Assassin Mine

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

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 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.

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—

“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.

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 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.

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.