by Zoey Draven
“Oh god,” she whispered, eyeing him with the same realization he’d had. “How are we going to…”
Keep their hands off each other?
“I have no idea,” he admitted, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her smooth ankle.
In the next moment, Valerie had shoved her food back inside the satchel and plopped it to the ground.
Then she pushed him forward and he toppled off the bed in surprise, landing on his back on the floor. When she climbed down onto him, straddling his hips, the startled laugh died in his throat.
“No time for eating then,” she told him, determination sketched into every line of her face. She kissed him, her tongue lapping at his lips, and he groaned, his hands gripping the flesh of her ass possessively.
The problem was…
Dravka didn’t think this desperate need for her would ever pass. Not tomorrow, or in the next week, the next year, the next couple decades.
For the rest of their lives together.
Dravka grinned.
It was a good problem to have, he decided, especially when he had such a tempting mate.
“How did we ever go so long without doing this?” she breathed against his lips.
Dravka remembered the last five years. The whispered conversations in his room, the lingering glances, the touches that felt like electricity over his skin.
Again, he rasped, “I have no vauking idea, mellkia.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Valerie was standing at the window in their little heaven-filled room. Yesterday drifted in and out of her mind, eliciting a ridiculous grin across her face, as she looked out at Nimida.
Her body felt different. She’d had sex before when she was younger, but she’d never had sex like what she’d shared with Dravka. Life-changing, consuming, magnificent sex. Lovemaking, though, she corrected silently…because wasn’t that what it was?
She shivered, though she was already dressed in her clothes. A simple shirt and pants from her closet, which she’d discovered that Dravka had packed for her when she’d asked him to retrieve her mother’s perfume…when she still believed that she could let him go.
He’d packed a week’s worth of her clothes, along with his, in that small satchel he’d taken from the brothel. Enough clothes to see them through to Dumera.
But her skin felt different in these clothes. She felt sensitive, the fabric caressing her in a way she’d never been aware of. There was a sensual awareness now, at the forefront of her mind, that hadn’t been there before. And she knew it was from Dravka, from his touches, his kisses, the way his body stroked expertly and perfectly inside her.
She shivered again, her heartbeat picking up. She could hear him in the shower tube, washing. She’d already been bathed and dressed by the time he woke. Valerie knew that they needed to catch the ship to Nzonito on time and showering with him would…be a distraction. It would make them very, very late.
Dravka had mentioned something about six rings and that was when the ship would depart. She hadn’t noticed before, so wrapped up with him in bed, but now that she listened, she could hear them. Loud bells that rang over Nimida at certain intervals of time. The loudest and longest of the bells started at the top of every hour, whereas quieter bells rang every half hour.
Well, she’d already heard the fifth bell, chiming as the artificial sunlight began to spread over Nimida. It was what had prompted her to wake Dravka.
Despite the early hour, it was bustling down below on the street corridor. Beings of all species—some she recognized, others she did not—strode along, all heading around the corner to the main depot, the beginnings of which she could just make out. Most had luggage and bags and satchels. All travelers.
The shopkeepers, those that lived on Nimida, watched the travelers pass, leaning outside their shops, talking to one another, passing a long pipe that smoked between them. When someone entered their shop, they’d help them and once they left, they’d go back to smoking and chatting.
A simple way of life, she supposed. Wonderful in its simplicity. She could do with a simple life from now on.
And we’ll have it. Together, she thought, her grin widening.
Then she saw something that wiped that grin clean off.
Val felt the color drain from her face.
Down in the corridor, she caught sight of flaming red hair.
The color of rubies and bright blood.
Shimmering in Nimida’s early morning sunlight.
Valerie’s breath left her and she froze, her limbs going cold, her heart stopping in her chest before beginning to beat wildly.
“No,” she breathed, pressing closer to the window, praying to all the gods and goddesses in the universe that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
But when Madame Allegria stopped in front of the inn they were staying at, when her color-altered blue eyes flashed as she peered up at it, frowning at the sign, Valerie knew that this was real.
Her aunt had found her.
Which meant that the tracker in her shoulder hadn’t been destroyed as Dravka, Ravu, and Tavak thought. Which meant that Valerie had led her right to them.
This was what she’d been afraid of. All her worst fears crossing over the barrier into her reality.
Behind her, she heard Dravka still in the shower tube. Down below, she saw Madame Allegria motion to two human guards she’d brought with her, waving her hand to the inn. So, she knew where they were staying. Of course the tracker had led her here.
Madame Allegria and the two human guards strode into the inn and Valerie lost sight of them.
And she knew what she had to do.
Valerie spun in place, knowing she didn’t have much time. She felt determination rise in her.
She can’t find them, she knew.
Madame Allegria would have them arrested, especially if she knew about Gabriel. Her aunt would take any excuse to take possession of the Keriv’is again, her Krave.
The thought made Valerie sick.
She couldn’t find them…but for the first time, Valerie knew that she would fight like hell so that Madame Allegria wouldn’t get her either.
Her words to Dravka returned to her. That for once, she wanted to be optimistic for their future together, that she didn’t want to constantly be thinking that the worst would happen.
Well, the worst had happened.
Madame Allegria had found them on Nimida.
But Valerie would do everything in her power to ensure that she would be leaving on that vessel for Nzonito at the sixth bell.
Her eyes landed on the only small table in the room, laden with an empty tray of food, spare bandages, more numbing injections, a vial of pain medication…and the last sedative injection that Tavak had given Dravka from the med kit in case she needed it. The first two had been used on Gabriel, the third had been used on her on their journey to Nimida.
Right then, Valerie pocketed the last. The water was still running in the shower tube but she knew that Dravka would be done soon.
After a moment of hesitation, she unlocked the door and left the room. If he looked at her face, he would know something was wrong. He couldn’t be involved in this and Valerie was determined to make it back to him.
They would figure out the tracker in her shoulder once they landed on Nzonito. Valerie would cut it from the bone herself if it meant that they would be safe, that Madame Allegria would never be able to locate them again.
Valerie raced down the dark, quiet corridor. For the first time, she realized the doors were somewhat thin. She heard beings talking quietly in their rooms, the sounds muffled. She could only imagine what people had thought when Dravka had been making her scream with pleasure…but she didn’t dwell on that now.
As luck would have it, just as she reached the stairwell which led down to the lobby—their rooms were on the third floor of the inn—Tavak emerged from his room. He paused when he spotted her, his lips downturning.
“Val? Where’s Dravka?” he asked.
Valerie felt the length of the sedative injection in her pocket, heavy and cold. A slight inkling of panic began to fill her. He couldn’t leave his room. If he did, Madame Allegria would see him.
“He’s showering,” Valerie said. “I—I have to go down to the lobby for something.”
Tavak frowned and Valerie was acutely aware that every moment they wasted, her aunt might be that much closer to discovering their room numbers, or she might be climbing up the stairs with the two guards she’d brought with her.
“What do you need?” Tavak asked. “Dravka wouldn’t want you wandering around without him. I’ll go with you.”
“No!” she exclaimed, her breath hitching. Then her shoulders sagged because she realized that she wouldn’t be able to get past him without telling him something. “Please just…just go back in your room. I have to take care of something. Tell Dravka that I’ll meet you out front in fifteen minutes, okay? Be ready to leave then.”
His brows furrowed. “Val—”
“I’m going to the shop, just across the street,” Val said, her tone sounding exasperated though really, it was just panic at that point. “For…human female things, all right? I’d like privacy.”
Realization dawned on Tavak and she saw his expression shift towards…well, not suspicion, at least.
His lips pressed together, but Valerie was already flying by him, her feet hitting the stairs.
“I’ll be back soon,” she tossed over her shoulder, hoping that her tone sounded breezy enough, when really it was breathlessness.
“Vauk,” she heard Tavak curse, indecision in his voice, but she didn’t wait to hear anymore.
She raced down the stairs, her heartbeat thumping in her throat. The staircase down to the second floor was long and winding. Valerie didn’t even remember coming up it but then again, she remembered that Dravka had carried her up when they’d arrived two nights ago.
This has to work, she decided. It has to.
She just had to believe that it would.
She just had to believe that this would be the last time that she’d ever see her aunt.
The landing on the second floor was narrow and looked identical to the one on the third floor, a long corridor stretching out both ways, dark and quiet, doors to about a dozen rooms on either side closed tightly.
Valerie was just about to descend towards the lobby when she heard the echoing of…heels. Quiet voices, one she recognized, and heels.
Madame Allegria was coming up the stairwell from the lobby. In the echoing, the words started to become clearer the higher they climbed. Her aunt was saying, “…need to find them at the perfect moment. The vessel will take time to refuel. We need to stall. And don’t kill any of them, I want them alive.”
Hatred burned through her at the words, making her scowl, paused on the second-floor landing.
Her aunt wanted to stall?
Well, Valerie had every intention of getting out of there on time. She could handle her aunt, she believed, but what would she do about the guards? Especially if they were armed.
I’ll figure it out, she knew.
Valerie didn’t want to hide but she also didn’t want her aunt to believe she’d willingly come to meet her. That would only make her suspicious.
So Valerie started to descend the stairs, her heart pumping steadily and hard. Her teeth were gritted together as the sound of heels became louder and louder. She could almost smell her aunt’s perfume. Just one more turn and…
There she was, climbing the steps and looking put out because of it. Her red hair was swaying behind her. She was dressed in a bright magenta dress that molded to her curves. Her red lips were pursed in a frown. And behind her were the two guards, younger men, with the unmistakable outline of stunners strapped to their hips.
Valerie made her eyes go round when Madame Allegria glanced up at her. Valerie froze on the steps but her aunt recovered first, lunging forward to grab her arm, her nails digging into her flesh, hard enough to draw blood.
“Well, if it isn’t my little niece,” Madame Allegria hissed, pulling her up the flight of stairs with renewed vigor until she was back on the second-floor landing. “How wonderful to see you here on Nimida. Enjoying your little vacation?”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Madame Allegria was pissed. Furious. Valerie could hear it in her tone.
She had to know about Gabriel too. About the engagement.
Valerie kept silent though she struggled in her grip, to make a good show of it, which would undoubtedly delight her sadistic aunt.
Madame Allegria motioned forward at her guards, who went down the left corridor and forced open the nearest door, breaking the lock.
Mercifully, the room was unoccupied and Madame Allegria dragged her in there, tossing her towards one of the two chairs that flanked the small table. For a moment, Valerie was disoriented because the room was almost a perfect replica of the one she’d shared with Dravka. Everything was positioned the exact same.
“One of you stay out there and guard the door,” Madame Allegria said. The blond guard nodded his head and stepped out into the hallway while the darker haired one stayed inside the room with them, his hand straying to the stunner on his hip, watching her carefully, though his expression remained blank.
The door slid closed and silence stretched, uncomfortable and thin, as Madame Allegria seemed to regain her careful composure. She frowned down at the only other empty chair in the room, then regarded the bed with the same distaste, before deciding to take a seat at the table.
Her aunt sat straight and rigid, as if every surface in the room was incredibly filthy. She took one deep breath in, one deep exhale out, and then she turned those blue, cutting eyes on Valerie.
But Valerie was immune to such a look now. Once, it might have made her cower. Once, it might have made her afraid to be whipped and abused again.
Now, Valerie had purpose.
“Where are they?” her aunt asked, her words clipped.
Valerie ignored the question.
“How did you find me?” Valerie asked quietly, glaring at her aunt across the table.
Madame Allegria settled back in the seat, keeping her icy eyes on her, narrowed. Observing. Watching.
Valerie wondered what it was that she saw.
“Celine Larchmont is a bitter bitch of a woman,” Madame Allegria said. Valerie’s stomach dropped slightly. Had Celine betrayed them? “She thought she could sneak you all off Everton and I wouldn’t find out?”
Valerie kept her confusion well-hidden.
So…maybe Celine hadn’t betrayed them?
“Though you destroyed your tracker,” Madame Allegria said, her tone changing, becoming light like they were discussing the weather, “maybe you didn’t realize that the last transmission came from the Larchmonts’ private port.”
Relief went through Valerie. So Ravu really had destroyed it after all. Valerie had been mistaken.
It only strengthened her resolve to be free of this disease of a woman. Because if she managed to get away, Madame Allegria would never find her again.
“And pilots aren’t always so discreet, especially when…incentivized,” Madame Allegria continued.
“So you tracked us to the Larchmonts’ port and paid off the pilot when he returned,” Valerie said. “Isn’t bribery a little beneath you?”
“Not when it gets me what I want,” Madame Allegria said, a satisfied smirk crossing her features.
“How’d you know we were here at the inn then? The pilot didn’t know that,” Valerie said, continuing to glare.
“No, but a shopkeeper did. When I told him I was looking for three Keriv’i criminals traveling with a human…well, that would be easy to remember, wouldn’t it? He told me he’d seen some Keriv’i coming and going from here.”
So it hadn’t been the customs agent, Valerie thought. Which meant that her aunt might not know where they were heading. A small relief.
It didn’t matter, as soon
as they landed on Nzonito, they would need to take a departing flight off the transport hub anywhere, just to be safe.
“You will be returning to Everton with me,” Madame Allegria said, her features taking on a cold, unyielding expression. “You and the Krave. After what they did to Gabriel, I’ll have them imprisoned.”
Valerie’s brow furrowed. That didn’t make any sense to her.
“Why?”
“Because if they are, we can explain to Derek what happened,” Madame Allegria snapped, her impatience growing. The dark-haired guard behind her shifted on his feet at her tone and Valerie felt the slim sedative injection pressed against her thigh. “We can say the Krave attacked Gabriel and kidnapped you in an effort to escape Everton, using you as a hostage, that Gabriel bravely tried to stop them.”
“That’s not what happened! And Celine would never agree to—”
Madame Allegria cut her off, growling, “Don’t you understand, you foolish little girl? It doesn’t matter what she wants. It doesn’t even matter what Gabriel wants. It matters what Derek wants and what he wants is his little brat of a son to be married and settled.”
Breath escaped Valerie’s lips. Her aunt still thought the engagement and the marriage could be salvaged.
Then again…her words revealed to her that Madame Allegria still had no idea that Celine Larchmont—that bitter bitch, as her aunt had called her—was now in possession of information that would destroy her.
There would be no wedding.
And Valerie had no intention of leaving Nimida with her.
“Gabriel’s pride will be saved, looking like a hero, and Derek gets what he wants,” her aunt continued, smoothing her features once more. A monster in a mask. Like a striking snake. Ugly one moment, calm the next. “We all get what we want.”
“Except me,” Valerie said, catching her aunt off guard with the small, bitter smile that crossed her face. “Except Dravka and Tavak and Ravu.”
Madame Allegria checked the time on her Nu device and Valerie’s fingers nudged into the pocket of her pants, curling around the sedative. She would have to distract the guard somehow before she would get a chance to use it. Or maybe she could use it once they left the hotel, when Madame Allegria’s guard was down and she thought Valerie would go willingly. Maybe then she could run. It would be easier to escape the guards at least.
