Three
Kralj had fed his beast the previous rest cycle during his demonstration for a certain assassin. He could last for three more planet rotations without requiring additional nourishment.
There was no need to hunt this rest cycle. His beast should be quiet, sated, controllable.
It wasn’t.
It paced back and forth inside him, growling, clawing, testing its restraints. He knew who was responsible for its unrest. It wanted Dita.
She was gone, banished from the settlement, yet she remained with him. The taste of her danced on his tongue. Her sweet scent was imprinted in his brain.
The damn female would return. Kralj prowled around the interior of the Refuge, looking for someone, anyone he could punish, needing to vent his anger, release his rage.
Orol followed him, his wings tucked behind him. His second-in-command chattered about increasing his aerial surveillance.
That wouldn’t help. Dita was clever and small and fast, quiet for a human, and more fearless than any warrior he’d met. She had a death wish.
Kralj’s fingers folded into fists. He should grant that request, rip her throat out, feast on her blood, end his confusion, his conflict, his torment.
That wasn’t what his beast wanted. It sought to breed with her. His cock pressed against the confines of his ass covering, the appallingly apparent bulge concealed by his long coat.
He couldn’t even control his own body. Kralj scowled, disgusted with himself. Two nearby females squeaked and scurried away, afraid of him.
They should be frightened. If he lost his hold over his abilities, it would be a bloodbath. Heads would explode. Everyone in the settlement would die.
The memories of his past lapses firmed his determination to regain control.
His beast wanted to fuck. Kralj could give that to it. “Orol, leave me.”
The winged male stopped talking and looked at him. Kralj didn’t say anything more, his face concealed in shadow. He ruled the settlement. He didn’t owe anyone, including Orol, an explanation.
Orol must have come to the same realization. “I’ll perform an aerial sweep of the grounds.” He nodded and walked away, heading toward a wall, a preferred takeoff point.
Kralj waited until there was distance between them and then glanced around him.
Sari, the breeding female he searched for, stood next to a domicile, her breasts exposed, her ass covering barely concealing her mons. Yorick, her handler, beckoned to passersby in an attempt to increase business.
Kralj didn’t desire Sari. She didn’t make him wild like Dita did. But that was the point. He should be able to fuck her and not lose control, not put any being in danger.
If that logic didn’t hold and he did lose control, the female would die. Which was exactly what she desired.
Look at me. Kralj pushed that thought into Sari’s mind.
She turned her head and their gazes met. Fuck. It’s him, the Ruler, she thought, her eyes widening with terror. You have to approach him. The female took a tentative step toward him. You have to do this, end the guilt. Her gait was slow, her reluctance palpable. You were responsible for that girl’s death. You knew what that male would do to her. This is what you deserve.
His humanoid side was repelled by her fear, by her view of fucking him as a death sentence, by her need to punish herself for mistakes made in the distant past, in a different settlement. His beast wanted to chase its nourishment, not have it delivered to him.
Both sides desired a different female, a courageous, quiet, sweet-tasting assassin, with brown curly hair and big blue eyes. That one was dangerous…to him, to everyone in the settlement. This one would have to do.
“H-h-hey there, big guy.” Sari’s teeth clattered.
That was how scary he was. He made a jaded breeding female stutter. No talking. On your knees.
He didn’t use compulsion, although he had that ability. There was no need. The female was terrified of him and dropped to the ground immediately. She wanted to complete this task as quickly as possible, dreaded touching him, her thoughts stabbing at him.
Kralj drifted his fingers over his scarred face, following the trail Dita’s fingertips had taken during their first meeting. Only she had ever touched him voluntarily, with tenderness, with passion.
Sari gazed up at him. Her eyes were brown, her expression wary. Her hair was wavy, shoulder length, a color between brown and blonde. Her lips were thin and flat. She didn’t smell right.
Kralj should have bent her over a horizontal support and taken her from behind. Then he could have pretended she was the female he truly wanted.
Unfasten my ass covering. He gritted his teeth, determined to do this, to ease the pressure in his balls, sate his beast’s sexual hunger.
Sari complied, stroking her hands over his bulge as she released him from the garment. His shoulders lowered a bit. The pressure on his cock felt good.
He could do this.
Kralj closed his eyes, using his other senses to monitor the area for threats. In the darkness, all females would be the same. One set of hands, one wet hot mouth would be indistinguishable from another. He’d come quickly and then he’d be in control again, could deal with Dita rationally.
Sari’s bare fingers contacted with his shaft and that plan was blown to bits. His beast reared back, snarling. His powerful mind, the more monstrous side of him, also rebelled, protecting itself from the unwanted partner.
One moment, Sari kneeled before him. The next moment, she was flying across the square, screeching, her body airborne.
Kralj erected a soft wall of air behind the breeding female, breaking her fall, saving her from sure-to-be debilitating injuries.
Sari had done nothing wrong. He wouldn’t punish her for his response.
He would punish Dita, however. The little assassin would feel his frustration.
I thought I was dead. I thought it was finally over. Sari seethed with anger. But it’s not because that sick bastard is playing with me, torturing me. She glared at him through lowered eyelashes, not foolish enough to confront him openly. Fuck this and fuck him. There are other ways to end my lifespan.
She scurried quickly away as though she was worried he’d stop her.
He let her go. She wouldn’t take action this rest cycle and his beast had made his point clear. It had its primitive heart set on Dita, only wanted her to touch him.
Kralj fastened his ass coverings, his movements sharp, jerky, and he stalked through the settlement, moving aimlessly. Beings rushed out of his path, their thoughts bombarding him, their terror irking him.
Allowing Dita to touch him would be a mistake. He’d lose control, wouldn’t be able to curb his powers. Beings would die.
His booted feet, as though mocking him, led him to the domicile of her targets. The males were inside, openly talking about the crimes they’d committed, the pain they’d caused.
Shrouding himself in shadow, Kralj leaned against an exterior wall and forced himself to listen.
“The pregnant females are the best,” Todt-931, the leader, boasted. “They cry and plead for me not to hurt their babies, allowing me to do anything I want with them.”
“They don’t fight you at all.” Todt-933, the weakest of the three clones, was eager to please his brother. “That last one willingly took it up the ass.”
Kralj’s top lip curled. Some of his Humanoid Alliance keepers had tortured the other modified males that way, humiliating and hurting them.
They hadn’t dared use him like that. Even his makers feared him.
“When I kill them,” Todt-931 continued, ignoring the other male. “I tell them what I’ll do with those babies they’ve tried to protect. The last thing they see is their little bodies in my bloody hands.”
The clone laughed and the others joined in, their thoughts more horrifying than their words. They were disturbed individuals, had done brutish things that would sicken the staunchest being, disgust the most seasoned of female assassins.
Those things had been done in the past, Kralj reminded himself.
In the Refuge, a being’s personal history was forgotten. Everyone, including the clones, Sari, himself, was given a fresh start. It didn’t matter that he’d killed a female he’d viewed as a companion, eating her in a crazed fit of hunger, or that he had once lost control of his powers and decimated an entire settlement, ending the lifespans of not only the residents living there but also the modified humanoids trusting him to lead them, beings he’d foolishly viewed as friends.
He was a different male now, honorable, responsible, in control.
The clones deserved that same opportunity. They hadn’t broken his rules, hadn’t killed any other being while they were within the settlement.
Their thoughts hadn’t changed but neither had his.
His beast still hungered for blood, wanting to kill, to rip out throats. His scarier humanoid side yearned for freedom, the tension inside him constantly there.
Kralj walked the inside perimeters of the settlement, searching, searching. When he reached the west wall, he found it. The most delectable scent filled his lungs, making him lightheaded with need, with wanting.
Dita was close.
Warriors patrolled the walls. Orol, his second in command, flew in lazy circles overhead. None of those skilled males had detected her. Only he had.
What did that mean?
Mate, his beast rumbled.
She wasn’t his mate but they were connected. Kralj climbed to the top of the walls the human way, using the stairs jutting from the stone.
His beast panted, thrilled with Dita’s proximity. It thought it would breed with her.
His beast would be disappointed. If she dared to climb his walls, Kralj planned to kill the little assassin. He gripped his hands behind his back and walked toward the warrior positioned on that section of wall.
Your shift has ended. He pushed that thought into the male’s brain, not wanting to give Dita a verbal warning of his intentions.
The male snapped to attention, turned and left.
Kralj gazed at the expanse of white sand outside the walls, studying every dune, trying to detect his prey. He smelled her, her scent teasing his nostrils. His beast wanted to give chase.
He didn’t allow that. Dita hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet. She remained outside the Refuge. As long as she didn’t try to enter the settlement, she was safe from him, from his beast.
“Are you looking for me, handsome?” Her words were spoken in a whisper, from a distance.
His senses were enhanced. He heard Dita clearly, located her concealed on a dune, her oh-so-tempting body covered with sand. His heart pounded. His beast howled with joy.
Stay there. Kralj projected that thought into the void, the mental moat around her brain. The emptiness absorbed it, along with some of his energy, his power. He couldn’t force her to follow his orders.
He could pin her curvy ass to the ground. He sent a wave of energy over her form.
The damn female laughed, dug deeper in the sand and rolled to the side. “I’d rather have your hands on me.”
She jumped to her booted feet and sprinted toward the wall, weaving through the pikes of impaled corpses, not heeding that warning at all.
He blew out his breath, exasperated, excited. She was intent on dying.
Kralj straightened, clasping his hands behind him, and waited. He wouldn’t stop her.
Dita leapt onto the wall and scrambled upward, using tiny grooves in the stone as handholds. His lips flattened. He’d assign beings to smooth the surface. That chink in the Refuge’s defenses was unacceptable.
She fearlessly climbed. If she made one mistake, he wouldn’t have to kill her. She’d fall to her death. Was she concerned? He scowled. Not at all. She smiled up at him, her beauty hitting him like a punch to his gut, and continued scaling his wall.
“I’ve got her.” Orol swooped downward.
Kralj should allow his second-in-command to deal with her. He’d maintain control, wouldn’t be tempted by her gentle caresses, her laughing eyes, teasing words.
The winged male unfurled his talons, preparing to grab Dita.
That unleashed a blinding fury inside Kralj, all parts of him incensed, enraged by the action. A male dared to touch his female.
“Mine,” he roared, blasting his rival with energy, flinging him backward.
Orol flipped over and over, howling his displeasure, struggling to right himself, to stay in the skies. It took him several moments before his flight leveled.
Guilt increased Kralj’s anger. Orol had been trying to safeguard the settlement, had viewed Dita as the threat she was. He didn’t know she was Kralj’s foe to fight, his weakness to overcome.
She belongs to me, he communicated by thought. No one else touches her.
“I didn’t know.” Orol’s tone was apologetic. He wants her? His private insights irked Kralj. He has never expressed caring for any female.
He didn’t care for Dita. Kralj gritted his teeth. She was his prey.
What’s so special about her? The winged male soared above Dita, his keen gaze fixed on her ascending form. He can’t read her thoughts. Is that the attraction?
The quietness, the mystery, the challenge of figuring out her next move was appealing. Kralj couldn’t deny that. But it wasn’t the extent of his attraction.
Her tiny size invoked his protective instincts. Her strength and skill earned his admiration. Her intellect stimulated his enhanced brain. Her scent and sheer femininity aroused other parts of his body.
She was everything a being like him could want—sexy, deadly, clever. His beast, his mind, his entire being ached for her.
Her death would end that torment.
Slender fingers curled over the edge of the wall. Her skin was calloused, her fingernails blunt. They were hands belonging to a powerful female, one unafraid of taking action.
He resisted the urge to assist her. If she wanted to die, she’d have to take the final step on her own.
Dita heaved herself upward, standing before him, a triumphant grin on her gorgeous face. “You missed me, didn’t you?”
Her flippancy snapped his restraint. He rushed toward her, wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her to him, smacking her breasts against his chest, her hips against his. “I told you what would happen if you entered my settlement again.”
She tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “I haven’t entered your settlement.” Her blue eyes glowed. “I’m standing on your walls.”
Fuck. She was right. She hadn’t entered his settlement.
That didn’t stop him from wanting to punish her. Kralj threaded his fingers through Dita’s dark curls. It was the softest substance he’d ever touched. He twisted her hair around his hand, tugging it tighter and tighter.
She winced but didn’t protest his rough treatment of her, standing her ground, not backing down. “Does your monster want to play with mine?”
“You wouldn’t survive my monster.” And it wanted to do more than play. It wanted to devour her whole. He dipped his head, skimmed his lips over her exposed neck. Blood pumped through a vein there. Kralj breathed deeply. Would she taste as delicious as she smelled?
“Is that a challenge?” She lifted one leg, twined it around him. Kralj felt her heat through the layers of leather. “I like challenges.”
“You won’t like this one.” He pulled her head back, licked up her neck, over her chin.
Her lips parted. He captured them, thrusting his tongue between her blunt white teeth. She gasped at the invasion yet didn’t retreat.
Their tongues dueled for dominance, sparring, stabbing, feinting left, jabbing right. His beast growled, elated by the contest, by her unique flavor, her strength, the gentle curves of their female.
And, in this moment, she was theirs. He kept his grip on her hair, lowered his other hand to her ass, squeezing and releasing, squeezing and releasing. She rocked against him, grinding her mons against the bulge in his ass covering.
He saw no fear in her eyes, no reluctance to touch him. All he viewed was passion, wild and willing and achingly beautiful. Kralj dragged his fangs over her bottom lip, the urge to taste her blood almost unbearably acute.
Need drummed at him. His beast fought to be freed. The rumbling coming from his chest grew and grew, vibrating his body against hers.
As though she realized what he craved, Dita pushed against his fangs. Kralj stopped moving, knowing if he didn’t, the sharp tips would puncture her flesh.
She met his gaze. He read her intentions. His heart pounded and his beast howled. She impaled her bottom lip on his fangs.
Pain flashed in her eyes. Her muscles flexed against him. The damn female kept pushing until his fangs were fully in her.
One yank and he’d shred her fragile flesh. Kralj remained still, fighting the compulsion to suck, to drink from her. Her fingers clenched and unclenched his shoulders. She slowly withdrew her lip. Blood flooded his mouth, the sweetest, most delectable liquid he’d ever tasted.
He took one sip of it and he was lost.
The wind whipped around them. Stone rocked, the wall threatening to crumble beneath their booted feet. Beings would die due to his lack of restraint and he no longer cared.
All he knew was her.