Rebel Pax (Shifters of the Primus Book 2) (8 page)

He presses his cock against me, slowly at first and then more forcefully. For a moment, nothing happens. I only feel the pressure of him against me. He rubs my lower back again, encouraging me to relax. And when I finally do, the head of his cock slips inside my ass. My mouth opens wide and I stifle a silent scream. It hurts, but I’m not afraid of the pain. I bear it, knowing that it will pass and pushing it aside because I want more than anything to please him.

Slowly, he moves in and out of me, gradually opening me up until it doesn’t hurt. And soon, when most of his length is inside me, it doesn’t hurt at all. I only feel the tightness of my asshole gripping his shaft and the dull pressure of him pressing inside me. But each thrust lights up my nerves, causing my clit to throb and my heart to flutter. I fall to one shoulder and use my hand to find my clit. Pax sees and moves me away, taking over with his own hand.

“Do you like it?” he asks, fingers deftly circling my clit and sliding along the lips of my pussy as his pelvis slaps against my bare ass rhythmically. He puts two fingers in my pussy and uses a third to tease my clit.

I gasp, grinding my ass into his cock and fingers. I hear his breathing growing more rapid. Looking over my shoulder, I see that his face is drawn into an expression of primal ferocity. He moves faster, pushing himself deeper inside me still, fingers dragging hot lines of bliss as they work my G-spot and clit. His cock moves inside me, filling me more deeply than I thought possible.

When I see that even his desire to tease and dominate me has given over to absolute animal lust for me, I cry out in pleasure, knowing that my body has driven one so strong to lose control shakes me with orgasm. My body shivers against him as he increases his pace still further, driving electric jolts of indescribable pleasure through me.

He
roars
, so loud that I can feel the sound in my chest. My pussy tries to milk his fingers for his seed as he fills my ass with his cum.

When he has finished, he pulls himself from me and looks down at me, smirking. “I will never tire of that. Not with you,” he says. “My mate.”

I look up at him, the wetness of his cum still hot between my legs. I can still feel where he was in me as tremors of euphoria shake me.
His mate. . .
I like the sound of it. I like it a lot. Before I can respond, a sound splits the calm quiet afternoon—like the sky is tearing in two.

A ship tears around a huge Loris tree behind us, banking hard. Gaius must have realized we survived the crash and searched for us. Not good. The ship is getting closer, its engines smearing blue lines across my vision. I see the man with the rocket launcher leaning out again, taking aim at us. I reflexively pull my pants back on, despite the ridiculousness of worrying about modesty when I’m about to be blown up. I close my eyes, knowing the end is coming.That is, until a shadow blocks the sun from my closed eyes. I open them to see Pax.

He puts himself in front of me, breaks a branch free, and then takes two powerful steps before hurling it like a spear toward the shuttle. The branch flies straight as an arrow, wedging itself in one of the wing-mounted engines. It immediately catches fire, jolting the ship and sending the man’s rocket off-course. It shreds a tree above us and showers us in splinters. The shuttle crashes against a branch and I see several bodies fly out of the shuttle before it explodes against a tree.

One man lies near us, rolling a few times before coming to a stop. He struggles to rise but falls back down. Pax is already charging the man.
He
didn’t bother to put his pants back on, and even in the chaos of the moment I thank whoever is responsible for
that
decision. His muscular, firm ass is probably the only reason I come close to keeping pace with him, because I don’t want to let it out of my sight.

When he reaches the downed human, the man shields his face. “Please, I’m just a pilot. I had to—”

Pax stomps on the man’s leg and I can hear the bones crunch.

“Pax! STOP!” I yell, running to catch up and stop him.

Pax lifts the man by his flight suit and pulls back a muscular arm, ready to pulverize him into a pulp.

“Stop!” I shout. “He’s telling the truth. Those are his pilot’s wings. He wouldn’t have had any choice in this.”

Pax looks at the man for a long moment, clearly torn between his desire to avenge the attempt on my life and his desire to keep me happy. Finally, he throws the man roughly aside. Except when the man lands, he rolls, pulling a sidearm free from his leg. He aims it at Pax and fires three shots before Pax reaches him. Though the weapon is of human design and fires only bullets, each shot lands solidly in Pax’s torso.

He swats the gun from the man’s hand and kneels to lift him. I can see the three wounds in his stomach and chest where the bullets landed. Pax is bleeding freely, but still has strength to raise the man over his head. He looks at me, as if asking for permission.

I flinch and look away. Pax seems to take this as acceptance. I hear a swoosh of something being swung through the air and then the wet sound of impact. From the sound alone, I know the man is dead. Careful not to look at the body, I move to Pax, eyes searching the ripples of his muscled torso for the bullet wounds. There is a small hole in one of his abs, the center of his chest, and near his shoulder. Red blood already seeps from the wounds.

“These are bad,” I say.

Pax shakes his head. “Nothing. They will heal.” He moves to stand but his legs falter.

“Stop it. You need to rest. We can move as soon as you’re better.”

“Gaius is still free,” says Pax. “If I let him get away again, he’ll just keep trying to kill you.”

“You’re not going to catch him like this. Besides, we need to get to Kolka. Gaius can wait. If that bomb goes off, the Toltek will declare war on the Umani. Once that happens, even I won’t be able to talk King Kato into pulling the Umani out of the war. He’s too proud.”

Pax growls. “So be it then. The Primus have fought wars as long as time eternal. The strong survive and balance is preserved.”

“No,” I say fiercely. “You don’t understand. This is different. You’ve always fought amongst yourselves. You’re dealing with
humans
now. We’re not as strong as you, but we’re manipulative. Think about it. What are the two most powerful Primus clans on Markul?”

Pax winces, settling himself down on his back, chest heaving through the pain of his wounds. “The Umani is strongest. Toltek is second-most powerful. There are also the Magnari of the lava-wastes, but they are reclusive and rarely take part in our wars. They would be third most powerful.”

“Okay, so the Umani will likely defeat the Toltek, but suffer many losses in the process. And who is currently allied with them? The humans. If my guess is right, Gaius will pretend to be an ally to the Umani until he sees them in a vulnerable position. And then he will strike, mercilessly and swiftly. Trust me, if you saw what we did to our home planet, you would
not
want a human running this place.”

Pax stands, falters again, and falls hard.

I grit my teeth in frustration. “You big, stupid, sexy idiot.” I grumble. “Would you just stop for a minute?”

He looks up at me with an expression on his face of stubborn determination. He stands
again,
this time managing to keep his footing. He reaches inside the bullet holes one after another, plucking the smashed bullets from his skin. “I am already healing,” he says. “We will do as you say. I cannot believe that anyone would be so cowardly to do as you say Gaius will, but I
can
believe you. If you say it is, then it is.”

I cross my arms and follow beside him, irritated that he didn’t listen to me and even more irritated that I was wrong. Apparently he
didn’t
need to rest. Good for him. But I’m also touched again by his words. Surprised, even. Where I had thought he was a brutish killer, I am beginning to see that beneath all his cocky and gruff exterior, there is a touch of something caring and sweet, even though he would never admit it. Yet I am also frightened by the violence he showed toward the pilot. Am I really considering binding myself to someone with so much rage lurking just beneath the surface? So much power?

He puts his pants back on only after I make him, angry that he might walk around and let other women see his nudity. That’s
my
cock and I don’t want to share it. I definitely don’t want to share the sight of his ass either.

“On the shuttle, before we were shot down you were about to say something. Something about your exile?” I say, trying to sound less interested than I am.

He winces, though I’m not sure if it’s from my question or the three bullet wounds.

Pax does not answer for a very long time. I walk beside him, afraid to speak as he apparently finds the right way to tell me what’s on his mind. We’re hiking along an extremely thick and long branch that Pax calls the “Lifeline” because it apparently runs nearly horizontal for dozens of miles, which will get us most of the way to Kolka. We have already passed several alien species aside from the Primus, including a group of Kolari women wearing collars, led by a purple-skinned Primus.

“During the last years before my exile, when I was still king,” Pax says slowly, after several long minutes of silence. “We were at war with a small group of extremists from the south,
The
Silver Fists
. They thought they deserved protection from the Toltek, and we thought they should stop picking fights they could not win.

“After months of tension, The Silver Fists got themselves on the wrong side of the Parta Clan. I refused to offer aid when a war they started begun turning badly for them. In retaliation, three Silver Fists snuck into Kolka with explosives. I managed to catch them and capture them before they could use them.

“My advisors were all telling me to have the terrorists killed. But I believed they could be helped. That they could learn to live among us and maybe even start to heal the damage between our people. So I met with them every day, ate with them, spoke with them. We became good friends. And finally, I released them. My councilors were furious, but they could only obey my wishes, as I was king.

“Two days later, the entire west section of the city was set on fire. Hundreds died before the flames could be controlled. Females, males, children. My advisor Ferrus personally tracked down the three terrorists and got them to admit to their crime. He didn’t show them the mercy I did.”

“So,” I say. “You cast yourself into exile?”

“Yes. I failed my people. They did not have the power to remove me from rule, so I did what needed to be done myself. After that, the only way to preserve my honor was to seek a worthy death. I started in the fighting rings, but left behind more bodies than I care to recall. Then I tried my hand at wars, but I still could not find the death I desired. So I finally cast off my armor and weapons, vowing to use only my natural abilities to fight the beasts in The Dead Sea. After the stories, I thought I would surely find my death there. But still. . . It was not enough.”

“Then I came along and ruined your plans,” I say.

A slow smile spreads on his lips. “Yes. You really made a mess of them.”

I hug his arm as we walk. “You did what you thought was right, Pax. That’s all anyone can ever do.”

He looks as if he is about to say something but then closes his lips.

“What is it?” I ask.

He hesitates. “Your words are kind. I do not wish to discount them. It’s only that one can do more than what they think is right. If the pursuit of justice leads to an injustice, they can devote themselves to righting the wrong. And instead of doing so, I chose the weaker path and. . . I gave up. I did not think it was a surrender at the time. I thought it was a worthy sacrifice. But I see now how foolish it was. In trying to do what was honorable, I dishonored myself by abandoning my people and seeking what I wanted.”

“Well listen to you now,” I say. “It sounds like you needed the experience to grow. I know you’ll be a better king when you return because of it.”

He looks at me. “I cannot be king again. When a Primus casts off his rule, he also casts off his bloodline. My shame is known. It cannot be. I can only help my people. I will never rule them again.”

“You can help them. Think about it, if you stop Gaius’ plan, it will be a sort of redemption. You’ll be saving more lives than were lost. Couldn’t you forgive yourself then?”

Pax looks thoughtful, but does not answer. Through our bond, I sense a tentative hope within him.

We walk silently for nearly an hour, comfortable in the silence. It’s getting dark when we reach Kolka. The Toltek territory is home to more barren trees where the branches grow to jagged, thin tips.

“These trees are called Juicers,” Pax says when we pass the first of the spiked trees.

We still walk along the Lifeline branch but it is growing thinner with every foot we cover.

“Why do you call them Juicers?” I ask.

“Because that’s what they do to people. Juice them.”

“Clever,” I say with a wry grin. “And they say the Primus are barbaric!”

“Yes! They are right,” says Pax, who beams with pride as he misses my meaning entirely.

Kolka does not appear as fortified as Jektan at first glance. The city sprawls out in every direction, giving no sense of clear borders. It seems that an attack could come from above, below, or even the sides. I see no gates, no guards, and no walls. But as we follow a treacherous path of spined wood into the main thoroughfare of the city, I notice the shadows moving. Except it’s not the shadows, it’s what is
in
the shadows. Primus males wait in cracks between buildings, rooftops, beneath trees, buried in leaves, and I even see figures among the locals that eye us carefully.

“Who are they?” I ask Pax as quietly as I can.

“Watchers. My father’s father made his name by establishing their order. They are our army and our police. They give the enemy a false sense of security. Those who see them do not commit crime for fear of being caught. Those that do not see them try to commit crimes and are caught. It is a very effective system.”