this small cottage at the edge of Njordem in the Frozen Pines, fucking my female until she loses consciousness from pleasure. But I know this cannot be. Though I do not burden her with the knowledge, my father’s clan is the largest on the planet. There may be separatists and factions that align themselves against him, but when he learns the full scale of my rebellion, he has the resources to bring scores of warriors down upon us.
Worse, my father may very well decide to strike against her people just to spite me. And I knew that Liandra would never find satisfaction in this life if she knew it came at the cost of her species. If it came to a decision between the hundreds of thousands aboard her ship and Liandra, I knew I would choose my female, even if she hated me for it. So no matter how much I may want to spend the rest of my days here, enjoying my female, I know I cannot rest. Our time together now will have to sate my lust until I can find a way to set matters right.
Liandra eventually wakes, giving my cock a playful squeeze and looking up into my eyes. “I feel like I just ran a marathon.”
“You spent a night with an Umani Prince between your legs. This is more taxing than a marathon.”
“I have to agree. But it’s a lot more fun, too.”
I smile, standing. She reaches for my cock but I pull back, waving a finger in her face. “I do not have time to wait for you to recover again. We must begin making plans to officially rebel against my father. We will need numbers if we hope to succeed. Without them, we will only hope to find good deaths. And if you die under my protection, even the most worthy death will not protect me from my shame.”
She sticks her bottom lip out and reaches once more for my cock. “I promise not to pass out,” she says.
Her flirtations do not reach me now. My thoughts are elsewhere. A darker place. I think of the shame I brought upon myself and my family when the genetic plague struck our females so many years ago. I think of the thousands of times since that I have looked back and wondered how I could have acted differently, how I could have saved them. Now, I can’t help feel as though this is my chance for redemption. I can walk the path differently and save those under my protection without sacrificing my pride. I won’t fail again.
17
Liandra
I look at his troubled features and the grin slips from my mouth. It’s the same clouded look I saw before, as if something painful inside him has jabbed him and made him bleed. The thought of my warrior in pain makes me want to heal him, to find whatever is hurting him and fix it. “What is wrong?” I ask.
Like before, he quickly smooths his features and tries to play it off with a smirk. “I was only thinking of spending a moment away from your warmth.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t patronize me. Something is on your mind.”
“Yes. How to protect you.”
“There’s something else. Something deeper. Let me in. I can help.”
He seems on the verge of telling me and then his face hardens. “I do not need help. You will wait here until I return.”
He stalks from the room and shortly after I hear him knocking at Davoso’s door. Then the knocking gets louder. And then I hear him knock the door down.
I rush outside, running to see if my sister is okay. Inside, the walls are covered in dark blue blood. My eyes quickly scan for any red blood, indicating my sister was harmed, but I find none. Four blue-skinned Umani I’ve never seen lay in various states of butchery. One is cleaved in half from forehead to crotch. Another is missing both legs beneath the knees. One has no head and the fourth lays motionless, hands still clutched at his stomach to hold his insides in.
Then I see them. Kato is already pulling Davoso’s motionless body from atop my sister. Two spears are broken off in his back and he’s bleeding from half a dozen other places. But I hear him cough as Kato lifts him. I nearly cry with relief when I see my
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