WarlordsBounty (3 page)

If what he says is true, I’ll be dependent upon him.
“No, you’re wrong.” She squirmed, yearning to be free, his cock remaining
lodged deep inside her pussy, his size having shrunk from massive to huge. “Your
rules don’t apply to me. I’m not a
Chamele
.”

“Yes, you’ll feel the effects even more.” Khan smirked, his
gaze possessive and arousing.

Arousing?
“Get off me, you big barbarian.” She
slapped his shoulders, disturbed by her need for him, a need that should have
been sated after her two orgasms.

“I’ll get off you…for now.” Khan obligingly stood, his cock
slipping from her, limp and spent, his skin covered with her juices. “You’ll
need to dress and collect a change of garments. Wear those sturdy boots. It’s a
difficult trek to the caves.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She scrambled off the
rock, her ugly boots sinking into the sand. The sun beat down on her bare
breasts, her annual injection of sun blocker preventing any burning.

“I wasn’t giving you a choice.” Khan glanced significantly
at her ship’s gaping entrance, the door tossed onto the nearby sand as though
it weighed nothing. “Collect your things.” He extended his claws, his full
threat unspoken yet effectively communicated.

“Those
things
will include more than a change of
garments,” she muttered, heading to the ship to collect guns, her remaining
daggers, and a set of her sturdiest restraints.

Her barbarian Warlord laughed.

Beautiful.
Khan watched Zeta stomp toward her ship,
her stride long, her hips swaying, her long brown curls brushing over her firm
ass.
That ass belongs to me now.
He grinned, the tantalizing scent of
her pussy clinging to his skin, teasing him.

She looked back over her pale shoulder and her brown eyes
flashed. “You won’t laugh when I collect the bounty on your ass,” she
threatened. She leaped gracefully into her ship, his seed running down her
legs, a glistening brand reflecting the light.

“
If
you collect the bounty.” He issued a challenge he
had to lose, Berke’s plan to trap Tolui depending upon her trading him for the
credits, their brief separation dreaded yet necessary.

She flicked her fingers at him, adorably defiant, and she
disappeared into her ship.

Will she ambush me when I retrieve her?
Khan reached
for his own pack, extracted his battle gear, and dressed slowly, allowing her
time to prepare.
Or will she wait?
He hummed a
Chamele
fighting
song, foreseeing a life filled with challenge and excitement, his
gerel
strong and unpredictable.

“And I was worried the peace Berke strives for would bore
me,” he mused, strapping his sword to his back, its weight feeling as familiar
and right as Zeta’s embrace.
Made for me.

Khan slung his pack over one shoulder and strode to the
ship, unable to wait any longer for his female. He reached the entrance without
being fired upon.
Is that a good sign?
He pressed his ear against a
panel, the heat scorching his skin, and he listened.

She grumbled about barbarian asses and not needing anyone,
especially not him. Khan chuckled, her profanity-filled affirmations lacking
conviction, her soul already bound to his.

Her small boots rang on the mesh floor. Khan turned and
leaned back on the exterior of her ship, crossing one foot casually in front of
the other, his boots as sturdy as hers.

“I’m coming with you out of curiosity, not because you
ordered me to.” She glared down at him, dressed in dark green, her utilitarian
shirt and leg coverings clinging to her slight curves. “I haven’t yet seen the
caves.”

“Your reasons are noted.” He nodded, smothering his smile,
as she scrunched up her freckled nose, her expression endearingly disgruntled.

“These aren’t simply for decoration.” She rested her slender
fingers on the hilt of a dagger, one sheath conspicuously empty. “If I wanted
to defeat you, I could.”

Unlikely.
His lips twitched. “Defeating me will be
easier with all of your daggers.” He reached inside his pack and lobbed the
retrieved dagger to her.

Zeta caught it easily. “What?” She gazed down at the weapon
and her mouth dropped open, her bottom lip trembling. “How?” She looked away
but not fast enough to conceal the wet sheen in her eyes.

“I told you I’d give you everything,” he reminded her
gruffly, as uncomfortable as she was with her display of emotion. “Come.” He
reached his arms out to her.

Zeta sheathed the dagger, her movements jerky. “I can get
off my own damn ship,” she grumbled, placing her hands on his shoulders, her
grip felt through the leather.

“I know you can.” He lowered her, savoring her softness, her
curves, sliding her body along his until her feet touched the sand. “Other than
my mother, you’re the strongest female I know.”

“You have a mother?” Her gaze met his, her eyes wide.

He smiled at the disbelief in her voice. “Yes, even Warlords
have mothers.” He clasped her hand, walking with her toward the caves.

“It’s not that,” she mumbled, her neck bowed. She kicked the
sand with her toes of her boots, fighting nature as she fought him. “It’s…” She
shook her head, her hair pulled back from her face, fastened with what appeared
to be a cable.

Khan strode in silence, waiting for her to continue,
familiar with her background, having researched her extensively, but wanting to
hear it directly from her.

“My mother’s dead,” Zeta relayed, her voice robotic,
stripped of emotion. “My father is too but I don’t remember him.” She tugged on
her hand. Khan held on, preventing her physical retreat. “I thought you were
alone like me. I thought…” She shifted the pack slung over her shoulder. “It
doesn’t matter.”

“You’re not alone.” Khan veered closer to Zeta, fighting the
desire to put his arm around her and comfort her, suspecting she wouldn’t
appreciate the gesture. “You’ll never be alone again. You’re mine.”

“No.” Her chin lifted. “I’m not yours and I don’t care that
I’m alone, that I’ve always been alone. I don’t
need
anyone. I can take
care of myself.”

They walked, together yet separate, an emotional wall
between them. Khan glanced down at Zeta’s stubborn face. Deep grooves had
formed between her finely arched eyebrows and her plush kissable lips were pressed
together.

He sighed, the next move clearly his. “My father’s death
taught us that also, that we could take care of ourselves.”

She sniffed.

“I don’t need anyone either,” he added softly. “But I want
someone. I want you.”

“You shouldn’t want me.” Her arm brushed against his as the
path narrowed, squeezed by rock walls, the shade of the surrounding cliffs
dropping the temperature significantly. “You can’t trust me. I’m a bounty
hunter and I
will
collect the bounty on you. I have to.”

“You haven’t captured me yet.” Khan’s deceit niggled at him,
his
gerel
too honest about her plans, too intent upon warning him.

“But if you do, I’ll survive.” He forced a casual shrug, not
having a choice about continuing, his brothers depending upon him. Berke’s plan
had been set before Khan had met Zeta, before he’d discovered how special she
was, how unique, how his. “If your client could capture me himself, he wouldn’t
have to pay you.”

“I’m very good at my job.” Zeta glared at him, her
feistiness delighting Khan.

“Which is why you might, just might, succeed in capturing
me.” He rushed to soothe her ruffled pride, a pride worthy of a Warlord’s lady.
“He has to hold me and he doesn’t have your skills.” They approached the mouth
of the cave.

“Not many people have my skills.” She tossed her head, her
long tail of hair bouncing. “Or yours.” The lines reappeared between her
eyebrows. “With your ability to turn invisible, you’d be a difficult target to
hold.”

“
Chameles
blend into environments. It is an ability
we all have.” Khan slid his palm along the damp cool cave wall and he tapped on
the controls, deactivating the alarms. Lights cascaded before them. Zeta didn’t
wait for an invitation, walking ahead of him, her shoulders square and her
spine straight.

Fearless.
He grinned.

“Most containment centers have weaknesses, even a top
security prison such as
Gehenna 5
.” She glanced over her shoulder and
met his gaze, glimmering light reflected in her eyes. “That’s how prisoners
escape in the first place.”

Khan rested one of his hands on the small of her back,
needing to touch her. Zeta’s eyes widened and her breath caught, the small
sound exciting him. He stepped forward, his gaze lowering to her lips.

“No.” She turned her head sharply, facing forward. The heels
of her boots rang on the hard stone, the rush of the surrounding underground
streams softening the sound. “We can’t do this.”

“We can.” He followed her, not allowing her to evade him.
“And we will.” His declaration echoed in the narrow space. “Tell me how the
prisoners escape,” he asked, trying to distract her from the danger-filled
future neither of them could evade.

“So you can escape too?” Her shoulders eased lower. Khan
didn’t answer, Tolui striving to kill him, not contain him. “When we retrieve
prisoners, they brag about how they did it.”

Zeta’s voice flowed over him as she shared the weaknesses of
an appallingly large number of prisons, his female’s past littered with the
worst criminals in the galaxies.
Her past has made her tough.
He splayed
his fingers across her back, her form tiny yet strong, strength a trait he
admired and required in a
gerel,
the planet he ruled populated with the
fiercest warriors in the
Chamele
sector.

“And if you—” Zeta stopped short upon entering the first
room. Khan bumped against her, his hard cock connecting with her ass. “Don’t
touch me.” She scurried away from him, as skittish as a baby
aduu
. “I’m
collecting the bounty on you. We shouldn’t do this.” She waved her hands,
activating the remote communicator.

“Zeta.” Khan lunged forward.

“My lord,” a deep voice rumbled in
Chamele.
His
first’s scarred face appeared on the cave wall, his long gun in his hand.

“Khan, down.” Zeta barreled into him, toppling him backward,
her guns drawn and her expression panicked. Khan landed hard on his ass, pain
shooting up his torso.

“Drop your weapon or die.” She sprawled on top of Khan, her
guns aimed at his top warrior’s projection. “This is your first and final
warning.”

“Your
gerel
is protecting you, my lord.” Oghul
grinned. The projected warriors to his left and to his right boomed with
laughter. The image flickered.

“Oh.” Zeta’s face reddened. “Son of a
Palavian
whore.” She turned to Khan, her lips flattening. “You should have warned me it
was a projection.”

She slapped his shoulder with her gun, the sting sharp and
arousing. His warriors laughed louder. Oghul bent over, holding his stomach,
tears of mirth rolling down his ruddy cheeks.

“They think I’m a fool.” Zeta hit Khan again, the smack of
metal against leather loud and punishing.

“They think you’re fierce.” Khan grinned, amused by her
reaction. “And worthy of their Warlord.” He wrapped his arms around his feisty
female and pulled her onto his lap. She squirmed and he groaned softly, her
movements tormenting his hard cock.

“Oghul, I will speak with you at a future time.” Khan
twisted the guns out of Zeta’s grasp and placed them carefully on the stone
floor.

“We are happy for you, my lord.” The transmission ended, the
warrior’s laughing image fading.

Khan scooped his wiggling female up and moved her to a wide
pile of furs, the makeshift bed designed for rutting. “Transmit
Chamele 2
images.”
Panoramic views of his planet surrounded them.

Zeta stilled, turning her head from left to right, her eyes
wide, her lips parting. “Our planet,” he stated softly, tension stretching
across the breadth of his shoulders.
Does she like her new home?

Chapter Three

“Beautiful,” Zeta murmured. Khan’s planet was green and lush
with vegetation. Clear water rushed over purple cliffs. Brightly colored winged
creatures circled in the sky, their calls shrill. A young boy ran along a field
of tall yellow grass, his body fading and reappearing, his laughter trailing
behind him. He looked over his shoulder and called words Zeta didn’t
understand. A female waved, a baby on her hip, a sword strapped to her back.

“She’s a warrior.” She turned in Khan’s lap and gazed up at
him, seeking confirmation.

“
Chamele 2
is a wealthy planet.” Khan casually
shrugged as though a female warrior wasn’t a wondrous thing, as though he
expected a female to be strong, skilled in war, able to live independently, to
survive on their own.

I can’t care for him.
Zeta dropped her pack to the
cave floor, the restraints remaining within reach, a reminder of what she
should do, what she had to do
.

“Many species covet our resources.” Khan set his own pack
beside hers. “If we’re attacked, every being on
Chamele
could be called
upon to defend our lands and our people.”

I’m taking their best warrior, their leader, away from
them.
She furiously chewed on the inside of her cheek, her anger revived by
guilt. “You shouldn’t have brought me here.” She tired to pull away from Khan.
He wouldn’t allow her to move, his grip on her secure. “I’m collecting the
bounty on you,” she warned, wishing he’d listen to her and run, taking that option
away from her.

“I know.” Khan reclined on the furs, pulling her back with
him, his breath wafting on her hair, his body warming her, the cave cool and
damp.

Projected stars shone on the stone ceiling, Zeta recognizing
the constellations she’d navigated through to reach
Chamele 4
. Water
dripped, the sound dividing their remaining time together into precious
fragments.

Khan is a fierce Warlord.
She tapped the hilt of her
mother’s dagger, the dagger he’d retrieved for her, his selfless act deepening
a connection she couldn’t emotionally or financially afford.
I’ll collect
the bounty on him, I have to, but he’ll escape. He’s a warrior. No one will
harm him.

Zeta relaxed, sinking deeper into Khan’s muscular form,
trusting in his ability to free himself from any captor. He stroked her,
slowly, gently, the contrast between his tanned fingers and her pale arms
intriguing, his caresses feeling too right, too lasting.

This bond between us won’t last, not after I betray him,
not after I take him away from his people.
“Could that warrior…”

“Oghul.” Khan supplied the name.

“Oghul,” she repeated, hoarding that information in case she
needed it, not because she cared. “Could he lead your warriors in your
absence?”

“Hmmm…” Khan moved his hands upward, grazing her breasts,
and her nipples tightened. “With my brothers’ help, yes.”

“Brothers?” Zeta asked, longing lilting her voice.
He has
so much—a planet, a people, a mother, brothers, love, everything a being could
ever want.

Yet he chooses to be here with me. He wants me.

“I have two brothers,” Khan shared. “My eldest brother
Berke’s planet is the farthest from the sun.” He circled the indent over her
bellybutton, his touch burning through her clothing, dissipating her lingering
doubts.

“He guards entry to the system.” Khan skimmed his fingertips
downward, blazing a trail of arousal across her stomach, scorching every
emotion except for desire. Zeta sucked in her breath and waited, wanting,
needing his touch.

Khan retreated. “Murad’s planet has an orbit slightly larger
than
Chamele 4
’s.” He caressed her collarbone, sliding his hands
underneath her shirt, his skin calloused and rough.

“Our planet, the most fertile.” Khan cupped her breasts and
she arched, pressing her nipples into his palms. “Is between the two,
protected.” He squeezed and released, squeezed and released. “Cherished.” She
moaned, writhing on top of him, her body ablaze, her arousal undeniable.
“Loved.”

Loved.
Zeta swallowed her envy, love only bringing
pain. “You left that planet you supposedly love.” She pointed out.
As he’ll
leave me. Everyone always either leaves me or dies.

Khan flipped her onto her back and gazed down at her, his
eyes as dark as the simulated sky above them. “We leave but we always return.”

But he won’t return to me.
“Enough talking.”
Enough
thinking.
Zeta clutched his nape, his long black hair soft against her
knuckles, and she rose up to mesh his lips with hers, taking what she wanted,
forcing his mouth open. Their tongues twisted and tangled as they fought for
dominance, each of them trying to control the embrace, control fate.

Khan raked his claws over her, destroying her clothes,
leaving her with only the garments in her pack. She tugged at his leather
outfit, whimpering at the tight fit. His body left hers for three agonizing
heartbeats, the cool air prickling her skin, and then he returned, his warm
muscle covering her curves.

Big and strong and, for this moment, mine.
She
explored the dips of his chest, the bulging slopes of his biceps, the line of
hair widening from his navel to his groin, savoring the contrasts of hard and
soft, smooth and coarse.

“Yes,” Khan growled, his voice deeper than space. “Touch me,
gerel
.” He moved over her, gliding his shaft along her folds, rubbing
his tip into her clit, fucking her without entry. “Take me.”

“I’ll take you.” Zeta pushed on his right shoulder and he
rolled, their legs entwining. “I’ll take all of you.” She straddled his thighs,
triumphant, her turn now to gaze down on him, to control their fucking.

“If you can,” he dared, his eyelids partially lowered, his
arms spread at his sides, his massive body displayed to her, at her mercy. “I
might be too large for your sweet mouth.” His cock stood proud and erect before
her, his skin glistening with her juices.

“I’ve taken larger,” she lied, eyeing his length with
trepidation and excitement.

His lips curled into a smug smile. “Not in your pussy.” He
curved his fingers around his ridged base, presenting his cock to her.

Unable to refute his statement, she bent over and, with the
flat of her tongue, licked him from his handgrip on his cock to his tip,
tasting herself on him. Khan shuddered, his broad shoulders shaking, his
response gratifyingly intense.

He needs me.
Zeta swirled her tongue around his cock
head and poked into his slit, searching for more pre-cum.
As I need him…for
sex.
She mouthed his rim, nibbling at his flesh, and he buried his fingers
into her hair, loosening the strands from their improvised restraints.
Nothing
more.

“Suck me,
gerel
,” he demanded, pushing her downward.
“But don’t make me release. I want to fill your womb with my seed.”

Zeta wiggled, grinding her wetness into his thighs, wanting
that also. “And I want to be able to talk tomorrow.” She pushed her lips over
his cock head.

“I control bonding,” he rumbled.

Does he?
She met his gaze, raised one of her eyebrows
and sucked hard on his tip.

“Zeta!” His spine bowed, veins rose on his neck and his
fingers twisted in her hair, pain shooting over her scalp. She freed his cock
and he sagged.

“I control bonding, not release.” He shook his head, his
long black hair brushing against the furs. “Regular release is gentler.”

“We’ll test your theory.” She took more of him into her
mouth, tasting salt and minerals and hot male, his cock sliding along her
tongue.

“
Gerel
.” Khan’s lips stretched into a grimace, his
passion encouraging her, driving her farther. “Show mercy.”

His tip tapped the back of her throat and she tilted her
head back, taking him deeper, deeper than she’d ever taken anyone else. Finally
her lips touched the ridge of flesh around his base.

“Made for me,” he whispered as though in awe, and their
gazes met, the intensity in his dark eyes breaching her remaining barriers,
striking at her lonely soul.

I shouldn’t care about him, about his satisfaction, but I
do.
Zeta held him inside her, sucking hard, her throat burning, her eyes
watering, her breathing blocked.
I want to please him.
Darkness
descended and her grip on his shaft eased.

Khan pulled out of her mouth and Zeta gulped air,
lightheaded and euphoric, her worlds spinning. “I took all of you,” she
croaked, her voice hoarse.

Khan brushed the hair away from her face, the tender gesture
more precious to Zeta than any other reward. “You took too much of me.” He
drifted his fingers over her sore throat and her eyelashes fluttered, her heart
stuttering. “Do you ever back down from a challenge?”

“Sometimes,” Zeta murmured, giving him the answer a
reasonable being would give. Khan cocked his head to the side, silently
demanding more honesty from her, more sharing. “Rarely,” she amended.

“Then I’ll be more careful with my challenges in the
future.” He stroked her skin, his face clouded with a soft emotion Zeta didn’t
recognize, none of her other lovers having ever looked at her in the same way
Khan did, none of her other lovers having cared enough to probe for the truth.
“You’re too precious to me.”

She stared at him, the lonely little girl in her yearning to
believe his fantastical words, to melt into his arms, and allow someone else to
take care of her.

You can’t count on anyone, Zeta.
Her spine
straightened. “I’m not precious. I don’t have a bounty on
my
head. You,
on the other hand,—”

Khan pressed his index finger over her lips. “No talk of
bounties, only of rutting.” He pushed his hips upward. She mashed her lips
together, snipping off any temptation to touch him, her target, her payment.

“Time for me to take you.” He tossed her off him. Her
shoulders smacked against the furs, the impact jarring.

“If you can.” Zeta glared up at him. He grinned, his scar
stretching ominously across his cheek, and she scrambled to her hands and
knees, determined to make him fight for his rutting, his dominance heating her
blood.

“Oh, I can.” Khan grabbed her hips, holding her still, his
knees wedged between her legs, spreading her open. “And I will.” With one long,
hard thrust, he entered her, filling her wet pussy with rigid cock.

She screamed, arching her back, abandoning all caution, all
resistance, throwing herself heart first into this last fuck. He pulled out,
his grip on her hips stimulatingly harsh, and he rammed into her, shaking her
body.

Stars.
She dug her fingernails into the furs as Khan,
her barbarian Warlord, rode her hard, without mercy, his hips smacking her ass,
her skin burning at the points of contact. He settled into a punishing tempo
and she pushed back, tilting her hips, taking him deeper, needing this fuck to
last a lifetime, knowing she’d never meet another man with his strength, his
skill, his dominance.

Khan wrapped her hair around his fist and yanked, raising
her head, the pain exquisite. She panted, her passion escalating, heating the
air around them, and he grunted, rutting into her as an animal would, their
bodies slick, their need overwhelming both of them.

Zeta’s scalp, ass and pussy throbbed, abused, aroused and
owned by Khan as he pounded his cock into her, his body straining with each
thrust, the muscles in his powerful thighs flexing, tight and hard. She met
each assault with one of her own, squeezing down on his shaft, stealing his
breath and disrupting his rhythm.

“No mercy,
gerel
,” he huffed, his deep voice rumbling
along her spine. She trembled, her legs shaking, her fingernails scraping the
furs bare.

“No mercy.” He released her hair and lowered his physique
over hers, his chest rubbing against her back, one of his palms sliding over
her stomach.

Zeta whimpered as he covered her mons, finding her clit with
his fingertips, her body teetering on the brink of combustion. He murmured
words she didn’t know into her neck, his lips teasing her skin, his breath
warm, and he rubbed, pushing her over.

She screamed, plummeting into the abyss, trusting him to
catch her, needing him as she’d never needed another being. He drove into her,
prolonging her orgasm, drawing out the tremors, and she clung to that
connection, clenching down on him with her pussy.

“Zeta, can’t—” Khan thrust deep, his balls smacking against
her thighs. The base of his cock expanded and a high-pitched whine escaped from
her throat, Zeta now vividly aware of what would happen.

“No. No. No.” Unable to tolerate more bonding, more caring,
she bucked, trying to dislodge him, caged by his unyielding body.

“Zeta!” He stiffened, his cum rushing into her, the hard
jets of heat setting off another round of unbearably intense pleasure.

“Khan!” She let go of everything, her thoughts, her fears,
and her consciousness, the ecstasy too much, too real, too powerful, and she
collapsed, sinking into the blackness.

* * * * *

She won’t do it. She cares for me more than she wants the
bounty.

Khan leaned back on the furs and he linked his fingers
behind his head, irrationally pleased.
Berke needs a new plan. She won’t
betray me
.

Zeta paced the perimeter of the cave, fully dressed,
gripping her pack with a frightening intensity, her knuckles white. Emotions
raced across her expressive face, her inner debate adorably obvious.

“The sun will be setting soon,” he reminded her.

“Oh.” Zeta stopped short, her mouth rounding with surprise,
as though she’d forgotten he was there. “Do you have to communicate with your
brothers? They’re your family. They must be worried about you.” Her voice
strengthened. “Because I’m told that’s what families do. They worry.”