Kovas

KOVAS

This was wrong.

But I didn't care.

For my entire life, I'd never wanted anything more than to excel at my missions.

That had always been enough.

No longer.

I needed Mera, needed her soft cries and low moans, the way she quivered beneath me as her body bent to mine, the tightness of her pussy yielding to my cock.

I needed to taste every inch of her, to breathe in her aroma, lap at her nectar until I was drunk.

As she writhed beneath me, I grew even harder, the pressure building deep in my gut until, with a roar, my hot seed filled her.

Reluctantly, I pulled my mouth from her shoulder, the lingering sweetness of her blood an almost irresistible call.

Instead, I gathered her to my chest, rolling until she lay on top of me, smoothing her hair back from her face until her breathing evened out.

For a moment, I wondered what it would be like to hold her like this forever, to listen to her fall asleep every night, to be the only one who heard her moans, her laugh.

The confidant for her worries, a partner against the world.

I couldn't imagine it. Such a life was not for me.

I would get her out of here, destroy anyone who hurt her.

That would be enough.

It would have to be.

Lightly, I brushed my fingers over the rapidly healing wound on her shoulder.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head. "Well, maybe."

Her mischievous grin made me want to kiss her all over again. "But only in the best of ways."

"Stop that." I managed to grunt as my gut tightened. "I'm not in any shape to take you again."

Immediately, her eyes flew open, her hands fluttering down the bandages of my chest.

"I can't believe I didn't think about your injuries. I didn't think about anything. Are you okay? Did we rip anything open?"

Grabbing her wrists, I pulled her back to my side.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing if I took another nap. But I'll be fine. I'll be able to fight."

Not as much as I'd need to, I was sure.

It would be harder than usual, I'm sure.

If it was what I needed to do to get Mera out of here, I'd manage.

"Lay down now."

She scooted away from me, and tugged at my shoulders until I was back on the cell floor.

My nose wrinkled in disgust.

Now that my body wasn't devoting every bit of energy into recovering, I was able to spare a little notice for our surroundings.

The whole place stunk. Mother night, I stunk.

It was filthy, the fact that my wounds weren't hopelessly infected was only due to Mera's careful attention.

"Wake me up when the guard comes."

Her lips pressed together, and she nodded once.

"Remember, wait. I'll stall Garlku as long as I can. Give you as much time as possible to heal."

A flash of anger washed over me as I thought of how she would need to stall.

"Just wake me up in time."

The crushing pain through my body refused to be ignored any longer.

I'd been in bad shape before, left for dead, faced with overwhelming odds.

I've never been worried before.

I've never had someone I needed to protect.

So despite the urge to stay awake, to keep by her side, I let myself fall into the healing slumber one more time, not as deep of a trance as before, just enough to gather my strength for the battle ahead.

The creak of the cell door woke me.

"It's time, girly. Put this on."

Mera sighed deeply and I heard the shuffling of her feet as she stood.

"We really have to go through this again? I need to shower up first."

Even despite my closed eyes, I imagined the sneer on the guard's face.

"Not sure why, seems pretty clear Garlku is finally going to get a chance to dirty you up himself."

I barely managed to stay still, my fingers flexing into a fist.

I'd remember this man, remember his voice, his scent.

"Sure, you go tell Garlku that his orders have been changed." Could the asshole hear the tiny quiver of fear in Mera's voice? "I'll just wait here."

With a crash, the cell door slammed open, followed by a startled gasp from Mera.

"You mouthy bitch! I cannot wait until he takes you off our hands." Her muffled cry followed the thud of his boots.

"It'll be the highlight of my day imagining the things he will do to you."

I cracked open an eyelid.

Mera and the guard stood outside the cell door which was still open.

"I can make my own way to the infirmary. It's not like I haven't been there before."

"Oh no, girlie," the guard spat. "Like you said, I go with protocol."

"Then try to keep up."

Head held high, Mera stomped out of sight, and with a bellow of rage, the guard chased after her.

Leaving the cell door open, just a crack.

Beautiful, brave and clever.

Amazing.

And if I didn't get my act together, I would lose her forever.

My head throbbed as I slowly opened my eyes all the way and I sat up, scanning my injuries again.

At least I'd healed up from any damage I'd done to myself while wrapped in Mera's arms.

Maybe a little more.

A battered water bottle, a thin tray that would no doubt snap if I tried to bludgeon anyone with it.

Dirty bandages shoved into a corner.

I grinned to myself. That would do for a start.

Outside the cell, I slipped through the shadows, testing the air as I went, following Mera's scent.

At the first turning, I paused.

Time to test out the plan.

My boots had vanished before I'd been thrown into the cell, which made my footsteps down the faintly lit corridor door even more silent than they might have been.

So you really couldn't blame the Nazok guard for not hearing me creep up behind him.

And once the twisted length of fabric was wrapped around his throat, it was a matter of moments before he collapsed, unable to breathe, much less scream.

Quickly, I stripped the guard of his weapons and anything else that might be useful.

I might want more than the tattered pair of pants I've worn for weeks, but there was no way his uniform would fit me.

I sniffed the body.

Not the right one.

That was fine. There were plenty more.

Deeper through the maze of corridors I went, following Mera's trail.

Another guard down, another weapon gained.

She wanted me to wait, rest more, but I hadn't been able to for long.

Yet still, she was somehow ahead of me.

It was my own fault.

In my weakened state, killing the guards as I went took longer than it should have.

Using a scavenged access card, I followed her scent to a lift.

This was taking forever. Every time the door opened I paused, breathing deeply, searching for her.

Not on the next level, or the next.

Finally, I found where she'd been taken out of the lift car and continued the hunt.

I dropped the fifth guard to the floor, cleaning my newly acquired knife on his uniform.

Still not close to my size.

More importantly, not the one who'd tormented Mera.

Then I heard a mad bellow.

"What is this?"

A deep male voice raged in the distance, echoing down the steel walls.

And then the smack of a hard strike against flesh, and a cry that ripped through my chest, slicing through me sharper than any blade.

The room was draped in heavy red curtains, burgundy and black layered in sensuous folds, lit only by dozens of small globes scattered around the tables.

It was like swimming in a sea of blood.

But the only thing I saw was Mera, cowering on the floor with her hands pulling together the tattered shoulder of the sapphire dress that rode high on her thighs.

Over her, a massive Fanaith towered.

Garlku, no doubt.

He hurt her. Terrified her. Made her imprisonment a nightmare.

Maybe I should've done something flashy. Ripped his arms off of the shoulders. Cracked his sternum and strangled him with his own intestines.

But I was tired and there was no time.

The knife I'd taken from the first guard went sailing through the air, bearing itself to the hilt in one flat gray eye.

"Argh!" he bellowed. "How dare you! Guards!"

But nobody was coming. The dead seldom responded on command.

He limped towards me and I flicked the second knife, blinding him totally.

But the giant didn't fall.

Fanaith were pain in the ass to fight.

Their secondary nervous system let them keep moving when most other species would be crumpled on the floor.

But that was fine. It wouldn't be my first time killing one of these brutes.

Probably not the last either.

I spun quickly around Garlku's back, and plunged the third knife at the base of his skull, severing his spine.

He couldn't scream, couldn't make his indecent demands anymore.

His legs gave out, and he fell to the ground with nothing more than a low gurgling noise.

Stepping over his corpse, I swept Mera into my arms.

She clung to me, trembling.

"It's over now," I promised her, smoothing her damp hair back from where it had fallen out of the messy knot she'd tied it up in.

The red mark on her cheek bore witness to Garlku's assault, and I reached for another knife.

But it would do no good.

It's not like I could make him any more dead.

"I'm all right," she said after a long minute. "I thought I could give in to him, buy you more time, but I just, I just couldn't do it."

"It never should have been a possibility," I snarled. "It is my own fault for taking so long to reach you."

The faintest of smiles lifted the corner of her lips.

"I guess we can sit here and figure out whose fault anything is all day, but why don't we do that on the way out of this place?"

"Agreed."

Reluctantly, I loosened my grip from her shoulders, watching to make sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her completely.

"I need a moment first." I turned back to the body, retrieving the knives.

We've been lucky.

Apparently, Conii and her gang had been expecting a certain amount of noise from Garlku's quarters tonight.

I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath.

It didn't matter anymore.

Now we just needed to find a way out of here.

I stood up to find Mera ransacking a dark green bag that had been tossed into the corner.

"What's that?" I asked.

"No idea yet. Just looking for anything that could be useful."

She tossed a bundle of fabric to me. "I can't say anything as to his taste," she added. "But at least it should fit."

Annoyed by the necessity, I pulled the deep blue tunic on, muttering to myself as it caught on my horns.

Mera cocked her head to the side. "The color actually looks good on you," she said, then stepped forward to trace her fingers down my sigils.

"I prefer black."

She snorted. "Of course you do."

Ignoring her amusement, I turned to the bag to see for myself what other useful items might remain.

A percomm, locked. Havek would make short work of that.

More clothing.

Shaking it out, the bundle of pale lace was a mockery of a dress.

Mera's face paled. "We don't need that."

No.

Under it I found a dark yellow card, smaller than my palm, no writing on it, no logo, no clues.

I tapped it on my hand.

"I've seen this before," I mused, before sliding it into my pocket. "A maintenance access card. Why did he need one of these?"

But that was it. No more weapons, and certainly not a handy map highlighting where we were and how to get away from this dungeon.

The tiny pink triangle of Mera's tongue stuck out as she tied together her dress at the shoulder, then turned to look at me.

"Now what?"

"Now we move."

Slinging the bag across my chest, I grabbed her hand and led her into the shadows.