Animal Read online

  She shook her head again. “No.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. He was a Master-Pleasurer. On Yrathia, his sexual prowess earned him the respect and reverence of male and female alike, yet here he was, his heart in the palm of a woman’s hand that just told him he showed her a life beyond sex, and he couldn’t be happier. All he had to do now was get them both out of here. “So,” he said finally. “We need to get out of here, so we can save Zeric.” He gave her a small grin, twisting his wrists in their metal bonds, shutting out the pain before it began. “Again.”

  * * * *

  Her lips slid down his shaft. Firm, wet. Her tongue laved his length, worked the glands below the distended rim of his cockhead.

  Zeric tightened his fists, fighting with the powerful need surging through him. The need to lose himself in the sensations overwhelming him, the need to succumb to the erotic pull of Jaienna’s mouth on his sex, the need to release the dangerous, primeval werewolf lurking in his blood and let it rule his actions. The need to come.

  He’d fought who he was his whole life, had despised what he was—a creature of violent passion, a creature ruled by instincts that led to death and destruction—until Jaienna Ti entered his life.

  Jaienna accepted the beast, and the beast loved Jaienna. Loved her with a desire so deep Zeric himself could barely fathom it. With every touch of her hands, every caress of her lips on his body, the beast longed for release to touch her back, to caress her body with claws that once only knew how to cause pain. To love her the way he loved her. Loved her for loving him regardless of what he was…

  Jaienna’s hands smoothed up Zeric’s braced legs, exploring the back of his tense thighs before cupping the taut muscles of his ass cheeks and he bucked forward, driving his cock to the back of her throat.

  Jezu! He wanted to come already. Days and nights of resisting Crortek’s Illashionist’s cerebral manipulations, of forcing the hunger for Jaienna the mage created in his mind aside, had brought him to breaking point. His balls had been swollen and burning with lust and longing for too long. With Jaienna—the real Jaienna—on her knees before him, her wonderfully talented mouth sucking his cock, it was all he could do to keep in control. Of both the werewolf and his sexual release.

  What happens when she gets into your head, Arctos?

  The soft question filtered through the scalding pleasure clouding his mind.

  Will she get into your head? Will she do that to you?

  If she did, Crortek gained everything he wanted, and they would all be dead.

  He forced his eyes open and tangled his fingers in Jaienna’s hair. He had to stop her. Her couldn’t let her—

  The moment his stare fell on the sight of Jaienna’s full lips wrapped around his shaft, the very second he saw her mouth slide down its thick, venous length, he was lost.

  He fisted her hair, holding her head still, a groan working up from his gut to rumble in his tight throat. He rammed his hips forward, pumping harder in her mouth. She moaned, her nails sinking into his ass cheeks, sending tiny shards of exquisite pain through him. He pushed forward again, his cock plunging deeper, the action making Jaienna’s throat convulsively contract around its bulbous head.

  A cascade of liquid tension consumed him and his blood thickened, the beast on the verge of emerging, of taking over. He pulled back, wanting to erupt, dreading the moment he would. “Jaienna,” he growled, jerking his hips farther away from her mouth. “Please, Jaienna… Don’t make me—”

  Jaienna’s nails punctured his ass and she yanked him back, taking his length deeper into her throat.

  Wet, warm pleasure crashed over him. His legs trembled, his fists tightened, knotting in her hair in a hold he knew was savage but could not relax. He threw back his head, grinding his teeth together, forcing the beast down. Just.

  It roared in his head, its lust and anger tangible. Palpable. It wanted to be free. Wanted to bury its cock into Jaienna’s sex and claim her. Mark her and fill her with its powerful, mystical seed. The seed Crortek so fiercely wanted.

  “Jezu!” he cried out, his muscles cording with the brutal, tenuous control he forced upon them. He stared blankly at the dark, vaulted ceiling, the sound of Crortek’s heavy breathing, the sound of the Boaronians’ shuffling feet like an icy shower of reality, keeping him anchored in his human form.

  But even those sounds were distant, losing their effectiveness, the blazing heat of desire and pleasure engulfing him, radiating out from Jaienna’s sucking mouth, becoming too powerful, too potent to resist.

  He jerked back again, his cock barely slipping from its previous intoxicating position.

  Jaienna took advantage of the slight withdrawal, lashing her tongue over the tip of his shaft, flicking at the glands stimulated to feverish levels. He thrashed in her hold, fighting her mouth, her hands… the beast. He shook his head, eyes squeezed shut, jaw clenched. No, no! “No!” The word burst from between gritted teeth and he punched his hips forward, wanting to punish Jaienna for the inescapable pleasure she rent upon him.

  The hands on his ass gripped tighter on his cheeks, pulling and spreading them, inching closer, closer, closer…

  A fingertip pressed at his anus, gently but firmly.

  He bucked, white, wet heat exploding in his balls. Balls quickly cupped by Jaienna’s other hand. Another surge of molten pleasure flooded through him and he cried out, shoving his cock to Jaienna’s head and yanking her head closer to his cock.

  She took him. All of him. His balls smashed against her chin, his shaft rammed down her throat. He fucked her mouth, incapable of stopping. His balls felt like they were going to burst, his body felt like it was going to explode. The finger on his anus mirrored the tongue on his cock, driving him higher, closer to release. When, after a quick slip back to his saliva-sodden cock, it pressed the puckered opening and invaded the clenching hole, he knew he couldn’t hold off any longer.

  A shudder smashed through him. The werewolf began its charge to the surface of his existence. His blood turned thick, his senses heightened, became preternaturally attuned. He smelt Jaienna’s own passion on the air, detected the subtle musk of her juices. The taste of her desire filled his mouth, its texture slicked his tongue and fingers. He could hear her heart hammering, a tattoo of frantic pleasure that filled his head and mimicked his own. He dropped his head, found her brilliant green eyes on him. Saw in them a love he never thought he’d be worthy of having…

  And the beast broke free.

  His muscles contorted. Stretched. Changed. Thick fur pushed through his epidermal layer, replacing his human flesh. His skeletal structure altered in a painful ripping transformation that flooded his being with rapturous pleasure rivaled by the ecstasy of Jaienna’s tongue, teeth and lips on his turgid cock. He threw back his arms, spread them wide, the beast’s rib cage expanding with every thumping beat of its heart. He felt Jaienna increase the suction on his cock, felt her finger delve deeper into his anus, and then the transformation was complete and he stood before her, no longer a man, but a massive Terran werewolf.

  “Yes!” Crortek screamed, the Ornithion’s voice both faint and inconsequential.

  Scalding detonations released in his swollen sac. His tail swished, his claws ripped the air, his ears flattened to his head. He thrust into the wetness of Jaienna’s mouth, wad after wad of his seed spurting from his cock.

  “Do not swallow!” Crortek bellowed, but again, the words were unimportant.

  Jezu! He could not stop. Didn’t want to stop. Would never stop.

  Jaienna milked him, drained him. He felt her throat work against his cockhead. Felt her hand tug on his balls in soft pulses of pressure. The finger in his ass wriggled, pressed to the utter core of his pleasure point. He threw back his head and howled, the sound long, wild and primitive.

  “Do not swallow!”

  Crortek’s frenzied screams scratched at his human consciousness, but—for the moment—the werewolf was in control.

  With one las
t shuddering eruption, the last of Zeric’s orgasm burst from him. Jaienna’s hands gripped him tight, and then she slipped them from their positions, threading her fingers through the thick pelt on his thighs until her arms hugged his legs. She slowly slid her mouth from his shaft, placing a soft, almost shy kiss on its trembling tip before he felt her move against him and she stood.

  She gazed at him and he saw his reflection in the brilliance of her green eyes. The beast.

  A small smile pulled at her lips and she pressed her palm to his heart, the way she had at the very beginning. A simple, silent connection that told him everything.

  He sucked in a ragged breath through flaring nostrils, tail still, clawed fingers curled…

  And transformed. Back to Zeric Arctos once more.

  “Jaienna?” Her name tore at his hoarse throat. “Did you… My mind… My—”

  She gazed at him, her hand slipping from his chest as, without a word, she turned to face Crortek.

  Zeric’s still hot blood turned cold. Jezu. What was she going to do next?

  “I see my contact was correct,” Crortek said, awe cutting through the smug glee in his voice. “You truly are talented.” He smirked, his white stare flicking to Zeric for a second. “And accommodating. I thank you for obtaining in such an entertaining way that which I—”

  He froze as Jaienna lifted her hand to her mouth and wiped her fingers slowly over the glistening fullness of her lips. “I wouldn’t thank me yet, Ornithion.”

  Absolute fury engulfed Crortek’s face. His spines snapped wide, his eyes wider. “Why you little bitch!” He struck out, smashing his fist into Jaienna’s jaw, sending her flying across the room.

  Zeric watched her sickening arc through the air. As did the beast. And before he could stop it, before he could think about it, it surged to the surface again.

  Ready to tear apart the crime lord once and for all.

  * * * *

  Jak twisted his wrist, gritting his teeth at the pure pain coursing through his arm. He shot his wrist a quick look, taking in the blood pouring down his forearm with both dread and hope. A folded flap of skin, high on the curve of his thumb knuckle made his lips stretch in a bleak smile. Good. If he could just get that part of his hand free…

  He jerked his arm down as far as it could go, barely an inch, and then—shutting out the excruciating agony ripping down to his shoulder—shoved it back up, ramming his wrist against the shackle imprisoning him to the freestanding cross, lubricating it with his own freely flowing blood. Sons of Urik! That fucking hurts!

  Black blotches of pain blossomed before his eyes and he squeezed them shut, forcing his breath to be steady. He couldn’t pass out. Not yet. Not until he freed Bhel at least.

  “Jak?”

  Her terrified cry made him open his eyes and he looked at her across the room. “I’m fine,” he said, keeping his voice as steady as his breath. “Just imagining we were on Raavelia Beta, enjoying the twin suns setting over the Holistrium Sea, that’s all.”

  She gave him a wavering smile, twisting her own wrists in their manacles.

  He returned his stare to his right wrist, bracing himself for the upcoming execution of pain. Pointing his fingers and compressing his hand as tightly as he could, he slowly inched his arm down, twisting it as he did so, working the exposed, blood-slicked sinews of his peeling hand against the shackle. Fuck. It hurt.

  “Jak,” Bhel whispered.

  He didn’t look at her. He had to concentrate. All that stood between them and certain death—and Zeric’s death too—was a persistent fucking flap of skin on his thumb knuckle. All he had to do was peel that flap away, lever it off his hand using the sharp edge of the cross’s shackle and he’d be able to pull his arm free.

  He ground his teeth, sweat pouring down his face into his eyes, stinging like a Yrathian Death Python. When he got out of this, when he got Zeric out of this, he was taking a leave of absence. Fuck it. He was due a break, and thinking about Bhel bathed in those Raavelian twin suns as she stretched out on the beach…

  He twisted his arm again, a wave of pure pain tearing down his arm, bringing with it another galaxy of black blotches in his vision.

  “Jak?”

  Biting at his lip, he jerked his arm down again.

  Warm liquid gushed over his skin, followed by an agony so slicing he almost cried out. A wall of heat smashed into him, his gut rolled and he jammed his mouth shut. A beat passed. Another. Another. He relaxed his arm, lifting his gaze to his hand.

  It looked like he wore a pale-pink glove, its ragged end smeared in red paint, folded and slightly scrunched. Once he slipped that “glove” free of his hand however…

  He closed his eyes and drew on every ounce of strength and resolve in his being, knowing deep down the worst was yet to come.

  A knuckle and a thin layer of flesh. Just a knuckle and thin layer of flesh. After he dealt with those, well, Zeric better be thankful.

  Thankful enough to pay for Jak and Bhel’s vacation to Raavelia Beta.

  It wasn’t everyday he de-gloved himself to save a partner.

  Chapter 7

  Jaienna pushed herself upright, her jaw throbbing, her neck aching. She blinked, staring at the floor beneath her palms. How did she get—

  A savage growl rent the air, followed by a chorus of squeals and cries, and a shriek so terrifying her blood ran cold.

  Crortek!

  Gods, Zeric!

  She spun around, the sight unfolding behind her turning her already chilled blood to ice.

  The beast and the reptilian were locked in deadly battle, both oozing blood from hideous wounds torn into their hides. Zeric’s teeth—now wicked fangs—shined pink, saliva and blood spitting from his snarling muzzle. His clawed hands swiped at Crortek’s head, smashing against the Ornithion’s plated temple, sending the crime lord tumbling in a sharp flip.

  Crortek landed on his feet, charging at Zeric, spines flared into lethal points. He crashed into the werewolf’s stomach, driving Zeric across the room until his broad, muscled back smashed into the far wall, scattering dust and guests in the force.

  “Zeric!” Jaienna screamed, scrambling to her feet.

  The beast roared, pain and fury in the sound. Claws shredded Crortek’s shoulders, splattering blood and scales everywhere. Teeth flashing, Zeric locked his jaw around the Ornithion’s neck, tearing into the scaled surface with a wild growl. Crortek bucked in Zeric’s hold, raking at his arms with talon-like claws.

  The beast howled, flinging the crime lord away, a shower of iridescent green blood coloring the air in his wake. Zeric leapt forward, following Crortek across the room, thumping down on the Ornithion’s back before Crortek could move, clawed feet and hands sinking into his reed-thin body.

  Jaienna sprinted across the room, her eyes fixed firmly on the disruptor she’d dropped while bringing Zeric to orgasm. Gods, was that only minutes ago?

  The warm moisture between her thighs told her it was so, but the horrendous battle before her, between two creatures of terrible, savage strength made her tormented mind believe the moment of delicious pleasure existed in another reality, not this one. She pushed harder, her bare feet slapping the floor, her heart threatening to explode from her chest.

  Both creatures were capable of withstanding a blaster bolt, but Crortek at least, could not survive a direct hit from an Aglaian disruptor. She just had to reach—

  A thick arm whacked her in the chest and, before her feet knew what was happening, her back smacked against the floor. Frantic anger roared through her and she stared up at the leering Boaronian guard standing over her. She lashed out with her foot, driving her heel into its thick knee. The guard squealed and stumbled backward, allowing her just enough time to get to her feet before he launched himself at her and barreled her to the floor.

  She landed hard, the guard’s massive weight pinning her to the ground, his hands snatching at her wrists. “Get off me!” she screamed, bucking underneath him.

  The Bo
aronian laughed, grinding her wrists to the floor and his hips to hers.

  A wave of sick contempt rolled through her. Gods, she didn’t have time for—

  The thought was cut dead, Zeric’s high howl of pain shattering the chaos of the room. She twisted her head, staring, horrified, at the sight of Crortek tearing into Zeric’s throat with his fangs. “Zeric!”

  Her cry made the Boaronian holding her down laugh, and both Crortek and Zeric turned to look at her.

  Absolute triumph flared in Crortek’s gaze. Absolute rage in Zeric’s. His body twisted, he sank his claws into Crortek’s shoulder and flung him over his head. The Ornithion flew through the space above Zeric, spines snapping wide as he cut the air. He landed on all fours, hissing loudly, his pearlescent glare locking on Zeric.

  But Zeric wasn’t watching. His golden beast’s stare was fixed on Jaienna, imprisoned under the Boaronian. He burst into a sprint, ears flat to his head, teeth bared, eyes glowing.

  Crortek smashed into him however, before he could cross the room, driving him to his side. The two slid across the floor, snarling, howling and growling, teeth, fangs and claws tearing into scales and fur alike.

  Jaienna thrashed under the Boaronian. She struck out at the hulking guard, ramming her palm-heel into its short snout. Its head snapped up, piggish eyes rolling. The brief moment of pain was enough for Jaienna. She smacked her cupped hands against its ears and, when the massive body reeled away, shoved hard on the Boaronian’s chest. It tumbled off her and she leapt to her feet, vaulting over its fallen body, once again focused on her Aglaian disruptor.

  Five paces, Jaienna! Just five—

  The Boaronian grabbed her, yanked her backward, crushing her to its chest in a brutal, punishing hold. “You’re not going anywhere, cunt,” it snarled in her ear, ramming its blaster to her temple and its swollen crotch to her ass.

  “Oh, I think she is.”

  The voice was low and supremely confident. The Boaronian tensed, tightening its hold on Jaienna just as Tornada—still surrounded by the kaleidoscope of swirling translocation lights—appeared in the room and leveled his Jjor disruptor at its head and fired.