by Cynthia Sax
She carefully aimed, determined to maintain his respect, and she fired. The bullet splattered across the ant’s face. There was no pain, only the pleasure of a shot well-placed. “Perfect.”
“Yes,” he agreed. She turned her head. Krol wasn’t looking at the target. He gazed at her hungrily, an expression of haunting want coloring his tough countenance.
“My Krol.” She stroked her gun as she wanted to stroke him.
He followed the movement of her hands, back and forth, back and forth. Raw, hungry desire stretched between them.
“My Krol.” Her voice lilted into a plea. She needed him so much.
“No.” He shook his head, his ridges rattling. “No fucking.” He took the gun from her, grabbing it by the barrel, avoiding her fingers. He replaced the cartridge and tucked her gun into a strap on her skintight leather suit. “Fixing weapons.” Krol placed another gun in her hands.
It was larger, heavier. She lifted the weapon. Heavier guns usually meant increased firepower. Danielle looked at the target and then back at the wall she’d slammed into. She returned her gaze to the gun. “Ummm…”
Krol crossed his massive arms and lifted the ridge above his swirling eyes.
Damn. He’ll make me ask. Danielle sucked up her pride. “My Krol.” The arrogant bastard grinned at her. “Could you brace me, please?”
“These are my weapons, my Danielle.” Krol positioned his big body behind her. She sucked in her breath as his hardness pressed against her ass cheeks. He placed his hands over hers on the gun. “I am large. You are small.”
She leaned back, savoring his touch, his heat and his scent. “You’re letting me use your guns?” Danielle allowed him to guide her.
“They are the best,” he said gruffly. His breath tousled her hair and tickled her ear. “The trigger is here.” Krol tapped his thumb on the side of the gun. The impact tossed her back into his muscular form, impaling her ass onto the ridge in his leather pants.
“Sladky matka, my Danielle.” He dragged his mouth down her neck. She tilted her head, silently begging for more. “I wish to fuck you always.”
“No fucking,” she reminded him, her voice thin with passion. “Fixing weapons.”
“Yes.” Krol’s face hardened with determination and he stepped away from her. She gritted her teeth in frustration. “Fixing weapons. I must protect you.” He slid a side lever closer to the grip. “The Mravenec warriors—”
“Are they a threat?” she prompted, wanting to know the cause of his concern.
“A warship is too close. They terminate all Sila.” He set the gun in her hands and helped guide her aim, as though the act of shooting weapons eased his anxiety. “They will not terminate you, my Danielle. I will protect you.”
She pressed the trigger button. The kickback pushed her body into his. “And I will protect you, my Krol.”
“I need no protection.” Krol smiled. “I am the best warrior.” He slid the lever a fraction of an inch.
“Even the best warriors need backup sometimes.” She touched the dog tags hanging around her neck. I won’t fail him as others failed my mom. Danielle aimed, intent on her goal, and fired. The yellow paint bullet splattered over the fire ant’s red face.
“Perfect.” She found an empty strap on her dominatrix outfit that fit the bigger gun and holstered it. “Do I get daggers too? I’m skilled at hand-to-hand.” She landed a mock blow to Krol’s neck, demonstrating her prowess.
Her alien warrior laughed. “You would be terminated, my Danielle. You are small and the Mravenec warriors have many hands.” He gestured to the outline of the ant.
“You will utilize guns.” Krol replaced the larger gun’s cartridge without removing it from the holster. “The daggers, as you refer to them, will not be utilized.” He handed her a small dagger.
“What is this?” Danielle wrinkled her nose with disgust. “I can handle the big knives, my Krol.”
“It is not for use.” His cheeks darkened. “It is a first kill dagger. Sacred.” He bent down and strapped a dagger to her thigh.
“A first kill dagger.” She turned the blade, the metallic substance reflecting the light. “Your first kill dagger?” Krol nodded. “And you’re giving it to me?” He didn’t answer, focusing on the dagger strap, tying and untying it.
He gave me a dagger he’s saved for years. Oh God. What is he doing to me? “And what did you kill?” Danielle forced the lightness in her voice.
“A zizala.” She raised her eyebrow, and he explained. “A tubular beast, no appendages, straight.” He flattened his hand.
No appendages. “Like a snake or worm?” Her lips twitched.
He drew himself up to his full intimidating height and glared down at her. “A big worm with many teeth.” He held his fingers up to his mouth, demonstrating, and she choked back a laugh. “I was small. This size.” He rested his palm on the top of her head.
“Ha. Ha.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not that small.”
Krol chuckled at his mate’s adorable frown. “Do not damage yourself, my Danielle. Your size gives me pleasure.” He strapped a dagger to her other thigh. “Much pleasure.” He inhaled her womanly fragrance. “No fucking.” He kissed her leather-clad hip and slid his mouth up her tight body.
“Not even a little bit of fucking?” Danielle trailed her hand down his chest, sending sex messages to his spicka.
Sladky matka. Her touching drove him crazy. “We must shoot, my Danielle.”
“You can shoot.” She sank to her knees before him, tucking her feet under her ass, her pose reminiscent of the one Simulator Danielle had taken. “And fuck my mouth at the same time.” She pulled down his garment, freeing his spicka, and he gripped his zbran harder, fighting the urge to take her.
His Danielle licked his tip and Krol’s hips jerked. His view was breathtaking, the warrior garment displaying the lush curves of her wondrous breasts. “Sladky matka,” he repeated aloud this time, his voice soft with reverence. This tempting female is mine.
“Shoot again, my Krol.” She gave him a cheeky smile, challenging him with her flashing blue eyes.
He raised his zbran and she sucked his spicka into her hot mouth, moving with him as he pulled the trigger. The arousing combination of weapon use and mouth fucking clawed at his warrior controls.
“My Danielle.” He didn’t follow the path of the bullet. All of his attention was on her.
She released him with a loud pop. “Again.”
Her command was sharp and demanded action. He aimed the gun once more, gritting his teeth with the descent of her mouth, her tongue sliding over his shaft, her soft hands, warmed by the zbran, cupping his varles.
Krol shot bullet after bullet mindlessly as she licked and sucked, tormenting him with her tongue and lips. He groaned, his restraint cracking under the suction of her wet mouth.
“I must fuck you, my Danielle.” Krol dropped to his knees beside her, the air filled with the scent of zbrans and sex. “I must—”
The chamber’s lighting flashed red. A siren wailed. “Lejno.” Attack. Krol jumped to his feet and yanked his garment upward, the leather flattening his erect spicka. My mate is threatened. He raced to the table and strapped guns and daggers onto his body.
“What is it?” His Danielle, his warrior female, drew one of her guns. She was so small and soft and fragile. Krol’s chest tightened with fear.
“The ship is under attack.” He clasped her empty hand and tugged her forward, the warmth in her palm reassuring him. “We must return to the sleeping chamber. There, I can better protect you.”
“Hell no!” Her pale face flushed with outrage. “Forget that hiding bullshit. We have to protect the others.”
They exited the simulator chamber. “The others—” He stopped. The canine warrior ran toward them.
“Hey there, Puppy.” His Danielle patted the beast on his head. The appendage she called a tail moved from side to side. “How did you get out?” She looked up at him, her eyes wide with the real
ization he’d already come to. “Krol, that he’s here means…”
“Yes.” Crew hurried along the corridor, dressed for battle. Krol breathed in deeply, smelling war and death. The intoxicating combination no longer filled him with anticipation. He glanced at his Danielle and his heart filled with dread.
“Return to the simulator chamber, with haste!” He pushed her inside. The canine warrior jumped around them, relaying news of the attack upon their sleeping chamber with short, loud barks.
“Your friends need—”
“They come for you, my Danielle.” Krol sealed the door. The lights flickered. Lejno. He moved faster. “Puppy tells me no other sleeping chambers were searched.” He ushered his Danielle toward the far wall. “The Mravenec dare not attack your planet. They cannot attack Sila. Instead, they attack Sila’s future.” The main lights ceased functioning, leaving the dim glow of the emergency illumination.
“Or the bastards are here for you.” His Danielle glowered darkly, her blonde hair draped like a golden ring of vengeance around her beautiful face. “If that’s the case, I’ll blast their asses into space.”
“Fabricate barrier,” Krol instructed. Nothing happened. “Lejno. They have disrupted fabrication.” He overturned the target simulation table, the bulletproof design creating an effective barrier. “Down.” He shoved his Danielle to her knees and he crouched beside her, shielding her with his body. He aimed toward the door, zbrans in both of his hands.
Puppy snuggled between them, whining, his tail beating against the floor. His Danielle laid her hand on Krol’s arm. “So what’s the plan?” she whispered, gazing up at him, her eyes large and trusting. “I take the ants on the left and you take the ants on the right?”
His stomach clenched with alarm. “I shoot. You do not shoot. You hide.” She narrowed her eyes and her cheeks grew bright with pigment. Krol kissed her sputtering lips. “If you are terminated, I am terminated, my Danielle.”
“And what the hell do you think will happen to me, you great big goliath?” An alarming sheen covered her blue eyes. “Besides, warriors don’t hide, my Krol. We fight.” She raised her gun, peeking over the tabletop. “And I’m fighting. I’m going to blast some bugs,” his Danielle muttered under her breath. “There will be none of that reading their rights, innocent until proven guilty malarkey. I’m shooting on sight.” His druzka continued to word share, her voice soft, as they waited.
Booms rocked the chamber. The door pounded again and again with blasts, the metal denting, denting, denting, until it fell to the floor. A terminated Silan warrior lay upon the metal, his eyes open and motionless, a hole where his internal organs should be. His Danielle gasped. The space filled with smoke.
A larger Silan backed into the chamber, shooting frantically. A flaming bullet caught him in the face. Skin and flesh splattered. Krol grimaced. His Danielle flinched beside him.
Mravenec feet clicked on the metallic floor and Krol readied his weapon. A red antenna appeared. Wait. Wait. Wait. His Danielle shot her zbran. Lejno. Too early. The bullet hit the wall and the Mravenec warrior pulled back, retreating. Krol gritted his teeth in frustration.
The low murmur of Mravenec speak reached his hearing system. He tilted his head and counted voices. Sladky matka. Too many. He required assistance. Krol nudged his Danielle’s shoulder and held up numerous fingers. She nodded, her countenance losing pigment, and he grinned at her, attempting reassurance he didn’t feel.
The enemy attacked in full force, streaming into the room from both sides of the entrance. Krol shot Mravenec face after Mravenec face.
His Danielle shot a Mravenec in the chest and the impact threw his body back toward the others. “Fuck. Face. Gotta get them in the face, Officer Danielle.” Her next shot removed the Mravenec’s head. The red torso fell forward and the terminated warrior’s many arms twitched.
Krol’s grin became genuine. His female was fierce and able. The unexplainable warmth spread in his chest.
Puppy barked a warning as three Mravenec warriors surged toward him in a synchronized attack. Krol calmly shot one, dodged the return fire and then terminated the second. Pain burst in his left shoulder, hot and severely intense. He inhaled sharply, his zbran dropping from his useless fingers.
Lejno! Utilizing the zbran in his right hand, he released a barrage of bullets on the remaining warrior until the chamber was empty and the Mravenec male was terminated. Krol retreated fully behind the table to reload. Puppy leapt onto his lap and licked his face enthusiastically.
His Danielle was also reloading, jamming full cartridges into her gun. “My Krol.” She touched his unharmed shoulder. Her full lips flattened with concern.
Her concern was for him. The warmth in his chest crept up his neck ridges. “Shoot, druzka,” Krol urged, self-disgust churning his stomach. If I was a better warrior… “Do not allow their advance.” He discarded the used cartridges and replaced them, the ritual focusing his emotion.
“Right.” She shot and ducked, evading the flying bullets, her face smudged with dirt, yet beautiful and strong. “You can count on me, my Krol. I won’t let you down.”
I should not have to count on my mate. Krol grunted and turned, joining her in their fight, shoulder to shoulder with the female he had crossed galaxies for. The onslaught of Mravenec warriors slowed, and hope sprang to life inside Krol. We have—
A tall, lean warrior stormed into the chamber, his torso a red blur. He rolled and shot with an effortless grace, using the discarded single-ass support as a mobile shield, his other three arms holding advanced weaponry.
“Lejno.” Krol concentrated his defenses on Mravenec’s top warrior.
“The best fights the best, Warrior Krol,” his enemy boasted in his native language, and his pinchers stretched into a mocking smile. “Long have I waited for this battle.”
“Your battle is with me, Mravenec.” Krol blasted at the single-ass support, denting the metal. “Allow my druzka to leave the chamber unharmed. She is a frail human female and no threat to the Mravenec race.”
His Danielle terminated a lesser Mravenec with the ease of an experienced warrior, and Krol grimaced.
“Is she no threat?” The Mravenec warrior laughed. “My Supreme Commander disagrees with your assessment, Silan. We cannot allow you to reproduce. She is to be terminated, as are you.”
A killing rage swept over Krol. “You will not terminate my Danielle.” He aimed at his rival’s smirking face and fired a round of bullets.
His shots were deflected off the metal single-ass support, the Mravenec’s multiple arms moving in a blur of motion. The tabletop bent under the counterattack, pushing Krol and his Danielle back against the wall. As Krol battled the warrior, his druzka terminated entering Mravenec foot soldiers until the flow slowed and stopped, the noise of the battle continuing outside the chamber.
“Only one big bug left, my Krol,” his Danielle crowed with a triumph Krol didn’t feel. “Cover me.”
Cover her? He frowned as he shot. What did—
She rolled away from the protective table and repositioned behind the other single-ass support, her smaller form shielded yet vulnerable. Puppy whined in protest, remaining huddled by Krol’s feet where his stubborn female should have also stayed.
“My Danielle,” Krol yelled. He fired franticly at the Mravenec warrior. A bullet removed one of the enemy’s limbs, but that injury didn’t stop him from focusing on Krol’s female, his guns swinging in her direction.
His Danielle grabbed the seat. “Oh, shit.” The heavy single-ass support didn’t move. “Oh shit. Oh shit.”
Krol ran toward her with Puppy following. The first shot landed on the single-ass support seat and flung his Danielle backward. The second shot cracked her breastplate in two, leaving her soft, frail body completely exposed.
His Danielle shot wildly. “My Krol.”
Her whispered plea reached him through the thunder of gunfire and Krol flung himself into the air. “My Danielle!” She cannot be terminated. I m
ust protect her. He twisted his body to shoot at the enemy.
Pain burst in his gut. His Danielle screamed and an intolerable weight pushed down on his chest, squeezing the breath from his body. Krol slid, his back ridges scraping along the metal floor. He fired shot after shot at the approaching warrior.
Puppy, their canine warrior, attacked, closing his jaws around one of the Mravenec warrior’s many arms, causing the male to shriek in agony and rendering his weapon unusable. The warrior shook and flailed. Puppy would not be removed.
“You bastard.” His Danielle cursed their foe’s lineage.
The Mravenec warrior turned his head in his Danielle’s direction, leaving his head unshielded, and Krol fired one last shot. Direct hit. His rival’s face blew into many pieces, his brain splattering on the wall, and he fell to the floor. Puppy pounced on his twitching form in triumph.
“My Danielle.” Krol smiled weakly. She is safe.
“My Krol.” She kneeled by his side. “Shit. You’re torn up bad.” His Danielle placed her cool hands over his wound. His blood flowed through her fingers, warming her skin. “Warrior down!” she yelled and he grimaced, her volume loud. “Medic! I need a medic!”
“Fixer,” he corrected, gazing into her eyes. They had deepened to a dark blue.
“I need a Fixer! A Fixer!”
He heard her words as if they’d been spoken at a great distance. Sound rushed in his ears and blackness threatened to overcome him. He held death back, wishing for these last units of time with his druzka. “My Danielle.”
“Warrior Krol Nowak.” Warrior Miar Najazd’s voice sliced through the humming. “The Mravenecs have been terminated.”
His Danielle’s face was pale. She was so soft, so fragile, so in need of protection, and Krol had never felt this much pain, this much weakness. Warrior Miar Najazd appeared over her shoulder, his face blackened with the heat of battle. Warrior Miar Najazd, his friend and Sila’s number two warrior.
Protect. My Danielle. Lejno.
Krol placed his Danielle’s left hand in Warrior Miar Najazd’s outstretched palm. “Your Danielle.” He forced the words past his cold lips, feeling an agony deeper than any wound.
