Raff (The Vorge Crew Book 4)

by Laurann Dohner

  The ground under his feet suddenly thumped and a split second later, a distant blast reached his ears. He was the one to end the kiss that time, staring around the cave. Small bits of dust fell from a few of the cracks above them where the smoke from the fire usually drifted up through the mountain to keep it from filling the enclosed area.

  He reacted fast, jerking Lilly higher up his body. They needed to leave. He spun, running toward the shuttle. At the open door, he gently dumped her inside.

  “Stay put. They are bombing!”

  He ran to where he’d put his bag, leaving the other things where they were, and rushed back to the shuttle. He threw the bag into the storage area, reached for a stunned Lilly still sitting where he’d put her, and lifted her. His ass hit the seat and he dropped her onto his lap. He sealed the door, flipping on the engines.

  “What’s going on?” She sounded panicked.

  “The tracker must have gotten caught up somewhere or they realized it is in the water.” To verify his guess, another bomb hit the mountain. More debris and a few small chunks of rock rained down outside the shuttle. One piece struck it. The sound of the blast was too muted to hear inside.

  He pushed her forward and put on his belts. Then he pulled her back against his chest. “They are too close and might be able to shoot us down. We’re going to have to fly out of here fast.” He didn’t want to frighten her but he needed her cooperation. “Reach down and hold on tight to the sides of the seat. If we’re hit and need to eject, I’ll grab hold of you. I won’t let go.”

  “Eject?” Her voice rose to a high pitch that made him wince.

  He flipped on the night vision screen since he didn’t want any exterior lights to broadcast their location and stared straight ahead, gripping the thrusters with one hand, the steering control with the other.

  “Hold on,” he rasped. “Trust me.”

  He gently lifted them off the cave floor and eased forward.

  “We’re going to hit the shield thing! Can’t we just stay here?”

  He didn’t want to state to her that the bombs would collapse the cave and crush them, even inside the shuttle. “We can fly through the imager shield. It’s only solid from the outside. It means I can’t reverse us back in once we’re out.” He meant that as a joke but she didn’t laugh. His crewmates were probably right. He didn’t have a sense of humor.

  He flew them out of the cave and down, going slow to avoid slamming into the rock overhang. Once they neared the canyon floor, he spotted at least two shuttles hovering higher to his far left. He turned his shuttle to the right and hit the thrusters hard. It shoved Lilly’s small body against his. All his attention went to avoiding slamming them into the canyon walls and the floor as he picked up speed.

  “Hold on,” he repeated. He couldn’t make a mistake. The small female sitting on his lap would die if he crashed. Either from the impact or by the ones in the other shuttles seeking them to return her to Prix.

  Solid rock, trees, and ground flew past them far too close. Lilly kept her eyes tightly closed to avoid watching as the crazy hot kisser alien drove his shuttle at super speed through the canyon. The feeling of motion was making her nauseous as he dodged and weaved.

  Not a time to puke, she kept repeating in her head.

  Her fingers hurt from where they gripped the sides of the seat. Raff had told her to hang on and she was. For dear life. It got worse when the shuttle suddenly went vertical, them shooting straight upward. She opened her eyes, instantly regretting it. All she could see was blackness through the glass front of the shuttle.

  An alarm began to blare. She closed her eyes again, released the seat, and dug her hands under Raff’s thighs instead. He adjusted his body a little to help her wedge more of her fingers between the underside of his legs and the seat.

  “Is that an engine stall warning?” She’d always hated to fly and feared something like that happening on Earth.

  “No. They have targeted weapons at us.”

  Why did I ask? Why? She whimpered, expecting to be blown up at any second.

  The shuttle began to level off, before it veered severely to the right. The speed alone they were flying at kept her pressed against Raff but she could tell they were almost completely sideways. Didn’t he have gravity stabilizers? Bax had them. Then again, it had been a huge vessel and never adjusted course as fast as Raff did. They veered left next. The alarms went silent.

  She opened her eyes. It was still dark out there. She glanced up and saw another screen practically on the roof of the shuttle. It looked more like a computer game with digital cartoon imaging but she got the gist. It was telling them where the ground was, which looked far away, and showed some upcoming mountains. They looked massively tall. Raff flew straight toward them.

  He reached up, touching the area next to that screen, and another one lit up. Four dots showed.

  “What are those?”

  “Our pursuers.”

  “We didn’t lose them?”

  “No. We’re faster than they are though.”

  “We’re going to be okay then?”

  He dove them toward the ground. “Yes. I won’t let anything happen to you, Lilly.”

  She desperately wanted to believe him. They almost hit the ground, flying super low, but he dodged large rocks and trees. Maybe he was doing it to avoid the other shuttles’ radar. He flew them into another canyon between the mountains and they veered left. She watched, realizing he was rounding the mountain.

  “Why are you going back the way we came?”

  “Losing them and returning close to where the cave is. It’s the last place they’ll look.”

  She hoped that was true. Her gaze drifted up. There were no more dots on the second screen. Raff flew low, close to the ground. Another mountain range came into view, this one much smaller than the last. That had to be where their cave had been. He slowed the shuttle when they got closer and lowered it to the ground between two large rocks.

  “What are we doing?”

  He shut down the engines, reached up, and his fingers flew over a control pad to the right. “Becoming one with the rock next to us.” He dropped his hand to the console to his right, tapping in more commands. He finally sighed and his tense body relaxed.

  She turned her head, peering up at him in the dim interior lighting. His golden gaze met hers. A small smile teased his lips.

  “We’re safe. The protective shield is up. We’ll read on their sensors as part of these two boulders and we’ll visually look like an extension between them if they run search lights over the area.”

  She let that sink in. “What now?”

  “We wait until The Vorge sends a shuttle for us in the morning.”

  Chapter Five

  Lilly shifted her behind on Raff’s lap. Something dug into part of her butt. She hadn’t noticed before since she’d been too afraid they’d crash or be shot from the sky. It didn’t help much since now something dug into the edge of her thigh. He was a big guy but it made for cramped sitting options with only one seat to share.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She sat up and reached down, feeling his pants where her ass had been, and feeling something hard. “What’s in your pants?” She made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder at him and found him giving her a look she could identify. Amusement. “I guess men are the same regardless of what planet they are born on. I’m talking about this.” She gave it a tug.

  “One of my blades. There are bunch of them strapped to me and I have a few hidden pockets.”

  “What about this?” She reached for what had been irritating her leg, found another hard source under the material.

  “Dagger.”

  She remembered when he’d saved her. “How many weapons do you keep in your pants?”

  He chuckled.

  “Stop twisting my words into something dirty. I’m not talking about your dick. You’re lumpy to sit on. I didn’t notice before when I’ve ended up on your lap because we’ve be
en running for our lives both times.”

  “Many.”

  “Can you remove them?” She leaned to the side a little, staring at the area behind his seat. “Maybe I can sit back there.”

  “No. I’m going to convert the seat. I can’t do that if you’re in the storage area.”

  “Convert?”

  “This is a single flyer space shuttle. Pilots need sleep eventually. No one can stay up for an eight-day flight, which is the max capability of this model. The seat straightens into a bed.”

  She frowned, thinking about that. “What do you do if you need to pee?”

  He pointed toward a side panel in the back. “Hand held device that suctions waste away.”

  Her mouth fell open but she closed it fast.

  “Do you need to use it? We can’t leave the shuttle or open the door. It’s simple. You just press the cupped area between your legs, go, and then press a button. It will wash and dry you.”

  “I’m good.”

  She shifted on his lap again. Something dug into her. She ran her hands down the side of his leg, feeling the weapons. They seemed to be hidden in his pants all down his thighs to his knees, where she stopped feeling.

  Raff arched a single eyebrow at her exploring him. She stopped.

  “Sorry. You’re lumpy to sit on, as I said.”

  “Stand up.”

  There was a tiny space between the seat and the door. She scooted off his lap and had to keep bent somewhat to avoid hitting the roof with her head. Once she was off his lap, he bent forward, removing his boots. He set them against the wall. Then he leaned back, his hands going for the front of his pants.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Removing them.”

  Her mouth hung open again as he unfastened his pants, lifted his hips, and shoved them down. She saw a flash of skin before she closed her eyes, turning her head. “You’re not wearing underwear!”

  “I never do.”

  “You can’t expect me to sit on your naked lap.”

  He chuckled. She listened to clothing rustling and then he gripped her hips with both hands, twisted her, and she landed on his lap again. This time sideways. Her arm hit his bare chest and her eyes flew open. He’d not only removed his pants but his shirt too. She gaped at his muscular chest and all that tan skin revealed. He had nipples, like a human guy did, but no chest hair.

  “Look down.”

  She couldn’t refuse, curious, and realized he’d used his shirt to cover his lap. It effectively put a barrier between them. Lilly swallowed hard. She was still shocked that he had stripped everything off.

  “Better?”

  She peered into his eyes. “You’re naked.”

  “Yes. Ready to get some sleep?” He reached to the side, tapping in a command.

  “You want to sleep? After what just happened?”

  “Do you want to kiss me again?” He grinned. “We could do that.”

  She swallowed hard. Him kissing her had been surprising but it had been pretty amazing at the same time. Probably the best kissing she’d ever experienced. If those bombs hadn’t begun to drop, there was no telling what would have happened between the two of them. She might not have wanted him to stop.

  “Sleeping is good,” she finally said, deciding it was a safer alternative than making out with a hot alien.

  “That’s what I thought. We need some rest.”

  She gasped as the seat lifted them both into part of the storage compartment. The back of the seat flattened and a section rose where his legs were to support them. The chair did turn into a bed. She would have slid off him to hit the wall but supports rose on each side, creating a kind of barrier. She ended up laying sideways against him.

  “Get comfortable.” He adjusted his body under hers. “You might want to face me more. I’m your bed.” He released her with one arm and touched something to the side. The lights lowered until she could barely see him.

  Her cheek was pressed against his hot, firm skin. She could hear the steady drum of his heartbeat. The guy had a million muscles too. She felt them when he’d shifted his position under her a little.

  “You really expect us to sleep like this?”

  “It’s going to be at least five hours before the sun rises. Then a few more before The Vorge reaches orbit and sends down a shuttle. We could get to know each other better.”

  She was pretty sure that was a sexual innuendo if she ever heard one. It was the way his voice turned huskier than normal. She flattened her hand on his chest near her face to brace against and lifted a bit, staring at him.

  Those golden eyes were watching her, a predatory look in them. Her gaze went to his mouth, remembering how he’d kissed her. Twice. She also had time to ask the question she’d wanted to before everything had turned crazy and they were rushing toward the shuttle to leave the cave.

  “You never kissed anyone before?”

  “Never.”

  Her gaze traveled down to his chest and his broad shoulders, thickly muscled arms, before studying his handsome face. He was really good looking for a Viking/lion man. “Have you ever had sex?”

  “Many times.”

  She was confused.

  “Kissing is intimate.”

  Lilly frowned. “And sex isn’t?”

  He held her gaze. “I’ve only fucked brothel workers and used protection to prevent them from giving me diseases. I never allowed them to touch me or took off my clothing to go skin to skin with them.” He paused. “I bent them over in front of me, unzipped, and covered my shaft with a protection barrier.”

  He was clear about details at least. “Never anything else?”

  He hesitated. “I tried feeding from a few females when I was younger. They weren’t brothel workers though. My mother warned me I’d need their hormones. It didn’t work and it turned out I wasn’t as Tryleskian as we feared.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He took a deep breath and blew it out. “My father is Tryleskian and I physically took after him. My mother was Pina, Rornior, Scatia, and Minleor.”

  She frowned, confused. “I’ve near heard of those alien races.”

  “They came from a solar system of a dying sun. They fled when their planets were becoming unstable, pooling their resources to save as many lives as possible. It meant they bred together on shared ships and finally ended up here. No civilized planet wanted to take them in a hundred and forty years ago. That’s when they settled here. Only a few thousand in all made it this far. Not all the ships survived the journey.”

  “That’s so sad. Why wouldn’t anyone take them in?”

  “They spent five generations on those ships traveling from their solar system to find a home here. The first generation had a hard time mingling and getting along with other races they shared ships with. Their leaders agreed to made it law to mate with someone of another race to create harmony and peace. There was no need to fight if they merged their DNA. By the fifth generation, they had succeeded. There were no full blooded Pina, Rornior, Scatia, or Minleor left. A lot of planets believe it’s a crime to purposely do something like that. You’ve been in the city and seen a lot of their descendants. They don’t look similar, taking traits from those four races and others that have settled here. A lot of cultures aren’t into mixing races. They are viewed as atrocities when their bloodlines are that mixed.”

  “That’s so wrong.”

  “It is. That’s why my father refused to claim my mother. He probably feared she’d never be accepted on his planet and I know he was embarrassed that I resulted in their union.”

  She frowned, confused.

  “He crashed on G4 and was stuck here for months. Tryleskian males need to feed off female hormones when their heat hits every three years. He was on his way home knowing his heat was coming to reach females of his own race. He fed from my mother instead and when his brother sent a rescue ship, my father abandoned my pregnant mother. She raised me on her own. We believed I completely took after my fa
ther and that I’d go into heat when I hit adulthood. My mother instructed me to feed from females, hoping it would start my heat cycle. It failed.”

  Her attention focused on his mouth. His fangs reminded her of a Vampire. “You tried to drink their blood?”

  “No.” He snorted. “To feed off a female is intimate.” He licked his lips. “It is to use my lips and tongue to greatly arouse and make them feel immense pleasure. That’s how I feed. I need the hormones they produce.”

  Her mouth parted as she figured out what he was saying. “Oh.” He went down on women. She felt her body respond and it slightly embarrassed her but Raff was a super sexy alien. He was also naked, she was laying on him, and touching his warm, bared chest. Her mind totally went there imagining what it would be like if he wanted to feed off her.

  His nostrils flared and a low growl came from him. It made his chest vibrate under her. “Humans are compatible with Tryleskians.” His golden eyes slightly narrowed and his voice lowered. “Let me feed from you.”

  Her cheeks heated, she figured she was blushing badly, and her heart pounded.

  “You’d enjoy it,” he huskily whispered.

  She had human men hit on her often. To get women into bed seemed a normal pastime for all men. Anyone with breasts became a target on Earth. She’d even had that happen on Bax. Raff wasn’t just some guy though. Not even close. She felt flustered, uncertain how to react to his blatant request, and tongue tied.

  He suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted his body up, turning them both in the small space. She gasped and grabbed hold of his shoulders when he did. She ended up under him and with him on top of her.

  “Raff!”

  He slid is arm out from under her, reached over to touch something on the wall, and the sides of the bed lowered. He moved down, straddled it, and gripped her legs. He was strong as he bent them upward, putting her feet on his warm chest. He held her gaze as he reached for the waist of her pants, unfastening them.

  “We have hours to wait. I’ll stop if you don’t enjoy it.”