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  I shook my head without speaking.

  “If you do not wish to be mine,” he said, nipping at the skin on my neck as his tail curled around me and the wet tip stroked my bare sex, “I could always hunt down that little ship of your sister’s again.”

  I gritted my teeth, hating that his touch made my heart race and my nipples harden. I despised the fact that my body desperately wanted to surrender to him while the rational part of me wanted to slit his throat. I parted my legs, fixing my eyes on the wall as his tail moved between my thighs. “I will not go back on our deal.”

  Chapter Ten

  Kratos

  The blood roared in my ears as she opened her legs to me. The heat of the water had made me almost lightheaded, as had my desire for her. Pressing against her soft, small body, it was all I could do to keep myself from impaling her with my cock from behind while my tail stroked her from the front.

  I slid my hand up from the swell of her belly and palmed one of her round breasts, circling the hard point with my thumb. She arched into me but did not make a sound.

  Even though I had never been with a human female, I’d heard about them. I knew where their pleasure centers were, and what to do to make them respond the way I wanted. I liked my fucking just like I preferred my battles—loud and fierce.

  Bending her forward at the waist, I dragged the crown of my cock through her folds, hesitating when I thought about what she’d said as she’d been drifting under the sedation. She was untouched, which meant that this would hurt her. Looking down at her small frame dwarfed by my larger one, I wondered if she’d be able to take all of me.

  I hesitated, then gave my head a hard shake. You are a Raas and she is your captive. She is yours to take, so take her.

  My tail moved up the swell of her belly until the wet tip circled one of her nipples. I knew she liked the feel of my silken fur on her from the way the flesh pebbled, and the sensation of her bumpy flesh against the tip of my tail made my cock throb. Lowering my head to her neck, I stroked my cock back and forth between her folds. I already knew that she had nothing but a narrow strip of fine hair at the top of her sex. I had seen as much when I’d put her in bed, but I hadn’t expected the skin of her folds to be so velvety smooth. I nipped her neck again and squeezed her nipple harder.

  I expected her to moan or sigh or make some kind of noise, but her jaw was clenched, and I noticed her hands gripping the ledge of the pool so hard her joints were white. I stopped moving and straightened.

  After a moment, she turned her head. “What’s wrong?”

  “Why don’t you tell me?” I no longer touched her, and she’d crossed one arm across both breasts, as if I hadn’t just had my hands all over her and my cock about to split her.

  She didn’t meet my eyes, and her cheeks flamed pink. “Nothing’s wrong. I thought you wanted to…?”

  “Fuck you?” I finished the sentence for her, watching her flinch at the words. “Oh, I do, Raisa, but not like this.”

  She looked around at the blood-red water. “Not in the bath?”

  I hoisted myself out of the water and stood over her beside the sunken pool, letting the water stream off me onto the stone floor. My cock was still hard and jutting out from my body. Her eyes darted to it, then quickly away.

  “Vaes,” I said, motioning with one hand for her to join me.

  She was tentative as she got out, but I ignored her hesitation and her flushed cheeks. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to the wall with nozzles and buttons, positioning her before I pressed a flat, square button. Hot air burst up from below, causing her to yelp and the water droplets on our skin to fly off or evaporate.

  When we were both dry, I scooped the sheet off the floor. “You can wrap this around yourself.”

  She did, but she kept her head down as I led her out of the bathing chamber.

  “You prefer the bed,” she said as we crossed the room.

  I dropped my grip on her wrist and turned abruptly. “I prefer a female who welcomes my touch.”

  To my surprise, she snapped her head up and met my gaze. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

  “Then we will make a new deal,” I said, shocking myself with my own words. Why did I care so much that this female want me? I’d fucked plenty of females on pleasure planets who did not care one way or the other about me. It had never bothered me before. But this was different. She was different.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “What kind of new deal?”

  “You are already mine.” I ran a finger down the length of her neck to where her breasts swelled above the sheet. “You belong to me, but I do not want only your body. I want all of you, Raisa.”

  She blinked quickly. “I don’t understand.”

  I leaned close to her. “I will have you, but only when you beg me for it.”

  “I will never beg you.” But even as she said it, her pupils dilated, and I could see through the sheet that her nipples were tight points.

  “We will see.” I crossed to where I’d dropped my kilt on the floor, stepping into it and fastening the belt around my waist. I left the armor hanging on the stand, but hooked my battle axe onto my belt.

  “So that’s it? I don’t have to do anything anymore?”

  I tried not to let the relief in her voice bother me, reminding myself that she did not know me, and she did not understand me or the Vandar yet.

  I left my boots as I walked over to her, looping an arm around her back and jerking her tight to me. My tail wrapped around her body, keeping her from leaning away from me. “I did not say that. I said I would not fuck you until you tell me to. I did not say all the things I plan to do to you to make you beg for my cock. And believe me, little human, you will be begging for me to fuck you.”

  Her plump lips parted, and she sucked in a sharp breath. The sight of those curved lips made me think of the fullness of her ass cheeks and the soft folds I’d been stroking. I might want her to come to me willingly, but I was not above stealing a kiss from a female who belonged to me.

  Tangling my free hand in her hair, I tilted her head back and crushed my mouth to hers. She struggled in my arms for a moment before moaning and lifting her arms to my shoulders. Fire ignited in my core and my cock ached, as I parted her lips with my tongue, taking possession of her mouth as I kissed her so deeply I wasn’t sure where I ended, and she began.

  Without breaking the kiss, I lifted her feet off the floor and walked her back to the bed, falling on it with her under me. The sheet slipped away between us as our bodies writhed, and she was naked beneath me, making soft noises as her tongue swirled with mine.

  I tore myself away, panting as I looked down at her. “Tell me, Raisa.”

  The desire in her eyes was clear, but she only drew in shaky breaths as she looked up at me.

  “Tell me you want me to fuck you,” I said, my voice insistent.

  Her body heaved underneath mine, and she’d hooked one leg around my waist, but still she did not speak. The wanting in her eyes had faded and there was only fear.

  I jerked away from her, pressing my hard cock down with one hand as I turned and stormed out of the room, not giving a backward glance at the naked female on my bed. The naked female I’d brought on board as my prisoner for the express purpose of warming by bed and sucking my cock.

  “Tvek,” I growled as I pounded down the corridor in my bare feet. What was I doing making promises and deals with her? She was mine to do with as I pleased. I was a Raas of the Vandar. We took whatever we wanted, killed whomever we wanted, and fucked any female we desired. We did not let females hold power over us. Especially not human ones who should have been executed.

  Why did it matter so much to me that this female want me? Why did I need her desire to be real? What was it about her that made me need to possess her soul as well as her body?

  I passed a pair of warriors who clicked their heels when they saw me. I grunted acknowledgment but did not slow. I needed release and I needed counsel, and there was o
nly one place I could get both.

  I wound my way down a long staircase until I reached the iron cage. I pressed my hands to the cool metal of the rungs before touching the communication panel to one side of the hinged door.

  “Bron,” my majak identified himself when he responded.

  “It is Kratos,” I told him. “Meet me in the battle ring.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Kratos

  I lunged, swinging my bastard axe in a wide arc that sliced the air next to my majak’s shoulder. Bron spun and brought his own sparring axe down hard, crashing against the steel of mine as I raised it to block his attack.

  “I am glad we do not practice with real blades today, Raas.” He grimaced as we held our weapons locked against each other. “I might leave with one less ear.”

  I stepped back and let my axe swing by my side as I sucked in a breath, the air hot in my lungs. We’d been fighting for a while and we both shone with sweat, our tails sagging near the floor. My muscles ached from the exertion, but at least my mind wasn’t roiling.

  “Rest,” I commanded, striding over to one of the metal canisters hooked to the steel cage. Water beaded the sides, making it slippery to hold as I tipped it back and poured the cold water down my throat.

  “Thank you, Raas.” Bron crossed to his side of the battle ring and drank eagerly, as well.

  I leaned over and let my arms dangle and the blood rush to my head. At least all my blood was no longer rushing to my cock. I stood and drew in another deep breath, trying to push all thoughts of the female from my mind.

  Bron joined me, leaning his back against the high side of the circular cage. He was not as tall as me but his arms were even thicker, and he’d pulled his black hair up into a topknot. “We have not battled in a long time, Raas.”

  I grunted. “Too long. We were out of practice.”

  Bron grinned and swept a loose lock of hair off his forehead. “The Raas should speak for himself.”

  I leveled my gaze at him for a moment, then barked out a laugh. “You are the only warrior I would permit to say such a thing.”

  My majak returned my smile. “I know.”

  Although we were not related by blood, Bron was closer to me than even my own kin. We had started as raider apprentices on my father’s warbird at the same time and had fought side by side since we were boys. Bron was the only Vandar on my crew who also knew what it was like to serve under my father and who knew how hard my father had driven me. He was the only one who understood why I had to be ruthless and brutal when I took over command. No one but Bron knew that my father’s shadow hung over me still.

  I swiped a hand across my slick brow. “Tell me what my crew thinks.”

  “Thinks, Raas?” Bron shifted from one foot to the other.

  “You know what I mean, majak,” I said, with a warning note in my voice. “What do they say about the Raas bringing a prisoner on board—a female?”

  His gaze slid down for a moment. “Your crew is loyal, Raas. You know that.”

  I did not respond, waiting for him to tell me the truth. He was my most loyal friend, but he was also part of the crew. For the warriors to trust him, he could not be seen as one who would betray them. Even to me.

  “They were surprised that you took her,” he finally said. “You have never taken a captive or let a ship go.”

  “Do they think me weak for not killing the female captain?”

  His head jerked up. “Not weak, Raas. Never weak.” His mouth twitched. “They think the female you took must have a magic cunt. None would deny you that.”

  I choked out a laugh. “If it is magic, I would not know.”

  Silence hung thick between us before Bron spoke again. “So, that is why we are here.”

  I growled and rubbed a hand over the knot of muscles at the back of my neck. “I have spent my life being hunted. Anything I have, I have had to take by force and violence. But I cannot take what I need from her. I do not want her that way.”

  Bron cocked his head at me. “How do you want her, Raas?”

  “I want her to give herself to me not because she has to but because she wants to.” I punched one fist into my open palm. “For once, I want to possess something that has not been taken.”

  “Kratos.” Bron put a hand on my arm. He was one of the very few who addressed me by my given name, and only rarely, but it felt good to hear the familiarity of it, instead of the title I heard from the rest of the crew. “Do not concern yourself with this. She will come around. You are Raas. Any female would be lucky to share your bed.”

  “I do not want just any female,” I said, knowing I sounded like a petulant child.

  Bron let out a breath and dropped his voice. “Soon we will be at Jaldon. There, you will have your pick of beautiful, willing females.” He nudged me. “You remember the twins from Felaris? Certainly, they can take your mind off this human?”

  I thought back to the three-breasted, alien females with pale-pink skin who worked as a team to pleasure males. I’d spent many a night at the pleasure house with them, and always left spent and satisfied. But even the thought of having my cock sucked by two eager mouths did not banish Astrid from my mind.

  “We will see,” I said. “At least the Zagrath will not follow us to Jaldon.”

  “They do not venture to the dark part of the sector.” He nudged me. “Too many Vandar raider hordes.”

  I allowed myself a sigh. The crew needed a break even more than I did. It would be good for our horde of ships to set down on Jaldon. And it was always good for a pleasure planet when a Vandar horde arrived. Vandar never took from those who did not support the empire. And pleasure planets operating on the dark outskirts of the sector wanted nothing to do with the empirical forces. We might liberate goods from the Zagrath, but we always paid handsomely for our drinking and whoring.

  “It will be good to be back on Jaldon,” I admitted. Good to stop chasing.

  “We will arrive soon.”

  Bron and I both turned to see Corvak standing outside the ring. He had approached without either of us hearing, no mean feat on a cavernous ship that seemed to echo every footstep.

  “Excellent,” I said, making my voice boom. “Any threats on long range sensors?”

  “Negative.” Corvak watched as Bron and I descended the steps leading to the battle ring. “No Zagrath near Jaldon or anywhere close to our route.”

  I gave him a curt nod. “Will I see you at your usual pleasure house, cousin?”

  His eyebrows lifted. “You intend to partake?”

  I clapped a hand on his back, harder than I usually would. “Don’t I always?”

  He flinched slightly. “I thought that with your prisoner—“

  “You thought wrong.” I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “Just because I took the female for my pleasure does not mean I cannot enjoy the company of others. I am still Raas, am I not?”

  “Of course,” Corvak said quickly, his eyes darting to Bron and then back to me. “I would never suggest that you aren’t—“

  “I know you wouldn’t,” I said. “You have watched me slaughter enough to know that my hunger is not easily satisfied—for killing or for fucking.”

  He inclined his head to me. “I am glad to hear it, Raas. There are many Zagrath left to kill.”

  “But not today,” I said to my battle chief. “Today is our reward for helping to purge the galaxy of the controlling hand of the empire.”

  I hooked my sparring axe on the outside of the ring and took long strides up the stairs, my officers falling in step behind me. I hoped that between burning off some energy with Bron, and burning off some with the Felaris twins, I could shake the desire for Astrid that threatened to consume me.

  Chapter Twelve

  Astrid

  When he returned, I was dressed and sitting at one side of the gleaming black dining table near the glass overlooking space.

  He seemed momentarily startled, but his eyes lit on the dishes spread
out in front of me, the rich scents wafting up. “They brought food. Good. I am starving.”

  So, he wasn’t going to talk about the way he’d left. I guessed Vandar warlords didn’t like to rehash arguments or discuss their feelings. Fine by me. I definitely didn’t want to talk about how breathless he’d made me. Or how I’d been moments away from begging him to fuck me, even if I wouldn’t have been able to say the word.

  “And clothes,” I said, gesturing to the dress I wore.

  His gaze traveled to the loose, blue fabric that spilled down from ties at my shoulders. There was little shape to it, and it pooled at my feet when I stood. If this was how Vandar women dressed, no wonder he’d thought my snug pants and T-shirt were obscene.

  The Raas cleared his throat, looking away from me as he took off his armor and hung it up. “It looks good on you, although I would not have minded if you’d continued to wear that sheet—or nothing at all.”

  My face warmed, but I didn’t reply. His body glistened with sweat as he walked across the room toward me, and I wondered where he’d been. Not that I was going to ask. Just looking at his bulging muscles flushed from exertion made my throat tighten and heat throb between my legs.

  “You should have eaten,” he said, taking the bench across from me. “You must be hungry.”

  I didn’t tell him that I’d nibbled some of the dishes, but wasn’t sure what the Vandar concoctions were. There was also no silverware. The attendant who’d brought the clothes and food hadn’t been all that helpful, either. He’d seemed bothered by my presence, and shocked that I didn’t know the dishes he’d placed on the table. The only thing I’d been able to get out of him was that the ship would be stopping soon. On a pleasure planet, no less. He’d seemed pleased to share that with me.

  I watched as Kratos poured some lumpy, orange stew into a bowl, tore off some flat bread, and began using the bread to scoop mouthfuls into his mouth. I tentatively followed suit, tearing off bits of bread and attempting to use them like a spoon.