Lovers of the Galaxy, Book Two: Bounty Hunters of the Heart

by Trinity Blacio

  Shooting him a smug smile, Oshki asked, “Where are we going?”

  Furious at his mate’s lack of concern for the base’s welfare, Miln ground his teeth together, his fangs digging into his lower lip.

  “To a museum,” she replied. “I’ll give you the directions. You’ll find weapons, ammunition, clothing, money, and other things you’ll need to travel back in time.”

  “If we surprise Randle,” Oshki stated, “why do we need to take all those things back in time with us?”

  “Randle is a wicked bastard,” she replied with vehemence. “If he gets away, you’ll be forced to come back here for the supplies or—”

  “Or forced to track Randle down only during the night while you’re there,” Volund said. “Oshki’s coloring won’t startle people as quickly as yours will, Miln. Your physical appearance may frighten any locals you may encounter, and the last thing you need to deal with is a mob of superstitious humans.”

  He nodded. “I see your point.”

  “Let us go now,” Oshki urged, shooting him a pleading look.

  He knew it wasn’t to complete their mission and return to base camp. He saw the unbridled yearning in his eyes. Even worse, his lover had dismissed the matter of shirking the rest of his guard duty.

  “Fine.” Miln turned toward the door, but not before catching Volund’s concerned expression. “We will collect the items now.”

  “Take the packs stored in my closet, too,” said Venus.

  That made him pause. He chuckled, as did his mate and brother-friends. “We have a way to gather supplies,” he said. “Do not worry.”

  “You two should take Ino and Ka with you to the museum,” Jaxxon suggested. “In the short time we have been here, our pets have grown adept at sensing the Bone Eaters before the rest of us do.”

  “And while you are gone,” Volund added, “we will access your ship’s central brain and pinpoint Randle’s Sky Streamer path.”

  Chapter Five

  With Ino and Ka trotting along ahead of them, Miln surveyed the dry, crumbling landscape. He hoped the scenery of the mid-1800s proved more pleasing to the eyes. The sun beat down on his head, and sweat trickled over his ribs beneath his body armor.

  “Schizma!” He paused and took a foil-like sheet from his tool pack, stripped several of the tiny bumps from it, and popped them into his mouth. “The intensity of the sun is indescribable. You should take some of the protection seeds, too.”

  His mate nodded and did as suggested. “Now you know why I returned early from my shift.”

  “It is no excuse. I fulfilled my time scouting in this harsh afternoon light.”

  “I grew ill.”

  “You are as strong as I.”

  “How much farther?” Oshki asked as if they weren’t even arguing.

  The urge to knock his mate on his ass overwhelmed Miln, but he restrained his temper. “Another block.”

  “Block?”

  He grimaced. “We will reach the museum shortly.”

  By the time they arrived at the brick building, his hair lay flat with sweat against his skull. He glanced at Oshki as they crossed a large rectangular area with several rusting, wheeled conveyances sitting in it. Perspiration coated his mate’s forehead, his hair wet around his face and where it lay against his neck. Even bathed in sweat, his face flushed with heat, he was handsome, virile.

  Despite his irritation with his partner, Miln’s sapin stirred, but he willed it to be still and concentrated on the shadowy areas around the buildings, where the sun didn’t reach. “It looks safe to cross.” He motioned for Oshki to follow him. “And the pets seem at ease.”

  Instead of taking the front entrance, he strode down a paved walkway leading around one side of the building. Halfway down, he discovered a gray metal door but found it locked. Using his Slicer, he sent a brief burst of energy into the knob, which melted slightly and fell out to land on the hard path. He pulled the door open and entered a dark, musty corridor. The pets trotted in behind them.

  “Where do we look for the things we need?” his mate asked quietly.

  “Venus said to go to the upper rooms where the Old West exhibits are located.”

  He led Oshki and the animals into a great center chamber and up an open, winding staircase to the highest regions of the museum. Ample windows allowed natural light to illuminate the building, but the stale air irritated the lungs, and Ino and Ka panted as if they still walked in the afternoon heat. He reached the top of the stairs and strode around the semicircle balustrade to a hall leading toward the back of the structure. They walked past displays of what was labeled the Industrial Revolution, their heavy boots clonking on the tile flooring, the sound bouncing from the rafters and the large glass windowpanes. A big sign over double swinging doors read The Old West.

  Pushing through the doors, he halted just inside the entrance and gaped at the replicas of people dressed in strange garb and ridiculous hats. Wooden conveyances lined one wall, and strange, four-legged creatures, some stout with long horns and others without, pulled them.

  “By the Twelve Galaxies,” he swore, “there are many artifacts to consider and choose from.”

  “Primitive,” mused Oshki.

  “Not as primitive as the Dark Ages or even time further back such as the Bronze Age.”

  Oshki snorted. “Primitive, nonetheless.”

  “Let us get started.” After withdrawing another packet from his belt, he licked it. The square began to grow larger. He moved into the center of the display and placed the packet on the floor. He spent a lot of time choosing revolvers, finding the appropriate ammunition, and picked out sturdy knives for each of them. Ino and Ka panted under one of the wagons.

  “If you have some extra water,” said Miln, “the pets could use a drink.”

  “I will take care of that while you find us suitable clothing.”

  Behind Miln, the sound of the animals’ lapping echoed in the chamber. As he studied the clothes in the exhibits, he realized it would be difficult to find garments that would fit them. Finally, he gave up, and mentally cataloging the names of each item, took double sets of pants, chaps, shirts, vests, and anything else he could find that Venus had marked in the book she’d sent with them. He pulled the boots off two pioneers and returned to the sheet he’d laid on the floor. Kneeling, he set the clothing and footwear on the marble tiles next to the silver square.

  “What did you find?” his consort asked curiously.

  “Not much that will fit our bodies. We will have to use environites to expand the garments so we can wear them. He removed several rubbery one-by-one-inch tiles from his tool kit. Helping him, Oshki placed two shirts on top of each other and then two pairs of pants in the same manner in a separate pile as Miln prepared his items. He handed Oshki a few tiny environite squares and kept the others. Next, he laid one on each mound of clothing he’d prepped as his mate followed his example. Finished, Miln reached for the boots and fastened a tile on each one.

  The environites activated and began swarming over the garments like millions of shimmering gnats. Within minutes, the shirts and all other clothing were blended to make larger garments, and the boots were stretched and lengthened to allow for their larger feet. The minuscule environites winked out and fell off the clothing, appearing as piles of gray dust.

  Curious, Miln pulled off his boots and slipped out of his tilk. He picked up a pair of brown pants, stepped into them, and drew them up to button the front. “They fit well, so your set should fit you, too.”

  His mate turned with a beige shirt in his hands, his attention landing on him as he finished fastening the top button. Heat glimmered in Oshki’s eyes and his expression awakened something fierce in Miln. He suddenly knew what he could do to be with his mate.

  “Put our armor and other things on the sheet-pack.” He cursed the huskiness in his voice. “Trans-shift everything to base and then return here.”

  Without a word, his lover hurriedly tossed all the clothing and bo
ots on the enlarged silver square, leaving only their tool kits out of the pack. He stooped and touched each corner of the sheet. It sealed over itself and two adjustable straps appeared on one side. He picked it up, slung it over one shoulder.

  “I’ll change out of these clothes at base and be right back.” He smiled in delight and vanished.

  Trembling, his sapin so hard it pained him, Miln waited for his lover to return. With all their belongings save for their tool kits back at base, they could be together for the first time since their brief encounter. He shook his head. That had been nearly a full Muhebu lunar cycle ago, a little over a year in Earth time. He wondered how many humans could wait that long to be with their mates. He paced the floor in front of Ino and Ka. He knew that they had planned on waiting until they had time shifted, but once he and Oshki traveled back in time after Randle, unforeseen circumstances might prevent them from having another opportunity like this one. He had to show his mate how much he loved him.

  The air shimmered as if heat waves wafted from the floor, and suddenly Oshki stood in front of him in nothing but inch by glorious inch of pale skin, his manhood proud and eager as it bumped against his navel.

  Miln gulped.

  He couldn’t take his gaze off Oshki’s erection. It twitched with need, the head of it marbled with pale purple veins, a glistening drop of his essence perched on its tip. By the Twelve Galaxies, he wanted him.

  He cleared his throat and quickly tossed some patchwork quilts on the floor. “Come over here,” he beckoned, “and lie with me on these blankets.”

  On bare feet, his partner padded across the highly polished floor, his soles slapping softly on the marble tile. Miln admired the planes of his honed muscles balanced with the bulging of others lacing his arms, thighs, and calves. The warrior was a fine example of prime maleness. Although his coloring was exceedingly pale, he loved his mate’s fair skin, yellow hair, and brilliant moonshine eyes. He was not only hauntingly handsome but also powerful. Battle scars, some thick and ropey while others were thin and silver with time, crisscrossed his body.

  Miln gulped in anticipation, his sapin so hard it pained him. He stretched out on his left side. His member, precum seeping from it, bumped his abdomen.

  Kneeling next to him, Oshki smiled. Emotion softened the harsh lines of his face, his eyes full of love and bright with desire. “I have dreamed of this moment for so long.”

  “So have I.” Brushing back a long lock of his mate’s hair, he returned his smile. “Our first mating was so brief we can barely count it.”

  Oshki ran one hand over his shoulder and along his arm. Gooseflesh erupted over Miln’s skin, and his manhood throbbed with need. A groan slipped past his lips.

  “Let me pleasure you,” he whispered. He pushed Miln back onto the quilts and then positioned himself over his pelvis. “I will make you cry out my name and beg to take me.”

  Chapter Six

  Liquid fire raced through his veins. Miln’s breath grew faster, ragged, and his heartbeat crashed in his ears. He stared up at the metal rafters forming an arched pattern above them, but as he felt his mate’s warm breath sweep over his lower abdomen, he closed his eyes and anticipated the next moment.

  “I love how the hair here and down to your root is a deeper pink.” His partner gently kissed the spot just below Miln’s navel. “What is it Venus calls this part of a male’s body?”

  “A…a cock.” He gulped. “Sometimes she c-calls it a rod, t-too.”

  If his mate wasn’t careful, Miln would come before he was even touched. Desire rushed through him, and every bit of it culminated in his throbbing member. He swallowed again, waiting for him to make his move.

  His lover kissed all around his lower abdomen, each caress leaving a damp spot behind. His long hair fanned out across Miln’s upper belly, the sensation silky and tantalizing. Miln moaned again, louder this time.

  “Does this please you?” asked Oshki.

  “Oh, yes.”

  Those two words had barely passed his lips when Oshki took him into his mouth, the head of his cock bumping the back of his throat.

  “Schizma!” he stiffened and gripped the blankets, hips arching, lightning bolts zipping from his sapin to melt every nerve ending throughout his body.

  His partner pumped his head up and down as he kept suction around Miln’s erection, the hot, wet sensation of his mouth pure ecstasy and wonderful torture. Vaguely, he heard a rumble above the museum, but was it his heartbeat or an approaching storm? As his mate sucked again, the faint question evaporated from his mind. The pressure, the slick and yet rough feel of his lover’s tongue caressing his cock, and the murmured sounds of pleasure from his mate only fueled the inferno growing at the base of his spine. He wanted to come, but even more, he wanted to pin Oshki to the floor and push into his hard yet pliant ass.

  “Ungh!” he shouted. “You are playing with fire.”

  His mate replied with a deep chuckle, the sound buzzing his cock. Miln sighed and balled the quilt more tightly in his fists.

  Oshki moved his head up and down faster still. Every time the tip of his erection hit the back of his lover’s throat, the heat building in his spine filtered into his balls. The pressure increased in them, and began shifting into the root of his sapin. However, just as he thought Oshki would continue his ministrations until he exploded in his mouth, he released him.

  A sigh of disappointment mixed with relief burst from him. He opened his eyes to look up at Oshki. “The things you do to me.”

  “I adore the noises that spill from your lips,” his partner replied, breathing heavily. “You sound like a great animal both roaring and purring.”

  Miln couldn’t take any more torment. He sat up suddenly and grabbed his mate by the upper arms. The instant he grasped him, Oshki’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a startled breath. He jerked him off his knees, flipped him over, and planted him firmly on his back, where he straddled him. His mate stared up at him, his expression stunned, but the surprise in his eyes vanished and unbridled lust replaced it. He panted harder, his eyes deepening to a dark, steely gray.

  Thunder boomed overhead, the reverberation bleeding into the museum’s inner structure supports. The vibration passed into the floor, and Miln detected it through his knees planted on either side of Oshki’s hips. The ominous sounds of the weather poked at his senses, but his need for release overwhelmed everything else.

  “You are mine,” he said to him.

  Oshki met his gaze with total abandonment. “Yes, yours always. Let us seal our bond the way it should have been so long ago.”

  Lowering himself onto his muscled, sinewy body, he sandwiched their cocks between them. He shut his eyes for a moment in an attempt to rein in his desire. If he didn’t go slowly, he might hurt his mate, and he could never live with himself if he injured him or caused him any discomfort. He smiled at how their cocks almost thumped in time together.

  “Please, gentle warrior,” Oshki whispered. “Claim me. Make me yours.”

  Again, a roll of thunder shook the museum. Behind them, beneath the wheeled conveyance, Ino and Ka whined, the sound high-pitched and full of unease.

  Miln glanced over one shoulder at the animals. Both pets panted heavily, and white rimmed their dark eyes.

  “Be at ease.” Oshki laced his fingers in his hair. “It is only the weather.”

  Still, it worried him that they were security for the first Azutuan base and they were not with the Rolarai brothers and Venus. Something didn’t bode well.

  Oshki wiggled his hips beneath him. Distracted, desire firing through him at the speed of light, Miln groaned in pleasure. He placed three fingers to his mouth and deposited a healthy dose of saliva on them. Lifting himself, he ran the back sides of his cupped fingers over his lover’s balls and followed the strip of skin between them to the crack of his ass. Gently, he delved inside and found the puckered place he wanted so much. At his touch, Oshki stiffened and drew in a sharp breath. He slicked Oshki’s tight
opening to aid his penetration.

  Done, he shifted and parted his mate’s butt cheeks with his cock until he found the tight muscle within.

  Oshki slipped his arms around him, drawing him closer and sliding his hands down to palm his ass. “Finally, we will be one.”

  With his breath hitching, he battled to go slowly. The only thing he wanted was to push into his mate’s body, feel his passage hot and tight around his sapin, and fuck him until he begged to stop. Regardless of the carnal beast screaming for release deep inside him, he had to be gentle. It had been so long since either of them had been with anyone, male or female.

  “Fuck me!” Oshki raised his hips in an attempt to force him into his passage. “Please!”

  The flash of lightning sliced through the windows, illuminating the darkening museum. Again, the pets whimpered behind them.

  This was all wrong. How could they be together like this when the brothers and their mate were dealing with a dangerous Bone Eater held in the lab? What if something went wrong? Unease slithered through Miln.

  “We cannot do this.” He rose on his hands to look down into his mate’s incredulous face. “I am uncomfortable with this storm, and so are Ino and Ka. It is our duty to secure the base and protect the brothers and their mate, but here we are about to make love to sate our carnal desires. It is not right.”

  Oshki blinked. The expression in his eyes turned from disbelief to surprise to hurt. “You cannot be serious. We have waited so long to be together. Here we are on the verge of truly claiming one another and you want to return to the base? The brothers will be fine. You know they will die to protect Venus and their unborn child.”

  “That is what bothers me,” he replied gravely. “If anything should happen to the threesome, I will never forgive myself. What if the brothers are killed defending them? The child deserves to grow up with a father.” He sighed and offered Oshki a pleading look. “I want you so badly, but our duty requires us to put the needs of others before our own.”