Free RavishedbyMoonbeam by Cynthia Sax

ants on the left and you take the ants on the right?”
    His stomach clenched with alarm. “I shoot. You do not shoot.
You hide.” She narrowed her eyes and her cheeks grew bright with pigment. Krol
kissed her sputtering lips. “If you are terminated, I am terminated, my
Danielle.”
    “And what the hell do you think will happen to me, you great
big goliath?” An alarming sheen covered her blue eyes. “Besides, warriors don’t
hide, my Krol. We fight.” She raised her gun, peeking over the tabletop. “And
I’m fighting. I’m going to blast some bugs,” his Danielle muttered under her
breath. “There will be none of that reading their rights, innocent until proven
guilty malarkey. I’m shooting on sight.” His druzka continued to word
share, her voice soft, as they waited.
    Booms rocked the chamber. The door pounded again and again
with blasts, the metal denting, denting, denting, until it fell to the floor. A
terminated Silan warrior lay upon the metal, his eyes open and
motionless, a hole where his internal organs should be. His Danielle gasped.
The space filled with smoke.
    A larger Silan backed into the chamber, shooting
frantically. A flaming bullet caught him in the face. Skin and flesh splattered.
Krol grimaced. His Danielle flinched beside him.
    Mravenec feet clicked on the metallic floor and Krol
readied his weapon. A red antenna appeared. Wait. Wait. Wait. His
Danielle shot her zbran . Lejno. Too early. The bullet hit the
wall and the Mravenec warrior pulled back, retreating. Krol gritted his
teeth in frustration.
    The low murmur of Mravenec speak reached his hearing
system. He tilted his head and counted voices. Sladky matka . Too
many. He required assistance. Krol nudged his Danielle’s shoulder and held
up numerous fingers. She nodded, her countenance losing pigment, and he grinned
at her, attempting reassurance he didn’t feel.
    The enemy attacked in full force, streaming into the room
from both sides of the entrance. Krol shot Mravenec face after Mravenec face.
    His Danielle shot a Mravenec in the chest and the
impact threw his body back toward the others. “Fuck. Face. Gotta get them in
the face, Officer Danielle.” Her next shot removed the Mravenec ’s head.
The red torso fell forward and the terminated warrior’s many arms twitched.
    Krol’s grin became genuine. His female was fierce and able.
The unexplainable warmth spread in his chest.
    Puppy barked a warning as three Mravenec warriors
surged toward him in a synchronized attack. Krol calmly shot one, dodged the
return fire and then terminated the second. Pain burst in his left shoulder,
hot and severely intense. He inhaled sharply, his zbran dropping from
his useless fingers.
    Lejno! Utilizing the zbran in his right hand,
he released a barrage of bullets on the remaining warrior until the chamber was
empty and the Mravenec male was terminated. Krol retreated fully behind
the table to reload. Puppy leapt onto his lap and licked his face
enthusiastically.
    His Danielle was also reloading, jamming full cartridges
into her gun. “My Krol.” She touched his unharmed shoulder. Her full lips
flattened with concern.
    Her concern was for him. The warmth in his chest crept up
his neck ridges. “Shoot, druzka ,” Krol urged, self-disgust churning his
stomach. If I was a better warrior… “Do not allow their advance.” He
discarded the used cartridges and replaced them, the ritual focusing his
emotion.
    “Right.” She shot and ducked, evading the flying bullets,
her face smudged with dirt, yet beautiful and strong. “You can count on me, my
Krol. I won’t let you down.”
    I should not have to count on my mate. Krol grunted
and turned, joining her in their fight, shoulder to shoulder with the female he
had crossed galaxies for. The onslaught of Mravenec warriors slowed, and
hope sprang to life inside Krol. We have—
    A tall, lean warrior stormed into the chamber, his torso a
red blur. He rolled and shot with an effortless grace, using