by Cynthia Sax
“Come for me, gerel,” Khan grunted against her neck, laboring over her, his muscles rippling.
“Can’t,” she panted, squeezing his fingers, not wishing this fuck to end, knowing once she came, he’d soon follow. “More.”
“Zeta,” he barked and she jerked, her body responding to his voice. “I said come.” He mashed his lips against hers, grinding her flesh into her teeth, the pain snipping her control.
She screamed into his mouth, tasting blood and fire and man, her body, mind, soul spinning into the blazing sun, waves of passionate heat surging over her. He thrust deep, she clenched down on his shaft, and he froze, growing larger inside.
Larger. Zeta struggled, her body stretched beyond all possibility. Can’t. She thrashed, struggling to free herself, her hips pinned by his.
“Gerel,” he roared. A blast of hot cum shot out of his cock, rushed between her pussy walls, and slammed into her cervix, the unexpected pain setting off another round of explosions within Zeta.
“Khan,” she whispered, her mind blank, her thoughts scorched. She slid her ankles down his thighs, too drained to hold on to him. “What was that?”
“Everything,” Khan sighed, collapsing on top of her, flattening her exhausted body, his weight comfortingly solid. “We are bonded now,” he murmured against her skin. “Belonging only to each other.”
In his dreams. “That wasn’t bonding. We fucked. It was a great fuck, a different type of fuck, but still a fuck.” She frowned. Why would he think any differently? “Haven’t you done that before?”
“Never bonded.” His voice was muffled. “Only with you.”
My big bad barbarian was a virgin? Zeta blinked. “Yes…well…umm…you were very good at it.” She squeezed his fingers. “Extremely good.” Too good. “Are you sure you haven’t fucked before?” She shifted under him.
He braced himself upward. “I’ve fucked before, many times.” His lips twitched. “That was not fucking. That was bonding. We only bond with one person. No other female will ever please me. No other male will ever touch you.”
If what he says is true, I’ll be dependent upon him. “No, you’re wrong.” She squirmed, yearning to be free, his cock remaining lodged deep inside her pussy, his size having shrunk from massive to huge. “Your rules don’t apply to me. I’m not a Chamele.”
“Yes, you’ll feel the effects even more.” Khan smirked, his gaze possessive and arousing.
Arousing? “Get off me, you big barbarian.” She slapped his shoulders, disturbed by her need for him, a need that should have been sated after her two orgasms.
“I’ll get off you…for now.” Khan obligingly stood, his cock slipping from her, limp and spent, his skin covered with her juices. “You’ll need to dress and collect a change of garments. Wear those sturdy boots. It’s a difficult trek to the caves.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She scrambled off the rock, her ugly boots sinking into the sand. The sun beat down on her bare breasts, her annual injection of sun blocker preventing any burning.
“I wasn’t giving you a choice.” Khan glanced significantly at her ship’s gaping entrance, the door tossed onto the nearby sand as though it weighed nothing. “Collect your things.” He extended his claws, his full threat unspoken yet effectively communicated.
“Those things will include more than a change of garments,” she muttered, heading to the ship to collect guns, her remaining daggers, and a set of her sturdiest restraints.
Her barbarian Warlord laughed.
Beautiful. Khan watched Zeta stomp toward her ship, her stride long, her hips swaying, her long brown curls brushing over her firm ass. That ass belongs to me now. He grinned, the tantalizing scent of her pussy clinging to his skin, teasing him.
She looked back over her pale shoulder and her brown eyes flashed. “You won’t laugh when I collect the bounty on your ass,” she threatened. She leaped gracefully into her ship, his seed running down her legs, a glistening brand reflecting the light.
“If you collect the bounty.” He issued a challenge he had to lose, Berke’s plan to trap Tolui depending upon her trading him for the credits, their brief separation dreaded yet necessary.
She flicked her fingers at him, adorably defiant, and she disappeared into her ship.
Will she ambush me when I retrieve her? Khan reached for his own pack, extracted his battle gear, and dressed slowly, allowing her time to prepare. Or will she wait? He hummed a Chamele fighting song, foreseeing a life filled with challenge and excitement, his gerel strong and unpredictable.
“And I was worried the peace Berke strives for would bore me,” he mused, strapping his sword to his back, its weight feeling as familiar and right as Zeta’s embrace. Made for me.
Khan slung his pack over one shoulder and strode to the ship, unable to wait any longer for his female. He reached the entrance without being fired upon. Is that a good sign? He pressed his ear against a panel, the heat scorching his skin, and he listened.
She grumbled about barbarian asses and not needing anyone, especially not him. Khan chuckled, her profanity-filled affirmations lacking conviction, her soul already bound to his.
Her small boots rang on the mesh floor. Khan turned and leaned back on the exterior of her ship, crossing one foot casually in front of the other, his boots as sturdy as hers.
“I’m coming with you out of curiosity, not because you ordered me to.” She glared down at him, dressed in dark green, her utilitarian shirt and leg coverings clinging to her slight curves. “I haven’t yet seen the caves.”
“Your reasons are noted.” He nodded, smothering his smile, as she scrunched up her freckled nose, her expression endearingly disgruntled.
“These aren’t simply for decoration.” She rested her slender fingers on the hilt of a dagger, one sheath conspicuously empty. “If I wanted to defeat you, I could.”
Unlikely. His lips twitched. “Defeating me will be easier with all of your daggers.” He reached inside his pack and lobbed the retrieved dagger to her.
Zeta caught it easily. “What?” She gazed down at the weapon and her mouth dropped open, her bottom lip trembling. “How?” She looked away but not fast enough to conceal the wet sheen in her eyes.
“I told you I’d give you everything,” he reminded her gruffly, as uncomfortable as she was with her display of emotion. “Come.” He reached his arms out to her.
Zeta sheathed the dagger, her movements jerky. “I can get off my own damn ship,” she grumbled, placing her hands on his shoulders, her grip felt through the leather.
“I know you can.” He lowered her, savoring her softness, her curves, sliding her body along his until her feet touched the sand. “Other than my mother, you’re the strongest female I know.”
“You have a mother?” Her gaze met his, her eyes wide.
He smiled at the disbelief in her voice. “Yes, even Warlords have mothers.” He clasped her hand, walking with her toward the caves.
“It’s not that,” she mumbled, her neck bowed. She kicked the sand with her toes of her boots, fighting nature as she fought him. “It’s…” She shook her head, her hair pulled back from her face, fastened with what appeared to be a cable.
Khan strode in silence, waiting for her to continue, familiar with her background, having researched her extensively, but wanting to hear it directly from her.
“My mother’s dead,” Zeta relayed, her voice robotic, stripped of emotion. “My father is too but I don’t remember him.” She tugged on her hand. Khan held on, preventing her physical retreat. “I thought you were alone like me. I thought…” She shifted the pack slung over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”
“You’re not alone.” Khan veered closer to Zeta, fighting the desire to put his arm around her and comfort her, suspecting she wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. “You’ll never be alone again. You’re mine.”
“No.” Her chin lifted. “I’m not yours and I don’t care that I’m alone, that I’ve always been alone. I
don’t need anyone. I can take care of myself.”
They walked, together yet separate, an emotional wall between them. Khan glanced down at Zeta’s stubborn face. Deep grooves had formed between her finely arched eyebrows and her plush kissable lips were pressed together.
He sighed, the next move clearly his. “My father’s death taught us that also, that we could take care of ourselves.”
She sniffed.
“I don’t need anyone either,” he added softly. “But I want someone. I want you.”
“You shouldn’t want me.” Her arm brushed against his as the path narrowed, squeezed by rock walls, the shade of the surrounding cliffs dropping the temperature significantly. “You can’t trust me. I’m a bounty hunter and I will collect the bounty on you. I have to.”
“You haven’t captured me yet.” Khan’s deceit niggled at him, his gerel too honest about her plans, too intent upon warning him.
“But if you do, I’ll survive.” He forced a casual shrug, not having a choice about continuing, his brothers depending upon him. Berke’s plan had been set before Khan had met Zeta, before he’d discovered how special she was, how unique, how his. “If your client could capture me himself, he wouldn’t have to pay you.”
“I’m very good at my job.” Zeta glared at him, her feistiness delighting Khan.
“Which is why you might, just might, succeed in capturing me.” He rushed to soothe her ruffled pride, a pride worthy of a Warlord’s lady. “He has to hold me and he doesn’t have your skills.” They approached the mouth of the cave.
“Not many people have my skills.” She tossed her head, her long tail of hair bouncing. “Or yours.” The lines reappeared between her eyebrows. “With your ability to turn invisible, you’d be a difficult target to hold.”
“Chameles blend into environments. It is an ability we all have.” Khan slid his palm along the damp cool cave wall and he tapped on the controls, deactivating the alarms. Lights cascaded before them. Zeta didn’t wait for an invitation, walking ahead of him, her shoulders square and her spine straight.
Fearless. He grinned.
“Most containment centers have weaknesses, even a top security prison such as Gehenna 5.” She glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze, glimmering light reflected in her eyes. “That’s how prisoners escape in the first place.”
Khan rested one of his hands on the small of her back, needing to touch her. Zeta’s eyes widened and her breath caught, the small sound exciting him. He stepped forward, his gaze lowering to her lips.
“No.” She turned her head sharply, facing forward. The heels of her boots rang on the hard stone, the rush of the surrounding underground streams softening the sound. “We can’t do this.”
“We can.” He followed her, not allowing her to evade him. “And we will.” His declaration echoed in the narrow space. “Tell me how the prisoners escape,” he asked, trying to distract her from the danger-filled future neither of them could evade.
“So you can escape too?” Her shoulders eased lower. Khan didn’t answer, Tolui striving to kill him, not contain him. “When we retrieve prisoners, they brag about how they did it.”
Zeta’s voice flowed over him as she shared the weaknesses of an appallingly large number of prisons, his female’s past littered with the worst criminals in the galaxies. Her past has made her tough. He splayed his fingers across her back, her form tiny yet strong, strength a trait he admired and required in a gerel, the planet he ruled populated with the fiercest warriors in the Chamele sector.
“And if you—” Zeta stopped short upon entering the first room. Khan bumped against her, his hard cock connecting with her ass. “Don’t touch me.” She scurried away from him, as skittish as a baby aduu. “I’m collecting the bounty on you. We shouldn’t do this.” She waved her hands, activating the remote communicator.
“Zeta.” Khan lunged forward.
“My lord,” a deep voice rumbled in Chamele. His first’s scarred face appeared on the cave wall, his long gun in his hand.
“Khan, down.” Zeta barreled into him, toppling him backward, her guns drawn and her expression panicked. Khan landed hard on his ass, pain shooting up his torso.
“Drop your weapon or die.” She sprawled on top of Khan, her guns aimed at his top warrior’s projection. “This is your first and final warning.”
“Your gerel is protecting you, my lord.” Oghul grinned. The projected warriors to his left and to his right boomed with laughter. The image flickered.
“Oh.” Zeta’s face reddened. “Son of a Palavian whore.” She turned to Khan, her lips flattening. “You should have warned me it was a projection.”
She slapped his shoulder with her gun, the sting sharp and arousing. His warriors laughed louder. Oghul bent over, holding his stomach, tears of mirth rolling down his ruddy cheeks.
“They think I’m a fool.” Zeta hit Khan again, the smack of metal against leather loud and punishing.
“They think you’re fierce.” Khan grinned, amused by her reaction. “And worthy of their Warlord.” He wrapped his arms around his feisty female and pulled her onto his lap. She squirmed and he groaned softly, her movements tormenting his hard cock.
“Oghul, I will speak with you at a future time.” Khan twisted the guns out of Zeta’s grasp and placed them carefully on the stone floor.
“We are happy for you, my lord.” The transmission ended, the warrior’s laughing image fading.
Khan scooped his wiggling female up and moved her to a wide pile of furs, the makeshift bed designed for rutting. “Transmit Chamele 2 images.” Panoramic views of his planet surrounded them.
Zeta stilled, turning her head from left to right, her eyes wide, her lips parting. “Our planet,” he stated softly, tension stretching across the breadth of his shoulders. Does she like her new home?
Chapter Three
“Beautiful,” Zeta murmured. Khan’s planet was green and lush with vegetation. Clear water rushed over purple cliffs. Brightly colored winged creatures circled in the sky, their calls shrill. A young boy ran along a field of tall yellow grass, his body fading and reappearing, his laughter trailing behind him. He looked over his shoulder and called words Zeta didn’t understand. A female waved, a baby on her hip, a sword strapped to her back.
“She’s a warrior.” She turned in Khan’s lap and gazed up at him, seeking confirmation.
“Chamele 2 is a wealthy planet.” Khan casually shrugged as though a female warrior wasn’t a wondrous thing, as though he expected a female to be strong, skilled in war, able to live independently, to survive on their own.
I can’t care for him. Zeta dropped her pack to the cave floor, the restraints remaining within reach, a reminder of what she should do, what she had to do.
“Many species covet our resources.” Khan set his own pack beside hers. “If we’re attacked, every being on Chamele could be called upon to defend our lands and our people.”
I’m taking their best warrior, their leader, away from them. She furiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, her anger revived by guilt. “You shouldn’t have brought me here.” She tired to pull away from Khan. He wouldn’t allow her to move, his grip on her secure. “I’m collecting the bounty on you,” she warned, wishing he’d listen to her and run, taking that option away from her.
“I know.” Khan reclined on the furs, pulling her back with him, his breath wafting on her hair, his body warming her, the cave cool and damp.
Projected stars shone on the stone ceiling, Zeta recognizing the constellations she’d navigated through to reach Chamele 4. Water dripped, the sound dividing their remaining time together into precious fragments.
Khan is a fierce Warlord. She tapped the hilt of her mother’s dagger, the dagger he’d retrieved for her, his selfless act deepening a connection she couldn’t emotionally or financially afford. I’ll collect the bounty on him, I have to, but he’ll escape. He’s a warrior. No one will harm him.
Zeta relaxed, sinking deeper into Khan’s
muscular form, trusting in his ability to free himself from any captor. He stroked her, slowly, gently, the contrast between his tanned fingers and her pale arms intriguing, his caresses feeling too right, too lasting.
This bond between us won’t last, not after I betray him, not after I take him away from his people. “Could that warrior…”
“Oghul.” Khan supplied the name.
“Oghul,” she repeated, hoarding that information in case she needed it, not because she cared. “Could he lead your warriors in your absence?”
“Hmmm…” Khan moved his hands upward, grazing her breasts, and her nipples tightened. “With my brothers’ help, yes.”
“Brothers?” Zeta asked, longing lilting her voice. He has so much—a planet, a people, a mother, brothers, love, everything a being could ever want.
Yet he chooses to be here with me. He wants me.
“I have two brothers,” Khan shared. “My eldest brother Berke’s planet is the farthest from the sun.” He circled the indent over her bellybutton, his touch burning through her clothing, dissipating her lingering doubts.
“He guards entry to the system.” Khan skimmed his fingertips downward, blazing a trail of arousal across her stomach, scorching every emotion except for desire. Zeta sucked in her breath and waited, wanting, needing his touch.
Khan retreated. “Murad’s planet has an orbit slightly larger than Chamele 4’s.” He caressed her collarbone, sliding his hands underneath her shirt, his skin calloused and rough.
“Our planet, the most fertile.” Khan cupped her breasts and she arched, pressing her nipples into his palms. “Is between the two, protected.” He squeezed and released, squeezed and released. “Cherished.” She moaned, writhing on top of him, her body ablaze, her arousal undeniable. “Loved.”
Loved. Zeta swallowed her envy, love only bringing pain. “You left that planet you supposedly love.” She pointed out. As he’ll leave me. Everyone always either leaves me or dies.
Khan flipped her onto her back and gazed down at her, his eyes as dark as the simulated sky above them. “We leave but we always return.”
