The Ravager Chronicles: The Complete Series

by Sara Page

  “Stop! Don’t make me!”

  Beast makes the most awful sound. It sounds like he just got hurt. I look down. He jumps away from me, pulls out his guns, and starts firing.

  Oh, no. Did he just get hurt trying to protect me?

  I feel sick to my stomach. My feet scramble to find the rung below me. Somehow, I force my arms to go up. I can do this. I grab on to the next highest rung above me. It’s not for me, it’s for him. I pull myself up. Who knows what nasty creatures are down there.

  I glance down. I’ve only gone up a couple of feet, but the ground and Beast look so far away. No, don’t look down.

  I look up again. Just grab it, you can do it. He’d do it for you.

  Over and over, rung by rung, I pull myself up until I finally hear Beast stop firing.

  Is he below me or did something bad happen to him?

  Before I can muster the courage to look down, something grabs my leg and I scream.

  A familiar grumble and growl reassures me. It’s Beast.

  “Is it all clear now? Can I come down?” I ask, but I only get silence for an answer.

  Dammit. I tip my head back and look up. I can see what looks like some kind of floor made out of wood planks, but it's still half a tree up.

  I’m pretty sure that’s where he wants me to go, but I ask anyway, “Do I have to keep going?”

  He gives my leg a squeeze. Double dammit. Pretty sure that means I have to climb the rest of the way up.

  If only he could throw me over his shoulder and do the climbing for me….

  Chapter Sixteen

  I make it. Somehow I make it. Once I reach the top, I have the strongest urge to kiss the wood floor. I’m so relieved just to have something solid beneath me for the moment, I don’t care how far up I am. I don’t care that I’m hundreds of feet above the ground in a flimsy little house built into a tree.

  Beast climbs up just behind me. He grunts as his feet hit the floor and that’s when I remember that he might have gotten hurt because of me.

  “What happened down there?” I ask before realizing it was a waste of breath.

  The tree house has three walls with half a roof over them, all made of wooden planks. There are two corners that are safe. He limps over to the left corner and takes a seat on the floor. I walk over to him and kneel beside his legs.

  “How bad is it?” I ask.

  His face is emotionless as he looks back at me. He reaches down and starts to roll up the left leg of his black pants.

  I gasp. Something tore into him, just above his ankle. He’s bleeding, but I can’t tell how badly he’s hurt.

  “May I look?” I ask.

  He nods and I scoot closer. It feels as if his eyes are burning into the top of my head as I bend and take a closer look at his wound. His blood is black. It oozes from his wound and makes it pretty much impossible for me to tell just how big the actual wound is.

  I sigh and have to think. I need something to soak the blood up with.

  “Did you bring a first aid kit?” I remember there were quite a few of them in the storage room.

  I peek up and he shakes his head at me.

  “Of course you didn’t,” I think out loud. “I didn’t either. All I brought is this knife and the water on my back…”

  I forgot I had anything on me. I slip out of the backpack, then reach down and grab my knife.

  Beast grumbles something at me. I look up.

  “I have no clue what you’re saying.”

  He narrows his eyes and grumbles again.

  “Still no clue.”

  I grab my shirt, pull it away from my stomach and stab it with the knife.

  Beast makes a choking noise. I look over at him and for a purple guy, he’s looking awfully green.

  “Are you alright?”

  I use the knife to cut at my shirt some more, then I lay the knife on the floor and start tearing the bottom off.

  Before I finish tearing the swath of my shirt off, Beast leans forward and reaches for my knife.

  I snatch it first and frown at him, “Mine.”

  It’s the only weapon on this world I have. I won’t let him take it away from me.

  Beast grumbles and leans back. I narrow my eyes at him and secure the knife in its spot at my hip. I’m not taking any chances.

  I rip the rest of my shirt off, exposing my stomach. I’m mostly decent still, what remains of the shirt still covers my breasts, but it’s going to be a long night if it gets chilly. I then rip the fabric I have into strips. Balling up one of the strips, I bend over his leg and soak up the blood with it.

  Beast doesn’t make a sound. I clear away the blood until I can see the damage. His wound doesn’t seem to be terribly bad. I mean, it’s obvious he got bit by something with sharp teeth, but it looks like there are only a dozen or so deep puncture wounds. The puncture wounds are oozing, and the bleed is slowing. There doesn’t appear to be any tearing or ripping. Still, it must have hurt awfully bad to climb up the tree.

  “Is it okay if I bandage your leg?”

  I don’t wait for an answer, I just start doing it. I press a dry bunch of balled up fabric against his wound, then I wrap the strips of fabric I have around it.

  “I’m sorry you got hurt because of me,” I say softly.

  I tie the bandage in a knot then look up at him.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, though. I was a little worried down there.”

  He grumbles something and stares at me intensely.

  I sigh, “I wish I could understand you."

  He nods his head in agreement.

  “Do you mind if I sit beside you?”

  He pats his lap and I scowl. Perhaps that was lost in translation?

  “Beside you, not on you,” I say as I start to scoot towards the wall.

  I grab the backpack and bring it with me. It takes me forever to get settled but once I do, I feel much better with my back up against the wall. Heights make me feel very dizzy. Feeling dizzy and clumsy only increases the fear that I’m going to slip, trip, or fall over the edge.

  I was so focused on him, so focused on his injury, I forgot just where we are. I look up, through the open part of the roof. The sky is getting darker. The clouds are way too close. I hope we don’t have to stay here long.

  “Are we staying the night here?”

  Please say no. Please say no.

  He nods his head.

  Dammit.

  “We can’t go back to the ship?” I ask.

  He shakes his head.

  “We can’t make it to my pod?”

  He shakes his head again.

  I’m not going to get any sleep at all.

  “Who builds a treehouse with only three walls and half a roof?” I ask and take a sip of the water from my backpack. Just then I realize if I need to relieve myself tonight, I’m up a tree, and out of luck. I push the water away in disgust then wrap my arms around myself.

  Beast is a quiet presence beside me. No matter how much I try to relax, I feel overly aware of him. There’s static in the space between us. It has all the tiny hairs on my body standing on end, pointing at him.

  As the sky grows darker, the red glow from his eyes burns brighter. I try not to look at him. I try to keep my eyes glued to the sky. I can’t look at him because every time I do, he just looks so damn hungry. And I have nothing to feed him, though, I’m pretty sure it’s me he wants to eat.

  The stars start to appear. At first, there’s only a stray one here and there, twinkling lonely in the sky. But as full night falls, I can’t recognize the glittering constellations. It makes it all the more real that I’m far away from home. The stars here are too different. Everything here is too different. Oh, how I miss Terrea.

  “No one is coming for me,” I say sadly. My heart feels like it’s breaking just to admit it. “No one is looking for me. I’m stuck here forever.”

  Beast reaches out and touches my arm. His touch is warm. I didn’t realize I was so cold.

&nbs
p; “I’m the Princess. All my life they’ve been drilling into my head how important I am. If I was so important, they would have come for me by now.”

  I sense Beast scooting closer to me. I don’t try to stop him, but I don’t encourage him either.

  “Maybe no one cares. Maybe they’ve abandoned me.”

  Beast grumbles something softly.

  I go quiet and then I feel him nudging my shoulder as if he wants me to elaborate. It hurts. It hurts to think I’ll never go home again. It hurts even worse because it’s all my fault. If I would have only followed the rule, I wouldn’t be here.

  “It was my birthday party, the night I crashed here. My stepbrother had a special surprise for me….”

  I close my eyes as I remember.

  “I’m not allowed to leave the planet, so I’d never been up before. The next day, my betrothal was to be announced so…”

  Beast cuts me off with a menacing growl.

  I let him finish growling then look at him to ask, “Are you done?”

  He nods.

  “Do you want to hear the rest?”

  He nods again so I go on, “So it was pretty much my last chance to ever do it. He convinced me we would be back before anyone would even know we were gone.”

  I trusted Vrillum. When my father married his mother, Sarcia, I welcomed Vrillum with open arms. In my heart, I made a place for him as my brother because he was always so nice to me, even when his mother was distant and cold. Now, I wonder why he was so friendly. If it was all a farce.

  “The ride up actually made me sick. I appreciated the thought but immediately wanted to return home. Vrillum got angry with me. He called me an ungrateful, spoiled brat and refused to take me back down. He made me feel bad, made me feel guilty for not appreciating the risk he took for me so I apologized and stopped asking him to take me back home. Then, out of nowhere, another ship came and he freaked out. He said they were slavers and they must have known I was on the ship. He put me in the escape pod and told me he would distract them.”

  I take in a deep breath. I can feel the tears building behind my eyes. My nose starts to sting with the pressure of holding them back.

  “The pod went crazy. Instead of safely transporting me to Terrea, it somehow accelerated and crash landed here.”

  Beast rubs his hand up and down my arm. It would be comforting if it didn’t tingle so much.

  I look over at him and regret it. His demon eyes are filled with pity which somehow makes me feel even worse. The first tear drops, cold and unwanted against my cheek. Another follows, then another, until Beast becomes one great big red blur.

  “I think he planned all of this. I think Vrillum programmed the pod to purposely crash me here and disabled the UPS so no one can find it. I just don’t understand why he left me to die here.”

  The tears really start coming now. Vrillum left me to die here, alone and suffering, on this god forsaken planet. I’ll never speak to my father again. I’ll never see his smile or hear his voice. He probably thinks I’m dead or something worse. What if he thinks I ran off?

  All this time, I’ve tried not to think about it too much. I’ve tried to block it out and just focus on surviving. With everything going on, I let myself get consumed by the moment. Now, all this pent up emotion, all this stuff I’ve been too afraid to face has me bawling my eyes out. The tears just keep coming and I don’t know how to turn them off.

  At some point, Beast wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap. I fall asleep crying my heart out while snuggled up against the warmth of his chest.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When I wake up, my cheek is vibrating. It’s so weird. Why is it doing that? And why am I so warm?

  It takes me a moment to figure out what’s going on but slowly I start putting together the pieces. Two arms are wrapped snuggly around me, holding me close. Someone is snoring softly near my ear, it must be Beast.

  I’m sitting sideways on his lap. I vaguely remember him grabbing me up and holding me while I cried myself to sleep.

  I pull back my head and my cheek stops vibrating. I was using his chest as a pillow. That wet spot on his shirt must be from me. Oops. I guess I slept so well I drooled.

  It’s still dark but not as dark as I remembered. Beast’s eyes must be closed because there’s no red glow. Now that I’m awake, I can’t fall back to sleep. I don’t know quite what to do with myself except for to stay where I am. And if I have to be completely honest, I’m reluctant to leave the sanctuary of his arms.

  Here, with him, I’m safe and protected. Nothing will hurt me. I have nothing to fear.

  Carefully, I lean back until I can peek up at his face. His eyes are indeed closed and his face is relaxed even though his arms are tight around me. He must feel safe with me, otherwise I don’t think he would have fallen asleep. He’s left himself vulnerable and unprotected. I could do anything to him.

  I reach out, and before I even understand what I’m doing, I’m touching him. My fingers brush first across his cheek and then they trace the line of his jaw. Even now, I’m awed by the silky feel of his purple skin. He’s so hard and intimating. I still expect him to feel just as rough and hard as he looks.

  I don’t know why I’m doing it, it’s crazy. I know I’m just asking for trouble by leading him on. I just have the strongest urge to touch him, I can’t stop myself. It’s as if my fingers woke up with a mind of their own.

  His snoring ceases and for a moment, I think I’ve awakened him. His face remains relaxed. I watch him carefully for any signs of consciousness. When he doesn’t open his eyes or try to stop me, my exploration continues on.

  Down my fingers go, caressing the length of his neck. I pause at the hollow of his throat and lean in close. Breathing deep, I fill myself with his scent. He smells like the night air, musk, and the black roses that grow in my garden back home. Home, don’t think of home.

  There’s only right now and right here.

  My mouth is so close to his skin now, I have the craziest desire to find out if he tastes as good as he smells.

  I part my lips. My breath blows over his skin. At the last moment, I catch myself.

  What is wrong with you, Ameia? You can’t just lick a sleeping alien without his permission.

  I pull back and look up. His red eyes beam back at me. I feel like I just got caught stealing candy from the candy jar.

  “Good morning,” I stammer out.

  I lean back and drop my hands to my lap. I don’t know what I was doing or what came over me. I don’t understand why every time I touch him it tingles.

  Beast just stares at me all intense and very silent. It makes me feel so uncomfortable here, trapped, sitting on his lap. I can’t help but squirm. The way he’s staring at me makes me feel like he’s scrutinizing me. Even if he isn’t scrutinizing me, I feel so damn guilty for taking advantage of him.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologize and drop my eyes in shame. “I shouldn’t have touched you while you were sleeping.”

  I’d be pretty pissed if I woke up to him touching me.

  I expect him to be mad at me. I expect him to growl and grumble and voice his displeasure even though I don’t understand him. I certainly don’t expect him to kiss me.

  Our lips collide as his head comes down and it feels like we’re crashing into each other. Every thought that was running around in my head, every breath that was left in my chest is suddenly gone. Poof.

  All that exists is him and the parts of me that are touching him. Lights flash behind my eyes, jolts of electricity travel down my thighs, and my body burns as if it’s on fire.

  His mouth moves over my mouth. Hot, wet, and hungry.

  And all I want is more.

  This moment, this pleasure, is all that I have, it’s all that matters. It feels so good to be wrapped in his arms, to have his lips pulling at my lips. Life has sucked for so long now, I just want to feel good.

  Hungry and demanding, his lips urge my lips to open for him. Suckle by
suckle, he lulls me into relaxing against him. I part my lips and our tongues clash. I swear it feels like I was just struck by lightning.

  It’s unreal and almost too much. Too much sensation shooting down my spine. Too much pleasure warming my belly and spreading to my core. I can’t breathe, it’s like I’m drowning, drowning in feelings, tastes, and kisses.

  I try to pull away from him, but his arms only tighten. There’s no escape. I wanted this, I practically begged for it. I started the fire, now I have to feel it burn.

  His tongue moves in my mouth, caressing and stroking, leading my tongue until I pick up his heady rhythm. Honey, he tastes like warm honey, I vaguely realize. When was the last time I tasted something so sweet? He’s delectable. His taste is utterly intoxicating. I can’t help but want more and more.

  My hands reach out, clutching at his shirt. I feel like I need to hold on as he pushes himself deeper and deeper into me. He pushes until I feel the floor beneath my back.

  Beast never stops kissing me as he bends me backward and then comes down on top. At first, he hovers above me. Then, as I arch my body off the floor, aching to be closer to him, he comes down. The weight, the pressure, it’s like it scratches some deeply buried itch. I revel in the feel of him. Every inch of my skin that his skin touches sings with the pleasure of being beneath him.

  His chest vibrates harder, thrumming against my breasts. I break the kiss, I can’t help it. I cry out inside his mouth. He groans and swallows it.

  His lips glide down my mouth to my throat. If I thought him kissing on the mouth was intense, when he kisses my neck, my body is sizzling. But then he goes further. What’s left of my shirt goes up. His hot mouth covers my breast.

  “Beast!” I cry out in surprise.

  Hot, wet sensation. I’m melting, my nipple is a goner. His teeth scrape against it then he traps it and works it between his teeth.

  He’s trying to kill me. I’m going to die. Currents of white hot electricity are pulsing through me, all of it gathering in an unbearable throb between my thighs.

  “Please,” I groan out and wither beneath him. I’m asking him for something but I don’t know what I want.