Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) (22 page)

“I’ve thought of that. What if you weren’t meant to be here? What if whatever wanted you still wants you?”

Clarity grinned at him. “Why do you think I carry the mace and the taser?”

“Badass for sure.”

They stood and continued on. Before long, Kiki came into view. Clarity knew she was following them. The young girl was too curious. It appeared Doom was also expecting her. He removed a bomb from his satchel. Clarity gripped his arm.

“This is a weapon of great magnitude,” Doom said. “It has the ability to rip through many hybrids especially in an enclosed area.”

Kiki licked her lips and tried not to appear too excited, and failed miserably. “What do you want for it?”

“Information.”

“About the hybrids?”

“Anything you know that can help.”

“I can do better than that; I can get you into their lair.”

“There’s a condition.” Clarity stepped forward. “That bomb is dangerous; you need to keep it from the little ones. It’s also for the enemy. Doom isn’t your enemy.”

“No, he’s not
my
enemy.”

“What happened to Nick’s brother, Chaz?” Kiki’s eyes widened as Doom spoke. “Yes, I know his name and remember him. It was beyond my control. You have lived here; you know what the hybrids are like.”

“We choose to fight.” Kiki’s features turned into a snarl of anger.

“The hybrids don’t waste their time with you, you’re children. You’re ignored and found an amusement. Until you’re older, then you’ll have to really watch. They hunted my people into the ground. Day after endless day we ran and hid. Do you think a threat from Nick scares me?” Doom was doing some snarling of his own. “What would you do to protect your family, how far would you go? Look at me and these marks long and hard before you judge and say I don’t care.”

Kiki gazed at the tattoos. She moved forward to study them further. She lifted her hand to trace her finger over the face of a young woman.

“I saw her.” Her voice was an awed whisper. “She was young, only a few years older than Nick, maybe his brother’s age when he was sacrificed. She ran but it was no use. I tried to call to her, to help, but a hybrid came after me. I was grabbed. I thought I was a goner for sure, but he released me. I swear the monster laughed in my face. God, I was scared to death. I was so helpless.”

“So was I.”

Doom’s features were heavy with his guilt and remorse.

“But you’re a grown man,” Kiki insisted.

“I was taught to run and hide, not to fight. I can hunt, I can kill, but I know how to think. For every one of the hybrids killed, ten of us, or more were slaughtered. When you face the little dinosaurs in groups do you fight or hide?”

“Hide.”

“There are times you know you’re outnumbered and you need to retreat.”

“Doom is right,” Clarity said. “But no more retreating once we’re ready. With your help, we can be ready sooner.”

Kiki nodded. She led them through the thick foliage toward where Clarity and Doom had seen DaV-nin with the younger hybrids. She skirted past the cave openings, rising higher on the mountain. Near the back of the mountain where it sloped straight up there was a small cave. Kiki pulled foliage from the opening and waved them in.

“There’s just enough light to take us from cave to cave. But in places there is darkness, so we have to be careful,” Kiki said.

Clarity pulled out her flashlight and turning a corner she clicked it on. The walls were a solid grey, depressing.

“I haven’t seen a flashlight in years,” Kiki said, excitement in her tone. “When we first got here Luke howled for his nightlight. Nick found him a glowing rock but for it to work it needed heat so my brother kept it clutched to his chest every night.”

“You must miss your family,” Clarity said.

“My mom mostly. Dad worked all the time. They’re gone. I wish I had my mother. I have so many questions about becoming a woman. Same with Nina, she’s close. We talk but I don’t know—much.”

Kiki glanced at Doom and went beet red in the soft glow of light. She straightened her shoulders and slipped around another bend. She reached to click the flashlight off.

“We have to be careful. No noise or light.”

Clarity could see why when she peeked around the corner. An adult hybrid was alone in the cave with a young male hybrid. They sat on furs. The young male was younger than she thought when she caught his profile in a torch light. Doom stiffened. The young hybrid’s features were softer, almost sweet. The brow ridges and dinosaur features would harden as he aged, but for now, he looked half-human. From the way Doom was shaking it was apparent he recognized the child.

“Hers,” Kiki whispered and Clarity turned to see the girl trace a tattoo on Doom’s chest. He immediately gripped her fingers and squeezed his eyes closed. Doom grabbed them both and dragged them from the cave and into the light. His breathing was rapid, ragged.

“How?” He started to cry out then lowered his voice. It wasn’t enough; Clarity could tell he was devastated.

Further he dragged them into the foliage to escape detection. Clarity’s mind was racing. The boy had human features and Kiki was right he was the spitting image of the young woman tattooed on Doom’s chest. When Doom finally stopped he pulled Clarity close.

“How?” he raged. “They can’t mate.”

“We don’t know what their offspring look like when born, or hatched. How big they are. Human bones won’t support the dinosaur weight or height,” Clarity said.

“I’ve seen both live births and eggs,” Kiki said.

Doom dropped Clarity’s arms and spun on Kiki. “When?”

“After the harvest. I think the offspring are born in the safety of the cave soon after the harvest. I don’t know. They’re taken to a nest where they’re watched. I stay away. I only happened to see the young after this harvest.” She seemed thoughtful, then scared. “I think Nick knows. He won’t say what he knows, only to stay away from the beasts.”

“Will he tell us, me?” Clarity asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I can ask, but then he’ll know I’ve been helping you. He might be mad.”

“Risk it,” Doom said.

Chapter Twelve

Clarity could see the tension on Doom as he paced the fur. Clenching and unclenching his fists he stopped stared into space then paced again.

“We’ll figure out what they’re doing,” Clarity said.

“I don’t know if I want to know.” Doom’s whisper was racked with desolation. He spun to face her and pointed at the young woman tattooed on his chest. “That hybrid’s face is hers. How can that be?”

“I don’t know. Our human structure is smaller than yours. Maybe it’s a mix of human, Neanderthal, and dinosaur. I don’t understand either. Our bone mass is no good if yours wasn’t. All I can think of is there must be a hybrid—hybrid.”

“A hybrid mix?”

“Maybe not all of the males born are mixing with humans in some way. They can’t have sex, it would be impossible.”

“I need to find out what Nick knows.”

Clarity went to him. She ran her finger down his cheek. “I can go…” But he stopped her words.

“I did this.”

“The hybrids did this. Deep down, I think Nick knows this. He saw you lead his brother from the safety of the village but that’s all. The hybrids are the killers. You had no choice, but you do now. The other humans here aren’t like me. I know war and terrorists. I’ve seen fear, but my fear can be fought. You didn’t know how.”

“I need to learn better. I need you to make me into a weapon.” His hands on her shoulders tightened and she winced.

Pain assaulted her being. Everything she loved about him could change. She knew the dangers when bringing new technology into a struggling environment would have disastrous repercussions. But to change a gentle giant into a killer…

“I will teach you to become skilled.”

Perhaps he saw the sadness in her gaze, or the way her shoulders now slumped, Doom lifted a hand and caressed her cheek with tenderness.

“I will learn to be skilled. I’m sorry for my words. You don’t make love to a bomb, or a sword, an axe or any weapon. You love a man. Skills are far better.”

Clarity smiled and kissed his palm. “You have skills all right.”

“Do you have any coats left?”

“I think I can find one or a few.”

Doom placed his hands on her ass to pull her against his growing erection. He hardened under her and his length grew to press higher on her belly.

“You have the perfect cock.”

Doom gave her a mischievous gaze. “Are there imperfect cocks? Cocks that don’t urinate? Come? Grow?”

“Let’s just say you function with perfection.”

“I’m a well-oiled machine.”

Clarity burst out laughing. “How do you know what a machine is?”

“I hear humans talk. They think you’re a drill sergeant.”

“Do they? What else do they say?”

Clarity went to her purse and opened a small square. She snapped the rubber in her hands. Doom grinned and backed up until he flopped onto the bed.

“Heath thinks you’re hot. Menace is fascinated by you, and Edge, well he’d like to spank your pretty ass.”

“I’d like to taser his.”

“That’s why he keeps his distance and his comments to himself.”

“He’s smarter than he looks.”

“Flight adores you, so do the other children. They love Bubble-gum. The dog seems happy to play with them and he loves Muffin.” Doom rolled his eyes.

“Why do you give the children new names?”

“New parents, new home, new planet. Seems sensible. Some of the children here have forgotten they lived somewhere else. They can’t cling to the hope of returning. This
will
be home; it needs to be home. Parents name their children.”

“I suppose.”

Clarity dropped her clothes as she approached him. She wanted to think of no one but Doom. None of the interior lights were lit. The small, enclosed fire burned for warmth in the cool depths of the home. Doom slipped from his pants. She stood admiring his beauty. The tattoos, and what they represented, told a story. For Doom, the story was pain but to Clarity not all of their tales were sad. Some faces on his body smiled. Doom mentioned the humans were coveted for a year, they had been happy the entire time, perhaps missing family, but they were wanted.

As she approached, she had a thought that made her laugh and cringe. Doom gazed at her in an odd way.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s pretty morbid.”

“My cock?”

“Yes and no. I was thinking if I did somehow get taken, would my face be tattooed on your…”

“Don’t say it,” he warned. “I’d spend every second crying and alternately caressing you.”

“Okay you upped my morbid.”

“My up is coming down.”

“I can fix that.”

Clarity placed the rubber off to the side, wanting to taste him. Doom lay back with his legs spread and his feet touching the floor. His muscular thighs were a magnet. Power, masculine, rugged. She traced her fingers up those perfect thighs to her main goal. The sheer length of him made her quiver with want. The way he gazed at her filled her with tenderness. Lust and love, there was no fine line, the two were separate. And yet, she burned for him while she ached for his soul to need hers.

“You take my breath away,” she said and caressed his hard swollen length.

“You are my breath.”

Clarity poised over him and took his appendage into both hands. She blew on the tip of his erection loving how he jumped under her flesh. Her tongue laved down his long length and he shuddered. Clarity squealed when he grabbed her and flipped them. She was under him, his cock near her mouth. When his tongue explored her lower lips she gasped. His heat lit her fire. There was no smoking ember; she was melting.

“You run through my veins,” she heard him mumble.

She didn’t reply but respond. There was no more waiting. Her lips opened to suck as much of him as she could deep within her throat. The muscles on his legs rippled. Harder deeper he went while she cupped his stallion-sized balls. She damned nature for not allowing all of him to fit. Doom’s fingers spread her to lick her insides while she writhed.

There was no holding back when she gave herself to him. Her body shook and she gripped his base with a harder squeeze. He groaned and tried to pull from her but she wouldn’t allow him to leave.

“Clarity.” His word was strangled. He was going to come, and she knew it.

His seed exploded into her and Clarity thrashed wanting him but never having allowed a man to do that before she was surprised with the force. He pulled from her and she gasped in ragged amounts of air. Her hand dragged across her mouth before she gripped his neck and pulled him to a breast. Doom sucked hard, drawing her into his mouth. His hand roughly kneaded her other breast making her whimper.

Doom broke contact, lifted her and threw her higher onto the bed. His fingers dug into her thighs as he rubbed her flesh. He leaned to taste her warmth. It wasn’t long before he was hard again, having years to make up for with his loss. He rolled the condom over his cock and plunged into her heat. Clarity screamed from the power he used. A rock solid brick wall was hammering between her spread thighs. His hand pinned her wrists over her head.

“The only time your face will be on my cock is when you’re sucking it.” The words were snarled, a heated promise.

That was a fine idea to Clarity, but she couldn’t speak. Each thunderclap against her grew more demanding until sweat poured from them, mingling. Her wrists tugged on his hand, but he kept her prisoner. Higher she lifted her legs, demanding every inch. The fur beneath them began to bunch as they rocked. She used her fingers to steady her against the headboard. Clarity gasped and watched as firelight flickered beautifully against the stones. The headboard seemed on fire. Clarity was on fire with need.

“Doom,” she cried out as she came and as he thrust a final time and shuddered before rolling from her onto his back. He groaned.

“Clarity?”

“Hmm.”

“Your coats don’t work worth shit.”

****

When Doom and Clarity exited his home they saw all of his villagers gaping with awe. Clarity knew why soon. Kiki and the other children were there. On the outskirts of the village they waited. Doom and Clarity strode forward. There were tears in Kiki’s eyes. The twins were sobbing. Little Cole was in Nina’s arms, Blue in Kiki’s.