The Vampire King’s Virgin (The Vampire King Series #4)

by T. S. Ryder

  From what he just said about being hired to 'source information', he was everything that people said T'Shav were. A mercenary that cared about no one else. It didn't matter how sexy he was or how much her hormones were telling her to just ignore her brain and jump into bed with him. He was a killer, and she couldn't go with him. She had to escape, find Bethy and get back to Zon's sanctuary.

  With a scream she threw herself forward, swinging at his face. As light as a dancer, he stepped back, then grabbed both her swinging wrists. He spun her around and trapped her in his arms, with hers crossed over her chest. Again, it was fluid and graceful, like a dance move. She struggled against him, but he pulled her closer, pinning her against his body.

  Apparently, T'shav didn't wear underwear. Erica's cheeks heated as she felt him through their clothing.

  "Let go," she blurted out. "You said you wouldn't!"

  "I'm not going to stand by idly while you attack me. Stop fighting and I'll release you."

  Erica growled in her throat but forced herself to stop struggling. For what seemed too long Ronan continued to hold her, but then he released her and nodded.

  "See? Do as I say and I'll reward you."

  "A reward would be a chocolate cheesecake, not being a decent person." Erica kept her arms wrapped around herself. "But I guess as a mercenary you don't know how to be a decent person."

  Ronan shrugged. "People hire me to find and retrieve things. If that makes me a mercenary, then I am."

  Erica's heart began to pound. Maybe there was a way to turn this to her advantage–or at least, a way to get Bethy back. If she did manage to find Bethy out there, how would she free her? If she had a T'shav mercenary on her side, then she might just have a chance. "What about people?"

  "People?"

  "My cousin was taken with me. But she was sold before you came."

  Ronan glanced at the dark bruises on her arms. He stepped around her, his skin brushing hers, and retrieved the bottle he had had when she woke up. "This is a salve that will help with those bruises. I assume you got them trying to fight your way to your cousin."

  She nodded.

  "And now you want to hire my services to help you find her."

  "Yes."

  Ronan pressed the bottle into her hand. "How will you pay me? My services don't come cheap."

  "You want me to be your wife." Erica met his gaze steadily. "If you help me find and rescue Bethy, then I will be."

  Ronan stared at her for a long time. All the amusement was gone from his eyes. His head cocked. "You care a great deal about your cousin, don't you?"

  "Yes. I do."

  "Hmm… well, you would be mine eventually either way. Perhaps we can think of retrieving your cousin as a wedding gift." His fingers traced her cheekbone. "I swear, I will find her for you and free her. Now—"

  Erica knew what he was going to say. She didn't hesitate as she gave into her desires. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Sparks exploded in her brain as she kissed him. The surge of pleasure and heat that swept through her body was far more powerful than she had anticipated. She moaned, stepping closer, her hands digging into his hair. Ronan teased her mouth open, his hands going to her shoulders—

  And he pushed her back. Gently but firmly. The twinkle was back in his eyes and a dimple flashed.

  "Don't think you're getting off that easy. Yes, you're my wife, but I meant what I said. I'm not touching you until you're on your knees begging for me to do so."

  Erica gaped at him, startled and confused.

  He tapped her nose. "Now take care of those bruises while I set course. We'll find your cousin after my current mission is completed."

  Ronan left the bedroom without another word. Erica stared after him as he headed for the cockpit. Beg for his touch? If she couldn’t get her hormones under control, she just might.

  Chapter Four: Ronan

  He couldn’t deny that the human had a powerful effect on him.

  Ronan shook his head as Erica sprawled on the bed, her feet up on the headrest, the red dress falling mid-thigh. The bruises were fading rapidly, and Erica seemed to be getting more relaxed in his presence. There were even times when he could have sworn that she was trying to seduce him.

  His assumptions that she was a timid, submissive woman had been proven wrong. If at first he had been surprised at this, now he relished their verbal sparring and enjoyed the thrill of wondering who was going to give into physical desire first. She had spirit and character. That may have been the opposite of what he wanted, but he found himself enjoying it.

  He enjoyed it a lot.

  Too much. He had looked to the bridal service for a woman he didn't have to care about. In his line of work, attachments were dangerous. If he allowed her to have any power over him, she could easily use his affection for her to her own end. He had already done more than he should have by promising to save her cousin. Why he had allowed her brown eyes and sweet face to sway him, he didn't know.

  No, he needed to keep his distance by any means necessary. Even if that meant making her hate him. "Are you going to shower? You stink."

  Erica's cheeks stained pink. She sat, smoothing her skirt over her knees. "Well, I was expecting that."

  "What?"

  "You get like this every day, right before you give yourself an injection. What are you on? It's gotta be a pretty tough drug to give you such obvious withdrawals."

  "None of your concern."

  "We live together and apparently I'm your wife. It is my concern."

  Ronan growled. So she was already observing him, finding his weak points. Well, she wasn't going to get the satisfaction of learning about his disease.

  He needed to stay in control.

  "Ronan, whatever it is, I can help you break the habit. I've seen a lot of people on drugs during my medical training, I don't want to see that happen to you."

  His shoulders relaxed slightly. Could he really trust her? He wanted to… maybe after this mission was done. They were getting closer to the Ruizers research vessel that he needed to steal information from, which put him on edge already. Add to it that it was almost time to take his perijan, and he wasn't in the best state to make decisions.

  He would wait until he was sounder of mind to decide.

  Ronan marched over to the comm console and gestured to the chair before it. "Come here and make a distress call. We are on our honeymoon, and we were attacked by pirates. Our oxygen filters have been damaged, and we need assistance repairing them."

  Erica sighed, but she came over to the console. She didn't sit, instead leaning over the controls with an arch in her back. Her posture made the front of her dress drop low, revealing her ample pink cleavage.

  With a growl, Ronan looked away. If he recorded the distress call, the Ruizers Corporation ship probably wouldn’t come. But Erica was human. They'd come for her. Whether because there was some religious fanatic onboard who worshiped humans as the first ancestors, or because they thought they could make a quick profit by abducting and selling her, they would come.

  Erica recorded the distress call and set the controls to broadcast it in a loop. She turned to Ronan and folded her arms. If he didn't know better, he'd say she looked annoyed. "That good?"

  He nodded.

  "I don't know why I'm doing this. There must be hundreds of laws we're breaking by doing this."

  "You're doing it because you want me to take back what I said and take you to bed without you having to beg."

  The human turned a red that was almost as deep as his skin and spluttered. "You wish!"

  "Then you're doing it because the sooner I get the information that the Planchet Corporation wants, the sooner we can save Bethy."

  Erica scowled but didn't reply.

  Ronan checked the thumb-sized hacking device he always used on these sorts of missions. It was made from a self-dissolving material. All he needed to do was put it on a ship's computer and it would upload all the information that was on it to his own ship. If he didn't e
nter the acceptance code within a few minutes of starting the program, though, it would destroy everything on both computers. It was a backup in case he got killed. If they took him down, he wanted to take them down with him.

  Just as he predicted, it wasn't long before they got a communication from the Ruizers, telling them that they were coming to pick them up. Ronan smiled, chewing on a protein stick. Now that he had a way to get into the ship, his tense shoulders relaxed. Chances were, they would be able to get out of this without fighting. That was always a good thing, although it could be quite boring.

  "So what exactly are you taking from them?" Erica asked.

  "Information. That's all you need to know."

  The human wrapped her arms around herself and didn't press the issue. Within a few minutes, the Ruizers ship had pulled up next to them. A portube, a large tubing that allowed for travel between ships in deep space, extended from the larger Ruizers ship and sealed itself around the cargo bay doors of Ronan’s ship. As soon as Ronan and Erica were across, he planted his little hacking device on the nearest computer.

  The Trioeil who greeted them eyed Erica. She shrank back against Ronan, which surprised him. He didn't expect she would trust him to protect her from these beings. Although he understood why she wouldn’t want a Trioeil looking at her. They were disgusting little creatures that had worse reputations than T'shav. Ronan's people were considered mercenaries that would nonetheless defend their families. Trioeil were known to sell their closest relatives without hesitation.

  "Thank you for rescuing us," Erica said. "Although my distress call may have been premature. I believe my… husband fixed the oxygen recyclers just before you picked us up. It's good to have some fresh air, though."

  "It is my pleasure," the Trioeil said. "Come. I'm afraid this is a research vessel and doesn't have much in the way of refreshments, but I'm sure we can find something."

  "We'd love to," Erica said before Ronan could say they were fine and wanted to be on their way. He scowled as they followed the Trioeil to a nearby kitchenette. Now that they were here, it was imperative to keep up the ruse. Getting blown out of the sky as soon as they were in his vessel again was not an option.

  "Human and T'shav newlyweds, eh?" the Trioeil said, squinting her three watery eyes. "I didn't think T'shav did the whole marriage thing."

  "I did," Ronan said. "It's what Erica wanted."

  "Seems like that's what all you humans like. How you can cuddle up with something as hard as a rock and twice as dumb I don't know."

  Ronan growled softly. He wished he had the traditional broadsword his people used. It was a great weapon for intimidation, and would probably silence these inane remarks. But he had given up all T'shav traditions long ago, when his father died, and these days he relied solely on blasters. A poor substitute, but there was no going back after the things he had done.

  The Trioeil was openly appraising Erica now. "You have a pretty human here, T'shav. Are you willing to sell her?"

  Ronan looked down at the human pressed against him. Her gaze met his, her eyes wide, her hands trembling. There were plenty of reasons why he should. He cared too much about her already. He spent most of this mission’s commission on buying her and was going to use up quite a few resources rescuing her cousin.

  But the thought of Erica in the Trioeil's hands made him want to kill somebody. He shook his head. "I'd sooner kill you than sell her."

  Erica's eyes widened. Her lips parted slightly, and Ronan was tempted to kiss her, Trioeil or no Trioeil.

  The three-eyed alien sighed, bringing his attention back to her. "I was afraid that you'd actually love her. Oh, well. As my mother always says, the only good T'shav is—"

  Ronan drew his blaster before the Trioeil could finish. The bolt hit her right in her center eye. She was dead before her corpse even hit the ground. Erica screamed, but Ronan whirled, firing on the three aliens that had just come through the door with their weapons drawn. He ignored his human's cries of shock as he gunned them down.

  With one arm he grabbed Erica and slung her over his shoulder. There was no way that these people were taking Erica away from him. He raced back to the portube, keeping an ear out for enemies.

  "In," Ronan ordered, gesturing towards the portube.

  He followed Erica in, going backward to ward off any attackers. They were just reaching the other side when a couple of Dibats appeared at the Ruizers' end. They fired rapidly. Ronan fired back, roaring with bloodlust.

  Erica screamed.

  Ronan turned, his heart in his throat. A bolt shot by Erica's ear and he leaped forward, enfolding her in his arms. He spun her around so that he was between the blaster fire and her. Sudden pain lanced through his back. It radiated up his arms and down his legs. He couldn’t breathe. The smell of burning flesh–his burning flesh–filled the room. His gaze focused on Erica's eyes, wide and frightened. Somehow he found the strength to turn once more and put two bolts in the approaching Dibats.

  And then darkness overwhelmed him and he collapsed to the floor.

  Chapter Five: Erica

  "No!" Erica clutched Ronan's massive body as he sagged against her.

  His eyes rolled wildly in his skull. Their bodies were pressed so closely together that she could feel his heart beating, wildly, desperately, as though it knew about his injury and was trying to keep him alive by redoubling its efforts. The two Dibat guards were running forward now, grins on their faces.

  Erica grabbed Ronan's blaster as he fell, letting off a few rounds as she jumped to the airlock controls. She sealed the ship up before she ran for the flight controls. Her heart thumped wildly, and every fiber of her being wanted to run back to Ronan. If he didn't get medical attention, and fast, then he wasn't going to make it.

  But if the Ruizers got into the ship, neither of them were going to make it.

  Erica winced as the screech of the portube ripping from the hull echoed in the small space. The comm lit up with a hails, but Erica ignored them. She sped away from the Ruizers Corporation ship. The scanners showed the bigger ship coming around, pursuing their vessel. She threw all power to the engines.

  The Ruizers ship grew larger for a brief second before just blinking out. Erica's heart stopped. They had stealth technology? Was that what Ronan was after? But stealth wasn't that uncommon, just highly regulated… so where had the Ruizers gone?

  But moments later, the lights flickered and the artificial gravity lurched briefly, and Erica knew what had really happened. The Ruizers ship had blown up. She killed the engines, rerouting the energy back to the internal systems. What had happened? Was there another ship–or had that been Ronan's mission? To blow them up?

  At that moment, she didn't care. The Ruizers had tried to steal her, and Ronan had protected her. For a moment she sat trembling, gulping in deep breaths. What if he had died saving her?

  Only one way to know.

  The paramedic ran back to her T'shav's side, relieved to see he was breathing, although she didn't like the faint orange color his skin was taking on. She rolled him into the recovery position and retrieved all the medical equipment Ronan had onboard. Her pounding heart calmed, and her breathing evened out.

  This was familiar to her. This was what she knew. Right now Ronan wasn't the infuriating T'shav that she hated being so drawn to. He was a patient, and he needed a calm head taking care of him. He needed someone like her, who could put emotions aside and do what she had to do to save his life.

  The wound was a small blast, dangerously close to his heart. The bolt seemed to have hit an odd bony plate in his back, though. It probably had saved his life. Erica had never worked on a T'shav before, but all the alien species were descended from humans, and so their biology was similar enough that she knew what to do in this case. Her hands were steady as she cut away the crispy, burnt flesh, then applied Fleshseal to encourage regeneration.

  After that, there was nothing to do but wait. She tried to lift him and carry him to the bed, but he was too hea
vy. Instead, she covered him up where he lay. After that, she went through the shelves, hoping to find something that might speed up his recovery. At the very top, where she never would be able to reach without him noticing while they were on the ship, was the box of drugs he always used. Erica climbed up and retrieved it. Maybe there was some sort of enhancer inside.

  Instead, she found multiple bottles of the enzyme perijan, along with dozens of needles in sterile packages, and a hand-written set of instructions addressed to her.

  Erica, if you are reading this, it means I am unable to give myself these injections, and I am reliant on you. I have Cilaze, a disease that requires me to have regular injections of perijan to regulate my hormonal secretions. Follow these instructions or I will die.

  The human stared at the page in shock. He could die? Why hadn't he told her that he had some crazy disease when she thought he was taking drugs? The page crumpled in her hands. Was he too proud to admit he had Cilaze? It was a disease that affected a significant portion of the population, there was nothing shameful about it!

  Were all T'shav this proud, or was it just this idiot? Growling, Erica scanned him. His perijan levels were dangerously low. She quickly prepped and injected the enzyme. Tears blurred her vision when she was done. There was nothing left to do but set course for the nearest planet and then sit next to Ronan, waiting for him to wake up. She stroked his face gently.

  Please wake up. Please.

  ***

  It was several days before Ronan regained consciousness, but he was in no shape to talk. Erica helped him to the bed, removed the old Fleshseal and applied a new layer. Then she gave him some painkillers that would also help him sleep. Rest was the most important thing he could have now. They didn't have a regenerator, and without one, he seemed to heal very slowly.

  She landed them on the closest planet without incident, and for another week Erica tended to the T'shav while also gathering supplies. Thankfully, he was out of the danger zone now. As soon as he was better they were going after Bethy, after all, and she wanted to make sure nothing would delay them.