The Smuggler's Radiant (Renegades Book 2) Read online

  It was a genuine question. She was interested in his new perspective, so Makios thought about it anew, through the filter of the last few rotes. He nodded.

  ‘It’s not ideal,’ he repeated. ‘But if the slaves are bringing in money, they earn their freedom. My father would be able to buy more slaves to earn their freedom. It’s a dark compromise in a dark universe.’

  Rhona weighed his words and nodded. ‘Without help from the authorities, I can see that,’ she accepted. ‘Go on.’

  ‘The Raqhan who owned the pit was looking to retire, and my father almost had enough money to buy it from him. So he started doing security for the rich people who came to use the slaves for sex.’

  Rhona hissed.

  ‘He hated being there. Hated seeing it. He vowed every morning after that he would put a stop to it.’ Makios’s lip twisted in disgust as he remembered the haunted look in his father’s eyes.

  ‘The things they do to them Nedya,’ he once overheard his father say. He had understood the words, but it was the tone in his father’s voice that had stayed with him.

  ‘A group of slavers found a secret Aavani colony.’

  ‘Decimen’s people?’

  Makios nodded. ‘Aavani are a slave race.’ Makios reached out and touched her face, ‘They’re owned by the Bentari, who are one of the races looking to invade Earth for the same purpose.’

  ‘Oh, God,’ Rhona breathed.

  ‘The Aavani homeworld has been stripped of everything of worth. There are breeding facilities. Decimen was born, raised and trained to be a slave in one of them.’

  ‘Oh no.’ Rhona’s eyes closed and she rested her chin on Makios’s chest. ‘Poor Decimen,’ she said. ‘Oh, God, my family.’

  Makios held her for a few moments while she absorbed the news.

  ‘So this colony… The Aavani were free?’

  ‘Yes,’ Makios said. ‘There were thousands of them, not owned by Bentari. Free Aavani who fought the slavers. Many of them died.’

  ‘Are Aavani the only slave race?’

  Makios shook his head.

  ‘My engineer’s race, Mvari, are a slave race. There are Ualha and Zavi.’ Makios’s heart ached at the look on Rhona’s face. He stroked her and tried to take away some of the sadness, some of the fear.

  ‘If humans knew about this…’ she whispered.

  ‘Hmmm?’

  Rhona sighed and propped herself higher. ‘For the last three hundred years, Earth has believed all aliens are evil and we’re the victims. But we’re not, are we? I mean, not only us.’

  Makios considered for a few moments, studying the ceiling as he thought. ‘I don’t see humans as victims,’ he said. ‘You’ve managed what only a couple of other races before you have managed. You were a non-spacefaring race, which took a terrible event as your call to action. You set up a defensive perimeter around, and inside your solar system, no alien species has been able to penetrate as a force. You’ve held off a full-scale invasion for three hundred solars.’ Makios stroked Rhona’s face. ‘I have nothing but admiration for your people.’

  Rhona smiled. ‘Thank you. Back to your story,’ she said and laid a kiss on his chest.

  ‘One of the Aavani was a male called Daius Edan.’ Makios thought about the gold-skinned warrior. ‘He was the hardest to catch, and therefore, the greatest prize. Zenae, the Alidai’s owner, paid a fortune for him. But Daius was making that money back in the pits.’

  Makios heard the clash of weapons as he watched his father battle Edan.

  ‘My father respected him and they became friends. He planned on making Edan his partner when he owned the pit. Told him the whole plan.’ Makios smiled.

  ‘But something happened to Edan?’ Rhona guessed.

  The smile faded from Makios’s face. He hadn’t known many of the details when he left Vasa. Later, his father had filled him in, and Edan told him the rest even later than that.

  ‘There’s a powerful Bentari called Hekalion.’ Makios felt the old hatred rise. ‘He came to watch the fights and hired some of the fighters for a private party after. Edan was one of them. My father worked security.’

  Makios shifted. Rhona moved away a little and waited until he was perched up, moving the pillow to the viewscreen and leaning back against it. She settled back onto his chest and watched his face closely. He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb and took another deep breath to shift the weight on his chest.

  ‘Hekalion and his party members tried to rape Edan, and when he fought, they beat him almost to death.’ There was no way to say it that made it pretty. But the look on Rhona’s face made him wish he had found a better way. ‘My father discovered what was happening, went to the room and broke three jaws and several ribs to save him.’

  ‘Good man,’ Rhona cried out, slapping Makios’s chest approvingly. Makios nodded in agreement, pride bursting through him. ‘He took him to Zenae, who paid for him to be healed, though it left his face scarred. A few hacri later, Hekalion accused my father of stealing money and jewels. Zenae had my family smuggled from the planet before Hekalion could move against us.’

  ‘Zenae, who bought slaves?’ Rhona’s lips twisted with disgust. ‘Zenae, who sold Edan as a prostitute? At least he did something right.’

  ‘He never sold another fighter for sex again,’ Makios said. ‘He was horrified by what happened, regretted it after. When Hekalion tried to buy Edan, Zenae refused. When he tried to buy the pit, he refused to sell it.’ Makios started stroking Rhona’s hair. It was soft, fine, beautiful. ‘He made Edan keep fighting, but also made him a sub-partner. Zenae kept the pit until he died, and by that time, Edan was already in charge. He still runs Alidai today.’

  ‘Did he carry out your dad’s—adiff’s plans?’

  Makios nodded. ‘Every slave fights to earn their freedom. Then they can continue fighting to earn money and build a new life for themselves.’ Makios smiled. ‘He bought me.’

  ‘What?’ Rhona’s voice was high, shocked.

  ‘Tolomus sold me to him, not realising we know each other.’ Makios grinned. ‘Not realising Edan sees himself as owing a debt. He repaid the debt by freeing me immediately.’

  ‘Somebody bought you,’ Rhona said. She got to her knees so that she was slightly higher than Makios and, gripping his face, kissed him. It was a slow, long, lingering kiss, filled with fear and relief. ‘If it had been anyone else…’ she whispered against his lips.

  ‘I would be an escaped slave, subject to being returned to my owner if I were ever caught,’ he said.

  ‘Oh, Makios,’ she said. Anguish in her voice.

  ‘It is not so, my love,’ he whispered, looking into her green and grey eyes. He stroked a strand of hair out of her face.

  ‘What about me?’ she said, realisation crossing her face.

  ‘You are an escaped slave,’ he said quietly. ‘But your owner is a criminal wanted by a powerful member of the IGC. By law, he can’t hold property, which means your ownership reverts to the Amaran government. All slaves are granted immediate freedom by Amaran law.’

  ‘So no one will send me back to him?’

  Makios shook his head. ‘No one.’ He smiled. ‘And if they tried, I would destroy them.’

  They kissed again, a little longer this time. Makios was beginning to think things had taken a turn when Rhona withdrew.

  ‘Then what?’

  Makios sighed and shifted, squeezing his hard and aching cock to relieve some of the need. It didn’t work. Rhona giggled.

  ‘You know, we could—’

  ‘Get on with the story, buster,’ she grinned at him.

  Makios growled but nodded. ‘My adiff withdrew the money he was saving to buy the pit and bought this ship instead.’

  Rhona smiled and looked around. ‘This ship?’

  Makios nodded.

  ‘You grew up here? Like I grew up on the Audrey Hepburn?’

  Makios smiled and nodded again. ‘Yes, I noticed that too,’ he said. ‘We’ve had similar
childhoods,’

  Rhona’s smile faded. ‘I grew up on-ship my whole life,’ she said. ‘I didn’t grow up at a fighting pit and have my life ruined by spiteful, powerful men.’

  ‘So we have similarities and differences,’ he amended. ‘I grew up here, and on Tessa.’

  ‘Your friend's planet,’ she said. ‘What a weird phrase. Your friend’s,’ she paused. ‘planet.’ She shook her head. ‘Like, a whole planet.’ She scrunched her nose.

  Makios grinned, watching her work it out in her head. She was crazy—a unique, beautiful, human kind of crazy.

  ‘So, go on. You grew up here and on Tessa. Why not Kathen?’ she paused, her eyes narrowed. ‘Kathen? Kathis? Kathia?’

  Makios chuckled. ‘Hedala,’ he provided.

  ‘Your homeworld is called Hedala?’ She frowned.

  ‘You’re a human from Earth,’ he pointed out.

  ‘I’m a human from Mars, I’ll have you know, but point taken.’

  ‘Hedala is a member of the IGC,’ he said. ‘When the IGC put a warrant out for my father’s arrest, the government would have reinforced it.’

  ‘So, you couldn’t go home,’ she said. ‘Makios, I’m so sorry.’

  Makios shrugged. ‘I didn’t really remember Hedala. Tessa and Tala were my homes,’ Makios said. ‘But my adiff had no choice but to become a smuggler.’ He grimaced. ‘Then he met two Kuyon males, and they brought us to Tessa, where we met their mate, daughter and baby.’

  ‘Okay, so that tells the story of how your dad became a smuggler.’ She smiled. ‘How did you become a smuggler?’

  Makios stared at her a moment. He drew in a long breath. He could still see the steel eyes of his father’s innu staring at him in disgust.

  ‘When I was older, I had a falling out with my adiff,’ he said. ‘I went to Hedala.’ Makios sighed. ‘My family shunned me. Except for a few, no one would give me a chance. I was the son of a dishonourable thief and smuggler. The military wouldn’t let me serve.’

  Rhona reached out and stroked his face, sympathy evident on hers.

  ‘I went to Alidai and joined the pits to prove my worth,’ He said. ‘I was barely eighteen, still a child really. I thought I could prove my honour in the pits and my people would accept me.’ Makios heard the bitterness in his voice. ‘I fought for two solars before an Ajnia named Kelid shattered my knee. Surgeons did a good job fixing me up, but it was an obvious break. Made my knee a target in the ring.’ Makios shook his head. ‘I had two more fights and took two more hits to it before I realised my opponents would always go after the knee.’

  ‘What was Edan like?’

  ‘Not the male I knew in my youth,’ Makios said, almost immediately. ‘He was always angry. The slavers killed his wife and son when they took him. But he was a male of honour and always made an effort around me as a child.’ Makios shook his head. ‘I don’t see that in him anymore. I understand why. He was forced to fight, brutalised almost raped. He’s an angry, bitter male. I worry for him.’

  ‘So you left the pit. What then?’

  ‘I went home to Tessa.’ Makios frowned. ‘My father was building a cabin. I expected it to be completed, but—’ Pain settled into the weight that had been building in his chest since he began speaking. He rubbed at his chest as though he could ease the heartache.

  ‘But?’ Rhona prompted. She had settled back down on him and watched the transit of his hand sweeping over his skin. Now she reached out and touched his face, lending him her strength.

  ‘They came after me,’ he said. ‘When I reached Alidai, they came for me, with Teyrin, one of the Kuyon. Their ship was attacked. Teyrin managed to save Tala and bring it back to Tessa. They were going to tell me, but then Tessa got sick and died. Kuyon mate for life, so they died within a day. My parents are buried next to Alethia’s on a hill overlooking the village.’

  Rhona pulled herself further up Makios’s chest and wrapped herself around him. He put his arms around her tiny waist and held her to him.

  ‘I’m sorry for asking,’ she whispered. ‘You don’t have to go on.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ he answered. ‘I like to remember them, and the worst part is over now.’ He put a hand to her chin and tipped it to look at her face. ‘Besides, in the next part, I become a big vrokking hero. I have to finish the story on what you humans call a high.’

  Rhona laughed. The vibration against his softening cock brought him back to hardness.

  He groaned. ‘I’m going to have to bury myself inside you soon.’ He kissed her lips, then studied her face.

  Her wicked grin was back. Vrok, he loved that grin. It meant he was in trouble.

  ‘Finish the story,’ she whispered. ‘Then I’ll fuck you senseless.’

  Makios ran his hands over her back, feeling her skin, squeezing her as though to assure himself she was real. ‘My red goddess,’ he whispered.

  Rhona moved, trapping his cock between them, and slowly rubbed herself up and down him.

  ‘Rhona…’ he groaned and closed his eyes.

  There was a tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes.

  ‘Eyes,’ she smirked.

  ‘Vrok,’ he grinned at her.

  ‘Finish the story,’ she whispered, her voice was growing husky.

  ‘I mourned,’ he admitted.

  She stilled.

  ‘I was angry at myself for leaving. For not telling my parents what they meant to me.’ He shifted a little. His cock slipped into her wet cleft, and he groaned again but kept his eyes on her.

  ‘Then Alethia came to me with an idea to buy slaves and bring them to the colony,’ he said. ‘Her fathers were planetary surveyors. They knew there were huge amounts of a substance called amot on the planet. It’s used to build ships.’

  ‘And freeing slaves is how you became a big, err, vrokking hero?’ she finished for him. There was an edge of desperation to her voice. She started moving again, rubbing herself up and down his cock. ‘You still haven’t told me how you became a smuggler,’ she pointed out.

  Makios growled, desperate to be sheathed in her. ‘Amot is regulated. The Protectorate owned the planet, though they didn’t know it existed. It was easier to move it outside the law. Easier to raise money to buy slaves through smuggling. I slipped into it one job at a time. What is this called?’ he asked, rubbing a finger over the bump above her opening.

  Rhona gasped at his touch.

  ‘A clitoris,’ she whispered, her head falling back, her eyes closing. ‘Clit for short.’

  ‘Clit,’ he repeated, continuing to rub little circles over it. He reached over and caught a nipple in his mouth and sucked on it.

  ‘Oh, God,’ Rhona cried out from deep in her throat.

  ‘Oh, red goddess,’ He corrected her, before taking her hips, raising her and slamming her down on his cock.

  ‘Makios,’ she called out.

  Makios hissed as her tight, hot, wet pussy convulsed around him. He cried out an incoherent curse and breathed as he allowed the sensations to wash over him.

  He grabbed her by the back of her head and claimed her lips. Her mouth opened to accept him. Makios let his past and pain go to bathe in Rhona’s love.

  ‘Makios,’ she cried as his cock slammed into her.

  She heard him hiss and mutter but couldn’t make it out. Didn’t care to try and make it out as she adjusted to the feeling of him inside her.

  He fisted her hair, and they met halfway for a kiss.

  Rhona felt the tension that had been building in him since he began telling his story ease from his muscles. After a few moments, he took hold of her hips with his massive hands and lifted her to drop her onto him with even more force.

  ‘Oh, God,’ she cried out, her pussy quivering around his cock. Makios dug his fingers tight and relentlessly drove in and out of her. His large hand spanned across her hip, and gently but firmly he brushed his thumb against her clit.

  His hips rose and fell to meet her, and within moments, they were both out of breath.
/>   She felt a now familiar tap to her hips and opened her eyes to meet his gaze. His silver eyes bore into hers.

  ‘One point to me,’ he gasped.

  ‘Oh, it’s like that, is it?’ she said.

  Rhona clamped tight around Makios. Then, reaching back, she grabbed hold of his shins, her body bent back until she was straining to see him. She felt his cock rubbing hard on the front wall of her pelvis and moaned at the building sensation.

  Makios’s mouth opened in a throaty groan, and his eyes fluttered but stayed open. He grinned in challenge to her.

  Rhona bit her lip. She was so close, but she wanted him to cum hard. She leaned a little further back and flexed the inner walls of her pussy on each downstroke, releasing on the upward stroke. It was a risk. Her orgasm was building quicker now.

  When she saw Makios’s mouth drop wide open as he shot towards her, she knew it had been a risk worth taking. Her orgasm hit at the same time as he came.

  Makios’s eyes squeezed shut as he roared and bared his teeth. He pulled her to him and buried his face in her neck. He held her tight. His roar became cries. Became grunts. Became a long, drawn-out groan.

  ‘My red goddess,’ he gasped. ‘Please stop flexing.’ He moaned as his body jerked another spurt of hot cum into her.

  ‘I can’t,’ she moaned. ‘I’m still cumming.’

  Makios hissed, then began to grind into her. When he caught a nipple in his mouth and grazed his teeth down to the tip, she slipped over the edge again. This time, it was so unexpected it took her breath away, and she barely managed a gasp through it.

  Eyes open, she watched stars streak by until the spasms stopped, and she was finally able to catch her breath.

  Three loud thuds echoed through the wall.

  ‘I’m trying to vrokking sleep in here!’ a voice she didn’t recognise shouted.

  ‘We need to get this room soundproofed,’ Rhona whispered.

  ‘We need to get the whole vrokking ship soundproofed then,’ Makios whispered, ‘Because I intend on vrokking you in every room, on every floor.’

  ‘Every floor,’ she agreed, grinning. ‘Every table.’ She kissed his forehead between his horns. ‘Every wall.’ She kissed his cheek. ‘Every surface.’ She kissed his other cheek. ‘Every,’ she emphasised with a brow wiggle, ‘surface.’