The Assassin and the Soldier Read online

  Kaelia let out a long stream of breath, somewhere halfway between a moan and a sigh. “This again?” she teased him, tilting her head to the side as his lips wandered up and down her neck. “You already know.”

  He grabbed for her wrists, and Kaelia put up a struggle, wriggling them away until a tussle ensued, but he won quickly enough. He lifted her hands over her head and pressed them to the wall behind her, stretching out her body in a vulnerable way. “I don’t care if I already know,” he growled in between kissing her neck again, more urgently this time. “I want to hear you say it.”

  “Hmmm,” Kaelia mused, pretending to contemplate it. She enjoyed toying with him like this, seeing just how much she could poke and prod him until he had enough and put her back in her place. “What if I don’t want to say it?”

  His eyes gleamed, clearly enjoying her resistance, and Kaelia smirked knowingly back at him. A moment later, he lifted her around the waist and spun her around, flipping her face down across the bed. She gasped, the sound filled with desire, and Callan yanked down her panties and clapped his huge, paddle-like hand across the center of her buttocks. She cried out and flailed, but Callan held her down as he delivered five or six more smacks in quick succession. Kaelia whimpered and went still.

  “I’m yours,” she surrendered, not in the mood to push him very far tonight. There was a light sting in her bottom, just enough to make her remember how much a spanking could really hurt. Callan’s fingers slipped under her, feeling her pussy lips slick and wet with her arousal. “All yours,” she added, her eyes fluttering as he slid inside her.

  “That’s right,” he said, thrusting two fingers back and forth inside her, his thumb positioned over the little bud of her bottom hole. “You like being a little slut for me, don’t you, my sweet love?”

  “Yes,” Kaelia murmured obediently, tensing to feel his thumb press down harder against her most sensitive hole, almost penetrating her. Though it made her nervous, she kind of liked it, the way he so totally overtook her.

  He finger-fucked her hard for several moments, until Kaelia thought she was going to come right then, but then he quickly pulled out and slapped her bottom again, the sound filling the room like a gunshot. “This ass is mine,” he said, and then swiftly grabbed her around the thigh and flipped her over.

  He took hold of both of her legs and parted her wide, exposing her hot, pulsing pussy to the cool air of the room. He held her open like that for what seemed like a long time, and Kaelia was just starting to feel herself relax when he released one of her thighs from his grip.

  Then, very suddenly, he lifted that hand and smacked at the center of her legs, smarting and quick, and Kaelia yelped in surprise. Callan smiled superiorly at her. “And this pussy is mine, too. Isn’t it, love?”

  “It is,” she agreed, despite cringing from the pain of the pussy spank. He had never done that before, and it had taken her by surprise. She let one knee fold over the other in a protective manner as he began undoing his pants. His cock burst forward, swollen and pulsating with need, and Callan didn’t hesitate when he threw her knees apart and lifted her hips. With one fluid thrust, he speared her, and Kaelia cried out senselessly.

  “You’re mine, because no one else can give it to you like this,” Callan declared as he fucked her expertly, lifting and lowering himself over her in a gratifying rhythm. “You need to be fucked like this, don’t you, naughty slut? You need to be shown who’s in charge.”

  Kaelia wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him closer, rocking her pelvis against his. “Yes,” she got the word out as she arched her spine and threw her head back, enjoying every inch of him as he drove deeper into her pussy.

  Callan grabbed a fistful of her hair, wrapping it around the width of his palm and pulling it tight at the base of her scalp, making it so she could barely move without causing herself pain. “Yes, what?” he growled in her hair.

  Kaelia’s lips curled up in spite of herself, and she knew the sight of her smug smirk drove Callan wild. “Yes, sir,” she said, nearly mockingly, goading him. She had called him sir once in a teasing way several days ago, but he had liked the sound of it, and began insisting it from her more and more.

  He didn’t like the sassiness in her tone; she could tell by the way his hand clamped over her bottom cheek, gripping and squeezing, his fingers reaching further and further inside her deep crevice. And then she felt him on her bottom hole again, his fingers feeling much larger than normal as they circled some of her own juices around and around her tight place, until suddenly, she felt his long middle finger plunge inside her delicate rosette, curving along the opposite side of her G-spot like a hook.

  “Oh!” she cried, and just that one sound seemed to drive him wild. He fucked her with fast, urgent strokes, and Kaelia groaned raucously. Just the addition of a single one of his fingers inside her tight virgin hole changed their lovemaking session immensely. Kaelia’s pussy now felt overwhelming tight around his big cock, and her bottom felt pinched and full. It was uncomfortable at first, though as Kaelia relaxed and enjoyed his movements she became accustomed to the new invasion, and wondered what it would feel like to take more of him there.

  “A naughty little slut like you needs all her holes fucked, don’t you?” Callan asked her, his voice strained from his own pleasure as he continued to take her with his never-ending speed and stamina. “Don’t you?” He pulled her head back hard by her hair when she didn’t answer.

  “Yes, sir!” She didn’t toy with him this time. She gave him what he wanted as she could hardly contain herself anymore. He was fucking her completely senseless. Soon she wouldn’t be able to make words at all.

  He wiggled his finger inside her tight anal passage, and Kaelia felt a swell ripple through her until she was sure she was going to explode from the unfamiliar delight. “I’ll fuck you right here one day,” he promised fervently, beginning to move his finger along with the movements of his penis. “You’ll like that, won’t you, little girl? To have my hard, stiff cock stuffed inside this tight, tiny little bottom hole, fucking you hard until you’re screaming in oblivion. That’s what naughty little sluts who belong to me deserve, isn’t it?”

  “Y-y-yes! Y-yes, sir!” Kaelia’s words reverberated in her throat at the rate at which he fucked her, going harder and faster every second. She couldn’t take anymore, it was too much, to have her pleasure zone rubbed and tantalized from two different sides, as if he had totally consumed her, taken her over.

  “Tell me what you are!” Callan barked at her, driving himself deeper and deeper inside of her, his moves becoming spastic and erratic. “I want to hear the words…”

  “I’m your naughty little slut!” Kaelia burst out desperately as she began to come, the spasms rolling over her like waves knocking her down. Her body lurched and rollicked, and the touch of him all at once became too much, overbearing and smothering; intoxicating her with his scent and touch. She wanted more and to push him away simultaneously. Yet she couldn’t push him away. He held her down against the bed, continuing to fuck her silly with more determination than ever. Her only choice in the matter was more.

  “And what do naughty little sluts of mine deserve?” He pressed her with his words and with his prick all at once, overwhelming her with his size and force. Kaelia gasped and moaned in exhilaration, wondering if she was going to pass out. She couldn’t keep up with him anymore. His penis seemed to expand inside her, driving down deeper and deeper, filling her up as the finger in her bottom continued to tantalize her with hard, fast strokes.

  “To be fucked in my tight bottom hole.” Suddenly, Kaelia recalled what he had told her before, and the words toppled out of her clumsily, like rocks being spilled from a sack. Her body wasn’t her own any longer, and she was only vaguely aware of it as Callan pumped and thrust on top of her, holding her tightly by the hair, barely letting her move at all. Kaelia felt herself slipping to a strange place as she began to come again, somewhere otherworldly; both beautiful and debauche
d.

  Just as she thought she might like to go farther into that place, Callan’s entire body jerked as he pulled out of her. Looming over her, he braced himself with his hand on her thigh as he spurted his juices all over her belly and pelvis. He panted for several long seconds, barely able to make eye contact with her, and Kaelia realized his finger was still in her ass. Very gently, he began wriggling it out, and when Kaelia felt it extracted from her she felt strangely empty and incomplete.

  They lay together for a long time in each other’s arms, but finally got up to shower off in the multi-jetted stall. Callan hugged Kaelia close after they got back in bed, pulling the sheets up around them. Usually, it relaxed her, knowing she couldn’t go anywhere with his big arms encompassing her, enclosing her to his chest. But although Kaelia had been able to take her mind off the competition during their lovemaking, laying in the still darkness quickly brought it all back.

  Filled with a disjointed, frenetic energy, Kaelia couldn’t sleep. She could practically feel the minutes ticking by, bringing her closer and closer to the first challenge of the competition. So finally, when she was sure Callan was fast asleep, she wriggled out of his embrace and slid down to the floor. He didn’t like her staying up late, had even spanked her once for it, and it was usually impossible for her to sneak away from him. But Kaelia couldn’t stay in bed a moment longer.

  She wandered out onto the balcony and paced for a bit, before dropping to her hands and knees and performing several push-ups. Over and over she lifted and lowered herself, until it wasn’t even challenging anymore, and she had to clap her hands in between each one to get the same effect. Her energy began wearing off and she started to grow tired, but still she kept at it. She was half-way up when she noticed Callan’s figure in the doorway, his eyes glittering almost forlornly in the moonlight. Kaelia tensed, sure he might scold or even spank her. But instead, he dropped down to the floor beside her, and matched every one of her push-ups.

  Chapter 12

  Kaelia

  The helicopter ride up the mountainside was so brief, Kaelia doubted it would really take as long to get down as show host Mick Dirkhead claimed. He was waiting for them at the top, along with a plethora of cameramen and other crew, everyone slapping at mosquitoes and spraying thick clouds of bug repellent everywhere. There was a medical team to check them out before the challenge began, though Kaelia didn’t know why they bothered. As if anyone would care if they died during it.

  “Just breathe normally,” a woman in nurse scrubs instructed, pressing a stethoscope to Kaelia’s chest and holding two fingers to her wrist.

  Kaelia glowered. “Do you know how hard it is to breathe normally after someone just told you to breathe normally?” she asked rhetorically. Kaelia didn’t like medical people poking and prodding and touching her. It always made her feel like they might find something out they shouldn’t. But Kaelia had been designed well, and despite her predator DNA, she appeared completely human. It was only the eyes that might tip anybody off, but only if they knew enough to look.

  “Just trying to make sure you don’t have a heart attack out there today.” The nurse or whatever she was smiled tightly, and Kaelia simpered back. Finally, she was left alone.

  Too alone. She wished Callan had been allowed at the top of the mountain to see them off. But they had been driven to the competition location in separate vehicles, and Kaelia had only seen him briefly before boarding the helicopter. He’d be waiting for her at the bottom to finish. Hopefully that wouldn’t be long.

  “Hey, so if either of us finds one of these vehicle thingies, we’re sharing, right?” Kaelia turned to the voice behind her and saw Lux, wearing the same long protective clothing as her to dissuade the bugs.

  She smiled flippantly, throwing her hair behind her shoulder. “Sure. But I’m driving.”

  “Deal.” Lux took her hand and shook it briefly. Kaelia caught several of the other contestants looking at them. The mountainous Grady Lair and Elgren Farrow, along with foreboding looking Emmanuel Kant were grouped together, while a smaller man—Kaelia didn’t know his name—seemed to have paired off with Lauza LaRue, the serial killer. The hard-bodied tomboy, Jessamine Bellagio, also seemed to have a male friend, while the smaller, pixyish Indigo Steele stood off to the side, alone. They all seemed to be forging alliances and sizing each other up, leerily.

  Before they could start, they had to listen to another spiel by Mick Dirkhead. Of course they did. Kaelia felt more and more like strangling him the longer he held them all up. He went over the clue they received last night, Even if you don’t find a ride down the mountainside, still be sure to look on the upside, for the viewers at home. Obviously, it’s not like Kaelia needed a recap. She had read those words again and again after un-crumpling the piece of paper she had thrown on the floor, though it didn’t do her a whole lot of good.

  Finally, it was time to start. The showrunners lined them up behind an invisible line stretching from one tree to another. Kaelia squinted as the sun crept higher and higher into the sky. It was still early, and it was cooler up here on the mountain than it had been at the resort. Suddenly, she longed for her familiar suite, with the tangled sheets and half-eaten platters of fruit she left everywhere. And Callan, his arms around her as he held her close to watch TV, or wrestle with her, or more. She felt an ache inside her, but pushed it away. She refused to entertain the idea she might not ever see her suite in the Surfspray Hotel and Resort ever again.

  Someone shouted something, and half the contestants took off running, kicking the ruddy dirt of the mountain up behind them. The other half, Kaelia and Lux included, hung back, conserving their energy. They’d only been given a small bottle of water and thin strips of jerky for sustenance, and Kaelia figured they might be up here half the day.

  Slowly, the remaining contestants dispersed among the trees, though Lux and Kaelia stuck together. Kaelia was very conscious of the camera crew; at least two dozen of them with one of them trailing Lux and her particularly. They walked nervously, not speaking.

  Then they heard it. The rev of an engine, spluttering farther and farther away. So that was one out of five of the all-terrain vehicles, gone. Lux groaned and ran a hand through his wavy hair, growing long now, hanging in his eyes.

  “I really hope we find one of those babies quick because I am not in the mood to go back to prison today,” he sighed.

  “What about the clue?” Kaelia questioned him.

  He winced. “I’m not very good with riddles.”

  “What are you good at?”

  “Drinking, socializing, wooing beautiful women,” Lux checked them off easily one by one, and then balked at the accusatory look she gave him. “Hey, what do you want from me? I grew up in the lap of sophistication. Those things were important.”

  “So Mommy and Daddy are rich, huh?” Kaelia asked patronizingly.

  “Were,” Lux corrected. “After Amity’s People Party took over, they lost everything, just like everyone else.”

  Kaelia nodded, but wouldn’t say anymore – not with men with cameras so close anyway. Callan had been right before, it was dangerous to say anything that wasn’t in total accordance with the People’s Party. Though they’d been opposed at all angles, they’d still managed to rise to the position of world leaders through the use of war and force, and then had the nerve to give themselves the name Amity. Amity meant friends within nations, but they were only friends with each other and those who served them, and even the latter was shoddy.

  They heard another vehicle start up, and Kaelia swore disgracefully under her breath. “This is ridiculous!” she spat. “No one ever told me I’d be playing hide and seek. We should be doing stuff that takes real skill, like running, jumping, fighting!”

  “I’d rather play hide and seek,” Lux said. Usually he could make her laugh, but today she was too upset.

  “Well then start seeking! We must be doing something wrong. We’re just wandering around like rambling idiots with our thumbs up our
butts. We should be going inside caves and stuff, or looking under piles of brush.”

  “All right,” Lux said with a shrug. “You’re the boss.”

  She began rummaging through a thick bramble of bushes, tearing it away with her bare hands, the sharp, thorny branches digging in her palms and scratching up her arms where her sleeves pulled up. Lux hung back, less enthusiastic. “When I finally find one of these things, I’m going to take off on it alone and leave you here if you don’t start looking,” she warned him.

  “Sorry,” Lux apologized quickly, and then gingerly pawed at some branches. “You know, you kind of just sounded like my mom just then.”

  Kaelia scowled. “Aren’t you older than me by about ten years?”

  Lux’s face fell as if she’d just mortally wounded him. “Come on now, Kaelia, I know I don’t look a day over my age, which is actually twenty-seven, thank you very much. Though I’m not as young as you, the baby of the competition. We can’t all have such youth on our side, unfortunately.” He sighed wistfully.

  “Shut up and start looking!” Kaelia snapped, though she was forging her way out of the bramble now, giving up on that particular spot. At least she had worn long sleeves, so she wasn’t completely covered in scratches.

  “Where do you want me to look?” Lux asked dubiously.

  Before she could answer, they heard it, another engine revving its way straight down the mountain. “That leaves two left!” Kaelia exclaimed, outraged.

  “You know, I’m not great at math, words are more my forte, but I think I figured that one out fairly quickly.”