down at her boots, embarrassment mixing with her relief. “His wounds looked bad.”
“Get used to him looking that way.” The medic had no sympathy for her. “Here.” She tossed her a handful of cleaning cloths. “Use these to tidy him up.”
Elyce’s fingers closed around the fabric squares. She could do that.
“And you.” The medic’s gaze returned to Balvan. “Do not touch the machines. Do not sit in chairs not designed for you. Do not break anything.”
His head bobbed.
His wounds weren’t life-threatening. Elyce’s focus switched to the sisters. “The girls—”
“Are sleeping.” The medic scowled as she hurried to the door. “Leave them alone. Both of you.”
She exited without a backward glance.
Elyce and Balvan looked at each other. The medic was a force. She’d have to be that way. The female dealt with modified humanoids and other warriors.
“Come here.” Elyce wiggled to the edge of the sleeping support. “I’ll clean the blood off your skin.”
“She doesn’t like me.” He complied, turning his back toward her.
“She isn’t scared of you.” Elyce kneeled, elevating her form even more, and rubbed the cloth over his bald head. “She doesn’t view you as a monster.”
“That’s true.” His spine straightened.
She kissed his beloved skull. It was fully intact, unlike some other skulls. He rumbled, the sound as happy as a puffker’s purr.
She flicked the cleaning cloth to refresh it and curved it over his thick neck, swiping away the crimson to reveal the green. His new skin was a shade lighter than the rest.
There were quite a few light green patches. Her big male had sustained so many wounds, had endured so much pain to save her.
“Thank you.” She pressed her lips against his nape. “For protecting me.”
His muscles rippled. “Thank you for loving me.”
How could she not love him? She swept the fabric across his broad shoulders, dipping it into each indent. He was a tremendous male, had a heart as big as the rest of him.
“The medic said not to check in on the girls.” But she wanted to do exactly that.
“We have to check in on them.” Balvan said that as though they had no choice. “We’re two of the few beings they know.”
The girls were alone, as she’d once been. “They didn’t find any more survivors?”
“No.” His blunt answer dashed her teeny tiny hope the girls’ parents had survived the attack. “The warriors recovered some of their belongings. They’re conveying them to our domicile.”
“They’ll have their things.” She followed his spine with the cleaning cloth. “And each other. That’s not a lot but it is something, I guess.”
“They have you and me.” He leaned back, into her. “Should I ask warriors to set up one private chamber in our home or two for them?”
“What?” She became still. Was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? They’d be opening their domicile to the now-homeless girls?
“Sharing a chamber would make them feel safer.” He tilted his head to the side, the way he did when he was pondering a course of action. “I want them to feel safe.”
“They’re staying with us in our home?” She needed confirmation before she allowed herself to hope.
“Of course.” He looked over his shoulder, his gaze puzzled. “Where else would they stay?”
“Nowhere else. They belong with us.” She knew that in her heart. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She hugged her big male, unable to contain her excitement. “How long will they be staying? Because I don’t think I could let them go if—”
“Once they’re grown, we’ll have to let them go, my little female.” He placed his hands over hers. “We can’t take away their freedom as we had our freedom taken away from us.”
“Once they’re grown…” That was many solar cycles from now. “Until then, the girls will be ours to tend to, ours to love.” She smacked kisses all over his head, cheeks, neck. “They’ll be our offspring.”
She wouldn’t ever replace the girls’ mom and Balvan wouldn’t ever replace their dad, but the girls would be their children. They would love the two sisters like they were their own.
“They won’t be alone.” She knew the importance of that. “They’ll have us.”
“They’ll have us forever…if they want us to care for them.” Balvan’s smile wavered, lines etching around his lips. “Many view me as a monster and—”
“They’ll love you.” She slid her hands down his chest, seeking to soothe him with her touch. “You’ll protect them and cherish them, and when they have more solar cycles, you’ll frighten unworthy males away from them.”
“All males are unworthy.” He frowned, his expression fierce.
She laughed. The girls’ future mates would have a challenge ahead of them.
Her future, for the first time in her lifespan, looked bright. She had two nourishment bar-devouring puffkers to pamper, two wonderful little girls to dote over, a massive male to adore.
She unfastened his ass coverings.
“Elyce.” Balvan’s voice deepened.
“You got shot in the ass also.” She tugged the leather downward. It fell around his boots. “I have to clean all of you. Those are the medic’s orders.”
She hopped off the sleeping support. Mumbling something she couldn’t hear, he kicked his boots to the side, stepped out of the circle of leather.
His cock was gratifyingly hard, as erect as it usually was when she touched him. She skimmed the cloth over his tip.
A rumble rolled up his chest. His gaze on her intensified.
He didn’t move. She was in control and she basked in that power, circling him.
His ass wasn’t as coated in crimson as his back had been, his garment keeping some skin clean. There were splotches of dried blood, a rivulet between his clenched ass cheeks.
She applied herself to her task, removing the remnants of the battle they’d fought, the reminders of the pain he’d suffered. His ass was as firm as the rest of him, unrelenting under her palms.
She slipped the cloth between his ass cheeks and he jerked.
“I will never hurt you, my big male.” She paraphrased what he’d once told her. “Your ass is safe with me.”
He relaxed, rolling his shoulders back. “Will you protect me, my little female?”
“Always.” She kissed each ass cheek.
He shuddered. She loved that she did that to him, made him react with a mere brush of his lips. He didn’t require her pain or her submission. All he needed was her touch.
She drifted her fingertips along his hips, his outer thighs. His muscles flexed.
“I’m done cleaning your back and ass.” Her voice was husky. “Are any other parts of you dirty?”
“Yes.” He pushed his hips forward.
She walked around him, caressing his skin. A bead of pre-cum glistened on the tip of his cock. “Ah yes.” She clucked her tongue. “You’re very dirty there.”
She sank to her knees in front of him. He gazed down at her, his eyes glowing, his hands at his sides.
“We don’t need these.” She flung the cleaning cloths behind her. “Only this.” She flicked her tongue over his cock head.
He groaned, bobbing against her. His nanohumanics fizzed in her mouth, the taste of him delicious.
She laved along his hipbones, explored his base, nuzzled against his balls, sucking first one
and then the other into her mouth. He stood like a wall before her, unmovable, unbending, his body growing harder and harder.
She traced the length of him. The veins in his shaft pulsed. She circled his rim. More pre-cum formed on his tip. He shook slightly against her, his fingers forming huge fists.
This planet rotation she’d seen what those fists could do, the damage they could inflict. Elyce glanced upward, meeting his gaze. Those weapons were hers to wield, would never be used against her.
She mouthed along his cock, watching his face, savoring the desire reflecting in his countenance, the feel of him against her lips. It would be enough for him, touching him like that. She could make him come, give him happiness that way.
But it wasn’t enough for her. She trusted him. Completely. She wanted to show him that.
Elyce drew back from him. He was huge. She eyed his cock, standing straight and proud a lick away from her face. If he was another male, she would never voluntarily take him between her lips.
But this was Balvan. She loved him and he would never hurt her.
“You’re not to move.” She wrapped her fingers around his shaft, gripping him at his base.
“Won’t. Move.” His jaw jutted.
She swiped the flat of her tongue over his tip. His knuckles whitened. She swirled over him, nibbled on his rim, delved into his slit, chasing more of his essence.
He remained still; only his big chest rose and fell, his nostrils flaring.
Did he smell how stimulated she was? She parted her knees, the leather of her ass coverings pulling tight across her skin, her pussy dripping.
“Are you looking at me, Balvan?” She didn’t wait to hear his answer, not needing to hear it. Elyce knew he was gazing at her. She parted her lips, pushed them over his cock head.
The rumble in his chest intensified, an earthquake of need exciting both of them.
She sank down on him, taking as much of his cock as possible. It wasn’t much. He was a big, big male. His tip tapped the back of her throat.
She took a deep breath and tilted her head back. More of his shaft disappeared into her mouth.
His knuckles cracked, the strain on his face exquisite. “You’re perfect for me.”
She felt perfect, whole, free. Elyce pulled back, her lips stretched around him, her mouth filled with aroused warrior. He throbbed against her tongue. She sucked on him and stroked his exposed flesh with her fingers, stimulating his entire length.
