Life in the Vrail: Vol 1

Excerpt From: Lurin's Surrender

Captain Mara Seni swore as the ship encountered another round of hostile fire from the Melan rebels.

“Damned ex-patriots.” She seethed as she fought to keep her ship in one piece. Not only had the rebels come out of nowhere in the middle of an asteroid storm, but they’d interrupted her crew’s attempts to subdue her thrashing and less-than-willing captive.

She narrowly guided the ship out of a speeding asteroid’s path and smiled grimly as she watched it destroy one of the three Melan ships tracking her.

“Damn it, release me, you heathen fethra.” A deep voice echoed through the hallway. “When I get free, I’m going to make you all pay for this,” he roared.

Swearing under her breath, Mara jockeyed her ship out of the storm and quickly thrust into hyperdrive. The minute her ship leapt out of the Melans’ sight, she exhaled with relief and left the controls to see to her prisoner.

She encountered him with the three members of her crew and stared in shock at his strength. Lurin Vez struggled under the two hulking Fas brothers and the quick-as-a-whip Catam of Mardu. The Fas brothers hailed from Ragga, a planet that bore the strongest men in the System. That Vez continued to struggle against them worried her, as did the knowledge that he’d committed a heinous crime. A man who could resist Raggas and a Mardu wouldn’t stop at simple murder if allowed to escape. More trouble she didn’t need.

“Ah, so the amber-eyed woman was not a mere figment of my imagination after all,” he rasped and stared at her with insolence. His light blue eyes fairly sizzled as they traced her from head to foot.

“That’s our captain,” Catam said quietly and knocked the captive back with a hard punch to his midsection. “Show some respect.”

Vez absorbed the blow without making a sound. Again Mara studied him curiously, wondering how a man who looked like this could have turned into a murdering rapist.

He had dark blue-black hair and sun-kissed skin. He towered over her, and Mara considered herself a tall woman. His muscular forearms led to thick biceps and a broad chest, visible through the sleeveless and ripped tunic he wore. Skin-tight, rak-hide leggings suggested similar strength in his powerful thighs.

But his face. Stars, Mara thought, irritated for having noticed. With a face like that and a body to match, this man should never have to resort to rape. High cheekbones and feline-shaped eyes gave him an exotic look, made even more stunning by his thickly lashed electric-blue eyes and full, sensuous lips. She’d bet her last bek he was Nebite, a man for whom pleasure was a way of life.

Mara watched those lips curve in sardonic amusement as she studied him.

“Like what you see?” His smooth voice beckoned her closer. For a startled moment, she almost stepped forward. Then she mentally shook herself and glared at her prisoner.

“You are Lurin Vez, are you not?” She coughed to clear the huskiness from her voice, suddenly conscious of her own sensuality.

His eyes lit but he said nothing, his gaze firmly on her mouth.

“He is,” Nu, the elder Fas brother, answered.

“We searched his belongings earlier and found this,” his brother, Set, added. He held out a System tag that clearly showed her prisoner’s likeness against the name Lurin Vez.

Mara smiled, and the prisoner blinked, his gaze leaving her lips to peruse the rest of her face. “Nobless Cari Elaran has a bounty on your head.” She watched but could detect no recognition at the name in his shuttered gaze. “We’ll have you at her estate in less than a week’s time, captive Vez.”

“Why are you doing this?” Lurin struggled against the Fas brothers again, straining to regain freedom from the shackles at his wrists and ankles.

“Come now, captive Vez.” Mara shook her head in disappointment, making a mental note to continue to address him as ‘captive’. He didn’t like it one bit. “You raped the Nobless’s virgin daughter and murdered her future mate. Surely you didn’t think that action would go unpunished?”

He stared at her in surprise, as if unaware of the heinous crimes he’d committed. Mara waited patiently for him to refute the accusations; she could read the denial on his face.

“Is that what they told you?” he asked softly, his eyes intent on her face.

“Please, no more games.” Mara felt an odd sense of disappointment. Most of her bounties clung to feigned innocence until confronted with their guilt. For some reason, she’d thought Vez would be different. He possessed a core of strength that unfortunately went no further than the physical. “Nu, Set, take him to his new quarters. And, Catam, make sure all is clear for our journey to planet Jaron.”

Vez gave her an odd look but didn’t protest her crew’s handling. Perhaps now that his crimes had been brought into the open, he realised he had nothing with which to bargain.

Mara didn’t believe in bargaining with men regardless. She lived a simple life, a solitary existence devoted to her career as a bounty hunter. She had no use for pleasures of the flesh or emotional attachments. And though not overly satisfied with her lot in life, she did feel content.

Her job brought bursts of excitement, but Mara preferred it when the job went smoothly. Relieved that the crisis with Vez had been averted, she headed to the galley for some sustenance. Since the capture of her prisoner, she’d been awake and running on fumes for more than two days.

Mara grabbed a tray of food before she sat. Staring at the unappetising fare, she thought about Vez and the circumstances surrounding the mysterious criminal.

From one of her many sources, Mara had received word that her latest quarry had been hiding out on one of the Melan moons, a smart move considering the Melans’ dislike for anything Jaronan—which included Nobless Cari Elaran, his accuser.

Disguised as a pleasurer, Mara had visited bar after bar on Sheias, Melan’s central moon where all information funnelled. Soon armed with his whereabouts, she’d easily infiltrated the rebel club where Vez had been drinking by himself in a corner. For the right price, a serving girl agreed to tamper with his order.

The drug had worked surprisingly well, and the Fas brothers escorted him unhindered to her ship. They’d been sitting cloaked in space, waiting out the Melan rebel force’s movements, when her captive had revived.

She frowned and forced herself to eat. Vez had proven himself amazingly strong, almost defeating both Fas brothers until Catam had entered the scene. For Vez to have almost defeated not one, but two Raggas meant that he was no ordinary human. His unusual good looks could be attributed to any number of planetary inhabitants, but his strength made her wonder. Then there was the matter of his intoxicating voice. Something in his tenor hinted at a simmering power. A telepath, maybe? His overt sensuality spoke of something more. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought him Thesha.

Even as she thought it, she scoffed at her overworked imagination.

The Thesha had been a legend for as long as she could remember. No matter that the nobles in the System still searched and raged about the sensually gifted race, Mara didn’t believe they existed anymore, if they even had in the first place. Imagine a race of men able to pleasure a female without cease. Obviously a tale created by depraved women.

“Captain?” Catam stepped quietly into the galley and waited for her to acknowledge him.

“Yes?”

“We’re set for Jaron. I enabled the communicator should you wish to inform Nobless Cari that we’re on our way.” His sensual, golden eyes brightened with intensity as he stared at her, and Mara had the uneasy suspicion that she would need to make at least one stop before reaching Jaron.

From the beginning of her captaincy, Mara hadn’t wanted to use a crew of men only, but her need for strength and solidarity of warlike mindsets had made the decision to exclude females an easy one.

An unusual maiden, Mara had been trained in the art of war since she was old enough to stand. Softness and sexuality were not a part of her. When she felt such uncomfortable stirrings, she returned to her training. Unlike the men she worked with, she felt free of the lusts they often suffered.

She’d made sure to take on men she could trust, and though they never discussed such matters, Mara always made sure to stop at a pleasure point somewhere in space, where her crew could see to their base needs. She worried that to leave their hungers untended might turn them in her direction for attention.

“Good work, Catam.” She nodded at him. He watched her carefully while maintaining a respectful distance. Mara knew, should she give him the slightest hint, Catam would take her to bed without question.

Rumours of the sensual Mardu made her wonder what held her back.

Excerpt From: The Thief of Mardu

Catam of Mardu rolled his eyes and wondered for the fifth time that morning if a person could actually die of boredom.

“I’m not goin’ to Jintak and you can’t make me!” Rantak Borsham’s breath lingered in the air like a cloud of poison, the noxious fumes fouler than the offal lying in the alleyway beside the bar.

“I can’t, hmm?” Catam’s unconcerned reply further enraged the wanted murderer, causing Rantak to froth at the mouth, literally.

“You shouldn’t aggravate him, Catam.” Nu Fas shook his head.

Rantak, now armed with a knife, shouted obscenities, drawing attention to himself and the three men intent on capturing him.

“You really shouldn’t have,” Set, Nu’s brother agreed. “You know Captain Mara specifically ordered us to pick up Borsham quietly.”

Several barbarians painted for war and wearing wicked swords joined the quarrel, raising questions Catam and the Fas brothers didn’t want to answer, not with so many hostile gazes now centred on them.

In Kweg’s Bar, authority and law were in the minority. Unfortunately, to collect the hefty bounty on Rantak’s murderous hide, Catam and his crewmates had no choice but to enter the eastern province’s most dangerous drinking establishment.

“I asked you a question, drun.” One man sneered and waved his sword in Catam’s face.

A tingle of anticipation feathered Catam’s belly, and he smiled eagerly, relieved to finally feel something. His grin widened when he noted the confusion darkening his adversary’s face.

“Nu, Set, grab Rantak while I take care of this idiot and his friends.” He nodded to the four barbarians standing to Rantak’s left, frowning ferociously. From the distinct set of their bushy brows and light coloured hair, he guessed them to be some type of relation to Rantak. Perfect.

Nu shook his head, and Set sighed, but since Mara had ordered them to behave, they did so. Nu grabbed Rantak and disarmed him with ease, then nodded to his brother and disappeared with Rantak in tow, courtesy of Captain Mara’s new teleporter.

Set leaned against the bar and crossed his massive arms over his chest. “I’ll wait here until you’re through.”

Catam’s opponents eyed Set with caution. No one openly challenged a citizen of Ragga—a planet that bore men with inhuman strength—with hopes of winning. When his opponents realised Set had no intention of interfering, they grunted with satisfaction.

“When we’re done I might just take that pretty face and mess it up nice and proper,” one of the men growled at Catam and crudely grabbed his crotch. His friends laughed and shouted obscenities while they spread around Catam in a circle.

The rest of the bar had quieted when they understood a brutal battle was about to take place. Money had furtively changed hands before Set declined to fight. Once he leaned back against the bar, a shout sounded and the crowd erupted into a betting frenzy.

Set grinned. “I’ll take five to one on the drun in the middle.”

Catam frowned at the large man. He eagerly anticipated the coming fight, but being called a shit for the second time, and by his crewmate no less, irritated him to no end.

Taking advantage of his distraction, one of the barbarians rushed Catam with his sword drawn. Unarmed except for the dagger tucked into his boot, Catam dropped low and whipped out his leg, tripping his rushing attacker easily. The man hit the ground with a solid thump, and Catam finished him with a measured strike intended to produce nausea and dizziness.

Sure enough, his attacker vomited and held his head in his hands, groaning.

Seeing their comrade downed so quickly, two more of the barbarians attacked, the leader waiting behind.

Catam ducked and rolled to avoid a near decapitation. He wanted to laugh out loud at the thrill coursing through him. The battle made his blood hum. He felt alive and tapped into his extrasensory awareness that hovered just beyond his conscious thought.

The opponent nearest him narrowed his gaze and stepped forward. Catam feinted left. He pulled back as one of the men lunged with his weapon, then pivoted and used the man’s momentum to crash the rushing barbarians into one another.

The thrown barbarian unfortunately had his sword at the ready when Catam threw him into his comrade, and he skewered the man through the stomach.

Cheers went through the crowd. Catam glanced behind him to see Set’s amused expression flatten, indicating another assault, this one too close to avoid.

Catam leapt to the side, narrowly missing a fatal blow while suffering a minor wound. Blood trickled from the shallow cut in his shoulder, the pain stinging him to life once more.

With a grin at his crewmate, who rolled his eyes and huffed at the ceiling, Catam sank to the floor and rolled left, knocking the surviving barbarian to the ground. Unlike his skewered friend, this man recovered enough to regain his feet, but Catam had tired of the play.

He dodged the next blow and went in hard. A punch to the gut and a chop to the man’s throat had the third barbarian incapacitated.

Then the leader advanced, a raging menace of fury as he commanded not one but two Cortami class swords with blurring velocity. Catam briefly noted Set’s alarm and shook his head to stop the Ragga’s intrusion.

Whirling left and right, with inherent speed and using Xema distortion techniques, Catam confused his enemy to the point of dizziness. The man swayed on his feet, trying to keep up with the hazy image of Catam surrounding him.

Catam knocked his adversary unconscious with a sharp blow to the man’s temple. Still pulsing off an adrenaline high, it took Catam a moment to remember the crowd watching him.

He blinked at the sudden silence and joined Set at the bar. “What?”

Set shook his head, looking disgusted. “Show off. Come on, we have work to do.”

In a flash, Catam faced an angry Captain Mara aboard the ship, the teleporter an unwelcome reminder that he did indeed have a job to do, and that like it or not, the boredom would find him once more.

* * * *

Isa Araye frowned as she stared at the back of the closet door and listened to the muffled groans outside. She knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself, and she peered through the small crack where she’d opened the door.

She’d grown up on a world that considered sexual pleasure a way of life. Viewing sex was a natural and practical way to stimulate one’s drive, at least according to her mother.

Isa squinted to see a woman’s figure through the dim light of the room. The woman cried out with excitement as her nude torso rode up and down, her breasts quivering as she engulfed the large white phallus straining between her thighs. The man beneath her groaned and thrust up each time she sank down, the slap of sticky flesh and mingled fluids a messy reminder that such pleasure was best left to others.

With a soft sigh, Isa prayed the two would finish copulating so she wasn’t put further behind schedule. Already she’d missed her first window of opportunity when the statesman took his midnight snack.

She heard a hoarse shout and a whisper to “be quiet, Daarna.” At the rate these two were going, she’d be a year older before she finished the job.

Another muffled groan and the two stilled, finally. The woman slumped over the man, and the lovers panted in tandem, defining the moment. Definitely not my day. Isa regarded the amorous pair on the bed with envy. As if I need another reminder of how unlikely I am to ever find amazing sex.

Shaking her head, she stealthily slid out of the closet, staying to the shadows. Reaching the door, she crawled out of the room on her hands and knees, entering the dark passage that would lead her to treasure.

Mother would have an absolute fit to see her daughter sneaking in hallways. Better that Isa take after that sexual creature on the bed, straddling a needy cock like a good pleasurer, instead of stalking like a thief in the night. All the Araye women, save Isa, worked in the sex trade, a highly respected occupation on Aran, Mardu’s third moon.

But I had to be different. Isa stopped outside the door she’d been told would be unlocked. She slowly jostled the handle and let out a breath of relief. It turned without incident, and she entered the darkened room quietly, closing the door behind her.

Using an agility she owed to her father, she moved on winged feet, practically floating over the floor her steps were so light. She reached the point her contact said would be the safe and switched on a pocket laser to see.

Isa stared in confusion. Instead of the painting that should have hidden the wall safe, she saw the painting raised, the safe door open and the safe…empty. She shook her head, puzzled, and took a step back and to the side, to reassess the situation from another perspective.