Her free hand dropped to her belt and tugged her knife from its sheath. The weapon came free just as Mortannis yanked her toward him, and she used that momentum to thrust the knife into the onigox’s abdomen.
Mortannis released a startled grunt and staggered back a step. Yuri threw all her weight away from him; paired with his brief shock, it was just enough to break his hold on her arm. The knife slipped out of her hand, but it was okay. It had served his purpose.
With her what would Thargen do moment thus complete, Yuri ran as fast as she could. She wasn’t dumb—she didn’t stand a chance against a four-armed, two-hundred-plus-kilo wall of muscle.
Her legs carried her over the uneven terrain in a hectic flight that could easily have resulted in her breaking an ankle or falling and accidentally hacking off a limb with the axe, but somehow, she made it off the ridge and reached a point where she could turn downhill with minimal risk of unintentional dismemberment. Her heart was racing, and panic blazed in her chest. A scream gathered in her throat—it would’ve taken the shape of Thargen’s name had she not clenched her jaw, refusing to let it out.
She guessed that those smugglers still wanted her alive. Terrans were good money, and she was small and weak—easily manageable. But she doubted they’d have any qualms about killing Thargen on sight by this point. If they thought she was alone, it might be enough to give him a better window of opportunity to take them by surprise.
And besides, even her looming panic couldn’t make her forget that golden rule—always pull adds to the tank.
Oh God, I better be right about this.
Yuri turned toward the pit—which was temporarily blocked from view by the trees—and cried, “Keep your hands off me!”
“The fuck?” Auris shouted. “Mortannis? Ir’esh?”
Yuri’s feet slammed down with bone-rattling impact as she ran, driven on adrenaline alone.
“Found the terran,” Mortannis called from behind her. From much too close behind. “Don’t shoot her!”
It’s not much, but I’ll take it.
She raced around a large, gnarled tree, and the pit came into sight—but it was Auris and the auto-blaster he was aiming at Yuri that commanded her attention. The borian was standing up, eyes cold and weapon steady. With that look on his face, Yuri was convinced that he was about to shoot her no matter what Mortannis had just said.
She came to an abrupt halt a few meters away from Auris and locked her gaze with his, hoping her eyes were blazing with all the anger, frustration, and defiance roiling inside her.
Heavy footsteps behind her were the only warning that the onigox had caught up. She tightened her hold on the axe’s haft, and for a wild second, could almost imagine herself turning and launching herself at the big red asshole like a fucking Valkyrie out of myth.
Then Mortannis’s huge, strong hands caught her. He clamped a hand around each of her arms, just above her elbows, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pried the axe from her grasp all at once.
“You’ve been making me work way too hard for this ever since we met, ji’tas,” Mortannis said. He raised the axe and tugged on her hair, forcing her to tilt her chin up and expose her throat. The translucent hardlight blade came closer, and Yuri shrank back, but he didn’t allow her to retreat. The blade stopped a hair’s breadth from her nose.
“Boss has been looking for these. Been looking for you, too, and that crazy vorgal of yours.” Mortannis chuckled. “But you and the axes are the only things he wants returned.”
Yuri pressed her lips together, trying to focus her attention on anything but that deathly-sharp blade. She refused to show them any fear.
The ilthurii walked past her and strode to the edge of the pit. “Fuck, Garegan.”
“Just get me out, Ir’esh,” the wounded smuggler pleaded.
“I’m not going down there,” Ir’esh replied.
Auris reluctantly lowered his weapon, keeping those cold eyes on Yuri. “Apparently, she’s got claws. You all right, Mortannis?”
Come on, Thargen. You’ve never waited to jump into a fight before…
Mortannis laughed, finally lowering the axe. Before Yuri could even let out a sigh of relief, the onigox bent forward, craning his neck to look down at her. “Oh, I know. But they’re just little ones. Barely even stings.”
At the lower edge of her vision, something moved in the thicket behind Auris. Yuri’s lips curled into a smirk as she caught a glimpse of gray through the foliage.
“I don’t need big claws,” she said through her teeth. “I’ve got my own berserker.”
Mortannis’s brow creased. “A what?”
Thargen emerged from the thicket immediately behind Auris, knife in hand and rifle strapped to his back. Moving so fast the motions seemed simultaneous, he wrapped an arm around the top of the borian’s head, pulling it back, and dragged the blade across Auris’s throat. The borian’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth as though to speak. The only sound he managed was a choked gurgle.
Yuri quickly shifted her gaze away from the borian; just the brief glimpse of crimson pouring from his slit throat like it was one of those wall-mounted waterfall fountains was more than enough to make her stomach churn and her head spin.
Mortannis lifted his head, strengthening his grip on Yuri. Thargen was already moving; he darted toward Ir’esh, who was turning to face him, auto-blaster swinging up. Thargen lashed out with a powerful kick. His heel struck the ilthurii’s shoulder.
Ir’esh hissed as the force of Thargen’s blow knocked the ilthurii off his feet and directly into the pit. The sound of him landing was one Yuri would be glad never to hear again. It was followed by a scream—not from Ir’esh, but Garegan.
“What the fuck?” Garegan yelled.
Apparently, Ir’esh was going down there.
Growling a curse, Mortannis released Yuri’s arms and pulled hard on her hair, yanking her back and to the side. She cried out at the agony on her scalp and stumbled backward, grabbing his forearm with both hands in a desperate attempt to alleviate some of the pain and keep her feet beneath her.
“Shooting you this time,” Mortannis said.
Thargen’s answering roar shook the forest—it wasn’t just a roar, but a bestial battle cry that rumbled straight to Yuri’s core. She’d never heard anything so full of possessiveness, rage, and lust. She’d never heard anything so frightening—or so sexy. That roar was Thargen, was the wildness in his heart, but it was his dedication, too.
From the edge of her vision, Yuri saw the onigox’s lower arm drop to take hold of the auto-blaster slung at his side. He swung the barrel up toward Thargen, who was rushing toward them with an axe in hand.
Yuri gritted her teeth, dug her nails into Mortannis’s forearm, and pushed up off the ground, curling her abs to lift her feet high. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision, and a ragged growl tore out of her throat, fueled by both the surge of pain on her scalp and her fury.
This onigox—this big, stupid, brutish bastard—was the reason she and Thargen were here. Because he couldn’t keep his damned hands to himself.
With all the strength she could muster, she slammed her feet down on the auto-blaster. Mortannis grunted as the weapon knocked out of his grasp.
Mortannis jerked Yuri farther back before she could get her feet on the ground, producing another flare of pain that forced fresh tears to her eyes.
An orange blur streaked past her head.
The onigox’s arm went slack, and Yuri fell, landing hard on her ass. Though his hand remained in her hair, it suddenly seemed like her grip was holding him up instead of the other way around.
Someone was snarling. Yuri looked up to see Mortannis still on his feet, a hulking blotch of red and black, backpedaling frantically as the living whirlwind that was Thargen advanced on him mercilessly. The onigox was already several meters away.
If the onigox was there…then…
Yuri angled Mortannis’s heavy forearm to the side; it swung like dead weigh
t. She recoiled and closed her eyes when she saw the bloody stump—ending just before the elbow—from the corner of her eye.
Oh God.
Drawing in a shaky breath, she untangled the thick fingers from her hair.
Gross, gross, gross!
As soon as it was free, she released the limb and threw herself forward onto hands and knees, opening her eyes after she’d crawled away. She stopped there, panting, and stared at the ground as her stomach twisted and bitter bile threatened to rise in her throat.
Somewhere ahead of her, Garegon was blubbering, his cries weak, disjointed, and desperate. And somewhere behind her—no more than ten meters away—something heavy crashed into the undergrowth, shaking leaves and crunching branches. The heavy, growly breathing from the same place, reminiscent of an agitated lion or bear, was familiar to her; that was Thargen.
Yuri pushed her torso upright, sitting back on her calves and bracing her hands on her thighs. She expected a wave of terror to wash over her, to set her to shaking uncontrollably, but it didn’t come. Neither did the blissful numbness of shock. She felt…
What did she feel?
Heavy footfalls approached her; even the rhythm of Thargen’s walk had become familiar during her time here.
“The fuck is going on up there?” Garegon moaned. “Auris? Mortannis?”
Thargen strode past Yuri. The instant during which he was beside her was enough for her to feel the immense heat radiating from his body, but she didn’t let herself look at him directly—he was likely covered in blood. She watched from the corner of her eye as he moved to the edge of the pit and aimed what looked like an auto-blaster toward the hole.
“Oh shi—”
Garegon’s curse was cut short by a burst of blaster fire.
Yuri suddenly knew what it was she felt—alive. She found no pleasure in the death around her, took no satisfaction from it. She hadn’t asked for any of this—well, not any of it except for Thargen—but having her life constantly in danger sure had a way of putting everything in perspective. These smugglers had wanted to hurt her and someone she’d come to care about very deeply. They’d probably hurt a lot of other people before Yuri and Thargen. Now they were dead, but she and Thargen were alive.
That felt good. Surviving. Beating the odds, getting a few more moments. Everything was sharper, clearer. And she knew it wasn’t just being alive—it was also Thargen himself.
Snarling, Thargen stalked to the fallen borian, fired the blaster into him, and crouched to grab a few items off the corpse. Yuri didn’t care what he took. So long as he took her, too, none of it mattered.
Placing a hand on the ground, she carefully climbed to her feet. Surprisingly, her legs held her up just fine, no wobbling or trembling. Heat pumped through her body as Thargen approached. She forced her eyes down; as desperately as she wanted to see him, she didn’t want to faint or puke right now.
“Close your eyes,” he growled.
Eighteen
Yuri snapped her eyes shut without hesitation. Thargen’s guttural voice sent a shiver through her; despite everything that had just happened, her body was responding to him as though their last kiss had only been a moment ago.
She felt his burning gaze upon her, felt him draw closer, felt his breath through her hair as he leaned over her, felt tension and heat roiling off him as he inhaled deeply. She even felt the vibrations of his low, deep groan. Her heart sped, fluttering with a mix of desire and anticipation. She didn’t have to see his expression to know that same desire was on his face, made primal by the wildness in his eyes.
His hands closed around her upper arms.
Yuri took in a sharp breath; the air was thick with the tang of blood.
“Thargen, the blood,” she said quickly. “Please.”
His hands flexed, tightening infinitesimally—but it was more than enough to express his inner turmoil. She knew he was holding his Rage back, knew he was on the edge of losing control.
He withdrew his hands abruptly. Not a moment later, he swept her feet out from beneath her, catching her in his arms, and clutched her against his chest. She scarcely had time to put her arms around his neck before he was running—and her hands bumped into not one, but three guns slung over his shoulders on their way into position. There were wet, sticky spots on his skin and shirt. She tried hard to imagine those spots were anything other than what they were.
Yuri turned her face away from Thargen, away from the scent of blood wafting off him, and opened her eyes as she filled her lungs with fresh air.
Thargen crashed through the forest, crushing foliage and snapping branches, darting across patches of bare rock, leaping over exposed roots, using his body to shield her from the thick vegetation through which he charged.
They arrived at the river so quickly—and by following such a hectic path—that it annihilated Yuri’s sense of direction; she no longer knew where she was, and she didn’t care.
Thargen stopped at the bank and set her down. She looked at him, swallowing hard seeing the blood spattered on his arms and shirt, the flecks of it on his face. She glanced away as a wave of dizziness struck her.
Stop it, Yuri. You are stronger than this.
In her peripheral vision, Thargen pulled the guns off his shoulders, tossing them onto the ground, and tugged his belt off—axes, knives, and all—to throw down beside them. He tore his shirt off over his head, wadded it up, and used it to wipe away some of the blood on his face, neck, arms, and hands before fixing his intense gaze upon her.
Yuri turned toward him and met those burning, golden eyes, forgetting the blood, the violence, the death, forgetting everything but him.
When he clutched the waistband of his pants and shoved them down, her gaze dipped. His cock sprung free, fully erect with its piercings gleaming in the late afternoon light. Yuri’s mouth went dry. His shaft was darker than the rest of him, and the bulges along its sides throbbed with his pulse. Her lips parted, and her nipples stiffened into hard, achy points.
She swore his muscles swelled infinitesimally with each of those throbs, their definition being enhanced as his skin stretched a little tighter.
Thargen hooked his fingers on her belt and pulled her closer. He unclasped it quickly, letting it fall. Before the belt had even hit the ground, he’d grasped the hem of her shirt. He whipped it off over her head and didn’t waste a moment in moving on to her pants.
He crouched, and Yuri caught his shoulders as he tugged her pants down; just as they reached her knees, his head dipped toward her pelvis, and he stilled. She heard him take in a deep, ragged breath, felt it come out in a hot huff against her skin—against her sex—that sent a thrill straight to her core. Heat flooded her.
There he remained, as still as a statue except for his heavy breathing. Veins stood out on his arms, his jaw muscles bulged, and the cords of his neck were taut. His shoulders and chest swelled with another inhalation, and his hands trembled.
His eyes snapped up and met hers. They were fierce, fiery, ravenous, and they stoked the flames in her core to new heights. His nostrils flared.
“You smell so fucking good,” he grated through his teeth. “Need you.”
Yuri touched her fingers to his cheek. “So take me.”
He dropped onto his knees and swept her pants down to her ankles, his hands moving so fast that she felt cool air flow over her bared skin in their wake. She lifted one foot and shook it free of the garment. Before she could even set it down, Thargen caught her leg behind the knee, threw it over his shoulder, and swept her to his waiting mouth with his hands palming her ass.
She stumbled, startled by the suddenness of his actions, and caught herself with one hand on his shoulder and the other on his head. He sat back on his heels, easily accepting her weight—and then his strong, thick tongue made her forget about everything else.
Yuri moaned, curling her fingers in his hair. His tongue swirled over her, dipping into her entrance to gather her slick, drinking her desire and lavishing he
r sex before it flicked over her clit. Her belly fluttered and her hips twitched closer to his mouth.
He growled against her, clutching her ass hard enough to bruise, but Yuri didn’t care. She didn’t even care about the blood speckled on his face, or that some of it was smearing on her thighs. All that mattered was him, was this feeling growing inside her, this desire that burned hot and bright.
She lifted her hand from his shoulder and cupped her breast, squeezing her yielding flesh as she stared down into his eyes and eagerly rocked her pelvis against his mouth. When she pinched her nipple, adding to the pleasure building in her core, she couldn’t hold in a whimper.
One of his tusks grazed her thigh as he withdrew his tongue just long enough to say, “Ride my fucking face, terran.”
Thargen’s words, so forceful, so crude, only aroused her more. She loved it.
She loved him.
She’d known it the moment she had seen him standing at the bar, had known it since the first time he smiled at her.
This vorgal was hers.
Gripping his hair, Yuri gyrated her hips. His tongue pushed deep, sweeping along her inner walls, twisting and thrusting mercilessly. Yuri’s hand returned to his shoulder for support, and her head fell back. Her breasts bounced and her thighs quivered as she teetered on the verge of release, her entire body straining for it, desperate for it, trembling with the need for that explosion of pleasure.
Dragging his tongue out of her sex, Thargen moved his mouth up and took her clit between his lips, sucking hard.
Yuri’s consciousness shattered into a million flickering stars.
She curled forward, pulling his hair and releasing a ragged cry as heat burst over every centimeter of her body. She tried to move, to draw herself closer to him and to escape, but he allowed her no leeway; Thargen held her firmly to his mouth, drinking from her greedily.
Savage Desire (The Infinite City Book 4) Page 30
