by Kyle, Celia
A hologram of the brig flickered to life in the center of the room, in the space where Lily stood only moments before. Gray walls, metal bars, and the image of four Preor warriors filled the area. Argan remained in his familiar spot—captive—while Taulan, Kozav, and Vende were free.
Taulan’s mouth opened and his voice came through the speakers, his words syncing with his actions. “…incarcerated for Engineering Master Vende’s age.”
“How old is the engineering master?” Argan’s voice was firm and sure. He stood tall behind those bars, tense and without any hint of the relaxed male she’d come to know. His spine was straight as a board, shoulders back, and wings tucked tightly to his body.
“Your imprisonment would be for three hundred eighty-seven years,” Taulan answered.
“Wait,” Lily spoke to Penelope. “Are they saying that Argan would be locked up for, like, four hundred years?”
“Right-o.”
“The alternative is death.” The war master’s voice drew her back to the holographic scene.
Argan jerked his head in a brisk nod. “Understood, War Master Taulan.”
Taulan propped his hands on his hips and frowned at the ground. “I do not wish for either outcome.”
“Nor do I.” Kozav echoed his superior.
Vende had remained silent until that point, and when he spoke, Lily had the urge to kick him. Hard. “The law is clear.”
Asshole.
“Warriors do not suffer imprisonment lightly,” Taulan murmured.
“Penelope, what does that mean?” Lily could practically feel the heavy tension surrounding the males.
“Exactly as the war master stated.”
She focused on one of Penelope’s cameras tucked in a corner. “You’re being obtuse on purpose. What happens to imprisoned warriors? How do they react?”
“They cease being. Their minds are replaced by the dragon until there is no other part of them. Most warriors end their lives while in captivity and if they do not, they are killed shortly after release because they’re feral and cannot reintegrate with Preor society.”
Lily licked her dry lips. “Death either way.”
“Yes.”
Her heart raced, the muscle pounding so hard she thought it’d burst from her body. Adrenaline surged and panic overtook her mind. This man—male—was facing death because he stood up for her. Because of her, his life was over.
Just like…
Lily pushed that memory away, not ready to face it just yet. Then again, it’d been ten years and she still hadn’t faced what’d happened.
She took a deep breath and fought to find the calm deep within her center. “There’s only one option, Penelope.”
“That’s not an option, Lily.”
“Uh, yeah, it is. So,” she clapped her hands. “Hop to it and get me there.”
“Hard pass.”
“Say what?” She narrowed her eyes at the camera once more.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Nu-uh.”
“Now.”
“Yo no hablo ingles.”
“I will reformat your ass so fast you—“
Apparently, reformatting Penelope’s data drives was a good enough threat to get the sentient ship moving. The world around Lily shimmered, colors and shapes blurring for a split-second before solidifying once again. Except now her surroundings were different. Windows revealing the endless Gulf of Mexico were replaced by metal walls and a crowded brig. Thankfully Penelope had dropped her in a familiar—and empty—corner.
It didn’t take her long to realize that appearing out of thin air in front of three heavily-armed Preor warriors might have been a mistake. But, hey, at least she had their attention.
And three sharp, pointy swords reached toward her neck, but she’d ignore those for now.
“Halt.”
“Stop.”
“Identify yourself.”
Taulan, Kozav, and Vende spoke at once, their voices overpowering one another, but Lily only had eyes—and ears—for Argan. As for the big ball of sunshine scales… he roared so loudly the metal bars shook and the ground vibrated beneath her feet.
Lily wiggled her toes. Her bare feet. She glanced at her body and figured she probably should have taken stock of her outfit before demanding Penelope drop her on the ship. Usually when she visited Argan, Penelope clothed her in whatever Lily asked, no changing needed.
Physically being transported didn’t come with that lovely benefit.
Pajamas wouldn’t exactly make a good impression on the warriors. Especially pajamas covered in kittens with purple Mohawks that rode bulldogs like they were ponies.
What? She worked from home. Professional clothing and daily showers were optional.
“Hey, guys.” Lily smiled widely and gave them a little wave. “How are you today? Nice weather we’re having, hashtag amiright?”
At least they were quiet. They still glared at her—Vende looked more confused than angry—but the growling stopped.
“Liquid Knot, you are violating the peace treaty.” Smoke escaped Taulan’s nose. The war master slid his sword back into its sheath strapped to his back and the other two soon followed.
The peace treaty. Right. She’d kinda sorta upset Taulan more than once with her “improvements.” Improvements he viewed as acts of war. It’d prompted a “peace treaty” wherein she agreed to never step foot on Penelope without explicit written permission signed and witnessed by every master on the ship. And damn, there were a lot of “masters” on Penelope. War, engineering, defense, offense, communication… the list was endless. She was pretty sure Taulan had made some of them up just to thwart her.
Lily figured Taulan had been suffering from a bad bout of IPS—Irritable Penis Syndrome—when he’d come up with the treaty idea. He had not found her joke about his penis amusing. Some people, right?
“About that…” Lily nibbled her lower lip for a moment and then caught herself. She wasn’t an unsure dragonlet begging her papa for a treat. She was a grown woman who could crash a country’s economy with a few keystrokes.
She was kind of a big deal, dammit.
Lily straightened her shoulders—again because she suddenly found herself slouching—and met Taulan’s gaze. “I feel Argan’s punishment is too harsh.”
Taulan quirked a brow and Kozav snorted, a puff of smoke escaping.
“Preor law states that—” The stupid engineering master was always too damned literal.
She held up a hand, palm facing Vende, to silence him. “I’m aware of Preor law.” She’d absorbed everything she could find after Argan was shoved into the brig. “However, I feel like there were extenuating circumstances.” She glared at Vende. “Argan was protecting me.”
Vende looked like he wanted to glare back. “You illegally decommissioned—“
“There isn’t a law against repurposing,” she corrected. Or there hadn’t been then. There was now. Dammit.
“—a training platform intended—“
“Enough. We all know what transpired.” Kozav almost sounded like he wanted to laugh. Almost. Then she had the primary warrior’s attention. “The law is clear, Liquid Knot.”
“So, that’s it. You’re going to kill one of your greatest warriors because he tried to protect me? I realize I wasn’t physically in Vende’s presence, but emotional battery is still battery, and that’s what Argan saved me from.” She’d keep fighting until she had no other choice than to go to Plan Lily-Is-An-Idiot-But-Let’s-Rock-This. Also known as Plan B.
“Penelope,” Taulan’s gaze remained on Lily while he spoke to the ship. “Please transport Liquid Knot back to her—“
“Wait!” She held out her hands in an effort to stop him. “Just wait.”
“You are beginning to annoy me, Liquid Knot.”
Well, “beginning” was better than “are.”
Lily looked to the captive warrior—so tall and strong even as he faced his death. He had pride and honor, and she wasn’t sure how
he’d take what she did next. How did warriors handle being rescued by the damsel in distress instead of doing the rescuing?
“I’m doing this as a last resort, okay?” she spoke to Argan and his sudden frown matched the ones worn by Taulan, Kozav, and Vende. Then she dropped her voice to a mumble. “I really, really hope you don’t hate me.”
“Liquid Knot?” Argan spoke to her. She was beginning to regret ordering everyone to call her by her hacker handle instead of her real name. Then again, when she’d first joined up with the aliens, things in her human life had been more than a hint illegal. Going under an assumed name had been an act of self-preservation.
“Call me Lily. Please.” She gave him a wide smile, though she was sure it looked more like a grimace.
Taulan sighed. “Lily…”
“I told Argan he could call me Lily.” Her smile-ish transformed into a glare. “You and I are not on real name terms. Not while you’re still holding me to our ‘peace treaty.’”
Taulan’s face turned red, darkening by the second, and Kozav nudged the war master aside. “Liquid Knot, it would be best if you vacated the brig. War Master Taulan must announce his ruling and carry out the sentence. This is not a place for a delicate female.”
“I’m not delicate,” she sneered.
The primary warrior quirked a brow and his gaze scanned her from head to toe.
Okay, yes, she hardly topped five feet five inches while most warriors were well over six feet. And yes, she wore cute pink pajamas, but hadn’t he seen the bad ass kittens with the Mohawks? They rode bulldogs like ponies! And yes, she was barefoot on sharp metal grating that covered the ship’s floor, but that didn’t make her weak. It made her forgetful. Big diff.
“To recap,” she ignored Kozav’s disbelief. “If the decision is left up to you guys, Argan is dead.”
She got nods all around as she focused on Argan alone. “Is that what you want? Would you rather die? Or live some type of life and find happiness in another way?”
Argan shook his head. “There is no—“
“For the love of Wi-Fi,” she groaned. “Answer the question.”
“I would prefer to live.”
“Good.” She nodded. “Do me a favor and remember that in, like, thirty seconds. M’kay?” Lily didn’t wait for him to agree. If she didn’t get this done before she lost the nerve, the Third Fleet would be down one honorable warrior. She spoke loudly, voice clear as she enunciated each word. She didn’t want there to be any reason for someone to claim this wasn’t legal and all that jazz. “Penelope, please record.” She cleared her throat. “War Master Taulan joi Lana Coburn, by Earth treaty I lay claim to Argan sen Izz’bara as kouvi to Lily King, now Lily joi Argan King.”
Chapter Three
Argan had never experienced such utter and complete silence. Not in any of his years had he encountered a quiet such as the one that descended in the brig. It was as if even Penelope froze in place—her engines ceasing all movement following Liquid Knot’s words.
No, not Liquid Knot. She had given him permission to use her true name.
Lily King.
Lily joi Argan King.
He swallowed hard and stared at the tiny human female, unable to accept the words that still hung in the air. She was small yet fierce, her glare rivaling the war master’s in its strength. She clenched her jaw and tipped her head back just enough to indicate her stubborn refusal to take back her words. Even if War Master Taulan towered over her, she managed to look down her nose at him.
She had claimed him as her kouvi. Oh, it was not a true claiming since the Knowing did not stretch between them. They had not gained the genetic knowledge of his race upon meeting. But that did not change the existence of her claim.
It did not change his body’s reaction to her claim either. Possessiveness assaulted him, overtaking what little honor remained and replacing it with the base need to have her beneath his wing. Lily King was his. She had said the words and now… Now she belonged to him.
Argan was unsure who spoke first. Whether Taulan voiced the initial objection or if Kozav beat the war master, but the arguments were not long in coming.
“Impossible.”
“Unacceptable.”
“You’re smoking crack, aren’t you? Crack is whack.” The last question came from Penelope and was enough to startle both males into silence.
Lily licked her lips, small pink tongue darting into view for the barest of moments, and Argan could not stop his body’s reaction to the sight. Her scent teased him, tormented his dragon with its hint of sweetness. The beast wanted to bathe in those flavors, cradle Lily close while Argan’s two-legged form brought the delicious human pleasure.
No. Human females were to be cherished. Not toyed with as if…
But would it be toying? Lily had claimed him as her mate, which meant his desire was not dishonorable. He could let himself imagine the feel of her curves beneath his palms without guilt.
In truth, he could experience the feel of her curves beneath his hands as he explored every inch of her body.
Argan’s cock hardened within his katoth pants, his dick straining against the tanned hide. His arousal throbbed, and his dragon roared within his mind. It demanded he tear away the bars that separated him from Lily. There were other males near their mate. Yes, two were mated, but there was a third… A third who had already proven he was willing to shout at Lily.
His palms heated and soon burned, his dragon’s heat suffusing his flesh while the beast encouraged him to grip the metal barrier. It would not take much fire to weaken the bars enough to pull them apart. Then there would be nothing between him and his mate.
“No,” Lily spoke through gritted teeth and glared at the ceiling. “I’m not smoking crack.”
She huffed, the quick breath causing her breasts to strain against the thin fabric of her low top. He did not like the way the cloth clung to her chest or the way it dipped to reveal the valley between her breasts. He especially did not like other males being able to see so much of her skin.
Argan’s dragon growled within his mind, the great beast flapping its wings and snarling. It demanded he go to her, wrap her in his wings and hide her from view. This female was his and no other’s. None should look upon her when she appeared so alluring—so tempting.
“Penelope,” Lily spoke once more to the ship, “we discussed this.”
The ship scoffed. “I didn’t think you were serious. You were just getting over a cold. I thought you were in some twisted, drug-induced hallucination.”
Cold slunk down Argan’s spine. “You were ill? When? Have you seen a healing master?”
Lily did not answer his questions. Choosing instead to speak to the ship. “One time. One time I take two doses of cough medicine too close together and decide the United States’ national language should be Klingon and you—“
“Lily,” Argan snarled and gripped the bars. His dragon’s fire flared, heating the metal until it glowed red. “Have you seen a healing master? Chashan or Whelon?”
He pulled and the barrier gave way. Soon he’d have enough room to escape. “Answer me.” Smoke escaped his nose, the gray cloud swirling in the room’s air. He pulled harder, bars separating even more. “Now.”
Argan was a male trained in battle with hundreds of years of experience beneath his wings. He knew the low rasp of war blades as they slid against katoth sheaths. He knew he had more than one such blade pointed at him, but he only had eyes for Lily.
“Argan?” The pink flush in her cheeks gradually paled. “Calm down. I’m fine.”
“You are ill.” His dragon would not allow him to forget that fact. When had their mate been ill and why had they not been at her side?
But… he shook his head, the feeling of shame at not caring for her did not make sense. They were mates, and yet not, and she had not claimed him when she was ill. He had not failed in caring for her so why did his beast…
“I had a cold five months ago.” She stepped forw
ard. Drawing closer despite the heat that formed in an ever-expanding bubble around him. “I’m all better. After the Klingon incident,” she shot a glare at the ceiling, “I saw Chashan. I’m good. I swear.”
Lily eased even closer.
Until Taulan placed his arm in her path. “You will not move, Liquid Knot.”
“Remove your hand from her body.” More smoke escaped Argan. “She is not yours to touch.”
“Warrior Argan sen Izz—“
“Argan joi Lily King,” he corrected the war master without thought. The longer Lily’s claim remained in place, the more his beast embraced the mating. They would not share the Knowing, but they could still share a fulfilling—pleasurable—life.
War Master Taulan narrowed his eyes and Argan matched the male’s fierce stare with one of his own.
“She is not your true kouva,” Taulan growled. “The Knowing—“
Lily interrupted before Argan even had a chance to snarl his objection. “Is not a prerequisite for the claiming of a mate. It’s preferred but not required. Reading is fundamental.”
Taulan curled his lip, exposing a lengthening fang, and flashed it at Lily. “The very basis of a mating—“
“Do not threaten my mate!” Argan bellowed and jerked on the bars once more. He almost had enough space to escape his prison. Just a few more inches and his shoulders would fit through the gap he’d created. He could have easily torn his cell into pieces, but he didn’t want to risk harming Lily in the process.
“Argan, she is not your mate.” Kozav’s voice was soft and soothing, as if he spoke to a dragonlet and not a fierce Preor warrior.
Vende chose that moment to speak. “Respectfully, you are incorrect, Primary Warrior Kozav. The words were spoken, and the terms of the treaty are upheld.”
Taulan sighed. “The spirit of the treaty—“
Vende—in a show of insubordination Argan never expected to witness from the engineering master—interrupted the war master. “The treaty between the Preor and Earth was intended to allow the claiming of a mate without exposing the existence of the Knowing to the humans. Since the Knowing is not referenced within the text, it does not state that a human cannot lay claim to a Preor. Therefore, Liquid Knot’s claim is valid.”
