by Ivy McAdams
“Punishment complete,” he says, then gives Zeus a sour face. “Remove odima. Human to sleeping wing. Kavasiron tomorrow.”
Lizard guards move quickly to corral us back out of the room. Zeus goes first and my escort holds me back until he reaches the door. Dax has my eyes again and I cling to the feeling of hope I have when I see him.
I will find you, and I will protect you.
His words echo in my head as I step off the podium and he’s lost in the crowd. I have no idea how Dax thinks he’s going to get me out of this mess, but all I can do now is trust in his plan.
Because I love him and no other option is acceptable.
The transport ship is cold.
Like most everywhere else I’ve been in space, I’m shivering. The council refused to give my clothes back last night so I slept in the threadbare jumper they gave me. I was put in a tiny room similar to the white cube with a single slat for a bed and no blanket. By morning, my teeth were chattering.
After a hearty breakfast of orange meat that crumbled in my mouth like sand—I don’t think I’ve ever gagged so fast in my life—a lizard guard escorted me to the ship bay and onto a ship.
Now my stomach grumbles, begging for food, and I’m so exhausted from shivering that I’m considering sliding closer to this smelly brown-scaled lizard man to find a little heat. If he even has heat. He sure looks cold-blooded.
Frustrated and ready to burst into tears, I press my lips together and look away. The ship is half the size of Dax’s so there isn’t much legroom in the main cabin. A guard sits next to me and Zeus sits strapped to the front of the bench on the opposite wall, just outside the tiny cockpit where only one pilot can squeeze in.
The lizard men speak to one another in what seems like a casual tone in their strange guttural grunts. Like some guys sitting around having lunch on the job. Like they’re not about to send me off to spend the rest of my life rotting away in some space prison.
I shiver again and lean into the wall. Touching the cold metal doesn’t help, of course, but if I press into it long enough my back goes numb and it at least feels less cold. I close my eyes. This is what my reality has come to. Is prison going to be this cold?
I’m trying to hold out hope that I may see Dax again, but my confidence is wavering.
The transport has been flying for over two hours. I’m starting to feel foolish that I believed he’d be able to rescue me.
Especially when I catch a glimpse of the gray orb of a planet on the windshield screen through the open cockpit door. I’m going to guess that’s my destination, and my time is up.
The guard next to me glances at me for the first time in ages and speaks. Something rough and throaty that I don’t understand. He shakes his head and presses on his neck with his thumb.
“Approaching,” he grunts. The word is garbled, but it’s there.
I don’t know if he expects me to clap my hands or what, so I continue to stare at him.
“Much fun for you there,” he snorts, his long pink tongue sliding out over his scaly lips.
I can see myself in his big black eyes and it unnerves me. I bite back a grimace as I lean away.
“I doubt it,” I murmur.
“Yes. Guards have fun with you.”
I’ve been so freaked out over going to prison at all, locked up for the rest of my life, that I haven’t stopped to consider what will happen to me there. If I don’t freeze to death, I’ll have to deal with guards and other inmates. Possibly inedible food. Undrinkable water.
I’m going to die in this place.
The temptation to ask for more details lingers at the front of my mind, but the lizard man sits up in alert. His head twitches back and forth. His tail goes rigid on the bench.
I’m just wondering what he must be hearing when something hits the back of the ship. I yelp as the vessel jerks forward, tossing me over and into the lizard man. My hands are on his cold, scaly arms and I shuffle away in disgust.
Metal on metal scraping echoes down the short hallway at the rear of the ship, and the guard leaps to his feet. The pilot calls back in their strange language. A third lizard comes running down the corridor with a blaster in his hand. His black eyes look wild and even bigger than the others’. The two aliens meet up and run back down the hall.
What the fuck just happened?
While my escort is gone, I get up and tiptoe to the wall outside the cockpit. With only my wrists bound, I’m free to move around. I guess they thought I didn’t pose much threat with just my cold bare feet loose. And I’d have to agree with them.
With quiet breath, I peer around the corner into the cockpit. The pilot looks freaked out but he keeps his eyes on his screens. Particularly on one that shows the rear exterior view. When I see why I nearly cry out in relief.
A familiar ship has attached itself to the transport and a metal chute connects the two. One large enough for a big black alien to slip through.
I want to run to the back to find Dax, but there are too many aliens around. Instead, I creep across the open doorway to the other side of the main cabin where Zeus sits. He’s been watching me intently and when I crouch down next to him, his tail wags.
It feels a little awkward to look at him now, knowing that he’s not some street mutt but an alien from outer space. How intelligent is he? Can he talk?
I give him an uneasy smile and put a hand on his head. His tail moves faster and his mouth opens in a happy grin, just as they always did.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” I whisper as I lean in close to his furry head.
He noses at the ribbons around my wrists. I hold them up with a shrug.
“How do we ditch these?”
He glares at the cockpit and snorts.
“Right. Controls in there? We can—”
An alarm blares overhead. Zeus and I duck down together. The earsplitting sound repeats a handful of times before it stops. When I look up from Zeus’s neck fur, the pilot comes stumbling out of the cockpit.
He looks horrified—as much as one with already giant eyeballs can—as he stares across the main cabin to the hallway. He’s frightened. And unarmed. Zeus growls beneath me and I know just what he means because it’s in my head too. This guy’s got to go.
I leap to my feet and lunge for him. The lizard turns toward me with a gasp, but I’m ready for him. I interlock my fingers and swing my double-fist around in an arc to strike his face. The scales really are lizardy and not very tough, because my blow cracks into his cheek and jaw with no resistance. He drops like a weight.
Zeus woofs at me with an excited skitter of his claws on the metal floor. I hold a finger to my lips.
“Shh, don’t bring the others back,” I hiss.
He sits back on his haunches with an impatient shuffle.
I pat around the basic clothing the lizard wears while shrugging at Zeus. “What am I looking for?”
Zeus shakes his head dramatically and jumps around, swinging his head toward the cockpit.
“In there?”
Zeus woofs excitedly and I run in.
The dash is similar to the one in Dax’s ship, with fewer lights and screens. I have no idea what all I’m looking at.
“Zeus,” I whisper. “What does it look like?”
There are buttons around the doorframe that I take a closer look at. Zeus makes a muffled sound, and I remember the unfortunate truth that I don’t speak alien dog. Any try sounds like a good one right now, and I press one of the buttons.
It makes a high-pitched beep and Zeus whines. The dark cockpit beams with bright overhead lights. I shade my eyes and poke another button. The door to the small space zips closed.
“No, shit,” I grumble and hit it again, plus a couple more buttons.
When the door reopens, Zeus’s leash snaps loose.
I gape at him. “I did it.”
He turns a circle happily and leaps over to me.
“We’ve got to hurry,” I murmur as I touch another button.
> The ship jolts.
Shit, did I do that?
It shudders and jumps as it slows down. The steady whir of the engine gets louder as it comes to a stop.
That is not what I meant to do.
I smash another button with my palm. This time my restraints snap loose and I grin.
For a moment.
When I look up, I find one of the guards running down the hall. He skids to a stop when he sees us and tilts his head in confusion. Zeus leaps toward him and snarls. The lizard man lifts his blaster.
“No!” I gasp.
Instead of the sound of a shot, I hear heavy feet in the hall. The guard turns to look over his shoulder at the same time as Dax appears behind him and slams his rifle upside the scaly face. The lizard goes flying and his blaster clatters to the floor.
Dax stands over the guard for a heartbeat, rifle at the ready, before he stands tall and turns back to look at me. That broad chest, those beautiful horns. For a moment, I can’t believe it’s him.
But there’s nothing like those glowing green eyes in all the universe.
My Dax has come back for me.
Chapter 17
I don’t think there’s anything more amazing than seeing my big alien standing there at the end of the hall. For a moment, I’m suspended in time. Watching my hero come to my rescue.
But it all comes crashing down when the blue bolt of fiery light rips through him.
I feel the scream burn my throat before I even hear it, and I’m running.
Dax stumbles back and hits the wall before sliding down to his knees. I rush toward him, but the guard down the hall fires at me as well. The bolt whizzes by my head so close that I can smell my hair burn. I duck down and throw myself out of his line of sight.
Dax kneels against the wall a few feet away and I crawl toward him. His eyes are closed and pain creases his brow.
Oh, God. This is not happening. This can’t happen.
“No, no, no,” I plead as I slide up to him and touch his arm.
He’s warm. My Dax. Finally, the warmth I’ve been looking for. He can’t go cold now.
“Dax,” I whisper, tears clogging my throat.
I move my hands over him, absorbing every bit of him that I can. Beneath his ribs, his black suit is wet and sticky. I freeze, pulling a hand away to stare at the dark green blood that’s smeared over my skin.
“Oh God. Dax,” I breathe.
His eyes open and he levels his gaze on me.
“What did you…?” My throat closes up and I can’t speak. All I can do is hover over him with my bloodied hand held out in front of me.
Dax reaches up to squeeze my shoulder. The crease in his brow remains, but at least his eyes are open and don’t look too fogged over. I don’t know anything about alien anatomy. Is a shot to the abdomen as killer to them as it is to humans? I bite my lip and muster up the courage to ask.
But the words never leave my mouth.
Hands grab me from behind and I’m snatched down the hallway. I scream and flail as the main room quickly retreats in front of my dragging, kicking feet. One hand has me by the upper arm but the grip is strong and I can’t swing around. But I do know that cold scaly feeling. A lizard man has me.
As soon as I’m out of Dax’s sight, he roars. His feet hit the floor. Metal guns rattle. Stomping. Crashing.
“Let me go!” I growl, flailing and trying to reach back and grab the guard’s head.
He’s bendy and avoids me, but I snag his hand and try to wrench myself free.
“No move,” he snaps, tightening his grip on me.
It hurts and I stop. Long enough for Dax to come stomping down the hallway.
I can see the dark matted stain on his suit from here and my heart lurches, but he moves like he’s unaffected. His rifle is fitted to his shoulder and he has it aimed directly at my captor.
“Let her go or I’ll shoot,” Dax says in a deep, steady voice.
“You are bounty hunter?” the guard croaks.
Dax’s eyes flick to me just long enough for my pulse to leap before he’s trained on the lizard man again.
“Not anymore,” he growls.
The guard adjusts his gun, finger on the trigger. “This prisoner already brought in. You go.”
Dax’s eyes flash. “She’s not a prisoner. She’s mine.”
In the blink of an eye, the blue blast rockets past me and the guard shrieks. His grip on me loosens and he hits the ground and convulses, a crater of blue fire searing into his chest.
Without another moment of hesitation, I run to Dax. He lowers his gun to wrap his arms around me. The smell of blood is overpowering and I pull back to look for his wound.
“I’m okay,” he says softly as he covers my fingers with his.
“But the blood,” I stutter.
“Yes, but the wound has sealed. I will recover.”
I stare up at him, lost in my overwhelming curiosity to know more about him and absolute and utter relief that he is here right now. That we’re both alive and free. It’s difficult to keep from breaking down into tears.
His hand touches my face and I lean into his warmth.
A snarl and yelp in the main room startle us apart. It only takes one glance at Dax’s eyes to know we’re not safe yet.
He thunders down the hallway with me at his heels. We find the pilot on the ground, awake and on his back with Zeus crawled on top of him, barking and baring his teeth in the lizard’s face. The alien shrieks and trembles.
“You, on your feet,” Dax demands as we step up beside them.
Zeus backs off to let the guard up but continues to growl. The lizard man shies away from him and watches Dax with trembling limbs.
“Take your leave,” Dax grumbles.
The guard gapes at us. I find myself just as lost and steal a peek at Dax. He stands firm, chin lifted.
“I know where your woman and three children are,” Dax continues. The guard shakes even more. “You keep them safe and take this ship back to the Metagalactic Cruiser. Tell them the delivery has been made. Esme Phillips is no longer a concern of the council.”
The lizard man nods in earnest and takes a step back.
Dax jerks his chin toward the cockpit. The pilot flees and jumps into his chair, closing the door.
The room falls silent and Dax wraps an arm around my shoulders. I reach to scratch Zeus’s ears.
“Good eyes, my friend,” Dax says.
Zeus barks.
“I got here as fast as I could manage. There were other loose ends.”
I look between the dog and alien curiously.
Zeus woofs and whines. Dax’s eyes move back to me as he speaks.
“I did not mean to worry her,” he says in a deep soothing tone. When his fingers brush my face and slide into my hair, my knees go weak. “I will never make her wait on me again.”
His lips brush mine and it’s like he’s warmed all the chill I’ve gathered since I last was with him. I feel whole and alive again.
The ship starts up below our feet and Dax motions to the hallway. “Let’s take this party somewhere safer.”
He leads us into the dim corridor and to the rear hatch in the ceiling. A ladder leads up to the door and continues up through the tube connecting the ships. Dax hoists Zeus up to the higher runs, where the dog manages to climb the rest of the way up. How I never realized that smart dog wasn’t normal is beyond me.
Once we’re all inside Dax’s ship, he detaches the vessels and we watch the transport ride off into the stars. It’s peaceful drifting among them now, in a warmer ship and back in Dax’s arms. When he pulls me against his chest, I smile up at him.
“Thank God you showed up,” I murmur.
His lips tilt up in a crooked smile. “Of course. You owe me a life sentence.”
A flutter of happy energy courses through me. “I suppose I do.”
He nods. “Starting now.”
I trail a fingertip down the center of his chest. “Do I have any righ
ts while I’m serving this sentence?”
“Most of them.”
“Choice of where I sleep?”
One of his eyebrows eases up, and that sultry smile is oh so sexy. “Of course.”
I press my body along his, already blissful over his heat. “Good. What about what I eat?”
“The choice is yours. I will supply you with whatever you need.”
My hips lock in with his and tilt into him, just enough to grind against that hardening cock that’s prodding my thigh. “Good. I want more of those blue tacos you got me.”
His eyelids flutter and he leans forward to bury his nose in my hair, taking a deep breath. “Anything else?”
“Choice of who I love?”
He pulls back to look down at me and I can see his pulse in the glow of his eyes. “No.”
I wrap my arms around his neck with a smile. “Good.”
He presses his forehead into mine, and I close my eyes. The love I have with Dax is the most alien thing I’ve ever known, but even thousands of light-years away from Earth, I feel closer to home than I ever have before.
Thank you for reading!
Diving into a brand new series was a hell of a lot of fun! Plenty of new aliens, settings, problems to solve. I loved it. I hope you did too!
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The Praezorian Bounty Hunter series continues with Her Alien Keeper!
Another alien bounty hunter has been dispatched to retrieve his target. A woman from Earth, with a lot of explaining to do.
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