Hearts of Indesh

by S. J. Sanders

  “Oigr, I think there is something wrong with this one,” he commented plaintively to the large red male beside him.

  The other wrinkled his nose and sighed, “Captain, if you want one, we should take this one and go. If we wait any longer the Lorgor crew will be on us before we have a chance to get away. I do not want to fight a nest of Lorgor warriors.”

  Her captor sighed bleakly, and then brightened so suddenly it appeared a shade shy of bi-polar. “Never mind. I am sure she is just acting uncharacteristically because she is afraid. Once we get her settled I am certain she will be fine.”

  What the fuck is this lunatic talking about?

  She threw a helpless look at Cador, who shrugged apologetically at her. Some fucking help he was. On the bright side, she wasn’t going to be part of the breeding portion of a Calysii prince’s harem. On the down side, the nutter carrying her back through the doorway--one that the Forad was hastily sealing close again behind them with some compound he weilded expertly-- thought she was his mate, and she had no idea what all that was going to entail.

  ***

  Nazzek held the small female to his body, practically vibrating with pleasure as he gave her a sedative to make their transition between ships easier on her. And on his ears, given the way she was shrieking profanities at him. Sure, he was a bit disappointed when she did not throw herself before him, thrusting her breasts out in invitation, or offer to suck his cock in thanks for saving her. Were human females so ill-mannered? The website did not mention this at all. Perhaps it was an unfortunate trait of this female in particular. It was a shame that he did not have more time to choose from the lot. Alas, the rest had been hidden away.

  There was that one female with the strange pink hair, but taking into consideration how small she was, and the way she fainted, Nazzek had been concerned that she was far too small and delicate. Besides which, the high-pitched shriek she had made hurt his ears quite a bit. Mated to that small female, he had no doubt that her cries of pleasure would’ve shortly made him deaf. No, this female was the better choice of the two.

  His female was lush and curvaceous, far more than the pale tiny female who had fainted when she saw the glorious sight of his crew. Certainly she’d noted that they were all fine specimens and had been summarily overwhelmed. That could account for her less that optimal behavior when they met. Still, her less than gracious attitude aside, he was happy with his chosen female. Her hair was a dark red and thick with curls--it was a nice contrast to his own green coloring. He also very much liked the way her full breasts and hips called to him enticingly.

  Despite their rocky start, Nazzek was certain that he would have a most happy and blessed mating with his female. He’d never before imagined himself with mate and offspring, and now he was practically rubbing his hands together with excitement. Eventually they would need to get a bit of property on Indesh, but that shouldn’t be a problem. He knew his father would be thrilled to help them find a home near his own. They would raise many children and he would always shower his mate with all the love and romance that females crave.

  He found himself quickly distracted from his happy ruminations by the scowls being levied at him from his friends. Nazzek raised his brows at them. He couldn’t imagine what they could possibly be scowling about. Maybe they were jealous already.

  Oigr threw him a disgusted look as they returned to their ship. “I can’t believe you told her she had your permission to suck your cock.”

  “Of course she had my permission! It was very important for me to clarify that fact immediately. Now it may seem a bit much, but this female is to be my mate. Females like romance. I could do no less than make the most romantic offer to her.”

  “You consider that romantic?” Medif’s eyes widened, clearly in awe of how generous he was being to his new mate.

  “Of course he would,” muttered Oigr, shaking his head. Nazzek frowned at what sounded suspiciously like scorn coming from one of his oldest friends. Maybe he misheard. Or maybe his friends weren’t as versed in the nature of females. Ah that must be it.

  He truly felt sympathy for them. Rarely did the females they rescued take to his crew. He was certain their disapproval of how welcoming he was toward his new mate was rooted in their lack of experience. If they had experienced even half of the females who had happily jumped into his own bed, surely they would have understood. Certainly, Nazzek didn’t allow great liberties with all of them. But his mate was special. They would understand, maybe, when they found mates of their own.

  Right now they doubted him. He could see it in their expressions and in the way they shook their heads as they departed into the starship to prepare for separation. Medif was muttering under his breath some rather disparaging things about doubting his intelligence that Nazzek found slightly offensive.

  Nazzek finally shrugged and carried his beautiful mate back to his cabin, shouting out orders to disengage from the Lorgor starship and proceed to sector five. From there, they would cut their trip short by catching the interstellar rip back to Indesh.

  Chapter 4

  Nikki blinked, her head feeling heavy and thick as of coming out a drug-induced sleep. She frowned as she recalled the green, motherfucking asshole stinging her with some sort of hand-held medical device. She would bet her last credit, and her beloved record collection of Styx albums that her brother “generously” volunteered to keep safe for her until she was settled, that her kidnapper was the one who sedated her.

  She was more than certain she was no longer on the Lorgor vessel. The ceiling she was staring at had not a lick of the opulent white and gold decor. Instead it was the dull unadorned metal she would have expected from a starship. Sturdy, but nothing fancy. And a good thing too, staring at bright surroundings would have forced her already queasy stomach into redecorating the space.

  A face popped so suddenly overhead that it made her instinctively want to jump out of her skin. She shrieked and popped up to square-off with her captor, his vibrant green face slightly pinched in concern.

  “Ah good, you are awake,” he smiled with relief, and then pursed his beautiful bow-shaped lips. “I am not sure you should be jumping up like that so soon though. Most beings do not react well to sedation, you will make yourself sick.”

  .He was right, she definitely felt sick. Nikki leaned forward and rested her head against the soft, cool pillow on the bed. A hand began to stroke her back in a gesture of comfort. Surprisingly, she didn’t find it as objectionable as she should have. This was her fucking kidnapper trying to comfort her after all. Of all the irony. He was the fucking source of her stress.

  “Do not worry mate, I am here for you. You are sick. I refuse to allow you any romance until you are better. Once you are well you may pleasure me to your hearts content, and after you been satisfied in this manner, I will in turn pleasure you.”

  Nikki blinked in complete and utter disbelief.“Are you a fucking idiot?” she couldn’t help asking. Not that she wanted to be cruel or anything, but she truly couldn’t understand how he figured that was even remotely romantic.

  The male frowned. “Why has everyone been asking me that lately?”

  She couldn’t really think of anything to say to that, instead she settled for trying to reason with him. “I am not sure what made you think it would be an intelligent thing to steal another guy’s mate. Aren’t you aware that I am already mated by contract through Earth’s Mate Index to Prince Gaix of Caysta?”

  To her consternation, he threw back his head and laughed. His laugh really was beautiful. Deep, and had a peculiar resonance to it. Too bad he seemed a bit off his rocker.

  “My sweet mate, what is written on a piece of paper has little to do with the mating process. He may think he legally owns you, and may send out beings to retrieve his property, such as he views you, but you are not truly mated to him.”

  “I think he might disagree with you on that,” she sniped.

  He grinned impishly back at her, “Oh I can guarantee that.
But it doesn’t make it any less true. Mating is a bond. Even among the Calysii. Taking twenty females as his own isn’t mating, it is nothing more than vainglorious greed and a show of wealth. None of the females would truly have been happy with that sort of mating.”

  “Uh huh, so you thought you would just liberate one of his mates then?”

  “Precisely! Don’t tell me that you actually wanted to be mated to him?” He looked vaguely ill by the notion.

  “No, I didn’t. My parents more or less strong-armed me into this whole process. To be honest I didn’t have any interesting at all in registering for the Mate Index,” she admitted.

  “You see, we are destined to be together. Of all the females on the Lorgor starship, the one who didn’t want to be there was the one I rescued by happenstance.”

  “But I am still being mated,” she pointed out.

  “I want you to be my mate. Naturally I rescued you for this reason, but if you really object to it, I guess I could drop you off at the space station before we leave sector five for Indesh.”

  Nikki immediately felt bad at how forlorn he suddenly looked, like a kid who had his favorite thing in the world taken away. Even his brilliant coloring seemed duller. Despite the fact that he seemed really confused on male-female interactions, and a bizarre sense of what was romantic, he genuinely seemed to be a pretty sweet guy deep down. In a bit of a rough, cocky, piratical sort of way. Telling him to take her to the space station at this point just felt a little too much like kicking a puppy.

  She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “Maybe if we spend some time together, we can see what happens…”she hedged.

  He immediately brightened--literally. It was so odd seeing a guy who visually wore his emotions right there on his sleeve for all to see. She wondered how exactly that worked for someone who obviously operated on the wrong side of the law.

  “Excellent! I will show you that I can be the best mate for you…uh…err…what is your name? I can hardly call you ‘mate’ for the rest of our lives. I mean I could, but it would get redundant fast.”

  Nikki laughed, deciding to go along with the absurdity of their newly forging relationship. “It would certainly be an interesting conversation starter,” she joked. “My name is Nikki, it is short for Nichole but I never go by that.”

  “Nikki,” he slid the word over his tongue as if he were tasting it. He grinned widely, displaying several very sharp teeth. “It is truly a name as beautiful as my mate.”.

  She pressed her fingers into her lips, trying not to laugh again. From a man on Earth that would have sounded like a really bad line. But with the sheer pleasure with which he said it, it was just sweet.

  ***

  Nazzek was in love, he couldn’t think of any other description for it. He didn’t even mind his dear sweet mate’s fiery temperament. He had thought to find a docile, eager-to-please mate and instead had a mate that laughed with him and challenged him. He was surprised to find that he really, really liked it.

  He was a little concerned that she was questioning his faculties when he spoke of romance. Did no one understand romance? He wasn’t sure. It seemed that she obviously balked when he tried to speak in the most romantic terms. Oigr and Medif had both looked at him in shock too. How was it so many beings were backwards and unknowing of the matters of the heart and the language of romance.

  Was his mate maybe an untried virgin? While the thought didn’t entirely dismay him, he rather hoped not. He didn’t have any experience breaking in females new to the ways of sex. Or maybe his mate had never been properly romanced? If not he truly mourned for her to have gone through relationships with males without something so sweet and special.

  “Captain, we have a problem,” Medif shouted over the comm just as the ship vibrated unpleasantly.

  Nazzek leaped up in alarm, someone was firing on them? He considered--it was probably someone sent from Caysta. He had to hand it to Gaix, he didn’t waste any time pursuing them.

  “We have a Lorgor vessel comming us,” Medif informed him.

  He pressed a button on the wall to activate his personal comm.“I am heading to the command center.” He spun around and briefly kissed the top of his mate’s head. “Stay here Nikki, I shall return shortly after I deal with whoever is interrupting us.”

  He could feel Nikki staring at him as he darted out of the cabin, and into the hallway leading to their ship’s command center. Medif looked up as he arrived, relief clear on his face. He obviously didn’t want to deal with those who came on behalf of Gaix. The viewer opened up to show him a large, very impatient, Lorgor male.

  Generally he liked Lorgors. They were a strong race with rather admirable fortitude. In this case though, they were trying to take his mate which put them on his shit-list (a lovely term he borrowed from Earth media, an apt one at that!). The male looked positively irritated, now that Nazzek noticed it. He imagined, with a certain amount of glee, that they weren’t too happy having to chase a spoiled prince’s mate across the sectors.

  “Greetings,” he beamed at the Lorgor Captain. “I am captain Nazzek of starship Lady’s Fortune. How are you this fine day?” No reason not to be polite. A good acquisitioner was a polite, charming and prepared acquisitioner.

  “Captain Nazzek,” the male growled, “This is Captain Otorol. As you can see I am very tired and exponentially displeased today. I can imagine that you know exactly why that is.”

  “Well, I personally can’t imagine why anyone would send you way out here. Sector five doesn’t really have a lot that would interest the royal court of Caysta. Now if it were me…”

  “Captain Nazzek, I have no interest in your games. We have security footage from the starship King’s Glory of you and your crew kidnapping a mate of Prince Gaix at threat of gunpoint. You are to promptly return her without a delay. Any refusal on your part will be met with force. You have one galactic hour to comply.”

  The comm screen closed and Medif turned to look at Nazzek with a raised brow. “Your plan fearless leader?”

  Nazzek grinned. He knew his home galaxy like the back of his hand. “Shoot us through the interstellar rip as planned. Once we are in home territory, we will enter to Durrga dust cluster which will confuse the Lorgor sensors. We will follow that to planet Nikat and put down there for a few days to give our new friends time to give up before we continue to Indesh as planned.”

  Medif looked positively nauseated. “Nazzek, you recall Nikat is inhabited by a particular species of flesh-eaters who see offworlders as delicacies.”

  “I am not planning a vacation home there. We will just lay low. The Katazians will never even realize we are there,” he grinned.

  Medif muttered a prayer to his gods and began to set coordinates. Really, he worried too much. This was a perfect plan. Before they knew it, they would be laying on a beach at his family’s estate, drinking his father’s alcoholic concoctions.

  Chapter 5

  Nikki stared wide-eyed at the large Vrooduk as he escorted her to the command center and firmly buckled her in to a large seat beside Nazzek. Her eyes swiveled over to her new “mate” as the giant male glared at him.

  “Ah my sweet Nikki, I am glad you have joined us. Thank you Oigr for fetching her on your way up.”

  “This is lunacy Nazzek,” Oigr’s deep voice growled out.

  “Wait one sec, what is lunacy?” Nikki demanded, her heart starting to race.

  She had no time to find out, once Oigr was buckled in, the starship jolted forward into what looked like a huge tear in space. Instantly she was disorientated, like she was being pulled apart in several different directions. She wanted to scream, but the whole world seemed to be absent of sound. Then, just that quickly, everything righted itself again and she found herself looking at different stars through the viewing-screen.

  “Whoa,” she gasped out. “What the fuck was that?”

  “Just a little trip through an interstellar rip through space. It connects one part of the universe with another
.”

  “Its a fucking wormhole,” she said in surprise.

  Everyone looked at her blankly. “Sure,” Nazzek finally said as the ship began to bank hard to the left heading towards what looked like a shining cloud of debris.

  “What is that?”

  “We are entering into the Durrga dust cluster to lose some unexpected company.”

  “Caught up to us that quick huh,” she crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.

  “Nothing unexpected,” Nazzek corrected with a sly grin. “Just a little sooner than anticipated. Instead of going directly to my home planet Indesh, we just have to lose our tail and divert our course a bit, with a layover in Nikat.”

  Oigr groaned, “Medif you are letting him take us to Nikat?”

  “What the fuck is wrong with Nikat?” Her alarm shot through the roof. Her new mate was trying to kill her apparently.

  “It is a lovely out of the way planet, with lush beautiful jungles--”Nazzek said.

  “With cannibals,”Oigr finished.

  “And carnivorous plants,” Medif offered.

  “What?!” Yep he was definitely trying to kill her. “Oh hell no! Take me back to the Lorgor. I am not getting eaten!” Her muscles froze as the entire view screen became fuzzy as if going through a snow storm. They were really going to do it!

  Nazzek shot his friends a dirty look. “My sweet mate, do not worry. I promise I will not let anything eat you or even harm a hair on your head. We are just going to lay low for a couple of days. No one will even know that we are there.”

  “I changed my mind,” she snapped. “You are not an idiot, you are fucking insane!”

  She didn’t feel any better when Oigr grunted in agreement. Nor did she feel very confident in his sanity or that of the Forad when they continued on course. No one was apparently going to stop this madness. All she could do was squeeze her eyes shut and began praying rapidly to any and every deity she had ever read about or heard of--just in case. She was pretty sure that she heard Medif doing the same thing on the other side of her.