Fueled by Lust: Lucien (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Celeste Prater

  Imbrus glanced over, his eyes showed the deep concern everyone was feeling at the moment.

  “I want to, but I can’t take a chance that another cloud, of whatever that is, decides to take an interest in us. It’s dragging that probe forward, but I’m not sure what its capabilities are yet. Unfortunately, we can only see heat transfer. What if it cools further from the source? It’s safer to hang back and just follow it until we can determine its true size.”

  Knowing the consul made perfect strategic sense, Kallon still wanted action. He definitely needed to at least hear from the Messorians aboard that probe. They’d obviously experienced the exact same thing the Athenian had. Maybe they’d get some insight to whatever the hell was attached to them. Imbrus had nixed that idea, too. He wanted to remain cloaked and anonymous. Kallon couldn’t really blame him. This whole scene was surrealistic and there was no Insedi history to fall back on for guidance. They were just winging it.

  The Trejani’s calm voice broke into their hard study of the monitor.

  “Cato’s here now. Turn control of the viewer over to command. I want him to analyze the cloud.”

  Seconds later, Kallon watched the monitor zoom in on the edge of the cloud then begin tracing along its perimeter until it returned to the spot it had originated from. Everyone appeared to be holding their breath as whatever program Cato was running completed. Kallon jumped when Cato’s juicy curse ripped through the air.

  “Son of a bitch! I thought the damn thing was too stable to be a fucking energy cloud. Trejani, it’s a ship. That’s why we’re picking up on the additional fuel emission. Here, let me send the image of the trace back to the main viewer. You’ll see it once the program adds in the shadowing as linear objects.”

  Maxim growled low in his throat as the viewer displayed the image building layer upon layer until a fully formed graphic depiction of a monstrous ship with a long fat nose and huge aft fuel cylinders appeared before their eyes. His words came gravelly and pissed.

  “The gods damn thing is cloaked. It’s a fucking slaver. No wonder the Athenian thought it was a gravitational pull that held them. The ships equipment would’ve never picked up on their signature.”

  Kallon felt his stomach drop. Ulixes couldn’t mist. He was as vulnerable as a newborn. The warriors would never leave him on his own. He wanted to cry out at the unfairness of it all.

  Drusus’s words were hard and determined. “Keep on its ass, Imbrus. Glaxon 8 sounds like a good bet for their destination. I think we can safely state where my father is right now. This is now an act of war. Whatever you do, don’t let those fuckers know they’ve got a world of hurt coming with them.”

  Chapter 15

  Tana shot a glance over to Shu Tak and wondered why she was pacing the floor like a demented woman. It’d started the instant one of the other females had run in to the kitchen, whispered in her ear, and then ran out like the hounds of hell were on her ass.

  Sighing in frustration at their inability to communicate without a long, drawn-out game of Pictionary, Tana focused on peeling the root vegetables and let Shu Tak work through her angst. Hell, she had enough of her own without wallowing in someone else’s. Most of the females were missing and she and Shu Tak were killing themselves trying to feed all these assholes.

  It didn’t help that they’d made her stay in her old room last night. It was hard to sleep with a wrist chained to the bed. She’d hoped they would’ve taken her back to the cells so she could speak with Lucien. She hadn’t been able to explain what she’d meant when she spoke to him last. He probably thought she was a bitch of the highest magnitude.

  Tana felt her face flame up at the memory of her wanton move. When she’d seen that unbelievably gorgeous ass up close and personal, she’d lost her freaking mind. She’d never been that aggressive in her life. Her hand had taken up a mind of its own and slipped over his hip before she could talk it out of acting stupid. When she’d gotten a grip on that long, fat cock, her brain had stepped aside and it was all barbaric Barbie from that point forward. She squashed a grin when the image of him flipping around and smashing her up against the wall flashed into her brain. Fuck! Those smoldering eyes. He had to be the most mesmerizing, sensual man she’d ever encountered in her life. When he’d scrubbed her hair dry and apologized, Tana knew she’d fallen a little in love. A little? Who the hell was she kidding? She was head over heels in love and she knew it. Shaking her head at the insanity of the thought, Tana jumped off the stool and made her way to the sink to wash the vegetables. What she saw through the window made her jaw drop.

  Female Dar Kans were running amok across the clearing. Some were laughing and others wore expressions of pure terror as the males chased them down. When one was unfortunate enough, or fortunate enough depending on her expression, to get caught, she ended up on her hands and knees in the dirt with the male unceremoniously lifting her skirt and humping her like a dog.

  Tana slapped her hand over her mouth but couldn’t pull her eyes away from the scene. It was like looking at a bad car wreck and trying to find the mangled bodies. When the male tired of taking a female from behind, he just flipped her over and drove her hard into the ground. Without fanfare, he’d pull her hips up and ram back inside. He was lucky if he got that far. More times than she could count, another male just simply ripped him away and took his place. There were more piles of males wrestling with each other than couplings.

  Tana quickly noticed that the frightened females eventually wore looks of ecstatic bliss after they were caught and ravaged. Tana gained a great appreciation of the Insedi lovemaking techniques. What she witnessed now was ridiculous. No wonder they’d locked her up last time. Shit! I better eat some sweet berries before they haul me off to the cells. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Shu Tak’s scream pierced the air.

  Whirling around, Tana skittered backward to the corner of the room when two Dar Kan fell through the door and began battling it out in the middle of the kitchen. She immediately recognized Nox Ton. The other one looked younger and wore five clasps in his hair. He was currently flat on his back and taking a good beating from his leader. Tana stared in wide-eyed horror as Shu Tak pounced on Nox Ton’s shoulders and began clawing at him wildly. It was evident that she was trying to help the younger Dar Kan.

  Tana took advantage of the melee and starting stuffing bread and sweet berries into a pouch she’d stolen earlier and hidden by the back door. She’d been slipping items in throughout the day whenever Shu Tak had her back turned. This time when she escaped, she wanted a survival pack. Grabbing several knives, she stuffed them inside and sprinted to the back door. The knob turned in her hand and she halted. Lucien. She couldn’t leave unless Lucien was free. It was such a simple thought, she didn’t even hesitate. She had to find a way to free the Insedi.

  Turning back, she focused on the fight and tried to think clearly. It was near impossible with the sound of the battle ringing against her ears. Nox Ton finally pulled the wild female off his back and shoved her to the side. He appeared torn between mounting her or turning around and kicking the young male in the face. The youngster was on him before he could turn around. It wouldn’t take but a few minutes before the poor guy was being pummeled by the seasoned warrior again. Shu Tak was obviously trying to keep the young one alive. She started beating Nox Ton on the head with a pot and the young Dar Kan was attempting to chew a gouge out of his leg. There was blood everywhere.

  Tana wondered if this was her chance to kill Nox Ton. Should she wait for him to turn his back to her again? Hell, what good would that do? There were hundreds more that would take his place. No, she needed to take baby steps. What would Lucien do? Her answer lay on the floor as if it were a gift from the gods. The cuff device. One of them had lost it and she didn’t give a shit whose it was. It was hers now.

  Scrabbling across the floor, she snatched the device and stuffed it inside her bra, firmly under her breast. That puppy wasn’t going anywhere. She took a knee to the cheek before she c
ould back out of the fray, but thought the pain and grayed vision were worth the effort. Snatching up her pouch, Tana ran to the backdoor and slipped outside. Stuffing it behind a crate containing the root vegetables, she hauled ass back inside and hoped they hadn’t noticed she’d left. Breathing heavily, Tana parked her butt on the floor and waited for a winner to be called.

  It appeared Nox Ton’s head couldn’t take the punishment any longer. He rolled off the youngster and spewed a string of what sounded like Dar Kan curses at Shu Tak, whirled around, and ran from the room. There were plenty of other willing females he could mount. Obviously, his first choice wanted no part of it.

  Tana watched in surprise as Shu Tak helped the fallen male to his feet before she smiled and hauled ass out the back door. The Dar Kan shook the cobwebs from his head, gave a loud shout, and then ran after her. Obviously, the chase was part of their mating ritual. Tana rose off the floor and wobbled over to the sink. There were a few stray sprints going on, but the majority of the herd was gone. Maybe they’d fled to the forest. Who the hell knew?

  Taking a few deep breaths, Tana retrieved the vegetables from the sink and threw them in the huge pot boiling on the stove. If anything, the prisoners still had to be fed. Someone had to do it. She just hoped there were still some sated, available Dar Kan left to help her deliver it. Just her luck, no one had bothered to drop a set of cell keys while they’d been tossing gifts around.

  * * * *

  Lucien strained to see down the corridor as soon as he heard the grind of the door opening. He’d been severely disappointed last night when his clothes arrived, but no Tana. Where the hell was she? He prayed to Dii that she was okay. The food kept coming, but no sign of a feisty redhead. He tried to relax his jaw, but failed.

  He heard the scrape of the food slots and knew it would be a while before whoever made it down the hall would be revealed. This was the latest they’d ever delivered last meal. There had been no work and nothing to do but conjure all kinds of unimaginable horrors. He took a few breaths, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against the bars. He refused to open his mind to the warriors. He wanted to push off the disappointment to the last imaginable second.

  “Hey, Lucien, you’re going to dent your head if you keep that up.”

  Lucien felt weak with relief as her husky voice wrapped around his senses and almost took him to his knees. He opened his eyes and hoped he hadn’t imagined the whole thing. Despite her disheveled appearance, dark circles under her eyes, and a purple bruise on her left cheek, which immediately put him in barbarian mode, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She was an angel.

  Throwing an evil look to the Dar Kan attempting to open her cell, Lucien narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out what was wrong with him. The topknot was pulled askew, his left eye was swollen shut, and he had multiple scratches running the length of both arms. He wobbled backward after he opened the door, hung his head as she shuffled inside, tried three times before the cell latched, and then began limping away. Tana shouted at him and clicked her connected cuffs against the bars. The male didn’t even look backward as he lifted the device from his waist, activated it, and then lumbered out of sight.

  Lucien swung his gaze back to Tana. She was holding her tray in front of her and slowly backing up to her bunk. Lucien felt fire zip through his gut and he tried to temper his anger. He was surprised at how calm he sounded while his belly was doing backflips.

  “Did you fight him? I told you not to do that, Tana. He could have killed you.”

  She plopped on the mattress and set the tray on the floor. Her eyes flipped up to his and she snorted.

  “You’re lucky I’m too damn exhausted to stir up any anger at your assumption, mister. You have no idea what I’ve been through.”

  Lucien felt heat fly up the back of his neck. All calmness had fled his voice. “Well, then why don’t you just inform me and save me from guessing?” He wondered why he was even surprised when one delicate brow rose over narrowed green eyes. His belly rolled again.

  “Okay. If you really want to know, Mr. Nosy, I didn’t fight any of them. They were beating the shit out of each other. I’ve been slaving over the damn stove trying to get your damn meal to you. Now, how about that apology?”

  Lucien pursed his lips when Sotarios starting laughing. “It’s not funny, Sotarios. Did you see her eye?”

  “Yes. And I’m sure she has a plausible explanation. She promised that she wouldn’t fight them. You must learn to trust, Lucien.”

  Lucien snorted. “If I’ve read Cato’s manual properly, I’d say this would be an appropriate response to your advice—bite me.”

  He rolled his eyes when even Ulixes joined in his warriors’ collective laughter. He glanced back to Tana’s cell and was surprised to see her standing at the bars. She was smiling.

  “You guys crack me up. Okay. I see that you’re concerned, and it’s sweet. So, here’s the story. Remember when I told you how the female’s ridges would blush a deeper color and what the males would start doing?”

  “Yes.”

  “I underestimated the impact.”

  “How so?”

  “They went into a full-on rut this afternoon. I’ve never seen anything like it. I must have caught the tail end of the last one. Now we know why you haven’t been allowed outside.”

  Lucien swallowed hard. “Did they touch you?”

  Tana laughed. “Nah. I’m not the right species, thank goodness. They had their hands full with their own females. Nox Ton and another one got into a killer fight in the kitchen. I took a knee to the cheek when I was trying to save your sorry ass.”

  Lucien frowned. “Save me? I wasn’t even there.”

  She moved closer to the bars and a big grin split her face.

  “Oh, yeah. You were right there with me the whole time.” She tapped her temple and winked.

  Lucien smiled and lowered his voice. “You were thinking of me?”

  “Every second.”

  “How did you save me, Tana?” His brows rose when she shoved her hand inside her shirt and pulled something out. She raised her fist and tilted her head.

  “Open your food slot.”

  Curious, he bent at the same time she did and they both released their latches and slid them open. He thought she was sexy as hell on all fours and staring at him like she had a juicy secret. He could see down her shirt and loved the way her breasts were pushed together and swaying.

  “Hey. Pay attention.”

  He flipped his eyes up and grinned.

  “I was.”

  She giggled. Gods! It sounded like music.

  “No, silly. Get ready.” She slung something small across the floor and it slid into his cell. He caught it before it could fly past his knee. Cupping it reverently in his palm, he rose from the floor and approached the bars. Looking up, he felt a warm heat pass through his chest and said the first thing that crossed his mind—something so large and real that it had been burrowing and hiding for days. Now it had shaken loose.

  “I am so in love with you.” He watched her lips part on a gasp before she responded on a hushed whisper.

  “So am I.”

  * * * *

  Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. You moronic idiot! The chant had been beating in her head since the first tiny rays of light had filtered through the tubing. She rolled over in the bunk and pulled a small portion of the blanket away from her face. Lucien was still on his back and his breathing was even. Good, still asleep. She didn’t know how she was going to face him today. Thankfully it was still dim, so she had a little while before he’d see her full-blown, red-faced embarrassment.

  As soon as she’d said she loved him, it hit her that his confession had meant something entirely different when his eyes widened in shock. He’d only given a flippant response when facing someone handing over an unexpected gift. She’d said it a few times herself when someone at work had brought her hot coffee on a cold morning, or a cupcake when she couldn’t get
away from the phone long enough to join an office birthday party.

  She hadn’t waited around for an awkward conversation on how much he liked tweaking her boob but that it didn’t necessarily translate into love in his book. Nope. She dove right into the pool of coward and threw herself on the mattress and called “night-night” time.

  Tana cringed when she recalled the stammering stupidity that had flown out of her mouth as she’d backed up to the bed. “Yeah, right. Okay. Glad to help. Tired. Yup. Exhausted. Early morning. Night.” He’d called out her name a few times, but she’d given an Oscar worthy performance of snoring that finally had him giving up.

  Fuck, it was tenth grade all over again. That face-burning, crawl-in-a-hole, I-want-to-die embarrassment that she couldn’t scrub away no matter how many times she tried to pretend it hadn’t happened. That shit was going to be locked in tight. Okay, it wasn’t as bad as walking out of the girls’ bathroom with the back of her skirt shoved inside her hose and toilet paper stuck to her shoe, but it was damn close. She felt like whimpering when his panty-melting voice drifted across the room.

  “You can stop pretending to be asleep, Tana.”

  Chapter 16

  Tana squeezed her eyes tighter and hoped she’d imagined the whole thing. Curiosity got the best of her and she cracked an eye open. Nope. Mr. Gorgeous was sitting up on the mattress and slouched up against the wall. He was leaning on one hand, which of course made his muscles bunch deliciously under his tanned skin. And it didn’t help that his hair was draped over his shoulder and laying on a drool-worthy pec. His legs were splayed wide and she refused to check to see if he was happy to see her.

  Damn, all he had to do was lift up, lean backward, and he looked like he’d spent hours being artfully arranged by a professional photographer. It was so easy for him. She could hate him if she didn’t know how freaking sweet he was. She was so screwed. She pulled the blanket over her head and mumbled, “I’m asleep. You’re dreaming.”