The Warrior's Proposal (Celestial Mates Book 7)

by Marla Therron

  "Who is that?" Erena asked, wide eyed, as she ran after him.

  "Shut up."

  "Is that the police?"

  "Shut up!"

  "I'm going to start yelling as loudly as I can in a minute if-"

  "Do you want to be vivisected?" he growled, throwing open a door and dragging her down a bare looking stare case, "Because that is what will happen if those people get you. And then they will track your DNA back to your home planet and turn it into a petri dish. So be quiet!"

  That did manage to shut Erena up, for a minute at least as they reached the bottom of the staircase and burst into what looked to Erena like the weirdest parking garage she'd ever seen. The concrete walls and pillars were plastered with colorful, slow moving holographic ads.

  The parked vehicles looked nothing like any car she'd ever seen. Some of them looked organic, dripping onto the pavement. Shang dragged her past them, deeper into the low ceilinged concrete structure.

  The further they went, the bigger the vehicles became and the hair on Erena's neck began to stand up as they passed what she was increasingly certain were personal space craft.

  Behind them she heard voices again, and the swing of flashlight beams danced across the ships behind them. Shang cursed quietly and pulled Erena closer to grab her hand.

  "Just a little further," he muttered, dragging Erena faster between the rows of ships. Erena was tempted to call out to the people chasing them. After all, she didn't know she could trust Shang's words. He'd saved her from Rin'rokir, but he'd also bought her at an auction like an object.

  She wasn't certain she could ever forgive that. But, better the devil she knew, she supposed, glancing back over her shoulder warily. Shang hadn't hurt her and didn't seem interested in taking advantage of her. That seemed like the best she could hope for in this situation.

  "Finally," Shang hissed in relief as they emerged from the rows of ships in front of a large, sleek black craft that reminded Erena of a particularly dangerous looking yacht, "Why do I always have to park so damn far away?"

  Grumbling, Shang hit a few buttons on a holographic panel that appeared above his sleeve with a flick of the wrist and the ship began powering up, its bay door opening. The voices behind them grew louder and more frantic.

  "Hurry," Shang snapped, and Erena stumbled as he dragged her up the ramp into the ship. It closed quickly behind them as he pulled her up to the cockpit, shoving her into the copilot’s seat.

  "Strap in," he ordered, "This isn't going to be my most graceful takeoff."

  Erena for once didn't hesitate to obey. Flying in a personal craft might be different from what she knew of space travel, but she still didn't want to try it without buckling up first.

  The ship hummed to life and began rolling forward on some kind of magnetized landing gear, taxing out of its parking space and into the aisle. Erena could see a cluster of uniformed aliens rushing towards them between the other ships.

  "Can they stop us if they catch up to us?" Erena asked.

  "Yes," Shang replied, urging the ship to roll faster, "Localized EMP weapons. They just have to touch us."

  "Then you really might want to go faster."

  Shang let out a string of curses and slammed a button. The ship rocketed forward as its engines suddenly cut on, destroying any ships or people unfortunate enough to be behind it.

  Erena screamed in surprise at the sudden acceleration as Shang fought to keep the ship going straight, the confined area making it veer and wobble unpredictably. But the side of the parking structure was already in view, the city glittering beyond it, and Shang didn't hesitate, gunning the engines as they shot out directly into the open night sky.

  Erena screamed again, and Shang was shouting a string of curses in a language she didn't know as they crashed through laundry and power lines, fighting to the ship's nose up before its rockets powered them directly into the ground.

  With a victorious howl, Shang righted the ship just in time to turn it, narrowly dodging between two high buildings, knocking the ramshackle plywood and corrugated metal walk ways between them flying. The second he reached a space clear enough, he turned the nose up and they shot off towards the sky.

  Erena, her heart racing, stared up at the rapidly approaching stars and remembered how only a few months ago she'd been looking at this same view as she left earth. The stars here were so different...

  Chapter Five

  She woke a little while later still strapped to the copilot’s seat. She must have passed out, she realized. It wasn't uncommon for astronauts to faint while leaving atmosphere, even in a situation they were completely prepared for. This had been unusually stressful even by scientific standards.

  She shifted and something slid down her shoulder. Blinking, she realized Shang had draped his jacket over her. She held it close, surprised by the gesture, as she turned to look at the alien.

  He was still in the pilot's seat, his eyes serious as he scanned a holographic star chart floating in front of him. He was handsome when he focused like that, she realized, his dark, intense eyes focused on his work, his jaw set in concentration. She blushed, shaking that thought off quickly. This was no time for such thoughts.

  "So, what's the plan?" she asked, sitting up.

  He glanced up from his work, frowning, and then waved her towards a circular door in the floor behind her, turning back to his work.

  "For you? Go down that hatch there into the bunk and go to bed. I don't need you getting in the way."

  "Yeah, nice try," Erena didn't move a muscle, "I'm not so dumb that I can't recognize running from the authorities when I see. You just murdered a guy and fled the planet. I think I deserve to know what our fugitive plan is."

  "Maybe I'm still working on it," Shang rubbed his eyes, irritated, "Ever think of that?"

  "Well then I'll help," Erena offered, "What are our options?"

  "I could list planets for you, but you're not going to know the names anyway. Just go wait in the bunk."

  "I don't want to. I want to help."

  "I don't care! I don't need your help! You've been enough of a damn inconvenience to me already."

  Erena reeled back, hurt and offended.

  "Excuse me?" she gripped the sides of the seat so hard her fingers hurt, "I didn't ask to get sold at auction! I didn't ask for my crew to be murdered so I could be kidnapped and sold as some alien's pet! I didn't ask you to buy me!"

  "And I didn't ask for some whiny, fluffy headed alien who doesn't even know how a shower works to get dropped in my lap! But here we are, and I just murdered one of the most dangerous pirates in this star system for you, so maybe show a little gratitude!"

  "Pirate?" Erena repeated, too surprised to be offended, "Did that translate right?"

  "If pirate means big mean bastards who fly around space attacking weaker ships and stealing things, then yes."

  "Yeah, that's about right."

  "The planet we just left is a major pirate port," Shang closed his star chart with wave of his hand and a sigh, then stood up, "One I'm now banned from most likely, thanks to you.

  There's no weapons allowed on the surface specifically to prevent things like that from happening. The planetary government lets the pirates do what they like on the surface as long as they keep the violence to a minimum. So the pirate lords have some very severe consequences for people who mess that up."

  "Well then, why did you throw him off the balcony?" Erena asked, unbuckling to follow him as he passed her chair, leash tugging at her, "I mean, wasn't there a better way to dispose of the body?"

  "You're surprisingly casual about corpse disposal," Shang commented, stopping and reaching up to unhook the leash from her collar, though he left the collar itself on, "I thought that was frowned upon in most rural planets."

  "He tried to eat me," Erena replied flatly, relieved to have the leash removed, "I'm not exactly sympathetic. But mostly I'm just curious."

  Shang knelt to open the hatch on the floor, shrugging off her c
oncern.

  "He wasn't dead yet."

  Beneath the hatch was a small bunk area hardly high enough to kneel in, just wide enough for a queen size mattress. The sheets and plethora of small pillows were in brightly colored warm jewel tones, and a strange decoration like a wind chime made of thin gold chain and colored glass hung in one corner.

  Shang, still kneeling by the hatch, offered her a hand to step down. Distracted, she took it and started to step in before he held up his other hand.

  "Wait. Shoes first."

  "Oh, right."

  The shoes were part of the fabric of the rest of her outfit, so she just stared for a minute, wondering what to do to take them off. Shang rolled his eyes and pulled out a small device, running it around her ankles.

  "So he was still alive when you threw him off?" she asked while he peeled the black material away.

  "Insectoids tend to be more resilient than you'd expect," Shang explained, "He was hurt, playing dead. But a fall like that is probably the only thing that would kill him. Probably."

  "Only probably?"

  "Insectoids are very resilient."

  Once her shoes were gone, Erena took Shang's hand again and stepped down into the bunk, pausing as she realized something.

  "Wait," she said, staring at him with a frown, her feet on the mattress and her head still above the hatch, "Does that mean you're a pirate too?"

  "Yep."

  Shang's reply was deadpan, and he followed it by shoving her head down and closing the hatch.

  "Now go to sleep," he called through the door as Erena struggled to push the hatch back open, but despite all her shouting and banging, it remained shut.

  Eventually she gave up and lay down, wishing he'd at least given her something to do. Through poking around in his bunk she found little to entertain her. Somehow she'd expected a diary or dirty magazines, but she supposed he kept those on his computer.

  There was some kind of colorful puzzle toy, or at least she assumed that's what it was, but fiddling with its bright sliding tiles could only amuse her so long. She couldn't even stand up and pace in here. She flopped back onto the pillows with a sigh of irritated resignation, and looked up.

  From this angle, the strange wind chime like decoration was not a random jumble of colored glass and gold chain. When she looked up at it from here, the pieces lined up into the shape of a tree, its branches filled with color. It was beautiful, the way the glass shifted like the leaves of the tree moving in the breeze, chiming softly in the quiet.

  If she closed her eyes a little, she could almost see a second shape inside the tree, like a woman, almost as tall as the tree trunk, reaching up into the branches...

  Chapter Six

  She woke to the sound of the hatch opening.

  "Move." Shang ordered, and Erena obeyed without thinking, getting out of the way as he climbed in after her.

  "Why are you coming down here?" she asked, rubbing her eyes, "Have we landed?"

  "No." Shang replied, adding nothing else as he lay down, rolling over with his back to her.

  "Then shouldn't you be up there flying?" Erena frowned, a little concerned.

  "Haven't you ever heard of auto pilot?" Shang muttered, his voice edged with exhaustion, "I've plotted a course for us. Just go back to sleep."

  "I've been sleeping for ages," Erena scooted closer to him, reaching for his shoulder to try and make him face her, "At least give me something to do. Your species must have books or movies or something. I'm going to die of boredom before the pirates catch us."

  "You wouldn't be able to read my books," Shang rolled over to glare at her, "And I don't know what the hell a movie is but I don't have any."

  "There must be something you do when you're bored!"

  "I sleep."

  "Well I can't sleep anymore!"

  Shang huffed in annoyance and grabbed her hips suddenly, dragging her body against his.

  "If you're really that bored," he grinned at her, "You could always serve the purpose you were bought for."

  Erena knew he was baiting her, just trying to make her angry and embarrassed so she'd leave him alone, but she couldn't help blushing anyway, irritation flaring.

  "As if you could entertain me that way," she huffed, trying to get back at him, "I know your type. You just take what you want and roll off again. I might as well go to sleep now."

  She felt a cruel little thrill at the way his eyes widened in shocked annoyance.

  "The hell did you just say to me?" he tried to sound threatening but his voice broke, making her grin widen.

  "I said you're terrible in bed," she taunted, inches from his face as they lay side by side in the tiny bunk, "No wonder you had to buy a slave at auction to get any. With the difference in species, you probably wouldn't even know where to put it!"

  Shang’s grip on Erena's hips tightened and her heart raced, strangely excited.

  "You've never even been with anyone outside your own species before," he snarled back, pulling her closer and shoving a leg between her thighs, "How would you know anything about sex? I could do things that would make your fluffy little head fly off!"

  "Prove it."

  The words were out before Erena could think better of it, her hands clenched in the front of his shirt, her heart hammering. She saw the surprise in his eyes darken suddenly with lust.

  Before she had time to have second thoughts, he was kissing her, hard and hungry, his lips warm and rough as he pressed her down into the mattress.

  Her hands were shaking but she was pulling at his shirt, trying to find her way through to skin. Maybe it was because she was bored. Maybe it was just because she was alone, the only human for light years, and he had been kind to her and was pretty nice to look at.

  Maybe it was because, since the first time she'd met his eyes that moment on the stage, she'd felt like she could trust him. Whatever the reason, her body warmed at his touch and thrilled at the thought of having him, in spite of everything.

  His hands found their way through the deep neckline of her suit to squeeze her breasts. A claw like finger flicked at her nipple, making her gasp into his kiss. Despite their fearsome appearance, those claws were dull, as soft as her own touch, not sharp as she'd anticipated.

  Her hands slid lower, palming him through his clothes, still curious if his anatomy would prove to be the same as what she was used to. She almost purred with delight when she found him already hard. He must be as eager for this as she was.

  He pulled her suit down over her arms and as she wriggled to get free of it as he tore impatiently at the front of his own, shredding it to bare his chest down to his navel. He stopped when he saw her discarding her suit, thoroughly distracted by the sight of her naked beneath him.

  "What?" she muttered, looking away, her cheeks pink, "It's not like you haven't seen me naked already."

  "That was different," Shang bent to press kisses to her throat, trailing down to her collar bone and making her breath catch. His hands explored her like he needed to memorize every angle, every dip and swell, so that he would know her blind.

  "How?" she gasped as his kisses reached her breasts and his fingers slid across her mound.

  "It just was," he growled, annoyed, and she squeaked as she felt his teeth on her skin, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to excite her. She forgot her question as the heat of his tongue teased her nipple and his fingers just barely brushed her outer lips.

  She felt him pressing into her, fingers sliding through her cleft, spreading the wetness she was already slick with, and she made a high, needy noise sound in response, moving into his touch.

  "Before, it wasn't for me," he said, confusing her as he nipped at her throat, his fingers delving deeper, "You were just naked."

  She looked up at him with hazy eyes as he leaned over her, his piercing gaze intense, focused on her like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered.

  "Now, you're naked for me."

  He kissed her hard, his fingers curl
ing within her in a way that made her shudder, flickers of memory returning to her of her first night after the auction. Flashes of clinging to him, feverish and needy, and being held so close it almost hurt, a rough voice whispering in her ear, "Mine."

  His index and ring finger were deep within her, his thumb on her clit moving in slow circles that stirred her into a near frenzy of desire.

  "Hurry," she gasped, hips rolling to ride his hand, "I want you."

  She heard him groan into the kiss, but he hadn't even removed his suit yet. She reached out to encourage him, running her fingers down the torn open gash in his suit and beneath it to where he was straining against the fabric.

  He was hot and firm in her hand and larger than she'd expected and when she squeezed him gently she felt him shudder with desire.

  "I shouldn't," he gasped, taking his fingers from her to clutch her hip and pull her close, burying his face in her throat.

  Embarrassment forgotten, she stroked him, pulling him out of the shreds of his suit into the air.

  "Please," she begged, unashamed, and he throbbed in her touch, will breaking.

  He planted a hand beside her head, the other guiding himself into her. She bit her lip as she felt him pressing in, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. He was big and the stretch stung in the satisfying way that Erena craved. She whimpered as he surged forward almost too quickly, spreading her open and filling her to her limit.

  She'd always loved the sensation of being stuffed this way, but it had never quite felt as good as this. Something about him in particular, about the heat and the weight of him inside her, was better than anything she'd felt before.

  She had a feeling from the way he was swearing under his breath and clinging to her that he was experiencing something similar. Maybe, she thought a little deliriously, maybe their species were just extra compatible. Soul mate species. She wondered if such a thing could happen.

  He pushed into her deeper and all her thoughts disappeared as he sank into her to the hilt, sending bolts of pleasure like electricity running up her spine every time he moved.

  She moaned his name without thinking, her thoughts too scrambled to find the words she wanted in order to beg him to move. But he got the idea anyway, shifting into a better position as he slid out of her halfway.