Dar Prince

The bright sun beat down upon their heads in the meadow.

Angel frowned, exasperation making her tense. Devon stood before her, unarmed, beckoning with his hand for her to attack. The breeze toyed with his mane, and he rolled his shoulders, making his muscles ripple.

One brow rose, his eyes glowing eerie blue even in the glaring daylight as placed his hands on his hips. "What are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?"

Angel's scowl deepened. Was the man daft? "Your sword,

mongurah

brain," she sneered crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

He smiled.

She hated when he smiled. It did strange things to her, like make her nipples tighten and belly quiver.

"I don't need it." His voice was like a seductive caress in her ears, making her flesh raise into delicious little bumps. She quelled the shiver that threatened to reveal her weakness for him.

Angel snorted, and turned to walk away.

"What's the matter, Venushtian warrior?" he chuckled mockingly. "Guess it's beyond your abilities to fight an unarmed man."

"No. Just a waste of my time," she tossed over her shoulder, her nose in the air.

She didn't hear him when he came up behind her. All she saw was a dark flash zip by and then she was on her ass.

"You dim-witted

orgward

," she snarled, jumping back up.

He was a blur spinning over her, his hand smacking her dead center on her forehead and knocking her back again. She shrieked with rage, her hand grabbing the hilt of her sword. Rolling onto her belly, she bared her teeth at him, crouching on all fours.

"Do that again and I will castrate you!" Her rage had her voice sounding shrill.

He clasped his hands behind his back, a smirk teasing the corners of his lips. "You couldn't get near me if you wanted to, little girl. First thing a

real

warrior should learn is to be fast."

She jumped back to her feet and thrust the sword forward when he flitted to her. She barely caught a glimpse of him somersaulting over the blade before a solid kick to her back had her eating the turf again.

"You ass! You're using your powers," she spat, tasting dirt in her mouth.

He stretched lazily, like a cat, with a toothy grin. "No powers. It would alert the Utuduodian Master Guardians. Then we'd really be in

Shitsville

."

Angel unclenched her teeth, her eyes never leaving him as he strolled around her. She watched his body, every ripple and twitch of muscle, glowing blue eyes riveted on her—male beauty in all its glory. He was too distracting. She needed to even the odds in her favor.

She tipped the sword to her bustier. The thin strap between her breasts gave easily. His eyes narrowed when she began to rise to her feet again, very carefully, her breasts bare to his gaze.

"Now you're using

your

powers." His voice deepened.

She licked her lips and smiled. His pupils widened. "Sword play is for imbeciles." She dropped her sword. "Hand to hand combat is for real warriors."

They circled each other. His eyes remained on her breasts. "Beautiful," he sighed.

She looked at him from beneath pale lashes, her hands coming up to cup her breasts. Angel pinched her pebbled nipples between two fingers, biting her lower lip. Devon moaned. She swung out in a sweeping arch with her leg in a movement that should have knocked him over. Unfortunately, she found herself, yet again, lying on her back.

Devon's body crushed hers into the ground, his hips cradled between her legs and his hands pinning her wrists over her head.

They were skin to skin. His flesh felt velvety against hers, hot, vibrant, delicious.

"You fight like a girl," he said, his lips mere inches from hers.

She frowned. "Well since there is no cock between my legs..."

"Oh," his honeyed voice crooned as he arched into her, "but I beg to differ."

She felt the stiff imprint of his length grinding against her and cursed the thrill that made her toes curl.

She swallowed convulsively. "We're supposed to be sparring."

"We were. You lost."

She frowned up at him. "I did not."

He smiled, squeezing her wrists a little harder. "Looks that way to me."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Devon?"

After a moment of silence, "what?"

She bit her lip, listening to the rustling of the leaves in the trees around the meadow. Her back arched, pressing her softness into him. She heard him suck in his breath. "Why? Why do you have to feel so good against me?"

When he didn't answer, she opened her eyes. He looked stunned. She tilted her pelvis up until she felt his cock invade her most sacred of places through the layers of clothing they wore. "You can heal anything, right? If I let you...fuck me..."

"Angel what are you saying?" He gaped. "If I take you, you wouldn't be a virgin. Your aura..."

"The high priestess can't see my aura." She licked her lips, moving ever so slightly against him. "Go on... do it, Devon."

She felt his cock twitch. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She frowned, showing her impatience.

He took a deep breath, his eyes going over every feature of her face. "I don't know if I..."

Angel winced, her eyes going wide. Was he going to reject her?

He swallowed, eyes burning into hers. "I want you." His tone became possessive. "I want you to be mine."

Angel froze, her ploy at seducing him to let down his guard forgotten. "Y-you mean as in one of your angels?"

He shook his head. "As in my woman."

She was speechless.

His

woman?

"Don't answer me now. Think about it for a while...please?"

She could only stare at him, and then her anger took over. "I will never be any man's property!"

"We'd belong to each other, Angel," his soft voice said on a sigh. "You'll be mine and I'll be yours. Don't you want me?"

Fear battled lust... and another emotion she wasn't ready to admit, even to herself. "I-I've never wanted a man!"

His eyes narrowed, "but you wanted me to fuck you." He leaned down until his lips almost touched hers. "So you wanted me."

She ached... for his kiss... his possession, but he drew away.

"We find my angels, and then we talk... about us."

***

Devon felt Angel's eyes on him again as he tended the fire for their evening meal. She had remained pensive the rest of the day, watching his every move when she thought he wasn't aware. Even the devils had quieted down, though they still stalked him in the shadows.

He felt more grounded when she was near him. More and more he felt convinced the Divine One had crossed their paths with a purpose. She would be the one to either save him or destroy him. He decided to train her to fight... and defeat him.

Satisfied with the bonfire he'd created within a circle of stones, he beckoned her to follow him into the forest. They walked side by side, commenting on the different varieties of plants and animal life around them. His hand itched to take hers, but he was afraid she'd hit him if he tried to touch her.

Devon bit his cheeks to keep from grinning as he slid his gaze sideways to peer at her. She stiffened when she felt him watching her and tore a tall blade of grass from the forest floor to wind around her finger nervously. After a while her gaze darted to his, rose tingeing her cheeks adorably before she looked away just as fast.

"I think I see a

Bolos

tree," he said pointing to the right.

The giant tree with its almost black knotted limbs was heavy with fruit. The color of the round grapefruit sized orbs ranged from a fiery orange to a deep maroon.

Devon reached the purple-leaved tree and looked up. Angel, however, didn't get too close.

"It's really good," Devon continued, "but the best ones are all the way at the top."

She dropped the woven sack they'd made from long grass blades and approached. "I'll climb up and toss some down," she said with determination.

Nonetheless, her look of hesitation reminded him of her fear of trees. "I'll do it," he volunteered.

She scowled at him. "I said I'll do it."

He lifted his hands in surrender, but smiled inwardly. She was strong willed. His respect and admiration for her grew thousand fold.

Taking a deep breath, she jumped up to grip the lowest branch, then swung up. He watched her climb higher until she was perched in the highest branches.

"The red ones, Angel."

His pulse quickened when she stretched to grab a large, plump bolo. Her ass cheeks peeped out through the sides of the loincloth she'd opted to wear after their bath in the lake. He was glad she'd stayed topless. Already she was letting herself become accustomed to being in a more natural state.

"It's squishy."

"Too, ripe..." Before he could finish, the bolo dropped like a bomb. He gasped and used his power to halt the fruit before it crashed into him. "Damn. I forgot. No power," he muttered to himself. "Angel, the bright red ones, not the dark ones."

"Why not?" She spoke with her mouth full of fruit. "The dark ones are really sweet."

"They're too heavy and will break apart if I try to catch them."

"Oh." She took another bite and looked around."

"There's one right next to you." He pointed.

She gripped the fruit with her free hand and let it fall.

He caught it, then a second she tossed immediately after. Bending over to place them on the ground, he began to straighten.

She was climbing down, the over-ripe fruit held in her teeth.

He smiled, thinking she was the cutest thing he'd ever seen, then she missed her footing and fell. Devon sucked in his breath, racing to stand underneath her, arms outstretched. The bolo she had in her teeth fell... right into his face.

He shook the sticky mess from his face and stared wide-eyed, expecting her to crash down into him now.

Angel was crouched on a low branch, her hand over her mouth, and eyes round.

"Baby, are you alright?" His heart thundered wildly as he waited for her reply.

He saw her shaking... from mirth.

Devon scowled up at her. "You did that on purpose."

Her laughter filled his ears. She couldn't stop, just pointing at his smeared face. He stared, dumbstruck.

God, help me—I'm in love.

He watched her climb down, the desire to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless making him tremble. When she at last dropped from the lowest branch, she turned and smirked at him.

"That's for playing dirty in the meadow."

He looked down at her with a frown. "Dirty?"

She sniffed and brushed past him. Bending over to collect the fruit he'd piled, she gave him a clear view of her pretty ass. Devon bit his lip to stifle a groan of agony as his cock twitched at the sight.

"It's going to be a long fucking night," he whispered to himself.

***

He was insufferable. The night before he'd stripped bare before her, bathed seductively, standing in the shallowest part of the river, and then had walked, wet, naked and tempting to let himself dry by the fire.

He'd balked about his hair, asking her if she could detangle it for him. Angel refused. If she got near him, she would have forced im to have sex with her. She felt her resolve in remaining untouched dissolving like snow beneath the rays of a blue sun.

And now this... Angel scowled. The space pod looked expensive—new. "Where did you get this?"

Devon's proud smile faltered. "Is that all you've got to say?"

"I didn't leave Venushti planning on getting myself arrested on a foreign planet." She crossed her arms over her chest staring daggers at him.

Devon placed his open palm on the silver space pod, one of his brows rising as he gazed steadily at her. "And why are you going to get arrested?"

Angel let her eyes roam over the Silver Comet. The blaze of the sun reflected off its mirror-like surface making her squint. "Stealing space transports is still a felony in this galaxy, you know."

Devon's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "You wound me," he pouted, placing his hand over his heart. "I traded my viper for this."

"You what?" A flock of Gorions flew away screeching in protest at Angel's outraged shriek. Devon winced. "Now I really

do

believe you're going crazy!"

His fair complexion lost what little color it had...for about two seconds, then his whole face became flushed as he turned away from her to look at the space pod. The soft breeze blew a swath of his long hair across his face, as if trying to help him hide his discomfort.

"We can't just walk into the city, creditless and on foot," he said in a low voice. "If they think you aren't someone important, we might as well say good-bye now."

She threw her hands up in the air, agitated. "But how are we supposed to get back to Venushti without your Viper?"

"I'm the one that gives the Viper power. We can get to Venushti in anything as long as it's sealed."

Angel felt stupid. He had powers akin to a god. It made sense to arrive in the type of transportation most humanoids used, versus the very conspicuous Viper only Master Guardians used.

These past few days he'd

readied

her for the possibility of confrontation with the Utuduodian women. They'd sparred for hours, everyday in the meadow. Since he didn't use any of his supernatural abilities, she'd almost become accustomed to seeing him as a normal human. She'd even grown accustomed to the unnatural glow of his eyes. Afterwards they would eat, bathe, and then settle to sleep—together, in the cave. His efforts at keeping a discrete distance in the cramped interior of the cave weren't lost on her. Secretly, she missed feeling his warmth.

He hadn't pressed her for an answer to submit to him either. Every night she thought about it as she watched him sleep... to belong to Devon Angelos... be his woman. Goddess help her, it sounded so tempting—he was so tempting.

"There's another thing I've got to do," he continued. "I've got to make myself have some sort of handicap so that it'll guarantee your rights to me a little more."

"What in Hades are you talking about?"

Devon turned and walked a few steps away. "The queen and her princesses always get the pick of the finest males on the planet. Since there's no way we can pass you off for royalty, I've got to make myself unworthy of becoming a royal pet."

Angel couldn't accuse him of being vain. Devon was, without a doubt, inhumanly attractive. He was right to assume he'd be seized for the royal court the minute these warrior women laid eyes on him. "So, what are you going to do?" What could he do? Devon could shave his head and he'd still look good...but she hoped he didn't because she quite fond of his dark hair, though she'd never admit it out loud.

He turned and she frowned, realizing there was something different about him, but she couldn't figure out what it...his eyes weren't glowing. The color was amazing, a blue so vibrant, like the color of lightning when it slashes through a velvet sky.

Then, with growing horror, she realized something else...he was blind. "Devon, what did you do?" She ran to him and gripped his arms, looking into the electric-blue depths of those unseeing orbs.

"Whenever I dim the luminescence of my eyes, I lose my sense of sight. I'll look a little more normal, plus there's no way anyone in the royal court will want to mate with a blind pleasure slave...I hope."

Angel released him as if she'd been burned. Her stomach churned at the thought of playing at being his mistress.

"Tell them I was your coming of age gift. You're the adopted daughter of an Edenian council member. You're not sure what species of alien I am. I was born in captivity so I don't know either."

"Slaves with defects are destroyed." Now she wanted to throw up, remembering a little boy the Greis had discovered to be a deaf-mute. They'd taken him away, never to be seen again.

"Not always, Angel. Some of the more exotic variations are valuable so long as they're...comely, and have their reproductive organs functional." He said this in a quiet, sad voice.

Angel turned and emptied the contents of her stomach. "I can't," she panted, spitting the bitter taste from her mouth. "I can't do this."

"You have to, Angel. Please," he begged. "We'll never find... find my sweet angels. I need them. I-I... can't take not having them with me. It's agony, Angel."

She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. He would never understand the nightmares this roused in her memories, but... perhaps it was time to face those nightmares head on.

"Alright," she rasped.

***

They waited for nightfall to enter the city. Angel flew the Silver Comet to an off-worlders' lodge. Her hands were sweating when she exited the transportation pod holding tightly to the leather cuff attached to a silver chain. She promised herself she wouldn't look at Devon. If she didn't see him, it wouldn't be so bad.

She waited for the leash to go slack, letting her know he'd climbed out of the pod, then made her way through the front doors of the resort, ignoring the shocked looks of the attendants at the doors.

The lobby was almost empty. There were only three females huddled in a tight circle conversing in low voices, and two more women at the front desk.

Angel looked around at the opulent interiors of the lobby and hoped the credit chip Devon gave her had enough credits to pay for all of this exuberance. The floors shone as if they were wet and were a deep garnet color. Cream and black rugs adorned the floor and the settees arranged in small clusters around vibrant greenery were a deeper shade of cream with gold patterns covering the soft fabric. There were four fountains near the middle of the lobby and the receptionist's desk was at the back wall, which was made of glass and had water running down into another long pool.

Angel had been so busy looking around, she hadn't noticed the hush that had fallen in the lobby. When she reached the front desk, she smiled at the attendants.

Both women were gaping...at Devon, who stood behind her.

"W-what species is he?" they asked in unison.

Angel had to tilt her head back to look into their faces. Utuduodian women were tall, taller than Venushtian women.

"Where did you get him? Where are you from?"

These last two questions were shot at Angel with an edge of hostility, and from one of the women that had been engaged in the three-way conversation in the lobby.

Angel found herself surrounded by angry looking Utuduodians. She pulled her shoulders back and scowled at the raven-haired one that had asked her the last question.

"I was staying in one of the sea-side castles. Apparently, my friends left without me. We were traveling in two cruisers. They'll be back for me in a few days. In the meanwhile, I'd rather find lodgings in the city than spend the next few days in a big empty castle."

The raven-haired woman's green eyes narrowed, just before she stepped behind Angel. She could hear the others exclaiming over Devon. Taking a deep breath, she turned.

He was clutching the handle of a metal trunk with clothes he'd found for the both of them, though she wouldn't call what he was wearing clothing. Leather cuffs wrapped around his forearms. Around his neck was a diamond-studded collar to which the silver chain was tethered. Barely covering his genital area was a black, metal-studded thong and a pair of black boots encased his long legs to mid thigh.

Angel almost fell to her knees. She knew she shouldn't have turned to look at him.

Goddess, he's so breathtaking!

Devon's head hung low, so that his midnight hair covered his face. One of the women buried her fingers in it to get a better look at him. They gasped, laser weapons were withdrawn, Angel's included.

"What's going on here? I only came to find lodging!"

"Who are you?" Again, the raven-haired woman questioned.

Angel looked at her from head to foot. She seemed to be wearing some type of uniform. "My name is Angel Skyspirit. My mother is the ambassador of Endora in the L-O-S."