by Cynthia Sax
“And his people? What will you do with them?” Lea asked. “Will you punish them for seeking a homeland? For choosing Chamele 4, a planet no other Chamele wants?”
“They want the entire system.” Berke’s black eyes flashed. “His clones think they can rule us.”
“We can rule you.” Tolui flew forward. Berke raised his hands, bracing for impact. Tolui pierced the Berke’s flesh with his claws, pushed off the Chamele’s broad shoulders, flipped his body in the air, and landed behind Berke.
“Stars, he’s fast.” Ellie’s eyes widened. Berke spun on his heels and glared at Tolui. Blood trickled down the Chamele’s chest.
“Yes, they could rule you.” Lea tilted her chin upward, her heart filled with pride. “Yet they don’t want to.” She stepped toward them. “All they want is Chamele 4, a planet you use only for hunting, a planet squatters around the universe know is easy to land upon.”
Ellie snorted softly and Berke’s face darkened. “Again, clone.” The Chamele lowered his head and barreled toward Tolui. Tolui leaped into the air. Claws raked skin. The males bellowed, landing on their knees, their bodies striped with deep gashes.
Tolui’s pain cut through Lea. “That’s enough.” She couldn’t watch more. “Your fight is over. You’re both fierce warriors.” She sheathed her daggers and touched Tolui’s right shoulder, needing to touch him, to assure herself he lived.
“They’re both something. That I agree,” Ellie added dryly. “Chamele 4 is not that different from Gehenna 5, Berke.” She holstered her guns. “We could monitor their activities closely if they resided here.” She brushed a strand of hair away from Berke’s face.
The grim Warlord turned his head and pressed his cheek into the small human’s hand. “True.” Silence stretched, Berke’s expression unreadable. “Tolui doesn’t leave the planet.” He retracted his claws. “And he returns all of the females and offspring he’s taken.”
“If they wish to be returned.” Tolui leaned back, trusting Lea to hold him. She would. She’d never allow him to fall. “They’ve been treated very well. Multiple warriors dote over the mateless females and fatherless offspring.”
“They were taken against their will.” Berke jutted his jaw. “And their mates were killed in battle, battles against your clones.”
“Tolui?” Lea pressed her lips against Tolui’s shoulder, tasting the salt on his skin. Did he steal people from their homes?
He sighed. “It was done without my knowledge and the warriors were disciplined. They didn’t do anything other than take them…and lavish care upon them.”
“We take care of our people.” Berke glowered.
“And we take care of our Warlord,” Four announced, his voice coming from behind Lea. “We have your back, my lord. Are we fighting?”
“No,” Lea and Ellie said in unison. Berke pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, his lips lifting into a small smile.
“My gerel is correct, Four.” Tolui captured Lea’s hand and pulled her arm around his bloody torso, binding their bodies closer together. “We’re no longer fighting. We’re negotiating for our homeland.”
The males behind them cheered.
* * * * *
Many moments later, Lea cuddled against Tolui’s fully healed form, the contact reassuring him. “They won’t hurt me.” Her brown eyes sparkled. “You can return to your warriors.”
“I’m remaining here.” Tolui wasn’t taking any more risks with his female’s safety, having almost lost her this planet rotation. He glared at the three Warlords leaning against the rock walls of their living chambers. They watched with arms crossed and small smiles on their rugged faces as their human gerels oohed and aahed over Lea’s assortment of garments.
“The angriest female is spending too much time in our sleeping chambers.” Tolui nodded toward the entrance. “I don’t trust her.” The little bounty hunter’s violent mood swings scared all of the Chamele warriors including her mate, Khan.
“I trust Zeta.” Lea brushed her lips over his, her touch distracting Tolui. “She appreciates good garment construction.” She skipped away from him, returning to the other females.
“Your reasoning isn’t logical.” Tolui rolled his eyes. “Appreciation of garments has no bearing on a female’s threat level.”
The Warlords inhaled sharply, their heads turning toward him. “You must not have been bonded for many planet rotations.” Murad, the never-serious Warlord, laughed. “Telling a female her reasoning isn’t logical will result in a stun gun to the stomach.”
“Murad knows this truth from his own experience.” Khan’s hands rested on the hilts of his daggers, the Warlord always prepared for battle. “How many times has Gale stunned you?”
“How many planet rotations have I known her?” Murad grinned, his sharp white teeth flashing in his tanned face. “She’s the fiercest gerel.”
“Ellie is the fiercest gerel,” Berke, the eldest Warlord, rumbled. “She trained Gale and Zeta.”
Tolui said nothing, knowing the truth. Lea was the fiercest gerel, his little human female willing to risk her life to protect him, a clone.
“The chest covering doesn’t fit,” Zeta shrieked. The little female stood at the entrance to the sleeping chambers, her fingers clenched into tight fists, her eyes blazing with emotion. “I’m bigger than a full-grown unee.” The chest covering she wore was only partially fastened, the leather parting over her round belly.
“Zeta is the fiercest,” the three other males stated, Tolui silently agreeing with them.
He moved closer to Lea, prepared to protect her from the logic-deprived female. Berke and Murad looked toward Khan as though expecting him to steady Zeta’s volatile emotions. Khan froze in place, a flicker of fear crossing his face, and Berke shoved him forward.
“You’re beautiful.” The Warlord tread soundlessly toward his gerel, stalking his female as a warrior would stalk a wild beast. “You glow brighter than our sun.” Khan clasped Zeta’s wrists and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m bigger than our sun.” Zeta glared up at Khan, twisting out of his grip. “You did this to me.” She punched his shoulder, skin slapping against skin. “None of my chest coverings fit and the garments in the replicator are hideous.”
“I agree.” Gale, Murad’s curvaceous gerel, nodded her blonde head.
“You’re not helping.” Khan glared at Gale. Gale grinned at him. Khan shook his head and returned his attention to his gerel. “Your new friend Lea could construct some garments for you.” He brushed strands of hair back from Zeta’s flushed face.
“Could she?” Tolui growled, irritated that Khan dared to issue commands to Lea.
“She could.” Khan met his gaze. “As her Warlord owes me several ships.”
“That seems a fair trade.” Lea moved between them. “We’ll choose some designs and I’ll construct them for you, Zeta.”
Zeta beamed, her fury dissipating as quickly as storm clouds passing in front of the sun. Khan’s shoulders lowered, his relief palpable.
“Will you craft some garments for me also?” Gale asked.
“Yes,” Lea agreed, her voice lilting with excitement. “And I’ll construct some garments for Ellie also.” She shared a smile with Berke’s serious gerel.
Tolui frowned, not wishing Lea to have anything more to do with the Warlords and their gerels. Less than a planet rotation ago, they were the enemy and he didn’t trust them or the tenuous peace between their people. “Lea—”
She pressed her body against his, her touch scattering his protest. “I need to measure them,” she whispered. “Could you find a task for the males to complete?” Tolui opened his mouth. “This could be the beginning of trade between our planets.” Her small form vibrated with an excitement he didn’t have the heart to dampen. “Please, Tolui?”
“They could hurt you,” he repeated his concern. “There are three of them.”
“I’m armed.” She tapped the hilts of her daggers. “And they will be n
aked.” Lea stroked his bare chest, her rough fingers spreading waves of awareness over his body. “Trust me to protect myself, love.”
Love. “I trust you.” Tolui sighed. “All of the males are to leave the chambers now.” He pointed at the exit. “That includes you, Khan.”
The Warlords embraced their gerels and left without any protest. Tolui surveyed their living chambers. The females buzzed over the garments, holding the hides up to their bodies. They appeared harmless but, in the past, he’d seen so-called harmless beings kill.
“If you feel at all threatened, call for me.” Tolui stroked Lea’s arm, reluctant to part from her.
“I’ll be well. Go.” She pushed him toward the exit. “Make peace with the other Warlords.”
Tolui trailed the others through the tunnels, tracking them silently. They taunted and joked with each other, the three of them brothers, natural sons of the source who’d abandoned him.
In the past, his source’s abandonment had fueled Tolui’s ambition. His past no longer had that power over him. Lea had found him. She loved him, accepted him. Tolui stopped and looked back toward their chambers, yearning to rejoin her.
“Your gerel will be safe with Ellie.” Berke turned, misunderstanding the source of Tolui’s hesitation. “Ellie didn’t want me to hurt you.” Shadows crossed his scarred face. “Until our confrontation aboard my ship, I didn’t know you were my father’s clone.”
He didn’t know? Tolui stared at his nemesis. “Wasn’t your mother aware of my existence?” And why didn’t she come for me?
“No, she doesn’t know about you and I’d prefer she doesn’t ever find out who your source was.” Berke held his gaze. “She’d feel betrayed if she discovered my father kept such a large secret.”
I know all about betrayal. My source, Berke’s father, cared so little about me he told no one I existed. “I’ll keep his secret.” Tolui pushed his bitterness away and concentrated on the future, a future filled with peace and love and Lea. “As long as my gerel and my people live in peace.”
“We wish for peace also,” Khan rumbled, standing behind Berke.
“You wish for peace in your own home.” Murad laughed. “Berke, you’ll be next Warlord soothing a hostile offspring-nurturing female.”
The corners of Berke’s mouth lifted. “No, your turn is next, little brother. You should hide Gale’s guns now.”
“You’re both incorrect,” Tolui informed them smugly, the vision of Lea rounded with his offspring loosening his lips. “I’ll be the next Warlord with naturally born offspring.” He’d seen the envy on Lea’s face when she looked at Khan’s gerel. It was an envy he shared.
“It takes more than one rutting to produce offspring, friend,” Murad jibed.
Friend. Tolui gazed at the Warlord with suspicion, not trusting his casual words. “Perhaps for you it’ll take more than one rutting. I am a clone.” He lifted his chin proudly, fully embracing who he was for the first time in his existence. “A clone’s genetic enhancements increase the probability of offspring.”
“No,” Khan barked, his eyes widening. “You’re not to rut with Lea until my gerel’s garments are completed. I beg this of you, Tolui. Zeta will slice me into small pieces.”
Murad whooped with laughter, and Berke’s lips twitched. Tolui turned around and prowled toward the chambers, determined to disobey Khan’s command and give Lea the offspring they both wanted.
Chapter Seven
“I’ll add folds in the hide.” Lea draped the design over Zeta’s stomach, suppressing her envy. Offspring would come. She had to be patient. “It’ll be comfortable.”
“If you added sheaths, I could hide my daggers and guns in the folds.” Her new friend’s eyes gleamed, the bounty hunter insisting all of the garments were as practical as they were beautiful.
“Yes.” Lea nodded, enjoying having the other females to discuss her designs with. “I—”
“Shhh…” Ellie held up her index finger and Lea stopped talking. Boots rang against stone, the heavy tread echoing through the tunnels. “Someone’s coming.”
The females silently gathered their clothes and weapons. Lea extracted her daggers, prepared to defend her customers.
“I’m entering our chambers,” Tolui boomed.
“No, you’re not,” Lea yelled, her fear flowing into arousal. “I’ll stop him,” she assured Ellie, Gale and Zeta.
“I’m sure you will.” Gale grinned. “There’s a chamber to the right. I stopped Murad there earlier.” Her new friends laughed.
Lea rolled her eyes. “I’m not stopping him that way.” She darted through the entrance and slammed face first into a wall of male muscle. She bounced backward.
Tolui strapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. “Rutting with me is the only way you’ll stop me.” The hard ridge in his leg coverings pressed against her. “I need you, gerel.” He smelled of musk and unrelenting male.
One of the females sniggered and Lea’s face heated. “But—”
“No but.” He lifted her into the air and slung her over his shoulder. The impact pushed the air from her lungs and she struggled, kicking. “Be still.” Tolui slapped her ass, his palm large and rough and heavy.
Desire blazed over her skin. Her pussy moistened and her nipples tightened. “Let me down.” She beat his shoulders, turning his tanned skin pink. “I’m taking care of my customers.”
“I’m your number-one customer.” Tolui stalked through the tunnels, his tread once more silent. “You’ll take care of me.” He swatted her ass again and again, heating her curves through her leather leg coverings, escalating her need for him. “It’s been too long.”
“Yes,” Lea agreed, threading her fingers through his long straight black hair, relishing the softness. “It’s been too long.” Tolui’s loving blows slowed and she wiggled, hoping to earn more punishment.
“You move too much.” Tolui obligingly increased his tempo, smacking his palm against her bottom and she moaned softly. “You’ve been a bad slave.” He rubbed his fingers into her abused flesh, spreading the delectable burn.
“You’ll have to reprimand me.” Her voice was husky with want. “So I won’t misbehave again.” She tugged on his hair.
Tolui growled and slid her down his body, her leather-clad legs gliding along his chest. Her gaze leveled with his, his eyes as black as a starless night. “Once I’m done reprimanding you, you won’t misbehave again.”
He extended his claws and raked the deadly tips over her garments, shredding them into thin strips. The strips fell to the floor, leaving her completely naked, exposed, at his mercy.
“Won’t I?” Lea breathed heavily, stimulated by his aggression.
“You won’t.” Tolui retracted his claws, stepped forward and pinned her against a cool rock wall, his unyielding physique flattening her breasts. “I’m a Warlord now.” He lifted his square chin proudly, his cheeks marked with scars. “I won’t tolerate insubordination.”
“Especially not from your slave.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and rested her hands on his shoulders, the warmth of his body permeating her skin, battling the chill from the stone. Her ass burned, every brush of the rock sending seductive waves over her.
“A slave’s mouth isn’t to be used for talking.” His gaze lowered to her lips.
She licked her dry flesh and he tracked the movement of her tongue. “What is it to be used for?”
“For this.” Tolui crushed his lips against hers, pushing her head back, his embrace as savage as he was. Lea didn’t open to him, deliberately taunting her primitive male.
A rumble rolled up Tolui’s chest, his skin vibrating against hers, and he bit her bottom lip. She gasped, the pain sharp and stimulating, exactly what she needed, and he surged inside her, filling her mouth with his tongue. He tasted of the charred meat they’d served their guests and of fermented ground berry juice, his flavor edged with tartness.
Lea sucked on Tolui’s tongue as she longed to suck on
his cock, savoring the taste and feel of him, lavishing him with her love. He was her master and her slave, her present and her future, her heart and her soul. She undulated against him, rubbing her breasts across his chest and her mons over the bulge in his leg coverings.
He gripped her curls and pulled her head back. “I love you, Lea.” The raw emotion in his voice thrilled her. “I love you more than anything, more than equality, more than freedom, more than life.”
Tolui dragged his hot mouth over her chin, down her neck, his teeth lightly scraping her skin, sending shivers down her spine. “Only with you am I whole and right and loved.”
He fastened his lips to the base of her neck and inhaled, pulling on her skin, marking her, claiming her. “Yes.” Lea moaned and arched, grasping his head, holding him to her. “I love you too, Tolui, so much, too much.” She squirmed, branding him with her wetness, spreading her scent over his leg coverings. “It scares me sometimes.”
“I’ll never hurt you.” He lowered his head, nudging her right breast. “I’ll never leave you. You’re mine.” Tolui covered her nipple with his mouth and slowly, tantalizingly increased his suction.
“I’m yours,” she cried out, pushing her curves forward. He flicked his tongue over her, fracturing her control more. Tolui sucked and released, varying hot mouth and cool air, exquisite pressure and glorious liberation. Lea pulsed to his ruthless rhythm, her thighs trembling, her need growing.
Tolui switched breasts, showering her curves with loving attention, leaving her nipples red and delightfully passion-swollen. Lea moved against him, trapped between his hard body and the even harder stone wall, the cool air not dampening the heat. Perspiration beaded on her skin.
“Fill me, Tolui.” She licked his shoulder and he shuddered, raising his head. “I’m empty, so very empty.” She nipped at his skin. “I need you inside me.”
“Behave.” Tolui squeezed her right breast with his fingers and she whimpered, her need spiraling upward. “I’ll take you when you’re ready for me.” He met her gaze, his eyes dark and his expression stern. “You’re strong. You can last longer.”
