She and her alien guide had gone about a hundred yards when she saw Raven several feet behind, flitting through the trees. Just as she’d suspected, the other woman had been attracted by the reptile’s progress. Kimi froze in place, tracking Raven until she’d gone past. Letting her draw closer to the creature, so it would mask the sounds of Kimi slinking up, knife drawn.
She was almost within reach when the sounds of the reptile’s journey halted suddenly. At that instant, Kimi stepped on a dried branch of leaves and pods. The crunching and crackling were loud in the silence.
Raven whirled, knife in hand. At the same instant, Kimi launched herself at her, letting her fight programs take over. At the last possible moment, she feinted, barely avoiding a slash to her abdomen. Raven had gone low, using her shorter stature to shocking advantage.
The battle was on. With her computer interface in control, Kimi was able to appreciate how well she and Raven moved in their deadly dance. That they were evenly matched for the most part was obvious, despite Kimi’s greater reach. Their “knives” flashed—actually blade-shaped sensor tools that offered no harm, beyond possible bruising when they forcibly struck a body. Kimi and Raven’s suits scored the hits that landed, rating them instantly for damage, keeping track of the blood loss that would occur. Pain was accounted for, with sensors marking the areas struck and sending pulses that ranged from mildly irritating to agonizing.
They huffed and puffed, strength flagging as the battle went on. Kimi found herself grateful to Laaruu for having gotten her back into shape. Doubly so for the software that kept switching between fighting packages, at last outmaneuvering Raven, leaving her staggering.
In a final flurry of sweeping kicks and a blindingly fast feint that even Kimi couldn’t follow—though it was her body performing it—Raven was virtually dead as her suit signaled a fatal blow had been dealt.
“Damn it! What programs did Laaruu give you? That was a good trick.” Raven glared at Kimi with half-irritation, half-admiration, sprawled on the ground. She heaved for breath.
“Not good enough. The suit says I just lost consciousness from blood loss and have minutes to live. We’re both toast.” Shaking her head at herself, panting from the effort she’d expended, Kimi offered Raven a hand up.
“That was exciting to watch.”
Though Kimi recognized Vendeen’s voice, she crouched in readiness for an attack. She remained in fight mode after the monumental struggle to win against Raven. Plus Vendeen was Gilothean, and she didn’t trust those assholes.
Then again, maybe it was the programming, because Raven reacted similarly, her body blading and ready to fight. They only relaxed when they saw all three men—Vendeen, Daagiis, and Laaruu—leaning against one of the odd trees, which was somehow growing more horizontally than up. Apparently, Kimi’s and Raven’s lovers had come in to witness the match.
They were aroused and offered no attempt to hide it.
Raven relaxed, chuckling. “You liked that, did you? Got the blood pumping?”
Kimi stared in astonishment as her friend strolled toward her pair, her body swaying as she did so. It was a vamp strut, no doubt about it, lighting the eyes of her sweethearts. Kimi bit off a gasp as Raven began stripping as she went to them, getting naked right in front of her and Laaruu.
“Where do you want me?” Raven purred.
With a grin more dangerous than compassionate, Vendeen patted the horizontal tree trunk. Completely nude, Raven bent over it and splayed her legs wide.
Kimi stared, her jaw dropped as Daagiis stood in front of Raven and whipped his cock out for her to suck. Then Kimi’s view was blocked when Vendeen took up position behind his slave. His pants dropped to his ankles, exposing a well-muscled ass. Without bothering with foreplay, his hips began jerking in that familiar rhythm of fucking. From the grunts and slaps of flesh against flesh, Kimi knew the men rutted Raven with rough eagerness.
Over the group, several thin lengths of leather flew through the air. There was a snap as they reared high, then whistling as they dived down. A cracking noise preceded a woman’s—Raven’s—choked cry.
Only when her friend’s dark, curly head came into view, enthusiastically bobbing against Daagiis’s groin, did Kimi realize she’d moved to get a better look. Raven’s back was already streaked red from the flogger that continued to dance over her.
Kimi watched the encounter, stunned. Draped over the tree, Raven’s eyes were rolled up, gazing at Daagiis with undisguised devotion as he flogged her and she sucked his erection. Vendeen thrust between her legs, driving with merciless lust against her trembling ass. She rocked to greet his thrusts.
Wetness pooled in the crotch of Kimi’s sim suit. Holy hell, she was turned on by the display.
She realized it just as Laaruu came to her side. She tore her gaze from the scene to glance up at him. Shockingly, he wasn’t gawking at the others with Raven. His stare was for her alone.
“Strip and kneel at my feet.” He opened his pants, releasing his ready cock.
Kimi wasn’t down with getting frisky in front of her bestie and the two strangers fucking her. Yet she was already peeling off her clothing, her breath coming quickly as she gazed at Laaruu, the sounds of sex filling her ears.
Naked, she knelt on the frond-strewn ground, which was surprisingly soft on her knees. Were the others looking? Did it matter?
Not when Laaruu gripped her hair and thrust toward her. She parted her lips for him and he pushed against her tongue. Down her throat, to offer her that exciting, choking feeling, before retreating. Down again. Fucking nice and slow, letting her enjoy the sensation of his drumming pulse on the underside of his shaft. He dripped sweet saltiness to awaken her senses.
The moans of bliss and pain from the other three were an enthralling backdrop to servicing Laaruu. It fed her growing arousal, and though Kimi would have delighted in her master coming in her mouth so she could swallow his seed, she hoped it would gratify him to use her pussy or ass as well.
As exalted cries rent the peaceful forest, three voices rising in rapture, Laaruu gasped. He pulled out and moved around her.
“Ass in the air. I’ll enjoy your pussy first.”
Kimi stretched her hands to the ground and rose up on her toes so Laaruu could easily enter her. Her groans grew louder as he penetrated. He held her hips as he rocked steadily, thrusting deep within, his thickness pressing in the right spot to set her alight.
Fucking, fucking, fucking her toward orgasm as he took his pleasure. Kimi was dimly aware of the approach of others. Observing her serve her master, watching him declare his right to fuck her. Seeing his cock plunge into her, over and over, and her accepting it as a privilege.
Her cunt tightened as a violent thrill darted through her. A starburst of brightness bloomed, both seen and felt. Kimi gasped.
“Master, may I come? Please, may I?” She wasn’t sure she could hold off even if he said no. Bliss was growing fast, barreling straight to her clit.
“Come for me.”
Climax drove deep, clenching her sex tight as he exited, as if to hold him prisoner inside herself. As she shuddered and yelled, huge ripples racing through despite the loss of his cock, he pushed against her ass. Laaruu forcing himself into her tighter entrance brought a fresh wave washing over her. She screamed in ecstasy.
For a long time, her world consisted of heaving exhilaration and a rhythmic ache that added exponentially to the orgasm wracking her. An orgasm that showed no sign of dissipating as Laaruu grunted and rutted her ass, as Raven, Daagiis, and Vendeen watched her surrender.
Warmth filled her as Laaruu jerked within her. Their mingled wetness trickled down her legs as his thrusts stuttered and failed. They collapsed to the ground, their sexes twitching in the aftermath.
A few feet away, Vendeen stroked Raven’s hair. She sat on Daagiis’s lap, and he rested on the tree they’d used as a prop. They grinned at her and Laaruu.
“Earth women never fail to amaze,” the Gilothean pronounce
d.
“Addictive little monsters,” Laaruu agreed in a breathless voice.
Everyone, including Raven, chuckled as Kimi gasped and shuddered in the final throes of passion.
* * * *
Showered and clothed, Kimi and Laaruu were ushered by Paatiin and Gilothean guards to Vendeen’s quarters to have dinner.
The suite of rooms assigned to the judge were on par with a nice hotel. Once Kimi got past the jarring realization it was similar to the room Hanos had beaten her senseless in—bed area front and center, other living areas to the rear—Kimi relaxed. She noted no whips and floggers or any other available tools of torture. Other than the sight of the bed greeting her the instant she stepped in, the pleasant space possessed nothing to put on her guard.
“The priorities of your people are clear,” she drolly observed to Vendeen.
“Don’t you prefer to fuck the day’s cares away as soon as you come off duty?”
“It could be worse. The walls of Paatiin homes are see-through glass. You gotta feel for the poor bastards who suffer from erectile dysfunction when an audience is present.”
Vendeen roared at that and laughed even harder when Daagiis announced defensively, “They never saw it from me when I lived there.”
They headed for the back of the suite, where attendants were setting out food on a large table surrounded by upholstered chairs. Kimi sniffed appreciatively at the savory aromas. She was starved after her match against Raven and sex with Laaruu.
Daagiis sounded apologetic as Laaruu eyed the seats. “I assumed Kimi would sit with the rest of us since we allow Raven to do so.”
“I’ll accept it as your guest.”
Kimi couldn’t resist nudging Raven. “Do you ever do it? Sit naked at their feet?”
“Only in public. In private, we don’t hold to the custom, but I let them feed me from their plates.” She winked at Daagiis, and he grinned broadly.
“It’s not just custom on Paatuun? It’s a Gilothean thing too?”
“No, but Vendeen appreciates it. It’s become a thing for us.” Raven considered Kimi. “I’m glad it doesn’t bother you that I chose this life. I’m happy.”
“I figured that out. I’m learning a few surprises about myself too.” She smiled at Laaruu when he pulled her chair out, as perfect as any gentleman on Earth.
Kneeling and accepting food from his fingers or utensils had been a sticking point for her at first. Not that Laaruu would let her have her way in the matter. With no choice but to obey, Kimi had grown to see it as a kind of foreplay for other activities. After all, he fed her with care and consideration, making sure she received the best portions that filled his plate. The peculiar blend of caring and mastery delighted and excited her.
Damn if she didn’t wish she could kneel next to his chair now as he placed morsels on her tongue, watching to see how she liked what he fed her. Kimi wondered at the change in herself.
The group settled in and attacked their food. It was delicious, more akin to Earth cuisine than the dishes the Paatiin ate. Kimi was pleased to see there were plenty of roasted meats and half a dozen vegetable dishes. She enjoyed the flavors that ranged from nearly familiar to exotic.
After several minutes of chasing off the worst of their hunger, they began to talk of the attack ahead. “There is no sign of a large defensive force anywhere around the Maihen Colony in the Cidfec System. That’s the area the transmitter reported Tum went after Laaruu rescued you,” Vendeen explained to Kimi.
Daagiis narrowed his gaze at no one in particular. “Either Hanos is pretending he’s not there, or he’s hidden his forces where we can’t detect them.”
“I’d vote the latter, but he doesn’t know we’re on to his location,” Laaruu opined.
“I agree. None of our contacts in the undercover community had heard or seen any sign of a fighting force as of two days ago, when we boarded this ship.”
“Two days with no word?”
“We went dark to avoid detection. We’re cut off, but it was necessary. We couldn’t take the chance on being discovered.”
Vendeen’s smile had turned grim and dangerous again. “Hanos is far too cunning. A single breath of trouble, and he’s out of sight again.”
Kimi swallowed the wine-like beverage she’d been given. “Apparently, Hanos is the last person to underestimate in any universe.”
“Make that your mantra. The bastard has nine lives to boot,” Raven sighed.
A low tone sounded in the room. Daagiis called out, “Yes, Captain?”
A gruff voice answered him, the words floating on the air. “We have entered the Cidfec System. We will be at the target in three hours.”
“Thank you.”
“I take it that was the original captain’s replacement?” Kimi crooked an eyebrow at Raven.
“The former captain finds it hard to command in his present condition. Not to mention, impossible to speak, what with his jaw broken in two places.” Her tone was breezy as she refilled Kimi’s glass.
“I thought the medicine on this side of the coin was advanced enough to cure such issues.”
“We don’t treat the wounds of traitors. Especially not those allied to Drek Hanos,” Vendeen said. His eyes glittered with hectic light, and his leer was more dangerous than ever as he indicated their meal. “I hope I don’t ruin your appetites by encouraging you to enjoy this as if it’s your last meal. It may very well be. Hopefully, Hanos will have had his last meal instead.”
Kimi raised her glass to him. With a grin, Raven followed suit. “To Hanos’s last meal,” she crowed.
“May he not choke on it so one of us can claim the pleasure of killing him,” Kimi added.
Kimi was relaxed for a change as the dinner party readied to break up. That ended in a hurry when a Gilothean rushed into the room. At the crewman’s abrupt appearance, Raven and Daagiis sprang to their feet, blades extended. Real knives, not the sim type.
The crewman halted. “Sir! We're being boarded! The officer who replaced Captain Gillot betrayed us too!”
Vendeen stood, his gleaming face unimpressed as he pulled out his own knife. “I hate it when that happens.”
Kimi and Laaruu were up and armed. Having identified Vendeen as Hanos’s most likely target, Kimi kept an eye on him and the half dozen soldiers gathering in the judge’s quarters. Her defensive programs were weighing the odds, calculating her options, all without her conscious direction.
Sometimes, she thought she was falling in love with this dimension.
“The bay?” Daagiis slowly advanced on the crewman.
“Yes sir. The Paatiin left their ships as soon as the attackers boarded. They’re fighting them hand to hand. Most of our forces are too. But some of the crew are helping the boarders!”
“The other ships?”
“Also under attack, though a few have held off boarders and are firing on what we assume are ships belonging to Hanos.”
“You truly do have issues with people in the pay of that bastard,” Laaruu observed with little emotion.
“You think so?” Raven scowled at the others as Daagiis led Vendeen out and she took position behind them. Kimi and Laaruu followed.
They raced toward the cacophony of yelling and struggle, tearing through corridors that were remarkably empty. They found the first knot of combatants, at least a dozen Gilotheans cutting down other Gilotheans, along with a couple of aliens Kimi couldn’t identify. A few of Vendeen’s own men turned with their bloodied knives, which they brandished as soon as they caught sight of Kimi’s group.
The enemy charged, yelling as their sights set on Vendeen. Kimi, Raven, and the rest returned their battle cries and waded in.
Chapter Eighteen
The following minutes were mayhem. After a few seconds of close-quarter fighting, opponents became impossible to tell from allies among the brown-uniformed crewmen, at least at first glance. Kimi’s programming quickly determined friend from foe when they targeted her and her companions. She o
nly had to let the computer in her brain analyze the situation, which it did at breakneck speed, to find her next victim. Her arms and legs flew, sending out kicks and punches and jabs with the knife clenched in her fist. It quickly became apparent that most crewmembers were not outfitted with combat programs—or at least, not as many as Kimi possessed. She mowed through men at a dizzying rate, moving too quickly to react to the blood and body parts flying.
Raven grabbed her as most of the crewmen gave up the battle and ran from the slaughter she and her companions dealt out. “We have to secure the bay. It’s this way. Come on!”
Kimi darted a glance at Laaruu. He was doing more than okay, beating down a hulking Gilothean, his fists setting off crunching noises in the bigger man’s staggering body. He was grinning the whole while, as if he were having the time of his life. Crazy Paatiin.
With her master accounted for, Kimi charged after the rapidly disappearing Raven, leaving the men behind to finish off the traitors. As they raced to the bay, other crewmen dared to attack the women. Even when the odds were three-to-one, it was hardly a fair fight. Kimi and Raven didn’t beat their opponents so much as obliterate them.
Perhaps Kimi’s conscience would have interfered, had Hanos not put a boulder of a chip on her shoulder when it came to Gilotheans. It was the bronze-skinned race who made up the majority of her rivals. There were other aliens too, but those looked too inhuman for her to attach much guilt to when she squashed them. When forced to defend herself from attack, Kimi experienced the kind of vicious pleasure she got from swatting mosquitos that had dared to bite her.
Her new abilities were awesome. Even when she considered the annihilation she dealt, Kimi couldn’t help but thrill to how well her body worked as a weapon of destruction. It could have been better only if she’d had the battering ram that was Raven’s robotic arm at full strength. A single punch, and Raven’s opponents stayed down.
“I want a cyborg arm too!” Kimi shouted to her friend.
“Make sure it’s your non-dominant one. Laaruu wouldn’t be too happy if you jerked him off with one of these.”
Righteous Fury (To Protect and Service Book 2) Page 17
