Taken by Surprise

by Anna Argent

  He drew on his self-control, focusing on her pleasure over his own, but she was already ahead of him.

  Tight, hot muscles rippled around his erection as she let out a cry of completion. He covered the sound with his mouth and let go of himself.

  His orgasm went on forever as she milked every bit of pleasure from him he had to give. When he was able to breathe again, they were crumpled on the floor of the shower with her on his lap, her legs splayed over his, her pussy dripping with his semen.

  She lowered her head to his shoulder, panting. “I should say I love you more often.”

  Talan laughed and spent the next ten minutes making sure she was thoroughly cleaned, dry and dressed in the soft robes of a Builder.

  He’d never thought they were sexy before, but now that he knew what was under hers, he was almost certain that opinion was now irrevocably changed.

  They shared a quiet meal together in her room, and then he escorted her back to her workshop.

  The instant he stepped foot into the room, he knew something was wrong. He wasn’t sure what yet, but every warrior instinct in him was screaming at him to prepare to kill.

  Talan shoved her behind him and armed himself.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “I don’t know yet. Go find someone on the Guard.”

  “Who?”

  “Green uniforms. Guys with weapons who protect the Builders.”

  Zoe sprinted for the door to do as he asked, but stopped dead in her tracks. Her feet rose from the ground, and a horrified look swept over her features.

  A familiar, disembodied voice spoke from behind her head. “No need to raise the alarm. I’ve got what I came for.”

  A sick sense of dread filled Talan as he realized what was happening. “Krotian.”

  The Raide’s form appeared inside his armor, and Talan could now see why Zoe wasn’t speaking. The asshole had his hand around her throat and was squeezing the life from her.

  Talan suppressed his panic with a brutal dose of fury. He was going to kill that creature for touching the woman he loved.

  He kept his eyes averted, avoiding the Raide’s debilitating gaze. “Put her down.”

  Krotian shook his head, trying to pull Talan’s attention upward. “I need what’s in her brain, and you’re going to help me get it.”

  “Sure,” said Talan, sarcasm dripping from his words. “I’ll just walk you out. No worries.” His tone went low and deadly. “There’s no way out of here. This is where you die.”

  Zoe kicked and beat her fists against Krotian’s armor with no success. All she was doing was using up what little oxygen she had left.

  “The Builders are a placid lot. They don’t have what it takes to stop me.”

  “Maybe not,” said Talan. “But I do. And so does every other warrior here.”

  Krotian shifted his grip on Zoe. The movement dug his fingers deeper into her throat. “Didn’t you hear the alarm?” he asked. “There was a fire in one of the libraries. The Guard are quite busy putting it out.”

  Which meant Talan was on his own.

  He did a fast inventory of the weapons he had on him, along with the tools that were lying about. Nothing he touched on would take the Raide down without hurting Zoe in the process.

  There was only one thing he could think to do, and it was risky.

  He pulled a small glass vial of tranquilizer from his vest and smashed it on the stone floor at Krotian’s feet.

  Zoe couldn’t breathe it in. Talan had prepared for it and was already holding his breath as he jabbed a needle laced with the antidote into his thigh.

  Krotian, on the other hand, was surprised.

  He took a breath and staggered on his feet. Zoe caught herself and shoved hard enough to break the Raide’s hold.

  She sucked in a huge breath and went instantly limp.

  Krotian’s hand struggled to find something on his armor. Talan was already charging, ready to finish this creature off for good.

  He whipped the thin wire from his vest and pulled it between both hands to extend it to its full length. With a spark of energy from his cells to fuel it, the wire danced in his grip, ready to do his bidding.

  Krotian lifted his hand. Something was in it, but Talan was moving too fast to see what it was.

  But he felt it as he ran right into Krotian.

  A heavy, sharp sensation slid between his ribs as he spun the wire out to lash at Krotian. The wire caught on his armor, which stopped it cold.

  Talan looked down and saw the hilt of a Raide dagger in Krotian’s fist. The first two inches of black metal were protruding from Talan’s chest. It took him a second to realize that the rest of it was imbedded in his body.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  A strange sense of disbelief washed over Talan as he stared down at the knife protruding from his chest. It didn’t hurt like he would have imagined. There was just a sense of utter wrongness, both physically and mentally.

  Zoe lay helpless a few feet away, and he didn’t have much time to finish off the enemy before she was taken away forever.

  Talan didn’t have much time, period.

  He whipped around, feeling the dagger tear through flesh and bone. He didn’t care about that. Not yet. His entire focus was on one thing: killing Krotian.

  Talan let go of one end of the silver wire to free it. In the same move, he flipped the handle around the Raide’s scrawny neck, trapping him inside the weapon’s grasp. He pulled with all of his strength, but it was swiftly fading as he bled.

  Krotian’s armor hissed and sparked as it struggled to defend against the power Talan poured into his weapon. This level of channeling was going to drain him fast, but a few minutes was all he had left anyway.

  He kept his eyes diverted, focusing only on that thin line of silver around his enemy’s neck.

  “You can’t win,” Krotian said, smug in the knowledge that his armor protected him. “I’ll go through the window and take your lover with me, dragging her to my home world.”

  Talan didn’t waste the strength it would take to respond.

  “I’ll present her as a gift to my father, who will crack open her skull and rip from it all we want to know.”

  A wave of weakness assaulted Talan. Krotian twisted the blade, jerking Talan off balance.

  Krotian’s grin widened. “When we’ve wrung from her everything we can, there won’t be anything left of her mind. She’ll be empty. Drooling. Soiling herself and not even knowing she did.”

  She couldn’t even defend herself now. Talan had done that to her, and for what? Krotian seemed to be immune to the tranquilizer.

  “I will enjoy unmaking her,” Krotian said. His voice slurred a little. “And the first thing I’ll take away are all those memories of you. She’ll be alone at the end. Terrified, confused, and alone, wondering how she got here and why she’s in so much agony.”

  Lights on Krotian’s suit started to blink as if in warning. That’s when Talan saw the thin, almost invisible film over the Raide’s face. He hadn’t seen it before, because he didn’t dare look into the asshole’s eyes.

  The suit was protecting him from breathing in the gas. If Talan could find some way to crack that shield, maybe it would let in more gas and at least slow down his enemy.

  Talan pulled harder on the wire, shoving every bit of fuel he could spare into the weapon. It heated, searing his hands until his flesh smoked and sizzled.

  A spark flashed at the joint where Krotian’s helmet connected to the rest of the suit.

  Excitement flickered in Talan’s chest. The armor was failing under the stress of so much demand.

  Krotian smiled as if his victory were already assured. “That’s what I want you to picture while you die, Talan. Your woman alone and in pain, drooling and pissing herself, unable to even remember you exist.”

  Talan’s chest rumbled with a growl of denial. The blade went cold and his chest grew numb. The wire heated with the power he shoved into it until it was too
hot to touch. It burned its way to the bone, giving pain a whole new meaning. It felt like his bone marrow was on fire, blistering him from the inside out.

  Still, Talan held on.

  Krotian’s armor sparked and blackened. The hard surface began to melt and soften as it caved in.

  A look of surprised terror crossed Krotian’s face an instant before his armor failed.

  Talan looked him in the eye, unconcerned about his ability to crawl into his mind now. Krotian couldn’t hurt anyone anymore. Especially Zoe.

  “Die,” he found the breath to say as he gave one last hard wrench on the wire around Krotian’s neck.

  His head was severed in an instant, and fell to the ground, rolling as it bounced off of Talan’s boot.

  He slumped to the ground as weakness defeated him. Blood welled from his wounds, and he didn’t even have the strength to reach for the stasis field that had saved his life before.

  Talan held on for as long as he could. Hallucination started in from having lost too much blood. He heard voices, but none of them made any sense. Finally, after what seemed like half a lifetime, his body gave up the fight.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  “Get up,” came a female voice raised in imperial command.

  Talan tried to open his eyes to see who it was. She sounded familiar. He wanted to see who she was.

  “You’ve been here long enough,” said the woman. “Wake up!”

  This time, Talan did as he was commanded and opened his eyes.

  Zoe hovered over him, her face pinched with worry. “There you are. I knew you would come back. You promised.”

  He had no idea what she meant, but as his head cleared, it dawned on him. “I did promise, didn’t I?”

  She nodded. “The doctors said you’d wake up today.”

  “Today? How long was I out?”

  “Two weeks this time. You’ve really got to stop making a habit of almost dying. I dig the scars and all, but the worry is interfering with my ability to destroy an entire civilization of assholes.”

  Talan was struggling to keep up, but she seemed so happy, he hated interrupting her.

  “The doctors also said they’ve done all they can for you. The rest is up to you. Sleep. Eat. Sleep some more.”

  “I know the drill.”

  “Good. Then I don’t have to get all bossy with you. Now put on your clothes. I’m taking you home.”

  “Home?”

  She handed him a bundle of green fabric. He was too weak to do more than hold onto it.

  “Yes. Anri got me a larger room with a bigger bed.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Zoe gave him the sweetest smile and patted his shoulder. “That’s okay, honey. I’m the smart one. You’re the pretty one.”

  Now he knew he was hallucinating. “Will you please make sense?”

  She sat on the edge of his bed and took one of the green garments away from him. When she held it up, she asked, “Look familiar?”

  “It’s a Builders’ Guard uniform.”

  “And it’s yours.”

  Now the pieces were starting to align. They still, however, made no sense. “I’m not a member of the Guard.”

  “You are now. Apparently, killing a Raide that everyone else missed and saving their current favorite brainiac was enough of a show to win you a spot on the team.”

  “Those positions are inherited.”

  Zoe shrugged. “Gotta start the genetic lottery somewhere.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  She beamed at him, and the sight was so beautiful it made his chest ache. “You saved us. You saved me. Krotian had all kinds of super-secret gadgets in his possession when you killed him. If he’d made it out of here with that stuff, we’d all be dead sooner or later. And since they told me you can stay, my work has been… impressive. Even to me.” She kissed his cheek. “You’re my good luck charm.”

  “Is that what Anri said?” he asked.

  “No. She said you were my sun—whatever that means—and that they couldn’t afford for me to lose five good years.” Zoe unbuttoned the Guard shirt and slid it over his naked shoulders. “I don’t think she has a firm grasp on the English language yet. But I’m getting better at Imonite, so it’s all good. Except that you have to get dressed. I have so much work to do. You wouldn’t believe what I’ve made while you were healing.”

  “I’d love to see it.”

  She helped him slide the shirt on. “I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you all the details, but suffice it to say, I’ve been kicking major ass in the gadget department. All of the eggheads here have brain boners for my work.”

  Talan loved seeing her like this—all happy and eager. He would do whatever it took to keep her this way for as long as he lived.

  “Have you told the other Builders about your concept of a brain boner?” he asked.

  “I tried. They didn’t get it.”

  “Maybe it’s best if we just keep that between us.”

  She came around in front of him and buttoned up his Guard uniform over another new batch of scars. It felt good against his skin. Right. And the fact that she was the one to put it on him for the first time made it even better.

  He captured her hands in his. “I love you, Zoe.”

  She stared right into his eyes and he could see her words brimming there in the form of happy tears before she even opened her mouth. “I love you too.” She gave him a quick kiss. “Now let’s go to work, honey. I have a weapon to build, and I can’t do it without you.”

  Talan couldn’t believe his good fortune. He might not have been born a Builder like his parents had hoped, but he was glad of that now. A Builder would never have been able to protect Zoe the way he would.

  No matter what it took, he would keep the woman he loved safe and happy. Forever. And in doing so, they would help end the war and rebuild their world.

  About the Author

  After spending years working as an engineer in corporate America, Anna traded it all in for a quiet life in the country. She lives with her husband on a small cattle ranch in the Ozark Mountains, penning stories filled with love, lust and a healthy dose of magic. She loves to hear from her readers at anna@annaargent.com.

  The best way to be the first to hear about news, contests, current projects and future releases is to sign up for the Anna Argent A-Team newsletter. When she’s not busy writing, you can also catch Anna on a variety of social media sites. To find out more, visit Anna’s website.

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review so that other readers can benefit from your opinions.

  Books by Anna Argent

  The Taken Series

  Taken by Storm

  Taken by Surprise

  Taken by Force

  The Stone Men Series

  Made Flesh

  Heart of Stone (Available February 2017)

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