Another fighter caught her attention, pressed up against a tree—a man in cargo pants and a black chest plate. A recruit, she figured by his worried expression, but which side? When his eyes met hers, he paused in a moment of confusion, fright, and awe. With a slight nod, he acknowledged her, and she nodded back before shooting a would-be attacker just past him.
The recruit turned to see, then must have noticed another attacker she hadn’t seen, because he jumped to the ground, punched someone, and a moment later had the attacker’s head up and snapped their neck.
Not bad.
She decided he wasn’t a threat, for now, and spun around in time to see two women converging on her position. Click. The rifle was out, or jammed, but she didn’t have time to figure out which.
Slinging it back over her back, she took the shocker in one hand, a blaster pistol in the other, and exchanged blows. One of the women wore a shield over her exposed breasts, smiley face stickers covering her nipples.
She got points for creativity, but two blaster shots and a punch with the shocker split the shield and a purple bruise blossomed across the woman’s sternum. A second later, she was on her knees, coughing up blood while her partner did her best to stand against Letha.
This woman was hardly at the ninja’s skill level, but she did manage to knock the blaster pistol out of Letha’s hand with a well-placed kick. She moved in and blocked the arm with the shocker, turning with a smile as if she’d won. The stupid bitch had left herself open though and was close enough for Letha to bite, taking a chunk out of her ear.
The woman screamed, spinning back to dispatch her with a knife, but Letha sprang back and out of the way, then rolled and slammed the shocker onto the other woman’s foot. The electric shock pinned her in place and sent her into spasms as it burned her from the inside out. After a moment she collapsed, smoke rising from her corpse.
Damn, the shocker hadn’t done that at lower levels. Nice.
Still on the ground, Letha assessed the situation. They were holding their own, thanks to the shields and cover, but the enemy was still too great in numbers. How the hell had she let this happen? She couldn’t imagine what Fireshot had promised the others to get them to all work with him. Was it that they all hated her that much?
A movement behind caused her to spin, ready to attack, but it was Brink. He shot down an opponent, then turned to her with wild eyes. “If we keep this up, we’re dead, no matter how many of them we take out.”
Letha was about to respond when a giant of a man grabbed Brink by the head and tossed him like a ragdoll. Before she could shoot the son of a bitch, two fighters leaped on her from behind. She defended herself well, but by the time she finished them off, the giant had Brink by his hair, a massive fist with spiked brass knuckles raised as if to pound into his throat. She wouldn’t be able to get to her guns in time.
A blur of a man flew into the giant, connecting with the arm and twisting it behind to put him in a lock. Now she saw it was the man she’d seen near the tree, the one with the cargo pants. He shouted something, then chopped at the giant’s neck with a machete. It was no good. The machete just stuck there, and the giant turned away to resist. Then Brink was back in the fight, rolling away to grab a rock and toss it.
Cargo Man caught the rock with both hands, releasing the giant to do so. As the giant twisted around to take him out, the man brought the rock down with a solid crunch on the back of his head. The giant stumbled, and the man came in again with a two-handed swing that crushed the rock into the bridge of the giant’s nose. Now the giant collapsed onto his back, howling, and the man was on him, smashing that rock down again and again, over and over until the giant was no more than a twitching, pulpy mess.
When it was over, the sound of gunfire and explosions returned, and Brink was there, hauling the man with him to Letha’s side, shouting again that they had to withdraw.
“I won’t retreat from that bastard!” she shouted. “Not again!”
“It’s that or die!” Brink countered.
The man at his side was terrified, but he briefly scanned the area and nodded in agreement.
“You don’t know me, but I know you. I’ve watched enough to know you’re strategic. You’ll leave now to come back and hit him where it hurts. You’re a survivor, right? Survive.”
“Who the fuck are you?” she asked, keenly aware of shots hitting a couple of her more forward fighters, cringing at the thought of their burning bodies.
“Pierce.”
“Well, Pierce….” She wanted to tell him to go to hell, to suck her clit and die, but instead she bit her lower lip, knowing they were right. “Welcome to the team.”
He beamed, nodding back behind him some distance, to where a woman was now slightly visible peeking out from the cover of rocks on the hillside. “Her too?”
“Sure. Why the fuck not?” Letha leaned toward Brink. “Spread the word. Fall back, at least to a point where we can section them off, funnel them in so we only face a couple of them at a time.”
He nodded and sprinted off. In a matter of minutes, they were all in retreat mode. Rodrigo pulled up a map and found a cave that worked as just such a spot, and Pierce and the woman went with them. The enemy kept coming, but by now the fighting had mostly died out outside. In here they were able to set mines and put up shields. Soon the enemy realized it was pointless to try to breach their defenses.
As the night wore on, Letha took stock of their numbers. Only six of her original team remained, and she had four recruits, including the man and woman.
But hell, she was alive, and this Pierce character had a good point. She was a survivor, trained by Mantis herself.
If there was one thing Mantis had always taught her, it was how to leverage someone’s hubris. If Fireshot had ever been at a peak in terms of his overconfidence, that moment was now.
When it had been silent for some time, she sent Rodrigo to find a back way out. Redwood and Brink took the first rest, along with the recruits. She needed at least half the team strong enough to make the relatively short march back to base—if it was even still there. Aisha had managed to live through the battle too, which came as a bit of a surprise. She was sitting in the corner, mumbling to herself.
“Injured?” Letha asked, approaching.
The woman had a line of blood along her neck where a bullet had grazed her, but it wasn’t bad. She had a few bruises and cuts. She’d live.
“Trunk didn’t make it, I guess?” Aisha asked.
Letha cocked her head. “I never knew you paid much attention to whether he made it or not.”
The other woman blushed. “He… he can be sweet, you know? Which is a nice feeling in a place like this.”
Letha sat on a rock next to her and nodded, and was just about to try to offer comfort, when someone nearby said, “speak of the devil.” There he was, hobbling in, with a huge grin plastered across his face.
“It’s just me, don’t shoot.” Trunk gestured behind him, to where Kale was leading him in. “Good thing your boy didn’t shoot me. The fighting’s died down, by the way. I didn’t see anyone out there, so they must’ve all headed back. Oh, and I spotted Grinder, but I couldn’t get to her. I will, don’t worry. I’ll do it tomorrow, or the next day. Soon.”
“I’m counting on it,” Letha replied, exhaustion mixing with relief. “And Aero?”
“Yeah, I saw both him and Nurse, actually. I made it up over the ridge during the retreat, thinking maybe I could find Grinder. I saw that Aero and his team were providing cover fire against Fireshot directly.”
“Damn. If not for that, we probably would’ve been mowed down easily. Remind me to thank him later.” Letha couldn’t help but notice the relief and hunger in Aisha’s eyes. That made her want to laugh, but she just smiled and stepped out of the way so they could chat. “At any rate, it’s good to see you. All of you, but... Can someone give this naked, crazy bastard something to cover up?”
Trunk stood there, smiling blissfully as his
beautiful cock started to harden. He liked the attention.
Aisha went over to him and removed the skirt she was wearing over leggings, and tied it around him. It was a light material, so it didn’t do much to conceal his massive erection, but at least it was something. The two of them moved to the side of the cave, her hand already working him as if nobody would notice.
Letha rolled her eyes and faced Kale.
“You need rest,” he said.
“I need to get out of here, to kill that fucking prick.”
“And… you need rest.”
She sighed, knowing it was true. When he held out a hand, she took it and let him lead her to the back of the cave, where he woke a couple of the others to take watch. He lay down next to her and leaned over to wrap an arm around her. “We’re going to make it through this, you know?”
She nodded, loving the gentle look in his green eyes, and pulled him in for a kiss. Nothing over the top and she simply meant to show her appreciation for the fact that he hadn’t died on her, but he leaned into it, then started nibbling on her neck, kissing her earlobe.
He started to move down, hand working to remove her armor, but she shook her head.
“I want to taste you,” he murmured.
“Right now?” she scrunched her tired face. “I’ll taste like sweat, maybe a bit of piss.” She groaned quietly. “I’m not going to lie, there was more than once out there I thought I was going to die.”
“But you didn’t.” Again, he kissed her neck, whispering, “I’ll take it all, even the piss.”
“Fuck, that’s disgusting,” she said, and pulled him up to kiss her again.
“Just let me touch you then,” he replied, hand working the armor again. When he had an entry point, she shivered at his cold fingers moving down along her pubic hair, tracing it, playing with the side of her legs, then gently caressing the sides of her soft velvety flesh before fondling her clit.
She moaned, trying to keep it down, keenly aware of Aisha and Trunk’s attempts to be quiet as well, though Aisha was failing. She couldn’t blame her—that trunk had to hurt!
After another kiss and another moan, Letha opened her eyes, smiling at Kale and the way he licked his lips. He pressed his stubbly cheek against hers, fingers working magic, and she found herself drifting off to sleep at the moment of climax. It sent warmth through her body, and then she was out.
21
Desires
Planet Kill – The Cave
Pierce watched this woman, Letha, still unable to believe he was in her presence. This was the woman he’d seen on all of those posters, coffee mugs, and screens. He’d watched her kill, watched her fuck, and seen the white in her eyes as she climaxed, all from the other side of existence.
But now he was here, about to go to sleep in the same cave as she was after an insane evening of warfare. He breathed heavily, curled up against the cave wall, and heard the soft slapping of skin that, when he peered over, he saw was one of the ladies jacking off one of the men. Even with both hands, she didn’t have his full erection managed. Pierce had never been into dicks in the slightest, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from this sight.
When the woman caught him staring, she turned away at first, but then smiled back at him, licked her lips and undid her shirt. The guy had his head back, eyes closed, and moaned as she took his monstrous cock between her breasts and started rubbing them along its length.
Holy fuck. The boner that grew between Pierce’s legs felt like it was harder than it had been in a long time. When Essie approached, he looked away from the couple, pretending he hadn’t been watching. Judging by how wide her eyes got when she glanced over, he knew she had noticed his staring. She bit her lip to keep from laughing and then yawned.
Pointing at the spot next to him, she waited until he nodded, and then lay down. She gave him another smile, then turned away and curled up in a ball. He considered her, wondering if she had wanted to sleep next to him for protection, or for another reason. That boner wouldn’t go away, and he debated walking off to a dark corner to take care of it, but wasn’t sure he’d survive in a place like this if someone found him at the wrong moment.
Dammit, he’d just have to deal with it and go without.
When Essie rolled over, she moved closer, eyes closed as if still asleep. Her small hand snuck up onto his chest, then she wrapped a leg across him. Her thigh was firmly pressed against his boner, and he lay there, back arching uncontrollably, every part of him wanting to explode out of his crotch. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, then opened them. She was staring at him with an expectant smile.
She glanced down for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. His brain was lacking blood, and all he could do was lie there like an idiot. When she started rubbing her leg softly against him, he held his breath to keep from groaning, and when she slipped her hand beneath her leg, feeling him over his pants, he wanted to take her right there.
Instead, he took her hand and held it.
“No bids,” he whispered. “No cameras here.”
Her expression turned instantly sour and she pulled her hand back, appalled. She quickly rolled away.
No, dammit! He’d messed up, but in his eyes, he was there to find his wife. He knew he had to do certain things to fit in, to get the audience buy-in. Pierce wasn’t so sure if he could do them in a dark cave, with nobody watching.
He turned to her, then quietly said, “I’m sorry, I just… not yet.”
Essie had her back to him and didn’t respond. Unsure what to do, he put an arm around her. She didn’t move the arm, and after a moment, moved her hips back against his, so that his rock-hard bulge was now pressing directly into the spot where he would slide it in from behind.
All he could imagine was that action as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
22
Size Matters
Planet Kill, Returning to Camp
The march back to camp the next day was a slow one. The crew was full of relief about being alive and having earned a good deal of points and credits the night before. They were also full of sadness over losing even more members.
The credits and points didn’t make up for the number of losses they’d taken. Letha’s plans had been dashed to pieces. Not only did she not have the massively new numbers that she’d wanted, but she was down a few more. She had thought Trunk would be satisfied after his little nookie session with Aisha the night before, but he was glaring off into the distance, hand gripping the hilt of his knife.
Kale walked just ahead of him, on lookout, while Brink had taken point.
“Trunk seemed all gung-ho yesterday,” she began.
Kale shrugged. “Don’t try to understand him. He’s up one minute, down the next. And no, I know how your head works—I don’t mean his cock.”
“I wasn’t thinking that,” Letha said, though she certainly was thinking exactly that now.
“He has a target in mind,” Kale said. “He’s been hunting Grinder a lot longer than he lets on, you know that? Yeah, he’s made it his little quest to get her, something about a promise you made.”
“You heard about that?”
“None of my business. Shit, you could’ve gone down on me plenty of times for everything I’ve done for you, but, you know, it’s none of my business.”
“Do you want that?”
He didn’t even look at her, instead watching the path ahead of him. “Are you really asking?”
“No, I mean, yes, of course you do.” She paused to organize her thoughts. “It’s just something Mantis taught me long ago, and it’s been there ever since. A mental block, maybe?”
“So you’d be willing to try?”
She thought about it. “I don’t know. Once I put your dick in my mouth, then everyone will want it, right?”
“I’ll do it,” Aisha said, bouncing up next to them.
Letha stared at her. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll put his cock in my mouth and suck it dry.” She licked h
er lips. “You know, if you’re okay with that. Maybe you could watch and touch yourself? I don’t know, but honestly, I’d love to.”
Kale just blinked at her in surprise.
“Trunk’s cock is huge. Have you seen that monstrosity? It feels like a massive roll of cookie dough in my hands, and that’s when it’s limp. I’ve seen yours, Brink. I could fit that whole thing in there and love every inch of it.” She turned back to Letha. “So, I mean, only if you’re okay with it.”
Letha laughed, shaking her head. “Come find us at camp tonight, we’ll see how well you suck a cock.”
“Hear that?” she asked, sidling up to Kale and reaching over to take his finger in her mouth.
He pulled it back. “Just to be clear, you did pretty much just say I have a small cock.”
“No… I mean relative to that thing of his, yeah. But for sure yours is bigger than average.” She shook her little blond head.
He raised his eyebrows, and Letha laughed. “Oh, shit, are we getting insecure now?”
“Fuck you both,” he said and walked quickly up ahead to join Brink.
“I just offered to go down on him,” Aisha protested. “Why’s he mad at me?”
Letha shrugged. “The better question is, what’s gotten into you?”
“I don’t know, I guess… I mean, last night, that fight was crazy. It was the first time I really got into it, and there was this guy, I don’t know if you saw—”
“I was kind of busy.”
“He tried to cop a feel while sliding his knife along my throat! His fucking hand even brushed my boob, just like this.” She took Letha’s hand and ran it along the underside of her breast. “Not cool, right? So I had my pistol and shot him first in the foot. Then when he was all whining about it, I shot him again, right through the eye. Motherfucker dropped, and I don’t know, I’ve never felt so alive in my life.”
Planet Kill Page 17
