Galactic Gladiators Box Set 3

by Anna Hackett

  For the first time ever, he felt drained dry.

  Chest heaving, Rillian collapsed beside Dayna, rolling sideways so he didn’t crush her. He pulled her close.

  She moved her head, her lips brushing his chest. “Well…” Her husky voice was lazy and relaxed. “The ladies were right.”

  He looked down at her satisfied face and arched a brow.

  She smiled. “Sex with an alien rocks.”

  He smiled, taking her in. He’d never get tired of looking at her. All that gorgeous, sweat-slicked skin was pure temptation.

  Feeling like celebrating, he pulled away and walked over to the small, built-in bar on the other side of the room. From the cooler, he pulled out a rare bottle of Mirah.

  When he turned back, he saw Dayna was up on her side, blatantly watching his naked body.

  He fought a smile. When her gaze met his, she grinned at him. No shy smiles or coy looks from Dayna. It was just pure appreciation in her eyes.

  He let his gaze slide down her naked body and gave her the same back. He sauntered back to the bed and sat beside her.

  “I thought we’d share a glass of this.” He lifted the bottle. “Mirah.”

  “Rory tells me that it tastes almost like something we call champagne on Earth.” She cocked her head. “You didn’t grab any glasses.”

  “No need. I have a far better idea.” He lifted the bottle and poured a splash down her chest.

  She gasped.

  Rillian lowered his head, lapping the golden liquid off her skin. Delicious. He licked one nipple and she moaned.

  “It tastes better off your skin.” He lifted the bottle to her mouth and she closed her lips around it. He tipped it, watching her throat work as she drank. Then he pulled it away, leaned forward, and kissed her gorgeous mouth. Bubbles fizzed between them, and one of her hands tangled in his hair.

  Then he pushed her back, running the bottle down between her breasts. Her eyes glowed, just as her symbiont stone did. He tipped more of the drink on her belly and lapped it from her navel.

  She tilted her hips up. “Oh, God.”

  He spilled more of the wine over her mound, watching it slick down over her swollen folds. He lowered his head again, licking at her. Her cries were sharp and husky.

  “I need you again,” he growled.

  Her teeth sank into her bottom lip and gold flickered through her eyes. Rillian dropped the bottle, not even bothering to watch it hit the floor and roll away. He gripped her hips and flipped her over onto her belly. She pushed her ass back against him and he shaped his hands over her glorious curves.

  Then he moved in behind her, covering her body with his. “I’m rock hard again, Dayna. I can’t be sweet or gentle.”

  She pushed back against him. “I don’t want sweet or gentle.”

  He notched his cock between her thighs and then slammed inside her body.

  “Yes!” She rocked back against him.

  Again, Rillian lost his grip on his iron-hard control. He thrust into her with wild abandon, driven by an urge to possess he’d never felt before. He also felt the strangest sensation from his symbiont—like it wanted to possess as well.

  This time, both their cries of release echoed off the walls as they came.

  Dayna lay sprawled on the sheets, one arm outstretched and one leg cocked.

  She might never be able to walk again, and she was perfectly okay with that. She felt lips press against her bare shoulder and she smiled.

  “I got you all sticky.” His fingers drifted down the side of her body.

  “We’re both sticky,” she murmured.

  “Come on.” Rillian’s arms wrapped around her and he lifted her into his arms.

  “I’ve never been carried as much as I have been since I came here.” Dayna secretly loved it. She was tall and athletic, and carried a lot of muscle tone. On Earth, there hadn’t been many men who would be able to carry her with ease.

  “I like carrying you.”

  She’d assumed he was taking her to the bathroom, but when the glass doors to the balcony opened, she stiffened. “Rillian, we’re naked!”

  “Don’t worry. I like my privacy, and no one—” his voice lowered “—no one gets to see you naked but me.”

  The possessive vibe to his voice made her shiver.

  She swallowed. “Ryan told me that Zhim has a fancy pool out on his balcony.”

  Rillian made a sound close to a snort. “Zhim has a need to be showy and flaunt his wealth. He has a pool that screams for people to look at it.”

  Her lips twitched. Says the man who owns the wealthiest, classiest casino in the city.

  Hidden lighting clicked on, bathing the balcony in a soft, golden glow. She gasped. A small plunge pool was set into the floor, and protected on either side by high walls. It had a gorgeous mosaic tile bottom, and was a private little haven.

  It was gorgeous. Like a magical grotto.

  Gauzy, white curtains hanging from a wooden frame above the pool floated in the warm nighttime breeze. Straight ahead, she had the perfect view of the horizon, and Carthago’s moons, hanging above the shadowed desert.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  Rillian stepped into the water and set her on her feet. The water lapping at her was the perfect temperature and she pushed away, ducking under. When she rose and turned back, he was leaning against the edge, watching her. Like an emperor watching his latest acquisition.

  Gorgeous man. And for the moment, he was hers. His gaze was unwavering and she sucked in a breath. He saw her. All of her. All the good and all the bad. Everything she’d been before, and everything she was now.

  He took another step into the water, and she moved closer to him. He stood only thigh-deep and her gaze dropped to his hardening cock.

  On that big bed inside, he’d driven her crazy, over and over again. She’d lost count of how many times he’d made her come.

  Time to drive him wild.

  She dropped to her knees on the bottom step in front of him. He paused, cocking his head.

  “Time for me to have some fun.” She pressed her hands to his hard thighs.

  “Fun?”

  “Yes.” Anticipation licked her belly.

  “You want to suck my cock, Dayna?”

  Her fingers dug into his hard muscles and the water lapped at her breasts like a caress. Her gaze locked with his. “Oh, yes.”

  “And I want to see your lips wrapped around me.” His fingers cupped her jaw. “I want you to suck me until I come in your mouth.”

  Dayna’s belly clenched. She licked her lips and leaned forward. She ran her tongue over his magnificent, long cock.

  He made a noise and it spurred her on. She took him in her mouth, enjoying the salty taste of him. She sucked him deeper.

  Fingers stroked her cheek and his hips moved minutely. He was still exerting that fierce control of his.

  She adjusted her angle and took him deeper. His groans urged her on, and a sense of power filled her. His fingers tightened on her jaw, and having this powerful, dangerous man under her spell was intoxicating.

  “Hold still, Dayna.” His words were raw, ripped from him. “I’m going to fuck that sexy mouth now.”

  She obeyed, letting him direct her mouth. He started moving his hips, thrusting deeply between her lips. God.

  “Can’t last…much longer.” His face was drawn tight, a dull flush along his cheekbones.

  Seconds later, he came with a groan, his hands tangling in her hair. Dayna swallowed it down.

  “Drak, you slay a man.” His thumb brushing her lips.

  She was trembling with need again, her symbiont burning in her chest.

  Rillian took another step down into the water, and swept her up against him. As he shifted, she saw his symbiont glowing brightly against his back. She reached over his shoulder and stroked it.

  He stilled, turning a little. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his back. Then he reached out, his hand caressing the stone between her breasts, an
d she moaned at the sensation.

  His cock was hard again, pushing against her belly. As he pulled her up, she wrapped her legs around his hips.

  “Need you,” he growled. “Can’t wait.”

  She didn’t want him to wait. He thrust inside her.

  Dayna’s head dropped back, her fingers digging into his shoulders. As that thick cock worked in and out of her body, she felt a violent need to feed rising up inside her.

  She tried not to panic, but she couldn’t control it, couldn’t stop it.

  “Rillian.” She heard the fear in her voice.

  “Take what I freely give, Dayna.”

  She leaned into him, their chests slicked together. Then she released her fierce hold on herself and felt the energy pull from him into her.

  It felt so good. Like being drowned in a wave of pleasure. “Feed from me, too,” she panted. “While you’re deep inside me.”

  He made a feral sound and didn’t pause in hammering into her body. A second later, she felt the reciprocal flow of energy as he pulled it from her.

  Her eyes widened. Gold met silver. The pleasure was unlike anything she’d felt before.

  Her orgasm blindsided her. It was almost like an explosion, energy flowing over them as pleasure burst through her. As she screamed his name, she heard his harsh roar as he came.

  And then, for the first time in her life, Dayna blacked out from pleasure.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Rillian held Dayna’s limp body in his arms, trying to regain some control. Drakking stars.

  She’d brought him to his knees. He dropped down to sit on one of the pool steps and gently pulled her into his lap, stroking her back.

  Her eyelids fluttered and she curled into him in a very un-Dayna-like way. She murmured something unintelligible, and he smiled. He very much liked wearing Dayna Caplan out.

  He stroked a hand down her spine and she turned more to give him better access.

  Then he paused.

  Golden markings glowed at the base of her neck, spreading out across her skin. They were alien symbols.

  He thumbed them, his body tense.

  “What?” She looked over her shoulder, moving lazily against him.

  “There are alien markings on your skin. Beneath the skin, I should say.”

  She sat up. “What?”

  “They’re glowing the same color as your symbiont.” That drakking witch. Rillian really wished she was still alive so he could kill her himself.

  Dayna pushed her hair forward over her shoulder. “What do they say?”

  He stroked the wet silk of her hair and thumbed the markings. “Drak.” It couldn’t be.

  She wriggled. “What?”

  “Dayna, I think these are the missing piece of the Zaabha map.”

  “Seriously?” She looked at him over her shoulder, her eyes wide.

  “I think the witch inscribed the last piece of the map on your skin.” He lifted her, and with water streaming off both of them, carried her inside. Setting her by the bed, he strode into his large walk-in wardrobe. He found his black robe and grabbed another for Dayna. After slipping his on, he moved to her and felt a spurt of annoyance at having to cover up that lovely body. It was too big, but she belted it and folded the sleeves up.

  “Sit on the bed and loosen the robe a little.”

  She complied, and he grabbed his communicator. He pushed the robe off enough that he could take clear pictures of the markings. Then he tugged the silky fabric back over her golden skin.

  He showed her the screen and her gaze narrowed. She fingered the markings on the image.

  “They’re almost pretty,” she said. “If they didn’t possibly lead to a hellish arena.”

  Rillian tapped the screen, accessing the data he had on the stone map that Neve and Corsair had recovered from the witch.

  “Let’s see if these symbols piece together with the other map.” He set his program to run, images whizzing quickly over the screen.

  No match.

  He released a breath. “They don’t fit.”

  “Maybe the tattoos are something else.” Dayna frowned, wrapping her arms around herself.

  Rillian swiped his screen, putting through a call.

  A second later, an angry face appeared on the screen. “This had better be life or death.”

  Zhim, Carthago’s premier information merchant, had an impressive scowl. His dark hair tumbled around his shoulders and he was shirtless.

  Ryan’s head popped in from the side and she rolled her eyes. Her black hair was pulled back in a messy bun. It looked like the Earth woman was wearing Zhim’s shirt. The blue fabric swamped her tiny body

  “Ignore him,” Ryan said. “He means, ‘hello, it must be important. How can we help?’”

  Zhim crossed his arms. “No, I don’t.”

  “Hang on a sec,” Ryan said.

  Rillian waited, hearing rustling from off screen. Ryan returned, her hair a little tidier and wearing a smaller shirt. It had something written on it.

  If you break it, I’ll fix it, but it will cost you.

  Rillian swallowed a grin. He couldn’t have found a better match for Zhim.

  “Hi, Ryan,” Dayna said quietly.

  “Dayna. Hope you’re okay?” The woman’s dark eyes took in Dayna and Rillian’s matching robes and she grinned.

  A faint flush filled Dayna’s cheeks. “I’m…fine.”

  “We are sorry to interrupt,” Rillian said. “But we discovered something that could be important.” He told the pair about Dayna’s tattoos.

  Zhim’s scowl morphed into a look of concentration, his nebula-colored eyes glowing. There was nothing Zhim liked more than getting his hands on new information.

  Both geniuses turned to the comp screens behind them and started tapping.

  “Can you send the images through?” Zhim asked.

  “I already have,” Rillian replied.

  “Got them.” Ryan made a few small humming noises and Zhim leaned over his lover’s shoulder.

  Rillian picked up Dayna’s hand and squeezed. “I tried to see if the markings slotted in with the map, but got nowhere.”

  “It’ll be encrypted,” Ryan said. “I’m running some of our decryption algorithms.”

  Zhim nodded, his fingers flying over the screen. “Enhancing now.”

  As Rillian watched the pair, he realized how well matched they were. The small, intelligent woman from Earth, and the wealthy, arrogant information merchant. Zhim glanced down at Ryan, and the woman winked at him. There was a smile on Zhim’s lips, and while he hadn’t softened exactly, he seemed less harsh than he had been before. Happier.

  “Got it.” Ryan pumped a fist into the air.

  On the screen, Rillian watched the map shimmer, and the alien markings off Dayna’s skin slide around and fit into it.

  “Overlaying on aerial images of the desert,” Zhim said.

  Rillian now saw a glowing blue dot marked deep in the desert west of Kor Magna.

  “It’s in the Plain of Burning Sands,” Zhim said. “Horrible place.”

  Rillian had never been there, but he’d heard the terrible stories of the endless heat, and sand so hot it melted anything that touched it.

  “Tell Galen,” Rillian said. “I’ll have my pilots prepare my desert ship.” Minerals in the desert sand didn’t mix well with ship engines. Most travel in the desert was confined to simple vehicles or beasts. The more complex the engine, the more the sand clogged it up. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  “Rillian,” Zhim’s voice was grim. “I have scans of this area from two weeks ago. There was nothing there.”

  Dayna leaned forward. “There must be something. We have to find it. We have to save Ever and Sam.”

  Zhim gave a single nod. “I’ll tell Galen to prepare to leave in the morning. Good luck.”

  Dayna fidgeted in her seat, staring out at the endless yellow sand they were flying over. Rillian sat beside her, expertly piloting the
ship. She watched his long-fingered hands move easily over the controls.

  Was there anything the man couldn’t do?

  Her gaze drifted over that face that she could look at all day. She was falling for Rillian. She let out a breath, warmth filling her belly. She was falling for a sexy, dangerous man who never let anyone get too close.

  Well, watch out, Mr. Gazillionaire, because I’m pretty stubborn when I want something.

  Murmurs from behind them caught her ear, and she glanced back. The atmosphere in the ship was tense. Galen, several of his gladiators, Magnus, and Corsair and Neve were seated in the passenger area. The elegant ship hadn’t been designed with massive shoulders and huge bodies in mind, so it was a tight fit.

  When Dayna looked back out of the front window, the only thing out there was hot, baking desert. Memories shimmered and bile rose in her throat. She swallowed, and thought of Ever and Sam instead. She hoped the pair were holding on. Dayna knew the horrors of Zaabha, and she wanted nothing more than to free the women. Hold on a little longer.

  But there was something else Dayna wanted. Revenge.

  She patted the laser pistol holstered at her hip and the sheathed knife she’d borrowed from Rillian’s weapons collection. She’d been a cop most of her adult life. She knew revenge wasn’t right or polite or nice. But in this situation, she didn’t care. The Thraxians and Zaabha were going down.

  “Approaching the coordinates,” Rillian said.

  Dayna stared ahead, clenching her hands on the arms of her seat. She squinted against the bright sunlight, but there was nothing. Just sand, sand, and more sand.

  Her gut clenched. “I can’t see anything.”

  “I don’t, either,” Rillian said grimly.

  Maybe this was a wild-goose chase. Dayna drummed her fingers on the armrest. Maybe the witch was messing with them from beyond the grave.

  Neve appeared at Dayna’s shoulder, leaning forward. A muscle worked in the woman’s taut jaw. “There’s nothing here.”

  “We’ll find her.” Dayna gripped Neve’s arm. “You’re not alone in this. We won’t stop until we find your sister and Sam.”

  Neve looked down, her unique green eyes pale against her darker skin. She nodded.