Viper's Hope (Anguis Defenders Book 1)

by Stephanie West

  The domed garden was oddly barren of the people that usually roamed it. As Hope looked around, she gasped when she caught view of the far side. The pond at the edge of the lush desert landscape was filled with a dozen floating lights that bobbed in the water. Beside the pond was a blanket set up for a picnic. That was lovely in and of itself but it was the view of space in the background that stunned Hope into silence. There was a multicolored spiraling galaxy, the likes of which she'd seen only in pictures. The center of the swirl shone bright with the radial arms of space dust twining out from the orb. With the lights twinkling in the pond it looked as if the stars that filled space had descended into their little sanctuary. It was positively breathtaking.

  Hope turned to Viper with a surprised smile.

  "You like it?" Viper grinned seeing the awed expression on her face.

  "I don't even have words." Hope looked from Viper's rugged face to the wonder before her.

  Viper placed Hope on the blanket at unpacked the box of food.

  "I'm glad it pleases you."

  "I never fathomed such a thing." Hope's heart clenched.

  Viper had done this for her. No one had ever thought to do such a thing to impress her. It was unexpected.

  Hope looked at Viper as he brought a berry to her mouth. She opened without thinking and chewed it as she studied him. Her reservations were rapidly diminishing the more time they spent together.

  Hope let Viper feed her as they sat silently appreciating the sight. She picked up one of the fruits she knew he liked and reached out. Viper's lips wrapped around it, grazing her fingers as they closed. Hope didn't shy away as she stared into his green eyes. They practically glowed in the dim light of the arboretum.

  "Hope I have some news." He said seriously.

  "Okay." Hope braced herself.

  "One of the other ships reported that they located your sister and her family."

  "You found them!"

  "Yes they are fine. It will take a few weeks since the ship they are on isn't yet at capacity but they are safe and healthy."

  Hope instantly broke into tears and threw her arms around Viper.

  "Thank you!" She sobbed as she thought about her little niece and nephew.

  Hope let all the tension she'd been bottling up out as she squeezed Viper and cried. Viper rubbed her back soothingly.

  "All is well they well they are safe." He murmured into her ear as he tenderly stroked her.

  "I've tried not to worry but so much has happened. We lost our parents, and she's the only one I have left."

  Viper pulled back he reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek. His eyes dilated the greens looking even brighter.

  "You have been very brave and strong. Do not cry little, you are breaking my hearts. I know what it's like to lose your family. All five of my siblings were lost to the Morbo along with many of my other family. I am glad you did not have to suffer your sister's loss as well. I feel lucky my parents were spared."

  That explained why Viper was so serious about this mission and fighting the Morbo. The look of pain on his face and the husky tone of his voice made it seem as if their deaths had happened just yesterday. Hope imagined Viper relived the loss every time he confronted the awful virus, like tearing open a raw wound.

  "I'm so sorry." Hope gripped his arms tighter.

  Hope was relieved and touched, but there was something else that stirred within her. Viper's face was so close, his expression filled with concern, heart ache and shared relief. She wanted to kiss Viper. The need was so strong it made her ache.

  Hope leaned in, she could feel his breath against her face as she closed her eyes.

  Suddenly with part groan, part growl Viper was gone. Hope opened her eyes, but she saw nothing. It was like he vanished in thin air. Hope stood as she looked around the garden.

  "Viper?"

  Hope wandered down the main path then onto a smaller one.

  "Viper?"

  She turned and started to head back to the blanket confused about what had gone wrong.

  Something reached out and tickled her side. Hope nearly screamed as she spun to see Viper grinning down at her.

  "Got you!"

  "You nearly frightened the crap out of me." Hope swatted Viper's arm and he chuckled with that deep rumbling voice.

  "I bet you can't find me!" Viper smiled then shimmered out of view his skin shifting to blend with plant.

  "You want to play hide and seek?" Hope laughed watching Viper's wavering camouflaged image dart off into the foliage.

  This wasn't what she had planned a moment ago but Viper always surprised her. Things were getting pretty serious.

  Hope remembered how Viper, though he blended into the environment, still left a hazy outline. Then there was his distinctive scent. Hope wandered the direction he went her toes digging into the sand. She smelled the sweet perfumed flowers blooming from the succulents as she attempted to pick out his scent.

  "No cheating don't move." Hope hollered out as she tiptoed looking for his outline.

  Hope circled round a large Joshua tree and stopped. There next to a tall cactus Hope saw an odd shadow. Hope silently approached the cactus though she was sure Viper had the advantage and could see her clearly.

  Hope got to the towering pin cushion and scented Viper's piney musk. She was certain she'd found him as she snuck around it.

  Disappointment struck her as she saw the shadow of the spikey yucca had blended with the cactus to fool her.

  "Got you again." Viper tickled her from behind making Hope squeal. She was really ticklish, and he'd found her weak spot just along her ribs.

  "Oh you rotten bastard just you wait till I find you!" Hope hollered after Viper as he loped back towards the path, laughing the entire time as he disappeared again.

  She had to step up her game. Hope went down the solid path following it looking for any evidence of where Viper might have stepped off it into the sand.

  She didn't see his tracks, so she kept going nearly to the edge of the arboretum. She took a turn in path and ran right into a solid body. Hope stumbled and fell off the slightly raised walkway nearly falling into mess of small cacti with hundreds of hairy needles.

  A arm reached out and grabbed her before she fell into the bramble.

  Hope looked up to see Canebrake was the one gripping her arm.

  "Thanks." She said, but he didn't release her, his stern eyes just staring at her.

  "I heard you yelling obscenities at our Prognatus. Do you know the penalty for such disrespect?" Canebrake frowned.

  Hope blinked realizing her foul mouthed response to Viper's teasing had clearly offended the general. Hope suddenly was worried. Surely Viper knew she was kidding. He wouldn't punish her for a slip of the tongue would he. Hope realized she knew so little of their laws.

  "We are playing a game and he was tickling me. I meant nothing by it."

  Canebrake didn't look mollified as he held her arm tight.

  There was a sudden roar behind her. Hope turned to see Viper pushing through the tall grass. He was on Canebrake a second later. The general released her arm as he was tackled to the ground. Hope regained her footing as she gaped at Viper snarling at the other man, his fangs a scant breath from Canebrake's neck.

  "You dare touch my subeo!" Viper snarled deep his voice nearly unrecognizable.

  Hope was shocked how drastically Viper's personality switched turning deadly. He'd been increasingly aggravated with the men that got too close to her. It was worrisome, but this was different. None of his men had dared to touch her. Hope wondered what the penalty was. Viper looked like he was seconds from slaughtering Canebrake.

  This was her fault she had to do something.

  "Viper I tripped and almost fell into the cactus." She reached out and smoothed her hand along the muscles of Viper's rippling back as he hovered over Canebrake. "Come on I'm fine." Hope cajoled as she rubbed his tense muscles.

  Viper grunted as he looked from the silent man to her
. It took him a moment but the claws on his hands retracted and the spikes on his arms relaxed laying against his forearms.

  Viper huffed as he stood though he still eyed Canebrake.

  "Seriously I almost tumbled into that. It would've really hurt." Hope pointed out the clump of cacti.

  Viper nodded curtly.

  "Thank you." He bit out to Canebrake. "What are you doing here? I reserved the arboretum." He demanded with a growl.

  "I am sorry Prognatus. I'm so used to cutting through here I forgot it was closed for the evening." Canebrake replied sweat pouring down his face.

  "Well I guess it was good you did." Hope tried to smooth things over further.

  "It is late we should go." Viper replied as he picked her up and stomped out of the arboretum with a final nod to his general.

  They walked back to Viper's suite and Hope was a bit disappointed their evening was cut short. Viper was still so tense when the entered his room. Things had been going so well then she was reminded allover how little she knew about Viper and the Anguis.

  "I keep forgetting how delicate you are." He said as he set her down. "I am glad you weren't injured."

  The way Viper said this made Hope feel like she was made of glass. He looked stricken at the thought of her being hurt. It was nice but also annoying at the same time. Did he fear hurting her again? Is that why he pulled away from her in the arboretum?

  "I would've been fine. We just would've had to pick a few needles out of me."

  "You should shower before bed." Viper glanced at her dirty feet.

  Hope showered then came back out dressed for bed. She was tempted to ask Viper to share the bed again, but he was already stretched out on the couch that was too small. Hope sighed as she noted his steady breathing. Viper slept already.

  Hope stared at him a dozen thoughts tumbling in her head. She wasn't sure of what lay ahead. She found she liked the time she spent with Viper, a lot, but there was so much that also made her unsure and nervous.

  9 Tied Up in Knots

  Hope

  Viper spent the last five nights on the overstuffed loveseat that was too small for him. He was so damn tall he put an NBA star to shame. Viper seemed to grow increasingly agitated and grumpy when he wasn't preoccupied with fretting over her. Hope started to feel sorry for his men. He needed to get some real sleep. She repeatedly tried to offer him the bed, but he declined, holding to his original promise.

  It wasn't just that she wanted him to get some rest. Viper had teased her with his body all week though not intentionally. The man never wore a shirt over his mouth watering chest, and he thought nothing of leaving the bathroom door open when he bathed. Hope wanted to pinch and bite his firm ass on more than one occasion. Just the way he swaggered when he walked was captivating.

  It really didn't help that the man was so sweet. Viper insisted on carrying her about, till her infernal monthly friend was over. Being held in his strong arms made the jittery feeling inside her go wild. Not that she could act on her increasingly naughty thoughts with aunt flo in town. Thank god the bitch left yesterday.

  Still Hope dropped hint after hint, hoping that maybe they could snuggle or make out a little before bed, but besides the incident in the garden, the only time Viper touched her was when he carried her. It was maddening.

  So either the man was truly honorable, or he really was having a hard time with the fact she was human. Though Hope refused to believe that, he was too personable, and she was sure he flirted with her. Plus the dates they went on around the ship were too romantic.

  Despite the sexual tension they had a good time together, and the conversations were amusing. Not only was Viper sexy in a swarthy dark way, he was also pretty charming and funny.

  Hope looked over at him as he told his story and smiled.

  "I found myself on the back of the Hecca beast. It's almost like your cows but the size of your elephants, you saw them in the holo room." Viper described his first hunt. "It was running, and I was holding its ears as I flailed around its back." Viper mimicked how he looked as a youth bouncing around on the shaggy wild animal's back as it went on a rampage.

  God, the man was cute. Watching his face and gestures as he told his story, had Hope admiring his body, as she had a dozen times a day. It was driving her crazy. Just because she wasn't certain about this mating thing, didn't mean she'd decided to become a nun. This was her fault. She was the one who insisted he not touch her.

  "How old were you?" Hope asked realizing she was smiling and staring at Viper with goo-goo eyes.

  "Ten rotations, that's usually when a male is old enough for their first hunt. I was a bit shorter than you are now." Viper smiled back, his fangs peaking from behind his lips.

  Hope's hand drifted up to her neck, feeling the spot where he'd marked her.

  "That's young." Hope replied bringing her wayward thoughts back to their conversation.

  Hope imagined ten year old Viper trapped on a charging elephant. She would've freaked out if she were his mother.

  "Well the beast managed to flip me off his back." Viper pantomime cartwheeling end over end with his hands.

  "Please tell me you didn't break both your arms and legs!"

  "No worse. My fall was broken by landing in a massive pile of crap." Viper shook his head in disgust but also chuckled. Hope adored hearing that sound, it made her smile. Apparently Anguis males took great honor in sharing their first hunt story, it was like some rite of passage thing. Hope could only imagine how embarrassed young Viper was.

  "My brothers loved that one. I used to hate their teasing." Viper said pensively.

  Hope learned Viper had lost all of his siblings to the Morbo virus, like many of the Anguis. It was a sad story. She could see he was thinking about how he wished he had his brothers to tease him now. She wanted to change the subject, they were having such a good time sharing stories.

  "No shit!" Hope winked at him, impressed with her pun.

  "You are a comedian huh?" Viper's mouth tipped up in amusement as he stretched uncomfortably.

  "I insist you sleep in the bed tonight. If you don't I'll take the floor." Hope threatened.

  She decided she'd try this angle, knowing full well Viper wouldn't abide by her sleeping on the floor.

  Viper's looked absolutely miserable with his long legs hanging off that footrest, though it had to be a stitch better than the hard floor. Tomorrow afternoon they would land on his home world. The man really needed to get a good night's sleep before he had to start in on the task of getting the colony settled.

  Then again her offer wasn't altogether altruistic. Hope's nipples constantly ached begging to be touched, and she felt empty inside. It had only gotten worse as the days passed. She wondered if she was going through some sort of withdrawal, she certainly wanted him like a drug.

  "Hope I cannot lay in that bed with you." Viper rejected her offer yet again.

  Hope was starting to feel slighted. It's not like he had to do more than sleep. She got up, grabbed a pillow along with one of the blankets and plopped down on the floor casting him a defiant look in the process.

  "I will not have this." Viper shook his head.

  He pulled himself out of the loveseat, stalked over, shoved one arm under her ass, the other under her back and picked her up like she weighed nothing at all.

  "Hey!" Hope groused in frustration.

  "Hush female!" Viper nearly growled as he put her back in bed then returned to sit back down.

  Hope got the feeling he wasn't used to being defied. Well he was going to be just thrilled with her then. If he wanted to date her or be mated or whatever he was going to have to put up with her stubborn streak.

  Hope wiggled out of bed and was back on the floor by the time Viper turned around again to recline in the loveseat.

  "Hope!" His voice vibrated deep.

  "What?" Hope fluttered her eyelashes in mock innocence.

  Viper's chest rumbled as he marched back over and picked her up again. It di
dn't frighten her, not anymore, in fact if anything the sexy growling excited her.

  Viper leaned over her as he tucked her in, making sure the blanket was snug around her so she'd have difficulty getting out of bed again. His bare chest looked so good, the muscles rippling. She wanted to rub up against him like a cat in heat, till she remembered his rejection.

  Viper noted the frown on her face.

  "If I lay in this bed with you, I won't be able to keep my hands to myself and I don't know if I could stop myself even if you asked me to." Viper said between clenched teeth.

  Hope grinned to herself. She glanced down and noticed the bulge in his pants. God, the man was hung.

  "Would that be so bad?" Hope asked as she looked him in the eye. She licked her lips, her mouth feeling dry.

  Viper's piercing green eyes focused on her mouth for a moment before regaining his wits.

  "I told you I would not."

  Ugh! Damn gentleman. How many clues could she toss out at the man before he figured it out?

  Viper smelled so wonderful as he leaned over her, bracketing her with his arms. Viper's face was serious, but he also looked pained.

  Hope leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, gently pulling in his bottom lip, licking and nipping it tentatively.

  Viper didn't move a muscle so Hope pulled away. She was practically throwing herself at the man.

  "Hope I cannot control myself much longer." He groaned.

  Good.

  Hope thought about how it had been the last time they were together and almost groaned herself. She wanted to see Viper naked, but this time she wanted to touch him.

  Hope suddenly had a wicked idea about how they could even the score between them. Viper held back because he made her a promise and didn't want to hurt her since she was 'delicate', but she had a solution for that if he was game.

  Hope rolled away from Viper and the poor man practically wilted. The deflated look on his face made her almost give up her plan, but she didn't. After all the man had fucked her while she was chained up. Turn about is fair play.

  "I know how to fix our problem."

  "What do you mean?" Viper looked at her in confusion.