by Tana Stone
Kush bristled at the words, but Max rubbed his arms. “Don’t worry. Bexli was brilliant, and I’m perfectly fine.”
He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her and feeling the steady beating of her heart for proof.
“I used the same trick we did when we were after that bounty on Parsus III,” Bexli said to Danica.
The captain’s eyes widened slightly, and she appraised her crew mate with admiration. “And Mourad fell for it?”
“Worked like a charm. I even let him inspect her dead body,” Bexli said. “Once he reports back that the bounty is dead, Max won’t have to worry about being chased around the galaxy ever again.”
Kush felt her small body relax against his chest. “You are sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “I was weak at first, but now I feel great.” She touched a hand to her backside. “Aside from my sore ass.”
“Hey,” Bexli said. “It’s not my fault that jebels are a bumpy ride. You told me to go as fast as I could.”
Danica pulled Bexli into a hug. “I’m just glad I’ve got you both back again. There was a time not too long ago when I thought I’d never see any of you again.”
Caro joined the hug, the three women forming a small circle. “You’re telling me. We thought you were a goner, Captain.”
“You and me both.” The captain looked over at Max. “You’d better get in here, doc. You’re part of us now.”
“That’s right.” Caro waved her over.
Kush felt her momentary hesitation, but he pushed aside his desire to keep holding her and released his grip, nudging her to join her friends. She grinned up at him, and he felt her happiness as she ran over and threw her arms around the three bounty hunters.
“Now, we just need to get our other two back,” Danica said.
“Holly won’t be a problem,” Bexli said. “I’ve been inside the city. I know how to move around without being seen.”
“It’s Tori I’m worried about,” Caro said. “She’s gone after Mourad.”
Bexli gave a snort of laughter. “It’s Mourad and his crew I’d be more concerned about, if I felt anything close to concern for those assholes.”
“And Vrax,” Danica said. “You know how our girl gets when she’s focused on a mission. That Dothvek has his hands full.”
“Vrax is a fierce warrior,” K’alvek said. “If anyone can handle Tori, it is him.”
Kush remembered watching his kinsman argue with the female. He suspected Vrax would have liked nothing more than to have his hands full with Tori. He cut his eyes to the black skies and the flickering pinpoints of light, wondering where in all that vastness the Dothvek was at that moment. It was hard to imagine being anywhere but his beloved sands, but his mind wandered to the worlds beyond his own. He would not mind seeing some of what Vrax would see as he journeyed in a spaceship.
“She’ll be back for us,” Danica said, her voice sure. “No matter how long it takes.”
“In the meantime,” Max said, slipping away from the women and returning to Kush’s embrace. “I don’t mind staying right here.”
K’alvek chuckled. “Apparently, I sent the right warrior to rescue you.”
Kush pulled his female to him again. “One more reason I have to be in your debt, cousin.”
“You have never been in my debt,” K’alvek said. “You are my brother.”
Kush swallowed hard. He was with his clan and his mate was by his side. He’d never felt so complete. He lifted Max onto the back of his jebel and swung up behind her. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Max felt the bed moving beneath her. That was strange, she thought, as she slowly started to wake. Was she on a boat? Had she been dreaming about being on a boat?
She opened her eyes and found herself staring up at the inside of a high, peaked tent. Warm, morning light streamed in from the gaps around the central pole, beating down on the blanket covering her and making her burrow further underneath it for warmth. She’d peeled off her filthy dress the night before, gratefully slipping naked under the blankets and animal skins.
She hadn’t even paid much attention to the tent that Kush called home when he’d led her to it, but now that she was awake, she let her eyes wander. It wasn’t large, but it was neat and filled with more colors than she would have expected. The floor was covered with an assortment of patterned, braided rugs—layered on top of each other to create a patchwork effect—and a collection of feathers hung from the top of the center pole, which was painted with rings of pigment. The feathers fluttered as a soft breeze came in through a gap in the tent flaps, the tiny bells along the seam jingling.
Stretching her legs, her toes brushed up against something beside her—something warm and solid. She didn’t need to turn her head to know it was Kush, and that he was still sleeping. They’d both been too exhausted when they arrived to do more than collapse onto the thick pile of leathers and furs that made up the bed on the tent’s sand floor. Now that she was rested, she rolled over to face the massive alien sleeping next to her.
She still had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that this big, gorgeous alien was hers. She rested a hand on his chest as it rose and fell with each deep breath, her fingers tracing over the curves of his tribal tattoo. He didn’t stir from her touch, so she moved her hand down, pushing aside the covers on both of them.
Her fingertips buzzed as she let them drift down the hard curves of his corded stomach, and she held her breath as she gently stroked the ridges sweeping down in a V-shape below his stomach. She’d never seen such a perfect male specimen up close like this, and she felt like she could look at him all day long. That is, if there wasn’t something else she wanted to do much more.
She moved down, wrapping her fingers around his cock, which was already hard. Her fingers bumped over the rings from below the crown to the base, her face warming at the memory of them inside her.
Kush shifted in his sleep, but didn’t wake. Max wondered what kind of crazy sex dreams she was giving him, as he let out a low groan, and his cock throbbed in her hand.
She lowered her mouth to him, taking the thick crown between her lips and savoring the hard, velvety feel of him. She moved slowly so he wouldn’t wake up, easing her mouth over him slowly and dragging her tongue around his girth. She sucked him as deep as she could take him, her hand fisting the base of his cock that she couldn’t take in her throat.
She felt him shift again, and he emitted a low growl she felt ripple along her spine. Looking up, her breath caught. His eyes were open, and they were locked on her—dark and deadly.
She moved her mouth up to the tip of his crown and smiled at him, but didn’t stop. She pumped her hand as she sucked harder, moving up and down his shaft, her lips stretched wide over his huge cock. He moaned again, and she felt a rush of pleasure that she was doing this. She’d never considered herself much of a seductress, but with Kush she felt powerful and sexy.
One of his hands moved up her thigh and around to her ass, palming it before slipping his fingers between her legs and parting her folds.
“So wet, little one,” he said, his voice still husky with sleep.
She jerked a little when he slipped a finger inside her, but she didn’t stop pumping her mouth up and down his cock. He matched her pace with his finger, shifting his hand so that another of his fingers could circle her clit at the same time.
Even when she was pleasuring him, he somehow managed to make her writhe with desire. She tilted her hips to take him deeper, her breathing as ragged as his, as she felt another thick finger slip inside and stretch her. She was close to the edge, but she wasn’t going let herself go without first feeling him come in her mouth. Max groaned with pleasure as he dragged his fingers in and out, her lips vibrating against his cock.
He stiffened, and she stroked her hand faster on his shaft, feeling the beginning pulses of his release and sucking him hard. With a thrust upward, he spilled into her, and she swallowe
d his warm saltiness.
Even as his body relaxed beneath her, he circled her clit faster until she felt herself shaking, her release rocking her. She kept his still-hard cock in her mouth as her body contracted around his fingers, her moans and cries buzzing against his skin and making him quiver and his cock jerk.
“Sons of the goddesses,” he said, when she flopped next to him. “I cannot believe you aren’t some kind of sorceress.”
She laughed and rolled over so that one arm draped over his chest. “I’m glad you approve.”
“Approve?” he choked out a laugh. “You are full of surprises, little one.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I could not love anyone more.”
She stopped breathing for a moment. “Did you say you love me?”
“Yes.” He gave her a perplexed look. “Were you in any doubt of that?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I thought maybe it was more of a lust thing.”
He lifted her so her head was even with his. “Lust? You think I would die for lust?” He ran one hand down her body and squeezed her ass. “Not that I don’t love all the ways this delicious little body pleasures me, but this is much more than lust.”
Max’s chest seemed to swell, and her heart thumped even faster. “I love you too. And don’t get me wrong. I love all the things your cock can do to me, but I wouldn’t die for just anyone, either.”
Kush pulled her tighter, flipping her underneath him in one seamless motion. “Now that we have that settled…”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kush ignored the knowing glances as he came out of his tent. It was hard to keep secrets when there was nothing but fabric between him and his fellow Dothveks. A part of him missed the thick walls of the room in the Crestek city, although he would not exchange that for the wide-open sky and freedom of the sands.
Sunlight glinted off the blue water of the pond, and he noticed several jebels drinking at the water’s edge as he wound his way through the tents toward the communal area. He inhaled deeply and caught the scent of meat roasting over the spit, making his way to the central fire where many were gathered.
K’alvek stood, his arms crossed as he glared at Zatvar, the clan’s leader and his mother’s new mate. His cousin had never gotten over his mother taking a new mate once his father was killed, and he clearly held it against Zatvar. Kush was not overly fond of the warrior, but he tried not to openly antagonize him.
“How can you say that?” K’alvek asked, nodding a quick acknowledgment at Kush and then looking back at Zatvar.
Zatvar scowled and waved a hand in the air. “We already went after one of them, and look what it got us.”
“We were successful,” K’alvek said. “Kush got the female out of the Crestek city, just as I knew he would do.”
“Yes, the master tracker succeeded,” Zatvar said without glancing at Kush, “but we lost two others in the process.”
“We will get them back,” K’alvek said. “Let me take a hunting party to retrieve the female, and we will bring her back.”
Murmurs passed through the group. The other Dothveks were eager to return for the female.
“You think you can get her out from under the noses of the Cresteks?” Zatvar laughed. “Only because your kinsman was inside with the female was he able to sneak her out. How do you expect to do it this time?”
K’alvek hesitated, and Kush knew he was weighing whether or not to mention Bexli’s part in the plan. Zatvar was not known for his openness to anything new, and a female shapeshifter was definitely new.
“We have to try,” K’alvek said, obviously deciding not to mention Bexli.
“You made a deal with the enemy, am I correct?” the leader asked. “The female in exchange for help in battling the invading ship?”
“Yes,” K’alvek admitted. “We had no choice.”
Zatvar leaned back, his hands resting on his splayed knees. “I will not break an agreement with them and risk an attack.”
“They would not attack us here,” K’alvek said. “They do not venture onto the sands anymore.”
“Because we keep the truce.” Zatvar shook his head. “I have indulged you enough. You and your kinsman both have your mates. You should be satisfied.”
He rose and strode away from the circle, and K’alvek watched him go with fists clenched.
“You did what you could,” Kush said, putting a hand on his cousin’s tensed shoulder.
K’alvek shook his hand. “I promised my mate that I would rescue her crew mate. I will not break a promise to her.”
Kush knew Max was as eager to get Holly out of the Crestek city as Danica was. He’d seen the look in her eyes when the female had been taken away, and he knew she would not be fully happy until she was reunited with her friend. “My mate also wishes for her return.”
K’alvek’s expression softened. “I am happy for you, brother. Happy you found a female who can put up with you.”
Kush grinned at him. “She is a rare creature, indeed. Almost as patient as your mate.”
K’alvek clapped him on the back and let out a guffaw of laughter. “We have both been blessed by the goddesses, and I, for one, will not be the cause of their unhappiness.”
Kush looked around, but no other Dothveks were near. “What do you propose?”
“We will rescue the female from our enemy despite what our foolish leader says,” K’alvek told him, extending one thick arm. “We are Dothvek warriors, are we not?”
Kush clasped his arm at the elbow—linking their arms like they had since they were boys—and nodded, giving K’alvek his solemn vow without uttering a word. It was decided. They would walk into the fire together, as they always had.
Epilogue
Tori crouched low, her legs burning from being bent over for so long. She pulled her thick curls onto the top of her head and secured them with her lethal hair pins, feeling a bead of sweat snake down the back of her neck. “This air duct was not built for two, you know,” she muttered
Vrax shifted his feet, sitting back on his haunches and looking as if the cramped position didn’t bother him at all. “I do not think it is so bad with both of us in here.”
He also wasn’t sweating, which made Tori want to kick him in the balls, if she could have moved her leg. Her eyes unintentionally drifted down to the bulge in his leather pants, which was hard to ignore the way he was positioned. She looked away before he could catch her, cursing at herself.
You’re here to complete a mission, not screw an alien, she reminded herself. Especially not one who seemed to go out of his way to annoy her.
The last thing she needed was to be thinking about was how the infuriating Dothvek was incredibly built. Or wonder what the long, dark hair that spilled over his shoulders felt like. Or contemplate if the geometric markings that ringed his biceps were as smooth as they looked. Keeping her mind off the big barbarian wasn’t so easy when she was practically on top of him.
Not that they’d had much choice of places to hide when they’d snuck onboard the enemy ship. The place was crawling with Mourad’s bounty-hunting crew, and staying out of sight meant hiding in the bowels of the old ship. Luckily for them, the vessel featured wide air ducts and vent shafts, something not found in some of the newer or sleeker ships.
A pair of beefy bounty hunters walked underneath them, their boots echoing loudly off the steel floor, as they talked loudly about how they planned to spend their time once the ship had reached the outpost on Kressideen, also known as Devil’s Alley.
“This place does not sound like a place I would like to visit,” Vrax whispered once the men had passed.
Tori stifled a laugh. “You’re right about that, but it’s not a bad place to be if you want to commit a crime. Or several.”
He raised one peaked eyebrow. “How many crimes are we planning to commit?”
“Getting cold feet?”
Vrax stared at his wide, bare feet. “They are not cold. Why?”
Tori fought
the urge to roll her eyes. If she didn’t kill this barbarian, it would be a miracle. “I mean, are you having second thoughts about doing serious damage to this crew?”
Vrax glared at her. “A Dothvek never runs from a fight, but I thought you only wished to eliminate the bounty hunter Mourad for killing your crew mate.”
Tori flinched as she thought about Max. She and Vrax had reached Mourad’s ship in time to see him telling his man to dispose of her body. She could still remember how frail Max’s lifeless body had looked, and how sick she’d felt that they’d been too late. The woman had sacrificed herself to save Tori’s life, and she hadn’t been able to save hers back.
She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing before she’d found herself in a haze of rage, running onto Mourad’s ship without thinking and not even noticing that the Dothvek warrior had followed her until the metal entrance ramp had slammed shut behind her, and she’d turned to see him with her.
There had been no way for either of them to get off before the ship was blasting off the surface and they were scrambling to hide. Tori wasn’t sure how long it had been since then, but it was long enough for her entire body to scream in protest at not being able to move.
“Oh, I plan to kill Mourad. For Max, and for stranding us on a desert wasteland—no offense.”
He frowned, but did not interrupt her.
“But maybe most importantly, I plan to steal his fucking ship.” She grinned at the scowling alien. “And you’re going to help me, pretty boy.”
Preview of TORMENT: Barbarians of the Sand Planet #3
Chapter One
Tori sucked in short gulps of air, trying not to focus on how steamy it was hiding in the space ship’s ventilation ducts or how it was definitely not a duct built for two.
“Do you have to sit so close?” she asked, shooting daggers at the hulking gold-skinned barbarian crouched next to her.
