Free Chasing Mayhem by Cynthia Sax Page A

“Meaning?”
    “They made you as much as they made me, giving you no choice about the actions you took.” The ‘they’ he referred to must be the Humanoid Alliance. Imee had heard the rumors about Kralj, about how he was the result of Humanoid Alliance genetic experiments, how he’d killed for them. But this was the first time he’d talked about his past. “You deserved an opportunity to regain your honor.”
    “I didn’t regain my honor.” Shame swept over her. “I continue to retrieve for them.”
    “You could have continued to retrieve the young, the old, the vulnerable. I wouldn’t have allowed you to hunt them here but you could have moved to a less protected settlement. Those beings were easy targets. With your skills, you could have met your quota quickly.”
    They were worth less credits per being but she could have retrieved multiple targets, filled every chamber on her ship with beings to offset that factor. That strategy would have been quicker, less dangerous.
    More detestable. They were innocents compared to the seasoned warriors she now hunted. The targets Kralj assigned her were all killers. They had delivered death to other beings.
    Even Mayhem had ended lives. He was a warrior. That had been his role.
    She didn’t want to deliver him to the Humanoid Alliance.
    “I’m not giving you another target.” Kralj denied her request before she could present it. “Your Mayhem didn’t lie. He would kill any being you hunted. And he’s the target you need, Imee.” A hint of a smile eased the hard line of his lips for one fleeting moment. “You have to do this.”
    She had to retrieve the male she cared for. 
    Kralj studied his personal viewscreen. Imee stretched out her legs and pondered the male she’d spent the rest cycle with.
    They’d fucked multiple times, Mayhem pounding into her with an exciting wildness, pushing her, not worrying she’d break. She’d come again and again, the pleasure so intense; it verged on the edge of pain. They’d devoured nourishment bars, cleansed their bodies and then they’d fucked again.
    Yet it hadn’t been enough. Even now, she wanted him, craved his touch, his smile, his laughter. He’d held her after each fucking, licking the sweat from her skin, stroking her hair, caressing her.
    The male had seen her scars, admired them, considered the marks to be proof of her strength, a strength he valued. He’d saved her from her attacker.
    “If he hadn’t saved you, I would have killed him,” Kralj remarked, shamelessly listening to her thoughts.
    “You knew the Tau Cetian would attack me.” And he had allowed that to happen.
    That hurt.
    After she’d stumbled into the Refuge and bungled her first couple of hunts, Kralj had taken her under his tutorage. He hadn’t spared her physically, mentally, emotionally. Holds, attacks, weapon usage were practiced over and over. She’d ended almost every planet rotation those first few solar cycles exhausted, in tears, her body covered with bruises, bumps, scrapes.
    But once he’d deemed her worthy, he’d stopped testing her, had treated her like one of his crew, warning her of any dangers within the Refuge, any beings he couldn’t control. She’d felt safe within the settlement’s high stone walls.
    Until now.
    “You weren’t the being I was testing.” Kralj’s voice held no emotion. “And I would have stopped my assessment of him before the projectile was fired.” He eyed her. “You’ve experienced closer brushes with death, Imee. Ask yourself why this one disturbs you.”
    She glanced toward the door, suspecting she knew why. That scared her.
    “You’ve hidden in here long enough.” Kralj pushed her as he always did. “Go. Your male grows impatient.”
    That was an order. She’d questioned one of Kralj’s commands last planet rotation and lived to tell about. She didn’t dare question another, not so soon.
    “Not at all.” Her mentor’s tone was dry.
    “Not at all.” Imee reluctantly