by Sadie Carter
“Zoey, take my hand.”
Reaching up, she grabbed Pressad’s hand. He pulled her up. But instead of letting her go, she found herself turned and held back against him; the same blaster she’d used to defend him was pressed against the side of her head.
“What are you doing?” she screeched.
“Mate!” Suddenly, Dex stood in front of her, his chest heaving, blood dripping down one arm. His face was thunderous as he scowled at Pressad, who stood trembling behind her.
“Pressad, what the fuck are you doing? Let go of me.”
Dex watched Pressad with an intensity that actually frightened her. When she stared into his now red gaze, her stomach dropped. She knew that Pressad’s time on this planet was limited.
“You can’t have her!” Pressad screamed. Zoey glanced around. Four giant lizards lay on the ground.
Everyone who wasn’t injured was either standing guard or staring at Pressad in amazement.
“Pressad, I don’t know what crazy pills you’ve been taking, but you need to let me go. Now.”
Dex’s silence worried her. There was no fear on his face, no concern.
Just a cold, hard determination.
“No! You’re mine. Mine!” Pressad screamed.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” she snapped. “You hate me.”
“No, I don’t. I want you. I’ve always wanted you. But you never took me seriously. You mocked me. So I had to show you that I wasn’t someone to mess with.”
Well, okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have made fun of him. She’d known he was crazy, but she hadn’t realized he was batshit, half a step from the loony bin crazy.
“You convinced the commander to send me out here.”
“To teach you a lesson! To show you that I have power! You were supposed to beg me to change the commander’s mind and I would have demanded payment from you. Instead, you walk out here like a stupid twit and get yourself kidnapped by this brainless meathead!”
“That brainless meathead is about to tear you limb from limb unless you let me go. By the way, holding a blaster against my head doesn’t exactly endear me to you!”
“If I can’t have you then nobody will.”
“Fuck, he’s lost his mind,” Whiz said, watching Pressad him worriedly.
“That’s not all he’s about to lose,” Koran replied darkly.
One of the dragons let out a small roar. Zoey jumped as one of Dex’s men turned and shot it. Seizing his chance while Pressad was distracted, Dex charged.
Before she could even scream, Zoey found herself airborne. She was caught against someone’s chest. Gasping for breath, she glanced up into Thor’s grim face.
Pressad let out a loud cry and she looked over to find Dex holding Pressad by the throat, dangling him in the air.
“Dex, no! Put him down.” She pushed against his hold frantically.
Pressad’s legs swung back and forth as he clawed at the hand around his throat. His face grew purple from lack of air.
“Dex! Let him go!”
“He threatened you! He put his hands on you!” Dex’s voice was all the more frightening for the sheer lack of emotion.
“Let me down, Thor,” she demanded. “He’ll kill him.”
“So?” Thor replied coldly. “He deserves it.”
“Maybe, but I’ll never forgive Dex if he kills him. Is that what you want?”
Thor didn’t move and she groaned with frustration.
“Dex, please,” she pleaded. Who thought she’d ever be begging for Pressad’s life. “For me. Just let him go.”
“He needs to die.”
“Maybe. But not by your hand. Please. I’m asking you, please don’t do this. If you do, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to forgive you.”
There was a long moment of silence. She was surprised that no one else was coming to Pressad’s defense, but the commander seemed to be in shock and a number of the men he’d brought with him were injured.
“Please, Dex. For me. Death would be too quick. Let him suffer in prison for a long, long time.”
Finally, Dex let him drop and she let out a deep sigh of relief. Pressad lay on the ground, clasping his throat as he coughed and wheezed.
Dex strode over and pulled her up into his arms. He held her tightly against him. Turning, he glared at Commander Montclare. “Once our engine is repaired, we will leave immediately. Do not attempt to stop us or we will destroy you.”
Turning, he strode inside the ship.
As the ramp closed behind them, she knew her fate was sealed.
She was his now. For better or worse.
Dex’s face was thunderous. Around them, everyone was silent. A small rivulet of blood trickled down Dex’s forehead.
“Umm, are you okay?” she asked.
He didn’t answer, but his jaw tensed and she noticed he had a tic beside his right eye.
Oh, that probably wasn’t good.
He spat something out in his own language and she watched as the warriors around him scattered, moving to other parts of the ship.
“Dex, maybe you should put me down. We should talk about things.”
Dex didn’t answer. He strode to his quarters and walking in, placed her on a sofa. She tried to stand, but he loomed over her, pointing a finger at her.
“Stay,” he growled.
Now, generally, she wasn’t terribly interested in following orders. Which is why taking a position in a military outpost hadn’t been her best move.
But there was something in Dex’s gaze that warned her to tread carefully. Maybe it was the fact that his eyes were glowing again. Except this time, they’d turned red.
That really didn’t seem like a good omen.
“Dex, I really can’t just go off with you. I have responsibilities—”
“No,” he stated coldly. “No, we are not arguing about that anymore. You put yourself in danger. You disobeyed my order.”
“What?”
His nostrils flared as he glared down at her. “I told you to get inside the ship.”
“And I did,” she pointed out.
“I meant for you to stay inside. Where it was safe!” He took a deep breath then closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were no longer red. “You make me lose my patience, female.”
“My name isn’t female. It’s Zoey.”
“It’s not a proper name,” he stated. “From now on, you will be known as Lulu.”
She snorted. “Good one.”
“Good what?” he asked with confusion.
“Good joke. Like I’m going to let you just …” She trailed off as she gazed up into his serious face. “Oh Lord, you’re not joking. You seriously believe you’re going to change my name?”
He crossed his arms over his impressive chest. She really, really wished she wasn’t turned on by the way his muscles flexed, by how toned he was.
She was furious at him. She was also angry at herself for wanting him.
“I am not changing my name. I’m also not coming with you.”
“You have no say. Your only rights are what I allow you. And I will never allow you to place yourself in danger again like you did today.”
He paced back and forth. “Why the hell would you risk yourself for such a man? For a man who then threatened you?”
If it hadn’t been for the fear she could hear in his voice, she’d have given him a sarcastic reply. But there was genuine disbelief and concern in his gaze.
“I don’t know. Pressad is a dickhead, but I never believed he was destined for the loony bin.”
“Loony bin?”
“You know, insane. Not in control of his marbles. A few beers short of a six-pack.”
He held up his hand, using his other hand to rub at his temple. “Please, these riddles you speak hurt my head.”
“I couldn’t stand by and watch him die without doing something to help him.”
“But you could have been killed.”
“So could you. Why didn
’t you run inside?”
He looked insulted as he stared down at her incredulously. “I am a warrior. We do not run. We do not hide.”
“Well, I work for the military. I guess you could say I’m a warrior too.” Not really. She was a civilian member of the military. She wasn’t trained for combat.
He laughed. “Now you are making a joke. This is not the time.”
Zoey scowled. “I am not joking!”
“You are not a warrior. You are a female. You are delicate and you will not risk yourself like that again!”
The ship shuddered and a look of satisfaction crossed his face. Despite his warning not to move, she jumped to her feet and raced over to look out the port hole. The large battleship was rising into the air, the ground quickly disappearing beneath them.
“Dex, no!” She turned back. Maybe she’d been handling this all wrong. Instead of demanding and arguing, she should have tried pleading. Begging.
“If you take me against my will, I will never forgive you.” Okay, so that wasn’t quite begging.
“There is no choice. Even if I wanted to leave you behind, I cannot. It is our law. We are mates. We must be together.”
“But it’s not my law!” Why couldn’t he understand that?
“That doesn’t matter. You’re mine now. You will live on Zerconia with me. You will become an obedient, proper mate.”
“And if I don’t?” she challenged.
“You have no other option.”
She refused to believe that. She couldn’t be someone she wasn’t.
“And until such a time as you are ready to be reasonable and listen to me. To thank me for the honor of being my mate, to beg me to join with you then I believe it is best we spend some time apart. You may have my quarters. But know this, mate. I will have my way. You will bend to me.”
He turned to stride out the door and she sat once more. Never, not even after her mother died, had she felt as alone as she did right now.
Chapter Five
Zoey sat, staring out the port hole. Three days had passed since they’d left Solim and most of that time she’d sat here.
This wasn’t like her. She wasn’t someone who let life get her down. But right now she was feeling completely out of control.
She was miserable.
Life on Solim might have been boring. But at least she’d had friends; she’d had someone to talk to when things got too much.
Here, she was the odd one out. She hadn’t seen Dex since he’d stormed out. In fact, the only person she’d had any contact with was the guy who delivered her meals. She wasn’t sure whether he was deaf or just plain rude, but he never acknowledged any of her attempts to engage with him.
He just opened the door, dumped her food then left.
Which meant she was stuck here with only herself for company. She was bored out of her mind.
If that wasn’t enough, she’d managed to catch some sort of flu. Fever wracked her body. She would break out in a sweat that would eventually cool and chill her feverish body. She could barely stand anything against her skin. Since she refused to lie around naked, she’d pulled a light throw over her.
Even breathing was starting to hurt. She could barely sleep. She couldn’t eat. It was like she was in heat. But she wasn’t an animal. No, an illness was the only explanation.
When she did manage to sleep, her dreams were plagued by Dex. Sexy, erotic dreams.
If she was his mate, shouldn’t he want to be around her? She played his words over in her mind. He had to be joking, surely. Did he really expect her to thank him for kidnapping her? For taking her away from everything she knew? Shouldn’t he be the one thanking her? What was he giving up? Nothing.
Maybe he figured out you’re more trouble than you’re worth.
It wouldn’t be the first time that had happened to her.
That’s why you push men away first, huh, Zoey? So they can’t hurt you when they reject you like Marcus did?
Her fiancée had stuck around long enough to fall for their next-door neighbor. Zoey had come home from college to find her place had been cleared out, their bank account emptied, and her fiancée gone.
According to his note, he’d decided that she didn’t need him. Apparently, her next door neighbor did. So what if she could do everything for herself? It didn’t mean she didn’t like having a man around. Not that Marcus had been much of a man. She’d done almost everything around the apartment while he’d sat on his butt and played video games.
Okay, so he’d been a loser and she should thank her lucky stars he’d dumped her. But having someone around had seemed better than being alone.
When you were alone, you had too much time to think. Like right now, when she was beginning to seriously think about giving in. Maybe she should just swallow her pride and tell Dex what he wanted to hear.
No! She refused to give in to him. God, it hurt to think. Heat engulfed her as her nipples grew hard and peaked. Moisture coated her pussy, coating the tops of her thighs. It was embarrassing how wet she was. At one stage, she’d actually thought she may have peed herself in the midst of a heat wave.
Her clit throbbed so hard it hurt. She’d tried to bring herself to completion, to ease the ache, but nothing helped. In fact, she swore it made things worse.
“Milady?”
She opened her eyes, to find the guy who delivered her food looming over her, a concerned look on his face.
“Pardon?” She wiped her sweaty brow. Ick, so disgusting.
He rattled off a few more words. With a frustrated look, he turned and strode out, her uneaten tray of food in his hands.
Yet another male who was pissed off at her.
“Take a number, buddy,” she muttered. Men, who could figure them out? She’d thought that Pressad hated her and it turned out he’d been harboring some sort of infatuation for her.
Dex had claimed to be her mate. He’d sworn to kill anyone who harmed her and yet he’d locked her in here and left her to suffer from some mystery illness all alone.
She couldn’t even rest on the masic because she was scared it would move and she wouldn’t be able to get back down. The word Dex had used to lower it before eluded her. Why hadn’t she been paying more attention?
Oh yeah, because an angry Dex had been standing below her, threatening to smack her ass.
She sniffled, feeling sorry for herself. A shiver wracked her body as the sweat started to dry on her skin. A tear dripped down her cheek and she didn’t dare move to wipe it away, too scared the fever would begin all over again. It was growing more intense with each passing day.
“I’ll probably be dead by the end of the week,” she muttered to herself.
Closing her eyes, she let herself drift as shiver after shiver raced through her body.
“Zoey? Zoey?”
With a great deal of effort, Zoey opened her eyes to see Happy watching her with concern.
“Hey, Happy, how’s life treating you?”
“Treating me?” He frowned and glanced over his shoulder at Koran. “I don’t understand.”
“It means how are you?” she explained.
“Oh. I am well. You, however, are not looking well.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m dying. I’ll probably be gone by the end of the week.” Tears filled her eyes. “No one knows me here. No one will come to my funeral. You’ll probably just toss my dead carcass out an air hole, won’t you?”
He studied her with a puzzled look. “I didn’t understand everything you just said, but I do not believe you are dying.”
“Yeah? I’m so miserable I might as well be dead. I’ve got a fever that’s getting worse. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I have no friends, I’m locked in this room with nothing to do and my so-called mate hates me.”
“Dex doesn’t hate you,” he countered. “He’s just hurt.”
“Hurt? By what?” He was hurt? He should try being her. She was the injured party, not him.
“By you accusing him
of trying to force you.”
“Oh my God and they say women like to hold grudges. He pulled me onto his ship, carried me into his bedroom then tried to have his wicked way with me. Did he expect me to get down on my knees and thank him?”
Koran gazed down at her seriously. “That would have been the appropriate response.”
“I have news for you, Grumpy. That is never gonna happen. Oh, go away, both of you and let me die in peace.”
They looked at each other, then Thor crouched beside her. “You’ve lost weight.”
“Can’t eat. Sick, remember? Dying.” She placed the back of her hand over her eyes.
Koran sighed. “You’re not dying. Are you always this dramatic?”
“Are you always this ugly?” she snapped back. Not her best comeback but the fever was starting to grip her again, and she really wished they’d leave before she was completely overcome.
“Dex is going to have his hands full with her,” Koran stated disapprovingly.
“Dex isn’t getting his hands anywhere near me,” she stated before whimpering as heat washed over her.
Thor placed his finger under her chin and she cried out. It felt as though a thousand wasps were stinging her.
Thor jumped back, looking at Koran in shock. “Something’s wrong with her.”
“Duh,” she said, using her favorite saying from an old program she’d found in the archives. “I’m dying.”
“Stay here with her. I will return quickly,” Thor said to Koran.
She closed her eyes, ignoring Koran as they waited for Thor to return.
A few minutes later, Thor walked back in, carrying a silver suitcase. “I must examine you, Zoey.”
“No!” She shied away from him.
“Do not worry. I will not touch you.” Thor brought out a wand and ran it over her body, frowning. “These readings are unusual. I am going to need to take some blood. I need you to stay still, though. Are you capable of remaining still?”
“I don’t know,” she told him truthfully. “Even this throw hurts against my skin; I think a needle might kill me.”
“Do you require me to hold her down?” Koran asked, looking entirely too eager about that suggestion.
“No!” she yelled. “Please, don’t touch me.”
