Chapter 22

Chapter 21

Beth screamed as the tusked alien loomed over Banic's fallen form. She fought against the hold of the huge aliens on either side of her. Their hard grip on her arms bruised her skin as she tried to tear herself free, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting to the man she loved as he lay bleeding on the floor in the wreckage of the barricade.

"Help him!" she screamed, begging the ferals and the Izaean on the other side of the corridor, but even as she did so, she knew they wouldn't move. They had their own duty, orders to protect the hall and those within. Orders that had been given by Banic. She knew that, understood that. He would not allow them to sacrifice themselves for him.

It just wasn't who or what he was.

Her horrified gaze latched on to Banic where he lay on the floor. He was bleeding and battered, red blood painting lines over his skin to pool on the sandy floor beneath him.

"No! Please!" she screamed as the alien raised a huge foot right over Banic's head.

Tears streamed down her face as her voice cracked and her screams became silent. Banic turned toward her, as though he was seeking the sight of her for reassurance. She wasn't even sure he could see her anymore. Her breathing caught in her throat and she couldn't breathe any longer. She should stop crying and be brave. If the last thing he saw before he died was her, if the last thing he wanted to see before he died was her… she should make sure she wasn't screaming and in pain. She owed him that, at the least.

But she couldn't. The moment stretched out, the alien's foot poised above the fallen feral's head as the alien turned, jeering at his followers and whipping them up into a frenzy. Their whoops and hollers echoed back from the stone walls, hurting her ears.

The light in Banic's red eyes began to fade, and she sobbed pitifully as her heart cracked to leave a gaping, ragged, and raw wound right there in the center of her chest.

She loved him. She loved her huge, brutal feral warrior. Even though he wasn't human, even though she knew he wasn't alone in there, she still loved him and the Rage that filtered through his blood.

But she couldn't save him… them. She'd come to Parac'Norr convinced she could save the Izaean, but at the end of the day… now… she realized she couldn't save any of them.

She couldn't even save the man she loved.

The alien's foot slammed down, and she screamed, the strength gone from her body as she hung limply in her captor's hold. Time slowed to a crawl as the heavy boot headed toward Banic's head, the speed and ferocity of the coming impact sure to crack his skull and dash his brains over the sands.

She winced and screwed her eyes tightly shut. She couldn't watch it. Couldn't watch him die.

A ferocious roar split the air. Filled with feral Rage and fury, it was too deep and discordant to have come from even a Latharian throat. She gasped, her head snapping up to see hands wedged under the alien's boot.

But they weren't Banic's hands. They were too big and the wrong shape. They were black. Long-clawed. Monsterous.

The black-skinned hands wrapped around the alien's boot, capturing it and shoving it upward. Banic rose from the sands, the black armoring of his Rage flowing down his arms and over his body, spreading over his chest and up over his face.

The alien flailed, trying to kick out, but Banic just grinned. It was a horrible, awful grin full of malevolence.

His red eyes glowed as he snarled in rage.

"We are one, we are myriad, and we are legion," he bellowed in an awful voice that wasn't his as he pushed the alien up into the air and sent him flying back across the sands.

A gasp flowed through the aliens all around her, but all she could do was watch as Banic raised himself up from the sands. It wasn't Banic. He was covered in the black armor of the chimera, his shoulders hunched, his hands hanging by his sides. It was like looking at something that wore the face of the man she loved but covered in black armor, with that smile that spoke of death and destruction on his face.

The alien hissed as he scrambled to his feet and rounded on Banic again. "For that, you will die slowly, where your female can see every inch of your agony."

Banic threw back his head and laughed.

"You cannot win thisss. You are all but one, and we are many." The hiss reverberated sibilantly through the dry air in the corridor. No one moved, all attention locked on to the fight between the two.

"We always win! We are horde," the alien screamed and threw himself at Banic.

Her heart pounded as he waited until the horde leader was almost on top of him. She wanted to scream at him to move. To do something. Then he batted the horde alien aside with a lazy backhand, the edges of his claws parting the pasty-grey skin of its face as it slammed into the wall.

"We are one, we are myriad, we are legion," Banic hissed again, stalking after him across the sands toward the fallen alien. She fought the urge to look away, to hide her face.

The walk was not human. Not even close, and it triggered the hairs on the back of her neck to rise, and the need to run… to hide, all the deeply buried survival instincts of her ancestors who had taken refuge in caves rushing to the fore. But she forced herself to watch, using the fascination of the scientist she'd been trained to be, to keep her eyes open.

To witness.

It was like an entirely different skeletal structure was at play, fascinating and horrifying all at once. She knew she was seeing the creature inside Banic, that the Rage was using his body as a meat puppet for its own ends. But she didn't care. It had saved the man she loved, stopped him from getting his skull crushed, even as it rode his bones to fight the alien in front of them.

The horde leader looked up at Banic, his grey face haggard as black blood dripped from his ruined chin onto his chest, slicing through the markings there.

"The general will destroy you!"

"Oh, he's welcome to try." Banic chuckled as he leaned down, driving his talons deep into his fallen opponent's shoulder and dragging them through the flesh, following the line of the markings. The alien's screams filled the air.

"As I told you." Banic stopped carving up the grey flesh for a moment, looking down on the alien dispassionately until the whimpers stopped. "We are one. And we are many."

"Legion. Legion. We are legion," Tor and Sy barked from the doorway to the hall, their red eyes glowing.

"Secure our female," Banic snarled at them, returning his attention to his victim.

She tried to ignore the grisly sounds filling the air as the two ferals slid out of cover to approach the horde aliens. The fear rolling through her locked every muscle in her body in place, but her captors dropped her as if the very touch of her flesh burned them and backed away from the approaching men. She almost followed them, her breath catching in her throat and her heart thundering in her chest. They moved like Banic now, in a way that suggested their skeletal systems were little more than a vague set of guidelines that could be ignored at will.

Within seconds, they reached her, and she couldn't help the whimper that escaped her lips, expecting those vicious claws to rend her limb from limb at any moment. Other Izaeans ran past them, bellowing war cries, to chase down the other horde aliens who were even now trying to flee through the corridors. It was like the loss of their leader had broken their spirit, and they panicked.

Her two feral guards didn't move from her side. Then the one who wore Tor's body turned his head, his red eyes meeting hers.

"Your fear is unwarranted," he said in a low, raspy voice she didn't recognize. "The owner of his body recognizes you, has fond feelings for you. You are sacrosanct."

Somehow, that wasn't much of a relief.

"Tor…" she whispered. "Is he… Is he still in there?"

The feral tilted his head slightly to the side. She would have said the movement was birdlike, but it wasn't. It was more… arachnid… but not. Her common sense kicked in, and she stopped thinking about it.

"Asleep," the feral said finally. "Was hurt. Not hurt now."

Asleep. Not dead. Relief filled her, and she staggered a little. Sy caught her, and she looked up into another set of red eyes. This time, though, she saw her friend, not the Rage.

"Are you okay?" he demanded in a low voice. "Are you hurt?"

"Just bruised and scared." She shook her head. "Really glad to see you guys?—"

Her words trailed off as the whimpers from the other side of the wide space in front of the doors cut off. Banic straightened up and turned, his red gaze intent as he strode toward her.

She bit her lip and stood her ground, Tor and Sy taking a step back away from her.

"Female," Banic's Rage said, watching her through those red eyes. It had altered Banic's body, but his features were more or less the same.

"Hello," she said in greeting. "You're… uhm… his… what do I call you?"

It lifted Banic's chin. "We do not have names in the way you soft creatures do, nor could you pronounce mine if you tried. You do not…" It touched Banic's throat with a clawed hand. "You do not have the correct structure."

She nodded. "You can't alter him all the way. Can you? To what you should be?"

It shook its head. "No. We are still too entwined with thessse creaturesss, thessse feralsss."

"What are you?"

"Many. One. Legion."

Okay, that wasn't much help at all, but she didn't care about that. Taking a step toward his massive, black-armored body, she looked up. Entreated.

"Will you give him back to me? Please?"

The Rage looked down at her for long moments, and her heart thumped in her throat. What if it didn't want to give Banic back? What if it wanted to keep the body? What if it couldn't give it ba?—

With a sharp nod, the Rage closed Banic's eyes, and the black armoring flowed away like it had become oil over the skin and then sank back within. He gasped, staggered forward, and almost went down.

"Banic!" she cried out, trying to grab him and get her shoulder under him before he fell all in one go. It didn't work, and he crashed into her. A small cry escaped her lips as she felt her knees creak and buckle beneath her, but she tried to haul them both upright anyway.

Then his arms wrapped around her, and in the next second, she was airborne. Squeaking, she clutched at broad shoulders as she was pulled against a solid chest. Banic looked down at her, emotion filling his red eyes.

"Banic!" She almost cried as she recognized the intelligence behind his eyes and realized it was him, not the Rage.

He smiled, the familiar quirk of his lips that she was so used to. "Yes, kelarris. It's me."

"You idiot!" She pulled back to smack him on the shoulder, anger filling her. "Why did you do that? You shouldn't have come out and fought him! Not for me! He nearly killed you!"

He held on to her despite her struggles, making soothing sounds. "Hey, hey… I'm here. I had backup. Remember?"

She stilled to glare at him, horrible images of the fight rolling through her mind again. "Yes! And I'd like a word with Mr. Rage in there as well! He…it let you go far too long before it stepped up and nearly got the man I love killed."

Banic purred, a low sound of pleasure. "You love me."

She snorted. "Right now I could throttle you, but yes. I love you, you idiot alien. Just don't you dare go trying to sacrifice yourself for me again. Okay? Or I'll kill you myself."

He tilted his head. "The Rage said human females are scary when mad. Cute but scary."

She arched an eyebrow. "Mr. Rage is getting a pass on that one, but only for today. Now are you going to say it?"

He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he wasn't going to say anything. Then he smiled and leaned down to press his forehead against hers.

"Beth, my kelarris, I love you. I've loved you from the moment I first heard your voice, and I will love you for as long as a draw breath. I will protect you with every breath and cell in my body, and…" He smiled. "With a fair few that aren't mine. Will you bond with me, and be mine forever?"

"Yes." She sighed, her heart melting at the gentleness of her huge, alien feral warrior. "Just as long as you promise never to leave me again. I will not lose you. Understand?"

"You never will, my love. I promise that."

And then he kissed her, slowly. Gently.

Ignoring the fact that he was covered in blood and sand, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.

She was right where she needed to be.

?

The fight was over and she was all his. Leaving Zeke in command to greet Raalt and Kraath when they arrived, Banic carried his precious little mate through the corridors back to her quarters. She nestled against his chest trustingly, her soft touches against the back of his neck feeding his soul in a way he hadn't realized he needed.

His little mate. The one who had fought for him, had contacted a family that didn't want him and believed in him, even though she had no reason to. The precious little mate who carried his child, even though she didn't know it.

The door to her quarters slid open as soon as they approached, and he walked them right through into the shower. It was peaceful and tranquil in here, all hints of the horror of the last few hours absent. Snapping the shower on, he waited until the water was hot before walking them under it to wash the blood and dirt of the attack from their bodies.

Neither of them spoke. This moment didn't need words. He didn't need words. He would care for his kelarris with his body, with his actions. Slowly, carefully, he stripped her clothes away until she stood before him naked. Her eyes were wide and dark as she looked up at him, and he saw the toll the last few hours had taken on her. An ache tugged at his heart. Beth was all that was good in his world.

"Never again," he murmured, leaning down to brush his lips over hers. "Never again will you or…" She didn't know about the child, so he corrected himself quickly. "Never again will I put you at risk like that."

"This was not your fault." She shook her head, her hands on his bare chest. Her touch sent a shiver through his body, right down to his cock, already hardening and lengthening against the softness of her stomach. "Those… whatever they are attacked us, here… your home. What about that was your fault? What about that could you have stopped? Prevented?" Fire blazed in her eyes as she looked up at him, defending him against his own worries.

"Gods, I love you, kelarris," he murmured roughly, taking her face in his hands so he could lean down and plunder her lips with his own.

The kiss was long and drugging, filled with emotion and need. She reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back, her soft murmur of pleasure lost in his mouth. But he heard it and noted it like he noted everything about her. She was his need, his world and his obsession. He would never not notice anything about her.

The kiss started soft and gentle, but that didn't last long. Need raged through him, even though the warning voice in his mind told him to take it easy with her… that she'd just been through an ordeal and was human. Delicate. It made no difference against the heat surging through his body, the sheer and utter need to feel her surrender to him again.

Backing her up against the tile wall of the shower, he pinned her in place. Parting her lips in a soft sweep of his tongue, he drove within as soon as she opened up to him. A deep groan escaped his chest, his cock jerking where it was trapped between them at the softness of her mouth. Sliding his tongue against hers, he teased and caressed with long, slow strokes. He tempted her with hard movements until she responded and touched him as he touched her, their tongues twining as her little hands stroked over his chest and shoulders.

A shiver rolled down his spine as her fingertips brushed his nipples, causing heat to explode through him. The need to touch her overwhelmed all else. Bending, he slid his hands around her thighs and lifted her. Wrapping her legs around his waist, he pinned her in place with his hips and then groaned as the hot wetness of her pussy caressed the underside of his engorged shaft.

He growled, crushing her soft mouth beneath his with devouring kisses as he rocked against her, feeding the need growing between them. She gasped, breaking away from his mouth as her head fell back against the tiles. Reaching up, he smoothed the hair from her face, watching her expressions and marveling that this beautiful female was his. More… that she would let him touch her in this way. Wanted him to touch her in this way.

She opened her eyes, their gazes connecting.

"Banic… please," she whispered, and he was lost. Done. She owned him, body and soul.

"As my kelarris commands," he murmured, sliding an arm under her ass as he readjusted himself. The broad head of his cock pressed against the entrance to her body, bathed in the liquid heat there, and he had to lock his knees. Force himself to stay rigid and not plunge into her in one hard, brutal thrust.

She lifted her head, claiming his lips with her own in a hard kiss. Closing his eyes, he shivered all the way down to his toes as she plundered his mouth with ravenous slides and strokes of her tongue. They were both breathless when she pulled away to look up into his eyes.

"Banic, take me," she whispered. "I need this. Please… Make the last few hours go away."

He nodded and pushed forward, parting her around the thickness of his cock. If she needed him to distract her from bad memories by draanthing her until neither of them could move, that's what he would do. Rocking his hips, he worked himself into her in short, sharp movements, each snap of his hips taking him deeper into the heavenly embrace of her hot, tight body.

She moaned against his lips when he bottomed out, her pussy fluttering and clenching hard around him.

"Oh fuck," he groaned, gathering her close to him, the hot flow of the water wrapping around them like a blanket.

"Finally." She chuckled against his lips. "Now you're getting the idea."

He pulled back to look down at her, one eyebrow raised. "Are you calling me slow, my little kelarris?"

Mischief danced in her eyes. "If the cap fits…"

He had no idea what she was on about, but then she rolled her hips and blew his mind. Pleasure exploded through him as her pussy gripped his cock, the friction indescribable. A groan burst from his chest as he moved, his hips jerking back before he surged forward, filling her again. Once he'd started, he couldn't stop. His breath came in short, hard pants as he draanthed her into the wall. The worry that he was too hard, too rough, with her faded with the look of bliss on her face and the soft, sexy sounds that spilled from her lips. He found himself chasing them, wanting more, louder.

"Scream for me, kelarris," he demanded, his voice harsh. He wanted… no, he needed to hear his name on her lips, for his to be the name she cried out at the peak of her pleasure, all she thought about when she came apart in ecstasy.

She whimpered and his jaw clenched. Bracing himself against the wall, he used every muscle in his bigger frame to power into her. His wet hair swung in front of his shoulders with each movement as he drove them both closer to pleasure.

She arched her back, closing her eyes as she chased that edge with him. She matched each movement he made perfectly. When he rocked his hips, grinding against the little nub of pleasure between her thighs, she gasped, driving herself down on him more fully. Each movement fed the next until he felt fire racing along his spine.

With a grunt, he sped up, intent on driving her out of her mind. It didn't take long. She gasped, her eyes flying open as her pussy tightened around him.

"Oh god… Banic…"

"I got you, kelarris," he promised, his voice rough with heat. "I'm here. Let go. Give me your pleasure. Come all over my cock."

She did, a soft scream in the back of her throat as she clamped down on him and came in long, hard waves of pleasure that milked his cock. Fire hit him broadside, racing down his spine to encircle his balls.

"Draanth," he hissed, unable to help slamming into the soft haven of her body. He was a male possessed, his thrusts harder and faster the more she clenched around him. But he couldn't keep the smooth pace up, his thrusts becoming jerky as pleasure coiled low in his belly, so tight it hurt.

Then it hit, his climax exploding through him with the force of a supernova. He drove his cock deep within her as he bathed her inner walls with long, hot ropes of his seed. Locking his knees, he stayed in place as she moaned and writhed on his cock. Her body remained clenched around his, as if greedy for everything he could give her, even though he knew his seed had already found fertile ground.

They came back down together, their breathing leveling out as he pulled back to look at her. He lifted a hand to smooth her wet hair back from her beautiful face. "I love you, Beth. I have since the moment I saw you."

"I love you too."

She smiled up at him, and he saw the only future he would ever need in her dark eyes.

She was his.

His kelarris. His beloved.

And he would spend the rest of his life proving his devotion to her.