by Olivia March
Once the killing was done, he shook off his bloodlust. But it didn’t leave him. It morphed instead to lust of a different kind, lust for his woman, Gwen, who was staring at him with heat and adoration on her face. There was a promise in those eyes and he’d take his time when he collected on it. Unfortunately, there was more work to be done. But soon, he promised himself. Soon.
* * * * *
The traitor watched the proceedings, the only sound a subtle grinding of his teeth. Those imbecilic Scourge couldn’t get the job done even though he’d personally led them inside the barrier himself! And in such ridiculous numbers that eleven Keepers and two humans should have been easy prey. So now, not only was this carefully planned assault a failure, costing the lives of two thousand Scourge and very few Keepers in return, but the woman and child still lived as well.
But perhaps there was a way to remove one obstacle in his path. Mithrain had rushed to Helion’s side to save the woman. Having the camp’s sensory Keeper out of the way would clear the path for a more successful ambush next time. It would take Helion a long time to get a replacement. Sensory Keepers were a unique and scarce breed. Most of the Keeper units had only one, if any.
Mithrain was relatively easy to cull from the rest of the Keepers, a pack of Scourge surrounding him like wild dogs. Archery was Mithrain’s particular talent but he was more than proficient enough in hand-to-hand and the short swords to dispatch all his enemies and that just wouldn’t do. Mithrain needed to die tonight.
The traitor lightstepped to Mithrain’s side, his arrival acknowledged with a quick nod before the fool turned his back, trusting the traitor to guard it when he had just the opposite in mind. A quick look around confirmed no one was there save the Scourge, the rest of the men rushing into the tent to save the woman. With relish the traitor quickly thrust his sword under Mithrain’s arm where there was a gap in his armor. The sword thrust deep, brutally destroying muscle and tissue.
Mithrain’s look of shock and pain was delicious but there was no time to savor it. He needed to get Mithrain’s body far from there before help could arrive and foil all his plans. So he grabbed the limp Keeper and lightstepped again and again until he found a pile of rubble far away, to unceremoniously dump the unconscious Mithrain on top of it. When he didn’t stir, the traitor, satisfied, stepped back to the fight to pretend once more he was a good little Keeper foot soldier.
Chapter Fourteen
Things were finally calm inside the tent. Well, as calm as things could be with well over a dozen Keepers crammed inside, standing on piles of Scourge entrails. Gwen was grateful for their assistance, but wary. As the smallest person in a room full of blood-covered giants, it was not the most comfortable situation. Plus, now she’d seen them in action and knew they were leagues more dangerous than she had originally assumed. These Keepers were not just pretty faces, for sure.
Helion stalked toward her, his jade eyes lit from within. Gwen didn’t have much experience in identifying lust in a man’s eyes but in Helion’s that feeling practically smacked her in the face. Her cheeks burned with heat, embarrassed by how just the sight of his desire magnified her own. She could still feel the after-effects of his earlier possession. Her thighs were shaky, her channel tender, but still she wanted more.
She felt like such a slut, hot like this after the battle that had just been waged. And to make matters worse, he knew. Helion knew she was hot for him, his predatory stare assured her of that. Just one look in those glowing eyes got her nipples hard and her pussy soaked.
Someone discreetly cleared their throat and Gwen realized if Helion could smell her desire, so could everyone else in the tent. Mortified, she broke eye contact with Helion and tended to Evelyn. She had stopped whimpering but her diaper needed changing and her tiny little mouth was making hungry sucking sounds against Gwen’s chest. Clearly it was time to be a mommy now, not a nymphomaniac.
Gwen looked around for a clear space to change her daughter but there was none. The whole tent was trashed and covered in blood and bodies and pieces of bodies. She felt a pang of hopelessness. This was supposed to be their safe haven. They’d had just a few brief, wonderful days before even that illusion of safety had been shattered. Granted she’d left the safety of the camp anyway, but now she’d promised not to attempt another escape, where did that leave them? Danger had followed them right into the heart of the supposedly unbreachable Keeper camp. Helion had saved them again but it was a very near thing.
Nowhere was safe on this planet and the weight of that knowledge pressed hard on Gwen’s shoulders. She wanted to collapse and fall apart and scream and cry. Her daughter’s life had almost been snuffed out three times in as many days. She was failing her and the next time she failed, their lives could be forfeit. If anything happened to Evelyn, Gwen would completely lose the will to live. Not even her fascination with Helion could keep her tied to this world. Things just had to get better or they’d both end up dead soon.
Gwen’s shoulders fell, her strength flagging. She’d been temporarily distracted by her feelings for Helion but now she felt nothing but weariness and misery. Today had been too much for her. She was tired, and sore from where Helion had taken her roughly, twice. A bath was desperately needed, as well as a place to see to Evelyn’s needs. Gwen just could not bring herself to lay her beautiful daughter down on or near decapitated limbs.
Gwen waited to speak to Helion. He was checking over the state of his men, but when he returned, she caught his eye. She held Evie close, trying to soothe her until a feeding could be arranged. But there was something she had to do, something she had to say to Helion. It embarrassed her, especially in front of all these other men, but he needed to know how she felt.
“You saved us again. That makes three times now. I have to say—I mean I want to say, thank you. I won’t forget what you’ve done for us.”
“You were doing a good job of protecting yourself, little mother. You and Verdun held them off until we could finish them. You held your own and I am very proud, my lady. Stay here with Verdun. He will get the tent set to rights and take care of you. I’ll be back after I wrap up a few things.”
So saying, he abruptly turned on his heel and fled. Gwen couldn’t help but stare as Helion basically ran from his own tent. One minute he’d been praising her and nearly scorching her body with the heat in his eyes, then the next his eyes had iced over and he’d fled. This Keeper literally ran hot and cold and she didn’t know what to make of him at all. It was tempting to believe he cared for her but it seemed unlikely. It was much more likely her puppy-dog infatuation for him was making her see things that weren’t really there. It was hell to love someone who didn’t love her back but she had more important things to consider at the moment.
Gwen looked over at Verdun, who had once again assumed the role of efficient butler. She’d seen him in action, a deadly assassin, now, and wouldn’t be making that mistake again. They were safe with this Keeper, she definitely believed that now. And he was still the extremely efficient Keeper she knew, as all the bodies within the tent were being carted out by some Keepers while the others set about cleaning up the blood and…effluvia.
“How can I help, Verdun?” she asked. “Give me a task, please. Anything to distract me from how close that was.”
That got Verdun’s attention, his cerulean eyes gleaming with knowledge and compassion.
“You will not sully your hands with Scourge filth, my lady. If I’m not mistaken, the young lady needs a change and a feeding. I’ve set up a screen around the Commander’s bed so you may see to both those needs in private. Your bed and the cradle were destroyed, I’m afraid. It will be a while before I can get replacements.”
Verdun. So kind and considerate, always supplying what she needed before she even had to ask. His blue eyes sparkled and his dark hair gleamed beautiful and unique. And, as she had seen, he was an extremely skilled fighter. Verdun really was the complete package but she felt not even one glimmer of lust for him.
> Instead she spent her days nearly drowning in a puddle of her own drool thinking about a Keeper who had a disposition as icy as his hair. Maybe his frigid control provoked her inner bad girl? And the bad girl wanted to crack that ice and see what was underneath. She pondered this as she went over to the screen and took care of Evelyn. Her sweet little piggy noises while she ate brought a smile, as they always did.
Still, Gwen felt very unsettled. She was happy to be alive, that Evelyn was alive, but still felt…unsatisfied. All that fire in Helion’s eyes, she wanted to see where it led. Not thinking about what had happened between them was impossible. She was reliving every moment of it even now, feeling again how right he felt inside her. Every thrust of his tongue and his hips, how his hands had gripped her so hard, how his hair had felt as it caressed her bare ass. She could still feel the cold, hard press of his armor across her back and the hot pulse of his release shooting inside her not once, but twice.
It was dangerous, this obsession. She’d never felt anything like this before in her whole life, certainly never with Steven. From the moment she’d clapped eyes on Helion, covered in gore as he always seemed to be, lust had thrummed restlessly under her skin. It had been a relief when he’d taken the initiative in that office and just taken charge. He hadn’t given her time to overthink things and back away from her feelings. Helion had wanted her and followed through on that wanting, as simple as that.
This was all so new she didn’t know how to process it. Sex with Steven had always been, well…boring. A way to feel a little less lonely. Helion, though, was in another league entirely. Smoking hot, dynamite in the sack, a prince, a military commander—comparing him to Steven was like comparing a lion to a mouse. But a relationship with him? There was an idea doomed to failure. She was just a curiosity to him right now, a brief affair.
Gwen trusted him now when he said he’d make sure they were safe before being sent out on their own. He’d made no promises about “them” though. He’d spoken no words of affection, no indications of any sort of commitment. Gwen needed to reconcile her own feelings, to get her heart to understand this amazing experience was only an interlude. Eventually she would be on her own to care for Evelyn as best she could.
Adding a broken heart to her troubles would be a disaster. If she could take all the joy she could during this time without falling too deeply in love, maybe she’d walk away with a lot of good memories and only a slightly bruised heart. Maybe.
Chapter Fifteen
Helion didn’t trust himself around Gwen right now. She’d so surprised him with her participation in the fight that his bloodlust had veered toward actual lust right in the middle of battle. An inferno of heat was still coursing through his body, begging to be released on the object of his desires, his little human. Only centuries of control stopped him from handing off the child and forcing her to the floor to slake his lust.
Helion had never felt this out of control for a female before. There had been many times after a battle when he’d gone to look for a willing female on which to purge his lust but he’d never felt this ravenous. The desire to fuck Gwen was an almost irresistible compulsion in his blood. For a Keeper who prided himself on his self-control, being nearly unhinged by lust was dismaying, to say the least. He had to get out of the tent before he did something unforgivable.
There was more killing to do, and much to consider. There was no way a contingent of Scourge that large had simply stumbled upon the Keeper camp. That left only one conclusion. Someone had led that large band of Scourge through the barrier to his tent, led them deliberately. There was no doubt now he had a traitor in his camp and that this traitor had targeted his woman. This went well beyond what he’d first considered. It was inconceivable a Keeper, one of his men, had wanted the death of a woman and child. To turn his back on their people and work with the Scourge to end Keeper lives was appalling as well.
The motive was missing from this equation as well. No Keeper worth the name would betray his own planet to team up with these scum. So why? What was in it for the traitor? What did he want? These thoughts spun round and round in Helion’s head but no answers sprang forth. Once he identified the traitor, he’d get the answers he sought, one way or another.
But that was a problem to consider later. Now there were enemies to mop up and his tent needed to be set to rights. Helion barked orders, putting Verdun in charge of getting the mess taken care of so his woman would be comfortable again. He wanted to stay and supervise but there was more killing that needed doing. Commander Melithan was no doubt waiting for Helion to rejoin the company.
That would be an awkward meeting. No one wanted to admit a Keeper traitor had assisted Scourge scum in breaching a Keeper encampment. But the traitor was a danger to everyone until he was discovered and dealt with. To have such a wretch among his own men…that bastard would suffer to his last breath.
A quick look confirmed to Helion the Keepers he’d left behind to guard the tent were still battle-ready, though injured. They’d fought valiantly and would be rewarded but for now he set them to remain at their posts. He located his guard and nodded approvingly when he saw they were all hale and ready to return to battle. But no…wait. Mithrain was not there with them. A quick peek outside confirmed he was not there either. But Helion knew Mithrain had come with him to defend the tent. He wouldn’t have left to return to the battle, not while Helion and the others had been fighting for their lives.
A tingle of foreboding snaked down Helion’s spine. Perhaps Mithrain had pursued some fleeing enemies but deep in his gut, Helion doubted it. So the question was, where was Mithrain, and was he still alive? The odds weren’t in favor of it but Helion still resolved to lead a search party after the battle was concluded. He wouldn’t leave him in enemy hands or allow his body to rot if treachery had ended his life. For now, he rejoined the battle and took out all his rage and frustration on the remaining enemies. He worked mindlessly, slicing and dismembering until, finally, there were no more Scourge to kill.
Things had finally gone quiet. The screams of the dead and dying no longer echoed in the crisp air. Piles of Scourge bodies were burning all over the devastated field. Helion and Melithan’s companies had not come away unscathed this time. Fifty brave Keepers had lost their lives and Helion had to count Mithrain among those dead. He’d not been able to locate his friend, not even to find his body for burial. There’d been no response to his mental hails and no one had seen him since the engagement at the tent.
Scourge had either made off with him, which Helion knew was unlikely, or the traitor had done away with him. That was the most likely answer. Mithrain had been an irreplaceable asset to his team. If the traitor had been behind this attack, then Mithrain had surely thwarted him by ruining the element of surprise and saving many Keeper lives in the process. Helion continued to call out to his friend but knew he’d get no response. His heart was heavy for all the good warriors who’d died this night. And he was fiercely glad Gwen wasn’t numbered among the dead.
“Would that the Scourge plague could be wiped out forever,” Commander Melithan sighed.
Helion hadn’t heard him approach. He never did actually. Commander Melithan was the quietest Keeper Helion had ever met, an incongruity considering the Keepers’ massive size. Standing over seven feet tall, with hair as dark as pitch and eyes the hue of rubies, Melithan was an intimidating sight. Enemies had been known to take one look at Melithan and simply turn around and run in the opposite direction.
“We won’t rest until they are, Commander Melithan. Each planet we chase them to sees their numbers being whittled down to nothing. They can’t produce new recruits as fast as we can kill them. Eventually the plague that is the Scourge race will be exterminated,” Helion replied grimly.
Helion had to believe these campaigns against the Scourge would cease eventually. He wearied of chasing their path of destruction across the galaxies. And he missed home. His father would eventually wish for him to take up the reins of their king
dom and rule in his stead. For that he would need to be home, take a queen and beget an heir.
“I heard you’ve laid claim to an Earth female, my friend,” Melithan replied, sliding Helion a sidelong glance. “How did you find one who would take you on? Every female here I’ve seen, and most of the men as well, flee from us as if we carry some dread disease.”
Helion smirked at this. Earth males and females had done much the same to him since he’d arrived.
“I did not give her the option to run away, my friend. At first I sought only to protect her and the child. Lady Gwen was stumbling blindly through this town and was almost captured and killed by Scourge twice. After the second time I laid claim to her body.”
“Just like that? I know you, my friend, you would die before forcing your attentions on any female.” Melithan’s eyes were narrowed on Helion’s now, daring him to admit he’d mistreated the girl.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Melithan,” Helion growled, incensed. “That woman lusted for me from the moment she first saw me. That lust went from a slow trickle to a tidal wave before I claimed her.”
Melithan considered Helion in silence, obviously pondering his words. Helion could see Melithan’s thoughts play out as clearly as if his friend spoke them aloud: if Helion could find a woman here, perhaps there was a chance Melithan could as well. Helion recalled even on their home planet, the Keeper females shied away from Melithan. They feared him, scared by his size and his red eyes. They called him a demon and wanted nothing to do with him. Helion, with his hair like ice and his eyes of jade fire and huge body, also intimidated females, though not as much as Melithan did. Melithan had much to consider now, Helion could see. He’d definitely be giving the humans he met more than a passing glance now. What could it hurt?
