Shay’s eyes dipped as though absorbing the way Thargen was holding Yuri, and her brows rose high. “Oh. Oooooh. Damn it! Are you serious? Now I owe Sam.”
“Ah, shit, me too,” Thargen grumbled.
“Owe Sam for what?” Yuri asked, glancing up at him.
“The pool we had running. Everyone was putting credits on who they thought would end up with a terran next. I’m telling you, Sam’s either a fucking genius or totally insane to have put money on me.”
Shay smiled wide. “I need to learn to stop betting against her. Can’t say that I’m mad, though.” She turned the gift in her hands. “So, what is it?”
“A vorgal toy,” Thargen replied, grinning.
“A vorgal toy?” Shay asked flatly. “So what, like a battle-axe or something?”
“No, not a vorgal toy, a vorgal toy.”
“It’s a mini Thargen,” Yuri said. “Much, much safer than the real thing.”
One of Shay’s brows arched.
“It’s one of those stuffed things,” Thargen said. “Like that stupid cat Razi ga—”
Shay jabbed a finger against Thargen’s chest. “Leah loves that fucking cat, vorgal. Don’t you talk shit about it.”
“Woah, all right, terran. This was way fucking better, anyway. She’s about to have a new favorite.”
Shay laughed, shaking her head. “We’ll see. It’ll be hard to pass up her kitty. Hell, even Drakkal is her favorite over me right now. Know how much that hurts? I’m sure she’ll love it though.”
“I almost forgot.” Thargen unhooked a pair of sheathed knives from his belt and held them out to Shay.
“What are these for?” Shay asked, the wariness returning to her expression as she took the weapons in one hand.
“One for you, and one for Leah’s second birthday.”
Shay rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You asshole. First thing I’m going to teach her with these is how to stab you.” When she turned her gaze back to Yuri, there was amusement in her gaze. “Anyway, welcome to the family, Yuri.”
Warmth flooded Yuri’s chest. She glanced up at Thargen, and he grinned down at her. Family. As odd as that should have been coming from someone she’d only just met, it felt good. But it would feel even better when she finally saw her brother again.
“Can you bring me to Takashi?” she asked.
“Yeah. I think he was in the break room with Sam, Leah, and Razi. We can pass this gift on to Leah and reunite you with your brother all at once. Come on.”
“Thargen,” Urgand said, calling everyone’s attention to him. He reached out and placed a hand on Thargen’s shoulder. “Is she really your zoani?”
Thargen’s hold on Yuri tightened. “Yeah. Without a single fucking doubt.”
“And you’ve…” Urgand’s eyes flicked toward Yuri.
“Yeah. A lot.”
“But she’s…”
“Yeah. Fuck, Urgand, you’ve never had a problem just saying what’s on your mind any time before this.”
“I’m also right here. Am I missing something?” Yuri asked, blushing and looking between the two.
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Shay said.
Thargen raised his free arm, cupping the back of Urgand’s neck. “She breaks through it. Right to my fucking heart. With her…I’m good. It’s not like she magically fixed me or anything, but I’m good.”
“Good,” Urgand said, lips spreading in a slow smile. “I’m glad to hear that. Really fucking glad. This place wasn’t the same without you.”
Thargen released Urgand, only to punch him on the shoulder. “Someone’s gotta be the interesting one, right?”
Urgand grunted and replied with a punch of his own, making Thargen rock slightly. “Crazy and interesting aren’t necessarily the same thing.”
“So, um…you’re the one who saved Thargen’s life, right, Urgand?” Yuri asked. “Thank you for that. Not that you did it for me or anything. It’s just that…I’m really happy I got to meet him, even considering what we had to go through to get here.”
Urgand laughed and shook his head, turning his blue eyes toward Yuri. “I patched him up as best I could. Just enough to keep him on his feet. But Thargen is the one who got me out of there. Don’t even think he could remember his name at the time, but he dragged me and another grunt out of that place and got us onto the evac ship when he should’ve been on the ground dying.”
“You don’t gotta make up stories about it to make me feel better, Urgand,” Thargen said. “Everyone already knows I’m a badass without the embellishments thrown in.”
“Damn straight,” Shay said with a chuckle.
But having seen Thargen in action—and having heard Kayl and the rescued captives recount their escape from the cave—Yuri knew Urgand was telling the truth.
The interior door whirred open, and Takashi ran through, his dark eyes immediately falling on Yuri.
A wave of excitement flooded Yuri. She’d missed her brother, had worried about him, but she hadn’t realized just how much until right now. “Takashi!”
She pulled away from Thargen to charge at her brother. Takashi caught her in a crushing embrace, lifting her off her feet, and she clung to him.
She’d done a pretty good job of not thinking too much about the chances of never seeing him again while she was stranded, and all the emotions she’d set aside crashed upon her now. Tears stung her eyes, and a small whimper escaped her throat. She clutched him tighter.
“You scared me half to death,” Takashi said. “More so than that big ass cren showing up at our apartment. Who turned out to be pretty cool, actually, even though I punched him in the jaw.”
Yuri laughed.
“I spent so much time looking for you, Yuri. I just…I didn’t know what to do,” Takashi said, his voice thickening with emotion.
“It’s okay. I’m okay. I had my own big ass alien to protect me.”
“And you gotta tell me everything.”
They held each other for a while—until the tears were done, and Yuri could breathe steadily.
“So, you’re the stripper?” Thargen asked from just behind Yuri.
“What?” Takashi asked, drawing back. His brows furrowed when he looked at Thargen.
Yuri shook her head, laughing again as she wiped the moisture from her eyes. “Thargen, this is my brother, Takashi.” She lowered her hand and smiled, returning to Thargen’s side and slipping her arms around one of his, hugging it to her chest. “And this is Thargen, my big ass protector.”
Takashi’s eyes moved over Thargen. “Wait. You and him?” He raised a hand and ran his fingers through his long, black and pink streaked hair and chuckled. “I don’t even want to picture how that’s possible.”
“Tak!”
“You’re not the only one,” Urgand muttered.
“Wow. I’m surprised that you males have such tiny imaginations. Hopefully that’s not proportional to something else,” Shay said, walking toward the door. “Are we going to stand in the garage all night, or are you coming inside?”
Urgand chuckled and followed Shay.
Takashi crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes on Thargen. “You break my sister’s heart, and I’ll break you. Got it?”
Thargen reached out and gave Takashi a slap on the shoulder, making him stagger slightly. “While I’m around, no one is going to hurt her. Disregarding the stuff that already happened, of course.”
“I mean it, vorgal.” Takashi looked at Yuri and lowered his voice, grinning. “It’s about damn time you got some dick!”
Thargen scoffed. “What do you mean, some? She gets all of it.”
Yuri’s cheeks flamed. “Ooookay, we’re going back to not talking about this stuff.”
Takashi snickered. “Let’s go in and party,” he said as he turned toward the door. “You have got to see their VR system!”
Yuri grinned as she and Thargen walked behind her brother. She enjoyed the VR games she and Tak had always played
together, and she knew she’d continue enjoying them—hell, they’d probably helped her a bit while she was stranded—but they’d lost a little of their luster. The last few weeks had been filled with experiences she’d never imagined going through in real life, and they’d been so much sharper, so much more frightening, so much more thrilling, so much more immediate and unforgettable.
She smiled up at Thargen, and those butterfly wings fluttered in her belly when his golden eyes met hers.
And how much appeal could those games really hold for her now that she finally had her own orc, right here in the flesh?
Epilogue
Thargen strode down the hall with Yuri over his shoulder, his eyes locked on the entrance to his room. He couldn’t get there fast enough. Yuri was giggling, but she didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation—he was palming her ass, and it was taking all his willpower to keep from tearing off their clothes right then and there in the middle of the damned hallway, where someone was guaranteed to show up just as he was balls deep in his terran.
He fucking needed her, but he refused to subject her to that sort of embarrassment—that, and he was a selfish, possessive fucker. No one got to see her naked except him.
Yuri smoothed her hands down his back and cupped his ass. “Old habits, huh? Just can’t resist throwing me over your shoulder caveman style?”
Thargen’s cock twitched. “Don’t even care what that means right now. Just tired of having to share you.”
He loved the people here—they were his friends, his brothers and sisters—but he’d have been lying if he said he hadn’t grown used to having Yuri all to himself. Their time on Sotera had spoiled him for that. And of course, Yuri had charmed all of them. She was talkative and friendly, and had no trouble flowing from conversation to conversation during the party in the breakroom. It was just like that first night he’d seen her—these were the qualities that had made her such a popular bartender at Starlight Trance.
There’d been some solemnity, some good-natured insults, a lot of laughter—especially when Sam collected the pool that no one had ever believed would be paid out—and that overall feeling of being home, of being where he belonged. Yuri fit right in with that, as did her brother. Hell, even the daevah twins had joined in, adding pieces to the story Yuri and Thargen told about their ordeal.
But Thargen was well overdue for some alone time with his zoani.
He lifted his wrist to the scanner beside his door, muscles tense, ready to spring though the moment it opened.
It did not open.
He glanced at his arm—and the barely perceptible scar where his ID chip had been removed. The same ID chip that had been coded to unlock this door.
“Fuck,” he growled. A hundred different options flashed through his mind—foremost was trying to knock the door down, which would only have harmed him considering it was a reinforced tristeel blast door. After that was a mental run through of every other room in the compound, like he was on an imaginary tour of the place to seek doors that weren’t locked.
Not taking her in a fucking supply closet.
“What?” she asked, flattening her hands on his back. He could just imagine her pushing herself up to see around him.
Thargen could override the lock himself, but that would mean a trip back to the security room, and that was way too far to go while his cock was about to burst out of his pants.
Fuck. Guess it’s last resort time.
He pressed the call button at the base of the scanner panel.
“Yes?” Arcanthus said through the speaker, his voice somehow more smug than usual.
“Open my door,” Thargen answered tightly.
“Ah, yes. Your chip was removed, wasn’t it? You could come down to the—”
“Just open the fucking door, Arc, or there’s gonna be a mess out here you don’t wanna clean.”
“Didn’t you say something about Yuri having a soothing effect on you?”
“Well, sex does release endorphins that can induce a state of serenity,” Yuri said.
“Yeah, all that shit. Open the door so I can release some fucking endorphins,” Thargen said, “or they’re gonna be released all over this carpet.”
Yuri buried her face against his back and laughed.
“You’re right. I don’t want to clean that up,” Arcanthus replied.
The room door slid upward; Thargen was darting through before it was even fully open. He slapped the control to close it again, turned to the wall, and set Yuri on her feet. He tore his shirt off and braced his arms against the wall, caging her in with his body. There were no conflicting scents here to battle with hers—only his own, which he’d make sure was all over her by the time they were done.
Who the fuck am I kidding? We’re never gonna be done.
Thargen met her eyes and grinned. “Now that I have you all to myself—”
Yuri reached up and cupped his face. “We can finally talk.”
“Terrans definitely pick funny words to have double meanings.” He leaned down, drawing in more of her scent, and pushed his pelvis against her. “Let’s talk, zoani. With our bodies. All fucking night.”
Yuri moaned and pressed her pelvis right back against his, grinding against his cock. “Mmm. I like the sound of that. Actually, I love the sound of that.” She abruptly withdrew her hips and angled his face down, so he was looking at her fully. “But first, we really do need to talk.”
He sagged and released a frustrated huff. “But we’ve been talking for fucking hours, Yuri.”
She chuckled, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. “Just a little longer. Promise. Then you can bang me to your heart’s content.”
Thargen snickered. “So you think you can take that much, huh?”
Yuri tilted her chin down and raised her brows. “Vorgal, I can take everything you have to give me. Haven’t I proven that already?”
“Yeah, you have.” He eased his pelvis back, removing some of that pressure from his throbbing cock; he couldn’t ignore the fact that it had been her body pressed against it, and that was too much to resist for long. “What do we need to talk about?”
“You told me the truth about being a security guard, right? You didn’t lie to me.”
“I didn’t lie, terran. That is what I do. But I’m obviously not guarding the sector bank or some shit.”
“Obviously. I managed to put together that much when we got here. Dank alleys, discreet entrances, and talk about surveillance hacking don’t really scream legal business. And I’ve overheard a lot of conversations at Starlight Trance, Thargen. People talk when they drink, and the way Arcanthus introduced himself… Is he that forger I’ve heard about? Alkor, or something like that? He said something about not using aliases with the twins.”
He grunted appreciatively. “Alkorin. Was one of his more popular aliases before some shit went down that encouraged him to let that name fade away.”
“Well…it hasn’t. Are you all criminals, then? Hacking, forgeries, what else?”
“Personally? Mostly assault, trespassing, and murder. But we’ve already done at least two of those together.” He slid a hand down to cup her cheek, brushing his thumb over her skin when she frowned. “We’ve all done bad shit, zoani, but we’re not the bad guys. We’re just…I dunno, morally flexible or something. Arcanthus is the best forger in the city, but he’s always been very careful about who he accepts jobs from. More careful in the last couple years than ever. Mostly that means helping people who really need an ID chip but can’t do it legally. Escaped slaves and people who had bounties put on their heads by corrupt corporations and that kinda shit.
“The people we’ve killed, there usually wasn’t much choice. He’s gone out of his way not to make enemies, and it’s pretty rare that we have to do anything drastic. Only thing bound to set him off is betrayal—or threats to his people. To us. Fuck, that’s the only reason I go out to bars sometimes, because we keep things so damned quiet around here. I can’t go that long wit
hout a fight.
Yuri smiled and slipped her hands around the back of his neck. “Okay.”
Thargen’s brows dropped. “Okay? All that and you just say okay?”
“I trust you, Thargen. I love you. You’ve never given me reason to doubt you.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest, so different from his Rage and yet just as powerful. He stroked his thumb across her bottom lip. “Yuri, you could stay here. With me. Make this your home if you want to.”
Yuri grinned, her eyes lighting up. “Are you kidding? You’re stuck with me, Thargen. I found myself an orc, and I’m never letting him go.”
The fire in her eyes stoked the flames in his heart.
“Good, cause I’m pretty fucking needy, and I really need to fuck you.” He dipped his head down to kiss her, but was stopped by her finger pressing against his lips. “Killing me, terran.”
“I have one more question.”
Thargen could only groan.
“You’re not the only one suffering, believe me, but you gave me your word,” Yuri said.
“My word on what, zoani?”
“That. You said you’d tell me what zoani meant once we were back in Arthos, and well, we’re back. And some of your friends were acting pretty strange when they heard it, especially Urgand.”
Thargen chuckled despite everything. “I did promise that, didn’t I? It means…” He sighed, searching for the right words to explain; it was one of those terms that didn’t seem to translate quite right into any other languages. “It gets used like mate or wife sometimes, but it’s more than that. Zoani is the missing part of a vorgal. The person who completes them. The one a vorgal chooses to be with forever, through life and death. Like a…soul mate, I think Sam called it once. There’s actually a saying that goes with it. A vow.”
“What is it?”
He looked into her eyes, and that sense of calm only she could instill in Thargen washed through him, if only briefly. “I will live for you. I will fight for you. I will die for you. I will be for you. And when we are reunited in the next life, I will live, fight, and die for you again.”
Savage Desire (The Infinite City Book 4) Page 41
