Deep, Hard, and Rough (6 page)

“You made me do this, princess. If you would have
just come to me willingly, I would have been kind, gentle even.
At first at least.”
His words were lies, all of them. Just
as he bent down to kiss her she lifted her arm and stabbed the barrette into his
neck. She nearly gagged as she felt the shell meet the thickness of his flesh
before it sank in. She pulled it out just as quickly, but not before she
twisted it into his throat.

Maximo howled in pain and pushed her away. Great
arcs of blood the color of the night sky sprayed from the wound in his neck. His
hands went to his throat to try to stem the blood flow.
 
Shards of the shell had broken off and were
still embedded in his skin. A sickening noise gurgled out of his mouth, and
that same noxious blood gurgled out of his throat. As he stumbled toward her
with an arm outstretched, she didn’t waste any time in turning and running away.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, through the dusty terrain, with
pain still coursing through her body. None of that mattered, because escaping
and living were her only options. When darkness threatened to take her down,
she pushed it back and ran harder. Wet warmth seeped rom her at various points
of her body, but she didn’t dare stop and see all the places she was hurt. Everything
she owned that was of any importance was in her bag, lying on the floor next to
Maximo, who was bleeding out. But she was still alive, and that was far more
important than any physical possession she could have possessed.

Chapter Five

Erak and his brothers finished loading the ship with
a few supplies they purchased in the city. The little human female Luna had
never come back out, and despite his raging hard-on, he hadn’t gone after her
or looked for another female. Maybe he should have, but he wasn’t a male to
push a female to do his bidding, no matter how much he wanted to. Raimi had
been all about going to find her, but he had explained to his brother that they
were Aktulla males of the Asek
line,
and if a female
didn’t want them they certainly didn’t go and hunt her down for a little pussy.
Egotistical perhaps, but an Aktulla never bowed to anyone. There were no human
females where they were from, and so he decided she was a commodity, something
that was strange and delicate and piqued his interest. Their mission was far
bigger than fucking random females anyway. They need to find women to carry
their sons. But he also couldn’t dismiss that there was something about Luna that
called to him on a primitive level, and one that he hadn’t been able to shake
no matter how hard he tried or how he reasoned with himself. Just one thought
of her and he was hard as fuck. Her bow-like lips, so red and succulent, made
him imagine them wrapped around his aching shaft.

“How much longer until we take
off?”
Genet stepped out from behind the ship, cords of rope in hand. His voice had a
hard edge to it, and he could tell Genet was just as pissed about not getting
to sample Luna as he and Raimi were.

“Once we finish loading everything, we should be
able to head out. It appears the majority of the other ships are staying put
tonight.”

“Lucky bastards.”
Genet
mumbled under his breath. “I agree with Raimi on going back and finding the
little human female. My cock is still hard for her.”

Genet headed to the other side of the ship,
grumbling about blue balls. Erak should have never let his brothers talk him
into stopping at this fucking planet. . He tossed the last of the jugs of water
and nonperishable food in before latching the door shut. The main hatch was
still open, which meant someone wasn’t doing their job. He needed to get off
this planet and away from temptation.

****

Luna wiped the sweat from her brow and pushed
forward. When she had first run, the sound of Maximo’s voice had seemed to
follow her. She swore she had been able to feel him right behind her, his hot
breath right on the back of her neck. That just made her move faster. She still
had the money in her shoe, thank the heavens, and her plan now was to find
someone who was traveling and would be willing to take her with them. Maybe her
cash and virginity could buy her a way off this damn planet? At this point she
didn’t care who it was or where they were going. All that mattered was escaping
away from Maximo and her nightmare of a life. Because if she couldn’t get a
ride away from here, she would rather travel into the mountains and let one of
the beasts consume her.

The thick foliage around her made seeing anything
nearly impossible. Tripping over a dead branch, the momentum had her hurtling forward.
Red dust puffed around her when the ground met her. Pain lanced through her
whole body, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Male voices carried by
the wind wrapped around her, and hope sprang up inside of her. Crawling through
the brush, branches scraped her flesh like talons of the planet trying to keep
her from escaping. It was just like this damn carnivorous world was trying to
hold her back, sucking the life-force from her until she was nothing but an
empty shell. She peered through an opening in the bushes, and her heart sped
up.

Dozens of ships were scattered throughout the murky
blackness of the desert. All of them were monstrous contraptions, but only one
seemed to be ready for takeoff. Closest to her with the back hatch open, like a
sign from the gods, sat a fine piece of machinery. It wasn’t the biggest, but
it certainly was the newest and most advanced. She could still hear male voices,
but they appeared to be on the other side of the ship, where they could not see
her. This had to be a sign from fate. Could it really be this easy to just run
up and climb aboard? Wariness slammed into her, wrapping its icy fingers around
her and forcing her to lower herself to the ground again. Nothing on the planet
of red dust was easy, but she would die if she didn’t at least try.

You
can do this. You can do this.

Anything had to be better than what she faced if she
stayed here. Looking around to make sure she wouldn’t be caught, Luna stood slowly
and limped as quickly and quietly as she could toward the ship. Once she was
right beside it, she pressed herself against the cold metal and held her
breath. The baritone voices spoke in a language unfamiliar to her, and a
prickling of recognition filled her, but she pushed it away and only focused on
survival. Using all her upper body strength, Luna hauled
herself
onto the platform and made her way quickly to the back of the ship. Thick piles
of rope were haphazardly scattered across the floor, and she tripped over it.
Holding her breath and stalling her movements, it was imperative no one heard
her disastrous move. When there wasn’t a chorus of shouts that her position had
been revealed, she let out a relieved breath. That was all she needed right
now, to be found stealing a ride.

She squeezed between two large barrels and prayed they
would hide her until they landed, wherever that may be. All Luna knew was that
if she stayed another night on this planet she wouldn’t survive. Pain sliced
through her arm, and she looked down at it. A large gash ran up the length from
whatever she had landed on when Maximo tackled her. Other various scrapes and
cuts littered her arms and legs from the thorny branches in her haste to escape,
but it was minimal compared to what could have happened. Her face throbbed, and
she lifted her hand and gently ran her finger along her cheek. Pain assaulted
her. The tissue surrounding her eye felt swollen to the point that she could
barely see out of it. Closing her eyes, exhaustion settled heavily within her. Dreaming
sounded so much better than reality.

****

Erak sat in the control center of his ship and
started the engines. They had finished loading up and were now on their way to
depart from the planet of red dust. His brothers sat beside him.

“Ready, brothers?”
Erak
spoke into the microphone by his mouth, the sound traveling to each of their earpieces.
 
They all gave their confirmation that it was
safe to ascend. As the engines warmed up, the power could be felt throughout
the entire craft. It was a welcome feeling for Erak, a powerful one. As the
ship started to lift, Erak switched on the exterior lights. Bright beams
illuminated the vast expanse of desert in front of them. Navigating their way around
other ships, each brother did the important job of making sure everything worked
properly and without fault. The higher they went, the more the pressure in the
cabin increased.

“Genet, switch on the pressure minimizing latch.”
Erak could hear the hiss of the inner pressure being equalized. The cockpit
went from minimally uncomfortable to leveling within a few seconds. Then the
inky darkness started became brighter with the illumination of the stars. Once
they were in space and stabilized, Erak and his brothers set the craft on autopilot.
Erak stood and stared out the front windows. Great vastness was right in front
of them, and it never got old for him to see this sight. They programmed their
destination for
Hete’kkia
, a planet that flourished
with healthy, viable females, and the planet his kind had found mates on for
centuries.

Although there were plenty of planets that had
females, only a select few held ones that had compatible DNA to carry the
offspring of his species.
Hete’kkia
happened to have
a ratio of five to one, females dominating the male gender. They were humanoid,
and were compatible in every way with the Aktulla warriors. It was the most
logical place to go to first. The planet was one of the smaller ones in their
galaxy, and lay on the outer recesses of the galaxy.

Erak unhooked the harness around his chest and was
about to stand when a warning signal sounded. Bringing up the holographic map
of the ship, he saw there was some sort of life force stationed in the cargo
dock. He swiped his finger across the screen and brought up the thermal heat
activated monitor. The life force was
humanoid, that
much he could tell from the shape of the form.

“Looks like we have a stowaway,” Erak said. Although
the creature appeared human in nature, there were creatures that may appear
humanoid, but were anything but. It wasn’t unusual for a
Lerra
lizard, or even a
Nura
beast to crawl into the ship
in search of food, and those particular beings were vicious despite their
human-like appearance. He had his
Tonna
gun strapped
to his thigh and his sword between his shoulder blades. The long forged piece
of metal was barbaric and hadn’t been used in a millennium by any other advanced
race, but it was quick, effective, and there was nothing better to an Aktulla
male than feeling the power it wielded as their enemy was taken down.

He made his way down into the very bowels of the
ship. With one hand on his gun, he used the other to enter the security code
for the cargo dock. The door slid to the side, disappearing into the wall, and
allowing him an unobstructed view of the storage dock. The temperature was
several degrees lower than the main part of the ship, just enough to chill the
skin. Standing at the entrance, he stayed absolutely still and inhaled deeply,
letting his attuned senses tell him what his machinery couldn’t. The main
aromas that filtered into him were of their freshly bought food and water
supply. When silence and still air surrounded him he closed his eyes and
inhaled deeply once more, and that was when he caught the scent of blood.

Eyes closed and senses wide open, he waited. The
metallic scent was not of a wild humanoid animal, but of a human female.

Mine
.

That one word slammed into him over and over again,
and a primal urge to go to her moved inside of him like nothing he had ever
felt. He knew that scent that mingled with the tangy smell, and despite his
need to go to Luna and make sure she was okay, he couldn’t help that his dick
instantly became hard. The sound of her faint beating heart pierced his mind,
and he opened his eyes. Her heartbeat came from where several large drum barrels
sat against the side of the ship. Once he reached the edge of the barrels Erak
could make out two small tattered shoes. There was still no movement from her,
and a panic the likes of which he had never felt assaulted him. Erak had never
felt fear before, but it was like a living entity inside of him. He grew tense
and quickly moved closer to her, feeling this territorial emotion grow within
him like another warrior. He wanted to kill the being that dared harm her, that
put their hands on her. When he was close enough that he could see her small,
huddled body on the hard, cold floor, his heart squeezed painfully in his
chest.

“
Fallina
.”

The endearment fell from his lips on its own accord.
She was his mate, and a pang of sorrow, regret, and self-hatred filled him. All
it had taken was that first scent of her blood to wake up the instinct in him,
that one thing inside all Aktulla males when they found their mate. Her face
and body, fuck, she was so battered.
“
Fallina
.”
His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. She was alive, but growing weaker
by the second.

           
Someone
or something had beaten the shit out of his mate, and a red haze covered his
vision, pushing away all other emotions. He wanted blood on his body, blood from
the one that dared harm what was his, spraying forth from the creature that
dared laid their hands on what was his.