by C Cato
Soren’s head shot up. “Eudala? Thank god! I honestly thought Sarge was going to back out. The man has monster trust issues.”
“Oh?” she patted his butt with her tail as she unwound and crossed to Soren.
Cole laughed, but his face lit up brighter than a firefly’s ass. “I’ll…go find some food or something,” he mumbled, but Soren and Eudala were already deep in conversation in their heads.
He about-faced to try and find the cafeteria but didn’t get far before someone slammed into his side, pinning his cheek to the wall with an arm to his neck. He powered up immediately, but his assailant was equally strong. There was enough strength to turn and face his attacker, even though it put him at more of a disadvantage with his back flush against the wall. Zaro seethed at him, nostrils flared, breathing hard. He shifted his hold using his other hand to grip Cole around the neck. It forced him up on his toes slightly, but Zaro didn’t seem inclined to choke him, so he relaxed slightly in the man’s grip. As soon as he did, Zaro lunged forward and savagely kissed him.
In his head, Cole tried to make sense of what was happening, but his body was all for the invasion. He was rock hard instantly, and his hands slipped down a solid wall of chest and around to his back to pull him closer. Zaro didn’t seek permission or tease, he took. It turned Cole on like nobody’s business, he could let Zaro have the upper hand for now. He moaned as the A’amoth thrust a thick tongue into his mouth. Cole couldn’t control his reactions. His hips snapped in the air, brushing the equally eager steel shaft of Zaro’s.
The world was spinning out of control, and Cole couldn’t gain any purchase. He needed to get some distance. Gripping Zaro’s silky hair in both hands he pulled hard, yanking those luscious lips away. Getting a clear view of the man’s face was almost his undoing. Hooded lids covered glazed black eyes, and an equally black tongue darted from his mouth as though still seeking his own.
“What the hell, Zaro?” he said, the break in his voice revealing how turned on he really was. “Not too long ago, you were practically stabbin’ me with your eyes.” Cole didn’t release his hold on the man’s hair, maintaining eye contact, but the sex-hungry gaze faded.
So did Zaro’s grip on his neck.
“I apologize,” he said. Each word sounding hoarse and ragged. “I was so furious when I realized—” He tugged against the hold on his hair, but Cole wasn’t letting him off that easy.
“Realized what?”
“You’re my mate-brother!” he said through clenched teeth.
The revelation startled him enough to let go of his captive. “Uh, what now?”
“I didn’t believe it, when Rayathim told us you were Keet’s mate-brother, but the more time I’ve spent with you the plainer it has become.”
“Then why aren’t you with them? Shouldn’t you be part of their Cluster?”
He’d learned a lot about these people over the last couple of days and one of the trivial things was the name they used for a group of men. Considering all the weird terms out there for groups of animals, it could have been worse. He could live with Cluster.
“I was rejected,” he said, lowering his chin to his chest.
“Why?”
“They thought me a bully,” he said, quietly.
Cole licked his swollen lips and could see their point. “So, you thought you would just take what they’ve already claimed?” he said. A small shiver made him suck in a breath. The idea of Zaro claiming him was starting to rev his engine again.
“No! I swear. I had planned to stay away from you, but when I saw Eudala touch you. I just couldn’t.”
Cole pushed off the wall and searched in both directions down the hallway. It was not the ideal location for this conversation. He took Zaro by the wrist and dragged him to the first open door he found. It was a small empty lounge room. A smaller version of the couch pit that was popular here sat in the middle of the room, but there were also counters and cabinets lining the walls. Cole made sure to lock the door and then shoved Zaro against it by his shoulders.
“You want me, but you act like an asshole? Do you think I’d like that anymore than Keet or Talic?”
“No, forgive me.”
Cole almost buckled under the begging contrition in the man’s voice, but he tensed and steeled himself. He didn’t want to be involved with a bully any more than the others did. “How do I know I can trust you? You won’t even commit to saving them! How can you claim to want me as a mate-brother, but not them? I won’t be choosin’ you if you think that’s where this is goin’.”
“No. That’s not what I wanted. I didn’t think. I’ve never stopped wanting them. Their rejection was so hard, but I know I deserved it. I formed the clan of outcasts in the hopes they would see how I had changed. Then to find that Keet has recognized you, a human, was almost too much to bear.”
“Uh huh, we’ll deal with this whole ‘humans are less’ thing later. Do you agree to help us? We need you. Need your men.”
“And you?” he asked, raising his obsidian eyes again. “Do you need me?”
“My dick certainly does.”
Zaro smiled and some of the tension eased.
“I’m new to this whole mate-brother thing. Do I want to fuck your brains out? Hell, yes. You’ll have to give me time for anything more. Show me you’re not the asshole I think you are. Let me get to know you.”
“I can do this, and I will help.”
Relief flooded him like a warm bath, but new heat added new steel to his cock and made his legs shake. Zaro’s tail rubbed the length of his cock, and he purred, the vibration adding to the sensation and sending his eyes rolling back in his head.
Easing up on his shoulders, Cole soothed his palms down the front of the dark robes he wore and slipped a hand inside, pinching a hard nipple and a groan replaced the purring. The glaze returning to his eyes.
Cole didn’t break eye contact, as he continued his exploration. Fingers tracing hard ridges through the linen tunic he wore. Zaro sucked air between his teeth when Cole cupped his massive shaft. Apparently custom with the A’amoth, Zaro wore black leather pants that fit him like a second skin. Cole could feel every ridge and vein as he strained against the fabric.
The feel of it made his mouth water.
Cole stepped away suddenly. “Take your clothes off.”
Zaro almost tore the clothes from his body, as he watched. When he stood naked, Cole had to take a couple of deep breaths to keep from finishing early. The man was magnificent.
He had very little cast. The color rising from his hands faded just past his wrists, but there were dark patches on his inner thighs.
“Spread your legs,” he commanded, hoarsely.
Zaro was only too eager to comply.
The cast rose from his knee to the join between leg and hip like a landing strip leading to his generous cock. Hard and heavy it hung between his legs, a soft purple color. One thing was certain, it was going to take some work to accept that thing inside him. Something that should wait for another day. Cole wanted to touch it, but the glistening moisture on the tip and Zaro’s heavy panting breaths told him things would be over too quickly if he did.
“Turn around.”
When he did, Cole pressed him against the door again with a hand between his shoulder blades. With his other hand, he explored the muscular expanse of back. Tracing the grooves and enjoying the twitch beneath his fingertips. Zaro’s tail caressed his inner thigh and rose to brush against his own bulge. Cole loved the tingling sensation it left behind, but grasped it firmly at the base and pulled it away.
“Please, Cole,” begged Zaro.
Cole pressed his full length against the man’s back without letting go, loving the heat that mingled with his own. “Is it sensitive?” he whispered next to Zaro’s ear.
“Yes,” he hissed as Cole stroked the first couple of inches.
“That could be fun,” he chuckled. “More at the base or tip?”
“Base. Very little sensation at the
tip.”
“Good to know,” he said, letting go then and turning Zaro around again. He sank to his knees and ran his hands up and down thick thighs, relishing the quiver of them with each pass of his hand.
Zaro grasped his hands, holding them tight to his thighs while thrusting his hips forward. Cole decided to have mercy on him and licked him from tip to base. Zaro released a growl that he could feel vibrating in his bones. His own aching cock pressed hard against his pants, begging for release.
He nibbled and licked his way back down to the large head. With his hands trapped beneath Zaro’s, he couldn’t hold the base so he dipped low and slid as much as he could into his mouth. There were still several inches left when he paused.
Cole prided himself on his deep-throating technique, but he had never encountered something so big before. Opening as wide, it was still a challenge to take him in. Willing his throat to relax, he pressed forward. He had to pause for a second to control his reflex, and Zaro was as still as stone. When it was under control, he continued until white hair tickled his nose.
Zaro trembled and released a primal groan that rose in volume as his thighs bunched beneath Cole’s hands. He tongued the underside of the shaft. Pulling back, he glanced up at Zaro to find black eyes regarding him intently, mouth open in now silent ecstasy. Cole pushed forward again, eliciting a whimper. Zaro thrust deep one last time, burying himself in Cole’s throat, and came with what sounded like a sob. Cole backed off enough to feel each burst against his tongue, the taste more nutty than salty. He did his best to swallow it all, but a trickle escaped down his chin. Zaro shook with each jerk of his cock. It was enough to set Cole off, too, and he moaned around the rod in his mouth until they were both spent. Cole leaned back to release the softening shaft and then forward again to rest his forehead on Zaro’s quivering belly.
He turned his hands under Zaro’s and held them. Speaking was impossible. Emotion and the rawness of his throat thwarted him. Instead, he reached out mentally.
“It’s a good start.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Risa
“Don’t miss anything, newbie,” snarled Jora, the double-sword wielder Risa had met in the arena. Risa twisted her hands hard on the broom she held, making the wood creak
She hated Jora. Hated all of them.
For two and a half weeks, she’d had to endure their malicious practical jokes, demeaning menial tasks, constant verbal assaults, and once a physical one. Risa had been assigned mostly to guard duty in the lower levels. At least there she was away from the notice of Jenna. The woman’s advances had gotten bolder every day, and Risa had a harder time coming up with excuses not to jump into bed with her. Like all the other women did.
Figuring out where they would keep Sonya when she arrived was hard but trying to work out how she was going to get in and get out again was trickier. The Guard couldn’t enter the floor directly below the audience chamber. The one that held her harem. Rumor had it that not even her second in command went in. It was the logical location to house some secret prisoners.
Risa ignored the usual vocal jab and bent her head to her task. The fact Jenna kept a male harem at all, came as a shock. At first, Risa thought her gaydar had broken in the transition, but after the first few nauseating days, she realized it wasn’t off at all. Mother Superior—Jenna, as she preferred in private—had to keep up appearances and it was tradition that she have some men. A weird throwback to when they were more serious about finding a cure for their infertility. It’s supposed to be a temporary assignment for the men. An easy one. From what she’d gathered, previous women in the office would use them as sexual playthings and then when their one-year term was up, they would release them and pick new ones. The ones Jenna picked weren’t so lucky. She had zero interest in fucking men, and she had a sadistic streak a mile wide. No one witnessed what she did with them, but Risa didn’t want to imagine what it was like for those poor bastards.
When she finished, she returned her supplies to the small closet near the elevator, before taking up a position behind the ostentatious throne Jenna used. It was a monstrosity of gold and glass gems. Risa suspected Jenna had seen something like it in a book somewhere and had it reproduced. The woman had no imagination.
Stealing a glance, at the conference room door where she sat in a meeting with the Council, she released a sigh. Tessa had been working as a buffer to buy her time, but that had its own set of issues. On the one hand, everyone was assuming they were fucking and laid off her about being a deviant, but on the other Risa really wanted to fuck her. Tessa wasn’t making it easy for her to say no.
In a different time, she would have been the perfect girlfriend. She was sexy as hell. Skin a delicious golden color. Could have been any number of ethnicities. There weren’t a lot of distinguishing factors anymore. Most people she’d seen were a light golden to golden brown color. Jenna fell on one end of the spectrum. She would have been thought of as black in Risa’s time—no one mentioned race in this time—and Tessa was on the other.
Recently, Tessa had started walking around the apartment they shared naked, flaunting her curvy body and perfect breasts. Cold showers and furious masturbation had become the norm.
The rest of the Guard lived in the Temple on the floor below the audience chamber, but no one had argued when Tessa insisted her “toy” stay with her when she was off duty.
Duty that had ended an hour before. The only reason she lingered was because Tessa was sequestered, and it had become their ritual to walk home together.
It was very domestic. Risa wanted to kick herself. This was a mission. Fucking her cover didn’t do anything to further the cause. Maybe Tessa needed some time with her men. It would be a good reminder to Risa why she kept her distance, and it would take the edge off the woman.
The other Guard that’d been assigned to the room had just started tittering at her expense as she stared at the door. She and Tessa had played up their relationship until everyone thought she was a mindless love-slave. That gave her the excuse she needed to drift closer to the door. It opened suddenly and Councilwomen breezed by. Corine was first, but other than peer down her nose and sniff, she didn’t pay Risa any attention. She didn’t mind. The woman was as vile as Jenna was.
Tessa was last to appear, and she took Risa’s hand as she strode by. They didn’t bother with the elevator. Instead, she led them to the emergency stairs. It was her way of avoiding spending more time with the women she hated most in the world.
Risa expected to be taken down the stairs and back to the apartment where Tessa could rant in peace. She grunted when she was shoved against the concrete wall by Tessa’s lush body instead. Her head smacked against the stone when the Councilwoman crushed their mouths together. Despite Risa’s internal protestations, her mouth opened, and she sucked the woman’s tongue.
This wasn’t the first time they’d kissed. It was Tessa’s favorite tactic of seduction—stealing kisses—but this time it was different. More desperate. Tessa shoved her knee between Risa’s thighs, forcing them apart as she fucked Risa’s mouth with her tongue. She couldn’t keep her hips from grinding when that leg contacted her throbbing clit. Tessa pressed harder and broke off to trail blazing kisses down her neck. Risa bit her shoulder to stifle the cry tearing its way out of her throat as stars exploded behind her closed eyes. Tessa held her through her aftershocks as she convulsed, trapped between the literal rock and hard place. She tasted blood in her mouth as she pried her teeth away from Tessa’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Tessa leaned back enough to meet her gaze. Her hazel eyes were dark and hooded. Bedroom eyes. “You didn’t. I liked that. You losing yourself. I’ve been dreaming of that.” Tessa’s voice was husky, and Risa’s response leaked down the inside of her thigh.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to taste you, really taste you before you were lost to me. Either by the completion of the mission, or by Jenna’s hands.”
Tessa always had the ability to cut Risa to the quick. It was uncanny how well she could find just the right words to twist in her gut and make her feel like shit. The worst part was that Risa didn’t even think she did it on purpose!
“What aren’t you telling me? What brought this on?”
Tessa took another step back, until there was a small amount of space between them. Risa had to admit, she missed the press of her body.
This wasn’t going to end well.
Tessa’s hands rested lightly on her waist, and she was glad for the contact, sure she wasn’t going to like what the woman had to say.
“Jenna has ordered that you be moved to the Guards quarters tomorrow. She said I could find a new toy, but the Guard were hers, and she’d indulged me long enough.”
“Shit. We knew this was coming. I had hoped we could have held out until Sonya got here, but I guess we’re not so lucky.”
“No. We’re not, but Risa...” she paused and raised her hand to Risa’s cheek. A tear hovered at the corner of her eye. “I can’t do it. I can’t see you with that woman. I want you. So very much.”
Each word was a hammer to her logic, and chisel to her reason. There was no denying that she wanted Tessa just as much, but one barrier remained. Risa didn’t want to share her. Didn’t want to be an afterthought for when she wasn’t getting boned by her husbands. “Tessa, your husbands.” It was a gentle reminder.
“You’re wrong, you know,” said Tessa. “You think my caring for you is somehow diminished because I care for those men?”
“Of course, it is. I’m a convenience. Here today gone tomorrow. A way to get off when you can’t get to the barracks. I understand.”
Her eyes flashed. Was that hurt?
“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “I’d ask you to stay here with us if I didn’t already know the answer would be no.”
Risa’s knees grew weak.
“Come with me,” said Tessa, taking her hand.
“Where are we going?”
“Barracks.”
Tessa was outside in minutes, flowing through the crowd like water, and Risa had to pump her legs to keep up. Inside the barracks, men sat in small groups talking quietly. A pair played a game of dice. Most glanced up when they entered and smiled or gave some greeting. Risa had spent hours of her off time there when she wasn’t playing guard or at Tessa’s apartment. There wasn’t much else to do. She started training with them and it led to teaching martial arts to whoever wanted to learn. Risa felt at home among them. The Hunters were a tight knit group since they were shunned by everyone. There were eleven Valkyrie Hunters and forty-two men between them, excluding Tessa and her bunch. It wasn’t unusual to see one of the Valkyrie slinking out of a room when it was time to make curfew.
