by Mina Carter
Yeah, she could get used to living in a place like this, leaving the dirt and dust of the crowded human colonies behind…
As she looked up a tall, leather-clad figure stepped into the corridor, just before she reached the double doors to the medbay, and blocked her path.
Saal. Again.
She came to a stop, the long sweep of her skirts disguising the fact she’d almost skidded to avoid running into him. The Lathar were touchy-feely if they could get away with it, but mostly only if contact was initiated first. Bumping into, brushing up against, stepping close to… all counted as initiation, and she really didn’t want to go there with Saal. Like really didn’t want to go there. The keen look in his eyes and the determination said that would only end one way—with him trying to formally claim her in front of the court.
According to the weird rules the Lathar worked by, she could only refuse a claim three times before it got ugly. Originally, when they’d first been taken, the human women had been warned they’d end up in one of the pleasure houses—prostitutes used over and again by any warrior that walked through the door. Now they were under Daaynal’s protection, she doubted it would come to that, but she’d probably be sent home. Away from the alien culture she was starting to love… away from Laarn.
No way. No how.
“Good evening.” She inclined her head, trying to imitate the cool elegance she’d noticed Cat use around the Lathar warriors. Her voice came out breathy and cutesy.
Dammit, where was her inner bitch when she needed her? There was no way she could do what Cat did, her graceful manner a far cry from Jess’ bumbling ineptitude. They’d been friends for years, but at times she was envious of her beautiful, slender friend for her poise and grace. She loved Cat to bits, but she was so perfect… and Laarn was Tarrick’s twin, presumably with a similar upbringing and likely the same tastes. Probably why Laarn didn’t see Jess as a woman.
“Good evening? It would be a good evening if you would allow me to spend time with you.” Saal smiled as he stepped closer. Jess resisted the temptation to step back. It would be an admission of fear and she knew better than to show fear to a predator. Even one that walked on two legs like a Lathar warrior… especially one that walked on two legs like a Lathar warrior.
His gaze flickered over her hair, her face, and downward, over her figure encased in the floating robe-like dress of a Lathar woman. Pleasure flashed over his features. “You are the most beautiful female I have ever seen.”
Probably one of the only females he’d seen in recent years, the snarky voice in the back of her head added.
She ignored it, inclining her head in thanks for his compliment. Warlike they might be, but Latharian society did have rules and etiquette, and the human women had discovered the best way to deal with them at times was with politeness and formality.
Saal stepped closer, almost into her personal space, and she froze as he leaned in. “I want you, little human female, and I intend to have you,” he murmured in a deep voice, his lips not far from her ear. “You can run as much as you like, but you will be mine.”
The shiver rolled down her spine and she’d taken a step back before she could stop it. The feral smile that curved his lips said he’d seen the small movement. Fuck.
“Not this evening, she won’t,” a cold voice sounded from behind him.
Saal turned quickly to reveal Laarn standing in the doorway of the medbay, his arms folded over a broad chest. The look on his face was hard as he looked at Saal, but it softened somewhat as his gaze flicked to Jessica.
“Miss Kallson, thank you for coming so promptly. The test we were talking about is now ready.” He stepped slightly to the side, sweeping an arm toward the open door behind him. “If you would step this way?”
She could have kissed him out of sheer relief, sweeping past the hulking form of Saal where he almost filled the corridor and into the safety of the medbay behind Laarn. She turned just in time to see the look of fury that crossed the other warrior’s face as he squared up to Laarn. The temperature in the corridor dropped a couple of degrees. Although the healer hadn’t moved, the set of his body and the sudden tension in his frame said he was more than happy to meet violence with violence should Saal offer it.
Holding her breath, she waited as the two men locked gazes, a tremor running down her spine. She’d seen challenge fights erupt between warriors over the slightest little thing, and they were always brutal. But fights over women seemed to be something else.
She’d only seen one, when they’d first arrived on Lathar Prime and a warrior had taken a liking to Jane. The fight between him and Karryl had been furious and ruthless, and it had nearly claimed Karryl’s life when the other guy cheated. Karryl only survived because one of the women, not giving two hoots about the warriors’ honor code, pulled a gun on the challenger and threatened to blow his brains out.
But the three of them were the only ones here, and she didn’t have a gun. Saal didn’t back down, taking a half step toward the big healer. The tension between them was electric. She wouldn’t have been surprised to see sparks flying between them as Laarn dropped his hands to his sides.
“You want to do this?” the healer growled, his voice far lower and more dangerous than Jess had ever heard it before. The rough edge and tones shivered over her skin, the sound turning her on. Hell, what was wrong with her? A guy’s voice alone shouldn’t turn her on this much.
Laarn lifted a hand, and the sound of tearing fabric filled the corridor as he ripped open his jacket, shrugging it off to dump it on the floor at his feet. Jess caught her gasp as his body was revealed, all hard, ripped muscle and scars over every inch of skin. The power there turned her on, even as what he’d been through made her heart ache. The scars were from his healer’s trials, where he’d suffered through every disease, ailment and surgery he would treat as a healer. In the Lathar tradition, the more pain a healer could take, the higher their level of training.
Laarn was a lord healer… the highest level of doctor they had. The highest-ranking healer in the empire.
Saal’s expression shifted as he saw the scars, his eyes widening imperceptibly. His skin paled a little as he inclined his head.
“My apologies, Lord Healer. I meant no offense. I merely wish to protect Lady Jessica.”
Laarn clenched his fists, white showing over his knuckles. “That duty is not yours to assume. Lady Jessica and the other Terran women are under the protection of the emperor, and by extension, his family. Me. Leave. Now. Before you overstep your bounds, warrior.” Laarn practically spat the words.
Saal backed up before he started to step forward, ducking his head. “Of course, Lord Healer. My apologies,” he muttered, and turning, disappeared down the corridor.
Jess sagged a little, her hip against the nearest diagnostic bed as relief washed through her hard and fast that it hadn’t come to a fight.
“Oh my goodness, thank you.” Her voice was soft, heartfelt, as the double doors to the medbay shut at a wave of Laarn’s hand. She’d seen the gesture many times before, but not the one that followed it. The door turned red, indicating he’d locked it.
“You shouldn’t thank me,” Laarn’s voice was a growl as he turned and she sucked in a hard breath at the look on his face. “All you’ve managed to do is shut yourself in with a worse danger. Me.”
ANGER ROLLED THROUGH HIM, hard and fast, at the danger Jess had put herself in. Why she’d left the ballroom without an escort he had no idea, but it just proved how draanthing clueless she was about their culture.
“You? Dangerous?”
She laughed, but the sound was a little unsure, her eyes wide and wary as she watched his every movement. As expected, there was the little flicker downward of her gaze to his scars for a second, but then she fixed her eyes resolutely on his, as though by ignoring his scars they didn’t exist.
“You’re not dangerous, to me…” She cleared her throat, a small cough to cover her unease. “Not to any of us. You said it
yourself, we’re under your protection and that of the emperor…”
Oh goddess, she really was clueless. Laarn bit back a growl as he started to advance. She really needed to be taught a lesson if she thought any Lathar warrior was harmless.
“Not dangerous?” he asked, his voice light as he stalked forward. Her survival instincts must have kicked in because she backed up, keeping the diagnostic bed between them like a shield. “Sure about that?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded, but he could see the tremor that rolled through her tiny frame. Lust flared to life within him, his cock rock hard in an instant and ready to burst through his leathers. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman, a long time since any woman had interested him. But she did.
All he could think of was pinning her against one of the beds, boosting her up onto its large flat surface, and what she’d look like beneath him, her hair spread out around her head like a dark cloud. The mental image brought a growl to his throat, and he stalked her around the bed.
“Laarn?”
Her voice was breathy. Soft. He could almost imagine what she’d sound like if she moaned. It didn’t help the state of his body any and his cock jerked savagely. He was hard enough to punch through steel, never mind through the well-worn warrior’s leathers he wore beneath his healer’s sash.
She circled the bed again, but he was ready for her. Instead of going around it, he planted a hand in the center and vaulted over to land on her side. Her little gasp fed his arousal further, and she backed up with her hands out as if to ward him off.
“Still think I’m not dangerous?” He couldn’t help taunting her, each stalking step forward slow and deliberate. “Think again. Every warrior is dangerous. Especially to you. Every warrior out there has spent a lifetime without a woman… Only the oonat.” He curled his lip in disgust. “Animals. Some of us won’t touch them… Meaning there are men out there who have spent a lifetime without knowing the soft touch of a woman, having felt delicate skin under a calloused palm, or the scent of her skin wrapping around his will like a siren’s call.”
Her eyes widened as each of his descriptions matched a further step back until her back hit the wall between two support struts. He reached them, planting his hands either side of her head so she was corralled. Captive. At his mercy.
Just where he wanted her.
“And with men like that around,” he continued, knowing he was talking about himself as much as any of them. “Men half-crazy with lust and hunger, you still think it’s a good idea to walk around alone? Unprotected? Unguarded?”
He inched forward with each word, until he pressed against her, her breasts flush with his broad chest. This close, he could see the flutter of her pulse at her throat, fast and wild… the shortness of her breath as she struggled to breathe, and the darkening of her eyes as she looked up at him.
He had to be scaring her, but he didn’t care. She needed to know this. She needed to be scared, to be wary of any warrior. And who better to give her the lesson than a scarred monstrosity like him. A man she was already terrified of… and couldn’t bear to look at. Scaring her sent a lance of pain through his heart, but he steeled himself against it. Better him than another warrior. Any other warrior wouldn’t just scare her to make a point, he’d claim her, bind her to him, and then she would have no escape.
Just as he wanted to… He fought that thought down, locking it away in the back of his mind. He wouldn’t claim her, couldn’t claim her because there was no way she would want him to. So he’d stick to just scaring her into being more sensible. Or, goddess help him, he’d kill any warrior who claimed her when she didn’t want them to.
What happens when she does want them to? The little voice in the back of his head wanted to know. He ignored that as well, not even wanting to think along those lines. He would deal with it when it happened.
“I’m not unguarded. You’re here to protect me,” she argued, her hands on his broad chest as she tried to push against him.
The warning growl from the back of his throat put a stop to that and she looked up at him with wide eyes. They were the clearest blue, pale and piercing, and haunted his dreams. The round shape, so unlike his own slitted pupils, fascinated him.
“Perhaps I don’t want to protect you.”
His voice was blunt and rough as he slid a hand into her hair, cupping the back of her neck and hauling her up against him. He expected her to struggle, steeled his hold against it as he covered her lips with his. Hard and ruthless, he swept a tongue against her lips, prying them open to delve inside.
But she didn’t struggle. Her lips parted as she melted against him. Her sweet taste exploded on his tongue, the softness he found almost bringing him to his end then and there. Soft hands went from pushing him to clinging, and then one of them slid up into his hair. Another growl broke from the back of his throat as her slender fingers tangled in the long locks, teasing and tempting him.
It was just too much. He’d intended the kiss to be a warning, nothing more, nothing less. But feeling her surrender against him, her mouth soft and pliant under his kiss, as her curvy little body was submissive against his was just too much. Sliding his hands down her sides, he ducked down and hoisted her up to pin her against the wall with his body, wrapping her legs around his hips.
She whimpered under his lips and the tiny noise sent arousal thundering though his veins like a drakeen tank-bot on a charge. His kiss turned from hard and brutal to slow and sensual. Expecting her to push him away at any moment, he concentrated on memorizing the taste of her, how she felt under his hands, the feeling of her hands in his hair. If he never had another taste of heaven like this, he wanted to remember every moment.
But she didn’t push him away. Instead, her hips rocked against his and he groaned, his cock hard and heavy against the warmth of her covered pussy. His hands tightened on her hips and it was all he could do to keep them there. The long skirts of her robe swirled around them, trapped between them, but they were nothing more than a flimsy barrier. It would be the work of a moment to tear the delicate fabric from her, rip open his leathers and bury himself balls deep in her softness. Claim her as his own.
And she would hate him for it. She couldn’t even look at him.
Pulling away, he ignored her little sound of disappointment with iron control and looked down at her with a hard look.
“See how easy it would be for me to take you?” he bit out, hands turning hard on her hips, holding her still before he lost all sense or reason. “I could easily tear this pretty little thing from you and fuck you senseless up against this wall, and there’s nothing you could do to stop me. Nothing,” he growled, shaking her slightly when she opened her mouth to speak. A roll of his hips had his cock pressing hard against her.
“I could take you, use you any way I wanted to, and there would be nothing, nothing, you could do about it. You think all warriors are like Tarrick and Karryl?” He laughed harshly. “We’re not. They’re the good guys. You get that? They’re both honorable and nice. I’m not. Not many of us are. You understand me?”
Her eyes widened, fear finally sneaking into the blue, and she nodded. Hating himself for putting it there, he let go of her and set her on her feet. “You’re lucky I came along to save you from Saal J’Qess,” he rumbled as he stepped away, trying to ignore the fact she was unsteady on her feet as she straightened her dress. “He’s an asshole. I’ve heard him boasting about his exploits. He’d claim you and keep you on your knees, your mouth, pussy or ass filled with cock.”
Just the thought of her in the other warrior’s bed was enough to send fury ripping through him. Quickly, he turned away so she wouldn’t see his expression, the need and lust he knew had to be written on his features. She wasn’t for him, no matter what his uncle said, and the quicker he got that through his head the better.
“Right, since you’re here,” he grumbled. “We might as well make use of the time. I have extra tests I can run, and then I’ll take you back to the w
omen’s quarters.”
3
T hree days later Jess’ lips still tingled from Laarn’s kiss. He’d barely looked at her as he’d run a barrage of tests, ignoring the few questions she’d gotten up the courage to ask. Her body had been on fire for his touch, but once he’d let her go, it had been as though she hadn’t existed as a woman.
Again.
Frustration beat at her as she paced in the central room of the women’s quarters, a common feeling where the tall, handsome healer was concerned. Her steps took her across the plush run in the middle of the floor and back again, the soft swish of her skirts against her ankles a calming refrain completely ignored in her agitation.
He’d kissed the daylights out of her, giving her a hint of the kind of passion she’d only dreamed of before he shut her out. Stopping at the window, she looked out over the courtyard below. A number of the K’Vass warriors were training down there and she absently watched them, admiring the strength and speed they moved with and the power in their big, masculine bodies. The fact that they were related to her on a species level still boggled her mind. How had they gotten from the lethal grace and sheer size of the Lathar to humanity?
“They’re amazing. Aren’t they?” Kenna’s voice sounded by her ear as the other woman came to stand beside her. “Utterly amazing in a firefight. Have you seen them training with the combat bots yet?”
Jess shivered, remembering the attack and subsequent capture of the sentinel base where all the women had been captured. They’d used the red-eyed, silver-skinned bots then. Their bladed fingers still gave her nightmares. “No, not yet. I hate those things.”
