Citun’s Storm (17 page)

Storm tried to slip out from under him, but he captured her waist; his large forearm pushed her head to the ground, and Storm gasped when he rammed his full length inside of her. Her elbows buckled with his strength. There was no escape. Citun moved faster than she ever imagined possible. He mentioned the act of mating needed to be hard and quick. At any time, the roles could be reversed if the female was intent on the fight.

Citun’s muscles bunched under her and for a moment, Storm felt sorry for him. She couldn’t take the amount of strength a female of his own kind could, but she knew she could take more than what he was doing. When he pulled out, she yanked her arms loose which came as a surprise, then turned to her back and pushed her feet into his chest. Citun laughed.

“Be careful female. Don’t try my patience.”

“What if I want to?”

Citun pinned her the way the warrior pinned the female. Storm groaned with his weight, but knew he still maintained control of his actions. When he plunged her depths again, she was helpless. Strange streaks of lightning blazed through the multi-colored sky, thunder cracked. Storm buried her face into his chest.

She lay pinned and accepting as he thrust hard then eased. She didn’t know how many times he came and still he continued. Her needs rose, built, crashed within her, then rose and built. A strangled scream made her peek from under him and her eyes widened when she saw a bangor fall to the ground a foot away. Citun was crushing its heart in his hand. He had slammed his fist through the creature’s chest.

“Citun?” she couldn’t keep the tingle of fear from her tone.

“It’s death to approach a dominant male.”

He snarled the words, grabbed a fist full of the creature’s fur and threw it over the fence while continuing to thrust within her. His tone and action brutal, she began to shake. Immediately, Citun crooned to her. His body wrapped around her.

“Nothing is allowed near you but me,” Citun whispered in her ear. “You are home; home is the safest place in the universe, my mate. I love you.”

The storm continued but she was warm. With his position, there was nothing, no part of her body that was in danger. The blood on his hand washed off in the rain. Citun finally quieted. With him remaining buried within her, his breathing evened. He slept. Cocooned in safety, Storm closed her eyes and began to drift to sleep.

Weirdest camp out ever.

* * * *

Citun liked the calm after the Holiday. It was as though the entire planet slumbered. The warriors sated, many bleary eyed, wouldn’t emerge for a week. With the scent of sex so prominent, many animals on the planet indulged as well. In a few months, the entire planet would be teeming with young life. Even cyrons were cute when they were tiny. They were of use to warriors when they were huge and their bones could be used to reinforce homes. Their dark shaggy fur was a boon for insulation in the winter months. Citun planned on finding an old male to make his home stronger for Storm and hopefully for a child they would one day be gifted with.

Citun and the younger warriors bonded during the reprieve. The rogue Tonan warriors were on the run, licking their wounds. The Gorgano had taken a huge blow with the last battle between Cobra and Titus; Citun was sorry he missed it. He would like to meet Huck, one of Cobra’s half-evil Tonan warriors who was loyal to a fault and considered a boon to the Castians. A blow to rogue Tonan warriors. Huck was the epitome of hope.

The Zargonnii warriors Citun conversed with now were too young yet to Holiday; they were in training, many in awe of Storm. His mate was learning to master her ability. A deadly weapon at her disposal caused her a few anxious moments, but Citun knew she would persevere. She did.

Storm stood focused on the hardest material on the planet. Gaze intent, legs slightly spread, she lifted her hand and pointed a finger. The substance split as she trailed her finger downward five feet from it. There were many appreciative comments. Once the material was sliced in half, she stood back and smiled.

“What’s next?” she asked.

“That’s the last we have,” Taft said.

Citun heard Jari chuckle from the side when he saw Storm’s disappointed and surprised expression. The warrior was standing with an arm draped around Lano. The female was finding it easier to stay in one place, especially when Jari was so over-protective. The little female disclosed a sad life as a youngster. She was beaten when she disappeared and was found. The males on her planet were overbearing; a female wasn’t allowed to hide from abuse. Citun wanted to go to the planet and beat the shit out of every male there, so did many warriors.

The warriors found Ashala to be sweet and beautiful. If her type of male didn’t appreciate their females, the Zargonnii would. Talks would begin soon with Titus and Cobra. Human females were few and far between; Ashala and Lano’s species were physically compatible. Whether or not they could produce offspring together hadn’t yet been determined. Regardless, the females would be in demand. Citun knew Cobra was interested in any female his warriors might like. A new universe was forming with alien integration. A good strong age of acceptance. Storm might eventually get her wish of peace after all.

“I guess no more training,” Storm said and stepped into Citun’s arms.

“Actually, I was hoping you and Ashala might be able to work together.” Citun had been wondering if when grouped together Ashala and Storm could create a moving line of defense.

“Sure.” Storm held her hand out to Ashala who was watching on the sideline.

Storm whispered into the female’s ear. The two concentrated. A massive piece of the hard, unknown material was soon formed in an ash cloud. Storm manipulated the substance which flew at the pile of debris. Even Citun sucked in a fast breath of air when the rubble pile was annihilated to dust.

“That’s kick ass,” Taft said.

“Wish I was that useful,” Lano muttered.

Jari pulled her to his chest. “You are. If ever need be, you can enter a room of aliens undetected. Although, I hope that never happens. I like it best when I can see you and hold you.”

Lano smiled and trailed a tentative hand down the warrior’s jaw. Her florescent green tattoos blazed brighter for a moment. The tattoos reminded Citun of Zell’s eyes. He wondered if there was a chance Storm might be able to produce a son, but he doubted it. Zabbie, he was informed, was manipulated by the Tonan and Gorgano in some way to have a male child. He shivered wondering what would have happened if Zabbie had given birth to a Tonan offspring with Zell’s powers.

Storm came to stand before him. “You have that look on your face.”

“I was wondering the effect of a human female if she were to be captured by a Tonan and Gorgano and forced to give birth. The Castian and Tonan cycle is at an end but what you mentioned before has been bothering me. What if a Tonan can make a female conceive when he’s not in must because of her reproductive cycle? Castian and Tonan females were geared to their mates but human females are different. What happens if when the baby shield falls a female can again reproduce?”

“Damn,” Jari said. “That would be good news for the Castians, but not if the renegades can capture a female and mate. The idea is a Tonan would have to wait four hundred years. An evil Tonan wouldn’t want to keep a female for that long, and he would never mate her. The threat would be over soon. If not we could face more trouble.”

“I know,” Citun said. “The entire concept is worrisome. Zargonnii can give birth every two years, but the Tonan aren’t interested in our females. If reproducing with a human female is possible every five years, we will have a huge problem. We need to destroy those Gorgano now before the baby shields fall and we find out.”

“I’m ready,” Storm said. “Just get me close to a vessel and I can slice it in half.”

“What about a force field?” Taft asked.

“Zabbie thinks the unknown material is a solidified force field,” Storm said.

“That is a very interesting concept, but how do we test it?” Citun said.

“I think it would be easy enough,” Storm said. “Just put a force field around an object you don’t mind me cutting through.”

Citun went to the console in the corner and punched in a code. He directed a small force field onto a visible boulder outside the building. The force field wasn’t made of the unknown material but kick ass nonetheless. It was a Gorgano material used by the ugly aliens and rogue Tonan on their vessels. He returned to Storm.

“The boulder outside is protected, but I want you in here. I want to see if distance will make a difference.”

Storm stood at the window and centered her gaze. Citun could see from her facial features her mind was working at a frantic pace.

“I can’t see the force field, there’s no object to concentrate on but the boulder. In order to get through to the boulder, I need to annihilate the force field. It’s hard to concentrate on something I can’t see,” she muttered.

Citun watched as Ashala slipped her hand into Storm’s. The slight crease of the frown smoothed on Storm’s forehead soon after.

“Can you see it?” Ashala said. Citun saw nothing.

“Yes,” Storm said.

“What?” Taft asked.

“The ash on the force field. I see the ash.” Storm’s words were filled with excitement.

Suddenly, there was a loud boom and the boulder split in two. Both females hugged and smiled.

“The dynamic duo strikes again,” Storm said and laughed. She turned to Citun. “We got this.”

“That’s good. Titus is forming his own search party, but he will be going after the Tonans. Storm’s ability is unique to her. Zell isn’t old enough to manipulate feelings of deep love and protectiveness for a mate. Zabbie can’t understand the way you slice through the material until Zell can explain. She loves Titus and would no doubt kill for him, but each mate loves in a different way,” Citun said.

“Then there’s nothing left to do but find us some Gorgano butt to kick,” Storm said.

All agreed.

* * * *

Finding the Gorgano wasn’t difficult. Lano had remained undetected when she first appeared on Citun’s ship and was able to mask Storm and Ashala’s presence on their new mission. When the Gorgano engaged, Storm and Ashala stood holding hands on the bridge and sliced through the ship with ease. The Gorgano never saw them coming. Citun was thrilled.

“You did it,” Jari yelled.

“There was never any doubt.” Citun cast a fond gaze at Storm who stood grinning.

The Gorgano ship exploded with no escaping shuttles detected. This was a huge victory and Citun couldn’t wait to celebrate.

Their victory was short lived when Citun felt dizzy; he stumbled, hearing cries of disbelief and suddenly found himself on another vessel. The alien ship had been hiding behind a large asteroid. Citun materialized on the large vessel, into a cage in the hangar. He could only peer out a small window at the darkness of the floating asteroid beyond. A large male stood smiling at him.

“Relax, Zargonnii, we have no intention of hurting you. We were in a mess hiding from those fucking Gorgano until you came. I want the weapon you possess that cuts through a force field. We aren’t enemies. My people are new to this galaxy and we only want the ability to fight those ugly beasts. Fuckers killed half our females and slaughtered children before we could outrun them. Forced us into hiding. I want revenge in the worst way possible.”

“How do you know I’m a Zargonnii? How do you speak my language?” Citun said and gripped the bars. They bent slightly under pressure and he relaxed. He could escape.

“We catch air waves when possible. Bits of information are leaked. My people are good with other languages, we have the ability to master almost anything once exposed to the tones. You don’t look like a human; I hear they are small and without the ability to protect themselves. You look like you can kick some serious ass. Our ship is damaged. We only want a new home; ours was destroyed. Tonan landed and manipulated the climate until our world became ice. We have been searching for a new home for years.”

Citun assessed him. He was tall, near Citun’s height, broad. His eyes were black with golden flecks. He wore tight black pants and a simple black vest unbuttoned. On his feet were ankle high black boots. His ebony hair was short and on his broad biceps there were six tattoos, three on each arm, also black, emphasizing his muscle mass.

“Kidnapping isn’t the best way to strike up a relationship.”

“All I want is the means to recreate your weapon, and you may leave unharmed. I don’t want you dead or any Zargonnii. I only want to protect those of my people who are left.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Enough to start a new colony. Now tell me about the weapon.”

There was no way Citun was going to tell him about Storm. “What’s your name?”

“Battle.”

“I’m Citun. The only way you will get near my weapon, Battle, is to battle.”

“So be it.”

The door to the cage sprung open and Citun was free. The two warriors circled each other. Citun was the first to make a move. He lunged for the male, gripping his forearms in a test of strength. Battle was strong, as strong as Citun. That was his first surprise. The next came when Citun slipped into battle mode. So, too, did the alien.

Eyes once flecked in gold were now a solid gold on one side, black the other side. Like Amini, Storm’s alien female friend who had been injured, the man shifted into a massive black cat. Only this cat was twice as large as Amini. Fangs a foot long hung down either side of his mouth.

“We have been stolen from, our females taken and murdered. Our loved ones destroyed. No more. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you do not give me that weapon,” Battle said, his words a growl.

“I’ve seen one such as you,” Citun said.

That stopped Battle in his tracks. “Where?”

“Another planet. A female.”

“Not possible, our females were all but destroyed. The ones stolen were murdered. Tonans have no mercy. Grouped with Gorgano they have even less.”

“This female is alive, at least she was when I saw her last. My mate can mind-battle the Gorgano, she gave the others an edge and protected them. Your females are lilac with indigo eyes, tiny with a pink tail. When she shifted she was half your size.”