by Hope Hart
She curls her lip at me, and it takes every drop of my self-control not to stride across the room and plunder her mouth.
It’s not just her beauty that makes me almost desperate to tumble this female. It’s the fire I can see burning within her. The fire she keeps carefully banked, hidden away where she thinks no one can see it.
But I can.
I have no doubt that beneath her cool exterior is a female who burns with passion.
She pretends indifference. “You’re hot. So what?”
I smile at her, and her lip twitches. Aha! She does find me charming.
“No other warrior has claimed you, lovely.”
Something I can’t place flashes across her face. “What exactly are you implying?”
“Nothing. I’m telling you that you were meant to be mine. For as long as you’re on this planet and while you’re organizing your trip home,” I clarify, so she’ll understand I have no intention of claiming her long-term.
“Uh-huh,” she says again, and my abs tighten. Something about the way this female pretends to be unimpressed with me makes me want to bend her over and make her scream my name. “Look, I appreciate the offer,” she says, as if she’s refusing another course at dinner, “but I’m not really on the lookout for a ‘tumble.’”
“And that’s entirely why you need one,” I tell her. “You have a lot to do if you’re going to get off this planet. You’ll think more clearly after a few nights in my bed.”
She blinks. “Did you just offer to fuck the focus into me?”
I shrug. “If you’re going to leave this planet, don’t you want to experience all it has to offer?”
“Now you’re making it sound like your cock is the eighth wonder of Agron.” She rolls her eyes.
“I don’t know what the eight wonders are,” I say. “But my cock would definitely be wonder number one.”
“You’re insane.”
I shrug. “You and I both know this is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when. How much time do you want to waste before I make you come harder than you’ve ever come before in your life?”
She studies me. While she’s feigning boredom, I’ve spent my life negotiating with council members and leaders from across Agron. I know reluctant interest when I see it.
She opens her mouth, and I frown at a knock on the door. I made it clear I wasn’t to be disturbed.
“You should put some clothes on.”
“Excuse me?”
This again. “Perhaps humans really are hard of hearing.” I wave my hand, gesturing to her robe. “No one will see you in your nightclothes except me.”
She grinds her teeth, then strides to the door and flings it open before I can stop her. I’m going to bend this female over my knees and give her a good spanking. She obviously needs it.
I stalk toward her, pulling her behind me, but it’s just Bevix—one of my advisers and closest friends. I left instructions that I was only to be disturbed in an emergency, and I can tell by the look in his eyes that another attack has happened.
I grind my teeth. “Vivian, this is Bevix.”
To Bevix’s credit, his eyes may light with interest when he looks at Vivian, but they immediately clear when he glances back at my face. He has always been quick.
Bevix nods hello at Vivian, who moves away, wrapping her gauzy robe more tightly around her.
“Korzyn asks you to come to him immediately,” he says, eyes flicking between me and Vivian. He’s being careful not to say anything she could pass to others, obviously on Korzyn’s orders, and I nod, glancing over my shoulder at Vivian.
“We will talk about this later, lovely.”
Vivian
I throw myself on Sarissa’s bed, and she raises her eyebrow at me as she leans back against her stack of pillows.
“What’s going on?”
“Arix said he wants me.”
Sarissa smirks. “And that’s somehow news to you?”
I run my hand over the velvet throw at the end of her bed, and she sighs.
“Do you want him?”
I keep my eyes on the lush dark-red blanket. “Maybe.”
She nudges me with her foot. “Do I need to sit on you and tickle you until you tell me what I need to know?”
I laugh, finally meeting her eyes. Sarissa has always been stronger than me, and she used to torture me by tickling me when we were kids. If she was really mad, she’d hold me down and spit in my hair.
I may have been younger and smaller, but I always retaliated in the sneakiest way possible. Once I dyed her hair black while she was asleep. Of course, I could only reach certain spots without waking her, and her pillowcase was ruined, but the look on her face when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror was worth the icy lecture from my mother and the inevitable grounding from my father.
She eyes me. “What are you thinking about?”
“That time I dyed your hair. You looked like a skunk.”
She glowers at me, but we both burst out laughing. “My mom nearly killed you.”
“You deserved it. It’s your own fault for sleeping like the dead.”
She laughs, and I chew on my lip.
“Arix is probably just playing with me.”
Sarissa opens her mouth, but I’m already climbing off the bed. She snaps her mouth closed and shrugs. “I’ve arranged for the guards to take us back to the marketplace today,” she says.
“I thought that woman said her contact wasn’t arriving for a few weeks?”
“True, but I want to get to know the lay of the land. Plus, if we sniff around for long enough, we might get lucky and find someone who can help us find a replacement for that chip.”
According to Alexis, our ship is run almost entirely by artificial intelligence. And while the electronic systems all work together, it’s unlikely we’ll be going anywhere without the control chip, which is about the size of a SIM card.
There’s a chance that Alexis can figure out a way for us to get out of here without the chip, and while a few of the other women are willing to take the chance, most of us are attached to our lives and don’t like the idea of being blown apart in space.
Unfortunately, whichever Dokhall was piloting that ship was a step ahead of us, and he took the chip with him. If we knew who had it, we could try to negotiate with him, but with our luck, it’s likely he was one of the many creatures Dragix turned to ash in the last battle.
Sarissa stretches. “If we can find a replacement, most of our problems will be solved. Plus, we have Kate.”
My stomach twists in both fear and anticipation. I want to get off Agron, but obviously, none of us has ever flown a spaceship before. Kate is one of the women who landed when the Dokhalls attempted to take us back. On Earth, she was a test pilot for a private company developing space planes for tourism before the Arcav invaded. Once the Arcav shut down the skies, that project was a bust. But she’s still the most obvious person for the job.
Unfortunately, she’s not all that interested in taking the job. Last time we chatted, she glanced around the clearing at all the other women who want to leave Agron, and her face hardened. “Would you want to be responsible for all these lives?” she asked. “If Alexis can prove to me that the AI system can basically fly the ship itself, I’ll do it. But I’m not about to take everyone else down with me.”
Sarissa nudges me, and I blink.
“Sorry, I was thinking about Kate.”
She nods. “She’s a lone wolf, that woman. Without the chip, she’s likely to put her foot down. Even with the chip, it’s going to take all our considerable charm to convince her to take the job.”
I laugh at that. Most of the time, Sarissa has about as much charm as a quarterback who just lost the Superbowl. But there’s no question that she can still turn it on when she needs to.
“I’m going to go get ready,” I say.
When I open my door, a random woman is waiting for me, and I jolt.
“Uh, hi.”
/> She runs critical eyes over me. “Not yet dressed at this hour of the day? And your hair not even combed?”
Shame makes my shoulders hunch, and the familiar feel of it pisses me off.
“And just who are you?”
“Your maid.”
“I don’t need a maid.”
She runs dark eyes over me, the look of disdain reminding me of my mother.
“Clearly,” she says, “you do.”
“I can dress myself. Leave.”
“The king ordered me to provide you with the help you so obviously need. I take my orders from him.”
I grind my teeth. “Fine.” I’ll deal with her today and take this up with Arix next time I see him. I don’t need to be humiliated first thing in the morning. “What’s your name?”
“Cauri. Hurry up, your bath is waiting.”
I scowl at her but roll my eyes, padding into the bathroom. As I slip into the warm water, I imagine Sarissa dealing with a lady’s maid, and the thought makes me grin.
“Out, out, we don’t have all day,” Cauri says.
“What are you talking about?”
“You will go to the marketplace with the other human woman.” Her brow creases in obvious disapproval, and I wonder if she was eavesdropping.
I scowl. Arix and I will have words, oh yes we will.
I get out of the bath at her urging, wrapping a large cloth around myself. She points toward my bedroom, where I step into a dress of her choosing, muttering under my breath.
The dress is a light-pink color, with silver thread woven through it. It’s pretty enough, but my cleavage is poking up higher than even I’m used to.
I like playing dress-up—it’s my job on Earth after all—but the gown Cauri is currently tightening until I can barely take a full breath…
“This seems a little over the top for a trip to the market.”
“You’re staying with the king. You represent him now.”
I roll my eyes again but suck in a breath as she tightens the strings even more.
“Tiny waist,” she says approvingly. If I roll my eyes any more, they’re likely to get stuck up there.
“Sit down so I can do your hair.”
I comply. “Aren’t maids supposed to take orders? Ow!”
She pulls my hair, and I glare at her reflection in the mirror. Her expression is mild, but I huff. She definitely did that on purpose.
The familiar feeling of sitting in front of a mirror while someone does my hair…it makes my stomach clench.
When I was a kid, I briefly thought I was going to be a doctor. My nanny once read me a book about different careers, and I told my mother I was going to help sick people. But my mother killed those illusions. And over the years, she set fire to them and buried them.
“Darling, you’re too pretty to be locked away in a lab,” she cooed. “You need to do something that will show off that gorgeous face.”
I was four.
My mother got to work, and within a few weeks, I had an agent. Within a few months, I was doing commercials. Within a few years, I was modeling in a kids’ runway show in Paris.
My mother was ecstatic.
My stomach rumbles, and I force myself to push the memories away.
“I’m hungry. Where can I get breakfast around here?”
Cauri waves her hand toward a tray I hadn’t noticed on a small table near my bed. My stomach rumbles again, and I tense, ready to ditch the maid and leap on the food like a hungry wildebeest.
She tugs at my hair again. “Don’t even think about it.”
“Ow!”
I glare at her. I spent hours of my life sitting in front of mirrors being painted and prodded. I’m not putting up with it on this planet.
“Enough.”
She must realize she’s dancing on my last nerve, because she slides one final pin into my hair and pronounces me ready to go.
I may dislike this woman, but habit—and manners—kick in.
“Thank you.”
Surprise flashes across her face, and she nods, pointing toward my breakfast.
“Eat,” she says and then stalks out of my room.
I would’ve killed for a maid in Rakiz’s camp. Now I have one, and she’s a dictator. Just my luck.
Chapter Three
Arix
Another of my most trusted guards is dead with no warning. My hands fist as I stare down at his body. Heril was a good male. One who guarded me loyally after the deaths of my parents.
“How?” I murmur.
Bevix leans down and pulls aside Heril’s black uniform, revealing the wound.
“Stabbed in the heart,” Korzyn mutters behind me. “Quick, lethal, and done by someone he trusted enough to let them get that close.”
And that makes it so much worse. Over the past revolution, many of my most trusted guards have been killed, one by one, leaving me with an increasingly sparse group of those I can trust. Someone wants my throne. And they are getting impatient.
“I want to visit his family.”
Bevix nods. “I will make arrangements.”
How will I face Heril’s mate, Caris? How will I face his parents, knowing it is my fault he is lying here, killed by someone he trusted? By someone I trusted.
Korzyn slaps his hand on my shoulder. “We will find who did this,” he murmurs. “And we will make them pay.”
I nod, feeling as if I am in a daze as I make my way to my throne room. I have a meeting with my advisers, who are debating the merits of creating potential trade agreements with some of the barbarian Braxian tribes from across the water. My spies are currently closely watching the tribes’ qatais, judging how likely they would be to honor any potential alliances.
“Arix,” my uncle booms as I walk into the empty room. Behind me, I can practically hear Korzyn grinding his teeth. My commander is convinced that Tridi is responsible for these attacks. As I have no heirs, my uncle would be the next in line for my throne.
However, even with all Korzyn’s spies and his constant, continual monitoring of Tridi, he has never been able to provide any evidence that the other male is responsible for my parents’ murders.
Each time I see my uncle, I fight the urge to order him to leave my court. Not just because the chance he is betraying me is high but because his face is so close to my father’s that my gut sometimes twists when I look at him. My father would have those lines beside his eyes now. Would likely have the beginnings of gray in his hair.
“Tridi.” I take my throne, watching as his eyes flare at the sight.
“What’s this I hear about human females staying as your guests?”
I raise one eyebrow. I have no obligation to explain myself to Tridi, but since he’s a council member, it’s often best to placate him.
“They wish to use contacts within the marketplace to fix their ship.”
Bevix is leaning against one of the walls, and his eyes widen. The male has long been fascinated with the idea of traveling between planets, and I have no doubt he will want to speak with the human females.
I bite down the urge to warn him that while he may speak to Sarissa, Vivian is off-limits. No. Even if she does take me up on my offer, I don’t become possessive of females. My focus is entirely on ruling my kingdom and avenging my parents’ deaths.
I glance at Korzyn, and he nods. Just as my enemies have spies in this court, I do. Just as they are getting closer to taking my throne, I am getting closer to discovering exactly who they are.
And when I find out who is responsible for so much death…
They will pay.
Vivian
I crunch down on a nut as Sarissa and I wander through the marketplace. Since we’re not strolling around with Arix this time, the people here barely pay us any attention. We’ve convinced the guards to follow us at a distance, and we’re squeezing through the crowded space, occasionally elbowing each other as we notice something that grabs our attention.
And almost everything grabs our att
ention.
The kradis are three-sided, and vendors—both from Agron and across the galaxy—are displaying their wares and negotiating with buyers. The air vibrates with the sounds of laughing, haggling, and so many languages that the translator in my ear is likely working harder than it ever has.
A man with hooves clomps toward a vendor selling jewelry, and I fight not to stare as he scans the display. Beside me, Sarissa is tense, one hand buried in her dress, likely clutching the handle of her knife. Her other hand is wrapped around the broken piece of the thruster. While we have a lead on someone who can replace it for us, there’s no harm in seeing if any of the other vendors here can get the job done more quickly.
“You know what I was thinking?” I ask, and she glances at me before quickly returning her attention to the crowd surrounding us.
“What?”
“This is the most time we’ve spent together in years.”
She smiles. “Yeah. I’m always out of the country for work. And when I’m home, you’re posing on a beach somewhere.”
I flinch at that, and of course she notices. “I’m not being bitchy, V. You’re one of the hardest-working people I know.”
I smile, but it feels fake on my face. While I don’t know exactly what Sarissa does, she’s constantly traveling. Either way, she’s helping to keep our country safe, while I’m helping brands sell their bikinis.
“Step right up, hit the target, and win a prize.”
I blink at that, and we both turn to a small stall. “What is this, a carnival?” I ask.
This kradi is larger than most, and at the end, opposite us, a target has been set up. It’s small and seems to be hanging rather precariously in place.
Along the front of the stall, a crowd is beginning to gather, a man with light-purple skin picking up a small wrapped bag.
He growls as he hefts it in his hand. “This has been weighted.”
The vendor, a Braxian woman, smiles at him. “The challenge is what makes the win worth it.”
Sarissa nudges me. “Go on, use your superpower to win us a prize.”
