Between Two Tiron Read online

  Shard felt his cock swell and lengthen inside her tight sheath. Those inner muscles rippled and stretched, encasing him in an almost painful grip. He clenched his teeth. Worried that he would score her tender flesh with his claws, he hesitated to withdraw and plunge hard and deep as he desired. He drew back, slowly pulling out of the slick heat of her pussy. The scent of her desire blossomed around him. She pressed back into him, a hungry mewl sounding when he tried to control the beast raging to drive into her.

  At that tortured sound, he quit trying. She needed him to be as wild as the beast demanded. He began to pump into her, driving his hips into her buttocks. She thrust back against him, demanding. His hands gripped her hips, pulling her back into each pounding thrust. A primitive purr rolled through her when his claws scraped over her and gush of fluid welcomed the surge of his shaft into her grasping channel.

  The muscles of her pussy rippled around his cock, driving him almost insane as the desperate need riding him grew even hotter. He leaned over her, lowering his chest to her back as his hips pistoned against hers. He scraped his teeth over the mark on her shoulder, drawing a desperate, needy moan from her.

  The tiron within ruled him and Shard didn’t try to deny his needs. His teeth sank into her shoulder as her cunt rippled with the first contractions of her orgasm. The strangled sound of her scream of pleasure combined with his growl as he thrust hard into her milking sheath. He came.

  Every pulsing jet that sprayed into her pussy felt as if pure heat was burning through him. The muscles of the tight channel surrounding his shaft rippled and pulled at him, sending tingling jolts of sensation through his body. He was breathing hard and he could feel her heart racing as his chest pressed against her back. She took in great gulps of air as Shard pulled out of her.

  Only a moment later, Lina sensed movement behind her. Kaleb took Shard’s place and moved her hair to the opposite side of her neck. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him.

  Kaleb could feel the need to take her burning through him, but just as prevalent was the need to see to her pleasure. He didn’t want to chance hurting her as he fucked her. “I don’t have much control left, i’ma, but I’ll try to ensure your pleasure.”

  She pressed back against him as his scent began to incite the desire which had just been satiated. Kaleb’s hands slid over her back and hips. One large palm slipped beneath her, over her stomach to the slick mound of her pussy.

  Gods, she was beautiful. She was wet with her desire and Shard’s seed. His fingers slid between the folds and began to stroke over her clit, rubbing the hard hood in a circular motion. She whimpered as her need and desire rose hot and fast. Her hips undulated, riding the fingers giving her such pleasure.

  Kaleb could feel the need burning inside him, a need to protect, a need to ensure she was safe, a need to claim, to reinforce the knowledge that she was safe and would remain so. He needed to feel her heat surrounding him, that slick, hot glove taking him deep. He entered her slowly, determined to control the change at least until he was fully sheathed in her cunt. He threw his head back as that hot channel clenched around him. Fur rippled under his skin as the beast leaped for control.

  “Fuck me, Kaleb.” She pushed back into him, taking his length into her needy pussy. “I want you, Kaleb. Hard and fast, gentle and sweet, however you need, take me. Just fuck me.”

  The change hit him, racing through him as his control vanished at her husky plea. Fur lightly coated his arms and torso as mid-change swept over him. Larger, he loomed over her. Sweat dripped from his face as he began to thrust within her. He leaned over her. His tongue lapped over her shoulder and neck. He loved her taste, hot, sexy and his.

  She was so eager and responsive. Her hungry moans and mewls encouraged him as he began to move faster. With lips, teeth and tongue, he laved, lashed and scraped her shoulders and neck, paying special attention to the sensitive scars of his joining bite.

  “Gods, yes, squeeze me, Lina,” Kaleb growled as he continued to thrust into her tight, clenching channel.

  His teeth latched on to her shoulder. The sharp fangs sank into her shoulder, reopening the four punctures. She went wild under him. Her hips met each pounding thrust and her pussy gripped his cock with pulling contractions. Wild cries, wordless pleas encouraged his surging thrusts. His balls slapped against her labia and clit with wet smacks.

  Need throbbed within him, tightening his muscles. She screamed as she came, her body trembling beneath his, the wet sheath surrounding his cock contracted in milking ripples. His shaft plunged in and out of her pussy in a frantic rhythm as the desire coiled into a hard knot. He came, growling against her shoulder. Fiery pleasure burned through him as her muscles squeezed and pulled at him, drawing every last drop of seed from his balls.

  Kaleb withdrew and urged Lina to lie down on the soft bedding. He snuggled against her on her right and Shard settled down on her left side. She worked her arms under both of them so that she could hold as well as be held by both of them.

  She turned her gaze from Shard to Kaleb, intent on getting the answers that had been denied her because of the intensity of their need. “Now can you tell me what you learned in your interrogations? If you become upset by it, I am right here, ready and willing to provide comfort or anything else you might need, even a fight.”

  Kaleb turned toward her and his hand settled on her stomach, rubbing lightly. “Most of those men sent after us in this attack weren’t the zealots and fanatics that the other three men were.”

  Lina caught the look of almost desperation which crossed Kaleb’s face before he leaned down and kissed her shoulder. “If they aren’t fanatics, what are they?”

  Shard’s fingers brushed over the mound of her breast. He took a deep breath, inhaling the rich scent of sex and feminine desire. “They’re mercenaries. They were hired as muscle by this group, just in case they were discovered.”

  She bit her lip to keep from moaning as Shard’s fingers brushed over her hard nipples. She hadn’t yet heard anything that explained their actions when they’d returned to camp. “What else did you learn from the captives?”

  “They had been ordered to delay us and kill everyone at the camp.” Shard cupped his hand over her left breast and felt the steady beat of her heart. It pounded reassuringly against his hand, comfort for the distress the memories caused.

  That explained some of their need, but she suspected there was more to the story. “Tell me the rest of it, rao nari.”

  “Gods, i’ma, you don’t know what it took to leave the room, to leave the scum still breathing when everything in me roared for his death.” Rage throbbed in the deep rumble of Kaleb’s voice. “Most of their weapons were on stun or a setting meant to cause pain. They intended to stun everyone within the camp. They would kill all the men when they could safely enter the camp and then take their time with the women before finishing them just as they had the men.”

  Understanding rolled through her. The fanatics hadn’t merely hired mercs. They had hired the worst scum, the kind who enjoyed torturing and raping the weak before killing them. She had no doubt that the selection of such mercs had been intentional. Groups such as the one they faced hated any shifter or being which was not completely human. With information such as that, it was little wonder that they had lost a little of their customary control.

  “Are the mercenaries still alive?” Lina looked at Shard through her lashes. She would have been strongly tempted to rip the men apart. They must have felt the desire to kill them raging through them.

  “They’re alive. Central Command is sending some transport shuttles for them. Although we wanted to tear them into little pieces and jettison their remains, the Council of Shifters has been encouraging more cooperation with Central Command in instances such as these.” Shard’s fingers began combing through her golden hair in gentle, rhythmic strokes.

  “Leaving the men in one piece was been hard, especially when they didn’t hesitate to tell of their intentions. For som
e reason, the men had seemed to want a quick death.” Kaleb slanted a wry smile toward her.

  “Did they tell you anything about the men behind this? Why they’re doing this?” She leaned over and nipped at the taut skin just above Shard’s dark, flat nipple.

  “Yes.” Kaleb tugged at her nipple to get her attention. “They weren’t willing to die to protect the fanatics’ secrets. They came here to find proof that the Santir were created by alien beings instead of evolution. As this is the oldest known Santir settlement, the fanatics were convinced that they would find proof of their theory here. The mercs didn’t care what the men found or didn’t find as long as they got paid.”

  “Did they give you any idea where the last of the fanatics are hiding?” She walked her fingers up Kaleb’s chest, scraping her nails across the tight dark crown of his nipple. She smiled at the low growl that rumbled in his chest.

  “They were divided into small groups and didn’t even know where the rest of their group was until they were brought together for this little venture.” Shard slid his hand down to cover her mound.

  “I’m really looking forward to a time when we are not under a threat. I’d like to spend some time in the forest and not have to look over my shoulder or be with an escort.” She splayed her thighs, giving Shard free access to her pussy. She rolled her hips up in silent demand for more than just the warmth of his hand there.

  “We’ll work hard to get rid of these last fanatics so that you can roam the forests, i’ma.” Shard’s fingers swirled over her clit. He watched her face. Her eyes drifted closed and her teeth nibbled on her full lower lip.

  “How many of the men are left?” She struggled to concentrate as her body undulated when Shard slipped two fingers inside her hot slit.

  Shard smiled at the breathy gasp that escaped her lips as he brushed his thumb against her clit and drove his fingers into her cunt. “Not many, the group of radicals was relatively small. There might be five or six out there, but it’s probably less.”

  “You’d better not be heating me only to leave me hot and unsatisfied. If you’ll remember, I don’t deal well with frustration. I might just have to leave some teeth marks of my own if you’re playing teasing games.” Lina raised a brow in inquiry. Making love with them all day would be absolutely fabulous, but it didn’t seem like them to ignore duty. They were dedicated to the thent.

  “Well, we weren’t going to leave you wanting, but you’ve reminded us that there are things we must do.” Shard regretfully rolled away from her, trying to hide the smile lurking just behind his lips. If she saw that, she probably would bite them. “We have plans to make.”

  She rolled over and pounced. She came down on top of Shard, pushing him back against the sheets. “Plans…how can you make plans if you do not know where they are?”

  “We don’t know where they are, but we have a fairly good idea of what they want now.” Shard laughed up at her, the amusement shining in his eyes.

  “What is it?” She leaned down and ran her tongue over his shoulder. She opened her mouth and scraped her fangs over his chest in a mock threat.

  Kaleb scooped her off Shard. “Now, rah’ki, what would be the fun in merely telling you the answer to that?”

  “You can try to torture the truth out of us later.” Shard stood and walked over to where Kaleb held her. He brushed his fingers across her cheek and smiled as she growled. “It will give you something to think about for the rest of the day.”

  She growled. “Sometimes I really miss being single and answerable only to myself.”

  Kaleb set her feet on the floor. He watched the fast sway of her hips as she walked away to get dressed. “You really don’t handle frustration well. You’re lucky we’re in such good moods, Lina, rao nari. At another time, we might have wanted an explanation and an apology for the implication of your remark. This time, we’ll let it pass.”

  Lina dressed, but only after she had washed a little. They’d already left the tent by the time she slipped her feet into comfortable shoes. She tugged on her skirt, straightening it before she left the tent.

  Shard and Kaleb were already gathered with some of their men near one of the tents. The strategic posting of men throughout the camp kept any of the women from getting close enough to hear any of the details of their conversations.

  Chapter Seventeen

  There was some relief in the camp when the transport came to pick up the researchers. Their departure took away one of the worries. There was no longer any possible avenue of information for the fanatics. The last threat, the few extremists remaining on the planet, was still out there, but Shard and Kaleb were confident that they would catch them.

  Lina hadn’t been able to pry what they knew from them. They teased her unmercifully. She did try to pull the information from them. It was hard to torture a man properly with the active interference and disruption of another. Even when she managed to get one of them alone, the other showed up to stop the questions before she made any progress. She frowned. That mind-to-mind connection of theirs gave them an unfair advantage.

  After the attack, Shard and Kaleb had kept her busy. They had had her install a link to the Sendar and its weapons onto the handheld units the men used. She instructed all of them on the various weapons. She had no idea what their plan was. Instinct and experience told her that they expected trouble at the camp.

  Life continued within the camp. Most of the men, including Shard and Kaleb, left the camp each day to search the ruins for the Thent’s Seal. The women and the camp were guarded by the small force which had been left there.

  Lina sat at a table in the tent she shared with Shard and Kaleb. She had found the activity in the camp distracting, hoping that just being unable to see it would help her focus. She needed to work. The door to the tent was left open so that she could hear what was happening outside. She wanted to be aware if there was trouble within the camp.

  Jaksen stepped into the open doorway. The look on his face was utterly serious. “Lady, go to your haven. There will be trouble.”

  Lina didn’t know if it was his tone or something about the look on his face, but she did as he said without question. She thought about the haven and went. She didn’t like it, but the men in the camp had enough to worry about without adding her refusal to obey a simple order.

  She sighed as she looked around the area. Slowly, she walked over to the netria tree and sat under its shade. Eyes focused on a point beyond the trees, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from going back to those she had left at the camp. By the Gods, she hated waiting.

  * * * * *

  Shard waited in tiron form, concealed in the high branches of the tree. He and many of the other warriors who’d left the camp earlier in the day had made their way back to camp along a network of connecting branches which created pathways through the trees. Kaleb, he knew, was positioned on the other side of the camp. They’d taken no chances. Just in case the men thought to look at the search site, they had left enough men there to create the illusion of a normal search team.

  For two days, they’d kept a silent vigil on the camp without results. It was only a matter of time before the attack occurred. According to the information they had gathered, the fanatics were convinced that their proof was housed within the shifter camp. With the drastic reduction in their numbers, the men would be forced to choose a time when they thought the camp was undermanned, without defenses.

  Movement in the forest below caught his eyes. A man crept toward the camp. Shard knew the exact moment he blithely passed the proximity sensor. The signal would alert those within camp that someone was approaching. They would know that it wasn’t a Santir.

  Although Lina wouldn’t like having to leave, she would go to her haven. She still didn’t understand the full importance of the haven. While she knew that it was meant to keep her safe, it would allow the men to focus on the coming battle and keeping the other women safe while it was fought. She didn’t realize that it was something that provided reas
surance to them as much as it provided safety for her.

  Shard moved along the limb slowly, following the man as he approached the camp. The tiron wanted to take him down now, not let him get a step closer to the camp, but the man within wanted to make certain that they got every man who came to the attack them, to settle this finally.

  One man has arrived here. Shard kept his gaze on the man as he contacted Kaleb. He has tripped the sensors.

  One here as well, Kaleb’s terse reply shot back along their link. We wait. There will be no way that these men can say they didn’t intend to attack us when they go before the Central Command Court.

  Shard agreed completely with that sentiment. These men wouldn’t be able to say that they had come to talk with the Santir in a peaceful gesture and had been attacked. They would be allowed to show exactly what their intentions were. With the aid of some of Lina’s small devices, the men would be caught on vid. It would be used as evidence against them. These men wouldn’t walk away from their crimes free as so many of the other men who attacked shifters had.

  The man crept toward the camp. With stunner drawn, he cautiously moved along the line of bushes, trying to get a shot at those moving within the camp. Shard kept the man in sight. He would be given enough time to incriminate himself, but the risks to those within the camp would be kept to a minimum.

  He crawled slowly forward, careful to place his weight on only the sturdiest of branches. He wouldn’t give this enemy any hint that a trap had closed around him. With patience, he waited as the man stopped behind a bush on the edge of camp.

  In a rush, the man stood and began firing in a straight line across the camp. On the opposite side of camp, stun rays shot from the foliage. A third man dashed into the chaos of the camp, streaking toward the tents.