Assassin Mine Cynthia Sax Part of the Operation Erotic series.
Darius, a Balazoid assassin, lives a solitary life structured by rigid rules. Nothing is more forbidden than his sexual attraction to Sabria, a sultry human female. Yet she’s all he thinks about. One kiss, one touch, one heart-stopping encounter in a darkened alleyway isn’t enough to satisfy his unnatural obsession. Breaking every rule on both of their planets, Darius captures Sabria and takes her for his breeder. Sabria takes one look at Darius and she knows she’ll have him…multiple times, in all sorts of positions. She’ll voyage to the end of the known universes to prove she’s the only breeder he’ll ever desire, blazing his notions of how a female should behave. Because the only force fiercer than a Balazoid assassin is a woman’s lust.
ASSASSIN MINE Cynthia Sax
Cynthia Sax
Chapter One I’m being watched. The fine hairs on Sabria’s bare arms lifted and her skin tingled, early warning signals that had saved her life in the past. She curled her fingers around the handle of her gun, the cool metal reassuring her, her skills honed from a lifetime spent hiding on hostile planets. Show no fear. She inhaled, counted to five, exhaled, and pivoted on her booted heels. She saw nothing, the illuminated walkway devoid of life, the citizens of Symrah III honoring the newly established curfew, the Federation at war with the vicious Balazoids. Sabria peered into the shadows, cocked her head and listened for the rustle of cloth, the whisper of shoes against simulated stone or the telltale click of a trigger. “I’m armed,” she called out, hoping to scare her stalker away. No one replied. Traz, where are you? Sabria glanced at the night sky, searching for her brother’s ship. Vessels shot across the darkness, the small specks of light too far away to be identified. The three moons hung low on the horizon, casting a pale glow over the rooftops. There was no sign of Traz. She scanned the area. Or her mysterious watcher. The streetcrawler positioned at her feet broke the silence, beeping and whirling as it awaited much-needed repairs, its lights flickering and its shell dented. “Yes, yes, Bits, I’ll fix you up.” Sabria crouched by the cute little bot. “What happened to your shell?” She extracted the suction tool from her work belt. “Did some mean Federation man kick you?” Sabria applied the mouth of the tool to the foot-sized dent. “There are some bad men in the world.” She pulled and the metal popped into place. “People say my brother is one of them because he looks and acts tough…and because he escaped prison.” As
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she removed the suction tool, the bot chirped happily, its appreciation gratifying. “But he’s not. He went to prison to protect me.” Sabria flipped the streetcrawler over. “And you’ll help me purge his records yet again,” she whispered. She slid a card into the slot she’d modified during the previous round of repairs. “For a few months, maybe even a year, he won’t be persecuted. He’ll be free, equal to any other Federation citizen.” She righted the bot. “You’ll do that for me, won’t you?” She patted its shell and the machine cooed contentedly, rubbing against her legs. “And as a thank-you, I’ll replace all of your lights.” She pulled the filaments from her pocket. “My boss says you don’t need lights, they’re not necessary for you to work, but I know you like to be fully operational.” The bot pushed against her hand. As she fiddled with the front beams, installing and aligning them properly, the feeling of being watched intensified. Hoping to distract her stalker, she deliberately dropped a straighter. The tool clattered on the manufactured rock and she spun around. She caught a glimpse of moonlight reflecting off an inhumanly pale male hand before her watcher disappeared into the shadows once more. He’s a harmless android. Sabria relaxed, tension easing from her shoulders. “Are you broken?” There was a long pause. “Yes.” That single word echoed as though it traveled over a long distance, the android’s voice low and deep and arousing. He’s a machine. Sabria shook her head, banishing her instant attraction to him. “I’ll fix you.” She straightened. “Stay still.” The streetcrawler at her feet obediently froze in place. Sabria approached the shadows, her body trembling with awareness. He must be a companion android. That’s why I’m having this strange reaction. She fumbled in her tool belt for her diagnostic device, androids being more complicated than streetcrawlers to fix. “Have you identified your malfunction?” “No,” he growled, expressing an impressive degree of emotion.
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Red eyes blazed in the dark. Sabria blinked, confused. Why would his visual system revert to such an inhuman setting? The only species with red eyes is— Shoes scuffed against the pedestrian walkway behind her. “Shit.” Sabria drew her gun as she turned. A beam arced before she could fire and her weapon flew from her hands, her fingers throbbing with pain. She reached for her daggers. “Don’t even think about it, bitch,” Rium sneered, the greasy-haired Symrah soldier flanked by two of his henchmen. All three men held guns in their multiple right hands, leering grins plastered across their ugly faces. “After General Camur’s assassination, we were given orders to shoot any suspicious characters.” “I’m not a suspicious character.” She raised her hands in the air, defiantly meeting the power-high soldier’s gaze, Rium grasping onto any weakness, any reason to torment her. “I have authorization to be here. I’m repairing the streetcrawlers.” “That’s a perfect cover for an assassin.” Rium’s gaze drifted down her body, lingering on her breasts and groin, his perusal making her skin creep. “And your brother isn’t exactly an upstanding citizen. No one would question your guilt.” Sabria stayed silent, recognizing the truth of his words. “But we’ll make you a deal.” Rium licked his plump lips, leaving a trail of saliva on his flesh. “You be nice to us, all of us.” The men grinned, their flight suits tented around hard cocks. “And we’ll let you go.” “No.” Sabria edged away from them, coiling her body, preparing to run, to risk her life to avoid that fate. “You’re not touching me.” She sprinted. They lunged in a synchronized assault. One man yanked her arm and she spun. Another man ripped her top, cool air hitting her skin. She extracted her daggers and attacked blindly, slicing her blades across the closest assailant’s chest, digging two deep stripes into his flesh. He howled in agony and dropped to his knees, blood gushing between his fingers. Rium’s other henchman fell backward, gurgling, a black throwing star lodged deep in his throat. Sabria glanced behind her. No one stood there. She was alone. How— 6
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“You bitch.” Rium advanced, knives in all four of his hands. “After I fuck my fill of you, I’ll kill you slowly, painfully. You’ll beg me for death.” “Don’t touch her.” Behind Rium, a tall, lean figure stepped into the light, his muscled form clad in tight black leather, his garment accessorized with daggers and guns. “This breeder is mine.” He had pale skin, even paler hair and eyes as red as the blood he’d spilled. “Find your own female.” Sabria swallowed a gasp, fear coursing up her spine. He lacked the tentacle hair of his kind, the male’s baby-fine human tendrils attesting to his mixed heritage, but she recognized the threat he represented. This was no android, programmed not to harm. This was a Balazoid, a cold-blooded killing machine, an enemy to the Federation, and the assassin Rium hunted. The Symrah soldier faced Sabria’s unlikely champion. “I’ll kill you even slower, Balazoid.” The Balazoid arched one eyebrow. “Will you?” His top lip curled. “This will be interesting.” Blades spun in his long fingers, the weapons extensions of his arms. Rium’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Fuck.” He dropped a knife, the metal clinking against the stone walkway, and he pulled his gun. Sabria blinked once and the Balazoid had sheathed his blades. She blinked twice and he gripped Rium’s weapon. “Guns aren’t slow.” The assassin tossed the gun into the street. The weapon shattered with the force of his throw. “We’ll fight hand-to-hand.” Rium gaped at his empty fingers, as though he disbelieved his eyes. “Who are you?” “My enemies call me Dreck.” The Balazoid ran his palms over his white hair, pushing a wayward strand back into place, showing no emotion over the derogatory name he’d been given, Dreck, a slur on his mixed parentage. “And I don’t have friends.” “You won’t have anything after I’m through with you.” Rium circled Dreck. The Balazoid didn’t move, remaining frighteningly still and calm, his body loose.
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Balazoids have heightened senses, Sabria’s brother had told her. If you see one, leave immediately. Don’t try to fight them because you won’t win. I should leave now. Sabria glanced at the male the Balazoid had killed…for her. No, I have to stay in case he needs my help. She wiped her blades against her pants, smearing blood onto the fabric. I owe him that. Rium aimed a knife at the Balazoid’s unprotected back. “Dreck!” Sabria yelled a warning as the knife whistled through the air. The assassin turned and deflected the blade with his own dagger, metal bouncing off metal, sparks flying from the contact. The Balazoid leaped toward Rium, vaulted off the Symrah soldier’s shoulders, flipped over, twisting his torso, and landed behind him. “I assume this is what you were attempting to do.” Dreck stabbed the oblivious male, his jab lightning quick. Blood spurted and Rium stumbled forward. “See how the wound pains you, yet doesn’t kill?” The Balazoid nodded, his expression smug. “Slow.” “And you.” The assassin’s gaze shifted toward Sabria and she straightened. Swallowing her fear, she lifted her chin, meeting his gaze directly. “You should remain silent, female,” he haughtily informed her. “Silent?” Sabria glared at him, a flash of righteous anger overriding her terror. “I was warning you, you ungrateful asshole.” “Warning me.” The Balazoid’s grim lips twitched. “Warning me,” he repeated, humor bubbling in his words. Sabria’s face heated. Condescending bastard. She transferred her attention to Rium. His expression darkened, his intentions transparent. The fool isn’t giving up. Rium’s knuckles whitened as his fingers tightened around his blades. “Dreck!” Sabria screamed as the Symrah soldier swung. The Balazoid stepped to the left, closer to her, and with a flick of his wrists, he calmly sliced off two of his attacker’s hands. Rium howled, his severed hands falling to
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the walkway, knives rolling from the Symrah brute’s jerking fingers. Blood gushed from his wrists. “Using the word Dreck on a Federation-controlled planet isn’t recommended, female.” The Balazoid continued serenely speaking as though their conversation hadn’t been interrupted. “Next time, if you insist upon warning me.” His crimson eyes glittered. “Screech Darius.” Screech? Sabria opened her mouth. The pool of red grew around Rium’s black military boots, and she pressed her lips together, opting not to irritate the Balazoid, Darius, further. “I wounded him too severely.” Darius waved his hand at his Symrah opponent. Rium fell to his knees, his face pale, his body drenched with blood. “I made a mistake. I never make mistakes.” Darius frowned, looming behind the fallen male. “I’m broken.” He ran his blade across Rium’s throat. The Symrah’s eyes widened and he folded into a heap on the walkway. Darius sheathed his daggers and approached her, his lips pressed into a thin white line, his face lean and angular, not handsome but aristocratic and regal. Sabria backed up nervously. Shit, he’s deadly to the senses. He studied her as she studied him and she warmed under his perusal, her body flushing with arousal. “H-h-how are you broken?” Her fingers fumbled clumsily as she secured her daggers. “I’ve been watching you. I can’t stop watching you, and when the inferior males touched you, I felt anger. Here.” Darius tapped his chest. “I think of you as my breeder, even though that is forbidden, and I yearn to release inside you.” He stood close, warmth rolling off his body in enticing waves. This magnificent male wishes to fuck me. Darius was a finely honed killing machine and the sexiest being she had ever met, her desire for him elevated by the thrill of a battle fought and won. Her body hummed with awareness. “Oh.” Sabria waited impatiently for Darius to hold her, kiss her, take her. Her nipples tightened and her pussy moistened. 9
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Darius remained motionless, his hands positioned over his weapons, his intense gaze holding hers. “Tell me how I can fix myself,” he demanded. “You want to be fixed?” Sabria placed her palms on his chest and he flinched, his involuntary response to her touch exciting her. “Why?” He gazed over her left shoulder, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left. “My emotions aren’t natural. Females are a vessel for release and nothing more. A simulator female should be sufficient for my needs.” “Your needs?” Sabria’s voice grew husky with lust. “These needs?” She curved her hand over the back of his neck and tugged. He lowered his head and she pressed her mouth to his, meeting an unrelenting wall of resistance. Sabria sucked on his bottom lip, pulling at his flesh. He didn’t move. Undeterred by his lack of response, she wiggled closer, burrowing her curves into his hardness. Darius stood as still as a deactivated android, cold and aggravatingly calm. I want him. She abused his mouth, jabbing between the seam of his lips with her tongue and she ground her mons against the ridge in his leather pants, the challenge of arousing him calling to her, enticing her, pushing her to shameless lengths she wouldn’t normally resort to. Sabria grew even more wet, aroused by his control. “Enough.” Darius pushed her away from him. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. His gaze swept her face, his eyes glowing with the brightness of a laser. He stared at her and she stared at him, streams of awareness and need and want surging between them. Sabria didn’t say anything, waiting for his decision, craving his touch. “No, not enough.” Darius slammed into her, his mouth claiming hers, the impact knocking the breath from her body. She gasped, stepping back, surprised, and he captured her face between his rough hands, not allowing her to escape him. He ravished her lips, branding her, abusing her tender flesh, tilting her head back and forcing her to open to him.
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She clung to his leather-clad shoulders as he whipped her with his tongue. He tasted of the rarest herbs and a flavor she had never before savored and she sucked on him, trying to appease him. He threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling at her curls, the pinpricks of pain stimulatingly sharp. She leaned into him, pressing against his hard body, rubbing, her pussy aching, throbbing, needing satisfaction from him, a killer, a stranger, a Balazoid. Sabria had never had such a strong physical reaction to anyone and she moaned into his mouth, pleading for more. Darius rumbled an incoherent response and he curled his long fingers over her nape. Agony ripped through Sabria, shooting down her spine, and she writhed in his grasp. Mumbling soothing foreign words against her lips, he lowered his hands and clasped her ass, bumping her hips against his as he thrust his tongue into her mouth, mimicking the fucking motion. The pain faded and she held on to his shoulders, thrilled by his savagery, his dominance. Sabria dropped her head back and he mouthed down her neck, nipping her skin, marking her. “Yes, that’s it.” She arched, coaxing him lower, needing those ruthless lips on her nipples. “You’re such a beast.” Darius’ spine snapped straight and he froze. “I’m not a beast.” His eyes blazed. “I’m a Balazoid.” He lowered her until her boots thumped on the walkway. She shivered as the cool night air rushed between them. “And I will fix myself,” he declared. “I’ll overcome these unhealthy feelings toward you, a replaceable breeder.” He gazed down his thin blade of a nose at her. Sabria had seen that look of disdain before whenever people uncovered her brother’s extensive criminal record, and they always uncovered his record, no matter how many times she purged the information. Fuck him. Fuck them all. She held her head high, meeting the assassin’s gaze. “You do that. I don’t need you and I certainly don’t want you,” she snarled, her sexually frustrated body protesting her lies. 11
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Darius’ face hardened. “Because I’m a Dreck.” “Because you’re a woman-hating asshole.” She folded her arms defensively before her. “And you have the personality of an Ungarian fur burrower.” She paused, thinking of more insults. “And the intelligence of a Mox-X addict.” The corners of his lips curled upward. “Is that all?” “No.” She glowered. “But it has been a long night and I don’t have the energy to list your many repellent qualities.” Darius’ gaze warmed for a heart-stopping moment before cooling once more. “Return to your abode, female,” he advised gruffly, skimming his knuckles over her cheek, his touch surprisingly gentle. Sabria’s anger melted under his tender assault and she swayed toward him, his body calling to hers. “And sleep. I will find my own solution.” “Darius,” she whispered, the attraction between them undeniable, strong and primitive and forbidden. “No.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. Sabria gazed up at him, making no attempt to disguise her need. “No,” Darius repeated. He pivoted on his heels and strode forward, walking silently, smoothly, resembling the predator he was. The black of his clothes merged with the night, the shadows sucking him into their depths, and he was gone, vanishing as though he had never existed. Sabria stared after Darius, yearning to follow him, her thoughts and emotions in turmoil. He’s an assassin, a dreaded Balazoid, a species known for their atrocious treatment of women, and I want him. I want him so much. “Arrive soon, brother.” Sabria studied the night sky. Some of the ships flying above her must be Balazoid, Darius’ presence on Symrah III indicating an impending invasion. “I’m in grave danger.” The upcoming war between the Balazoids and the Federation frightened her less than the feelings inside her heart.
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Chapter Two I’m broken and she’s the source of my deviation. Darius leaned against a pillar on the docking bay, his form shrouded in darkness, shadows being his natural habitat, and he watched the little female as she talked with a smiling male, the male’s fast-talking breeder and their squirming offspring. He shouldn’t have placed that tracking device upon her neck. Once he’d activated the device, he had to follow her. He found her fascinating, her ferocity and fearlessness matching his, her skill at killing adorably competent, yet lacking his finesse, her kindness toward the bots she repaired giving him a hope he shouldn’t nourish. She is a female. And human. Darius curled his top lip, disgusted by his weakness. He saw nothing unusual in her appearance, her hair long and black and sinfully soft, her cheekbones delicate and tanned, her brown-eyed gaze unnervingly direct. She had curves, ill-disguised in her manly outfit, the dark fabric stretching over firm breasts and a perky ass as she hugged the larger breeder. I can’t stop thinking about her. Sabria. Darius turned her name over in his mind, savoring the syllables. He’d tapped into the Federation system and accessed her surprisingly sparse files. Her brother, a killer similar to himself, had hired himself out on a merc job, leaving her on Symrah III. She was alone on the planet…as he was. If I wasn’t a Dreck, I’d take her as my breeder and use her for release until I tired of her. Darius ran his hand over his skull, his closely cropped human hair agonizingly different from the verme of the Balazoids, providing physical proof of his unworthiness. Sabria stepped away from the passenger ferry and waved at the trio, their departure the fourth she’d witnessed in two days, her discretion pleasing Darius. None of the family units she had conversed with expressed fear or worry upon going off-
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world and there had been no widespread panic. She’d kept knowledge of his presence to herself, allowing the Balazoid invasion to unfold as planned. Sabria glanced around her furtively before moving toward the exit. Darius followed, his curiosity ensnared. She stepped into the light, the solitary aging sun tinting the crowded walkway pink. He slinked along the shadows, inhaling the floral scent of her hair and the tantalizing musk of her pussy, as she navigated the maze of buildings. Pedestrians turned into alcoves, leaving them one by one, until they were alone. Sabria turned a sharp right and disappeared into an alley. Darius stood at the entrance and listened, hearing her quick breaths. Does she think to ambush me? Darius withdrew his favorite dagger and grinned, excited by that possibility. He stepped soundlessly into the alley. Metal flashed. He spun her around and slammed her body into the side of the building, knocking the dagger from her hand. “Too slow.” Darius wrenched her arm behind her and pushed her face into the simulated stone. He leaned into her, smelling her hair and pressing his hard cock against her tight ass, the experience of touching her, a real female, unique. “I know.” Sabria turned her head and smiled at him, the Dreck. “No one moves like you do.” She wiggled enticingly, the brush of her soft curves against him spiraling his desire higher. The simulator females offered a warm pussy for his release. Sabria used her entire body to pleasure him. Pleasure? Darius pushed away his insane thoughts. Balazoids don’t view release as pleasure. “Be still.” He shook Sabria, the source of his temporary madness. “Why didn’t you inform the authorities of my presence?” He asked the question haunting him. “And tell them what?” She raised one finely arched black eyebrow, unfazed by his rough handling. “I ran into a Balazoid assassin while I was killing one of their men? No thank you. That type of information landed my brother a life sentence in one of the toughest Federation prison planets.” 14
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“You’d escape the prison as he did.” I’d ensure that. Darius frowned, the scent of her arousal toying with his thought processes. “Why haven’t you left the planet? You know what is about to happen.” Her wrist was small and fragile under his fingers. One squeeze and he’d break her bones. “You had your question.” Sabria tossed her head back, her black hair rippling in waves over her shoulders. “It’s my turn to ask you one,” she declared as though she was in charge of the situation, as though he hadn’t captured her and was holding her life in his hands. “Why are you following me?” How does she know I was following her? Darius loosened his grip, searching for a reason for his slipping skills. “I’m broken.” “You want to release inside me.” Sabria taunted him with his unnatural yearnings and Darius’ cock twitched, the urge to take her tremendous. “You want to yank down my pants, bend me over and fuck me into the wall.” “I’m not an animal,” Darius grunted, wanting exactly that. “I don’t fuck.” He flipped her around to face him, wishing to read her expressions. “Why haven’t you left Symrah III? You’re in grave danger if you remain.” Sabria lifted her pointed chin, her brown eyes glittering defiantly. “If you want me, what’s stopping you?” She ignored his question. “Is your cock too good for my pussy?” “You’re a stubborn female and you talk too much.” Darius dropped his gaze to her lips, remembering how sweet she tasted. “This is why Balazoids muzzle their breeders.” Muzzling her would reduce temptation. Sabria’s small pink tongue darted between her lips, wetting her flesh, and Darius loomed closer, lured by her subtle signals. I may look like a Dreck, but I am a Balazoid to my soul. He gritted his teeth. I will prove myself. I will control the primitive side of my nature. “And how many breeders have you muzzled?” She leaned into him, her breath wafting on his chin. “Drecks aren’t allotted breeders. Dominant foreign genes are not to be passed on to future generations.” He recited the official ruling, his gaze fixed on her open mouth. 15
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One more kiss and I’ll leave her. Darius brushed his lips over hers, tasting ripe, decadent fruit, the unique flavor speeding his heartbeat. Excitement flowed through him stronger than the rush after a kill. One more kiss is not enough. He cupped her soft cheeks, holding her still as he conquered her mouth, tracking her sweetness. Darius closed his eyes, the darkness heightening his other senses, her taste, touch and scent magnified. He savored the stolen embrace, knowing it should never happen again, the primitive act of kissing forbidden to Balazoids. And their kiss was primitive, savage and forceful. They dueled with their tongues, striking, retreating, feinting to the left and to the right, battling for dominance. Darius demanded capitulation, the complete submission of his strong female, and when Sabria finally moaned against his lips, her surrender was heady and exhilarating. She wiggled closer to him, her curves fitting perfectly into his hardness, her breasts flattening against his chest, her mons rubbing over his engorged cock, the leather of his pants strangling his erection. He yearned to be free of clothing, to feel her skin slide along his. “Take me, Darius,” she murmured, her voice husky. He stiffened, opening his eyes. “Drecks don’t release inside the pussies of real females.” He stepped away from her and his body screamed a protest. “And I’m a Dreck, a Balazoid,” he announced, needing to hear those words, to reaffirm his identity. “Not some undisciplined human.” He glared at her, angry at her for tempting him and at himself for being tempted. Sabria’s mouth twitched as though she found his conflict amusing. “You’re not all Balazoid. I’ve read your files, Darius.” His name flowed out of her mouth with a musical lilt, the sound enticing. “I know what a Dreck is. It means your human side is dominant.” “It means I have human features.” Darius swept his hand over his cursed hair, flattening the strand he could never keep in place. “But other than that, I assure you I’m 16
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Balazoid.” He looked down at her, ignoring the tempting softness of her lips. “The Federation file on me is incorrect.” “Who says I read the Federation file?” Sabria grinned, touching the back of her neck. “Isn’t that why you left me the tracking device? So I could access the Balazoid system?” He stared at her, impressed with her intelligence and horrified that she’d placed herself in danger. “If they discover you’ve accessed the system—” “They won’t,” she assured him, her smile overly confident. “You can’t release inside my pussy?” Darius nodded, his head spinning from her swift change in topic. “Is there a law against releasing inside my mouth?” She smacked her lips. “Or my ass?” She wiggled. Is that possible? Darius hardened to the point of pain. “It isn’t civilized.” “Not at all civilized.” Sabria placed her palms on his chest, the connection shooting down to his groin. “It’s savage and wild and very, very naughty.” One of her hands drifted lower and he sucked in his breath. Her fingertips trailed over his stomach muscles and rested over his cock. “Find release in my mouth, Darius.” She outlined his cock head with her fingers, pressing the leather into him. “Cover my tongue with your hot cum.” Darius forced himself to remain still as she played with his cock. “Females don’t touch.” She lowered to her knees and unfastened his pants, peeling the leather away from his hot skin. “We only use their pussies, not their mouths, finding release quickly.” Sabria wrapped her soft fingers around his shaft and Darius’ panic increased. “Anything else is forbidden.” “I won’t tell.” She smiled at him while she pumped his cock, her fingers golden against his white skin. “And if I did tell, who would believe me? I’m a mere female.” Mere female? Darius snorted. Sabria held all of his power in her small hands, showing him delights he’d never imagined were possible. He watched her as she stroked him, her face glowing with joy, joy over pleasing him, a Dreck. 17
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“Pleasure in release is forbidden for all Balazoids.” His voice lowered to a deep rumble. “Release is necessary, not enjoyed,” Darius recited, clinging to the last remnants of his control. “No pleasure, huh?” She gripped him harder and he jerked, an acute delight flowing over him. “So you don’t enjoy my hand on your cock?” “No,” he lied, swaying his hips into her touch. “And if I lick you.” Sabria extended her pink tongue. She wouldn’t…would she? He tensed, anticipating her touch. “You won’t enjoy that either?” She swept her tongue over his sensitive tip, scooping up his pre-cum. “No,” Darius called out, shamefully verbalizing his weakness. His face flushed and his determination strengthened. I will pass this test. He set his palms on the top of her head, her hair soft against his skin. I will control my urges. Sabria flicked her tongue over him, teasing his rim, prodding his slit, and Darius buried his fingers in her hair, twisting her curls in his fists, desperately holding on to his dignity. “I suppose sucking you dry won’t please you at all.” She inhaled his cock, her lips pressing against his shaft, taking him farther and farther into her hot, wet mouth. Darius’ eyes rolled back in his head, his control battered by an ecstasy he’d never before known. “At all,” he repeated mindlessly, forgetting why he had to, needed to, resist this pleasure. His cock head tapped the back of her throat and she tilted her head to take all of him, her lips sealed around his base. “Fuck,” he whispered, his balls aching, his brain numb with sexual bliss. No simulator female’s pussy compared with Sabria’s wondrous mouth, her suction maintaining an unbearable level of stimulation. She pulled back and he groaned, the slide of her lips over his shaft sending waves of joy up his torso. Sabria looked upward, their gazes met and she smiled, her lips curling around his cock. Beautiful. Darius stared. She is the most beautiful creature I’ve seen in my long, deathfilled life. His fingers twitched in her glossy black hair, the urge to claim her, to keep her 18
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as his female, his breeder, overwhelming his sense of self-preservation, his need to be accepted by his home planet. Sabria took him into her mouth once more and thoughts of the future dissipated, blazed to the ground by the fires of passion. She bobbed against him and he rocked, unable to remain still. “I must release quickly,” he muttered, reminding himself. “A controlled Balazoid comes within three thrusts.” Sabria’s eyebrows lifted, since she unable to speak, her mouth filled with his girth. “I will release soon,” he informed her, determined to find release as a Balazoid. Sabria sighed, air rushed around his shaft and she nodded. She increased her suction, her cheeks indenting around him, and she worked him in and out of her mouth faster and faster. The combination pushed him closer to release, yet it wasn’t enough, satisfaction dangling out of reach. “Sabria,” he begged, past the point of pride, instinctively knowing she could give him what he wanted, what he needed, only her, only this fierce human female. She gazed up at him, her brown eyes filled with a soft emotion he had no label for, and she cupped his aching balls, Darius’ body twitching at the contact. Sabria took him fully inside her mouth and she squeezed her fingers. “Fuck!” he roared, thrusting forward, smacking his hips against her face. Hard jets of cum spurted from his cock, his release gloriously savage, incredibly primal. Sabria milked him with her hot mouth, draining every drop from his body and every thought from his brain. “Sabria.” Darius shuddered, his mind blank. He petted her black hair as she leisurely cleaned his cock, her tongue darting over his skin. A calmness fell over him, a peace, and it scared Darius. He’d been trained to kill, conditioned to think of the Balazoid cause first and only, not wanting anything for himself, yet he wanted that peace and he wanted her with a frightening ferocity.
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“I hear the longer males last, the more they enjoy sex…release,” Sabria shared, his seed glistening on her lips. My seed. Darius straightened with pride. “Enjoyment is forbidden.” “Balazoids have a lot of rules, don’t they?” She held out her hands and he pulled her upright. He clasped her to him, their forms merging into one. “I don’t think I’d survive for long there.” “Not as you are.” Darius’ grip on her ass tightened, the thought of Sabria strapped to a breeding chair, her talented mouth muzzled and her body shared with hundreds of Balazoid males, enraging him. “You will take the next ship off the planet,” he ordered. “You can’t stay here.” “I’m waiting for my brother,” Sabria confessed quietly. “You’ll wait for him on a planet far from the fighting.” Darius held her at arm’s length. “You’ll be safe there.” He yanked on his leather pants, covering the pale skin she’d touched and caressed and sucked. Once she leaves, my sanity will return. I won’t want what I can’t have. “I might be safe.” Sabria dusted off her knees, grime from the walkway clinging to the dark fabric of her pants. “But will I be happy? Are you happy, Darius?” Balazoids don’t feel happiness. “You won’t be happy as a breeder, Sabria. I know that.” Her black eyelashes fluttered. “Not even as your breeder?” Fuck. She would express my deepest wish. “Drecks aren’t allowed breeders.” “But Balazoids have breeders.” She raised her eyebrows. “Drecks don’t.” He skimmed his fingertips over her lips, regret twisting in his stomach. Her face darkened. “Then you aren’t really a Balazoid, are you?” She flung her hands in the air. “You can follow their rules all you want, denying yourself happiness, companionship and love. Shit, you can even dress like them.” She plucked at her
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utilitarian pants. “But you’ll never be accepted.” She glowered, her righteous anger bewildering Darius. Why does she care? “I say fuck the Federation and fuck the Balazoids.” She stomped away from him, her boots echoing on the rock. “They aren’t worthy of us, Darius.” Of us. His heart clenched painfully, the unnatural yearnings within him intensifying. “Leave the planet, Sabria,” Darius called after her, frantic for her safety, this female who made him feel, made him want. “Don’t make me kill you.” She didn’t answer and he allowed her to go, unable to stop her. She’s not mine. He watched Sabria until she turned the corner, disappearing from his view and from his life. She can never be mine.
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Chapter Three Traz, where are you? Sabria glanced upward, fearfully. The sky above her had darkened with Balazoid warships, the invasion having started at daybreak. The fighting originated in the city’s core, the missiles pummeling the walkways and destroying the buildings around her. My brother’s not coming for me. I have to save myself. Sabria ran along the darkened alley, an alley similar to the one she’d met Darius in, moving toward the outskirts of the city, zigzagging to evade the swifter Balazoid forces. The zing of gunfire echoed around her and the earth shook, the fighting growing fiercer. A woman huddled against a wall, unconscious, her single eye closed, her chest moving with each breath, one of many women Sabria had seen this morning. Any female who hadn’t taken a Balazoid blocker had been rendered immobile, ready for pickup by the Balazoids. They’d become breeders, sexual slaves. My fate. Sabria hid in an alcove and extracted her long-range communicator, praying it would work with the Balazoid ships filling the airspace above her. She tapped her brother’s emergency code into the device, trying once more to contact him. “Recipient is unavailable,” the machine chirped. “Wait to relay communication.” Shit. Sabria waited, rehearsing her message in her head, the last message she might ever leave for her brother. Musical notes tinkled, signaling the start of the recording. “Traz, Traz, Symrah III is being invaded. Don’t bother coming for me here. I’ll hitch a ride to another planet with the Balazoid assassin they call Dreck.” She touched the tracking device Darius had placed on the back of her neck. “Unless he kills me first. That’s a joke…I think.” The gunfire grew closer. The smell of death and explosives filled her nostrils. “Shit. Traz, please don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be safe.” A single-manned fighter ship 22
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lowered, its engines agitating the dust around her. “I’ll let you know as soon as I can where I am. If you can’t come for me, that’s okay. I understand.” A wall toppled, eliminating her exit. “I love you.” She turned and scurried back from where she’d came, leaping over bodies and debris. A slight form rushed toward her, heading in the opposite direction, his head bowed, his shoulders hunched, a rifle in his hands. Shit. Sabria yanked at a door handle. Locked. She hid in the doorway, pressing her spine against the metal door. Walk by me. Walk by me, she silently chanted. The boy paused directly in front of her, his pale Balazoid face lined with fear, the crotch of his black leather uniform wet, the stench of urine clinging to him. His hands shook, his rifle rattling against his armor. Sabria held her breath. He turned and time slowed, every second stretching. He met her gaze. His red eyes widened. He raised his rifle. I’m going to die. An eerie acceptance layered over Sabria. She thought of Traz, the overprotective brother she loved, and of Darius, a male she wished she’d fully fucked. Will he think of me? “Darius,” she whispered, yearning to say his name one last time. “What the—” The boy squeaked, his face contorting, his body jerking. His eyes widened and he fell to the stone, his limbs twitching. “They’re using child soldiers for this war,” a familiar voice scoffed. “Child soldiers to kill.” “Darius.” He saved me. Sabria stepped around the fallen boy, noting that he breathed. They both breathed. I’m alive. She smothered a giddy laugh. “You came for me.” Darius stood in the alley with his feet braced apart, his shoulders broad and wide, his face hard. He was dressed the only way she’d ever seen him dressed—for killing,
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the leather adorned with daggers and guns. Heated emotion blazed from his eyes. Her Balazoid assassin was furious and deadly and the most wonderful sight she had ever seen. “I warned you I would come for you.” Darius turned her around and pulled her arms behind her back. “You’re now my prisoner of war.” Cool metal encased her wrists, locking the awkward position in place. “You won’t speak or move unless I give you permission, understand?” He barked out the orders, no softness in his voice. Fear crawled up Sabria’s spine. Don’t make me kill you. His previous words rang in her ears. “I understand.” He spun her to face him and his gaze met hers. “I don’t think you do. This isn’t a game. The punishment for disobedience is death.” He removed a blade from a thigh sheath, unfastened his jacket and drew a red line across his pale chest with the deadly tip. “Darius.” She gasped, feeling his pain. “Dreck,” he corrected. “And I won’t warn you again, female.” He swiped his hand across the cut and pressed his fingers to her face, smearing warm blood over her skin. “If you speak in public, I’ll kill you.” He ripped the sleeve of her shirt, painting that exposed skin red also. He’ll kill me. Sabria nodded mutely, knowing deep down in her soul Darius would carry through on his threat. “Obey me and you might live.” He heaved her over his shoulder, his hard muscles pressed against her stomach, his hand gripped her thighs, and he ran down the alley, his footsteps soundless, his breathing steady. Sabria couldn’t see anything, her hair covering her face, her ass in the air, her life placed blindly in the assassin’s rough palms. I might live. She wiggled her fingers, wishing she clutched a dagger. I have to trust him. I have no other choice.
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Darius moved quickly, dodging bullets and weaving between obstacles, the cries of dying men and gunfire intensifying as they progressed. Sabria’s breasts slapped against Darius’ back, her nipples abused, stimulated by the rough treatment. He wants to kill you, not fuck you. Sabria pushed away her untimely arousal and concentrated on verbal clues, attempting to uncover his intentions. Where is he taking me? Wind whipped around them, the rumble of a ship’s engine deafening. Darius stalked up an incline and ducked under a doorway, his body folding into hers. The wind stopped and the air grew warmer. They were inside. Balazoids yelled, their unique voices barely audible. Metal smacked against metal, the noise diminished and the mesh floor under them moved. “Captain Grok.” Darius clipped his words, his tone cool. “Dreck,” a Balazoid sneered at Darius as the Federations often sneered at Sabria’s brother, contempt underlying the greeting. “I thought you’d be dead by now. It is your destiny.” Males laughed and Sabria glared at the floor, yearning to defend her assassin. “Did you bring my crew a breeder?” “Once I extract its information, you can have it…if it survives.” Darius gripped the waistband of her pants and lifted, the fabric squeezing her stomach. Sabria dangled, her head and legs lowered. It? Does he mean me? Sabria’s hair dragged on the metal floor. “Yes, if it survives.” The captain sighed. “I lost three breeders on the voyage here.” His nose whistled as he breathed in. “It is small and has lost blood. You handled it too roughly, Dreck. I’ll note that in your file.” “Note that I will handle it more roughly.” Darius sat with a thump and settled Sabria facedown over his lap, her breasts crushed against his thighs, her ass raised in the air. Her face heated, her position humiliating and precarious. “If it doesn’t give me the information I need.” Darius slapped her pant-covered ass hard, and she jerked, forced to take his abuse silently, pain radiating from the point of contact. 25
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The other Balazoid chuckled. “You do know how to deal with the primitives, Dreck, being one yourself.” Darius rubbed his hand over her curves, massaging the coarse fabric into her warmed flesh, his touch stimulatingly rough. “What did it do to warrant the interrogation?” “It unlawfully accessed files.” Darius walloped her ass again, the sound echoing in the small, dark chamber. Sabria bit down on her bottom lip and swallowed her cries, pain flowing into an even more humiliating pleasure, her pussy dripping with moisture. “Federation files?” Darius slid his hand between her thighs and stroked her fabric-covered pussy, tormenting her, teasing her. “Balazoid files.” “Whose files?” the captain demanded. “Mine.” Darius landed another blow on her beleaguered ass. Sabria moaned softly, her body humming with need. “Yours.” The captain’s laugh held more triumphant than levity. “This is why we use Drecks as assassins. You’re disposable. The question is…should we wait for the Federation to eventually dispose of you, risking another information breach, or should we dispose of you ourselves?” The threat hung in the air. There are no old Drecks. Sabria had noted that unusual fact when she’d infiltrated the Balazoid system, looking for Darius’ files. I won’t be the excuse they use to finally kill him. She raised her head, preparing to take the blame for her own mistake. “That is unnecessary.” Darius slapped his hand between her shoulder blades, pushing the air from her lungs. “I’ve contained the breach and I’ll extract the information from this Federation operative. There’s no need for further action.” The ship shuddered. “I disagree,” the captain retorted. “You’ve served your full purpose in our cause. I find comfort in knowing that even if the council doesn’t dispose of you, our enemy soon will.”
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Darius growled softly and yanked Sabria upward by her pants’ waistband. Doors hissed open. He slung her over his shoulder and stomped into an adjacent ship, the doors closing behind them. “Ship, engage,” he barked. The ship hummed to life, the floor rolling under them. He didn’t set her on her feet and he didn’t remove her restraints. He moved with her through a brightly lit corridor, his gait fast and smooth, his spine straight. Sabria remained silent, watching his ass cheeks clench and unclench under his formfitting body armor, waiting for direction, not wishing to anger him more by speaking. “My unnatural obsession with you almost got me killed today.” Darius’ voice was chillingly flat. “That’s unacceptable.” They turned into a small room and he lowered her feet to the tiled floor, sliding her body against his. “But now, you’re my breeder.” He pushed her hair away from her face. “And after I find release within your pussy, these feelings will go away. I’ll no longer want what I can’t have and my life will become manageable once more. Everything will return to normal.” He paused. “You may speak, female.” Female? Sabria glanced around the room. The walls were a glaring white, the space empty except for a large silver metallic chair, the armrests and stirrups outfitted with restraints. A breeding chair. She swallowed hard. “I thought Drecks couldn’t have breeders. It’s forbidden,” she repeated what he had told her. “Ahhh…but I don’t have you officially as a breeder, do I?” Darius removed the restraints from her wrists. She rubbed her tingling hands, the blood rushing into her fingers. “You’re my prisoner of war and, as prisoners of war die all the time, no one will know you served a different purpose.” His face was grave, his lips flat. He’ll kill me when he tires of me. Sabria nibbled on her bottom lip. Unless that never happens. “I’ll be your breeder, Darius.” She patted his chest and he winced. “Shit. I forgot. I should bind your wounds.” She examined Darius’ leather-clad torso, seeing no traces of blood. “That cut—”
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“—is healed. Balazoids heal quickly.” He pulled a dagger from a sheath. “I don’t require medical attention, especially not from you. You’re a female and the only thing Balazoids need from females is release.” His arrogant tone incensed Sabria. “And you’re a woman-hating asshole,” she muttered under her breath. She curled her fingers into fists, struggling to control her temper, wanting to slap him, not seduce him. “Balazoids also have superb hearing.” Darius’ lips twitched. “Hold still.” She inhaled sharply as the dagger descended. With lightning-fast strikes, Darius sliced her clothing into strips. The fabric fell to the white-tiled floor, leaving her naked, not a single scratch etched on her skin. She exhaled, her nipples puckering in the cool air, and his gaze lowered to her chest. Darius’ physical response to her nudity was immediate and unmistakable, his body armor hiding nothing, his long, thick cock pressing against the skintight leather. He leisurely examined her, his gaze possessive and proud, his ownership of her clear. Sabria suppressed the urge to cover her breasts and her mons, leaving her hands by her side, allowing him to look his fill. The silence stretched. He didn’t touch her, his body remaining frustratingly out of reach. Sabria waited and waited and waited until her patience snapped. She cupped her breasts, lifting them, squeezing them, blatantly offering her curves to Darius. “What do you think?” Sabria gazed at him, yearning for more reassurance. “Am I fuckable?” “Balazoids don’t fuck. They find release.” Darius circled her as a predator would circle his prey. “And all we require for release is a pussy.” “I have one of those.” She played with her breasts, rolling her nipples between her fingers and thumbs, pinching the tips until they whitened, the pain gratifyingly sharp.
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Darius grazed his fingertips over her ass and she quivered, the contact sublime. “I had to beat you.” His voice lowered. “It was expected.” He gently skimmed her abused skin, reviving the sweet burn. Sabria moaned softly and bent over to give him better access to her body. “It made me hot.” She gripped the cool metal chair as he explored her ass, palming her cheeks, sliding his long fingers along her crevice, circling her puckered hole. “Feel how wet I am, Darius.” She widened her stance and he slipped one hand between her thighs, locating the source of her need. He silently stroked her, his fingers gliding over her pussy lips, drawing more moisture from her core. “That’s how ready I am for you. How much I need you.” She arched her back, presenting her ass to him. He pushed a thumb into her asshole, prying her apart, the delicious stretching of her clenched channel making her wiggle. “Yes, that’s it.” She panted, needing him deeper. “Fuck my ass with your fingers. Prepare me for that big cock of yours.” Darius stilled, one of his thumbs in her ass, the fingertips of his other hand pressed against the folds of her pussy. “Balazoids don’t fuck…find release in asses.” He removed his thumb. “Fine. Don’t fuck my ass.” Sabria stifled a scream, aggravated by his numerous rules, impatient with his lack of movement. “Take my pussy instead. That’s allowable, isn’t it?”
“I’m a Dreck. None of this is allowable,” Darius admitted, everything he’d ever known cast into turmoil, his need for her and her alone conflicting with his conditioning. This need is unnatural. She’s one breeder of many. He caressed Sabria’s hot pussy, unable to stop touching her, her skin delectably soft and inviting. Balazoids don’t touch their breeders. They don’t care. He inhaled deeply, her scent delicious, her musk filling his nostrils. 29
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“I require release.” Darius ignored her pink, puckered asshole and concentrated on her pussy, plunging his fingers deeper inside her, relishing how she clenched down on him. “Release will allow me to regain focus.” “Oh, yes,” she moaned, the sound hardening his cock even more. “Find release in me, Darius. Fuck me hard and fast and fill me with your cum.” Darius gritted his teeth, Sabria’s instructions stripping away another layer of his control. “Breeders sit in the chair,” he recited, striving to regain his authority over her and his unnatural passions. “It’s the Balazoid way.” “We’ll fuck in the chair next time.” She pushed back on him, taking his fingers farther inside her tight entrance. “You have me as your breeder. Fuck me against the wall, on the floor or in the shower. My pussy is yours whenever, wherever you want it.” “You should be silent, female.” He pulled his fingers from her pussy, unfastened his pants and peeled the leather off his moist skin, perturbed that he needed her so badly. “Is that a command?” She glanced over her shoulder, her beautiful face covered with his dried blood, Darius’ primitive marking of her a source of tremendous satisfaction. He didn’t answer her question, not wishing to stem her stream of words, having spent too much of his life in silence. Darius stroked his shaft, pulling violently hard on his cock, punishing his body for its betrayal and preparing himself for a quick release. Sabria rubbed her pussy as vigorously with her slender fingers, her scent filling the room, her skin glistening with moisture. “Guide that big, thick cock into me.” She panted, her chest heaving, those beautiful breasts he wouldn’t allow himself to touch rising and falling. “Before I come without you.” “Come?” Darius prodded at her entrance with his cock head. 30
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“Find release,” she clarified. He pushed into her and grimaced, her pussy feeling too good. Fuck. She’s tight. Her juices oozed around his shaft, dripping between his balls. “That’s it.” Sabria cooed encouragement as his cock wedged deeper and deeper inside her, his broader tip squeezed by her erotic embrace. “Hold on to my hips.” Darius obeyed her instructions, clasping her hips, her curves yielding under his palms, the forbidden touch exciting him. “Use them as leverage.” “Too slow,” Darius growled. He thrust forward, slamming his cock into her up to his base, and Sabria screamed. “One,” Darius counted, grinding his teeth, her pussy hot and wet and tight, gripping him tighter than any simulator breeder’s pussy ever had. He rubbed his thumbs into her soft skin, pressing his hips against the curve of her reddened ass, their bodies fitting together perfectly. “Give me some shallow pumps and no counting.” Sabria’s face showed signs of strain, her mouth pulled flat. “This is for me. They aren’t part of your three thrusts.” For her. Darius rocked into her body, moderating his rough passions, mindful of how fine and delicate her bones were. Her grip on his cock eased and he thrust harder, deeper. “Yes, yes, yes,” Sabria cried out, her pleasure noises adding to his enjoyment, an enjoyment he shouldn’t be feeling. She pushed back on him as Darius drove forward, smacking their bodies together, the satisfying sound escalating his desires. “Ride me, Darius. Ride me hard.” She undulated under him, her moisture coating his cock and her scent engulfing Darius, the combination crazing him. He slammed into her again and again, desperate to please her. “Touch me.” Her voice rose. “Cover my breasts with your big, strong hands.” Ignoring decades of conditioning, Darius leaned over his little female and hooked an arm around her torso, gripping her soft breasts. “My breeder.” He squeezed her curves, her hard nipples an enticing contrast to the supple flesh surrounding them. 31
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“Ohhh…” she moaned. Her hair rippled around her shoulders, the long tendrils as black as open space, and her skin glowed, golden and warm and alive. Entranced, Darius rubbed his cheek against hers as they rutted, basking in her heat, her passion open and uninhibited. “Darius.” Her erotic noises increased and her pussy walls tightened around his shaft. “Count, damn it. I’m coming.” Release. Darius pulled out to his tip and plowed into her, his balls slapping against her ass, his forceful drive swaying her body. “Two,” she cried out, counting for him, her mouth open, her eyes closed. “Harder! Deeper!” “Three.” Darius thrust into her pussy with all of his strength, burying his cock inside her. “Release,” he roared. She clenched down on his shaft with her pussy muscles and he broke, coming hard, with a violence that surprised him, an intensity verging on pain. Sabria bucked, rounding her spine, trying to dislodge him, and he clung to her, riding her, subduing her, claiming her. “My breeder.” He bit her shoulder, putting his mark upon her, a primitive act no Balazoid would indulge in. She trembled, the tremors in her pussy wringing him dry, as he rested, waiting for his heartbeat to slow, for the emotions inside him to dissipate, for his desperate need for Sabria to leave him. Instead, his unnatural yearnings for her increased, the urge to touch Sabria’s beautiful face, to kiss her full lips, to murmur words no Balazoid should ever utter, ravishing his control. Fuck. Darius glanced up at the white ceiling, searching his mind for answers, for a solution that would return him to the life he knew, a life acceptable to his culture. He reluctantly stepped away from Sabria, experiencing a tinge of regret as his cock slipped out of her warmth, his shaft remaining semi-hard. “Finding release your way didn’t fix me,” he grimly concluded, his affliction more serious than he’d first thought.
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“Oh.” Sabria turned and met his gaze. They stared at each other, Darius willing her to understand, to not make him say the words. “You’re my breeder,” he reminded her. I warned her what that meant. “I am your breeder,” Sabria confirmed. She gazed at the metal chair and back at him. Fear flickered in her unguarded face. “Then we’ll try your way, the Balazoid way.” She gave him a brave smile, no joy in her brown eyes. “Tell me what to do.” “You don’t do anything.” Darius winced, his irrational guilt harshening the words. She’s a breeder, a replaceable breeder. “Sit in the chair, female, and don’t speak. Release is found in silence.” “You’re such a woman-hating asshole,” Sabria muttered as she climbed onto the raised chair and Darius grinned, finding reassurance in her cursing. She has a strong will. She’ll survive this. Sabria flinched as she sat down on the metal slab, the machine dwarfing her body. She placed her hands on the armrests and curled her fingers into fists, looking appallingly small and delicate and helpless. Darius grabbed her tiny ankles and set her feet on the stirrups, spreading her wide, her body open to him. She was black hair, golden skin and pink pussy, her folds wet and creamy with his previous release, and his cock sprang to full hardness, need building within him. “Restrain breeder,” he ordered. Sabria jumped as the bands encircled her ankles, wrists, and breasts. “Darius?” She struggled against the restraints, twisting her body as she tried to free herself. “These are too tight. I can’t breathe.” “If they were too tight, you wouldn’t be able to talk,” Darius pointed out dryly. She narrowed her eyes at him, scrunching up her nose adorably. “Relax and don’t fight this. You’ll hurt yourself.”
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“Relax? You’re not the one in this torture chair, you sadistic shit eater.” Metallic prongs pulled her pussy lips open, exposing her entrance, and a sheet of cleansing waves cascaded down her body, removing the blood from her skin. “Let me go, you—” A muzzle fitted over her face. Sabria thrashed her head, her brown eyes sparking fire, no sound coming from her moving mouth. “Accept your destiny,” Darius advised. This is natural. He pushed away the guilt. This is right. He stroked his cock, concentrating on his own arousal, blocking the anger shaking Sabria’s restrained body. Even with her confined and muzzled, with half of Sabria’s body concealed by the machine, Darius wanted her, his desire escalating with each pump of his hand. He breathed in her musky scent and a dab of pre-cum formed on his tip. “Three thrusts are all I need.” Darius positioned himself between her spread legs, setting his palms on the chair’s hand rests. Why am I talking to her? She’s a breeder, a replaceable breeder. He looked over Sabria’s right shoulder at the blank wall and drove into her. “One.” Darius groaned, digging his fingertips into the metal, her pussy juices coating his shaft, oozing over his balls. He withdrew slowly, staring at the wall, ignoring the female servicing him, centering his thoughts as all Balazoids were taught to do. “Two.” He drove deeper, using Sabria as he would use his simulator breeder, brutally, savagely. This will fix me. He pulled back, sliding his cock head along her narrow pussy walls. She squeezed him as if to reassure him, a Balazoid assassin. “Three.” Darius rammed into her pussy as hard as he could and he swallowed his roar of satisfaction, finding release within Sabria as a Balazoid should, coldly, methodically, without the joy or bliss of their earlier sessions. “Fuck.” I miss that bliss. Darius staggered backward, fastening his pants. “I’m still broken.” He met Sabria’s gaze and sucked in his breath, the betrayal in her eyes slicing through him, the pain sharp. 34
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“I have to do this. For a Dreck to survive, he must become the perfect Balazoid.” Darius swept his hands over his cursed hair. “Any breaking of the rules, any sign of weakness, gives the council an excuse to dispose of us. I will not be disposed of, Sabria. Do you understand?” She hesitated for a moment before nodding, lines of doubt etched between her dark eyebrows, the unnerving silence accentuating his loneliness. I am alone. I’ll always be alone. Even if I become the perfect Balazoid, I’ll remain a Dreck, unworthy of a breeder. Darius scowled, no longer content with a long solitary life, the best future a Dreck could hope for. “Cleanse breeder,” he barked. Sabria jerked as a nozzle entered her pussy, sucking his cum and her juices before it coated her with lubricant, preparing her for the next session. “We’ll try again later.” Needing time and space to rethink his plans, Darius pivoted on his heels and exited the room, leaving Sabria strapped to the machine.
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Chapter Four The doors slid open and Sabria looked up, relieved to see someone, anyone, even him. Darius stood before her, his muscled form clad in tight black leather, his face grim and foreboding. He eyed her as though considering what action to take next. “Release me from this damn chair, Darius,” Sabria yelled, tired of staring at a blank wall, waiting for him to come to his senses, her resolution to focus on him and his problem evaporating seven unsatisfying fucks ago. Darius didn’t respond, Sabria’s words silenced by the muzzle she wore. He perused her slowly, her naked body open and on display. His gaze fixed on her pussy, his eyes flared with lust, and Sabria groaned, knowing her fate. “I’ll be quick,” Darius mumbled, dropping his gaze. He unfastened his pants, revealing pale skin and his thick, hard cock. “I don’t want quick,” she shrieked, frustrated by her inability to communicate. “I want release too, you selfish asshole.” “Don’t make that face, female. I warned you how it would be.” Darius positioned his cock at her entrance, her pussy lips pried apart by the machine’s prongs. “On a larger ship, you’d be expected to service hundreds of males every day. I saved you from that fate.” He placed his palms on the breeding chair. Sabria met his gaze and saw guilt in his crimson eyes. “Why are you doing this, Darius?” she asked, knowing he couldn’t hear her, yet needing to ask the question. “Forgive me, Sabria,” he whispered, his deep voice barely audible. He thrust into her, filling her completely, their only connection being his cock in her pussy. “One.” There was no passion in the word.
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As Darius withdrew slowly, she squeezed him with her pussy muscles, fighting to keep him inside her. His hands dropped and his fingers entwined with hers, his small capitulation a major victory for Sabria. He misses touching me. She smiled at Darius. He’ll release me soon. “Two.” Darius drove forward, rocking the breeding machine, and Sabria gasped, desire building low in her body. She strained against her restraints, yearning to wrap her legs around him, to hold him tight to her. “This is the Balazoid way.” He shuddered as he pulled out. “I’m a Balazoid.” “No, you’re Darius.” She squirmed, the bands of metal digging into her chest. “You’re not like all of those other woman-hating assholes. You’re better than this.” “Three,” he roared, thrusting forward, ramming his cock deep inside her. Hot cum gushed into her pussy and she screamed with sexual frustration, clutching his hands, her grip punishing. Darius vibrated against her, lingering moments longer than he had during his previous releases. “Thank you.” He looked away from her as he stepped back. “Cleanse breeder.” “Shit, no!” She jerked as the cold nozzle snaked up her pussy, the suction torturous. “Let me go, Darius.” She slammed her head back on the chair, shaking the machine. Darius calmly fastened his pants, a frown on his face. “I remain broken. We’ll try again.” He turned. “I get to decide if we try again, not you,” Sabria mumbled against the muzzle, glaring at Darius’ retreating back. “I’m the one stuck in this torture machine.” The doors slid closed behind him. “With a cold nozzle rammed up my pussy, sucking me dry, and my breasts flattened painfully against my body. “And I’ve decided we won’t try again.” Sabria folded her hands and slipped her wrists out of the restraints. “I’m done with waiting for you to come to your senses. I’m taking care of my own damn self.” She yanked the muzzle off her face. Red lights
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flashed. “Yes, warning, warning. We wouldn’t want the breeder to talk, you sadistic monsters.” She plucked at the bands around her aching breasts. They didn’t move, secured solidly to her body. “No.” Her anger boiled over. Sabria wrenched a bar from the frame. “Let. Me. Go.” She beat the machine, metal ringing against metal. Pieces rained down onto the tiled floor, the destruction satisfying. “Fuck you, machine.” Sabria pummeled the leg restraints and they collapsed, freeing her feet. She flexed her ankles, her skin tingling with the increase in blood flow. “Cleanse this.” She ripped the prongs from her pussy and pulled the nozzle, detaching the complex cleaning mechanism. Part of her, the engineering part, admired the efficient design. A bigger part of her, the woman, hated the machine with a fiery passion. “Yes.” Sabria groaned as she closed her thighs, her muscles sore from maintaining the extreme position. “I’m a woman, a real woman, not a breeder and not some freakishly flexible sex worker.” She kicked a support pillar and the machine tilted to the right, shifting her weight. “Shit.” She winced, her torso pressed against the bands, the metal cutting into her sensitive skin, the pain acute. Her arms ached, her body exhausted from days spent strapped to the machine. “No.” She summoned up the last dredges of energy and struck the chair blindly, frantic to free herself before the entire structure collapsed, flattening her. “No. No. No.” She walloped the metal. She screamed as the seat fell back, taking her with it. The machine beeped, the red lights flashing faster and faster, the combination of noise and light maddening. “You can’t be designed for this action.” Sabria lifted her legs and folded her body, her feet by her head. “You bastard machine.” She rocked back and forth, sharp shards of agony scratching along her torso. 38
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A crack rang in the otherwise silent room, followed by another and another. The bands fell from her body. Sabria rolled away from the machine. A heavy crossbar slammed down on the headrest, denting the metal. “Shit.” She panted, her chest heaving, burning, her throbbing breasts striped with blood. “What have you done, female?” Darius bellowed. He stood in the doorway, filling the space, his muscled, fully clothed form sexy and fit and perfect. “You will fix this.” “Yes,” she whispered, emotionally and physically drained, unable to fight him. “Darius.” The room spun around her, the white walls, silver chair, and his black body armor streaming together. “Sabria.” His dark form blurred, and in an instant, he was beside her, kneeling, his crimson eyes warm with an emotion resembling concern. “You’re hurt.” He cradled her head in his large hands, his embrace gentle and his voice raw. “Now we’re both damaged.” Sabria forced a smile, her cheeks aching with the effort. “We’re the same, Darius.” She skimmed her fingertips over his pale cheek, his skin surprisingly warm. “We’re not the same.” He swung her into his arms, lifting her easily. “I would never foolishly hurt myself this way.” Darius walked with her, his gait smooth and silent. “You weren’t trapped in that damn machine.” Sabria rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the reassuringly strong beat of his heart. “You don’t need to restrain me. I’ll stay still.” Darius’ lips flattened and she rushed to persuade him. “I will and I’ll help you become the perfect Balazoid. You can call me female and be a woman-hating asshole and I won’t say a word. I’ll do anything you want as long as you don’t put me in that chair again.”
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Darius remained silent, his face dark. He’s angry. Sabria sighed, reluctant to apologize for breaking his torturous chair. I’m not sorry. I’ll break that damn thing beyond capability of repair if he restrains me again. Not that he cares what I think…or feel. She blinked back tears and stared up at the ceiling as Darius maneuvered through the brightly lit corridors. Ceiling-mounted weapons tracked their movements and she focused on the automated defenses, her knowledge of machines far greater than her knowledge of angry Balazoid assassins. “Clever.” She pointed to one. “Did you design those?” “Yes.” Darius scowled. “The floor-cleaner bots are armed also. You would have been dead within three strides of that room.” “Oh.” She gazed at him with new respect. “Did you design the breeding chair?” “No.” Doors slid open and they entered a large chamber. “It came with the ship. Drecks don’t need breeding machines because we spend our lives alone.” Darius set her down on a massive bed. “Hmmm…” Sabria stretched out, the black covers soft against her naked skin. His sleeping chambers were as plainly decorated as the breeding chair room, the walls a stark black, the space dominated by the bed. “This feels good, Darius. Lie down beside me.” She patted the fabric. “Not now.” He opened a wall compartment and extracted a small container. “Your wounds require tending, female.” He opened the container and dipped his fingers into the clear gel. Female. She closed her eyes, bracing for the pain. For one sweet moment, I was Sabria. “Is that how Captain Grok’s breeders died? Trying to escape that damn chair?” “No.” Darius leaned over her, his body heat comforting. She flinched as he touched the wound above her right breast. “Before today, I’d never heard of a breeder trying to escape the chair.” He coated her skin, the salve immediately numbing the pain. “You’re the first.”
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“That doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before.” She grinned, a burst of euphoria rushing over her as the salve soaked into her skin. “Most people have never heard of a prisoner escaping Gehenna 5, yet my brother did exactly that.” Darius’ fingers skimmed her nipples and she shivered with bliss. “Darius?” Her limbs twitched with unrestrained energy. “Yes?” He frowned, his unhappiness pulling at her heartstrings. “You don’t have to be alone, you know.” She touched his jutted chin. “When I searched through the Drecks in the Balazoid system, looking for you, I noticed many of Drecks assigned to deep-space exploration were reported dead.” “Deep-space exploration is dangerous.” His breath wafted on her skin as he slathered the salve over her breasts, rubbing the gel into her skin. “Perhaps.” Sabria played with his fine white hair, petting the short tendrils and tucking a stray curl behind his ear. “Or perhaps they found a place where they’re accepted, where Drecks are equals and there are no wars or killing.” She smiled dreamily. “They have families, breeders they love and protect and offspring of their own, and they’re happy, so happy the Balazoids don’t want any other Drecks to know about them.” “You talk too much, female,” Darius growled. His gaze lifted and met hers, his eyes gleaming, his lips a tongue-length away from her nipple. “I’m sorry.” Sabria stilled, holding her breath in anticipation as he caressed her numbed curves, cupping and squeezing her breasts, his hands ivory against her naturally golden skin. “It’s the salve. I feel so jittery, high-strung, as though—” He surged up her body, his leather-covered chest sliding against her breasts, and he covered her moving lips with his, silencing her semi-incoherent sharing. I missed this, the kissing, the touching. Sabria opened to him and Darius pushed into her, wielding his tongue as though it was a weapon, forcing her head back, his mouth tasting of herbs and unstoppable desire.
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Sabria rubbed his arms, the leather smooth, his biceps rippling under her fingertips, his body muscle and strength. She explored the breadth of his shoulders, the flat of his back, the dip along his spine, and he purred against her lips, a bone-deep expression of animalistic contentment. She raised her knees, cradling his narrow hips between her naked thighs, pressing her mons against him, rubbing, grinding, yearning to feel the slide of his skin over hers. “Touch me, Sabria.” He dragged his lips over her jaw, nibbling on her. “As only you can. Hold me.” He shuddered, his hard form vibrating against her curves. “Make me believe. Make me feel.” Sabria plucked at the leather, desperate to feel all of him, his jacket fitting snugly, a second skin over his torso. “Remove your clothes, Darius. Let me touch you.” He stilled, meeting her gaze, his eyes darkening to dark crimson. “I shouldn’t. Balazoids—” She pressed her index finger against his lips, stemming his flow of excuses. “Today, you’re not a Dreck and you’re not a Balazoid. You’re Darius and you do what you want, making your own rules.” He hesitated, his face an unreadable blankness, his thoughts concealed from her. “This once, for you, I’ll be Darius.” He rocked back, kneeling between her legs, and he ripped the leather from his body, revealing pale skin stretched over defined muscle, flat nipples, and a groin devoid of hair, his cock thick and long and erect, ready to please her. Sabria’s mouth dried and she licked her lips, yearning to taste him, all of him. He tracked the movement with gleaming eyes. “Beautiful,” she whispered, his body a work of art, a sculpture carved out of white rock. Red blazed across his cheekbones, rare color in his ghostly face. “Vulnerable.” He circled her wrist easily with his long fingers and placed her palm on his abs, his skin warm. “A dagger slicing across here would end my life, freeing you.”
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“I’ll never be free of you.” She sat upright. “And I’ll never allow you to be harmed.” She fastened her lips over his pecs, tasting salt and minerals and aroused male. “I’ll protect you, Darius.” His lips twitched. “You’ll protect me.” He pushed her down, covering her body with his, scanning her countenance with his intense gaze, looking for what, she didn’t know. “Females don’t protect.” “This female does.” She cupped his angular face. “When you’re with me, you’re safe. I’ll be your sanctuary.” “My home.” Darius turned his head away, but not before she caught wistfulness in his red eyes. “Darius’ home.” He reached between their bodies, his fingers drifted over her stomach and mons and he parted her pussy lips, dipping into her wetness. His knuckles brushed her clit and she jerked, the contact exquisite. “Our home,” Sabria moaned. “Touch me, play with me.” She pushed into his hand. “I’m not playing,” he murmured, circling the sensitive bundle of nerves, coiling her need tighter and tighter. “I’m uncovering your weaknesses, female, with each stroke of my fingers. When we do battle, you’ll be defenseless against me.” “Already…defenseless.” Sabria writhed, past pride, past caring, his teasing driving all other thoughts from her mind. She clutched his shoulders and sucked on his skin, his unique flavor coating her tongue, his words accessing her heart. “I’ll attack this area first.” He ravished her, rubbing her clit with his thumb, pumping her pussy with his long, slender fingers, stretching her, torturing her, pleasing her. “Rendering you incapable of logic, of reason.” Sabria panted, her lungs burning, her breasts numbed by the salve, feeling no pain, only arousal, joy and a strange sense of belonging, as though by offering him sanctuary, she had found her own. “You’ll be helpless against me, Sabria,” Darius murmured against her cheek, his voice conspiratorially low, his warm breath fanning her skin. “You’ll no longer control
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me. I’ll control you, manipulating your body to please me.” He flicked her earlobe, the connection felt straight to her pussy. “Darius,” she cried out, arching toward him, needing more, needing him. “I’ll pin you in place.” He shifted over her, prodding at her entrance with his broad cock head. Sabria sucked in her breath as Darius pushed into her, filling her, sinking deeper and deeper, his shaft long and thick and satisfying. “And subdue you.” He pulled back, withdrawing up to his tip, and he lunged forward, pressing her against the mattress, driving the breath from her. Sabria wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, hooking her ankles over his clenched ass, as he pillaged her pussy with forceful strokes, waging war on her body. “Fuck me. Fuck me harder,” she ordered her assassin and he met her cries with harder thrusts, ruthlessly using her, the bed moving under them, metal scraping against tile. “Harder.” Sabria whacked his ass with her bare heels, their bodies smacking together, Darius grunting in her ear, his breath hot and ragged. “More.” She pushed him mercilessly, selfishly reaching for her own satisfaction, bliss hovering too far away to grasp. Must. Find. It. Sabria raised her hips, frantically meeting each thrust, her skin heating with contact. “Oh.” She dug her nails into Darius’ back and he hissed. “Oh. Oh. Oh.” Her muscles wound tighter and tighter, coiling to the point of pain, her body straightening under him. Darius pulled back and slammed into her, the stinging slap of skin against skin snapping her in two, her orgasm rushing toward her with the speed of a shooting star. “Darius!” she screamed, clenching down on his shaft with her pussy muscles, holding on to him, the only constant, as her world spun around her in a dazzling array of light and color.
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“Sabria!” he roared, driving even farther into her, spurting his hot cum deep inside her pussy, coating her with his essence, setting off another round of soul-shaking tremors. As the euphoria eased and the energy drained from her battered body, Sabria loosened her grip on Darius, her thighs falling open, her legs slipping to the mattress. “Darius.” She gazed up at him, her eyelids heavy. “Sabria, my female, my breeder.” He kissed the tip of her nose and his thin lips curled upward, fine lines feathering around his eyes, his face softening, appearing almost boyish. My serious assassin is smiling. Sabria struggled to keep her eyes open, not wishing to sever the fragile connection between them, savoring a closeness she’d never experienced with another person. “I could love Darius,” she murmured. Her brain caught up with her mouth and her face heated. “If he wasn’t such a woman-hating asshole,” she quickly amended. Darius’ lips flattened. “I invented Darius as you invented the place where Drecks are equal. None of this is real.” “The place could be real.” Sabria frowned, dismayed at his lack of hope. “We won’t know unless we search for it. We might have days or even weeks, before my brother comes for me and—” “Your brother isn’t taking you from me.” Darius rolled onto his back, pulling her over top of him, his grasp on her secure. “You’re my breeder.” He’s keeping me. Sabria stared across the room at the undecorated wall. “How will you keep me? Drecks don’t have breeders.” She doused the hope flickering to life inside her heart. “You said that.” “I’ll find a way,” Darius muttered into her hair, his body radiating comforting heat. Sabria parted her lips, questions flooding her mind. “Sleep,” he ordered.
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I can’t possibly sleep, not now. She closed her eyes. He’s keeping me. That must mean he cares for me. It must. Darkness descended, her thoughts slowing, stilling, stopping.
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Chapter Five Darius sat on the edge of the bed, watching Sabria, his little human female sleeping soundly, trusting him to protect her. He pushed a long strand of black hair away from her parted lips, the tendril curling around his finger, embracing him, a Dreck, a disposable being worthy of only high-risk assignments—killing heavily guarded Federation officials and exploring deep space. Perhaps they found a place where they’re accepted, where Drecks are equals and there are no wars or killing. They have families, breeders they love and protect and offspring of their own, and they’re happy… Is such a place possible? Darius dressed quietly, not wishing to wake Sabria, her body requiring sleep to recover. He winced as the leather slid over the scratches on his back, his breeder having marked him as thoroughly as he had marked her. As he passed the chamber control panel, he tapped the surface, locking Sabria inside. Not that this precaution will stop her. Darius scowled, remembering how she’d hurt herself escaping from the chair, trying to run from him. He stomped along the brightly lit corridor, scanning the space, spotting not a single shadow in which an assassin could hide. The floor bots and ceiling-mounted weapons stilled, recognizing him. I’ll have to kill to keep Sabria. Darius entered the bridge. The viewscreen remained open, stars scattered across the blackness of space, his ship on a direct course to Balazoid. She believes her brother will come from her and the Balazoid council won’t allow a lowly Dreck to claim a breeder. Fuck. This is impossible. Darius filled the captain’s chair, the leather worn, the seat formed to his body, fitting him as perfectly as Sabria did. “Time to arrival?”
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“Three days, fifteen hours, twenty-two minutes and thirty-five seconds,” the ship recited, its male voice curt and robotic. Three days. He opened a view of his chamber. Sabria’s naked body sprawled on the bed, her beautiful face soft with sleep. “Ship, give the occupant of my chambers the same corridor access as myself,” he instructed, fearful the floor bots might target his overly trusting and woefully unarmed female. “Corridor access granted.” “Are we being followed?” How long before I have to kill her beloved brother? “Negative, Captain.” Ship eased his concerns. “Good.” Darius’ shoulders lowered. “Reduce speed.” I can’t return to Balazoid. They’ll take her from me. What are my other options? He laid his weapons on the console. “Ship, compare the characteristics of all Drecks reported dead within the last five years, searching for similarities.” He meticulously cleaned his daggers, polishing the blades until they shone and inspecting them for weakness, the ritual calming him, the steps ordering his thoughts. “Process completed, Captain.” “Report,” Darius ordered, feeling foolish for believing in Sabria’s wild theory. There’s nowhere Drecks are equal and happy. We’re alone. “One hundred percent are deceased. Eighty-two percent were reported deceased while on deep-space exploration assignments. Seventy-nine percent were reported deceased exactly six months after their last transmission.” Exactly six months? Darius dropped his favorite dagger and the metal clinked against the console. That’s impossible. “What were the locations of their last transmission?” “Seventy-nine percent originated from sectors not maintained by either Balazoid or Federation forces. Fifty-three—”
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“Stop report.” All of the transmissions ended in No Man’s-Land. Darius charted a route to its closest sector, the destination behind them, farther away from his home planet. Home, a place where Drecks are equal. Darius straightened in his seat, excitement zapping along his spine, the theory he thought wild no longer impossible. “Ship, display the detailed file of the last Dreck deemed deceased while on a deep-space exploration assignment.” “Access denied.” The viewscreen flashed red in warning. “Attempt to access file flagged. My scans didn’t detect the flag prior to attempting access and I am unable to suppress the report.” Fuck. Darius gritted his teeth, dreading the upcoming confrontation. “Balazoid system security is requesting we open hailing frequencies, Captain.” “Comply.” Darius erased the emotion from his face. “Greetings, Operative Dreck.” The viewscreen displayed a Balazoid years Darius’ junior. “Commander Puxa of Balazoid system security speaking.” The kid smirked as he relayed his superior rank, even the most inexperienced Balazoid outranking a Dreck. “What is your reason for accessing this closed file?” “Commander Puxa.” Darius inclined his head, struggling to control his irritation. “I have information indicating a possible threat originating from sectors beyond Balazoid and Federation control.” He met and held the young officer’s gaze. “Have we suffered unexplainable losses of ships in those sectors?” The Balazoid’s gaze shifted to the left. “There have been no unexplainable losses.” He tapped his fingers on the console. “Sources indicate an unauthorized passenger on board your vessel. Please return to Balazoid to dispose of it.” That bastard Grok must be the source. Darius stared straight into the viewscreen. “The female didn’t survive the interrogation,” he lied, deflecting the commander’s focus away from Sabria, their ship safely out of range of Balazoid life-form scanners. “I have jettisoned the remains to avoid contamination.”
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“This will be noted in your file, Operative Dreck.” The boy’s lips twisted, his tone curt. “You are requested to return to Balazoid for debriefing.” I never return to Balazoid after an assignment. While Darius’ gut screamed warnings, his gaze didn’t waver. “I will return to Balazoid after investigating the threat,” Darius relayed brusquely. The younger Balazoid opened his mouth. “The threat level is high,” Darius continued. “I won’t risk my home for a debrief.” Commander Puxa frowned. “What is the nature of this threat?” Fuck. What warranted this suspicion? “I don’t wish to discuss it over open communication lines.” The Balazoid glanced behind him as though receiving instruction from someone else. He nodded, returning his gaze to Darius. “These lines are secured. What is the threat?” Once I tell them the threat, I’ll no longer have any value. “The operative extracted her information from these supposedly secure lines,” Darius barked. “I will debrief upon return to Balazoid.” “Operative Dreck—” “This line is not secure. Relaying more information puts Balazoid and my life in danger.” “We can’t put Balazoid in danger,” the commander agreed. “Return to the planet immediately, Operative Dreck. This is a direct order. You will be debriefed upon arrival. End transmission.” “Fuck that order,” Darius growled. “Ship, reroute us to the origin of the missing Dreck ship’s last-known transmission and upgrade all Balazoid ships to hostile status.” He stood, unable to remain on the bridge alone, cut off from everything and everyone. “Inform me if any ships, Balazoid, Federation or merc, come within range or if anyone attempts to access your system.”
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I have a female and a future to protect. Darius navigated the corridors blindly, desperate to confirm that Sabria was on the ship, that she was safe and his. As he entered the chamber, she stirred, rolling onto her back, her breasts full and firm, her hips sweetly curved. He paused, taken aback at her beauty. “Darius?” She reached for him, her golden hand slender and fragile. She reached for him. The chill in Darius’ heart lifted. “I’m here, Sabria.” He stripped out of his confining clothes, eager to feel her soft skin against his. “I’ll always be here for you.” He climbed onto the mattress, took her into his arms and pulled her back against his chest. Sabria sighed, her small sound of contentment easing Darius’ concerns, and she settled against him, fitting as though she was made for him, her womanly musk filling his nostrils and teasing his hardening cock. Darius ignored his desires and carefully examined her healing wounds. The stripes of pink had already faded, the salve designed for his tougher hide, and he relaxed, comforted that his carelessness wouldn’t leave any scars. “I’ll take better care of you from now on, female,” Darius vowed. He circled her right wrist with his fingers, securing her to him. Not enough. He rolled onto his stomach, his right shoulder and hip over her left side, partially pinning her to the mattress. Now she won’t escape me. He grabbed her free wrist, restraining both of her hands.
***** Sabria burrowed deeper into a decadent warmth, nuzzling salty bare skin with her lips. Darius. She opened her eyes and met his gaze, his expression dark and intense, focused on her and her alone. “Hi.” She smiled self-consciously. His fingers linked around her wrists as though he feared she’d escape him while he slept.
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“Hi.” His low voice aroused her senses, Sabria achingly aware of his naked body, his shoulder resting on hers, his hard cock pressing against her thigh, his legs straddling hers. “This is nice,” she whispered, cuddling closer to him, rubbing her toes along his shins. Darius stiffened, his spine straightening and his muscles flexing. “It is…unusual.” Sabria gazed up at him, noting his jutted chin and his clenched jaw, and she smothered a smile, his discomfort adorable. “We’ve broken yet another one of your rules, haven’t we? Balazoids must not snuggle with their breeders.” She lifted her hands, wishing to touch him, to reassure him. Darius hesitated before reluctantly releasing her. “Breeders are for release only.” He dropped his gaze, tension crackling between them. “But I’m no longer a Balazoid, if I ever was one. I’m Darius, a male with no affiliations, a male alone.” Whoa. What happened while I slept? Sabria ran her hands over his scalp, flattening a tuff of his hair, the short strand soft and fine. “Not completely alone.” She tickled his earlobes, flicking them with her fingertips. “You have me.” He remained still, watching her, as she touched him. “We’ll search for your place, the place—” Alarms sounded, sirens wailing and lights flashing. “A Balazoid warship has entered our sector, Captain,” a robotic voice echoed off the walls. “Fuck.” Darius jumped out of bed, his response mind-numbingly fast, and he grabbed his clothes, the black garments strewn over the white-tiled floor. “Increase speed to maximum and employ evasive tactics, Ship. Try to outrun the warship.” Sabria yanked a sheet off the bed and twisted it around her naked body. “What do you want me to do?” She raised her chin and met Darius’ gaze.
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“Come.” He clasped her hand, his palm calloused against hers, and he linked their fingers. Darius pulled her behind him as he sprinted down the corridors. Sabria panted, struggling to keep up, determined not to slow her assassin down. They thundered onto the bridge of the ship. The image of a state-of-the-art Balazoid warship filled the main viewscreen and Sabria’s stomach plummeted. Darius dropped her hand. “Status.” He flung his form into the captain’s chair and reached for his personal viewscreen. “Speed has increased to maximum, Captain,” the ship’s guidance system relayed. “The warship has increased speed to compensate and is reducing the distance between us. They will be within firing range in five minutes and twenty-nine seconds.” Firing range. Shit. Sabria sat down at an empty console. Darius scowled at his screen. “Our weapons—” “Our weapons are ineffective against their shields, Captain. This is a class A warship, the newest in the Balazoids’ fleet.” “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Darius thumped his console with his fists. “We can’t outrun them. We can’t outshoot them. We’re in open space. There’s no place to hide.” “We can distract them.” Sabria tapped on her viewscreen. “Ship, do we have decoy capabilities?” Nothing happened, her access denied. “I need access if I’m to do this.” “Grant Sabria full access to the system, Ship,” Darius barked. “What are you proposing?” “We create a decoy.” She searched through the files, pulling the schematics for a Federation warship. “My brother used them to throw mercs off our tail. I’ve upgraded my skills since then.” She located the information she needed and merged the details into a workable unit, tweaking the image to add life forms and imperfections. “Ship, can you build this and position the decoy on the far edge of the sector, preferably by a planet with a strong magnetic core? I’ll jam their visuals.”
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“How will you do that?” Darius loomed over her, casting a shadow on her viewscreen, his body heat distracting. “Another trick Traz taught me.” Sabria grinned, remembering the years spent on the run, dodging mercs and Federation officers. “It might or might not work, depending on whether or not the warship’s systems have caught up with my hacking abilities. Ship, send the signal from the decoy.” She held her breath. The warship sped toward them, showing no signs that they’d received the signal. “Shit.” Her heart pounded. “They’re not going for it. I have nothing else, Darius.” I failed him. A trickle of perspiration slid down her spine. “They are preparing to launch, Captain,” the ship informed them. “Shields up. Brace for impact.” Darius gripped her shoulders with his long fingers and she leaned back into him, closing her eyes, drawing comfort from his presence. “They’re slowing, Captain.” The ship’s robotic voice interrupted the ominous silence. Sabria watched wide-eyed as the warship reduced its speed. “They’re turning, Captain. They’ve rerouted to the location of the decoy.” “Fuck, that was close.” Darius’ hard form sagged against her back. “Get us the hell out of here, Ship.” Stars whizzed by the main viewscreen. “You did well, female.” He patted her shoulders. Sabria tilted her head back to look up at Darius. “I told you I’d protect you.” She grinned at him, giddy with relief. He pressed his grim lips against her forehead, his mouth hot on her skin. “You shouldn’t have to protect me.” “And you shouldn’t have to face them alone.” Sabria’s humor faded. “I assume we’re no longer part of the Balazoid forces.” “No, we’re not.” Darius stared straight ahead, his jaw jutted, his profile harsh and unforgiving. “No one leaves them alive.”
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“You don’t know that.” Sabria searched through the Balazoid system, hacking higher and higher levels of access. “The Federation says the same thing about Gehenna 5. It is all propaganda.” She waved her hand, dismissing Darius’ worries. “Here you are. Yes, they’ve red-flagged you as a threat to Balazoid.” “Bring the file up on the main viewscreen.” Darius returned to his own seat. Sabria did as he instructed, watching his face, reading his reactions. Darius’ expression darkened and his eyes sparked fire. “The council started investigating me prior to the Symrah III campaign,” he thundered. “No wonder that bastard Grok was surprised to see me.” Darius’ fingers curled into fists. “They were targeting me for disposal.” “My brother has been targeted by the Federation for years and he remains very much alive,” Sabria commented calmly. Darius flattened his lips, his gaze fixed on his data. Has he never seen his file before? She sighed. He needs me, desperately. “I’ll erase that flag and reassign you to deepspace exploration as a precaution before I seal your files.” She guessed Darius’ intent, their current route leading them into No Man’s-Land. “Once your files are sealed, no other personnel can view them or open them. If anyone attempts to access them, it will set off the total system self-destruct I built on my last visit.” “That arrogant ass Puxa didn’t find the self-destruct?” Darius grumbled. She glanced at him and raised one eyebrow, having no idea who Puxa was. “He considers himself in charge of the Balazoid security system,” he clarified. “There’s no indication anyone has noticed my access,” Sabria assured him. “But if they’re as paranoid as the Federation forces are, they’ll have system backups and be able to reinstate the information. This only buys us some time.” “Your brother taught you all this?” Darius stared at the main viewscreen, his expression once again blank and unreadable.
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“Most of it. Some tricks I picked up on my own. I’ve been purging his records from the Federation system for years.” She exited the Balazoid database, locking the digital doors behind her. “He’s coming for you, isn’t he?” Darius’ words were barely audible over the hum of the ship. “Yes, he is.” Sabria perused the ship’s system, tightening up controls and looking for weakness. “Even if I send him a message, he won’t trust it, wanting to see me for himself.” She closed her viewscreen and focused on Darius. “When his ship comes into communications range, let me talk to him first and there won’t be any bloodshed.” Sabria stood, smoothing the wrinkles in her bed-sheet dress, the thought of Darius and Traz facing each other unnerving, her big brother overly protective and her assassin lover even more possessive. “If he tries to take you from me, there will be bloodshed.” Darius jabbed his personal viewscreen with his fingers, deeming to keep his activities private. “I’ll kill him.” Sabria moved to his side, needing to be closer to him. “Why?” Tell me you love me and I’ll stay. I’ll stay forever. She brazenly straddled his lap, the sheet riding upward, her hot pussy directly connecting with his leather-covered cock, and she linked her fingers behind his neck. “You’re my breeder.” Darius didn’t look at her as he scrolled through live images of space, searching for what or for whom, she didn’t know. “Am I simply a replaceable breeder to you?” Sabria leaned into him, inhaling the light scent of herbs and man, and she licked his neck, his jugular vein pumping against the flat of her tongue. He trembled, the movement faint, yet distinguishable, and she smiled, savoring the small triumph. “You’re the only breeder I have.” He set aside his private viewscreen and gazed at her, his eyes gleaming. 56
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“You didn’t have a breeder before saving me.” She nibbled along his jaw, tasting the salt of his skin. “And you survived.” Darius shifted under her. His body was hard under her ass, his cock pressing against his pants, against her. “I’ve…grown accustomed to you.” He bent his head and lowered his mouth. To me. Not to a breeder. To me. Sabria brushed her smiling lips against his. “Is that all you feel? Accustomed?” She traced the shell of Darius’ ear with her fingertips and a purr of contentment rose from his throat. “I want you.” He tugged the sheet from around her body and she gasped as the cool air hit her naked skin. “More than I have ever wanted anything or anyone.” He clutched her to him and buried his face in her shoulder, his mouth hard and demanding. “You make me want, need, believe.” He covered her torso with punishing kisses, marking her. “I need to be inside your hot pussy. Now.” Darius unfastened his pants and freed his cock. Sabria reached for him and he swatted her hands away. With an anguished growl, he lifted her and rammed her down on his hardness, impaling her upon him, his cock head pushing deep inside her, splitting her open, filling her. “Yes.” He sighed, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, his mouth curled upward into a smile. “Yes,” she agreed as he throbbed inside her, big and thick and alive. Sabria unfastened his jacket and slid her hand underneath the leather, resting her fingertips over his heart, the steady beat reassuring her, comforting her. “This connection we have is special, Darius,” she shared, needing, wanting him to know. “I’ve fucked other males and I never felt this way with them.” “No other males,” Darius bellowed, opening his eyes, his irises a heated red. “You’ll never fuck another male.” He lifted her, his strength impressive, and he slammed her onto him, spearing his cock between her pussy lips, gripping her hips tightly with his fingers. “Never.” As he drove her down on him, the force rattling her 57
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teeth, shaking her body, he thrust upward, reaching deeper and deeper within her. “You are my female.” “Yours.” Sabria rode him, leveraging off his heaving shoulders, maintaining his relentless rhythm, her ass slapping against his leather-covered thighs, the sting accentuating her pleasure. “I’m yours.” She panted, her pussy gushing with her juices, slicking his shaft, easing the friction between them. “Your breeder.” “My breeder.” He twined his fingers into her hair and pulled her head back, raising her face to him. “You’ll never feel this way with another.” Darius claimed her mouth as he claimed her body, completely, brutally, without mercy, demanding her surrender. She parted her pulsing lips and he filled her mouth with tongue, her pussy with his cock. There was no escaping him and she didn’t want to flee, her body his to abuse, to pleasure, her heart in her assassin’s skillful hands. My heart. Oh shit, I love him. She dropped her gaze, hiding that realization from Darius. He’s a Balazoid, a male who won’t admit to any weakness, any soft emotion, and I love him. She writhed upon him, tormented by despair, unable to avoid the heartbreak fast approaching. He groaned into her mouth and rubbed his chest against her breasts, the ribbed leather of his jacket teasing her sensitive nipples. She arched into him, shamelessly naked on the bridge of his ship, wantonly offering him everything, her heart, her body, and her soul. Darius, being a Balazoid, a ruthless killer, a deadly assassin, took her offer, pounding into her with reckless abandon, remaining nearly fully clothed and in control, emotionally untouchable. She mewled with frustration and raked her nails along his exposed chest. He hissed, his reaction pleasing her, and he moved faster, thrusting harder, deeper, their bodies slapping together. She burned, her thighs, ass and breasts ablaze with connection, her lips smashed against his, the taste of her own blood in her mouth. He fucked her as he’d never fucked her before, branding her skin with his. 58
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“Darius.” As Sabria quivered and shook, struggling to hold back her orgasm, she dug her nails into his flesh, piercing his skin. “Yes, mark me,” he demanded, raking his teeth over her shoulder, the pain exquisite and real. “Claim me as I claim you.” He fastened his mouth over the curve of her neck and bit. “Darius!” she screamed, breaking orbit, spinning along the blackness of space, an inconsequential planet spiraling into a glorious sun, the entry scorching, burning away her inhibitions. She ripped at his skin with her fingernails and clamped down on his shaft with her pussy muscles. He shouted her name and surged upward, bathing her pussy with hot cum. Sabria held on tightly, riding his wildly bucking hips, not allowing him to displace her. Darius was hers, no longer her captor, but her prisoner, and she would never release him. He quieted and his breathing leveled, his limbs stilling. She loosened her grasp, her fingernails reddened with blood and her body covered with a sheen of perspiration. “I hurt you.” She licked the stripe of red running across his pale skin, the coppery taste of his blood coating her tongue. “I’m sorry.” “Did you mark the other males?” Darius gazed at her, his eyelids partially lowered, shading his crimson eyes. “Did you claim them?” He knows how I feel for him. “No.” She shook her head, her cheeks heating. “I’ve only claimed you, Darius.” She laid her head on his chest. “Only you.”
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Chapter Six Darius tracked the progress of the approaching merc ship, dread settling low in his stomach. I must please Sabria more, sexually binding her to me before her brother arrives. He scrolled through the Federation-sourced humanoid sex manual, seeking to expand his limited knowledge. Darius rubbed the scratches on his chest, the lingering pain a stimulating reminder of how he’d satisfied her. I’m the only male she’s marked. “The USS Freedom is requesting we open hailing frequencies, Captain,” Ship informed him. Fuck. Darius flicked through images on his private viewscreen and located his female. Sabria remained in the breeding chamber, her plump lips twisted in concentration, her gorgeous ass raised in the air as she repaired the chair he’d never again subject her to. Darius ignored his arousal and fastened his jacket, concealing the scratches on his pale skin. “Comply.” Darius fixed a bored, blank expression on his face, disguising his dangerous, confusing feelings for Sabria, feelings her brother Traz could use to manipulate him. “Captain Traz of the USS Freedom speaking, presenting a proposition benefiting the Balazoid military.” A scarred male with one artificial eye and Sabria’s coloring glared at Darius through the main viewscreen. The male, Sabria’s brother, had his arm wrapped around the neck of a pale-haired, violet-eyed female. Something is wrong. Darius stared at the image, seeking physical evidence for his suspicions. “State your proposition, Captain Traz.” “I wish to trade future-bender Falyn for your breeder.” Sabria’s brother held his gaze without blinking. 60
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He’s a worthy adversary. Darius noted Traz’s strength. And a worthy protector for Sabria, a small voice inside him added. “Future-bender Falyn?” He leaned forward, seeing nothing special in the female. “It has not been reported missing from its station.” He tested his theory. A soft growl rolled through the audio link. “She completed her assignments and the Federation won’t discover I’ve taken her until next cycle.” Traz’s human eye blazed with anger and Darius smothered his grin, easily reading his opponent’s emotions. “Timing can be crucial, don’t you agree?” Sabria’s brother wants the future-bender. The Balazoids will want her even more. Darius’ lips twitched. Once I have her, I can have everything—Sabria, freedom, happiness. “It can be.” He scanned Traz’s ship and detected only two life forms. “I don’t have time to waste, Balazoid,” Sabria’s brother barked, trying to rush a decision Darius had already made. “The future-bender for your breeder, yes or no?” “The future-bender for your sister.” Darius curled his top lip, cutting through the bullshit. “You human males with your attachment to your females.” He disguised his intentions behind mockery. “If you wish to negotiate such a ludicrous trade, I won’t stop you. Why would I? For the cost of a replaceable breeder, the glory of capturing the Federation’s prize future-bender could be mine.” Darius punctuated his stream of meaningless words with a curt nod. “’Til we meet, Captain Traz.” Darius ended the transmission, freezing the last image on the main viewscreen. He thinks I’m a fool. Darius started at the arm Traz had wrapped around the futurebender’s neck, the merc’s grip not strong enough to restrain a struggling child. No fear shone in the future-bender’s revealing eyes. He plans to secure the future-bender and Sabria. Darius pressed the tips of his fingers together, tapping them against his lips. But I’ll be the one to secure them, trading the futurebender to earn us a more stable future, a future without fear of persecution. 61
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Awareness shimmered over him and his cock hardened. Darius turned his head. Sabria stood in the doorway, wearing one of his black shirts, the hem grazing her knees. “She’s beautiful.” Sabria nodded at the main viewscreen. Is she? Darius studied the female and frowned, finding no appeal in the futurebender’s pale hair and soulless violet eyes. “A future-bender is a highly prized breeder. The council will give me anything for her.” “Including acceptance?” Sabria raised one fine black eyebrow. Including our freedom. Darius remained silent, not wishing to raise Sabria’s hopes by promising her an uncertain future. “I see.” Sabria’s smile was too bright to be genuine. “I’ve repaired the breeding chair, but you shouldn’t put her in it, Darius.” She looked over his left shoulder, not meeting his gaze. “It’ll hurt her.” As it hurt her. Regret sliced through his heart. “I’m not putting anyone in the breeding chair,” Darius promised. “That was a mistake.” “You should hold her and comfort her. She’ll be scared.” Sabria twisted her hands, her anxiety transferring to Darius. “Talk to her. Tell her you want her, you care for her and you will protect her.” “I want you and I’ll protect you.” Darius stalked toward her. Sabria must have been scared and I didn’t comfort her. He raked his fingers through his humanlike hair, his frustration building. Fuck. I did everything wrong. “I’m no good with words. I’ve spent my life alone, in darkness and silence.” “Try.” Sabria bowed her head, her long black curls shielding her beautiful face. “I want you to be happy, Darius.” He heard the good-bye in her words and a wild, desperate fury gripped him. “I’m not letting you go, Sabria.” He lifted her chin. Her brown eyes shone with unshed tears and his aggravation increased. “You’re my breeder.” “But…” She glanced at the main viewscreen.
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“But nothing.” Darius redirected her gaze to him, pinching her chin between his thumb and index finger, securing her. “I’ll kill to keep you.” Sabria’s eyes narrowed, her expressions changing with her thoughts, her face and her feelings reassuringly open to him. “You’ll kill my brother, you mean, not her.” Is she jealous? Darius studied her, his heart lightening. Is she as possessive of me as I am of her? “No, I won’t kill her. She’s too valuable.” “You can’t have us both.” Sabria jammed her little fists on her hips, as though to physically intimidate him, a Balazoid assassin. Darius’ lips twitched and she glared at him. “And if you think to double-cross my brother, I recommend you think again. He didn’t escape Gehenna 5 by being stupid.” “And I didn’t survive this long as an assassin by underestimating the intelligence of my targets,” Darius growled, fed up with the continuous talk of her perfect brother. “Traz is not a target.” The look Sabria gave him could have frozen a luminous blue variable star. “He’s my brother and if you care for me at all, you won’t harm him.” Darius pressed his lips together. He wouldn’t make Sabria any false promises. “But you don’t care at all.” Sabria rose up on her toes, her lips a breath away from his, the pain on her face agonizing. “Because to you, I’m a replaceable breeder.” She stepped back. “No, you’re not a replaceable breeder.” He pulled her forward, regretting that she’d heard him utter those cold words. “You’re my breeder.” He pushed her face into his chest, inhaling the floral scent of her hair and the sweet aroma of her skin. She struggled in his arms, her wiggling tormenting his hard cock. “Be still.” He smacked her pert ass with the flat of his hand. “Don’t tell me what to do,” she mumbled into his jacket. “You woman-hating asshole.” Her hands crept around his back, her arms encircling him. “Curse me out all you want, female.” Darius petted her long black hair, relishing the softness. “You’re not leaving me. I’m not letting you go.”
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Sabria tilted her head back, gazing up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “You didn’t tell my brother that. You told him I was a replaceable breeder.” “I lied so he wouldn’t use my need for you against us.” Darius skimmed his fingertips over her face. “I couldn’t show weakness.” “Because you never show weakness.” She backed away from him. “Needing one specific breeder, caring for her, is weakness. If your enemies knew how you felt, they could control you.” He nodded, watching her warily. “So you don’t allow yourself to care. You’ll never care for me and I’m a fool for thinking you will.” Sabria walked away with her black curls bouncing and her hips swinging, leaving him standing alone on the bridge of his ship. Darius stared at the closing door, yearning to chase her, yet knowing he hadn’t the words to make her understand, the language of emotions foreign to him. I need a plan. He returned to the captain’s chair and picked up his personal viewscreen.
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Chapter Seven Sabria sat at the foot of the bed and replayed the transmission. “For the cost of a replaceable breeder, the glory of capturing the Federation’s prize future-bender could be mine.” Darius’ flat, dead eyes froze her heart, the heart she’d given him, an assassin. “I’m a fool,” she muttered. “I’m the fool.” Darius stood in the doorway, filling the space, his hard form large and lethal, and Sabria’s body hummed to life. “I’ve made many mistakes.” “Including capturing me.” She clutched the bed sheet to prevent herself from reaching for him. “If you had captured the valuable future-bender, you’d be a hero on Balazoid right now, not a fugitive.” She slumped her shoulders. Darius tapped on the viewscreen and the display faded to black. “If I had returned to Balazoid with the future-bender, they would have killed me to cover up her existence.” He wrapped his fingers around Sabria’s waist, picked her up and tossed her to the middle of the bed. “I’d be dead.” She bounced on the bed. “What are you doing?” Darius straddled her hips, pinning her to the surface. “I’m restraining my irreplaceable breeder, protecting her.” He unwound the long leather straps wrapped around his forearm and a frisson of excitement skittered up Sabria’s spine. “Because I care for you, Sabria. I may never say the words again, but never doubt it.” She blinked up at him, stunned by his confession. “Balazoids don’t care for breeders.” “With you, I’ve never been a Balazoid.” He pushed up the overly long sleeve of her pale-blue flight suit, looped a leather strap around her right wrist and attached it to the
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bedframe, pulling her arm straight. “Or a Dreck.” He repeated the process with her left wrist. “I’ve always been Darius.” “Why me?” Darius shrugged. “Why not you?” He moved down her body, grabbed her right ankle and bound that limb also. “You serve my purposes. You’re everything a female should be.” He secured her left ankle, spreading her completely open to him. “And you care for me.” Sabria yanked on the leather, unable to free herself, the straps secure. “Although you threaten to never say the words again.” “Why do you need words from me?” He scowled. “I watched you with your bots, female. They didn’t tell you their emotions, yet you cared for them.” Sabria stilled, hearing the wistfulness in his voice. “They didn’t need to tell me they cared. They showed me.” Darius extracted a dagger from his leather jacket. “I’ve showed you, numerous times.” His arm blurred as he sliced her flight suit into ribbons of fabric, his downward swoops fast, yet accurate, not a scratch left on her skin. “I captured you, breaking Balazoid laws to take you. I defied my senior officers, my planet, my people. I haven’t yet blown up your brother’s embarrassment of a ship.” Yet. Sabria’s eyes rounded in alarm. “And you won’t. I love my brother, Darius.” As I love you. “No more talk about your perfect brother, female.” Darius flung the dagger across the room. The blade stuck in the metallic wall, the handle vibrating with the force of his throw. “I’m showing you how I feel.” “I—” Darius leaned over and covered her open mouth with his. His hot tongue slid along hers, silencing her words, dissipating her thoughts. Sabria moaned, arching her back, yearning to touch him, yet unable to move, her body bare and restrained under his.
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He wound his fingers in her hair, the teasing pull sending tremors lower, his grip felt down to her pussy. The leather of his outfit slid over her naked skin, rubbing, softly abrading her taut nipples and her spread pussy lips. “You’re overdressed,” she murmured, in a daze, as he sucked on her chin. “I’m showing you,” he repeated, his lips humming against her neck. “This isn’t about my release, my needs, wants, pleasure.” “Balazoids don’t please their females.” Sabria raised her chin, allowing him access to more of her. Darius licked along her collarbone and she shivered, the sensation as intense as his loving. “I no longer care about what Balazoids do or don’t do.” He swirled the tip of his tongue around her right breast, cupping her left with his big hands, his long fingers squeezing to a rhythm her entire body felt. “I’m Darius and I please my female.” “Your breeder.” She pulled on the straps, offering him her breasts. He slid his hand down her torso and rested his palm over her fluttering stomach. “My breeder.” Sabria’s heart squeezed at the thought of carrying his child. “I’ll show you what I’m feeling.” Darius fastened his lips over her nipple and sucked, feasting on her breast, and Sabria cried out, undulating against him, swept away by sensation and sentiment. He lowered his hand and stroked along her pussy lips, spreading her juices and escalating her desire. “Yes,” she called encouragement, pushing into his caresses, the motion straining her thigh muscles, the tension delicious. Darius increased his tempo, sucking harder and strumming her folds faster, grazing his thumb over her clit, and Sabria panted his name, her lungs aching, unable to retreat from his passionate assault. He wielded his long fingers as though they were swords, slicing away her control, bringing no pain, only pleasure. She trembled and she shook. “Please,” she pleaded, for mercy, for release.
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Darius released her breast with a lusty pop. He held her gaze, his crimson eyes dark, as he circled her clit, each rotation of his fingertip winding her tighter and tighter. “My female.” He bared his white teeth over her reddened nipple and Sabria tensed, anticipating his bite. “My breeder.” Darius sank his teeth into her fragile skin and she screamed, flinging her body toward him, breaking into pieces, her emotions no longer her own. He kept them, controlled them, her captor, her lover. “You showed me,” she sighed, sagging against her restraints, her mind hazy, her form warm. “I showed you nothing.” Darius grinned, his angular face softening, his expression boyish. He stroked his fingers deeper and deeper into her, slipping into her entrance, filling her with first one finger, then two, and finally three. “Darius?” Sabria’s passions stirred, building once more, her exhausted body revived by his caresses. He flicked her abused nipple with his tongue. “You’ll see all of my emotions and all of my weaknesses, Sabria. No one will hold as much power to hurt me as you will.” His grin faded, his lips settling into a grim white line. “You can trust me, Darius,” Sabria assured him. “I’ll never hurt you.” “I trust you and only you.” He swiped the flat of his tongue over her stomach and an after-tremor shook her. “I’ll show you everything.” He nuzzled her mons, mouthing words she didn’t understand into her skin, gripping her ass in his palms. “You smell like home,” he murmured, his voice reverent and soft, and Sabria melted under his adoration. Darius licked her from ass to clit and she trembled. “And you taste like happiness. You’re that place you told me about, and in your arms, I’m accepted and equal.” He nibbled along her folds, soothing each bite with his tongue, and Sabria curled her fingers around the leather straps, twisting her restraints.
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“I want to be that place for you.” He pushed into her entrance, sliding his tongue along her inner walls. “Yes,” Sabria cried out, pressing her pussy against his lips. Darius slurped lustily, his pale stern face positioned between her spread legs. He ate her pussy with the same intensity he applied to his battles, his focus entirely on her pleasure. Any doubts Sabria had of his feelings faded away. He loves me. Sabria gazed at him, overwhelmed by emotion. There’s no other reason for this. Spurred by that realization, her arousal built with a painful quickness, her pussy becoming hypersensitive, each brush of his mouth too stimulating for her senses. She writhed and twisted, but she couldn’t avoid his torturous mouth. “Darius, please,” she begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. Darius kneaded her ass cheeks with his long fingers as he ravished her with his tongue, rubbing his nose into her clit, applying himself to her taste with an almost android-like devotion. “Darius, this is too much, too good.” Her voice rose to a thin whine. “Savor me later. I need to come. Make me come.” She curled her fingers into fists. “Later.” A corner of his grim mouth quirked upward. He continued his slow torment. “No.” Sabria growled, struggling against her bindings, shaking the bed. “Darius, please let me come. I’ll do anything you want, anything you—” “Anything?” He met her gaze and warning sirens sounded in Sabria’s mind. She ignored them, her need too great to be denied. “Anything,” she promised wildly, beyond thinking, beyond caring of tomorrow. “Make me come.” “I’ll bring you release.” Darius positioned his lips over her clit and she quieted, watching him wide-eyed. What is he— He inhaled, sucking on that tiny bundle of nerves. Sabria closed her eyes and shrieked, her voice pitched so high, it was barely audible. The darkness exploded with
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light, waves of pleasure hitting her body, pulling her under, and she wiggled her fingers, grasping for something, anything to keep her afloat. Rough palms smacked against hers and Darius held her tightly, calming her inner storm. “Darius,” she whispered, drained beyond recovery. “I won’t abuse your vow, Sabria.” Vow? Sabria opened one of her eyes. Darius swiped the back of his hand across his face, wiping the wetness from his cheeks. My wetness. “I’ll only ask one thing from you.” Darius removed pieces of body armor from wall compartments. “That you don’t leave this chamber until I return for you.” He fastened armor to her arm. “I should be with you when you meet with my brother.” Sabria shook her arm, trying to dislodge the armor, her mind clear and her body fully awake. “It’s too dangerous for you to see him alone.” “I will see him alone.” Darius covered Sabria’s torso with large black armor, the heavy material hanging off her body and flattening her breasts. “Because you’ll be here, safe and secure.” “My brother won’t harm me,” she protested, her concern torn between her mercenary brother and her assassin lover. “I’m not taking any chances, female,” Darius growled, loading her slighter form with more and more armor. “You promised to do anything I asked. I’m asking you to stay here.” “I spoke in the heat of passion.” Sabria glared at him. “I showed you my feelings in the heat of passion,” Darius replied softly. “I meant them, all of them.” Sabria bit down on her bottom lip, swallowing her protests. “Armor, fasten.” The armor tightened around her body, encasing her in protective material. “You’ll stay here.” He stood, looming over her, dark and menacing.
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Sabria met his gaze. “I’ll stay, but please don’t kill my brother, Darius,” she pleaded. “Traz is the only family I have. I love him.” Darius didn’t answer. He extracted a wide strap from his jacket, bent over the bed, and brushed his lips over hers. “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone, but a good assassin never takes unnecessary risks.” He placed the strap over her mouth. “No!” Sabria yelled. No sound escaped the strap. “Don’t you dare muzzle me!” She struggled, shaking her head. He calmly attached the strap and stepped away from her. “Not again!” “I’ll protect you, Sabria.” He rested his hand on the hilt of one of his daggers. “Don’t leave this room,” he advised as he left, the doors sliding closed behind him. “How can I leave?” She yanked on the restraints, the strap across her mouth smothering her words. “You’ve tied me to the bed.” She struggled until she tired, the straps not loosening, Darius’ knots tightening with each pull. The ship was eerily silent and still. He won’t kill my brother. Sabria stared up at the ceiling, the surface as blank as her future. I have to trust him, even if he doesn’t completely trust me. The ship shuddered. Docked. She held her breath. The gunfire echoed, faint, far away. Darius. Sabria closed her eyes, picturing the ceiling weapons, the armed floor bots, the impregnable fortress her assassin had transformed his ship into. The sounds of guns grew louder and louder. Traz is coming for me. Sabria watched the doors, waiting, debating whether to tell her brother the truth or a more palatable lie. Metal scraped against metal and the doors slid open, revealing her brother’s scarred face. There was no sign of Darius. Is he dead? A pain pierced Sabria’s heart, leaving her breathless.
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“Stay still,” Traz instructed. He drew a knife from his belt and sliced through the straps. His mouth was set in a stern, unforgiving line and blood dripped down his arm, the wound on his shoulder thankfully shallow. She yanked the strap from her mouth, her fingers tingling. “Traz, what are you doing here?” She rolled off the bed and scrambled to her feet, gazing around her brother’s body, looking for Darius. Where is he? “I’m rescuing you. What does it look like?” Traz drawled. Shots rang out. Darius. Sabria relaxed. A woman screamed. “Fuck,” her brother cursed. “We have to go.” He gripped Sabria’s wrist. “Before he hurts her.” “I’m not going anywhere.” Sabria pulled her arm out of his reach, remembering Darius’ instructions. “Do you know who he is? He’s the assassin they call Dreck. Through him, I have access to the Balazoid system.” She touched the tracking device attached to the back of her neck. “The Federation would—” “Fuck the Federation.” Traz glared at her. “The Federation put me in prison, Sabria. I don’t care about their stupid war.” The shots continued, the barrage of gunfire reassuring Sabria. “Falyn is in trouble. Come on. We have to leave. Now.” “No.” She crossed her arms protectively in front of her chest, the armor heavy. “I’m not leaving him.” Ever. “Him?” her brother roared. “Falyn was right. You love him. He’s a cold-blooded killer and you love him.” Sabria’s cheeks heated as she heard the contempt in Traz’s voice, the same contempt the Federation officers often showed him. “Killer? I have a bigger problem with him being an arrogant woman-hating asshole,” she fumed. “Shit, Traz. You’re a killer.” She flung her hands up in the air, fed up with the arrogant males around her. “And I love you. What does being a killer have to do with anything?” “Fuck.” Traz raked his fingers over his scalp and paced. Sabria watched him. Her brother froze. “He has her.” “Who?” Sabria narrowed her eyes. Who is the future-bender to him? 72
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“Your Balazoid, the assassin they call Dreck, has Falyn, the woman I love.” Traz’s breaths were ragged and Sabria stared at her normally stoic big brother, the grief on his face stark and heart-wrenching. “I risked her, my destiny, everything I’ve ever wanted, for nothing. I can’t lose her, Sabria. It’ll kill me.” Traz in love. Sabria sighed, the situation growing more volatile by the minute. “He won’t hurt her. She’s too valuable.” She waved her hand, dismissing his fears. “Though who he’s shooting at—” “The android decoy,” Traz grumbled. “He’s shooting at the android decoy.” “Shit.” Her joy faded. “Is the android armed?” “Of course.” Her brother glared. “He’s programmed to protect Falyn.” Can Darius defeat an android? A hard sphere of fear formed in Sabria’s stomach. “Ship, where is Darius?” A technical drawing of the ship appeared on the viewscreen, Darius’ location circled. Her assassin blocked a dead-end corridor. “Give me one of your guns.” Sabria held out her hand. Traz hesitated. “You don’t need three guns. You only have two hands,” she snapped. He passed her the weapon. She ripped off the inside chamber control panel, attached circuits to the gun and programmed the ship to detonate the small bomb. “A distraction?” Her brother gazed over her shoulder. “A reason to let you go.” She frowned, the ship’s defense settings set to non-lethal and her full access to the system remaining intact, an oversight her careful assassin would never have accidentally made. “He trusts me.” Sabria rested her forehead against the cool wall, overwhelmed by Darius’ faith in her. “And he never planned to kill you, Traz.” “I plan to kill him,” Traz warned, sincerity ringing in his voice. “If he has hurt Falyn, he’s a dead Balazoid. You know what I did to the man who hurt you.” “I remember.” Sabria shivered, those bloody memories having fed her nightmares for years. “But this is Darius. He’s—”
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“We’re wasting valuable time,” her brother blurted. “I’m going after them.” He barreled down the corridor, his guns drawn. “Fuck you, Balazoid.” Traz dodged Darius’ defenses, his actions even wilder than normal, his thinking clearly affected by his love for the future-bender. “I’m sorry, Darius.” Sabria glanced at the empty bed. “But my promise means nothing if you’re dead.” She sprinted after her brother. “There will be no killing,” Sabria yelled. “Let me talk to him first.” She ran at full speed, determined to protect Darius, the assassin she couldn’t live without. The weapons stilled, their silence louder than any declaration of love.
***** A decoy. Darius herded the future-bender and her android into a dead-end corridor, trapping them. He shot at the android’s back, irate over his mistake, aware that, as he ran toward the future-bender, Sabria’s brother was attempting to rescue Sabria, his female, his breeder. Even if he frees her, she won’t leave our chambers. The android turned and shot, his movements laughably slow. Darius returned fire, the male a big, easy target. The android’s left arm dropped from his body, sparks flying from his shoulder, and the future-bender screamed. She promised to stay. Darius hid in an alcove, waiting. I trust her. He streaked across the corridor, moving closer to his target. The android rolled and shot, surging forward unprotected. Stupid machine. Darius shot the android’s hand off. “John, come back here,” the future-bender pleaded, caring for the machine as Sabria cared for her little bots. Darius swallowed a hard lump of envy. “I will protect you,” the android droned. He walked toward Darius, his hands severed, unable to defend himself.
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“You’ll be deactivated, android.” Darius stepped into the corridor and pointed his gun at the android. The machine resembled Sabria’s brother, his face scarred, his eyes mismatched. “You—” “Explosive device detected in main sleeping compartment,” Ship informed them calmly. Sabria. A chill spread over Darius’ chest. She’s gone. She must be. Her brother wouldn’t blow up the ship with her on board. He turned his body, shifting his gaze between the future-bender and the corridor behind him, the corridor leading to their chambers and to Sabria. The android rushed toward Darius, his head down, and Darius gritted his teeth, irritated at the distraction. “If that’s your choice.” He carefully aimed. With one blast of his gun, he severed the android’s head from his body and the artificial skull bounced on the floor. “No!” The future-bender sprinted forward. “Stop!” Darius adjusted his aim to the female, his thoughts remaining on Sabria. Did she leave me willingly? I trusted her. I trusted only her. The future-bender stopped, her shoes skidding noisily on the tile. “I’m not armed.” She raised her hands, her palms open and empty. “See, Mr…Mr…” “My enemies call me Dreck.” Never again will I share my real name, opening myself to this agony. “And I don’t have friends.” Fuck, this hurts. Darius pushed the pain away and approached the future-bender, his strides long and silent. “I could be your first.” The future-bender smiled at him. He felt nothing, only Sabria’s smile could warm his soul. “I think not.” Darius circled her. The future-bender didn’t move. Her dress was immaculate, her shoes brand new, her pale skin marked with love bites. Sabria’s brother cares for this prisoner.
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“Yes. You, I’ll trade for something more valuable.” Darius lifted a lock of the futurebender’s hair. The strand didn’t curl around his fingers as Sabria’s tendrils did. It didn’t embrace him, accept him, see him for more than the killer he was. First, I’ll use her to free Sabria. Then I will trade her to the Balazoids. “You’ll be the key to unlocking our freedom.” “Our?” The future-bender reached out, placed her hand on his arm and closed her eyes. Darius ignored her, her cool touch not interesting him. “Sabria,” she gasped. “Do not touch me!” Darius bellowed, flinging her hand off him, irate at hearing his beloved breeder’s name on the future-bender’s lips. “Do not touch her,” a low, deep voice roared. Traz, Sabria’s brother, blocked the end of the corridor, his guns drawn. It was Sabria who held Darius’ attention. She was free and unfettered, standing at her brother’s side willingly. Why? Darius met her gaze, the agony of her betrayal deeper than any wound. “Dreck didn’t harm me,” the future-bender shared. “Yet.” Darius wrapped his arm around the female’s neck and dragged her back against him, her curves slight and unappealing. He pressed the muzzle of his gun against the future-bender’s forehead, his gaze never leaving Sabria’s. “If you kill me like this, she’ll never love you.” The future-bender spoke to him quietly as though he was a child to be appeased. She couldn’t appease him. Only Sabria could bring him happiness and she had made her choice. “Balazoids don’t care about love.” Darius resorted to his training, burying his dream, a dream Sabria had crafted for him. They have families, breeders they love and protect and offspring of their own, and they’re happy… “And she’s leaving with him.” “I’m not leaving with him.” Sabria stepped forward. “I’m staying with you. I have the code and we’ll disarm the bomb together. I give you my word.”
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Why would she choose me, a Dreck, over her brother? Darius doused his rising hopes with the cold shower of reality. “And I’m to trust you?” “Yes, you’re to trust me.” Sabria walked toward him, her body armor creaking, her gaze fixed on him, and Darius’ heart pounded, his breath quickening. “Only me.” “But you have to let them leave unharmed.” Sabria placed her hand on his arm and a jolt of energy shot across his shoulders. She’s choosing me, me. He lowered his gun, his body relaxing. “Let her go, Darius.” He released the future-bender, listening to his heart and the raging feelings inside him. “Go.” Darius shoved the female toward Sabria’s brother. The future-bender stumbled. “Quickly, before I change my mind.” “Come, Falyn,” Traz growled. The future-bender scooped up the android’s detached head and ran. The couple disappeared around the bend, leaving him with Sabria, his future. “Thank you.” Sabria stared at Darius, her brown eyes wide. He cupped her beautiful face, needing to touch her, to confirm that she was real, that she was with him. “You promised to stay in our chambers,” he admonished gruffly. Pink streaked across her golden cheeks. “I promised to stay and I have stayed with you.” Her lips parted, her breasts rising and falling, her curves clearly outlined in the skintight armor, and Darius’ cock hardened, lust mixing with his gratitude and relief. “My brother loves Falyn and he would have killed you. I couldn’t allow that to happen.” Darius’ breath hitched at the concern in her voice, concern for him. “Because you vowed to protect me.” “Because I love you,” Sabria whispered. Darius froze. “What?” he croaked, his voice hoarse with raw emotion. He searched her face for any indication she joked.
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“Because I love you,” Sabria repeated slowly, her moving lips matching her heartstopping message. “You love me.” Darius pulled her to him, crushing her face against his chest, holding her tightly, his female, his breeder, his heart and soul and reason for being. “Me, Darius, a Dreck, a Balazoid, an assassin.” “Don’t forget woman-hating asshole,” she muttered against his leather jacket, her slender arms wrapped around him, her mons pressed against his hard cock. “With the personality of an Ungarian fur burrower.” “And the intelligence of a Mox-X addict.” Darius chuckled, the response feeling natural and right. “Is that the male you love?” “Apparently.” She tilted her head back and grinned up at him, her cheeks moist, her eyes tinged with red. “He’s also not good at saying ‘I love you’ back.” Darius brushed his lips over her nose. “But he’s very good at showing it.” “Explosive device detected in main sleeping compartment,” Ship reminded them, interrupting the tender moment. “He unfortunately can’t show it right now.” Sabria sighed, her body sliding along Darius’. “Not unless he wants a mess in his sleeping chambers.” She stepped away from him. “A bomb is more than a mess.” Darius threaded his fingers through hers, his heart light. “It’s a gun bomb.” Sabria swung their linked arms back and forth as they strode toward their sleeping chambers, the silly action filling Darius’ soul with joy. “Have you built one of those before?” she asked as though she genuinely cared about the answer. She does care about the answer. Darius gazed down at her. Because she cares about me. She loves me. “I built them when I was a child.” He paused. She didn’t fill in the silence. She wants me to talk. He took a deep breath. I can do this. “Once, a friend of mine, another
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Dreck, talked me into infiltrating our trainer’s chambers.” He leaned closer to her as he relayed a story he’d never told anyone else.
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Epilogue “Stay still, Chip,” Sabria instructed the floor bot. While Darius spent his days, navigating their ship through No Man’s-Land, searching for other Drecks, she had claimed a corner of their sleeping chambers as her workspace and was overhauling their legion of bots, giving each machine their own distinct personality. Chip whirred and clicked, his lights flashing, as she repaired his shell, the metal dented from the previous night’s bot races. “We’ll be docking in two hours,” Darius announced as he strode through the doors. He stripped his leather jacket off and tossed it over a chair, revealing his pale muscular chest. “Sleep, Chip.” The little bot froze in place. “Traz and Falyn are expecting us.” Sabria followed Darius to their bed. “They asked how long we’re staying this time.” She swallowed her envy over the permanent home her brother and his mate had made on the primitive planet. “I told them I didn’t know.” “You shouldn’t lie to them, female.” Darius clucked his tongue, shedding his boots and pants quickly, his ass cheeks clenching. “You’re the only one who does know.” He flung himself onto the bed, twisting his body in midair to land on his back. He’s a finely honed weapon. Sabria unfastened her flight suit and pulled the loose garment down. And he’s all mine. “How would I know?” She frowned, stepping out of the flight suit, leaving the fabric pooled on the tiled floor. “It is inefficient to search the sectors for an abode when your brother has already located a perfectly acceptable planet.” Darius folded his arms behind his head, his red eyes gleaming and his cock erect. “But I have researched your customs and the female is responsible for such decisions, so…” He shrugged. “What!” Sabria yelled, her body vibrating with excitement. 80
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“If I dared to make the decision, I would be called…what is that phrase? Oh yes, a woman-hating asshole.” Darius grinned, appearing not at all distressed over the label. “You’d live on the same planet as my brother?” She tapped the soles of Darius’ feet and he obligingly spread his legs. “But what about your search?” She crawled onto the bed, kneeling before his rigid cock. “What search?” His white eyelashes fluttered as she wrapped her hands around his shaft. “The search for a place where we’re accepted, where Drecks are equals and there are no wars or killing? Where we have families, breeders we love and protect and offspring of our own, and we’re happy, so happy the Balazoids don’t want any other Drecks to know about us?” Darius repeated what she’d once told him. “That search?” “Yes.” She stroked him, savoring the combination of soft skin over hard arousal, and he grew even larger in her palms, a dab of pre-cum forming on his tip. “I want that place for you, Darius.” “You’ve already given me that place.” He groaned, his face contorting with need, and Sabria glowed, relishing the power she had over her dominant male. “Except for the offspring part, and soon we’ll have that too.” How does he know? Sabria paused to stare at Darius, trying to read his lust-filled expression. Did Ship tell him? She frowned. I instructed that damn system not to. “Don’t stop.” Darius pushed into her hands. “Your touch feels so good.” Sabria transferred her irritation to Darius’ cock, intensifying her grip, pumping him, giving him the firm hands he needed. “Your pussy would feel even better.” Darius shifted, reaching for her. “Mount me, female.” He lifted her easily. Sabria positioned him at her entrance and moaned as he lowered her, his shaft stretching her, filling her. “Much better.” She sank down on him, the connection tightening between them, physically, mentally and spiritually.
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“This is the place.” Darius smiled up at her, the skin at the corner of his eyes feathering, the fine lines revealing his genuine happiness. “If anyone, Dreck, Balazoid or human, knew how hot and wet your pussy was, they’d kill to take my place.” “No killing.” Sabria rocked on him, the slow, shallow slide stoking her desire. Her hair swayed against her ass, the tendrils teasing her skin. “Only releasing.” “Fucking.” Darius thrust upward, driving deeper into her, and she gasped, the pleasure unexpected and exquisite. “Releasing is controlled, and with you, I have no control.” He rammed his cock up her pussy again and again, shaking her body, his grip on her hips securing her to him. Sabria clasped her breasts, squeezing and pinching her nipples, the sharp pain edging her arousal, the visual stimulation exciting Darius, his movements growing even more frantic. He drove upward, relentlessly taking her, fucking her hard and fast, utilizing his Balazoid speed and strength to subdue her and employing his human empathy to bring her fulfillment, offering Sabria the best of both sexual worlds. “Yes. Yes. Yes.” She called out encouragement, riding him, her passionate assassin, as he showed her once again how he felt, his naked body open to her, his expression touchingly vulnerable. “Yes.” Darius slid one of his thumbs over the curve of her hip and found her clit, the coarse contact sending tremors over Sabria’s form. Shit. She whimpered. He pressed down and her whimper stretched into a wail of unabashed need. As he pistoned in and out of her, the friction increased, her clit rubbing against his thumb, her ass slapping on his thighs. “Darius…start…counting.” Sabria panted, air pushed from her lungs with each thrust, her chest constricted by emotion, by the passion wrapping around them tighter and tighter, binding them together forever. “One.” Darius grunted as he drove his hips upward, pushing her closer to the edge of satisfaction. The bed shook, metal scraping against tile. 82
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“Two.” He pulled her down on him as he rose, rocking her body, his strength daunting, intimidating and sexy. Sabria clutched his shoulders, her thighs trembling uncontrollably. “Three.” Darius tapped her clit as he surged upward, jetting hot cum into her throbbing pussy. Sabria raised her head and screamed his name, arching her back and flinging her arms behind her, diving fearlessly into a spinning black abyss, knowing he would save her. Large hands gripped her hips, long fingers folding over her ass, securing her. Darius shuddered under her, his release prolonging hers. She shook, the tremors slowly reducing, her world returning to normal, to Darius. He lay still, his face resembling the whitest, purest rock. Sabria leaned over him, her hair creating a curtain around their faces, and she licked the droplets of perspiration forming on his pale skin, tasting the salt of his exertion. His lips curled upward into one of his rare smiles. “You make me happy, female.” His voice lowered to a rumble. “And I didn’t think that was possible.” “I’m glad.” She returned his smile, her head light. “I want you to have everything I promised you.” She placed his palm on her gently rounded stomach. “And soon, as you already know, you will have everything.” Darius’ crimson eyes widened, his shock too acute to be feigned. “What are you saying?” He splayed trembling fingers over her skin. Sabria frowned, confused by his reaction. “You said we’d have offspring soon.” “Soon, someday in the future soon.” Darius sat up and his cock slipped from her pussy. “Not today soon.” He rolled her onto her back and he touched her stomach gingerly, examining her thoroughly, his expression deadly serious. “Today soon,” he repeated, his voice soft and wistful. “You’re sure?”
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“Yes, Ship performed the tests multiple times. We’re having one child, a female.” Sabria nibbled on her bottom lip, watching his face. “I know Balazoids don’t value female offspring.” “I am not a Balazoid!” Darius roared. “I am Darius and I value female offspring.” He pressed his lips to her stomach, his mouth hot and gentle. “You are valued,” he murmured to their unborn child. “I will love and protect you as I love and protect your mother.” “As I love and protect her father.” Sabria smoothed the wayward curl in Darius’ fine white hair. “She will be as happy as we are.” Darius rested his cheek on her stomach, his breath wafting on her skin, and Sabria held him, the assassin she loved.
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About Cynthia Sax Cynthia Sax lives in a world where demons aren’t all bad, angels aren’t all good and magic happens every single day. Although her heroes may not always say, “I love you”, they will do anything for the women they love. They live passionately. They fight fiercely. They love the same women forever. Cynthia has loved the same wonderful man forever. Her supportive hubby offers himself up to the joys and pains of research while they travel the world together, meeting fascinating people and finding inspiration in exotic places such as Istanbul, Bali and Chicago.
Cynthia welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Cynthia Sax Oh, Canada!: Lust by Moonbeam Operation Erotic: Mission Menage Operation Erotic: Savage Menage Operation Erotic: Unleashed Menage Ravished by Moonbeam Tattooed Tryst
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Assassin Mine ISBN 9781419941856 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Assassin Mine Copyright © 2012 Cynthia Sax Edited by Briana St. James Cover design by Dar Albert Photos: MaxFX, Bruce Rolff, Inga Ivanova/Shutterstock.com Electronic book publication August 2012 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book. The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.
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