Saved by Venom: 3 (Grabbed)

by Lopez, Lolita

  She studied the screen. The wide, clear drawing space could be enlarged or minimized. The stripe along the bottom offered dozens of tools to create different effects. “This would definitely work.”

  “Were you an artist back in The City? If you are, there’s another wife here, Hallie, who is very talented. She’s part of the wives’ group that meets a couple of times a month. You’ll meet her in the next few days at one of the mandatory information sessions.”

  “Like an orientation?”

  “Basically,” Risk said. “They used to just have you gals come on the ship without any type of support. Hallie, the general’s wife, has changed all that. The women who arrive on the Valiant attend a couple of mandatory meetings to learn about their rights and living on this ship and in our society.”

  Dizzy thought this Hallie woman sounded like quite a force. “I have rights?”

  Risk snorted with amusement. “Of course.”

  “The paperwork they made me sign before the Grab and after made it seem like I was basically going to be property of the man who caught me.”

  “The legal language is rather harsh,” he agreed. “Ownership in our world isn’t the same as it is in your world. To us owning a woman is the greatest responsibility—and a cherished gift. It takes a hell of a lot of valor points to earn the right to take a mate and reproduce so we take our roles as providers and protectors very seriously.”

  She thought of the way Venom had treated her so far. There was no way he had been faking his concern over her illness or his relief when she’d woken up without pain or ringing in her ears. “Do you know Venom well?”

  “Fairly well,” Risk remarked. “We were one year apart at the academy. I’ve always served in the field hospital that accompanies his battle group. I was even caught in the Sendarian siege.”

  She frowned. “What was that?”

  A haunted look crossed the surgeon’s face. “Sendaria is a planet that we mine quite extensively for our preferred fuel source. A little over ten years ago we were engaged above the planet with the Splinter faction. This was when they were much larger and better equipped. They caught us by surprise and hit three of our sky ships.”

  “What happened then?”

  “We went down hard and were totally cut off on the ground. We managed to make it to the heavily fortified city surrounding the main mining camp. Vicious—our general now—was the highest-ranking officer to survive and he took control. Our orders were to secure and defend those mines—whatever the cost.”

  Dizzy swallowed hard. “And what did it cost?”

  Risk had a faraway look. “Too much. In the months we were cut off from reinforcements and supplies, we lost nearly eighty percent of our forces. It was…bleak at the end.”

  She remained still and quiet as he relived what appeared to be truly awful memories.

  As if giving himself a mental shake, Risk inhaled a sharp breath. “We showed the best of ourselves during that siege. Vicious proved he could make the hard decisions when it counted. Menace showed that he could make a weapon out of damn near anything. Terror stopped at nothing to get the recon we needed. Hazard and Zephyr risked their lives a number of times on extremely dangerous missions to bring in what few supplies they could squeeze through the enemy blockade.”

  “And Venom?” She had to know what had happened to him during that siege.

  He hesitated and then seemed to choose his words carefully. “Venom volunteered to take up a position outside the city.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s a highly skilled sniper. It was where he was needed.”

  She didn’t have to ask what they had needed him to do.

  “He saved a lot of lives by putting his on the line.”

  And taking so many more…

  “Have I upset you?” Risk studied her carefully. “Please don’t think badly of Venom.”

  She reeled back with some surprise. “Why would I think badly of him?”

  “Your people are all pacifists.”

  She rolled her eyes. “We’re not all anything. I’m not naive enough to think that war isn’t sometimes a necessity. An ugly one but necessary nonetheless.” She touched the scars on her throat. “We did nothing to provoke those monsters who blew us up that day. You can’t reason with people like that. I don’t pretend to understand what you Harcos have endured in this war but I would never think badly of any soldier fighting to protect people like me.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Risk sat forward in his chair. His gaze turned professional. “Have you considered having those scars revised?”

  She put a shielding hand to her neck. “What do you mean?”

  “Our surgical techniques typically minimize scarring.” Risk pushed out of his seat and moved onto the bed so he could examine her more closely. “I can see that the surgeon who was working on you was rushed. You weren’t given the usual follow-up treatment that would have prevented these thicker ridges.”

  He carefully tilted her head to the side to expose the old injuries better. There was nothing even the least bit flirtatious or unprofessional about his touch but it felt wrong to her.

  Because it isn’t Venom touching me.

  The thought struck her suddenly and left her feeling a bit unsettled. She didn’t harbor any feelings of resentment or anger toward Venom for catching and collaring her as his bride. If anything she felt such gratitude toward him. He didn’t know that he had basically saved her from becoming a loan shark’s plaything but she sure did. He had even made it possible for her to receive medical care that would vastly improve her life.

  In the forest she had chosen to take his collar. At the processing station she had willingly signed her name on that contract. She had given herself to him—and having Risk’s hands on her now, no matter the context, felt uncomfortable.

  Risk must have sensed it because his hands fell from her neck. “I should have asked before touching you.”

  “It’s okay. I’m just not used to being touched by men.”

  “You only have to get used to one man touching you—Venom. I seriously doubt he’ll allow any other man to touch you.”

  “No, he won’t.” Venom’s rough, deep voice boomed from the doorway. “And if you intend to continue operating, Doc, you’d best keep those hands of yours off my woman.”

  Dizzy held her breath as she glanced between the two men. Risk’s playful wink told her that he thought Venom’s bark didn’t have much bite behind it. She wasn’t so sure.

  Venom looked awfully serious as he strode into the room carrying two covered trays. He shot the surgeon a pointed stare as he slid their dinners onto the table next to the bed. “Is this type of hands-on treatment something they taught you in medical school?”

  “No, it’s a little something I picked up in a different sort of operating theater.”

  Venom glared at Risk. “I don’t find that the least bit funny.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.” Risk rose from his seated position. “I am her doctor, Venom.”

  “Don’t forget that I’ve seen you play doctor at the officers’ club,” Venom grumbled testily.

  Dizzy wasn’t quite sure what Venom meant by that remark but it drew a laugh from Risk. The surgeon shook his head as he stepped away from the bed and retrieved his tablet. “We’ll discharge you in the morning, Dizzy. A medic will come by periodically to check on you. That last dose of pain meds you received will wear off as the evening progresses. I don’t expect you to feel any discomfort but if you do let us know.”

  “I will.” Arms crossed, Venom answered for her. She glanced at him with a look of utter frustration but he didn’t even acknowledge her. Instead he trailed Risk to the door and shut it firmly behind him.

  When Venom got close enough to the bed, she reached out and whacked his arm. “You know I have a voice, right?”

  Venom seemed startled by her smack. “Yes. And?”

  “And I can answer questions for myself and decide who can and can’t touch me.”<
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  “You may answer questions but I decide who can and can’t touch you.”

  His reply stunned her. Until this moment, he had been uncommonly compromising and quite unlike the stories she had heard of these Harcos men and their dominant, commanding natures. This version of Venom—the haughty, arrogant man standing over her—seemed to fit the stereotypical sky warrior mold much better.

  She recognized this was one of those moments where she had to be strong and stand up to him. “No.”

  His eyes widened. “Yes.”

  She sat up straighter. “No, Venom. I’m a grown woman. I’ve lived on my own since I was eighteen years old. I’ve supported myself and made my own decisions for five years. I don’t need you barking orders at me.”

  “I didn’t bark at you.”

  She gaped at him. “Out of everything I just said you’re focusing on that?”

  An irritated expression tightened his features. “As long as you wear my collar I decide who can and can’t put their hands on you.”

  She pointed to her bare neck. “I’m not wearing your collar now.”

  “Well, that can be easily fixed.” Venom reached into his pocket and retrieved the white leather strap.

  When he leaned down to put it on her again, she ducked to the side and blocked him. “No.”

  “Dizzy.”

  “Venom.”

  He made a low, growling sound but didn’t attempt to manhandle her or force the collar on her. “You belong to me.”

  “Yes, I do,” she answered calmly. “That doesn’t mean you get to boss me around, Venom.”

  Confirming that she belonged to him seemed to ease some of the tension in his clenched jaw. Still, he remained stubbornly stuck on the touching issue. “Actually it does mean I get to boss you around, Dizzy. That’s how it works here.”

  “Not for us,” she retorted quickly. Swallowing nervously, she continued, “I liked the way you took command out there in the forest and the way you made sure I was safe and warm—but I’m not going to have you dictating my every move.”

  “I don’t intend to dictate your every move.”

  “But you intend to tell me who I can be friends with?”

  His forehead creased in confusion. “When did I say you couldn’t make friends?”

  “You said that Risk couldn’t touch me.”

  “Damn straight,” he said roughly. “You can be friends without him pawing all over you.”

  “Wait.” She started to see where they had misunderstood each other. “When you say touch, you mean, like, in a sexual way. When I say touch I’m thinking, you know, a handshake or whatever.”

  “I see.” Venom visibly relaxed. “Dizzy, you need to understand something about me. I survived some of the bloodiest battles of this war to earn the points to take a wife. I’m not sharing you with any other man.”

  “Share me?” He wasn’t talking about sharing her time. She recoiled at the very thought of being shared with another man in bed. “Why would you share me?”

  “I wouldn’t—but some men do.” He shifted as if uncomfortable. “Some men here swap wives or invite their friends to enjoy them in various games and in the bedroom.”

  Dizzy didn’t like the sound of that at all. What other couples did behind closed doors was their own business but she wasn’t about to let someone who wasn’t her husband touch her like that. “You sure as hell aren’t sharing this wife.”

  A slight smile curved his mouth. “You don’t need to worry about that. I’m not into that kind of thing.” Placing his big hands on either side of her, Venom leaned down and captured her mouth in a gentle kiss. “You’re mine—and only mine.”

  Thinking of how lucky she was to have been Grabbed by a man who didn’t want to share her spurred Dizzy to snatch his white collar from his hands. She fastened it around her neck a little looser than he had when he’d first put it on her. He looked terribly pleased by her action. “What about you, Venom? Do you belong to me?”

  “From the moment I first spotted you,” he admitted huskily and swept his fingertip down her cheek. “There was no one else for me.”

  She marveled at his unwavering certainty. What had he seen in her that he liked so much? Was it simply her pretty face? What would happen to their relationship when her looks faded or his infatuation with her dissipated?

  He tapped her cheek. “What’s got you worried, sugar?”

  “What happens when the newness wears off?”

  The lines around his mouth crinkled. “We start building something real—and that’s when the true fun begins.”

  Chapter Five

  As he peered down into her big brown eyes, Venom finally managed to muscle down the irrational jealousy and extreme possessiveness overwhelming him. When he had first entered the hospital room he had been sure Risk was kissing her. It wasn’t until he took a quick step into the room that he had realized the surgeon was merely examining her neck. Even though it had been innocent he’d been gripped by the urge to grab Risk and toss him across the room.

  After the little tiff they had just shared, Venom felt sure Dizzy would not have approved of a physical altercation. He reminded himself that she’d willingly taken his collar again. She didn’t seem the least bit tempted by Risk, charmer that he was.

  “Listen,” Venom said as he sat down on the bed, “you need to be aware of the realities up here.”

  “Okay,” she answered a bit nervously.

  Not wanting to scare her, he took her smaller hand in his. “Women are incredibly scarce and the Grab criteria are very strict. To level the playing field they put certain rules in place.”

  “What kind of rules?”

  “Our mate bond isn’t fully legal until a period of thirty days has passed. At the end of thirty days we’ll sign another set of contracts affirming our intention to remain together. If another single man with enough points spots you outside my—our—quarters or if you’re without a proper escort, you can be taken.”

  “Taken?” Her worried gaze darted to the door. Was she thinking of all the men roaming around the infirmary?

  So much for not scaring her…

  “It doesn’t happen very often but we’ve had a few cases where brides were snatched from their mates.”

  “I see.” She bit her lip. “That must make for some awkward run-ins around the ship.”

  “To say the least,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ve had population issues for quite a while now. There aren’t nearly enough women from our own planet to go around so the matchmaking services back on Prime are swamped and extremely expensive. They’re so far beyond what most of us soldiers and airmen can afford.”

  “So that’s why you have the Grabs?”

  “Partly,” he agreed. “They’ve been a tradition of ours for hundreds of years. When we were a conquering race we took brides from the native populations to cement treaties and build trust. Now it’s truly become a necessity. Even though your planet agreed to the Grab treaty, they’re being very stingy with the numbers of women they make available to us.”

  She made a soft clicking sound, alerting him to her annoyance at something he’d said. “You make it sound like women are just lining up around the damn block to be chased and taken by a stranger. The numbers are small because the government doesn’t want to agitate the populace. The only women getting Grabbed are poor women. If you’ve got money or connections you can avoid the lottery. Unless you want more riots you guys are just going to have to practice a little patience and wait your turn.”

  Dizzy’s fiery response left him speechless. In the short time he’d known her it was his first time seeing this passionate side to her—and it turned him on something fierce. “Do you know how pretty you are when your cheeks get all pink like that?”

  She rolled her eyes and pinched his biceps. “Coming on to me doesn’t change the facts, Venom.”

  “No,” he agreed with a smile, “but I was hoping it might distract you enough to let me sneak in another kiss.”
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  Her cheeks turned an even darker shade of that rosy hue. “You’ll have to find another tactic.”

  “Sweetheart, that’s quite a challenge to issue to a master tactician.” He was still considering the myriad ways he might coax a kiss from those pouting lips of hers when she glanced around the room a little anxiously. “What’s wrong?”

  She dropped her gaze to the thin sheet covering her. “Um…is there a bathroom nearby?”

  He silently cursed himself for being so inconsiderate. “I’m sorry. I should have made sure you were comfortable before heading out to find dinner.” Jerking back the covers, he bent down to scoop her up but her hands flew to his chest in protest.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m taking you to the bathroom.”

  “I can walk.”

  “I know.” He cradled her slight weight in his arms and lifted her off the bed. She stiffened and gripped his shirt. “Easy, honey. I’m not going to drop you.”

  “You don’t have to do this. I’m not an invalid. I can take myself to the bathroom.” Irritation made her voice sound harsh and tight.

  “You were under anesthesia earlier today to treat a condition that made you dizzy and caused you to pass out. I’m not taking any more chances with you.” He hugged her a little tighter to his chest as he carried her across the room. “You’re mine to protect and care for now. I won’t have you falling and getting injured over something as silly as walking to the bathroom.”

  She didn’t argue with him but those pursed lips of hers told him he was getting very close to crossing one of her lines. Inside the bathroom he slowly lowered her to the floor and kept an arm around her shoulders to steady her. When he started to lift the loose hospital gown, she grasped his wrist in a death grip. “Don’t even think about it, Venom.”

  He met her angry gaze and was taken aback by the embarrassment reflected in her eyes. Not wanting to upset her even more he carefully stood to his full height. “I was only trying to help.”