“She is just one small, lousy human,” Iell said. “You make this about war by hiding her!”
“She’s my mate,” Krig announced.
Iell stared at him for a long moment, his demon eyes staring daggers at him. “Then you’ll die as well.”
The view screen clicked off, and suddenly the ship was pelted with a barrage of attacks, each one more destructive than the last. They weren’t going to make it much longer. The ship had suddenly become a ticking time bomb. Krig hurried to his chair and pressed for the emergency signal telling everyone at once to abandon ship.
“Get out of here!” he yelled over the warning. “Get to life pods and jettison yourselves!”
He had to get to Keirah, had to get her a life pod. His men were trained for such an emergency so he trusted each one would find their way off the ship, but humans wouldn’t know what to do because the emergency signal was in his native language.
Luckily, the elevators were still functioning, and he took them all the way down to the crew quarters. He hoped that Geoffrey and Keirah were smart enough to have gotten dressed because they didn’t have much time left. The ship was starting to lose power because he felt the gravity plating beginning to list.
Right before he reached his door, however, it opened, and he saw Geoffrey and Keirah. He skidded to a halt. They eyed him with fear.
“The ship is compromised,” he said.
“You think?” Geoff asked sarcastically.
“Come,” he said waving his hand. “We need to use an escape pod.”
He led them down the corridor to the far section. The ship was hit again, and this time it was bad because small explosions could be heard. Krig cursed. Whoever the traitor was who’d done this to his ship would pay dearly. He vowed that on his soul.
They reached the area where the escape pods were located, and he had to manually open the door. Each level was equipped with the pods and there were twice as many as the crew roster, so Krig had no doubt that his men would’ve obeyed his command and gotten off the ship.
“Come on,” he said. “Keirah, go!”
“I thought the captain was supposed to go down with the ship,” Geoff said.
“Why would I go down with the ship?” he asked.
“It’s an old Earth saying.”
“Then Earth is weird.”
Geoff was next, and then he scrambled inside. The pod was larger since it was designed for four people, and Krig made his way to the console.
“Strap in,” he ordered and then started up the pod.
Seconds later, he’d jettisoned them into the dark vastness of space. He brought up the second half of the view screen in the nick of time to see his ship explode. There wasn’t any sound, nor was there any fire since there wasn’t any oxygen in space. One minute the ship was there, the next, it was small bits of matter.
“What the fuck happened?” Geoff demanded.
“The Xyran you killed, Keirah, had a brother, and he wanted me to hand you over,” he said grimly. “I didn’t have a fighting chance. A traitor helping the Xyrans sabotaged us by putting a virus in our computer system to shut down our shields.”
“Wait. The Xyran knew about me?”
“That’s what I said,” he snapped.
“No, I mean the Xyran wanted me in exchange for your ship?”
“Correct.”
“You didn’t give me up to save your ship?” she asked, wild disbelief in her voice.
He glanced at her quickly. “You are my mate now, regardless if we’ve consummated the deed yet or not. I will defend you with my life.”
She started crying, and he set the autopilot on before turning to face her fully.
“Why are you crying?”
“Thank you,” she said, wiping her cheek. She shot a quick apologetic glance at Geoff before unbuckling her seat belt to approach him.
“You should not unbuckle yourself,” he told her. “We could run into debris.”
But she ignored him and leaned over him, wrapping her arms around him. His eyebrows shot up, and he looked helplessly at Geoff, who only gave a big sigh and looked away.
“What are you doing?” he asked her.
“I’m hugging you. Surely you hug on Alpha.”
“Yes, there is hugging. But why are you hugging me?”
“Because you chose to protect my life.”
He managed to put his hands on her shoulder and pull her back to look into her pretty blue eyes. “You’re my mate.”
And slowly, she nodded. “Yes. I am your mate.”
Chapter Five
Keirah’s eyes fluttered open, and it took her a moment to remember where she was at. The life pod. Geoff. Krig. In that order. After her realization that Krig had sacrificed his ship in order to save her, weariness had hit her between the eyes with a two by four. She hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the night before, had gotten none on Krig’s ship, so the moment Krig had declared them safe for the moment, she’d collapsed.
Now Krig sat in the console chair, and Geoff stood next to him, arms folded in front of his chest as he listened to Krig.
“This life pod has two weeks’ worth of provisions for four people,” Krig was saying. “I’ve turned the oxygen down slightly to stretch it out, and the control button is located here. We should ration water and food to make them stretch out longer as well.”
“You’re not expecting us to be rescued? We didn’t seem to be in space all that long.”
“We’d already entered the jump,” Krig said. “We’re far out of your Sol System, halfway to Alphan space.”
“Did you send out a distress call?”
“I did,” Krig answered. “As soon as my ship became compromised it sent out a distress call and this life pod has a tracking ping, but it’s a double edge sword. Somewhere out there is the Xyran Commander, Iell, and you better believe he’s monitoring all frequencies hoping to find us before an Alphan ship does.”
“Shit,” Geoff muttered. “I don’t know how Keirah managed to kill that fucking alien. He was quick. He disappeared, and before I knew it he was punching me out.”
“Xyrans have the ability to blend into their backgrounds. They are … what’s that creature on Earth that can do that?”
“A chameleon?”
“That’s it. They are demon chameleons. Next time, don’t get knocked out. Your job is to protect Keirah.”
“Keirah does a damn fine job taking care of herself,” Geoff said.
But Krig shook his head, clearly exasperated. “You are such a foolish man, Geoffrey DeWinter. A woman is valuable, fragile, and vulnerable. She needs to be handled with care.”
Geoff snorted. “I realize you Alphan men have been deprived of females for a while, but Keirah is tough and savvy, and if you call her fragile and weak to her face, she’ll kick you in the nuts so hard you’ll spit them out of your mouth.”
Krig cocked his head. “Nuts?”
“Your balls. Testicles.”
“Oh,” Krig said. “I see. Do all Earth men let their women fight their battles?”
“Hold up,” Geoff protested. “I was knocked out.”
“You left her defenseless. Now that I think about it perhaps your job should be something else because you clearly can’t protect her.”
“Fuck you! You think I’m weak?”
“I think you’re human,” Krig corrected. “There is a big difference between you and me. I was quite impressed with her when I first met her in the cargo bay, holding a blaster at my head with a dead Xyran at her feet. It’s a good thing I came along when I did because clearly you aren’t man enough to do the job.”
“You’re un-fucking believable!” Geoff got right into his face and poked Krig in the chest with a finger. “You know what? The mating is off.”
“Geoff,” Keirah protested as she sat up. “You can’t do that. I promised him.”
“You can un-fucking promise him,” Geoff muttered and turned away from both of them. “The worse part of this is that
I can’t go off and sulk on my own. How long before we’re rescued?”
“Listen,” she soothed, running a hand over his shoulder. “Go sit in the bathroom for a few minutes. Take a deep breath and relax.”
“Relaxing on the john,” he said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Oh, joy.”
But he did what she suggested, and a moment later had latched himself into the private area.
“Don’t be so hard on him,” she ordered.
Krig raised his eyebrows. “He is acting like a child.”
“This is stressful for him, a position he hasn’t been in before. Take it easy, okay?”
“No, I need to be harder. This is a dangerous situation, Keirah, and I’ve got to know he’s able to watch my back.”
“Oh, he’s got your back. Trust me, he knows how to handle himself. He’s very street smart.”
“I don’t know what that means. But I have only your word on his worth..”
“That’s because you don’t know anything about us.”
“You’re right,” he acknowledged. “So tell me something. How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two. So is Geoff. We were in the same orphanage together.”
He frowned. “What is an orphanage?”
“You know, where they send kids without parents. The foster care system was dismantled years ago, so now they have homes for unwanted kids.”
“There will never be an unwanted child on Alpha,” he stated. “Children are a rare commodity. And especially a female child. She would be considered a princess.”
“Well, I was considered a pain-in-the-ass. Geoffrey saved me from some older boys looking for some fun, and I became his shadow, following him around. Luckily he didn’t mind.”
“So … you married him out of gratitude?”
“I married him out of love,” she said. “He’s my rock, and I’m his.”
“Love. This is a human emotion. Alphans choose mates based on compatibility, reproduction—”
“I chose my mate based on love,” she said.
“You chose your husband based on love,” Krig corrected. “You chose me based on a need for survival.”
One side of her mouth quirked up. “Touché.”
And then her eyes went wide when he cupped the side of her face and pulled her closer. He stared into her eyes, and she couldn’t help but notice how her body buzzed with him being so near. Guilt sliced through her, but along with a sense of betrayal to Geoff was an excitement she couldn’t deny. She wanted to know how Krig kissed. Would he demanding? Overpowering? Sloppy? Really bad? Somehow she didn’t think he would suck at kissing.
She felt his warm breath mingle with hers as he moved closer, and it caused her heart to pound fiercely in her chest as the blood rushed through her veins. His dark eyes sharpened, and they dropped down to her lips, watching them intently as she licked them wet. It was the kind of look that melted bones and drenched her panties, and it was at that moment when she knew her feelings were in trouble. With a groan he covered her lips with his own. Heart thundering, Keirah didn't even hesitate as she reached up to encircle his neck with her arms.
It was madness, sheer utter madness. Krig’s tongue slid into her mouth, twined with hers, and she loved the slight rasp of it as it twined with hers. In and out he explored her mouth, sweeping aside any doubt that this was exactly where she wanted to be at this moment. She was on fire from his kiss alone. He left one hand on the back of her head, holding her in place as his other hand swept around her rib cage to pull her closer to his chest, and he groaned as soon as his hard cock pressed against the hot seam between her thighs.
Dear God, she hadn’t expected it to be like this! With Geoff she felt safe and loved, but with Krig it was downright lust. She broke the kiss and pulled back to look at him. They were both panting, and for a brief moment she saw the kiss had gotten to him as well. It made her feel slightly better that he was as affected by her as she was by him but then he closed down and was once again her cool, calm and controlled Alphan mate.
“I want you,” he whispered and touched her bottom lip with one of fingers. “As soon as we get out of this pod and back home, I want to complete the mating ritual.”
“Ritual?”
He hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth, and she blinked when she saw a set of fangs. And then he took a deep breath, and she watched as the fangs slowly retracted back into his gums.
“What the hell was that?” she demanded.
“We bite during mating,” he told her, watching her closely. “It’s a pleasure inducing mark that mixes our scents together, so that other Alphans know whom you belong to.”
“Do I … turn into one of you?”
He cocked his head. “No. Why would you?”
“Oh. I suddenly had thoughts of werewolves running through my head.”
“What are werewolves?”
“Never mind,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “So. You like to bite. Kinky.”
“It’s more instinctual.”
“Have you bitten many women?”
“No. I’ve never had my fangs come out like this, like they have for you. It’s almost like I can’t control them, and all it seems to take is one sniff of your scent.”
“And then you’re sporting fangs?” She almost felt flattered at that. “I suppose this is something I can’t get out of, right? So will it hurt bad?”
He shook his head. “I’ll make it so pleasurable for you, Keirah, that you’ll only feel the pleasure. Alphan men get power through sex, an exchange I suppose, through your blood. The power helps us heal faster, be stronger.”
“Oh. Okay. That’s … interesting.”
He ran a finger down her cheek, and she shivered at the electric touch. “Don’t be frightened, Keirah. I won’t ever hurt you.”
She nodded. Yes, she sensed that, had realized that when he’d sacrificed his ship for her. The thought of him biting her might be a foreign concept, but it wasn’t like a bit of pain repulsed her. She and Geoff often played light bondage games because they were both into a little kink themselves. She just never thought she’d be this excited over another man. It discombobulated her slightly. When she heard the bathroom door open, she moved away from Krig and returned to her seat. She met Geoff’s eyes and smiled at him and was relieved when he smiled back at her, although she tried to ignore the sadness in his blue eyes.
****
Life in an escape pod was difficult and boring, especially when two of the people seemed to have major issues with one another. It wasn’t like she could escape from either one of them, except if she wanted to sit on the toilet that made airplane latrines look big by comparison. And it wasn’t like they had a whole helluva lot of time-consuming options like a deck of cards or a book. Hell, even a pen and pencil would’ve been nice.
Instead, all they had was space outside but none inside. At first Keirah slept, but after the second day, she’d caught up on so much sleep she was actually wired. Geoff wasn’t faring much better, either. He tried pacing but could only go about four steps in one direction before he had to turn around.
And poor Krig was like a giant in a tiny cage. He ended up doing a lot of sit ups to keep himself occupied, and pretty soon Geoff began to do the same. They alternated sitting on the floor and sweating, trying to outdo the other’s score. If Krig did a hundred, Geoff would do a hundred and twenty. Keirah couldn’t even imagine how their stomach muscles must be cramping. But far be it for her to get in the middle of a pissing contest. Krig and Geoff would have to learn how to get along or this situation wasn’t going to work, and she didn’t mean the small confines of the escape pod.
“So what did you two do on Earth?” Krig asked one evening while he and Geoff were recovering from a round of push-ups, the newest game between them.
“I worked on cars,” Geoff said as he rubbed his biceps. “Keirah was the receptionist at the garage because I wanted her near me. New York City was turning rough, especially our borough.”
“I don’t know much about Earth,” Krig admitted.
“We don’t know much about Alpha,” Geoff replied.
Silence descended, but it didn’t bother her. She was getting used to the long stretches of silence between them.
“So this large estate,” Geoff said. “Is it like a farm estate, or a horse estate, or just an estate estate?”
Krig cocked his head as if he were trying to figure out what Geoff meant. “The property has been in my families for generations, and for a while I thought the line would die with me. My father will be happy to know I’ve chosen a mate.”
“What about your mother?” Keirah asked.
He glanced away, and she saw the sadness in his face. “My mother died in childbirth with my brother. None of us realized that was beginning of our species’ infertility disease. Actually, my father was one the Advisors who convinced King Ronyn to allow off-worlders as mates.”
“Sorry,” Geoff said softly. “We know what it feels like to lose a parent.”
“Yes. Keirah told me about the orphanage.”
Geoff didn’t say anything else about that, as usual. He didn’t like talking about those years. Luckily, Krig got the hint and dropped the subject.
On their fourth day in the pod, which was only confirmed by the computer’s chronological meter, Keirah was beginning to get a little worried. All she saw in the view screen was the never ending blackness of cold space. Sure, there were stars twinkling back, but she knew they had to be millions of miles away. Would she and Geoff and Krig die in here? What would go first? Oxygen? Would they simply fall asleep and never wake up? That didn’t seem like a bad way to go, but Keirah didn’t want to die, not when they’d come so far already.
The long hours droned on, and just when she thought she’d go mad if she had to count one more set of push-ups, a beep began wailing at the console. Krig immediately jumped up and headed to the pilot’s seat while Keirah and Geoff crowded around him.
“What is it?” she asked fearfully.
Had the Xyran found them? Was something happening to the pod? Were they about to die?
“Navigation has detected a life sustaining moon and is diverting us to it,” Krig said.
Proposition Page 4
