Dark Thoughts

by Cynthia Sax

  Shrouding himself in shadow, Kralj leaned against an exterior wall and forced himself to listen.

  “The pregnant females are the best,” Todt-931, the leader, boasted. “They cry and plead for me not to hurt their babies, allowing me to do anything I want with them.”

  “They don’t fight you at all.” Todt-933, the weakest of the three clones, was eager to please his brother. “That last one willingly took it up the ass.”

  Kralj’s top lip curled. Some of his Humanoid Alliance keepers had tortured the other modified males that way, humiliating and hurting them.

  They hadn’t dared use him like that. Even his makers feared him.

  “When I kill them,” Todt-931 continued, ignoring the other male. “I tell them what I’ll do with those babies they’ve tried to protect. The last thing they see is their little bodies in my bloody hands.”

  The clone laughed and the others joined in, their thoughts more horrifying than their words. They were disturbed individuals, had done brutish things that would sicken the staunchest being, disgust the most seasoned of female assassins.

  Those things had been done in the past, Kralj reminded himself.

  In the Refuge, a being’s personal history was forgotten. Everyone, including the clones, Sari, himself, was given a fresh start. It didn’t matter that he’d killed a female he’d viewed as a companion, eating her in a crazed fit of hunger, or that he had once lost control of his powers and decimated an entire settlement, ending the lifespans of not only the residents living there but also the modified humanoids trusting him to lead them, beings he’d foolishly viewed as friends.

  He was a different male now, honorable, responsible, in control.

  The clones deserved that same opportunity. They hadn’t broken his rules, hadn’t killed any other being while they were within the settlement.

  Their thoughts hadn’t changed but neither had his.

  His beast still hungered for blood, wanting to kill, to rip out throats. His scarier humanoid side yearned for freedom, the tension inside him constantly there.

  Kralj walked the inside perimeters of the settlement, searching, searching. When he reached the west wall, he found it. The most delectable scent filled his lungs, making him lightheaded with need, with wanting.

  Dita was close.

  Warriors patrolled the walls. Orol, his second in command, flew in lazy circles overhead. None of those skilled males had detected her. Only he had.

  What did that mean?

  Mate, his beast rumbled.

  She wasn’t his mate but they were connected. Kralj climbed to the top of the walls the human way, using the stairs jutting from the stone.

  His beast panted, thrilled with Dita’s proximity. It thought it would breed with her.

  His beast would be disappointed. If she dared to climb his walls, Kralj planned to kill the little assassin. He gripped his hands behind his back and walked toward the warrior positioned on that section of wall.

  Your shift has ended. He pushed that thought into the male’s brain, not wanting to give Dita a verbal warning of his intentions.

  The male snapped to attention, turned and left.

  Kralj gazed at the expanse of white sand outside the walls, studying every dune, trying to detect his prey. He smelled her, her scent teasing his nostrils. His beast wanted to give chase.

  He didn’t allow that. Dita hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet. She remained outside the Refuge. As long as she didn’t try to enter the settlement, she was safe from him, from his beast.

  “Are you looking for me, handsome?” Her words were spoken in a whisper, from a distance.

  His senses were enhanced. He heard Dita clearly, located her concealed on a dune, her oh-so-tempting body covered with sand. His heart pounded. His beast howled with joy.

  Stay there. Kralj projected that thought into the void, the mental moat around her brain. The emptiness absorbed it, along with some of his energy, his power. He couldn’t force her to follow his orders.

  He could pin her curvy ass to the ground. He sent a wave of energy over her form.

  The damn female laughed, dug deeper in the sand and rolled to the side. “I’d rather have your hands on me.”

  She jumped to her booted feet and sprinted toward the wall, weaving through the pikes of impaled corpses, not heeding that warning at all.

  He blew out his breath, exasperated, excited. She was intent on dying.

  Kralj straightened, clasping his hands behind him, and waited. He wouldn’t stop her.

  Dita leapt onto the wall and scrambled upward, using tiny grooves in the stone as handholds. His lips flattened. He’d assign beings to smooth the surface. That chink in the Refuge’s defenses was unacceptable.

  She fearlessly climbed. If she made one mistake, he wouldn’t have to kill her. She’d fall to her death. Was she concerned? He scowled. Not at all. She smiled up at him, her beauty hitting him like a punch to his gut, and continued scaling his wall.

  “I’ve got her.” Orol swooped downward.

  Kralj should allow his second-in-command to deal with her. He’d maintain control, wouldn’t be tempted by her gentle caresses, her laughing eyes, teasing words.

  The winged male unfurled his talons, preparing to grab Dita.

  That unleashed a blinding fury inside Kralj, all parts of him incensed, enraged by the action. A male dared to touch his female.

  “Mine,” he roared, blasting his rival with energy, flinging him backward.

  Orol flipped over and over, howling his displeasure, struggling to right himself, to stay in the skies. It took him several moments before his flight leveled.

  Guilt increased Kralj’s anger. Orol had been trying to safeguard the settlement, had viewed Dita as the threat she was. He didn’t know she was Kralj’s foe to fight, his weakness to overcome.

  She belongs to me, he communicated by thought. No one else touches her.

  “I didn’t know.” Orol’s tone was apologetic. He wants her? His private insights irked Kralj. He has never expressed caring for any female.

  He didn’t care for Dita. Kralj gritted his teeth. She was his prey.

  What’s so special about her? The winged male soared above Dita, his keen gaze fixed on her ascending form. He can’t read her thoughts. Is that the attraction?

  The quietness, the mystery, the challenge of figuring out her next move was appealing. Kralj couldn’t deny that. But it wasn’t the extent of his attraction.

  Her tiny size invoked his protective instincts. Her strength and skill earned his admiration. Her intellect stimulated his enhanced brain. Her scent and sheer femininity aroused other parts of his body.

  She was everything a being like him could want—sexy, deadly, clever. His beast, his mind, his entire being ached for her.

  Her death would end that torment.

  Slender fingers curled over the edge of the wall. Her skin was calloused, her fingernails blunt. They were hands belonging to a powerful female, one unafraid of taking action.

  He resisted the urge to assist her. If she wanted to die, she’d have to take the final step on her own.

  Dita heaved herself upward, standing before him, a triumphant grin on her gorgeous face. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

  Her flippancy snapped his restraint. He rushed toward her, wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her to him, smacking her breasts against his chest, her hips against his. “I told you what would happen if you entered my settlement again.”

  She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “I haven’t entered your settlement.” Her blue eyes glowed. “I’m standing on your walls.”

  Fuck. She was right. She hadn’t entered his settlement.

  That didn’t stop him from wanting to punish her. Kralj threaded his fingers through Dita’s dark curls. It was the softest substance he’d ever touched. He twisted her hair around his hand, tugging it tighter and tighter.

  She winced but didn’t protest his rough treatment of her, standing her ground, not
backing down. “Does your monster want to play with mine?”

  “You wouldn’t survive my monster.” And it wanted to do more than play. It wanted to devour her whole. He dipped his head, skimmed his lips over her exposed neck. Blood pumped through a vein there. Kralj breathed deeply. Would she taste as delicious as she smelled?

  “Is that a challenge?” She lifted one leg, twined it around him. Kralj felt her heat through the layers of leather. “I like challenges.”

  “You won’t like this one.” He pulled her head back, licked up her neck, over her chin.

  Her lips parted. He captured them, thrusting his tongue between her blunt white teeth. She gasped at the invasion yet didn’t retreat.

  Their tongues dueled for dominance, sparring, stabbing, feinting left, jabbing right. His beast growled, elated by the contest, by her unique flavor, her strength, the gentle curves of their female.

  And, in this moment, she was theirs. He kept his grip on her hair, lowered his other hand to her ass, squeezing and releasing, squeezing and releasing. She rocked against him, grinding her mons against the bulge in his ass covering.

  He saw no fear in her eyes, no reluctance to touch him. All he viewed was passion, wild and willing and achingly beautiful. Kralj dragged his fangs over her bottom lip, the urge to taste her blood almost unbearably acute.

  Need drummed at him. His beast fought to be freed. The rumbling coming from his chest grew and grew, vibrating his body against hers.

  As though she realized what he craved, Dita pushed against his fangs. Kralj stopped moving, knowing if he didn’t, the sharp tips would puncture her flesh.

  She met his gaze. He read her intentions. His heart pounded and his beast howled. She impaled her bottom lip on his fangs.

  Pain flashed in her eyes. Her muscles flexed against him. The damn female kept pushing until his fangs were fully in her.

  One yank and he’d shred her fragile flesh. Kralj remained still, fighting the compulsion to suck, to drink from her. Her fingers clenched and unclenched his shoulders. She slowly withdrew her lip. Blood flooded his mouth, the sweetest, most delectable liquid he’d ever tasted.

  He took one sip of it and he was lost.

  The wind whipped around them. Stone rocked, the wall threatening to crumble beneath their booted feet. Beings would die due to his lack of restraint and he no longer cared.

  All he knew was her.

  Chapter Four

  Dita knew the moment Kralj let go.

  The stars glowing in his dark eyes went supernova. Gusts of wind batted against her back. The wall shook. He sucked on her bottom lip as though his life depended on her blood.

  His reaction both thrilled and frightened her. He wanted her more than anyone had ever wanted her and she would survive his monster.

  But the beings below them might not.

  Dita bracketed his face with her hands. “Direct that power into me, handsome.”

  Her voice was muffled by his lips yet he must have understood. He gazed at her with a heart-stopping intensity. The shaking stopped. The wind eased.

  He needed her, needed this.

  He simply didn’t realize that. Not yet.

  She slipped her hands between the folds of his long coat, glided her fingers over his collarbone, found the ridges on one of his shoulders. Those were the only scars she could feel. His pecs were flat and defined and perfect. His abs were finely sculpted, fluttering under her palms. He was hard and warm.

  Her wounds healed and he opened them again, piercing her flesh in the exact same place, the pain thrilling her, wetting her pussy. He didn’t withdraw, sucking her blood though his fangs. Her entire body throbbed to the same rhythm, to that erotic tug and pull. Everywhere he touched, she tingled and fizzed.

  He was devouring her and she was savoring him, relishing the rare contact in an otherwise solitary lifespan. She would die by his hand, not now but soon. This would be her last mission. This could be her last kiss.

  She wanted more. Dita rubbed her hands over the bulge in his ass coverings. He was long and thick, excitingly erect, pressing against the black leather. She pressed back, stroking him, and he moaned, the sound stuck deep in his chest, rattling around, unable to find release.

  She’d help him escape his confines, topple his self-erected walls. Dita unfastened his ass covering, slid her hands inside, touched hot, hard cock. He jerked, rearing backward.

  “Shhh…I have you,” she murmured, pumping him. “Drink from me while I take care of you.”

  Kralj glanced downward, between them, at her fingers curled around his shaft. His gaze lifted to her bottom lip. She felt the blood beading on her flesh, withstood the urge to swipe it away with her tongue.

  “I can’t resist you.” His head dipped once more. He drew her lip into his mouth, pulling on it. Her shoulders lowered. He wouldn’t stop her, wouldn’t fling him from her, banishing her from his side as he had in the past.

  She ran her hands up and down his cock. He was the softness of a worn leather sheath over the rigidity of a dagger’s blade, his hairless base reminding her he was more than human. This male was a weapon, savage, deadly, designed to kill without mercy.

  Dita straddled his right leg, moving against him, pleasuring herself as she worked his shaft. She skimmed her thumbs around his rim and he shuddered, the wind gaining speed around them. Encouraged, she grazed her fingers over his cockhead, spreading his pre-cum along his cock. His essence tingled also.

  What would that sensation feel like inside her? Would she find out or would he kill her before they had the chance to fuck?

  The puncture wounds closed again. She had never healed that quickly. He must be responsible for her newfound ability.

  “I could suck you dry.” Kralj’s voice was hoarse, his eyes turbulent with emotion.

  “I want to suck you dry,” she admitted. Would he allow her to take him into her mouth?

  His hold on her hair eased. “I won’t be gentle with you.”

  Was he capable of being gentle? She smiled, amused by that thought. “I don’t want gentle. I want your monster.”

  His eyes narrowed. “He’ll rip you apart.”

  “He’s already ripping me apart.” Dita burned for him, for his rough handling, his pain-encased pleasure.

  “Am I hurting you?” His expression turned bleak.

  “You can’t hurt me,” she assured him. “And, if you give me that power of yours, you won’t hurt others. Not while you’re with me.”

  Kralj looked skeptical. “You don’t know the extent of my powers.”

  That was true. His mind might have the ability to kill her and everyone around them. “You don’t know the extent of mine.” She would take that risk to have this experience, this connection with another being.

  He gazed at her.

  Dita didn’t look away from him, didn’t hide her need. She wanted this, him.

  “On your knees.” He shoved her shoulders.

  She lowered before him. Her body covering protected her knees from the rough stone.

  The garment wouldn’t protect her against him. His fingers found purchase in her hair once more, tinges of hurt zinging over her scalp. His cockhead bumped against her lips.

  Fuck. He was huge. Dita was daunted by his size.

  “Are you certain you want this?” he asked. Her doubt must have showed.

  She was touched by his concern. If he was truly a monster, and Dita had met plenty of those in her lifespan, he wouldn’t have sought confirmation. He would have taken her mouth, uncaring of her wishes.

  “I want this more than I want to kill my targets.” She ran her hands along the v where his lower abs met his hip flexors. His muscles undulated. He was extremely sensitive to her touch. She doubted many females had handled his body, yet he was allowing her this honor.

  She was an assassin, known for only one thing—ending lives. Others feared her. They didn’t trust her.

  Yet he did. He was giving her that gift.

  “You’re not
killing your targets inside my settlement.” Kralj’s grip on her curls tightened. “Open your mouth.”

  Dita obeyed him, showing him the same trust he showed her. A monster would have thrust deep. He pushed his cock between her parted lips, feeding her his length slowly, allowing her to manage his girth.

  She grasped his hips with her fingers, cradled his shaft with her tongue, and gazed up at him. The shadows around them had lifted. All of his face was revealed.

  He was the image of survival, of strength. His scars were vicious and deep, a testament to his unbending will. A weak male wouldn’t have endured that pain.

  She suspected the scars on his soul were even deeper.

  His eyebrows had lowered over his eyes, all of his fierce concentration on her, on the face fucking he was certain to give her. His jaw was clenched, her controlled male holding back the release he clearly wanted.

  This powerful warrior was placing the most vulnerable part of himself in her hands, technically in her mouth. With one snap of her teeth, she could bring him to his knees.

  She curled back her top lip, communicating that.

  His eyes gleamed. “I’ve survived worse, little female.”

  Dita frowned around his shaft. He might have been referring to his face. But she suspected he wasn’t. Someone had damaged that glorious cock of his.

  That angered her. That part of him belonged to her now.

  His tip tapped the back of her throat. Kralj yanked on her hair, forcing her head back and shoved the rest of him inside her.

  A normal human female would have gagged but Dita was far from normal. The Dark Veil, her assassin guild, had ensured that. Part of her training had consisted of gun barrels being jammed as deeply as possible into her mouth, being forced to hold her breath until she lost consciousness.

  Dita sealed her lips around his base and stared up at him, her eyes watering, daring him to test her. She could take anything he gave her.

  “You are a monster.” Awe colored his voice and Dita felt a burst of pride. She had impressed the cynical male. He withdrew to his tip. “You’re about to meet mine, Dita.”

  He surged forward, holding her steady, not allowing her to escape him, not stopping until she took all of him again. His shadow wrapped around them, casting them into darkness. She quivered, her pussy dripping, his dominance stimulating her.