Clan Piras travels less than luxuriously.
The Beonid twins entered the storeroom, their silver skin gleaming in the dim environs. The door shut and locked behind the humanoid pair. They armed the containment field and grinned at each other. The thought of a coworker stepping in without checking first and dropping dead of the shock they’d receive amused them. In their view, all of life should be a thrill. The extremes that destroyed mundane routine were delightful, no matter the form they took.
The male, Ershma, pointed to the smallest bin lately arrived. “This to start.”
His sister Ivad nodded. They moved to it in synchronized steps. Ivad tapped Elcoger’s proprietary code for this particular shipment, and the lid opened.
The pair unpacked computer keyboards depicting a myriad of configurations and alphabets from across the cosmos. Almost all went on a shelf depleted to a mere half dozen keyboards. A few in the bin were broken, unusable, and they tossed them in a disposal bin.
They worked meticulously, recording the numbers and ensuring Ershma’s handheld matched each unit on the shipping list. They didn’t do it so much out of conscientiousness. By unspoken agreement, they drew out the anticipation of the job’s finish. Anticipation was as electric an excitement as the surprise.
At last, the bin sat empty. Ivad ran her finger around the thick edge of the bin’s top. Very thick, those sides, the lid, and the bottom. The shipper could have fit in another third of the keyboards had the construction been a standard shipping container.
“The Darks don’t know any better,” Ershma snorted.
“They deem shipping bins too mundane to ask,” Ivad agreed. “Lucky for Elcoger and those he pays to keep their mouths shut. Ready?”
Ivad nodded. He bent and pressed the slightly discolored corner of the bin’s bottom.
It popped open, and a gasp rang out from the person flattened beneath it. She slowly, painfully, rose to a sitting position and stretched cramped limbs. Her dark, almost black eyes, set in a delicately lovely face, lifted to take in the Beonids.
“Earther female,” Ivad sighed in disappointment. “It figures we’d find her first.”
They turned from the woman clumsily trying to find her equilibrium. “My turn to pick,” Ivad said. They opened the lid of her chosen bin to find circuit boards.
As they unpacked and inventoried, the human managed to gain her feet. Her hair, as dark as her almond-shaped eyes, was mussed. Her blouse and shorts were wrinkled. She was petite.
“Shaped more like their boys than a woman,” Ivad giggled in Beonid, though she didn’t care if the Earther understood. She glanced at her own curvy figure, smirking in pride.
“She has amazing legs,” Ershma purred. “They look strong. I bet they’d feel good wrapped around my ass while I fuck her.”
Ivad sniffed. The human did have exceptional legs, but she wouldn’t admit it. No one had ever complimented Ivad’s legs.
She felt happier when the Earther clambered from the bin and nearly fell. Sadly, she caught herself and avoided faceplanting on the hard bare floor.
The human made her careful way toward them, apparently working out stiffness after spending hours in the cramped bin. She grasped the edge of the latest box and peered at the stacks of circuit boards. “I’m the first? Can I help?”
“Not if we want to keep our jobs. Sorry,” Ershma said. His smile was almost respectful as he sought to charm her. “Don’t worry; we’re making this as quick as possible. I’m Ershma. What’s your name?”
Behind the woman’s back, Ivad rolled her eyes. She wasn’t interested in sleeping with Boy-Girl, and Ershma would be wise to figure it out sooner than later.
“I’m Matara Hope of Clan Piras.”
“Very nice to meet you, Matara Hope.”
He picked up the pace, and the bin was cleared faster than Ivad would have preferred. The next one had better be worth it.
Her pique was forgotten as a well-muscled Kalquorian was revealed. He uncurled his bulk far quicker than the Earther had, though he’d been stuffed tighter in the confines. His gaze was wide, almost fearful, until he caught sight of Hope.
“My Matara,” he breathed and grabbed her for a quick kiss, then sprang out. “Are you all right?”
“Fine. Glad to be free of that bin. I never imagined I could be claustrophobic until now.”
He held her close. His stare pinned the Beonids. “Where are the rest?”
“We’re working on it.” Ershma flinched and hurried to another crate.
Ivad paused a moment before joining him. The man’s soft gaze on the Earther had initially given her the impression of him being a gentle Imdiko…an undeniably delicious Imdiko she’d have been nice to the woman to have a taste of…but he now displayed the uncompromising command of a Dramok.
Hell, she’d fuck the Earther’s brains out to have a go at him. He made her tremble.
“No one in this bin,” Ershma muttered when it opened to display a miscellaneous pile of used parts, half of which were probably junk. The sides of the bin were standard thin.
They moved on. The Kalquorian stood over them as they opened it to find new holo monitor projectors. They wasted no time inventorying and stacking them on the shelves. Instead, they set the shipment on the floor and opened the false bottom.
Ivad licked her lips as a feral and bearded Kalquorian stood tall, his posture indicating he was ready to fight. Scars crisscrossed his arms, left bare by a sleeveless but armored top. Hello Nobek. He relaxed only slightly to see his clanmates grinning at him.
“Piras?” he rumbled as he climbed out to join them.
“Apparently in one of those two,” the first male answered, gesturing toward the remaining bins. Ivad still hadn’t settled in her mind if he was an Imdiko or Dramok.
The Nobek moved close to one, then the other, his nostrils flaring. He pointed to the farthest. “In there.”
Barely a minute later, the smallest of the males was among them. Ivad had no doubt he was the Dramok of the group. He was disheveled, but his state and stature did nothing to diminish the air of authority he wore like a second skin.
She and Ershma exchanged a lustful glance. When it came to Kalquorians, demanding Dramoks were their mutual weakness.
Disappointment washed over them when the man identified as Piras gave them a casual examination before dismissing them. “Tell your supervisor I wish to speak to him now. We have a lot of ground to cover in a short span. Thank you.”
Ivad pouted but couldn’t deny someone who wielded command like a weapon. Ershma at her side, she hurried to fetch Elcoger.
* * * *
Pre-order Now! Ebook releases August 8
Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo
Print version and link will be available August 1
Victories against invasion have been won, but the galaxy may be lost in the end.
There may be no escape from the All’s extermination plans for the dimension. Emperor Clajak has one last card up his sleeve, however: a band of misfit renegade Kalquorians called the Coydidak. Only with their help and an impossible mission to beyond the known reaches of the universe can Kalquor hope to preserve life.
A determined engineer is at the top of the list of Coydidak leader Dramok Rorix’s least favorite humans. She’ll stop at nothing to board his ship for a one-way voyage that’s to last a lifetime. Is ultimate freedom from the empire worth dealing with the beautiful but unrelenting Laughter Lorenz?
As the clock ticks to the end of Dr. Cassidy Hamilton’s pregnancy and potentially life in the dimension, she works feverishly to find a way to destroy the All. A visit from an undiscovered entity brings to light her greatest hope and worst fear. Only time will tell if this new being is friend or foe…but Cassidy’s time and that of her soon-to-be-born child is almost up.
Adventure. Danger. Intrigue. Romance that outburns the sun in any galaxy. It’s all here in the sixth installment of the Dark Empire series.
Pre-order Now! Ebook releases August 8
Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo
Print version and link will be available August 1
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