by Rie Warren
I peered closer to little X as the king continued to grin unabashedly.
“They have skin markings already?” Each plump child bore one tiny design on their upper right arm.
The eye-like symbol meant chosen by the Gods. And they were the first to bear the mark since Kerta, a testimony to the importance of X and Prairie’s progeny.
Prairie patted little X’s head, and he gurgled from his belly. “What I’m worried about is the fangs, because ouch.”
The king threw his head back with a deep laugh. “Those won’t grow until they’re weaned.”
“What a relief.” Gently disengaging Fallon from her wet nipple, Prairie pulled a robe over her shoulders. “Now what I really wanna know is what super cool powers they’re gonna inherit, because I might be jelly.”
Jedrek chuckled, a sound I’d heard too rarely. A delicious noise I wanted more of. I stared at the sharp curve of his strong jaw, and I wanted to cup his chin in my hand so I could kiss him again with all the greed pumping through me.
“What up with you two? I need me some gossip.”
At Prairie’s words my gaze snapped away from Jedrek. My cheeks fucking flushed with heat again.
Prairie whooped, clapping onto the bed one-handed. “Details! X tells me nothing.” She pouted playfully. “If you’re having a threesome with Laurel . . . think of all the possibilities. Who did whom first? And have you tried a Laurel sammich yet? What about—”
“X, don’t we have a meeting?” I cut Prairie off.
“Yes.” He scooped up Fallon, and she immediately gave a hard yank on the thin braid that hung from his temple.
X only smiled at her, making a purring, cooing noise I never expected to come from the king of our race.
Jedrek watched closely. Was that awe written across his features?
Maybe one day we can have a child too.
I looked away, the thought rattling me. Then I remembered the way Jedrek had called me meehra the other night. The powerful lunges of his body the first time he’d taken me matched the power behind the endearment he’d used for me.
Shaken, I kept my eyes on X as he said his goodbyes.
“We’ll go to my office. Let my beautiful meehri deal with just one infant for a while.” Leaning down, he took Prairie’s lips with his, drawing her up close as the hum of unspent sexual energy filled the room.
Prairie pulled back with an evil grin. “Well, one of you has to stay and guard l’il ol’ me and Baby X.”
“Jedrek volunteers.” I winked.
My scowling mate huffed in annoyance.
Prairie smiled beatifically. No doubt she’d ply him with a million questions he didn’t want to answer.
X watched, balancing Fallon in the crook of his arm.
Then, with almost no forethought, I sauntered up to Jedrek. His eyes flared with heat then dropped to my chest. Cupping his smooth chin in my hand, I angled his head and dove in for the kiss I’d wanted to give him moments ago.
In front of the queen, the king, the babies, and everything.
Jedrek growled, arms banding immediately around my waist. His tongue lunged and his body knocked against mine in all the right places.
I wet his lips, the interior of his mouth, and dug my fingers into his ass.
That time I ended the kiss, stepping just out of Jedrek’s embrace.
“Hells yeah!” Prairie hollered.
X’s black brows arched high.
Jedrek’s gaze zoomed in on me and held. I could tell he was aroused. And pleased. He reached out, stroking the side of my face, and I turned my cheek into his palm.
This was something more.
“Be nice to him, Prairie.” I advised before leading the way to the door.
“I’m always nice.”
“Naughty’s more like it.” X’s words echoed as we departed the royal chambers.
****
Moments after we closed ourselves inside X’s office, Magnar and Zane joined us. X pulled out the chair behind his huge desk, chucking his wee girl beneath her chin until she giggled.
Zane sat on the edge of the desk and tenderly took her from X, enthralled by the human/Zenithian hybrid whose head was capped by a whorl of red hair. “Come to Uncle Zane, little sweetie.”
Magnar and I exchanged glances. Not only were X and Zane taken by their respective wives, they were smitten by the babies. And it was our job to keep all of them safe.
I looked outside the wall-wide windows as the sky darkened over the Idris Sea. “Where’s Khalon?”
“Keeping watch over Astrid since Zane here finally let her up for air.” X pulled a soft toy in the shape of a cute legrib from the innards of his desk, waving it at Fallon.
“It’s your fault our honeymoon period started late because of the babies.” Standing, Zane bounced the tiny red-haired child in his arms. “We’re working on having a couple of these too, you know?”
“I heard Astrid’s worried about quadruplets because of your double dicks.” Magnar took a seat, trying to get a rise out of Zane.
“Look, if I can knock her up twice as hard I will.” The prince was irreverent as ever, but very much in love with Astrid. “Sometimes I think she thinks my cocks are a science experiment.”
“I feel so sorry for you.” I leaned against the wall. “Must suck to have a woman interested in taking two dicks at the same time.”
“Total hardship.” Magnar grinned.
Zane passed Fallon back to his brother then nodded his head toward me. “Speaking of two cocks, what’s this I hear about you and Jedrek and Laurel?”
My shoulders stiffened; my posture straightened. “Shouldn’t I give you the low-down first?”
“Shouldn’t you give the low-down to Jedrek?” Zane never missed a beat.
And sometimes I wished I could give him the beatdown.
I was busy rolling my eyes at the prince when Khalon entered the room.
“Who’s with Astrid?” Zane quickly questioned.
“She’s visiting Prairie.” The newest Valkrane strode to a chair and lowered into it.
I peered at him, one brow arched high. “You left Jedrek alone with those two women?”
“They’re not exactly dangerous.”
“That’s what you think,” X mumbled while shaking the little legrib toy until Fallon snatched it from him with a gurgle.
“Besides,” Khalon laced his fingers together behind his head, “Kerta’s there too.”
My other brow joined the first near my hairline. “You left Jedrek alone with all three of them?”
The other men chuckled, and I should’ve felt sorry for Jedrek, but the idea of him surrounded by the three females—each as opinionated as the other—provided too much amusement.
X rocked back in his throne-like seat, balancing the babbling baby girl against his shoulder. “Anyway, what’s the update on the black market, Dex. Please tell me you’ve discovered something.”
“No one’s seen anything. No one’s heard anything. And if they have, nobody’s talking.”
“Dammit. This has been going on since Prairie’s challenge with Dylka, and we’re beginning to look as useless as a tazek beast without testicles!” X slammed a hammer-like fist on his desk.
Fallon let out an ear-splitting howl, her face turning an alarming shade of red.
“Sorry, little one.” X soothed her. “Papa’s just worried about you and your brother.” He tenderly wiped the tears from her face with his huge paw. “If someone out there is masterminding a plan to harm humans, who’s to say what they’d do if they got hold of you?” He tucked her head into the crook of his neck, rocking her gently.
I stood stunned at the sight of the king—the most feared, most imposing male on Zenithia—crooning sweetly to his tiny daughter.
His hearts had definitely been captured.
My reverie only broke when Magnar sidled up to me. “You’ve still got Laurel sequestered with you?”
“It’s for her own protection.”
; “Is it, though?” X smirked knowingly.
“When’s the mating ceremony?” Zane asked with a not-so innocent look on his face.
“For who?” I glared at him.
“You, Jedrek, and Laurel,” X explained what his brother was thinking.
From beside me Magnar’s massive shoulders shook with silent laughter.
“We’re not . . . it’s just . . .” I blathered.
But Jedrek had seemed enamored with the babies, and maybe—with the king’s blessing—he, Laurel, and I could start our own family, make our own way.
And maybe this time my beard hid my flushed cheeks from sight.
Zane cackled while I continued to stammer over an explanation that just wasn’t forthcoming.
Standing from behind his desk, X sauntered over to me. As if he’d read my mind—which he might’ve, damn him—he handed Fallon to me.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I held the tiny child in outstretched arms, taking in her squirming limbs and startling verdra green eyes.
“Try parenthood on for size.”
I cautiously brought the little baby creature into my embrace, careful not to squeeze her as I drew her to my shoulder. She had no such compunctions, immediately opening a wee fist to clutch and tug a handful of hair.
“Ow.” I tried to dislodge her fingers that were no bigger than the tail of the fluffy legrib toy. “Feisty like her mother, I see.”
I frowned, but a warm glow spread from my hearts outward. She was really quite cute. Until she started howling when a huge clap of thunder marched across the sky, a sky that had darkened ominously outside.
Fallon’s wailing was nearly loud enough to compete with the thunderous rolling boom.
“Looks like nusoon season is about to begin,” I murmured, watching outside as the Idris Sea suddenly churned up huge deadly waves.
Nusoon season brought the most violent weather to Zenithia, blanketing the planet in dangerously wild storms that sometimes lasted a week, sometimes a full month.
“At least with the weather keeping the palace closed, we shouldn’t have to worry about more danger.” Khalon stood to watch the clash of nature brewing outside.
Unable to settle Fallon down—her cries rising higher—I passed her back to her father’s calming embrace.
Magnar folded his arms over his chest. “You know what happens now.”
“Feasts and orgies while we’re stuck inside and out of the elements.”
“Yep. Nothing to do but stay inside and have a lot of sex.”
I nearly groaned out loud at the thought of sex, sex I hadn’t been getting. Rough male fucking as I unleashed myself on Jedrek first then had my way fully with Laurel after.
I was about to end up with another unsightly erection.
I glanced at X. “Do you think I could—”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah. Go get your cock sucked or fucked or whatever. Somebody should be getting some since I can’t.”
“You’re still not allowed to fuck Prairie?” Magnar asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
“Astrid and the healer advise against it so soon after the births.”
“Sucks to be you.” I gloated.
“I think you mean sucks to be you.” Magnar elbowed me in the stomach. “I suppose I’ll go relieve Jedrek. Don’t say I never did anything for you, Dex.”
“That’s Sexy Dex to you.” I sailed a wink his way, leaving with the sound of the males’ booming laughter.
I’d just made it to the doors when a new sound chirped from behind me. Not Fallon crying. Not the thunder crashing.
An incoming transmission that beeped in precursor before a voice I recognized sounded in deep, worried tones:
Xyib*eepthxnin, I have news about the black market. You’ll want to hear this then gather your Valkrane.
X’s strident voice shot over the Commander’s. “Dex, you’d better stay.”
CHAPTER TEN
Dex
MY ESCAPE CUT short, I hastened toward X’s desk, propelled by the urgency in the Commander’s voice.
Magnar, Khalon, and Zane stood at tense attention, and X gently placed Fallon into a soft-sided basket next to his chair.
He made an impatient motion with his fingers, and the Commander’s likeness appeared in front of us.
“Tell me,” X ordered.
“The black market. It’s in the city of Zertan,” the 3D image of the Commander spoke.
“That’s impossible.” Magnar frowned heavily. “We’ve scoured the city.”
“I’ve learned they change the location daily.”
“Who they?” Zane’s sharp voice demanded answers.
“Nameless insurgents.”
“How can that be?” X stood, slamming a mighty fist to his desk.
“Does it matter now?” the Commander asked. “I’ll send you the coordinates. You should hurry.”
We stormed from the office, spilling into the corridor. X rushed ahead as we followed. Within the royal chambers, he handed Fallon to Prairie, who looked startled by the ferocious expression on her mate’s face.
Jedrek’s stare bored into me.
“We think we know where the slave market is. We have to shut it down now.” X’s words were terse and tight. “And Gods help any male I find bartering human lives.”
The king’s irises flipped vertically, the color changing to fierce molten gold.
Jedrek shifted a dagger in its sheath. “I’m coming.”
“No! You stay with the women.”
“Kerta can—” Jedrek began to object, but X raised bleak eyes to him.
“You will stay.”
There was no one I trusted more to have my back in a battle, but the king had spoken. Jedrek had no choice.
I drew him to me with a hand on his shoulder. “The women and the babies are the most important thing.”
He nodded, but he looked less than pleased when he reached up to cup my cheek. My throat bobbed with unnamed emotion, and I released him to join the other males.
With Astrid, Prairie, and the babies all in one place, Jedrek would have no trouble looking after them.
Only Laurel wasn’t present.
****
The nusoon rains held off as we ventured to the nearby city of Zertan, but the skies blackened as if in potent warning. The air felt heavier. The winds steadily rose.
Zipping through the city on the fastest vehicles in the royal fleet, X, Zane, Magnar, Khalon, and I followed the Commander’s directions. At the mouth of Zertan’s industrial district, we dismounted the conveyances at a wordless order from X.
Giant glass-sided warehouses rose up toward the desolate dark sky, and we slipped between the huge structures on silent feet. The closer we ranged toward the coordinates of the slave market, the more my hackles rose.
Before we even turned the final corner, I heard the pitiful sound of women weeping. And louder, the harsh guttural snipe of a male auctioning:
“This bitch is a perfect specimen. Made to be kept in captivity. Perhaps even used for bloodsport.”
With a tremendous roar, X spun around the corner. He looked like a dark avenger with his sharp-bladed sword hoisted high.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?”
We rushed right after him, weapons drawn, but what I encountered—the black market—stole my breath for a moment.
I’d been at war, I was used to scenes of terror. But I’d never witnessed anything like this repugnant display. Cages lined the outer wall of the warehouse, stacked four high, one upon the other. And each pen contained five or more women, all crushed inside. Hands reached out from between the bars, fingers grasping only to be struck by the slavers with heavy metal batons.
The stench of filth and decay stung my nose.
The unkempt male, who’d been selling off the woman standing with her ankles hobbled, thrust his chin at X. “Who do you think you are?”
Anger swelled from X, making him even bigger. Anger that seemed to ripple ou
tward, and the other slavers must’ve felt it, because they began to cower back, away from the cages.
Scurrying, like vermin to be crushed underfoot.
“Who do I think I am? WHO DO YOU FUCKING THINK YOU ARE? You have the audacity to conduct illegal trade of human flesh out in the open!” X boomed. “You have the audacity to sell human beings at all on MY planet?”
He pounded forward. “I’m the king of Zenithia!”
With one swift move, he ran his sword straight through the slaver’s midsection, blood spewing when X withdrew the blade. Spinning around on his next pass, he sliced the male’s head clean off so it bounced to the ground.
After that, mayhem ensued.
“It’s the king!”
“It’s a raid!”
“THIS WILL NOT STAND!” X pivoted to the next target, clenching the male by the scruff of his neck.
The skies opened almost like the king’s uncontained wrath brought on the full force of nusoon season.
The skies opened . . . and so did many throats, slit from ear to ear as the rest of us went on the attack. The cowards tried to put up a little fight, but they were no match for the brute force and agile skill of seasoned Valkrane warriors.
We dispatched the slavers to their deaths, vengeance pouring off us like the rain pouring over us. Blood ran with the falling water, soaking the ground in red.
But X wasn’t done as he gave his final order. “All heads are to be spiked on the gates of Zertan as a warning. Any offense against any human will be met with immediate execution!”
Bright flashes jagged down as lightning joined the fury of the storm, rain slashing in blinding sheets. And we turned our attention to the cages full of women. Crying women. Thankful women. Hurt and hungry women.
Freeing them reminded me of the first time I’d encountered Laurel on the planet Skeer. Skinny to the point of starvation, she’d hurled herself into my and Jedrek’s arms.
She was no longer that browbeaten girl, but a full-grown woman.
A hover transport arrived, and we helped the females on board, into safety and warmth.
X ducked his head inside, sheathing his mighty sword in its scabbard. “You’ll be taken to the palace. The healer will look after you.” Emotion rumbled through his voice.
