Predator

Chapter 27

Alexandra was drifting in a sea of euphoria. The pleasures she experienced at the hands of her lovers had left her physically spent but mentally content. Her body hurt in places she didn’t know could feel pain but at the same time every bruise and bite mark was welcomed. They marked her body as their own property and it sent a thrill through her to know they had all worshipped and conquered her completely.

She could hear her latest 3 tormentors talking about her from nearby but did not possess the energy to open her eyes or move an inch. She didn’t want to think about anything except the complete joy she felt from the men who loved her. It was a short-lived moment of peace for her to wallow in before Ian invaded her mind and spoke to her.

‘My Lady.’

‘Mmm…what is it, Ian?’ She could hear his chuckle in her mind and mentally rolled her eyes at his obvious humor. ‘What is so funny, Ian?’

‘I see you have had an…eventful evening. How are you feeling, my love?’

‘Well used. What do you want, lover?’

He laughed at her comment but quickly cleared his throat when he sensed her frustration and exhaustion. ‘I just wanted to inform you that the little one is in need of your attention.’

‘What?’

‘Tamerlane needs feeding.’

‘Why didn’t you just say so, Ian?’

He was quiet for a moment before he replied. ‘I did just say so, love.’ He heard her giggle in his head and grew curious. ‘It is my turn to ask what is so funny?’

‘Nothing, my love. I just love the way you talk.’ She sighed heavily and stretched sinuously on the bed like a big cat before she began to wake. ‘I will be there shortly, Ian. I need to clean up first.’

‘Yes, I believe that would be a wise course of action considering your latest activities.’

Another mental chuckle filtered into her thoughts from the mind of her first mate. ‘Ha ha, Ian. That is very funny.’

‘I will refrain from further comment, my love. You are obviously…sensitive or should I say sore on the subject.’

‘Ian…’ An obvious warning growl was directed at her humored male and she heard his laughter cease.

‘I’m done. I swear. Well I’m done talking about it but not actually done performing the act itself.’ Before she could project her anger and frustration at him again, he cut her off and imparted one last bit of information. ‘I think it might be beneficial for you to place Tamerlane on your mental radar so you are immediately aware of his needs instead of others having to chase you down when he requires your attention. You did assume responsibility for the child and are now in fact his mother.’

‘You are right as always and if I was thinking clearly at the time I would have done so when I took on that role in his life. Thank you for your insight, Ian, and tell Jesse I will be along shortly.’

‘As you wish, my Lady.’

Her men watched her stretch her arms above her head and arch her back to work the kinks out of her tired body. The sight of her full breasts thrusting upwards and the rest of her naked form slithering around on the bed elicited low groans from her three feral mates.

She lazily opened her eyes and rolled over onto her stomach to repeat her stretching when she caught sight of their hungry gaze. A satisfied smile slid over her features and she sat up on her legs with her hands on her knees. “Hi guys.” Her arms pushed her breasts together and she saw their attentions turn to her chest. “I know what you 3 animals are thinking about and you can forget it.”

Riddick slowly rose to his feet and stalked towards her like a predator. “What are we thinking about, baby?”

“Sex!” Her eyes grew large when Tyr and Logan began to follow Riddick’s approach. Her hand came up to ward them off. “Stop looking at me like that!”

Tyr drew in her scent and practically purred. “How are we looking at you, love?”

“Like I’m the last bit of food on the planet and you’re starving men!”

Logan smiled at his prey and growled. “You look like a tasty morsel to me, darlin.”

Just as they converged on the bed, she teleported to the other side of the room and escaped their clutches. “I don’t have time for this, gentlemen, and I do use that term loosely.” She arched an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips while she regarded them critically. “I have been summoned back to the palace.”

“By who?” Riddick asked.

Her eyes turned to Tyr. “Our son. Ian just informed me that Tamerlane is hungry and I have to go to him.”

“Tamerlane?” Logan asked with a note of concern.

She waved him off the subject. “It’s a long story, Logan.” She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll explain it later, baby.” He pulled her body flush with his and kissed her tenderly. She shyly gazed into his eyes and whispered. “I will see you soon.”

“Do you promise?” There was a sense of desperation in Logan’s plea. He coveted this woman and couldn’t be satisfied with just playing the role of her chosen Wielder. He needed her in every capacity. His life would have no meaning without her in it. “I know you’re…busy but I…have to see you again…if you know what I mean.”

She gave him a sultry smile and kissed him very persuasively. “I promise.” She leaned her forehead against his chest and spoke privately within his mind. ‘I owe you more than words can say for what you did for me. If it wasn’t for you…’

He pressed an urgent kiss on her hair and rested his chin on top of her head. ‘You don’t owe me nothin’. I love you, darlin, and I would do anything and everything in my power to keep you safe, alive, and in my arms.’

Tears fell from her cheeks and left trails down his chest. ‘I love you too, Logan.’ She looked up into his hazel eyes with more emotion than he had ever seen a person possess. He leaned down and caught her tears with his tongue. She felt like a lioness that was being bathed by its mate. ‘I do love that animal side of yours.’ Her skin heated from the intimate but innocent gesture. She knew he was doing it in an effort to calm and care for her.

He gave her an embarrassed grin when he caught himself behaving the way she had described. ‘I wasn’t aware the other side of me could be gentle until I met you. Come back to me soon. Please.’

She kissed him softly on his lips and rubbed her cheek against his. ‘I’ll be back before you know it.’ She stepped back out of his arms and turned to her mates. “I’m going to wash up and attend to my son. I’ll see you both in my room later.” She vanished from the cabin leaving her men behind.

“What was that all about?” Riddick asked with a raised eyebrow. “She was talking to you telepathically.”

“I guess that would mean it was a private conversation, bub, and therefore none of your business.” Logan’s voice took on a defensive tone but not because of jealousy. He wasn’t comfortable with his show of emotion in front of these 2 men. “Let’s get something straight here. I am not part of your little club. This woman and I have a connection that you will never understand.”

“You’re wrong, Logan.” Riddick could read the mutant’s growing distress and understood his urgent need to keep his mate safe. “I’ve been given the ability to end her existence as well. I know your position in her life and your purpose. You are very important to her and I would never interfere with your commitment to her.”

Riddick approached the Wolverine slowly and watched his tension ease. “I know how you feel about her.” He placed his hand on Logan’s shoulder and spoke into his mind. ‘I won’t interfere in your any of your affairs with Alexandra. Okay?’ The mutant nodded his head and accepted Riddick’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Have a nice night, Logan.”

“Thanks, Riddick. Night.” He turned to Tyr and regarded him coolly. “I hated you for so long for what you did to her.” Logan saw the pain cross the Nietzchean’s face with his straightforward comment. “She was hurting so bad from your actions that she couldn’t sleep, eat, or function in her family life. I have never seen her welcome death so readily before and I had to pull her back from that.”

“I know.” Tyr’s eyes were cast downwards as he whispered those 2 words.

“You saved her life the other day.” Tyr’s brown eyes snapped up to meet Logan’s hazel. “As a matter of fact you saved her twice and in my eyes you redeemed yourself. I don’t know if that means anything to you but I just had to say it.”

“It means a lot but the whole affair with Tristan was a group effort and you were an integral part of that.”

“Tyr, even after everything you went through the day before, you came up with the only plan with any chance of success at saving her life.” Logan held his hand out and grabbed Tyr’s forearm. “I owe you a debt of gratitude for that. If it wasn’t for you I would’ve had to do the unthinkable and our lives would be forever diminished. Thank you.”

Tyr smiled at the Wielder and nodded his head. “Thank you, Logan.”

“Okay, I think we’ve had enough male bonding for one day.” Riddick laughed when the two men released their grasp on each other’s forearm and turned their soft features hard. “Any more of this shit and I will probably not want to hang out with you two ever again. Let’s get back to the palace and check up on her.”

Logan chuckled as the two men headed towards the door. “Check up on her. Is that what we’re calling it now?”

Riddick shook his head. “Whatever you think, Logan. I have a woman I need to see.” He glanced over his shoulder at the mutant and grinned. “You have a nice evening here…by yourself. See ya.”

Logan smirked when Alex’s mates disappeared from his cabin and turned back towards his bed. “Dick.”

~*~

Alex had just finished bathing and wandered over to her floor length mirror as she towel dried her hair and skin. Her reflection caught her eye and she stopped to stare at all the marks on her flesh. She thought about willing them to fade away with her power’s assistance but remembered this day’s sexual escapades with a flush of excitement.

Her mates had barely gotten along over the years and now everything had changed. She got a dreamy look in her eyes when she thought about them working together to save her life and put aside their possessive qualities to bring her unbelievable pleasure. No objections were made when she took Tyr’s son as her own. They even accepted Logan into their ranks and didn’t try to stop her affair with him.

“Something on your mind, beautiful?” She spun around at the sound of Riddick’s voice and for some reason felt compelled to hold the towel over her breasts. “Why are you hiding your body, baby?” He walked up, pulled the cloth from her fingers and ran his eyes over her form. “They look good on you. Don’t cover them up.”

His presence overwhelmed her senses and she swayed forward into his arms. “Richard…” She wrapped her arms around his neck as he swept her up and cradled her against his chest. When she opened her eyes she was aware of him carrying her to the bed. “I want you so badly but…I’m so tired, my love.”

He set her down in the center of the fresh linens and pulled the sheet up to her waist. “It’s okay, baby.” He brushed her hair away from her face and stared into her dark eyes. “I want you too but I know we’ve put you through the wringer today. You’ve had a busy couple of days and you need your rest.” The door to her suite opened and Riddick saw Tyr walk into the bedchamber with Tamerlane in his arms. “You feed junior and we’ll all just get some sleep…together.”

When Tyr sat down on the side of the bed, Tamerlane reached out to Alexandra when he saw her. His father laughed at the child’s enthusiasm and handed him over to her. “I do believe our boy has missed you.” He smiled when his mate positioned him at her left breast and Tamerlane eagerly latched on to her nipple.

“Nah. He missed those tits. And you said we were looking at you like starving men. Look at him go.” His wife swatted his arm with her free hand and giggled. “What? I’m not kidding. He’s working your nipples over harder than I was. I’m getting kind of jealous.” He laid down on her right and Tyr reclined on her left watching the woman they loved feed the infant. “I want this, Alex.”

She looked up into his silver orbs with a question on her lips but he interrupted her by answering. “I want to see our baby nursing from your body. I want to watch him grow.” His eyes welled with tears and his voice went impossibly deeper with emotion. “I never had a childhood. I was found in a dumpster with my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. I don’t have any recollections of my real family.”

“I went from foster home to foster home and never knew a moment of love or peace.” He ran his hand over Tamerlane’s head as he fed from the body Riddick worshipped. “The first time I felt either of those things was with you. Then you gave me Dorian and I could’ve died that very moment a happy man until I saw you with this little guy. I want this, Alex.” His watery eyes rose up to meet hers and he begged for the first time in his life with a whisper. “Please give this to me.”

Tears flowed from her eyes and her guilty conscience finally reared its ugly head. “It was my fault.” She whispered.

“What are you talking about, baby?” He lifted her chin until he caught her gaze. “Alex, what is it?”

“I knew what was happening to the Furyan males.” She drew in a hitched breath and began to sob. “I didn’t do anything to stop it and you suffered unspeakable horrors throughout your life because of me.”

“What do you mean because of you?”

“I am…was…am the Protector of Life. It was my responsibility to save your race from the injustices visited upon it by the Necromongers. I…just couldn’t reach you in time.”

Riddick let out a sigh and caressed her cheek. “Baby, you can’t be everywhere at once.” He kissed her cheek and pulled her head on to his shoulder. “Stop this nonsense. I don’t hold you accountable for anything that happened to my…people. Besides if you had changed my past we might not have ever met and I couldn’t deal with that loss.” He ran his fingers down the side of her face and kissed her temple. “If saving my people would mean I never got you then I don’t regret a single moment of my life.”

She stared into his loving eyes with a look of such profound sadness that it took his breath away. “You don’t hate me now that you know of my failure?”

She had all the appearances of a lost puppy and he couldn’t help but smile. “How could you ask that?” He held her face gently between his palms and drew her forehead to his lips. “I could never hate you. You are my mate and the mother of my child and all future children. My life began the day I met you.”

Tyr was silent during the heartfelt exchange between Riddick and their mate. He suddenly realized that he had more things in common with this man than just their mutual love for Alex. He watched Alexandra’s attention turn back to Tamerlane and carefully move him over to feed from her other breast.

He never thought she would accept this child in her house and was astonished when she took an interest in him the first night they returned to Ariana. Tamerlane was a part of Tyr and he knew that was the driving force that compelled her to hold him after they had escaped Kortoth. She surprised him by saving his son from death on the damaged transport and astonished him further by agreeing to fulfill the position of his lost mother.

He watched their son nurturing from her breast and his eyes misted over when he flashed through his life. “I had a childhood for a short time.” The other adult occupants of the bed turned their heads towards him but he kept his eyes glued to the child nestled against her bosom. “My mother and father strived to teach me everything I needed to know to be a perfect Nietzchean and achieve the status of Alpha.”

He grew quiet for a while and seemed to be at war with his memories before he continued. “I was a young child when the Drago Katsov destroyed my pride. My mother died before my eyes. I tried…to model my life in the manner of my father’s teachings but I was an outsider amongst my own people. The prides looked down upon me as weak due to the fact I was the sole survivor of a defeated pride.”

“I became a mercenary for hire and rose to the top of my profession due to the ruthless and effective manner with which I dispatched my victims. My main objective was always to unite the prides and become the Alpha of the Nietzchean Empire.” His eyes rose up to meet his mate’s. “Until I met you those were my only dreams.”

“You helped me achieve my goals and I felt like I made my parents proud.” His brow furrowed and he shook his head in despair. “I made a vow to you and my stupid Nietzchean ideals made me betray you. You only asked one thing of me…to remain faithful…and I couldn’t even keep that one promise.” He cast his eyes to the ceiling and laughed. “As a direct result of my stupidity, I lost everything I ever wanted and strived for. You destroyed the Empire you helped me build and worst of all you exiled me from your life.”

She reached out to touch his face but his free hand grabbed her forearm and he turned his remorse filled eyes to her saddened expression. “Let me finish!” Both mother and son startled at his loud outburst and regret etched his handsome features. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to yell it’s just that…”

“What is it, Tyr?” She urged him to continue when he trailed off. “You can tell me anything, baby.”

“I had everything I ever needed in you. I stopped believing in the ideals of pride life when I was ostracized but when I became Alpha all my father’s teachings flooded back into my thoughts.” He pulled her arm towards him until her hand rested on his cheek. “I thought I could have you and everything the title of Alpha grants me. I knew I shouldn’t have taken Freya as a mate. I knew it meant I was defying my oath to you but in my arrogance I thought I could bend you to my will.”

He began to laugh almost hysterically and the motion caused his tears to cascade down his cheeks. “It was a ridiculous notion, wasn’t it? I thought I could tame a superior being and force you to abide by my beliefs that I could have you as well as other mates.” He stopped laughing and cast his eyes downward. “I was a fool and I lost the only thing that ever mattered to me…you.”

“You never lost me. I was completely and utterly yours but my pride would not allow me to share you with another. I had no choice but to leave you or my jealousy would have driven me to destroy more than your Empire.”

“I know that now but at the time I was driven with the need to reclaim you. When I returned here and Ian told me that Riddick could force you to release me I was lost again.” He looked back upon her beautiful face and loving eyes. “I had to find a way to keep you in my life and, much to my ultimate relief, you spoke your heart’s desire and told me I never left it.”

“We created another life together but it was cruelly stolen from us. I was devastated when Tristan slew our child but when we almost lost you I thought I would die.” He kept her hand on his face needing to feel her touch and smiled. “I was told by someone present that I had to pull myself together so we could save you and I did. I knew you wouldn’t hurt the boys no matter how powerful a hold Tristan had on you.”

“You were right, Tyr.” Riddick interjected. Listening to this man’s life story, he realized the two of them had a lot in common and wondered briefly if that is what set them at odds when they first met. He also knew their pasts and their shared present is what bonded them as friends or even brothers now. “If it wasn’t for you we never would have saved her.”

“Thank you, my friend, but as I said earlier it was a joint effort.” He smiled at Riddick and returned his gaze to his mate. “You saved my son from certain death when you had no reason to. I thought at first it was because you weren’t in the right frame of mind then but I ascertained later that you did it because you love every part of me, which includes Tamerlane. You astounded me further when you took him as your son and altered your body to accommodate his needs.”

They all looked down at the child who drifted off into sleep with her nipple still captured between his lips. His tiny hands were holding her breast as if he would lose contact with her if he were to let go. “I also would like another child from your body but I am content to raise Tamerlane with you and maybe have another in the near future.” He glanced up and met his friend’s gaze. “I firmly believe Riddick should be the next recipient of a child from your body. He deserves to experience the joy you have bestowed on me.”

“I don’t know what to say, Tyr.” Riddick was in shock that he would willingly step aside and consider his feelings before his own. “I thought for sure you would want to have another child with her as soon as possible.”

“I am still grieving over my lost son, Riddick, and in a way Alex has given me what I wanted all along by becoming my son’s mother.” He smiled at Riddick’s astonished face and patted his arm with his free hand. “You need this just as much as I do.” He indicated mother and sleeping son with a nod of his head. “Perhaps even more than I do.”

“Well now that you two have decided that my future entails me being constantly pregnant and with a nursing child on my breast I guess it is all settled.” She held Tamerlane to her chest and scooted down to lie more comfortably in bed. “I can rest securely knowing that you both have everything under control.”

“Baby, you do have a choice in this. If you don’t…”

“Richard, I know I have a choice and I want to have another child…with you as soon as you wish it of me. I love you…both of you…but if you don’t mind I would like to join my son in sleep now.” All the emotions the two men poured out of themselves exhausted her already spent body and the need for rest tugged at her mind.

“Of course, my love.” Tyr curled up beside her. “Rest and grow strong again.”

Riddick laid an arm across her waist and nuzzled into her side. “Sleep, baby. We’ll be here if you need anything.”

As her tired mind spiraled into the abyss of welcomed unconsciousness, she had a vision flash before her mind’s eye of a prophecy that was soon to come to pass. ‘My destiny is about to be fulfilled. Riddick’s child is the future avatar of the Phoenix. My power will pass on and I will finally be finished.’

She stirred in her sleep when she became aware that the realization of her dreams could mean the end of her existence. She was no longer interested in returning to the stars. She finally found a home and achieved peace with these men. She had strived to end her existence for so long and now the thought terrified her.