Coletti Warlords: Vexing Voss (21 page)

“One determined to keep you safe.” His vibrating penis dragged across my pussy.

I squirmed as the vibrations intensified. Oh God. That felt so good, but I couldn’t let him get away with this. Drawing on every ounce of willpower I had left, I fought his seduction. “Do you always follow the Overlord’s orders? Don’t I get a say in this?”

“No. Wherever you go, trouble follows. Your fragile body is easily damaged. Conversion will make you stronger and harder to kill.” His sinful mouth closed over my breast.

I quivered and shook as he toyed with my nipple. “Stop!”

A merciless gleam in his eyes, Voss complied. His penis went limp inside me.

A groan broke from me. He was truly evil, and who knew Voss could turn it off just like that. My body screamed for release. I needed him to fuck me. Now! “You want me to beg. Okay. You’re right. I do attract trouble. I can’t do this without you, and I’ll admit being converted has its perks.”

“Does it?”

Great. I’d hurt the big guy’s feelings. Swallowing my pride, I wrapped my legs around his hips and petted his slit. “Yes, I get the Coletti version of Don Juan as my lover. What more could a girl want? Please let little Johnny finish the job.”

The big guy hissed in exasperation. “Little Johnny?”

The raw want was becoming unbearable. Was the sneaky bastard feeding it? If I wasn’t hurting so badly, I’d demand an answer. Framing his face with my hands, I kissed him. “Big bad Johnny?”

“Where do you come up with these names?” His tentacles flexed rapidly, electrifying my womb. They vibrated faster and faster.

“Romance novels.” I gasped. Fire raged through my body as Voss kept rubbing his penis across my clit. My senses imploded into a million shards of ecstasy, and a scream erupted from me. “Way to go, Johnny!”

His body bowed, Voss shouted, “Forever mine!”

Slumping bonelessly in his arms, I patted his cheek. “All that practice really paid off, sweetie.”

For a moment, Voss stared at me in utter disbelief, and then he threw his head back and roared with laughter. “You are a priceless gem.”

“A word of warning. You visit that whorehouse again, and Johnny is history.”

“All I want is you.”

“Good answer.” Snuggling into his chest I yawned and let my eyelids drift shut. “Next time we do it in that gigantic bed. It’s been going to waste.”

Voss planted a kiss on my head. “Next time.”

“Now that you’ve repeatedly satisfied your mate’s needs, I need both of you at the command site. The Gorum require your presence,”
Zarek announced a tad drily.

My eyes popped open in horror. “Oh my God! The Overlord’s a peeping Tom!”

“Enough, Zoey,” Voss growled.

“Well, he is.”

“Shut up, Zoey.”

“How would you like it if someone watched you getting it on with Detja, sir?”

“I would kill them,”
Zarek stated, his voice flat and cold.

“Thought so. I want your word that you’ll give us the necessary privacy when Johnny is doing his thing.”

Amusement filling his voice, Zarek asked,
“Johnny?”

“Forgive her, my lord, the heat has affected Zoey’s mind,”
Voss said hastily.

I snorted.
“Like hell it has. Your word, my lord. I’m sure Detja and Kaylee would agree with me.”

“Without a doubt. Very well, you have my word I will not peek into your minds while you’re having sex.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Detja felt you needed a proper battle suit to acknowledge your warrior status. I have placed it in your storage unit. I want you to wear it to the command center.”

My jaw dropped in astonishment.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“You honor us, my lord,”
Voss added, more than a little bit surprised.

“Zoey’s exploits have earned her warrior status.”
Zarek broke the link.

“Warrior status? That’s like a big deal, right?”

A proud smile curved Voss’s mouth. “A very big deal. Detja and Kaylee are the only other females to ever achieve warrior status.”

“I’m not surprised. They’re really good at blowing up stuff too.”

Voss grinned. “Very good.”

Wiggling free of his grip, I dashed into the bedchamber and opened the storage unit. A black battle suit with a copper design running through the material hung from a metal rod. Beneath it sat a pair of armored boots. I did a happy dance. “Awesome.”

Voss stroked my butt. “Very.”

I smacked at his hand. “You’re insatiable.”

He picked up a bottle, poured some lotion into his hand, and rubbed it over my body. “For you? Always.”

“The Overlord is waiting,” I reminded him as he stroked my breasts.

“Yes, he is.” Voss tilted my head back, and his mouth closed over mine.

“Battle Commander,”
Zarek snapped.

Voss broke the kiss.
“My lord?”

“What happened to your famous self-control?”

I countered with,
“What happened to your promise not to peek?”

The big guy looked at me in horror.
“Enough, Zoey!”

“Well, he was peeking again.”

Zarek announced with a deadly calm,
“You weren’t having sex, now were you?”

Crap. He had me there.
“No, sir.”

That implacable mask slipped over Voss’s face.
“It won’t happen again, my lord.”

Zarek sighed.
“Yes, it will. Your mate bond is very strong.”

“Like that’s a bad thing?”

“No, little one, it’s a wondrous event, but I need my Battle Commander at his best if we are to capture Malik.”

“Believe me, sir, Malik’s a dead man walking. It’s only a matter of time before I find and kill him.”
I hurriedly dressed.

Voss groaned.

A touch of disbelief in his voice, Zarek asked,
“You claim blood rights?”

“He killed my mother and was responsible for the slaughter of millions of my people. So yeah, I claim blood rights.”
Good thing the merge with Voss had given me access to all their rules and regulations.

“I acknowledge your blood rights, but…”

Why was there always a “but”?
“You want him to face the Kalafat?”

“Malik’s treacherous actions demand it.”

The screams of the children echoed in my mind. Zarek was 100 percent correct. Malik did deserve such a fate. Plus the bastard had unleashed his feral warriors on several of the Colettis’ worlds, forcing the Overlord to put his own people down like rabid dogs.
“You’re right, sir, Malik doesn’t merit a fast or easy death. He must face the Kalafat.”

“A difficult decision, but the correct one. Report to the command center in fifteen minutes,”
Zarek ordered and broke the link.

Voss pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Well done, sugar tits.”

“I’m not a complete moron, honey buns. Zarek doesn’t handle betrayal well, and I was afraid if I refused to give up my blood rights, he would have simply forced me to comply with his wishes.”

“True, or he could have challenged you to hand-to-hand combat.”

“That would be one very short fight. Zarek knows all my tricks.”

“As do I.” Voss pulled on his battle suit.

Big surprise, he went commando. “C’mon, admit it. You never thought an itty-bitty female could take you down.”

“Your actions were unexpected,” the big guy acknowledged. Picking up strands of copper, he began plaiting them into warrior braids on the right side of my face. “All that defiance in such a small package. How could I resist you?”

“Love at first sight, huh?”

He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Something like that.”

I noticed a copper warrior’s bracelet with black etchings and grabbed it. “Isn’t this bit small for you?”

Taking it from me, Voss fastened it on my wrist and kissed the palm of my hand. “This proclaims your warrior status and allows you to interface with the ship’s computers.”

“Does it give me access to all your nifty weapons and explosives?”

“It does, but you will not take anything without my permission.”

“Spoilsport.” I spotted what looked like Batman’s utility belt on the bed. “Is that mine too?”

“It is.” Voss fastened it around my waist and slid a laser pistol into the holster. “It has extra energy cartridges for your pistol, restraints, explosives, a medical kit, and I’ve included an expandable baton for close-quarters combat.”

I pulled the baton off my belt and triggered it. It popped out, and I swung it experimentally. “Nice balance.”

“Try not to have a reason to use it.”

“Hey, have some faith. I’m pretty damned good with a baton.”

Voss inserted two black daggers with ornamental copper handles into my boots. “It will have little effect on an Askole.”

“Then I’ll just unman him.”

The big guy sighed.

A gong sounded.

Voss walked over to the door and touched an icon. The door slid open to reveal Hothar.

I did a slow spin. “What do you think?”

“Totally awesome,” Hothar said with a grin, and held out an ice-cold can of soda.

“You guys are keepers.” I popped the top and took a swig. “Perfect.”

Chapter Seventeen

Another command center had been set up for the Gorum. Seems they made all those battle-hardened warriors nervous. Twitchy trigger fingers were never a good thing.

Sariel had stationed several heavily armed warriors a short distance away. Two more testosterone-fueled Askole had decided they wanted to bag themselves a Gorum. After I had unmanned them, they gave us a wide berth.

Okay, I had to admit watching the Gorum eat the sand sharks was a bit gruesome, but the Askoles had no room to complain. They were like the cartoon version of the Tasmanian Devil: swirling tornadoes of death slicing and dicing their enemies into itty-bitty pieces with their wicked claws and fangs. They both made a mess out of their prey.

Bedan appeared on my shoulder and began playing with my braids.
“Pretty.”

“Where have you been?”

“Hunting.”
Bedan proudly held out a gnawed-on finger.

I sucked in a horrified breath. “
Where did you get that?”

“Found it.”

“Where?”

An image of blood-splattered rocks formed in my mind.

“Was there a body attached to it?”

“No.”

I linked with Voss.
“Anyone missing a warrior or technician?”

There was a brief pause before he answered.
“No. Why?”

“Bedan found a finger.”

The instant Voss appeared at our command center, Bedan quickly stuffed the finger down his maw.

“Bad baby.”

“Mine.”

Voss held out his hand.
“I have no wish to take your food, young one, but I need to examine the finger.”

The little guy crawled on top of my head.
“No.”

Oh gross. His goopy tentacles were now entwined in my hair.

Raj tried to pull Bedan away from me.
“You will show us the finger. Now!”

Bedan tightened his grip.
“Want to keep the pretty.”

In danger of losing a good chunk of my scalp, I grabbed Raj’s tentacle.
“Easy does it. Okay, Bedan, how about we trade you a big juicy eyeball for it?”

“Want two.”

“Deal. Now give me the finger.”

Sticking a tentacle in his maw, Bedan reluctantly brought the finger out and handed it to me.

Ewww. Bloody pieces of shredded flesh still clung to the bone.
“Is that a ring?”

Voss plucked the finger off my palm and examined the ring.
“Malik’s.”

Zarek popped in and took the mangled digit from Voss.
“It is his.”

I shrugged.
“He probably lost it when his Marauder got blown to smithereens.”

Turning his lethal gaze on Bedan, Zarek said,
“If you show us where you found this I will give you three more eyeballs.”

The little guy wiggled excitedly.
“Deal.”

“Good.”

A yellow glow surrounded Bedan, and he vanished.

One look at the Overlord’s vexed expression, and I laughed.

Zarek’s scary index shot off the charts. “You find this funny?”

“No, sir.” I gulped and turned to Raj.
“You can track Bedan, right?”

“Yes.”
Wrapping a tentacle around me, Raj tossed me on his back, and we fell into that horrible vortex.

I was still screaming when we appeared next to scarlet rocks that pierced the sand like thorny fingers.

“Enough of your screeching, female.”

A shudder shook me.
“I hate that fucking vortex. Do you hear me? I hate it!”

“Everyone hears you,”
Voss commented, his amusement evident.

Big surprise the Battle Commander had followed us. Sliding off Raj’s back, I stomped over to Voss and smacked him in the chest. “It’s not funny.”

Voss pulled me to him and kissed the tip of my nose. “This wasn’t your first time.”

I hit him again. “It doesn’t get any easier, snookums.”

Zarek appeared with Commander Zan clamped to his chest.

My eyebrows shot up in amazement, and I whispered, “Do they have a thing?”

The big guy choked back a laugh. “No, Zan insisted on accompanying us.”

“Oh.” I winced at the nasty look Zarek shot me as he released the commander.

Sariel zoomed up like the Tasmanian Devil.

“Hail. Hail. The gang’s all here.”

“Unfortunately.” Voss looked around. “Where is Bedan?”

Dropping my shields, I scanned the area. “He’s behind that first rock eating a sand shark’s eyeballs.”

“Why don’t you and Raj fetch him while I check for signs of Malik’s base,” Voss said.

“Okay.” I motioned to Raj.
“There’s a dead sand shark behind—”
A tentacle curled around me, and off we went.

A blinding red light flashed behind us, and for a fleeting second, agony seared through every cell in my body. When the funny black spots cleared from my vision, I saw Voss, Zarek, Sariel, and Zan sprawled on the ground.

Oh my God! Voss! I yanked at the tentacle wrapped around my waist.
“Let go. Voss is in trouble.”