Forbidden Worlds - Box Set (10 page)

Their encounter the day before had gone unfinished. He hadn’t come inside her, hadn’t seeded her womb—

She forced her undisciplined thoughts to behave. She had no desire to bear children, least of all those of a man in her employ. In preparation for this trip, she’d had her ovulation cycle suppressed and it would remain so indefinitely since her logical brain could think of no reason to have the procedure reversed, even if she did return home in one piece.

Nevertheless, now, in the dark, watching his broad chest expand with each deep breath, she saw him as a wild animal sees a potential suitor. His strong arms, his virility and his skill with a weapon would make him a good provider, a powerful ally when she was heavy with his child.

Unbidden, she longed to feel the stirring of life in her womb, to know he’d put a new life inside her.

“Ah!” Disgusted, she flung herself away from him and paced the soft expanse of moss beneath their sheltering tree. Cold realization made her shiver. The transformation had her.

In the scant moonlight, she glanced at her hands. In her dream, she’d been prepared, eager in fact, to tear apart a tiny animal and consume it. Her need had been insatiable.

Now she hungered for sex...desired to assert herself as a female by taking a mate who could give her healthy offspring. Determined, she swung her dark gaze at her intended and stalked back toward him. She cast off Damon’s borrowed shirt as she moved.

Unabashed, she straddled him and purred in his ear. “Fuck me, Damon. I need it now.”

He awoke so quickly he startled her. He had to have been awake before, listening to her pace and whisper to herself in the darkness.

His hands came up around her hips, gripped her flesh and steadied her. Beneath her open pussy his cock hardened, and she longed to tear his pants open and free it from captivity.

“I don’t want to hurt you again.” Regret tinged his response, along with a feral grumble. He wanted her, regardless of the consequences. Convincing him to take her would be easy.

She arched, rubbing her eager sex against him. “I can take it.”

He followed her hands with his, helped her open his pants and in a swift move, he had her on her back in the soft moss. Before she took another breath, he was in her, buried deep.

She growled, spread her thighs wide and threw her head back. “Do it.”

He nipped her neck, drew his teeth down her pebbled flesh to scrape at her aching nipple. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his head, holding his hot mouth against her breast and urging him to suck.

He obeyed her unspoken commands, coupling deep pulls on her nipple with urgent thrusts.

The hot grip of her around his shaft made her long for more. She yearned for him to reach his climax and fill her. To bring him nearer to his end, she bucked her hips hard against him. The erotic thread of need traveled down to her belly from her breast. Each long draw of his lips and tongue against her flesh drove her harder toward her goal.

When need met desire, a fire ignited in her core. An orgasm seized her hard and fast, drawing her shuddering body up around him, turning her small, contented sighs into groans of pleasure.

Above her, driven to his own climax by the fierceness of hers, he stiffened. He lifted his lips from her breast and with a ragged moan, buried his face in her neck, muffling his own cries against her sweating skin.

The hot rush of his seed eased the ache within her, and she forced her inner muscles to grip him tighter, to draw his essence deep inside her, even though the part of her that could still reason knew conception would not occur.

She panted into his ear and drew her nails up the skin of his back, causing him to arch into her. “That’s it...” she purred, her words blurry and indistinct. “I want every drop of you in me.”

* * * *

After a few deep, cleansing breaths, Damon raised his head and stared into Lea’s glittering eyes. Saucily, she shifted her hips, urging him to thrust again even though he’d exhausted himself.

She dragged her nails up his back again, sensual at first, then painful. “I want more.”

“I’ve got no more right now. Give me a few minutes.”

Her body stiffened beneath him and she threw him off with a strength he hadn’t expected. “Rest then. I’ll have him.”

She was on her feet, her stance wide and her eyes wild. She set her sights on Troy, who still slept peacefully with Alor in his arms.

Lea strolled across the camp, naked, glorious and angry as hell. With a fierce sound, she fisted a hand in Alor’s hair and dragged the girl away from her protector.

Alor screamed and came up ready to fight. Beside her, Troy rolled instantly into a defensive crouch.

Damon gained his feet, clutching the shock-stick while Lea and Alor grappled. Troy flicked his gaze to Damon, and on a silent signal that passed between them, both men pounced. They tore the biting, scratching women apart. Troy pulled Alor off to the side, calming her with a touch and a few soft words, and Damon tackled Lea to the ground.

“Get her away! He doesn’t belong to her.” Lea writhed under Damon, still reaching for Alor and seething. Her words came out like animal sounds, indistinct, run together, but clear enough to set Alor weeping in Troy’s embrace.

“Take it easy, Lea...hold it together.” Damon managed to lock her wrists together with one of his, and finally she stilled under him, though her breathing was strained and the tendons in her neck stood out in sharp relief, attesting to the level of her rage.

The transformation had claimed her.

Troy’s voice intruded on Damon’s unpleasant thoughts. “You’ve got to let go of her.”

“No. Take the stick and do it. I’ll hold her.”

“It’ll shock you, too.”

“I can take it.”

Beneath him, Lea screamed. The sound came from deep in her chest, torn from her in pain and rage.

“Do it!”

Troy pushed Alor back and jammed the shock-stick against Lea’s hip. He fired once, and the jolt that raced through her body almost threw Damon off her.

She didn’t scream, didn’t howl as Troy had. Her eyes went wide as saucers in the gray light of dawn that trickled through the trees, and a rivulet of bright blood escaped the corner of her tight-pressed lips.

Panic set Damon’s heart thundering until she drew in a shuddering gasp.

She’d bitten her tongue. Her delayed protest came long and lusty when she finally filled her lungs with air.

“Again!” Damon braced for it. His own muscles were tight, aching from the transferred shock, but he refused to let her go.

Troy obeyed, and this time Lea cried. Stiff and sobbing, she lay beneath him like a broken doll.

Troy moved to administer another shot, but Damon pushed the hot tip of the weapon aside. He rose on all fours, straddling her, and lifted a hand to her face. “Come back, Cherry. You’re okay now.”

She turned her face toward his palm, and warm tears mixed with the blood from her lips coated his palm. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry...” Her tight whispers broke his heart.

Ignoring the tumult of emotions racing through his aching body, he gathered her up in his arms and carried her back toward the mossy hollow where they’d fallen asleep earlier. Troy followed a few tentative steps, but Damon waved him off. “She’s all right. I’ll take care of her.”

He placed her on the soft carpet of moss, careful to cradle her head in the crook of his arm as he lay down beside her.

She shivered, and he covered her body with his to stave off the inevitable chill that came as the aftermath of a shock-stick assault.

“You’re okay now, Cherry. You’re back with us.”

“I’m sorry I’m so sorry...tell Alor—”

“She knows. Just close your eyes and sleep for a while. Tomorrow we’re getting out of this hell. I promise you that, Cherry.”

Chapter 7

The next morning the camp was quiet. No one spoke while they gathered water and finished off the few berries that remained from Alor’s evening foraging.

Lea brought a leaf full of water to the Braxan healer and to her relief, Alor accepted the peace offering with a shy smile. Now she understood why Damon had said he didn’t like what he’d become on Ambrax. This morning, she didn’t even have the luxury of forgetting her actions of the night before. The shock-stick had left her body stiff and aching, but her memory was crystal clear and painfully sharp.

Damon interrupted her self-conscious attempts to make conversation with Alor, and she welcomed the distraction.

“We should be less than half a kilometer from the protected zone. Lea, you and Alor should break cover first. I’m counting on the fact that two females will draw some attention before drawing fire.”

“They won’t be expecting a daytime incursion, but once they spot us, they’ll be on us fast,” Troy said.

“That’s what I’m counting on,” Damon replied. He took a blade in each hand and presented one to Troy. “When they come in close for a better look. Then we’ve got them, that’s when you and I will do our job.”

Lea fell into step behind Damon. A long walk followed by an ambush was exactly what she needed to channel her excess kinetic energy. Their subsequent march through the jungle exhausted her and somehow helped her keep her thoughts in check. She stoically ignored the urge to throw herself on Damon and pull him off their path into the underbrush. Her body was too sore this morning for sex, too worn out to fight the other female for the attentions of the dominant male.

Oh, not again. She couldn’t take another shock assault. The memory of the horrible pain made her shiver. It was only her own self-loathing that kept her moving, and a wave of relief, anticipation and fear actually seemed to clear her head a bit when they finally reached the edge of the jungle around midday.

Beyond the tree line, the brilliant orange sun lit the barren expanse of the protected zone. In the distance the Citadel rested in shimmering splendor on the horizon, its spires glittering like jewels in a deceptively lovely crown.

“Can you see any ships?” Damon asked. He put his hand on her shoulder, and her body tensed at the gentle touch.

“There!” Troy pointed to a small, snub-nosed patrol ship gliding along the perimeter of the zone. “It’s coming this way.”

Lea and Alor took up their assigned positions and waited. Damon would signal them to run out of the jungle at just the right moment, so the pilot would see them and draw closer, but they would still have enough time to gain cover before he attacked with the tranquilizing weapons his ship carried.

The sunlight glittering off the crystalline sand blinded Lea. She cringed and thought how much worse it must be for Alor, with her pale eyes, having lived in near darkness for so many weeks.

Determined, despite her discomfort, she sprinted out into the open, forcing herself not to search the sky for the patrol ship. She had to appear as though her only goal was to escape the jungle and that nothing but primitive instinct guided her.

* * * *

Just as Damon predicted, the border patrol skiff swooped in low so its pilot could get a better look at the anomalous sight before him.

Two female converts striding purposefully out of the jungle had to be a rare thing. Damon only hoped the element of surprise would stay the pilot’s hand long enough for him to attack the skiff.

Troy tapped Damon on the shoulder and pointed out across the blinding expanse of barren sand. With sheer force of will, he kept his hand steady. He drew his own Sparthan blade along his forearm to line up the shot, and when the patrol skiff dipped down to just above the tree line, he launched his attack.

The dagger lodged in the air exchange intake valve of the skiff’s tiny engine. The fan blades within the casing ground to a halt with an earsplitting screech. The ship had come so close to the ground that Damon could see the pilot’s expression morph into a rictus of panic. He smiled in grim satisfaction, and he and Troy raced forward to claim their prize the moment the little ship make its bumpy emergency landing.

“They’ll send another immediately,” Troy whispered before he and Damon rushed the patrol ship’s open cockpit.

The pilot screamed once, before the blade Damon had given Troy silenced him. Together they rolled his body out of the ship, and Troy dragged him beyond the tree line while Damon retrieved his blade from the intake valve. With his bare hands, he straightened the bent fan blade and stepped back to survey his handiwork.

“Will it fly?” Lea asked. She’d come up behind him and now stood within arm’s reach. The adrenaline in his system already had his heart beating wildly, and her proximity only heightened his arousal. If their means of escape hadn’t been at hand, he might have taken her—

“Come on, get in,” Troy yelled from the cockpit. Alor had squeezed in behind him and was motioning for Damon and Lea to follow.

“This ship is made to hold one person,” he said as he helped Lea slither into the small space behind the pilot’s seat. There was just enough room for the two of them to stand. Alor crouched next to the pilot’s seat and stared adoringly at Troy.

“We’ll have to fly low, but I think we can make it. It looks like it holds enough fuel for a complete circuit of the protected zone.” Troy’s skill with the little ship impressed Damon. Perhaps his survival skills were nil, but the former bailer tech certainly knew his way around a ship.

With a mild protest from the hastily repaired intake fan, the patrol skiff careened above the sand, barreling on a straight course for the Citadel.

Damon scanned the horizon through the wraparound wind screen and caught sight of another patrol ship breaking its circular course to intercept them. Strained by the added weight, the skiff’s engine sputtered, and its nose dipped low. Instinctively Damon wrapped an arm around Lea’s waist. From this height they might survive a crash, but nothing would protect them from the wrath of the Braxan border guards.

“I see it. I see the landing field.” Lea pointed to the black expanse where, thankfully, her skimmer still waited. It seemed so far away, and the overloaded patrol ship threatened with each passing meter to betray them to their enemies.

Damon had never believed in prayer, or the powers of the mind, but now he willed the ship to remain airborne just long enough to get them to safety.

“Centurion guards.” Troy cursed under his breath and banked toward the skimmer. In the distance, a bright rectangle became visible in the Citadel’s lowest level. The break in the dark, copper-colored wall disgorged a fast-moving ground transport.

“How much faster can we go?” Damon asked. His hand slid to his blade, but the weapon would do little good against a dozen armed guards.

“If I push it, we’ll end up walking. Just hold on.”

The first volley of weapon fire came from the ground transport. Miraculously, Troy dodged it and set them down with a bone-jarring thud on the edge of the landing field. They spilled out of the little ship and raced for the skimmer with Lea in the lead.

* * * *

She’d never done a pre-flight check so quickly in her life. While Damon and Troy secured the outer hatch and Alor found herself a seat, Lea activated every control within reach. The skimmer wailed to life beneath her hands, engines chortling, atmo exchangers squealing.

A plasma blast from the approaching ground transport impacted the hull and added to their rocky liftoff, but they made it off the ground before the centurion guards reached the landing field.

Two patrol ships fell away beneath them as they rocketed into the lavender-blue sky.

Lea didn’t breathe until they reached lunar orbit and passed the quarantine satellite. Once again in free space, no one from Ambrax could touch them.

Still shaking, she sank back into the cushions of the pilot’s seat and stretched her aching muscles. Beyond the forward viewport the pristine globe of Ambrax fell away, replaced by the peaceful void of space and endless freedom that she’d never been truly able to appreciate before.

“Nice work, Miss Vargas.” Damon swung into the co-pilot’s seat and leveled an admiring gaze at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d believe you’d flown combat.”

She shook her head and allowed herself a sly grin. “I’ve chased ore thieves beyond Denara’s rings. Does that count?”

“Not compared to this.” His own grin faded and his tone sobered. Lea’s body tingled at the deep resonance of it. “Are you all right?”

“I will be, after a hot shower. I can’t wait to put some pants on. Long pants, and a shirt that isn’t open down to my navel.”

“Ah. I guess all the fun is over then.” Their gazes locked and held, and deep in Lea’s core an ember of desire ignited.

She quickly set the auto-pilot, hauled herself out of the seat and let her fingers trail over Damon’s naked shoulder as the sauntered out of the cockpit. “I wouldn’t say that just yet.”

* * * *

Damon followed Lea to his cabin where she shut the door and dimmed the lights. Silently, she pulled off the shirt he’d given her, revealing herself to his inspection. A tangle of emotions he’d long ago trained himself to ignore washed over him when she strode toward him. The primitive itch of the transformation stirred in his gut, urging him to claim her right there in the middle of the floor. He’d had to wait too long to do what he wanted, and now, he could barely control his lust.

He’d have been satisfied with feeling only that. Unbridled sexual desire he understood, and he knew how to cure it. It was the other feelings that troubled him, that kept him still when she ran her fingers up over the ridges of his abdomen and placed her palms flat over his pectorals. Her touch teased his nipples to attention, along with his cock. Besides lust, he felt something more—relief not only that they’d escaped the forbidden world with their lives, but that he’d done what she’d asked of him. Relief that she was in one piece and still breathing—panting in fact, in his ear.

In addition to relief, some formerly dark part of his soul seemed to have opened now. An empty spot in the middle of his chest was full...

Good God, he needed the shock-stick to rid his mind of this nonsense. She was not his mate or his prize. She was his employer, and his job was complete, or it would be as soon as he obeyed her last command.

“Fuck me, Damon,” she breathed across his lips. She rubbed her taut nipples over his chest and closed a hand around his balls. “One more time.”

He couldn’t have refused if he’d wanted to. His tongue didn’t work that way anymore. In fact, all he could do with it was lick her lips, her tongue, thrust into her mouth and claim it, just as he’d wanted to do since that first moment he’d laid his greedy hands on her.

While their tongues battled, he hoisted her up, urging her to wrap her legs around him. In two swift strides he brought her to the bed, placed her gently on the edge and let go just long enough to free his erection.

She sighed when he stroked her belly and her thighs, and gasped when he plunged eager fingers into her pussy. The scent of her had pre-cum dripping from the tip of his cock. The sight of her spread before him, begging him to claim her, had his knees shaking.

This would be the last time. He knew that, and he knew neither of them would ever forget it.

Her purr of pleasure became a moan, then a sharp inhalation when he put himself in her. Hot and wet, she accepted him fully, and arched her hips to take his shaft deep. With her perfect breasts filling his hands, he began to move, slow at first, then deliberate, letting her feel every inch of his desire.

He watched her eyes widen when he thrust a finger in alongside his cock and circled her rigid clit with his thumb. She reached for him, panting, her eyes glazed. “Damon, come here...”

“No. I want to watch you. I want to see what happens to you when I come in you.”

She whimpered and her body flexed with his next quick thrust. The beast in him howled for more, something harder and more primal, but he held himself back. He wouldn’t take her like an animal, no matter how badly he wanted to.

He increased his rhythm, working her with his hand and his cock simultaneously. She shuddered beneath him, and her head lolled.

A heat rose along her skin, pinking her breasts and her belly. Sweat gleamed on her chest and ran in rivulets down to the depression of her navel. Around his waist her thighs clenched while he teased her mercilessly.

“That’s it, you’re close,” he told her. His own voice wavered. So was he, but he had to see her finish first before he lost himself in his own climax. “I can feel you tightening up. Don’t fight it, Cherry. Let it happen.”

She let out a feral sound, half growl, half sob, and her body convulsed around his finger and his cock. Her muscles closed hard and fast and her eyes went wide with the sensation.

“That’s it, pull me in, Lea. All of me. Take everything I’ve got.”

She nodded and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. Her body shook beneath him and when she cried out his name once more, he let loose. Pain and pleasure collided, and Damon closed his eyes to shut out everything but the feel of her around him.