by Zara Zenia
Sighing, he nodded. "Very well." Climbing out of bed, he walked her to the door, opened it and looked into the cleared hallway. "Alright, beautiful, go, but return to me soon. I miss having you in my arms." He smiled and kissed her before allowing her out the open door.
Bella giggled. "I won't be that far away, and I'll be back before you know it."
She raced down the hall to her room as the ship lifted, tilting to the side and she lost her balance for a moment. She steadied herself on the wall and then pressed her hand to the pad by the door and it opened. Once inside, she slipped into her seat and started to fasten herself in, but then saw her camera sitting on the bed. She couldn't let anything happen to it, so she hopped back down, grabbed her camera, and then returned to the seat. She did up the seatbelts as the ship shifted gears and accelerated.
Forty-five minutes later, the panels over the windows opened and she could see they were safely in outer space and moving quickly away from Taliam.
"We're clear. You are free to move about the ship at this time," Melody's commanding voice came out over the comm.
Bella freed herself and moved over to the window. She hadn't gotten any pictures while they were on Taliam, but from what Terrex had said, she probably was better off not seeing it. Still, she focused her camera and took a picture of the receding planet. After all, it had been her first alien planet visit, even if she didn't see anything of it.
Smiling, Bella set her camera down and left her room. She realized she was hungry and wanted to get something to eat. Maybe she would be able to talk to Melody or Jodie and see where they were heading next. She entered the galley and found Jodie already eating a bowl of soup. "Hey," she said.
"Hey. Finally came up for air, did you?" Jodie's voice was snarky and when Bella looked at her, her face was mired in annoyance.
"Um, what?" Bella stopped short, her brows furrowed. Was Jodie mad at her?
"Terrex." Jodie rolled her eyes and dropped her spoon into her bowl, making it splatter a little on the table. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
"Oh. Yeah. Well—" Bella felt her cheeks heat and she reached up to grip a strand of hair, nervously. She hadn't realized that Jodie knew about her and Terrex, well of course Jodie knew that Bella had been worried about him, had gone to calm him in the medbay, but she must have figured out that she'd well… fallen for him.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Jodie's frown deepened as she stared at Bella harshly. "Melody is pissed off beyond reason and most of the crew with her."
Bella blinked, dumbfounded that everyone seemed to know about her private business. Why should they even care? He wasn't a prisoner anymore, he never really should have been, and they were planning to use him to get money from his father. They had no right to be angry at her because she slept with him. Still, she asked, "But why?"
"They don't trust him, Bella. Hell, I don't actually even trust him all that much. And now he's gone and used you as his Omega, enslaved you to hi—"
"What? No, he hasn't! I mean I…" Bella stopped and swallowed hard, trying to figure out the right words to explain what was going on between her and Terrex. "Look, he doesn't control me. I feel a connection with him, a bond I guess, but he doesn't control me, or tell me what I can and can't do. My thoughts are my own, and so are my actions."
"Oh yeah? For how long?" Jodie gave her a disgusted look. "Look, we got an email from his father. We've set up the meet. It's happening tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? But where?" Bella's eyebrows rose. "And do you think it's gonna work? Is he going to give you what you need to repair the hyperdrive?"
"That's the plan. We're headed to Axia, of all places. We figured that would be a good place to do this, considering it's a criminal planet. We don't want to be on Cania."
"You know he could be setting up an ambush, right? I mean Terrex said his dad's not real trustworthy…"
Jodie rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, well, we'll figure it out."
Bella bit her lip and nodded. She turned to the food computer and put in her order and then one for Terrex. She grabbed both plates and then moved to the fridge to get a couple water bottles. She put them in her pockets, which were thankfully deep, so the cold bottles would stay as she walked back to Terrex's room.
As she picked all of it up to leave, Jodie snorted and shook her head. "Yeah, you're not a slave at all," she muttered.
Bella set the plates down. "For your information, he did not order me to get him food. I am doing it because I am going to eat, and I thought he might want something! I'm not doing it because he's making me do it! Damn it, Jodie! Can't I do something nice for him without you thinking I'm enslaved?"
Jodie shrugged, but she wore a smug look. "If you're not, then sit down and eat here." She arched a brow in challenge.
Bella looked at the plates. She'd wanted to go eat with Terrex and cuddle into him as they ate, enjoying the scenery as they flew through space. However, now she had to prove that she wasn't some controlled slave. Sighing, she grabbed the plates, sat down at the table with Jodie, and pulled the water bottles from her pockets, setting them on the table as well.
"Happy?" she commented as she picked up her burger and took a bite.
"Ecstatic." Jodie leaned over her bowl and slurped her soup.
Bella stayed quiet as she ate the rest of her meal and drank her water, shoved her chair back, and then dumped her plate in the sink. She shoved Terrex's sandwich in the microwave and hit a button to warm it. Without a word, she grabbed the plate and his water, and left the room.
Behind her she heard Jodie snort again. "Enslaved."
Sighing, she made her way down the hall to the stairs and went down a level. As she passed by Jorwon and Mabav, they glared at her, but didn't say anything to her and she frowned. Did they all think she was now enslaved by Terrex? Was she and she just didn't know it?
She didn't feel like she was enslaved, but maybe all slaves felt that way? Well, all Omegas at any rate. She knew from reading history books that slaves definitely knew they were enslaved and did everything in their power to escape. So no, not all slaves felt that way, but maybe that Omega cocktail that blocked thoughts, blocked real personality, turned defiance into obedience, maybe it did make women feel as if they were in love, enraptured by their — huh, what did that call their master? Did they all call their owner 'master' like Emryn had? She'd have to ask Terrex, not that she'd call him anything else but his name — well, maybe something sweet like honey, or babe, or handsome, but definitely not 'master'!
Frowning, she knocked on his door.
"Beautiful, what's this?" he asked. Seeing her with the plate and bottle of water, his smile widened.
"I brought you a late lunch, seeing as we missed breakfast and nearly had lunch as well. Anyway, I thought you might be hungry."
He smiled and gestured for her to come in. "Come in." He took the plate and water from her, set them aside, and pulled her into his arms. The door closed and he kissed her. "What's wrong?"
"They're all mad at me."
His brow furrowed and his bottom lip stuck out just a bit in a pout. "Why? What for?"
Bella sighed and pulled herself from his arms. "They think you've enslaved me, turned me into your Omega." She moved into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.
He dropped to the bed beside her, his hands clasped between his legs. "Well, in a way, they're right I guess. I mean, you are mine. I can feel it," he put his hand to his chest, his fingers spread wide over his heart, "but I don't want to control you. I don't want you to be anything you aren't already. What do you think? Do you think I've enslaved you?"
Bella shook her head but frowned. "No. I tried to tell Jodie that I'm not different, I'm still me, but she didn't believe me."
He held a hand out for her and when she took it, he pulled her into his lap. "Never mind them. They'll come around eventually. I mean look at Melody and Devron, they are Omega and Alpha, and she is still herself, so of course it is possibl
e for you to be yourself as well. Right?"
Bella nodded. "Yes, that's true. So, Alpha? Is that what you are?"
"Yes, but I don't expect you to call me that."
Giggling, Bella grinned. "Good, because I won't be calling you that, or master, got it?"
Terrex snorted, a grin widening on his face. "I would never ask that of you."
"Just so we're clear." She smiled and inched a little closer, her legs swinging over the edge of the bed. "Jodie said they heard from your father."
"Oh?" His eyes widened as he reached for her hand.
"Yeah, it's going down tomorrow on Axia."
Terrex's heart dropped to his stomach and his hand tightened around hers. "So soon?"
A tear slipped down Bella's cheek.
"Beautiful, why are you crying?" He ran a thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears.
"I'm worried about you." Bella looked away, toward the windows. "About this."
"No matter what, I'll be fine, my father isn't going to harm me."
"I know, but Jodie didn't bother to give me any details, so I have no idea how it's going to go down. I mean we've made him think the Yebrax have you, he's gonna realize that we aren't Yebrax the minute they walk you out."
"True, but did they actually tell him they were Yebrax? Or do they assume that he just assumed that they were because of the video?" Terrex questioned.
"Uh… I don't know. I don't think so? I mean, I suppose it's not impossible to think that the Yebrax and the Canian Pirates might work together, right?"
"Hmmm, well they aren’t opposed to it, so I guess yeah, it's possible. Also, entirely plausible that they'd make the Canians do the grunt work." Terrex grinned, trying to put her at ease and then as he digested the fact that he'd be leaving the ship, at least for a little while, that he'd be without Bella, and that was like a rock in his stomach. He didn't want to leave her behind. He wanted her with him. He pulled her into his lap and held her in his arms. "Come with me."
"What?" Bella turned in his lap and looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow, come with me when they 'release' me to my father."
"Do you think that's a good idea?"
"I don't care if it is or not. I want you there." He smiled, hopeful that she would agree.
Bella took a moment and then nodded. "Okay, yes." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "You should eat while your sandwich is still somewhat warm."
Together they sat and watched the stars as he ate. Later, he took her in his arms and gently laid her on the bed. Slowly he stripped her of her tee shirt and shorts. "You are very beautiful, my Bella." He skimmed his hands over her, trailing kisses everywhere over her skin. "I feel such a connection to you. You sooth my soul," he murmured.
He spent the rest of the night making love to her, enjoying the little mewls she made when he did something she especially liked. He'd never get enough of her. She was his goddess, his mate, his Omega. He would never let her go.
31
The exchange with Duke Behlinn Mal — Terrex for the credits to fix the ship — was supposed to take place at midnight on Axia, just outside of the built up inhabited area the thieves called Devil's Den near the canyon. Melody and Devron had scouted the area during the day, flying high enough to not be made, but low enough that their scopes would allow them to see the lay of the land.
The area seemed to be deserted, and to Bella looked a hell of a lot like the area around Earth's Grand Canyon. All dark clay and desert, but with different kinds of strange plant life. Not anywhere near as colorful, everything was just different shades of brown and dark. Still she hoped she'd be able to get a few pictures of it at some point.
"What do you mean you're going with him?" Melody demanded once Bella had informed her of what she'd decided.
"I'm choosing of my own free will to go with him, help him get away from his father and back here—"
"What? To the ship? Why the hell would he want to come back here?"
Terrex stepped closer to Bella and interrupted. "I want to help. I want to do what you all do. You obviously need more crew, you barely have enough to do all the stuff you want to do. I want to do something useful with my life."
Melody gaped at him. She turned her eyes to Devron who shrugged and moved over to join the conversation.
"Look, how about we see how this all goes and if everything goes as we hope, then yeah, sure, we'll be glad for the assistance." Devron stepped right up to Terrex's face and gave him a hard look. "I'm warning you now, you pull something, shit goes sideways, I'm blaming you and her."
Terrex nodded. "Yeah, I get that. My father could be planning some kind of shit as I said, he's an asshole, but I'll do my best to keep it under control."
"See that you do."
At five minutes to midnight, Rayhan took the controls and flew them down to Axia, to the exact point they'd decide would work to give the ship a little bit of a shield just in case it turned out that Behlinn was fucking with them. As Rayhan set the ship down gently, they could all see the very large luxury ship that had to be Behlinn's already parked and powered down about a half mile from where they landed. He shut down the engines halfway, letting the ship idle because he wanted to be prepared to take off if things went badly. With three minutes to go, he opened the outer door and sent the ramp down to the ground so Mabav, Terrex, and Bella could descend.
Bella was nervous. She held Terrex's arm tightly. "Here we go," she murmured.
They all had blasters on them, just in case, but Bella really hoped they wouldn't have to use them. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Naela, Jorwon, Devron and Melody spreading out, and taking cover behind boulders.
The three of them walked silently in the open toward where the other ship— a giant thing that reminded Bella of Star Trek ships. It was about double the size of The Freedom and sat powered down and all its light's off. It looked deserted. Quiet. Almost eerie to Bella. It reminded her of that moment of darkness on the night that Grell's ship had come to Earth.
"Something's not right," she whispered, but it sounded loud to her own ears.
"It will be okay, that is my father's pleasure ship. There's no weapons on it, that I know of," Terrex replied, just as softly.
"Shhh." Mabav glanced over at them with a frown, though Bella could barely make it out in the darkness.
They were almost across the distance to the meeting spot when the Duke's ship's lights came on and Bella saw the army of about thirty Yebraxians that awaited them.
"Fuck!" Mabav shouted. "It's an ambush!" he yelled, turning back toward The Freedom as laser blasts shot out toward them.
Bella and Terrex looked at each other and started to run back toward The Freedom too. Terrex pulled his weapon and shot at the Yebraxians surrounding his father's ship. Bella saw Mabav go down, and Naela run toward him, shooting her blaster the entire time she ran. Bella pulled her own blaster and aimed toward where the Yebraxians were, firing but she doubted she hit anything.
"Go, get on the ship!" Terrex pushed her to go further and run faster. "I won't let them get to you!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
"Bella, now! Do it! I'm ordering you to get on that ship!"
Bella gave him a mutinous look.
"Please, I'm right behind you!" he said, the look in his eyes pleading with her.
Nodding finally, Bella ran for the ship. She continued to shoot out behind her, running full tilt for the ship, but she kept her eyes on the enemy.
Terrex looked through the advancing Yebraxians, trying to find his father, but he wasn't in the crowd of attackers. His eyes turned toward the ship. He could see him there in the window of the command deck. Smirking down at him as he gave orders over some sort of comm system.
The Yebraxians turned their lasers toward him, and he knew at that moment, his father didn't care about him, never had cared about him. He dodged laser blasts, dropping and rolling and then back to his feet, shooting his own blaster at the troops, taking down
a few, but it wasn't enough. He glanced over at Naela, stumbling along as she dragged Mabav toward the ship. He moved to go and help her, but the laser blasts followed him, and she took a blast to her arm as she dropped Mabav.
Realizing his mistake, Terrex then veered away from her, drawing the diminished group of Yebraxians with him. It was like they were tracking him somehow. Probably by his genetic code, shared by his father, of course. "Fuck!" he muttered. "Naela, get him to the ship, I'm going to try to keep them away!"
Naela, hearing him, gave a slight nod. She shot a few more times, taking out about six of the ones following him, but there were still at least fifteen more. Devron ran from behind his boulder and toward his mother, helping her with Mabav while Melody moved from hers to stand on the ramp, firing at the group that was tracking Terrex.
Terrex raced past the ship, hoping to double back and get onboard before his father's paid assassins took him out. A shot seared his left arm as it grazed him, leaving his bicep burning with pain. Another grazed his calf, and though he stumbled, he kept running. He glanced back, shooting at them as he moved beyond a large boulder. He was faster than them, their bulk made them slower and their aims faulty as they ran. As he came around the other side, he shot at the tail end of the group, taking out three more of them.
There was just a handful now and he ran for all he was worth back toward the ship. He saw Naela and Devron, who had blood dripping down his arm, dragging Mabav deeper into the ship. Melody, who was limping from a bleeding thigh wound, was already mostly up the ramp and the engines were now completely charged. He was nearly there when the ramp started to go up, they were going to leave without him if he didn't hurry. With a burst of speed brought on by fear, he jumped and landed on the middle of the receding ramp, then kept running, passing over the threshold as the ramp fully returned and the door closed behind him. Before he could even catch his breath, the ship lifted and took off.
"You!" Melody whirled on him. "This is your fault! Mabav may die and it's your fault! You warned your father somehow! You— You— You—" She was so livid her face was red, and she couldn't get out any other words.
