Fighting Syndrome (Stand Alone Tales Book 13) Read online

  Ebra reached out and grabbed for the door, dissolving it into moss. She didn’t use that particular skill a lot because it was tiring, but it was handy.

  The other side of the door showed a lot of bodies who had weapons drawn, but she stepped out and stared at the person who was approaching her, and she blushed as he looked her up and down.

  Tonos nodded. “It’s a good look for you, but I prefer you in a little more fabric or nothing.”

  Ebra stepped aside. “Tonos, these are the junior sisters of the abbey. They were taken and scheduled for sale today.”

  He looked past her and sighed. “Right. Them first. Ladies, please go with these men to the warship, and we will get you back to the abbey.”

  He looked at Ebra with narrowed eyes. “I am wondering if that is the safest place to keep you.”

  She blushed and started to change her clothing. He grabbed her chin. “Oh, no, you don’t. You paraded yourself around like that as bait, so you are keeping that outfit until we are back to our quarters.”

  She was going to argue, but he kissed her, and she sighed into his mouth. The girls giggling behind her brought her around to the embrace occurring in front of witnesses.

  She tried to lean back, but he caught her head and held her as his tongue plundered her mouth. When he broke the kiss, he lifted her into his arms and began a no-nonsense hike toward the docking area.

  It seemed her little adventure had soured his mood.

  Chapter Nine

  Tonos took a ribbon out, and he wrapped her wrists with it, locking her onto his bed the moment that they returned to the warship. She tried to loosen them with a thought, but they didn’t respond. She got nervous. “Is this ribbon elf-made?”

  Tonos was removing his clothing with short jerks. “It was a gift from your parents. Elf-woven fabric, the only thing that can slow that aspect of your inheritance down.”

  She gave him a look. “My parents gave you this?”

  “Your father mentioned that it might be necessary.”

  She pushed her nervous tension aside. “Where is Weller?”

  “She and Kekkor are having a discussion about combat tactics. He went into the client area and assisted her with the attack on the bidders.”

  Ebra sighed. “Oh, good.”

  “So, why does a woman with an intensely sensitive body put herself into a crowd of strangers?” Tonos frowned at her as he walked toward her naked. He untied her from the bed and pressed her to the wall.

  “We had to get one person to the girls and one out front so that we could get back to the pens. Weller’s body makes her a little obvious when you put her in a skimpy outfit.”

  “Obvious?”

  “She’s a member of the Alhorra clan. The habit covers the wrap of family tattoos.”

  Tonos stopped and looked to his right. “So, if Kekkor removes the habit...”

  “He’s going to find bodyguard markings. She’s been with me since I entered the abbey. She went in the year before I did to help me with the protocols.”

  “Why?”

  “Her family owed my family a bodyguard. So, since she is very much her father’s daughter, putting her into service in my household was the best option.” She saw the confusion on his face and explained. “Her father is Makoran, but her mother is Agentile. They are highly matriarchal. She’s the daughter of the third husband.” She blinked. “Oh, shit. If Asshat is going to stop her from getting her binding tattoos, he is going to have to fight her mother.”

  Tonos paused and grinned. “Really?”

  She shuddered. “You have not seen Weller’s mother. She was the clan leader, and she is terrifying.”

  “Who is the clan leader now?” While he spoke, he was sliding the top away from her breasts and moving the skirt up and away.

  He pressed her to the wall, and she could feel his erection between her thighs, rubbing and sliding against her.

  Keeping the conversation going was difficult. “Her sister.”

  He looped her arms around his neck, suspending her. “Well, that is for Kekkor to deal with. I have my hands full with my own psycho.”

  He reached between them and circled her clit with his fingertips before he plunged two fingers into her. “Next time, just tell me instead of leaving a note. You have no idea how irritating it was to try and find you via the dreamscape. You didn’t doze much.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “But seriously, how did you find us?”

  The head of his cock pressed against her, and her body slid reluctantly onto him. He lifted her and plunged deeper. He grazed his teeth across her breasts. “How do you think?”

  She shuddered and wanted to beat herself in the head. Blood tracking. She was an idiot. “Sorry. I am still not used to...”

  He withdrew, and he slid back into her. “This?”

  She bit her lip and nodded. “Being more than just myself.”

  He paused. “Damn, that was the right answer.”

  He kissed her slowly and rocked into her with a slow and steady beat until her voice was keeping time with his thrusts, and her body was coated in sweat. She shivered with every incursion and tried to direct his head toward her breasts, but she was pinned to him, and his kiss was also a slow escalation in pleasure.

  She licked at his teeth and slid her tongue along his as he rocked into her, grinding into her with every deep slide.

  Ebra caught her breath, and her body tensed as she shook and groaned against him as pleasure rippled through her in heavy, coarse waves.

  When she had stopped twitching, Tonos grinned, and he started thrusting again. She locked her legs behind him and groaned when her body flared into wild heat once again. She widened her eyes and tried to do some math and was mortified. It was entirely possible that she was entering her heat. The random gunner had been correct. The timing hadn’t occurred to her because she had other things on her mind, but the six months was nearly up.

  She held tightly to him, and when he sank his teeth into her skin, she shuddered as her body spasmed around him. Ebra was sweating and sighing as well as wincing a few minutes later when he uncoupled them, released her wrists, and walked her to the shower in his quarters. She dismissed her clothing and blushed as the light spray covered her in a gel that hardened in seconds, shattered, and was blown and vacuumed away.

  Tonos supervised and made sure that she got all of the nooks and crannies, as well as the line of cum that was running down her inner thigh.

  When she was tidy, it was his turn, and she swallowed slowly as she had the opportunity to take him all in. He wasn’t like any vampire she had seen before. The golden skin of the Sandmen had overlaid the normally chalky appearance. His dark hair was thick and wavy, and he had the physique of the elementals that he was descended from. He was a man now and not a youth, but with a woman’s eye and not a child’s, he had gone from pretty to stunning.

  She turned her back and looked at him via the mirror. It seemed safer.

  Tidy and sparkling clean, he walked up behind her and placed his hand next to hers, licking the back of her neck. “You are going into heat.”

  She nodded. “It is quite possible.”

  He grazed his teeth along her spine. “It is more than possible. I can taste it.”

  She shuddered. “Right. I had forgotten about that.”

  “You weren’t going to tell me?” He nipped her shoulder.

  “I thought you might notice when I just jumped you at random intervals.” She smiled slightly.

  He gripped her hips. “I might have, but I might not have been there when you needed me. What would you have done then?”

  “Lots of combat practice and meditation. Same way I have been dealing with it since it started.” She blinked because he knelt behind her and was licking and kissing his way down her back.

  “I am sorry that you have had to go through it on your own.”

  “Well, if you had tried to help me in the early days, you wou
ld have been arrested, and mother superior would have flayed you alive. Probably for the best that we reconnected now.”

  He chuckled and held her waist. “I have to agree.”

  She turned her head toward him and twisted so she could look at him. “You never answered me.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “When I proposed to you back then, you laughed and didn’t answer me.”

  He stared at her and moved back, taking one of her hands. “Yes, I will.” He grinned. “And I did.”

  She blushed. “Well, that is fair then. Should I have offered you a ring or something?”

  His eyes brightened. “Wait a moment.”

  He left and went into the bedroom, and she watched as he went through a locker before bringing out a small object. “Here it is. You were wearing it in your hair and said it would have to do until you were older.”

  She stared and remembered that hair clip. It was a small wire twist that had wrapped around a ponytail. “You still have that?”

  He grinned. “Of course. It was my engagement ring.”

  He handed it to her, and she took it, looking at his hand and chuckling. “It might need to be resized.” She slid it onto his smallest finger. “Your Highness, will you marry me?”

  He grinned. “Yes, Miss Ebra, I will.”

  He leaned in and kissed her chastely, considering they were both nude and both aroused again.

  Ebra smiled. “So, we are delivering the rescues to the abbey?”

  “We are. That is the only way to keep you from running off to rescue them again, so we will take them all to the abbey, and the mother superior can help sort them out and assist others in travelling to their homes.”

  “That is what the abbey is for.” She smiled.

  He lifted her up and carried her to the bed. “I am glad you agree. I am still going to convince you that I am right.”

  He set her on her back and laid on his belly between her thighs, sliding his hands up and under her legs.

  “Um, I have already agreed.”

  He grinned. “I know, but I have wanted to try convincing you since I first saw you in that habit.”

  He bent his head, and she felt the heat of his mouth against her. Her back arched, and she exhaled rapidly. “Oh, I think I need more convincing.”

  His chuckle against her folds was delightful, and she settled in for some heated negotiations.

  * * * *

  Weller glared at Asshat in the cargo bay where they were settling the stolen and sold women with clothing, rations, and water.

  She muttered, “I had the fight under control.”

  Asshat spoke to her in a very calm manner. “You were outnumbered by over a hundred to one.”

  “So, a fair fight.” She smiled.

  “There was a man behind you with a dagger.” His words were growled.

  “I saw him. I had time.” She lifted an armload of clothing packs and walked around the room with them, handing them out. The ladies were almost set up for the trip, and several were busy hiding when Asshat followed Weller into the grouping.

  She turned when her arms were free and pressed a hand to his chest. “Back out. You are freaking them out.”

  He looked at her hand and grabbed her arm, wrapping another arm around her waist and carrying her out of the hold.

  Weller gasped and tried to hold still. The pressure on her skin through her clothing was heating her up, and while she wanted to kick the hell out of him, she also wanted to enjoy the moment.

  This could be the moment when she propositioned Asshat, but did she have enough nerve?

  “Um, I need to talk to the quartermaster to get somewhere to stay.” She spoke calmly while she was being squeezed.

  He glanced down at her. “I can assign you quarters.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  The Kiidar and the few Sandmen in the halls chuckled at her but inclined their heads toward Asshat.

  “Uh, why are they all nodding to you?”

  “If I had stayed with the Sandmen, I would have been a general, but now, I am Tonos’s bodyguard. So, the Kiidar know my ranking, and the Sandmen respect my previous efforts.” He growled. “None of them call me Asshat.”

  She sighed and drummed her fingers on his arm. “Well, you would not tell me your name.”

  He opened a door and walked through the opening. Punching the lock on the other side. “Kekkor.”

  She blinked, and he set her on her feet. “Kekkor?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes.”

  She stepped back and looked at him. “My name is Amika. Fourth daughter of the Agentile clan leader Mertwin by the Morkadan, Amwer. Any man who would have me would have to meet my family specs, and if I am to avoid mate tattoos, they would have to fight my mother.”

  “You have clan tattoos?” Kekkor frowned.

  “I do. Standard wrap.”

  “But wasn’t that intolerable?”

  Amika smiled. “It was what was expected, and my family helped while still adhering to the rules.”

  He uncrossed his arms. “Can I see them?”

  “You want to see my tattoos?” She blushed.

  He nodded. “Please.”

  She shrugged and unfastened the closures of her habit and turned so that her back was to him as she lowered the fabric to her hips.

  She didn’t hear him move, but he stepped up to her, and the heat of his hand skated just over her skin. When she felt breath on her back, she knew he was kneeling. “This is amazing work.”

  She shivered as her senses took the warm puffs of air and translated it into a caress. “It took a few weeks.”

  He murmured, “How far down does it go?”

  “Tops of my thighs.” She shivered again.

  “You don’t wear them in your dreams.” Kekkor was so close that another shiver would make contact.

  “What?”

  “I have been seeing your dreams for the last two years. You don’t wear the marks in your dreams.”

  She turned and stared down at him. “Why have you been in my dreams?”

  He was sitting back on his heels, directly in line with her breasts. “That is how the Sandmen find mates. We find them in their dreams and seek them out in person. That is how Tonos focused on Ebra, but he had little idea how she had changed over the years, so it took some time for him to figure it out. I haven’t had time to seek you out, but I knew you when I saw you.”

  She swallowed. “Neither of my species has that kind of a response to finding a match. All we can do is link to the one that we want and hope they want us in return.”

  He frowned and opened his mouth, she kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding tight as the link started. He pried her away from him. “What did you just do?”

  She stumbled back and sat on the bed, her fingers pressed to her lips. “I jumped.”

  He rushed to her side. “Does it hurt?” He touched the side of her head, and she shivered again.

  “No. That isn’t what is going on.”

  “What is happening?”

  She met his gaze and shrugged. “A link is a link.”

  He kissed her, and she leaned into him, meeting the caress of his tongue with her own.

  He pulled his head away. “You could have warned me.”

  She nipped his lower lip. “I am a nun who willingly stripped to her waist for you. That was all the warning you got.”

  He grinned and pressed her to the bed, clearing the rest of her clothing from her body and finding how far down the tattoos actually went.

  Epilogue

  Ebra spoke with the mother superior and listened to the shriek of children in the background. There had been a new batch of young ladies delivered to the abbey, and the graduating class was responsible for helping them learn the basics.

  “So, Ebra, how are you enjoying life on the outside?” The mother superior sipped her tea.

 
“Well, I have been out for five years, so I think I have adapted.” Ebra watched her children with the sisters.

  “You have three sets of twins, Ebra. Are you trying to repopulate a world?”

  Ebra shrugged. “I can’t control the multiples, but there are no signs of Storner Syndrome in the children, which is a relief. Controlling the urges is what has led to all of the children.”

  The mother spluttered. “So, you are using sex for therapy?”

  “Of course. Tonos prefers that I take my agitation out on his body. Since Weller has linked to a Sandman, she isn’t really a good sparring partner anymore.”

  “Too strong?”

  Ebra sighed. “And fucking fast. Her two little girls are constantly having to go to the Sandman home world for examination. I was lucky to sneak them out here for a play date.”

  “Girls are still rare for them?”

  “Very rare. She’s the first Morkana to be mixed with them. It is creating a bit of a stir.” Ebra leaned down and caught her youngest, pulling the toddler onto her lap and letting her child drink out of her arm. The children were split down the middle—one twin from each pair was heavy with the vampire, Kiidar, and Sandman genes; the other twin was Other and elf with a mild bit of crossover.

  “What about your children? Are you happy with their developments?” The mother superior looked at the little boy with the fangs and bright blue eyes.

  “I am enjoying them. Aside from feeding the ones who need blood, they are very good at taking care of each other and taking care of Weller’s little girls. They are tiny golden princesses, and everybody is gathering to make sure that they have what they want.”

  There was a wail from the field, and Ebra excused herself with her son still held and feeding. She pinched his nose, and he let go, scrambling to the ground and looking at his oldest brother.

  “What happened?”

  Her eldest son was sitting, and he looked dazed. Weller’s eldest was wringing her hands. “I lost my hairclip, and he said he would make me one.”

  Ebra sighed and pulled her son onto her lap. She put her hand out, and he put his hand on top of hers. She whispered encouragement in his ear, and the hairclip appeared in his grip. He held it out, and the little girl smiled with a shy, “Thank you, Tonro.”