The Krinar's Bane Read online

  The Krinar’s Bane

  May Sage

  Contents

  1. First Sight

  2. Doll

  3. Hyperventilating

  4. Prototype

  5. Undetermined

  6. An Old Friend

  7. Disapproval

  8. Territorial

  9. Senseless

  10. Supremacy

  11. Overwhelming

  12. The End

  13. Stalker

  14. His

  15. Mother

  16. Idiot

  17. Now and Forever

  More from May Sage…

  May Sage © 2017

  * * *

  Cover designer: Najla Qamber

  Edited by Lisa Bing and Theresa Schultz

  One

  First Sight

  “Excuse me,” Eva stammered timidly, all the while wondering why that particular phrase was used under these circumstances.

  She needn’t be excused. She visibly intended to go on her merry way, and the muscle-heads taking up all the room in the corridor were the ones who should apologize for their inconsiderate behavior.

  There was only one reason why people left the main floor of the club and went down that way: they needed to pee – normally pressingly. Why would they think it was a nice place to have a chat?

  Eva shivered when the largest of the three colossal gym-rats moved to stand just in front of her, and bent his frame to speak right next to her ear.

  “Or what? What do you plan to do if my friend and I don’t want to move?”

  He smelt like alcohol; loads of it. Most people did, at one in the morning, but there also was a hazy look in his eyes that made her think he’d abused more than one substance tonight.

  She took a cautious step back, hoping she was just overreacting, misunderstanding his attention, but he took one forward.

  Shit.

  Why hadn’t she taken Julie’s offer, and let her accompany her to the bathroom? Because she never thought things through, that’s why. She’d never even thought of the possibility of encountering creeps in this club. Everyone said it was safe. But now she thought about it, the popular version of “safe” meant nothing. What they really were saying was that it wasn’t frequented by them.

  The modus operandi of the decade was to fear, and hate them. Meanwhile, people had a tendency to forget that human beings could also be cruel and savage. Just because they weren’t aliens didn’t make them saints.

  “Come on,” Julie had said earlier today, “You have to celebrate your birthday. We’ll just go to Horizon - no Krinar has ever been seen there.”

  Krinar. Seven years ago, they’d arrived out of the blue in their spaceship, and of course, human beings had responded the only way they knew how. Their offensive was short-lived and downright pitiful, to be entirely honest. There still were factions of humans resisting them, but every passing year, it seemed more futile. A few months back, they’d led a revolt that had seemed well-prepared, well-organized, at the time – and the aliens’ response had yet again made a joke of them. In one single blow, they not only incapacitated their enemy; they also marked them with a tracking thingie Eva didn’t quite understand.

  Genius. Impressive. Machiavellian, maybe. But cruel? No, she hadn’t thought of their actions as cruel. They could, after all, have just killed them all. Instead, they’d let them go free, serving as living proof of how pointless their cause had been.

  And pointless it was, at least to Eva. It wasn’t like the Ks used human beings as slaves, or bundled them up in camps. They let them live their lives and evolve as they could, mostly without interference.

  Operative word: mostly. They had changed certain laws that had been harmful to the environment. Because of those changes, most animal-based products cost a fortune now; having a dozen eggs at the ready any day of the week was a thing of the past, given their extortionate cost.

  For her twenty-fifth birthday, Julie had saved up to make her a real omelet, and Eva still wanted to cry when she remembered how she’d dropped her plate on the floor before being able to taste a bite.

  Typical Eva move. Agile, she was not.

  Given the fact that the only way they’d affected her was by depriving her of bacon and eggs, Eva had a hard time thinking of the Ks as evil, potentially vampiric, alien masterminds after their very souls. Not when she was faced with a six foot one human idiot, who fully intended to harm her. Right then, she cursed Julie, wishing her friend had taken them to a club frequented by Krinars instead.

  For each step she took backward, desperate to get back to the dance floor, the meathead and his friend took another two forward, caging her, herding her towards the wall.

  She knew there was no point crying out; not with the music blasting so loudly she could feel the beat reverberating under her feet.

  “I know self-defense,” she lied, lamely, her voice breaking at each word.

  She didn’t, but she damn well would sign up for a class tomorrow. In the meantime, she was fully aware that men had an appendage they highly valued between their legs, and she braced herself, ready to knee the first jerk who got too close.

  “Do you, now? Good. That should make things interesting.”

  She’d also seen a kick-ass girly break a nose on TV. She’d definitely try that, because if anyone needed their nose broken, it was that smug jock.

  “I wouldn’t, if I were standing in your shoes,” a smooth, silk and chocolate voice said, coming from the darkness.

  She turned to her left, and saw a man leaning against the wall; he was looking down, his amber eyes fixed on a paper-thin device, seemingly paying them no mind.

  No, not a man.

  She’d only seen them on TV until now, but she could tell. Impossible to pinpoint exactly how. The way he held himself? His posture should have seemed relaxed, but it made her think of a lion ready to pounce. He was taller than any of the jocks – taller than any man she’d ever seen – and his perfectly symmetrical features seemed computer-generated, too perfect. His caramel skin could have placed him as an Italian, maybe a Latino, if he’d been human. But he wasn’t.

  He was her first K.

  Two

  Doll

  Every day, Zarken wondered why he bothered. Sincerely. He could have sent an employee, an apprentice; anyone, really. They didn’t need him on Earth.

  You came to this planet because you were bored, a little voice reminded him.

  Yes, he had. And instead, he was bored and annoyed now, because the planet hadn’t retained his attention past the first hour of his stay.

  Krinars didn’t have an organized army as such, but when the Elders saw a threat, they liked to have it assessed and, if need be, managed. That was where he came in.

  The events that had occurred at the beginning of the summer – the foolish resistance humans had organized against his kind – had been neutralized with ease, but the Elders still felt that getting him involved was the wisest course of action. Pointless as it was, humans would risk losing lives in order to regain control over their planet. Never mind that they had no clue what to do with it. They’d been well on their way to destroying it before its time, when they’d intervened. But they would fight against them, because it simply was in their nature. War. Violence. They loved it. Needed it. Having an enemy to fight made their short lives feel meaningful, perhaps.

  Not that Krinars could blame them, all things considered. Firstly, they had been lead and manipulated by other Krinars, but Zarken also gave them the benefit of the doubt, because his race wasn’t a stranger to violence. The main difference was that, unlike humans, Krinars were aware of their tendency, and had found ways to address it responsibly.

  No Krinar would ever act like the three drunken buffoon
s, or the prey they were closing in on, for that matter. They planned to rape the girl, or frighten her, at the very least. The girl hadn’t been resourceful enough to avoid putting herself in this situation. Zarken wasn’t sure who was more idiotic.

  “Yeah? Gonna do something about it? There’s one of you, and three of us,” the sweaty, pungent human observed.

  Zarken hadn’t planned to intervene, actually. He would simply have alerted some sort of employee around here, and let humans deal with the human matter. No doubt their kind had some sort of punishment in place for harassing, or intending to harm, their females.

  But then, the man had to go and make it personal, issuing a challenge. And Zarken was extremely bored.

  “You might want to bring a dozen of your kind, and it may end up being a fair fight,” he replied, feeling the corner of his mouth curve up.

  Although, he was lying. A dozen wouldn’t have cut it. Not against most Krinars, certainly not against him.

  Zarken minimized his computer before placing it in the back pocket of his surprisingly convenient Earthen attire, and turned to the small group of humans, taking a good look at them for the first time.

  That’s when he saw her. The others faded in the background, becoming quite irrelevant as he scrutinized her eagerly, hungrily.

  Not a girl, then; a woman. Zarken felt a familiar, yet unexpected yearning buzz through him as he met her deep brown eyes, and watched her mouth pop open. Interesting.

  Sex was one of the few things that managed to rid him of the boredom for a while, but it was rare that he found a female to his taste. It had been years since anyone had caught his interest. Yet the human had his attention now.

  Which was bad. For him, for her, and certainly for the males who’d wanted to harm her. Because yes, Krinars acted in a civilized manner, in general, but under the layers of cultivated etiquette, and reasonable behavior, they were something else entirely. Hunters. Creatures who’d savagely killed to protect their territory. There was only so much that evolution could do to erase that.

  The woman had brown hair, falling in soft waves around her face, long lashes and smoldering eyes, but it was her plump lips that had retained his attention. He knew just what he wanted to do with those lips, and the heavy breasts highlighted by the sweetheart neckline of her pink dress.

  If he could pick one word to describe his entire race, it would have been territorial, and right then, he almost felt like the stranger staring at him with her pretty mouth open was part of his territory.

  “You may want to close your eyes, doll,” he told her pleasantly, appreciating the way her cheeks reddened deeper yet. “It’s not going to be pretty.”

  “Wait,” one of the humans stuttered, “You’re one of…”

  He didn’t finish his sentence, as Zarken’s hand was already wrapped around his throat.

  “Sorry, we didn’t know she was with…”

  He didn’t hear the rest of the sentence, as he’d thrown the man to the end of the corridor and heard his bones crack at the impact. He slowly approached another while smiling, as he saw the last coward flee. He seized the heathen’s skull and effortlessly pushed him down, forcing him on his knees.

  “You can’t kill him,” his woman said, not sounding quite certain.

  And she was right to doubt it; of course, he could. His kind weren’t subject to human laws.

  “Or anyway, you shouldn’t,” she amended. “I’m sure they’ve all learned their lesson.”

  Zarken turned to her, and instantly forgot what he’d been about to say, as the depth of her eyes hit him full force.

  He narrowed his eyes.

  “Do I look like a teacher, doll?”

  “Do I look like a doll, Krinar?” she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest, which only served to make her delightful breasts pop up out of the tight, lacy top of her dress a little more.

  He approved.

  “Yes,” he replied, baring his teeth. “Yes, you do.”

  And he had every intention of playing with his doll.

  “They’ll all live.” Even the one he’d launched had got to his feet and scampered away. Under different circumstances, he might have chased him, and finished the job, but his attention was otherwise engaged. “As per your wishes.”

  Zarken moved at an excruciating pace, doing his best to appear non-threatening to the woman whose pulse quickened as her lips and cheeks darkened. He stopped two feet away from her, reluctant to crowd her space the way her would-be assailants just had. Perfectly familiar with human customs, after studying her kind for the last month, he extended his hand. When she placed hers in his palm, a sudden and entirely unexpected charge coursed through his body, shooting straight to his loins.

  He’d known they had chemistry at first sight, but he hadn’t expected that reaction from the most innocent touch.

  How fascinating.

  He lifted her hand up to his lips, and dropped a brief kiss on the back of her palm, smirking as he saw, smelled, and felt her arousal. Despite a healthy dose of fear, the woman wanted him. Normally, some of his interested dwindled when he realized he wouldn’t need to work for it, but to his surprise, he found himself pleased.

  “May I, sweetest doll?”

  She took an intake of breath without saying a word. She didn’t need to. Zarken closed the space between them, lodging his leg between her thighs and pushing it to the apex, inciting a deep moan from her perfect mouth.

  “So gorgeous,” he whispered against her ear, taking his time to scent the aroma of her naked neck, before dropping his lips to its nape, while caressing her lower folds.

  Without any volition, he found himself pushing his hardened cock against her stomach, letting her feel it through their layers of clothing. She moaned in response.

  “I, I…” she stammered when his lips got an inch away from hers.

  “Yes?”

  His free hand ran down her arm, her leg, and played with the hem of her skirt, before sliding underneath the material, touching her naked skin. His cock twitched as he felt a flimsy, soft piece of fabric and pushed it aside.

  “We’re… in a club, in public…”

  “Have you ever come in public, doll?”

  She would.

  His fingers got to her wet, glistening center just as he pressed his lips to hers and devoured her moans.

  Her pussy was so slick, hot, and wet. He buried a finger deep inside, and explored each corner, circling her clit with his thumb and fucking her mouth with his tongue.

  She panted, moving her hips against him, feeling her release ever so close.

  There. There it was. Finally, at long last, her muscles relaxed and she covered his hand with her cum.

  Chuckling, he removed his hand.

  “Zarken,” he introduced himself, and she blinked in blissful, post-orgasmic confusion. “That would be my name.”

  “Oh,” she breathed. “I’m- er, oh God, I didn’t even know your name and we just, I just…” she breathed out hard, and tried again. “Eva. I’m called Eva.”

  Humans also had a surname, and Zarken almost asked for hers, before thinking better of it. Why did it matter? He now knew what to call her while he pulled her hair and pounded her from behind tonight - beyond that, she was of no relevance whatsoever.

  If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he’d be bored before morning.

  Three

  Hyperventilating

  She really shouldn’t be acting like a scared little mouse caught by a cat.

  Eva almost snorted at herself. Cat? Yeah, right. The way he moved, and those mesmerizing, intense amber eyes were those of a goddamned tiger.

  He’d handled the guys who would have hurt her like they were nothing, but she had to wonder whether she would have been safer with them. Julie would certainly think so.

  Eva didn’t doubt that the Krinar could do exactly what he wanted to her. No one could stop him, no one would even try. The way he looked at her, like she was some sort of pr
ey, should have made her want to run as fast as her feet could carry her. Suddenly, Eva remembered the rumors saying that his kind weren’t all that dissimilar to the vampires of human fiction. Gorgeous, ethereal, stronger than any human, and… interested in their blood.

  She gulped. Was he going to kill her now? Bleed her dry? She should tremble in fear and beg for her life.

  She didn’t. Not after the way he’d touched her just then. She couldn’t summon up the appropriate amount of fear now; not while her panties were soaked and her insides begging for his touch.

  The Krinar - Zarken, he’d said - took a step back, still smirking in a way that made her more uncomfortable than the possibility of him wanting to drink her blood. And to her shame, she also responded to him in an utterly stupid and uncharacteristic way. Eva Quill, notable dreamer, who was more turned on by a good steamy romance book than by any man she’d ever met, felt her pussy contract in wanton desire, because a goddamn vampiric alien had made her come in a semipublic venue.

  God, what was happening to her?

  “Coming here by yourself wasn’t very smart, Eva,” he admonished, and she wondered if she was meant to hear it as a threat.

  Be smart, she admonished herself.

  “My friend Julie - she’s with me. She took me out for my birthday, and I’m sure she’ll be looking for me soon.”

  Right. Like that was going to prevent him from doing whatever he wanted to her.

  Surprising the heck out of her, Zarken gallantly offered his arm.

  “Better not make her wait any longer, in that case. Let me escort you back to her.”