Page 231 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

Sunder

Aggy tasted like fire, a sweet, spicy tang that I could lap at for hours, if she’d let me.

I loved how fierce she was, how eager. I loved it even more when she howled out my name at the height of her pleasure.

Her soft, milky thighs pressed into my face, holding me close, just as she’d eagerly pressed herself against my tongue. It was perfect.

Of course, my female wasn’t going to let me get away from her.

As soon as I pulled back, licking at my lips to get all of her taste, she was struggling to get off the edge of the console.

I caught her by the shoulders when she tumbled off it, her flimsy pants still tangled around her ankles, just above her boots.

“Where are you going, my Fire?” I asked her, my eyes lingering on the pale globes of her breasts, tipped with dark brown nipples.

I had taken off her shirt, but I hadn’t yet had time to worship those pretty curves of hers.

Sliding my hands down her soft skin, I went to cup her waist, intending to lift her back onto that console so I could touch her breasts, maybe lick her to orgasm a second time.

“No,” she said firmly, startling me. Now she was calling a halt to this?

“My turn,” she added, and her fingers found the buckle of my belt.

My belly tightened with heat, flashing back to when she’d been on her knees, looking for that wire only a short while ago.

With the sexiest smile, she shimmied to her knees, and the reality was much better than the memory.

I groaned out loud, my fingers sliding into her hair, cupping her head.

“So fucking hot.” She finished with my belt, and with a rush, my kilt and loincloth dropped all at once, pooling around my ankles.

Her eyes were no longer on my face, fastening themselves on my rigid cock, already eagerly straining toward her face.

“Are you sure, my Fire?” I asked her. This wasn’t the most romantic place, and she didn’t have to reciprocate if she didn’t want to.

Her eyes rolled back in this cheeky look, meeting mine as if to say, Shut up.

I bit my lip, and then I groaned when she lapped at the tip of my cock with her pink little tongue.

So soft, so warm. My fingers clenched in her hair, and while I struggled to hold still, the urge to thrust deep into that warm, wet mouth was strong.

Humming, she sucked me into her mouth, her cheeks hollowing as she drew me deep.

I groaned, my balls tightening with the urge to come.

I hadn’t had a female touch me like this in so long that I wasn’t sure if I was going to embarrass myself in a moment or not.

More importantly, I wanted this to last. I wanted to remember this moment forever.

The pressure was just right, her mouth so soft and warm.

As she bobbed up and down my length, I was amazed at how much of me she could take.

Her lips rubbed over each bump and ridge along the sides.

Then our eyes met, and I realized how much she loved doing this for me.

That was all it took. My orgasm struck, my seed rushing up my cock.

I tried briefly to warn her, but she didn’t seem to care, sucking down each little drop as if she’d been craving just that for a long time.

I yanked her to her feet when she released me, tucking her tightly into my arms, my wings curving around her to hold her in a safe little cocoon. I didn’t dare tell her that was a custom usually reserved for mated couples; I needed that closeness right now. “Thank you, Aggy. That was amazing.”

My spine was still zinging from the pleasure, my body relaxing, tension dropping away from me—tension I hadn’t realized I had been carrying. Aggy was a balm to my soul, and tonight had proved that we could work together. Maybe we weren’t so different after all. Maybe we could work this out, after.

“This is nice,” she murmured, tucking her head beneath my chin, her arms wrapping around my chest. It was nice, and I would have liked to curl up with her on a bed, just hold her for a while, maybe even drift off to sleep.

We were in what was essentially enemy territory, though, and if anyone caught us here, we would be in deep trouble.

With regret, the two of us got dressed, but I didn’t hide the fact that I kept looking at her body.

The curve of her ass was hot, and I regretted not touching those soft curves when I had the chance.

It definitely required a rematch later. The question was: would I allow myself another distraction like this before my brothers showed up, or would I save it for after?

I was contemplating my options, planning out what I would do to her the next time I had her naked and in a bed.

A sound intruded on our private hideout inside the tower, and my hand darted to the handle of the large blade on my belt.

Someone—or something—was out there. “Close the console back up, Aggy,” I whispered, nudging her toward the mess of cables dangling from below the surface where I’d had her naked not too long ago.

She looked at me with wide, startled eyes, but immediately scrambled to do as I’d asked her.

I approached the slightly propped-open door, my knife out.

Propping my back against the wall next to the door, I carefully peeked outside and froze at what I saw there.

A creature was ambling across the cleared space between the tower and the trees, a wide, flat snout pressed to the ground as it sniffed in loud, deep snorts.

It was big, coming up to my shoulder, with four muscled legs tipped with claws.

Its eyes were flat as they scanned the area around it, its thick pelt keeping it warm from the cool night and protecting it.

Then the flat snout split into four pieces, opening and curling back like a flower.

I winced at the strips of sharp, hook-like teeth it displayed. What the fuck was this creature?

It lifted its head, waggling it around on a thick neck, left and right, until it suddenly snapped in place, pointing directly at the tower.

I scanned it, looking for any signs of weakness as it started padding in our direction on clawed feet.

This thing was big—solid muscle—and it looked mean. It also stood directly in our path.

I shivered when I felt Aggy’s small hand press against my back.

She’d slipped it between my wings so her fingers lay directly against my spine.

“That’s a Jukjuk,” she murmured. “I just read about them… They’re blind, but they will kill anything they cross paths with.

Careful, Sunder.” She had dropped her voice down to the softest of whispers, but I still saw how the creature’s head came up, looking directly at us.

I hadn’t the foggiest what a Jukjuk was, except that the name alone invoked images of vomiting.

With a mouth like it had, that wasn’t surprising.

With my foot, I carefully nudged free the stone I’d used to prop open the tower door.

If I could close this metal panel before the creature got here, I was pretty sure the heavy door would keep it out.

This tower must have been built to withstand attacks from the planet’s wildlife.

The stone made a soft noise as it tumbled out of the opening.

I wrapped my hand around the door handle and started pulling, my eyes on the creature through the open slit.

Not good. It had accelerated and was galloping at the door at full speed.

My skin twitched, my body surging with the instinct to shift into my battle-form, except I was already shifted.

The result was a painful ache spreading across my skin, my hardened flesh feeling brittle to the touch.

There was no time to think about that now, so I shoved my worries aside and fought to close the heavy door.

The metal panel wasn’t hung right—a hinge misaligned—making it hard to wrest it into place.

When I finally pulled it fully shut, the creature skidded into the door with a massive banging noise, followed by an unholy screech.

Aggy yelped, a frightened sound that incited my urge to protect, to fight.

The lock wasn’t engaging, and scratching and scrabbling sounds made it clear this massive creature was trying to claw its way in.

I needed both my hands to keep the panel in place, and it was starting to become a struggle, my clawed feet dragging along the dusty tower floor.

“Aggy, try the lock,” I huffed between clenched teeth.

I didn’t like that this meant she was right next to the door, if it slipped from my grasp… But what choice did we have?

She darted beneath my wing, her hand slamming on the electronic panel, but it didn’t engage.

I saw claws curl around the side of the metal door, razor-sharp and as long as my fingers.

I groaned as the creature pulled harder, and for a brief moment, Aggy and I stared out through the two-inch gap into a flat, milky eye.

With a shout, I yanked the panel back, and Aggy pulled the manual lever as hard as she could.

The sound of rusted metal grating against itself filled the air, but though she hung from the rod with her entire weight, the lock still didn’t engage.

No wonder I’d had such trouble opening it earlier.

I knew what that meant, so I needed to time this right and do it on my terms.

“Aggy, get back now, go up the stairs,” I said, and waited until she’d retreated before I slipped one hand off my hold on the door.

I groaned as the skin across my left shoulder and arm cracked and broke under the sudden strain on the single limb.

Snatching up the knife I’d dropped earlier, I reversed direction and slammed my shoulder into the door, forcing the panel open and colliding hard with the Jukjuk on the other side.