by Ivy McAdams
“Hang on,” he growls, pushing the throttle.
I lean back into his chest as he wraps a big arm around me. When the ship takes off like a bullet, it feels as if I’m being molded into his body. Behind us, Zeus slides back into the wall and ducks for cover.
The ship zips up and out among the stars. The smaller ship is lost on our screen in a matter of seconds. When I can no longer see it, my body melts into Dax’s. Then I fall into a fit of tears.
“What the hell was that?” I choke.
Dax’s grip around me softens and he hugs me instead.
“There’s a price on your head, Esme. It’s so close to the trial now, the price has probably gone up.”
I can’t wrap my brain around being wanted as if I’m a common criminal. I wipe at the tears burning my cheeks.
“Do you think they’re gone now at least?”
Dax’s chest expands beneath me and he blows a warm sigh into my hair. “No.”
My lip trembles as I lean back to peer up at him. “No?”
“If it’s not them, it’ll be someone else. They’re not going to stop.”
The weight of his words is difficult to handle. “How do you know?”
“Because I wouldn’t.”
I blink wide wet eyes at him. “What?”
“There are other leagues out there like the Praezorian League. More dangerous ones. Abandoned fighters. Orphans that know no other way. Many of us have nothing else to live for but the hunt.”
The lump of nerves in my throat is sharp. I’m afraid to question any more.
But Dax doesn’t need my question. His voice is stone cold when he speaks. “It will not end until we end it.”
“What does that mean? What do we have to do?”
“I have to turn you in.”
Chapter 14
Dax has warned me multiple times that others would be on the lookout for me. That others would steal me to take me in. I guess it just never really sank in until I saw it for myself. It’s terrifying being chased like that, but it’s also difficult to come to terms with the even deeper truth.
They need me alive to collect bounty on a target needed for trial. That means our attackers are all shooting at Dax—or they’re idiots and that makes them all the more dangerous. It doesn’t seem like they intend to show him any mercy to get to me.
The sour feeling in my stomach creeps up my throat and I have to concentrate to keep from puking.
Dax could die because of me.
As much as I want to beat my fists into his chest and beg him not to take me to this Metagalactic Council ship, it sounds like it’s my only option to keep him safe. Once he’s collected the bounty, no one will want me anymore and they’ll leave him alone.
My shoulders fall as the weight of that realization comes over me.
No one will want me. Or need me. Or maybe even remember me. Dax will be free to move on to his next job. I could get put to death.
It’ll just be the end.
The gaping hole of fear inside me opens up and burns with a searing light. I’m afraid. I’ve learned so much in the last few days, but there’s so much more that I don’t know. Aliens, places, rules. What law have I broken in this world that I never knew existed? What will these strange people do to me?
I can’t help the horrible images of torture that run skittering through my head.
“D-do they usually kill people who steal things?”
Dax’s hand smooths over my collarbone and around my neck, tugging me close enough to press his lips into my hair. “I wouldn’t think so.”
I can’t tell if he’s speaking the truth or just trying to make me feel better. “I don’t want to die.”
He spins me around in his lap to face him, taking my chin in his fingers to direct my gaze up at his glowing green eyes. “That is not something you need to worry about. None of this is. We’ll figure out how to make this work.”
I’m lost in his eyes, putting all the faith I have left in the universe into his words. All my trust. All my hope. I’m going to get through this because Dax says I can.
We’ll figure out how to make this work.
I can’t help but wonder if he means my situation with the council or us.
Is there an us?
Do I even have a future where this is a possibility?
I move my hands over his big chest and up along his shoulders, finding comfort in just touching him.
As much as the idea of falling in love with an alien would have horrified me before, there’s no doubt in my mind now. Everything about Dax, from his protective nature to the way his touch brings me to life, is what I want for the rest of my life. However long that will be.
I wrap my arms around him and place my cheek to his chest. His arm drapes over me again and holds me close. We sit pressed against each other in a peaceful silence for longer than I can count. I watch the countless stars go by in the side screen, wondering if we could run to the ends of the universe together and find safety there, until exhaustion overtakes me and I fall asleep in my alien’s arms.
The ship’s engine shifts and slows as the vessel touches down and comes to a stop. The change in sound is enough to rouse me and I pick my head up from Dax’s chest. I’m disoriented for a hot second. The bright lights outside are highly distracting and I find myself staring at one of the exterior shot screens.
We’re parked in an interior hangar, like the giant aircraft carrier ship we visited before. Metal and tubes run overhead along the white metal beams. A second-floor loft at the back of the hangar has floor to ceiling windows. A few figures linger there, watching the expanse of ships coming and going as if they’re manning some sort of mission control tower.
Everything is white or silver within the carrier ship. Clean and crisp. Armed beings stand at intervals around the deck and at the entrances to the ship. They’re serpenty-looking. They have snouts with large teeth and I’m not sure from this distance, but it looks like they have scaled skin.
I don’t want to know where we are, even though I have a fairly good idea.
Maybe it’s how much cleaner and more structured this ship looks compared to other places we’ve been, or maybe it’s just intuition.
“Where are we?” I whisper, still needing to hear it confirmed.
Dax leans back to look at me. His eyes are dull, but they warm when they land on me. “This is the Metagalactic Cruiser.”
My lips press in tight until they tingle as I force myself to accept the words. Even though I knew it, it’s still frightening to hear.
As we stare out the side screen, a nearby ship’s hatch opens and two people march out. One is dressed in a black flight suit similar to Dax’s, even though it doesn’t look half as good on him. He’s a shorter, stockier man with strange pointed feet and slimy green skin. He leads a taller being with pearlescent white skin and ribbon restraints around his wrists.
The two stride over to a pair of guards who immediately come to attention. They grab the restrained stranger. One marches him toward an entrance while the second pulls out a tablet-like screen and points out things to the stockier ship owner. They nod back and forth, and the guard presents a handful of something—money?—to the pilot. He pockets it and they go their separate ways.
Was that cold, indifferent exchange him dropping off of bounty prisoner?
The thought gives me chills and I steal a glance up at Dax. He’s been watching too with a furrow in his brow.
“Do we have to do that?” I murmur, wishing he’d just put the ship back into gear and fly us out of here.
His gaze drifts down to mine, his face strong and solid. The column of his throat moves as he forces a swallow. “It is necessary for your safety. The galaxy is too vast for us to hide away, and I won’t risk your life with the idiots that will come to collect you. They could have killed you today.”
I take a shallow breath as I try to put the attack out of my mind. “Is that normal?”
He shifts me off his lap and gets to
his feet. “No. Many bounties will not be paid if the target is killed.”
He takes my hand and leads me out of the cockpit. We walk quietly through the main room to the hatch. It feels like a final walk and my insides turn to weights.
“You don’t think the council will kill me?” I murmur.
The thick muscle in his jaw flexes as he turns back slightly. “They didn’t supply me the details of your arrest. Just that you needed to be brought in for theft. Normally theft isn’t met with death. Unless it was something outrageous…”
His voice trails off and I blink like he’s hit me in the gut. “I haven’t stolen anything.”
He nods instantly. “I believe you. But what I think doesn’t matter. They’ll carry out their sentence.”
The hatch opens and a rush of fresh, clean air hits me. The entirety of the landing slip space is massive. Like a small airport inside the ship. Ships come and go around us. Figures move around everywhere. So many strange-looking humanoid things.
My fingers start to shake and Dax turns to take my hands in his. At first, I can’t pull my gaze away from the interior of the Metagalactic Cruiser. Not even when he grunts, looking for my attention.
When he steps into me, backing me up a few steps until I bump into the doorframe, I have no choice but to look at him. He traps me against the small section of wall with his body and pulls my hands in close to his chest.
“The council is not kind,” he says in deep, rolling voice. “They will not show you mercy. But I will be in there with you. No one will do you harm.”
My eyelashes flutter as a new hope rises within me. “You attend the trials of your targets?”
His horns cut through the bright lights above us as he shakes his head. “No.”
I fall silent as his fingers touch my cheek and slide into my hair to cradle my head.
“But those were my professional targets. You’re an entirely different target now.”
My heart thumps in earnest. “I am?”
He nods and rests his forehead against mine. “You’ve stolen something from me.”
The heat from his body and his words are enough to send my pulse flitting at an uneven pace.
“I apologize,” I whisper as I gaze into his bright green eyes, so close to mine.
“I do not accept,” he murmurs. His thumb grazes my lower lip. “I will see that you spend a life sentence with me for your crimes.”
I’m overwhelmed by both the desire to do so and the damn rational knowledge that such an opportunity is not likely a possibility for me anymore. The realization rips me in two. When his lips meet mine, tears slide down my cheeks, and I give myself to him. All of me.
I am his.
He is mine.
No matter what happens at my trial, the connection I feel right now won’t be broken. No expanse of universe forced between us will ever crush my need for him.
As his lips form to mine, heating me from the inside out, he lifts me off the floor and we slide around the wall corner. He presses me against it, inches from the open hatch. We meld into one another. He kisses me with the same need and abandon I feel. I want to touch all of him at once. To remember every inch of him.
My hands slide over his chest and catch the fastener at his neck. This time the pseudo-zipper moves smoothly and opens along his sternum. As soon as the material parts far enough, I move my hands inside. His skin is warm and slick against my palms and I caress along his ribs and back. My fingers smooth over his lower back and the base of his tail. He pulls in a heavy breath against my lips. It’s such a sexy sound.
Everything about him is attractive, from the sensitive area over his tail to the shimmering gold marbling that runs through his black horns. It’s hard to believe that I was so afraid of him before.
His breath deepens and his fingers move over me like fire. One hand drops to my thigh and slides up my skirt. Heat pulses between my legs as he palms my ass and tilts my hips up into his. Teeth nibble over my lower lip and along my jaw. When his mouth moves to my neck and collarbone, I grip his horns and pull him closer.
His free hand slides between my legs and cups the wet warmth there. I gasp, leaning my head back against the wall. My body writhes beneath him, needy and anxious.
“Isn’t this dangerous to do here?” I whisper, holding on to the very last inkling of rationality left in my overstimulated brain.
His bright green eyes dart toward the hatch for less than a second before settling on me with enough heat to set me on fire.
“Maybe,” he growls against my skin. “Do you wish me to stop?”
His fingers move past my underwear to slide through my folds. My breath catches and I squeeze his horns, then run my fingers into his hair.
“No,” I breathe.
And he doesn’t. His fingers tease me, in and out. My eyes roll as my back arches.
I moan.
In an instant, Dax’s mouth is on mine again. Giving, taking. He whispers over my lips.
“Be silent, or others will come to investigate.”
I grin at his evil teasing. But only until his finger hits another nerve and I hiss in a breath, biting at my lip to keep myself quiet.
Dax adjusts me against his stomach and pulls his fastenings down far enough that I can see the green glow within the darkness of his pants. The wet heat between my legs surges.
The bright lights flicker off something in his hands. He’s pulled a piece of metal from his pocket. I frown as he lifts it and the realization hits me just before he smooths it over my mouth.
The silencer.
At first, I want to buck him for putting that thing on me again, but the wicked tilt to his brow is so alluring that I can’t bolster up the anger needed. I’m far too curious for my own good.
His forehead touches mine and his brightly glowing eyes stare deep into me. “Scream all you want now,” he rumbles. I can feel it as much as I hear it, like a purr. “No one will know how good you feel in here but me.”
Every bit of me melts, but I can’t even say anything in return. I can only watch as he moves, adjusting his suit and pulling his smoldering green cock free. His movements are more rushed. Needy. His big hands cradle my hips as he shoves my skirt up to my waist.
My back drags on the wall behind me as he parts my thighs and pushes into me. I arch back with a cry of surprise, but the sound merely buzzes against my lips. The light between us is already gone, his cock lodged firmly inside me. I tighten my legs around him and pray that I could stay like this forever.
No council, no trial, no sentencing. Only us.
He squeezes my ass with both hands, pressing my hips in tight to his as he moves in and out of me. My head lolls back as I mutter a string of beautiful curses.
He moves with quick, powerful strokes that have me inching up the wall. My entire body feels as if it’s on fire. Dax grits his teeth and his muscles tense.
I whisper his name, but it is lost against the silencer. I pant an “I love you” because I can, just before my orgasm grabs me. I moan with utter abandon as he drives into my body again and again. The stars behind my eyelids are just as beautiful as the ones dancing in space.
Dax growls against me, biting into the meat of my shoulder to keep from calling out as his body jerks and shudders. The pinch in my skin is enough to draw a breathless shiver from my lungs.
We stand in a warm silence for a long minute before he finally lowers me back to the ground. But he doesn’t let me go. His hand wraps around my neck into my hair.
“Esme,” he breathes.
I focus on his face. It looks tired, troubled.
“They will take you,” he whispers. “Possibly to the prison planet.”
My mouth moves to question him, but no sound will escape. He doesn’t reach to remove the silencer. Just watches me.
“But don’t be afraid,” he says. His hand tightens in my hair, forcing my head back so that I can’t see anything but his face. “You are mine, and no one will steal you away. I’ll destroy e
veryone on Kavasiron if I have to. We will let them have their trial, clear you off their books, and then I will take you back.” He puts his forehead to mine again and I bask in the raw strength and passion in his eyes. “I will find you, and I will protect you.”
My nod moves his head and we agree together.
Most of my fear melts away and I stand tall in front of him. He straightens too, removing the silencer from my face and giving me a solid nod.
“The council will see you soon. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to see you again inside.”
He takes my hand and slips a loop of the iridescent ribbon over them. The crease in his brow is deep and it hurts me to see the concern etched there. As he slips a loop over my other wrist and tightens them, he meets my gaze with a tense jaw.
“Sorry.”
We walk to the ramp and I take a deep breath.
Dax clears his throat and calls back into the ship. “Zeus.”
A flurry of claws on the metal floor answer before the dog peers out from the cockpit, one ear cocked to the side and a sleepy, frenzied look in his eye. He looks as if he’s been sleeping for days.
“Let’s go,” Dax says.
“Zeus too?”
“The bounty was put out for you and the dog.”
Chapter 15
The room is like a white cube. Straight lines, sterile counters that run along the wall, and a smell that reminds me of bleach but with a salty zing that stings my nose. Everything is so perfect that I’m afraid to sit on the white and chrome stool.
After Dax handed me off, the guards led me into the same tall doors I saw the other prisoners go through. I only looked back at Dax once, afraid of what I might see once he was handed his money. But he still stood there, arms crossed over his chest and a crestfallen look on his face. I wanted to run to him and kiss him until his eyes lit up again. I’ve never seen them so dull.
One of the guards put a rainbow restraint around Zeus’s neck and led him off separately. I wanted to call out to him, apologize for getting him into such a mess, but it felt safer not to open my mouth. I didn’t want them to hurt him because I was insubordinate.
