shattered into millions of pieces.
“I’m enjoying this.” Frost laughed. “Libor is covering Jeden, Dialo and Vietor.”
“We don’t need coverage.” The triplets fought in a circle, back to back to back. For all their squabbling, they operated like a cohesive unit while in battle.
Vietor showed signs of strain, but his eyes were clear. The os khonzon, the darkness, hadn’t gripped him.
It hadn’t overcome Ariq either. The contact with his gerel held it back. “Are you still alive, Yesun?” He decapitated one of their enemy, cutting through his neck.
The male’s head fell to the ground, rolled on the sand. The rest of him toppled over.
“I’m alive.” Yesun breathed heavily. “But that Humanoid Alliance being I just shot in the head can’t make the same claim.”
The young warrior would have another story to tell their fellow Chameles.
A male ran by Ariq. His hair was on fire.
Spark chased him, blowing flames at his prey.
“Stand back.” Libor told them. He carried a huge gun. “This is a new weapon for me. I want to try it out.”
Ariq quickly repositioned to the side, taking Xareni with him, the two of them moving as one. The other warriors did the same.
Libor activated the weapon, bombarding the area with projectiles, mowing the enemy down. He grinned, his biceps bulging, his ridges rattling.
“Retreat.” One of the Humanoid Alliance beings yelled that order.
The few males remaining alive ran into the desert.
“The gun works.” Libor shut down his weapon. His expression was pleased.
“It worked too well.” Vietor scowled at him. “The enemy is fleeing.”
“Do we chase them?” Dialo looked at Ariq.
“Some of us can’t chase them.” Yesun grumbled that complaint.
Ariq turned and gazed at his gerel. He lifted one of his eyebrows.
She shrugged.
The triplets interpreted that response correctly as a yes. They whooped and chased after the retreating enemy.
“I’ll ensure they don’t get stuck somewhere.” Frost followed them. Heat rose from the sand dunes, yet the male’s breath was so cold it was visible.
Ariq was glad the modified humanoid was on their side.
“It’s over.” Xareni bumped against him.
“It’s over.” He drew his gerel into his arms. There was a streak of red on her cheek, a tear in the leather covering her right hip, but she was otherwise healthy. “You fought well.”
“We both fought well.” She ran her hands over his form, pausing at each wound. Her perusal of him, combined with the exuberance of battle, hardened his cock. “You’ll need to obtain more scars than these to match my tally, Chamele.”
“I’ll never be as beautiful as you are, gerel.” He brushed his lips over hers, tasting the thrill of the fight, the glory of victory on that succulent flesh.
She gripped his shoulders, opened to him. Their tongues coiled and twined. The connection between them, always strong, wound around them.
Ariq savored it, relished the moment. His warrior female was alive. He was alive. They had survived the bloody confrontation, would have many more planet rotations, a full lifespan together.
He stroked into her mouth, rutting with that part of her, wishing he could strip her naked and take her on the sand. They would rut like—
Spark hopped onto his shoulder. The drakon’s talons pierced his skin.
Pain surged through Ariq’s form. He ignored the creature and the agony he caused and pushed closer to Xareni. It wasn’t close enough, would never be—
Spark lowered his snout and shrieked directly into his ear, nearly deafening him.
“You’re right.” Ariq shook his head. “Spark is an ass.”
His gerel’s body shook. He suspected she was laughing, but he didn’t know that for certain because he couldn’t hear her. Or anything.
The drakon screeched again.
Except Spark. He could hear Spark.
The drakon flew to a nearby corpse. He nudged the dead male’s face and looked back at Ariq. His expression was expectant.
And extremely impatient.
“He wants his eyeballs.” Xareni rolled her eyes. “We won’t have any peace until we give them to him.”
His gerel squeezed Ariq’s fingers and released her grip on him. She strode toward the drakon.
Ariq watched her walk away from him, admiring the sway of her hips, the curve of her ass.
She stopped and turned toward him. “Are you coming?” She frowned at him.
His independent female wanted him by her side.
“I’m not coming now.” He jogged to catch up with her. “But I hope to come soon.”
Her lips twitched. “You’re an ass also.” She held out her hand. “I’m right about that too.”
“You’re right about everything.” Ariq gripped her leather-clad fingers. “And you love asses.”
Her breath hitched as she moved with him toward the dead body Spark had claimed.