“We’re going to have good times, you and me. I like the fact that you don’t talk. But you’ll learn to understand me soon enough. You’ll open your mouth and your pussy and your ass to me whenever I want. Any time. Any place.” He smiled nastily. “I like playing to a crowd.”
He reached down and yanked off the strip of cloth covering her breasts. Lexi shrank back, as though fearful, the shard of bone hidden in her hand. She’d have only one chance with him. She had to bide her time, wait till he was near enough to plunge it into his chest.
Eli sank to his knees and grabbed a fistful of her hair. “Open your mouth. I’m gonna train you right from the start.” He leaned forward, shoving his engorged member against her lips.
“I’ll bite it off!”
Eli fell back, stunned.
Lexi took full advantage of the shock on his face. She lunged with the dagger-like shard of bone, intending to ram it into his heart. But she’d never done anything like that before, never even witnessed a living creature do grave bodily harm to another. At the last second, she flinched.
Eli had been trained in combat with man and beast from childhood. With lightning-quick reflexes, he twisted aside as she struck, taking the shard in his upper arm instead of his chest.
To her horror, it didn’t even seem to faze him. He glanced down at his arm, yanked the bloody fragment of bone out of his biceps, and threw it across the cave.
“You’re going to be sorry you did that,” he snarled. Then, staring into her eyes the whole time, he pulled back his wounded arm and backhanded her across the face.
Lexi fell back, cracking her head against the wall.
“So — you could speak our language all along,” he went on. “Even better. You’ll understand me when I tell you what’s in store for you when we get back. But first…” He grabbed his cock. “I’m gonna put this where youcan’tbite it off. Ram it up your ass so deep and so hard, by the time I’m through, you’ll beg me to let you suck it instead.”
He rolled her onto her stomach and straddled her body. Lexi struggled but he was twice her size, his body a mass of dense muscle from a lifetime fighting the harsh pull of Iridia’s gravity. He ripped off her skirt and reached under her with one hand, pulling her hips up. Then he levered her legs apart with his knees.
Lexi heard a roar. Suddenly, Eli’s weight was off her. She felt the thud when his body hit the ground.
Chapter Eleven
Scrambling away on all fours, Lexi risked a look behind her.
Ayron stood over Eli, holding a stone knife. Eli surged to his feet, grabbed Ayron around the waist, and wrestled him to the ground. The warriors fought silently, rolling around on the floor of the cave while they grappled for possession of the knife. Blood flowed, the sharp blade slashing into both men as they struggled.
Lexi had had a few months of training in hand-to-hand combat as part of her preparation for the mission. But she could see how woefully unprepared she’d have been for the real thing. Here, there were no rules. There was no mercy. They fought with a vicious intensity, locked in a battle to the death with her as the prize to the victor.
She seized her chance and crawled away. Grabbing the precious shard of bone, Lexi wrapped her fist around it and huddled in a corner while the battle raged. Eli had wrestled the knife away and held it against Ayron’s throat. Blood poured down his arm from where she’d stabbed him. Ayron had Eli’s wrist in an iron grip, the muscles in his shoulder and arm bulging as he tried to shove the knife away. A stream of red trickled from the tip buried in Ayron’s neck.
If she didn’t do something, he’d soon be dead.
Lexi didn’t stop to think. Picking up a large rock on the floor, she ran forward and swung it against the side of Eli’s head, hitting him square in the temple. He toppled over.
Ayron never hesitated. He yanked the knife out of Eli’s hand, swiped it across the man’s throat, then fell on his back, gasping for breath.
Lexi stared down at the bodies. One dead, one covered with blood from vicious knife wounds. She snatched up her pack, grabbed her cloak, and ran, naked, out of the cave.
She made it only a few yards before the excruciating pain hit. Fire seared her bare skin. Exposing her body to the rays of the twin suns was like running through a wall of flame. She tried to draw the cloak around herself, but her hands shook so badly she could barely hold onto it.
Two arms wrapped around her like steel bands, dragged her back into the blessed darkness. She collapsed on the floor of the cave, his weight pinning her down.
“You little fool!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, spluttering with rage. “I didn’t risk my life to save you from that monster just to see you die of sun poisoning.”
“I’m sorry!” She blurted it out without thinking. The look of shock on his face disappeared in an instant, followed by a blank expression.
“You speak our language.”
Though she barely knew him, she was suddenly wary. His cold flat tone frightened her more than his anger.
“I didn’t at first. I…learned it.” Some instinct made her stop before blurting out the truth.
“You learned it. In a day.” He stared her down, the disbelief on his face evident.
