“You did not answer my question.” She flicked her gaze to the man beside me and he shoved me, none too gently, down the ramp toward her. Behind me, Bryn growled a warning, but I raised my hand to warn him off without taking my eyes off the woman as I approached. I stopped a few steps away, keeping my hands out, palms open, where she could see them.
“I’m Katherine, from Earth. And this is Bryn. He’s a Hunter from Everis. He’s here to take out some of your trash.”
There was no surprise in her eyes, nor did she bother looking in Bryn’s direction. So, she knew. The other Hunters had not passed this way without drawing attention. But had Styx ordered the Hunters’ deaths? Or had he found the bodies after? Or worse, were they still alive, captives rotting in a cell somewhere? “What do you want with Styx? He does not speak to strangers. Give me your message and I will inform him.”
I was thankful Bryn was remaining silent and letting me talk. After our argument, I had to wonder why, but I didn’t have time to consider it.
My turn to raise a brow. Crossing my arms, I shook my head. “No. What we have to say affects the entire legion. We will tell no one but Styx himself.”
A full minute of silence passed as she studied first me, then Bryn. Some kind of silent communication went on between our escorts, because without a word they organized around us, patting Bryn down for weapons before shoving him into line next to me. The woman led the way, two guards falling in behind her, then me and Bryn, then the last two behind us with blasters pointed at our backs. It was all very civilized.
And I was so scared I was shaking. Things were going about how I’d imagined, but these were aliens. Hell, according to Bryn, they were half animal or something. Hybrids that had bred with some kind of monster down on the planet Hyperion. And they bit their mates. That wasn’t civilized.
“This is insane. You do realize that?” Bryn walked beside me. He’d been disarmed the moment he stepped off the shuttle by men who really did look like MC members from the tattoos on their faces and necks to the leather and weapons every one of them wore like badges of honor. The group escorting us was tight, the smallest eye movement or motion of their fingers was noticed and reacted to by the others. They were tense, efficient, and silent.
This Styx guy ran a tight crew. I hoped he had a shred of integrity, and that he wouldn’t want an asshole like this Garvos guy running around bringing down the Hunters or the Coalition Fleet on his operations here. This kind of group didn’t want attention from the government or the space cops—or whatever the hell Bryn was. Bounty hunter? Assassin? Coalition Fleet Special Ops? I hadn’t quite figured it out yet. All I knew was he was too honorable and proper to understand how people like this worked. Criminals. Thieves. People forced to survive in a cesspool by their strength and wits alone.
People like me.
If they’d let me keep my space gun, I would have thought they were amateurs. But they were anything but. Big, burly, the one behind Bryn had a shaved head, tattoos around both eyes and a face that looked like he hadn’t smiled in twenty years. Around fifty, if I had to guess, he had scars on both hands and the side of his neck. He looked mean as hell, and it made me wonder what kind of leader kept hard-asses like him in line.
Bryn was big, but these guys were even bigger. Heavier. Like football linebackers, but I had no doubt they were more cunning, more dangerous than an offensive line.
They all wore black. Head to toe, a couple of the men had their dark hair shorn close with military precision. The one walking in front of me had hair halfway down his back in a strange braid. His face was angular, but beautiful. Strangely attractive. He reminded me of Legolas in that Lord of the Rings movie. These people moved like that movie character, like they were more than human. The woman was bigger than I was by half a foot, her shoulders wide, her features sharp, her hair pulled back in a braid the same pale white of the Legolas look-alike and I wondered if they were related, siblings perhaps. Her body was all curves and lean strength. And the men listened when she spoke, looked at her with respect. Both of the silvers had gray eyes, lighter than any human eyes I’d ever seen, and they shone with keen intelligence. She scared me more than the men did. She was smaller, but to be their equal, that meant she had to be twice as fast and twice as mean.
I wasn’t fooled by the military standard style of their uniforms or the disciplined power in the way they moved. They were far from military. No, they had a wildness about them I felt comfortable with. Somehow, it felt a little like home. They stayed just out of our reach, eyes never wandering, never distracted. They were serious as hell, all business, and I totally got that. Just like the hard-ass bikers my brother got tangled up with.
But those assholes got him killed. I was hoping for a better outcome because I wanted more with Bryn. Yes, I was insane and my tingling ass proved it. He’d spanked me, which had been a stunner on its own, but the fact that I’d liked the way he’d dominated me was the reason I was now officially a passenger on the crazy train. Yeah, I liked the way he was possessive and somewhat of a control freak when it came to me, but I hadn’t expected to have my ass heated. Nor had I expected what he’d done after.
When I’d called to him, waiting for him to find me in the small bed, I’d hoped he’d claim me at last. Sure, I wouldn’t have minded if he’d gone down on me again, but I knew what was coming next. I wasn’t exactly innocent, but I was a virgin. And Officiate Treva had explained the sacred order of the three. Bryn was supposed to take my ass next. But when he’d explored me there while I was tossed over his lap in such a…a submissive position? That changed the dynamic between us.
I’d been horny as hell and I’d needed to come, no matter how he wanted to give it to me. No, that wasn’t right. I’d come harder because of the way he’d pushed me over his knees and ruled my body. I’d liked his dominance. I couldn’t tolerate weakness, not in my man. But the true revelation for me was just how badly I craved his complete control. I wanted him to be strong. Impatient. Dominant. I needed him to be wild enough to conquer me, bend me to his will, make me feel weak and small and protected. If he wasn’t? Well, then I’d be better off taking care of myself—and that thought was full of heartbreak, like staring down the barrel of a shotgun loaded with a lifetime of loneliness.
The jerks back on Earth had hinted at acting like a caveman with me, and I would have ended them if they’d tried. Shot them or worse if they’d dared try to touch me like that. But with Bryn? I ached at the challenge he presented. Would he live up to the promise I’d now tasted? Would he be skilled enough? Patient enough? Would he be able to truly master me or would he leave me oddly disappointed?
I never knew how my body would tremble under his touch, how badly I longed to submit. To him. In bed. But what had happened a few minutes ago was the just the beginning of our dance. If he wanted me, the real me, he’d have to earn the right to claim me. Not my body. He could have that any time he wanted. I burned for him, my pussy wet and eager even now.
But my soul was mine. If he wanted it, he’d have to earn my trust. And sadly, that was damn difficult to do. I’d seen too much, lost too many people. I’d been abandoned and betrayed by everyone who was supposed to love me, my parents, even my brother, had died in the end. I had my heart locked down tight out of pure survival. Yes, I had friends now, back on Everis, but Bryn’s rejection had hurt. A lot. Even if he were doing it for what he thought was my own good.
Yes, I still wanted him to seduce me, to claim my body. But right now, that was all. I’d hoped, for about five whole minutes, that he would be different. But then he’d sneaked out of bed like any other man and I’d known. I couldn’t trust him.
Damn my stupid heart and the mark on my palm for refusing to let me abandon him to his fate. He was mine, they insisted. I’d protect him for that reason alone. For now, it was enough. It had to be enough. That spanking on my bare bottom was the first hint that he cared, that there was fire and passion behind his dark eyes. That I counted. A hint—but is wasn’t enough.
Which was the reason now that the pleasure had ebbed and my pants were on, I wasn’t standing for any of his bossy bullshit. He needed me even if he didn’t want to admit it. With all of his noble talk and honorable intentions? He was going to get himself killed.
These were my kind of people. Which meant it was up to me to protect him whether he liked it or not. We were a team.
We walked past shining metal corridors where large squares were painted every possible color of the rainbow. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the mess, other than an artist’s signature in the bottom left corner of each welded section. Some sections were bare, shining metal, nothing but metal with a name scrawled in red in the bottom corner.
I wondered if the names were written in blood.
Chapter Four
Katie
We stopped before a set of double doors that slid wide to reveal a large meeting room. The size of a small movie theater back home, a man stood at the front, surrounded by soldiers and weapons, every one of them dressed in armor. They were all armed—and they weren’t the little guns the Everians strapped to their thighs. They didn’t linger or lose focus. Every man in the room was acutely aware, as if they could smell where we were even before they saw us. And to a man, they moved like predators. These guys were trained, disciplined, and knew how to carry themselves.
Yeah. Trying to sneak past this guy and his legion would have been a huge, huge, huge mistake.
The bald asshole behind Bryn shoved him to the center of the room where two chairs had been placed. “Sit,” he barked.
Bryn’s eyes narrowed, but I did as bid and sat down with a warm smile for the man walking toward us. And I didn’t have to try too hard with the smile. He was gorgeous. Tall, dark and handsome didn’t cut it. He looked like…damn, he looked like Joe Mangianello. Black hair, short beard, as if he hadn’t shaved in a few days. Strong jaw. Piercing pale green eyes. His body was a work of art.
Bryn’s growl beside me broke me from my ogling. I was ogling because the guy was incredible. Rugged, wild and screamed bad boy without saying a word. I had no doubt that the women around here dropped their panties for him all the time.
Hell, I owed it to women everywhere in the universe to ogle. I remembered what Bryn had said about the Hyperion bite. Their venom would drive a woman into some kind of heat, make her crazed and desperate for sex.
Looking at this guy, I couldn’t really be as opposed to the idea as I should be. Styx wasn’t showing his teeth, so I couldn’t tell if he had fangs, but he didn’t look like a wild hybrid, half-animal alien, although I’d never actually seen one before.
Bryn growled again and I turned my head. The look he was giving me wasn’t the casual, fuck everything kind of stare Styx had. Of course, this was Styx’s territory and he made the rules, for at least this legion. But Bryn looked like he was the one who made the rules for me. His dark eyes screamed mine and when he placed a possessive hand on my shoulder and tugged me closer, so did the simple action.
I wasn’t attracted to Styx like Bryn thought. Well, okay, I was. I had ovaries and eyeballs. But I wasn’t interested in him. I wanted Bryn. I’d had his cock in my mouth, working him like my favorite treat. I’d parted my thighs for him and begged him to fuck me. I had never done that, not for one man on Earth. Only him. The idea of having Styx touch me or lick me, suck on my nipples…it was a hot concept, but I was uncomfortable about it. It felt…squishy. While I had no doubt he knew his way around a female, I didn’t feel comfortable. Safe. Protected. I wanted Bryn with every fiber of my being, with every pulse of my mark.
But he couldn’t tell that by the way I was drooling over our new host. When Bryn practically ground his molars into dust, I couldn’t help but smirk. Yeah, I wanted only Bryn, but that didn’t mean he had to know that. If I wanted him to fuck me—finally—then a little bit of jealousy might give me the edge I needed to break his iron control.
Power I had over my mate flared through me. He wanted me and was being damn honorable. It endeared him to me all the more because of it. But a woman had needs. There were orgasms to be had and I wanted them from him. Eating me out would be fine, but I wanted that cock. Wanted to know what it felt like having it spread me open and fill me up until I screamed with lust and pain and heat. I wanted to be claimed, to belong.
So, if I had to get Bryn to go all caveman in order to get him to claim me, then so be it. With one final small smile, I turned back to Styx.
When more men flooded into the large room, I studied our surroundings.
Large, oval space. One huge desk which made me think it was Styx’s office. No chairs, other than the ones we sat in. The floor was covered with an elaborate and beautiful rug woven in intricate silver and black designs, so at least, if they were going to kill us, it wouldn’t be here. He would have put down some plastic or something, right?
All of Styx’s minions wore the same uniform, a silver band around their left bicep with two markings, one for Styx’s legion, and the other? If I had to guess, it was some kind of rank insignia. The woman and her silver haired brother—they looked too much alike not to be related—had matching bands and were obviously highly trusted, as they took up flanking positions on either side of their leader.
The room was big enough to hold at least twenty men, so the dozen or so in here with us now would have felt half empty, if not for the weapons pointed not at Bryn, but at me.
Moving my gaze around the room, I actually smiled as I looked back at our host. He knew, already, where his true leverage over Bryn would come from.
“Do I look that dangerous?”
Styx grinned at me, the interest in his gaze shifting, ever so subtly, as I refused to show fear. “Absolutely.”
That made me smile in earnest. When he smiled back, Bryn actually growled. “Stay away from her. She has nothing to do with this.”
Styx turned his attention to Bryn, and I had to admit, it was easier to breathe without our host’s stare piercing me to my soul. Styx had a way of looking right through a person. He was even more dangerous than I’d feared. “I disagree. She’s here.”
“Leave her alone.” Bryn tensed in his chair, but the silver haired Legolas next to Styx smiled, showing fangs, and lifted his weapon to point it at Bryn’s head. “Careful, Hunter.”
Bryn narrowed his eyes and I leaned back in my chair, arms crossed. All this male posturing was getting old. “Gentlemen, can we stop beating our chests like animals and get down to business?”
Styx’s lips twitched. I saw it, and raised a brow in challenge as he glanced from me to Bryn. “Hunter, you are the third. Although, I admit, it is more interesting to find you alive.”
Bryn tensed. “Are the others dead then?”
“Yes.” Styx raised his hand to ward off whatever action Bryn was contemplating. “Not by my hand, Hunter. Their bodies were discovered in the hollows.”
“What are the hollows?” I asked.
Styx’s gaze flicked back to me—and warmed considerably. “The hollows is an underground section of the base where our more…delicate transactions generally occur.”
Delicate? I snorted and crossed my arms. Yeah, right.
Styx returned his attention to Bryn. “Why are you here? No one comes to Rogue 5 without a reason,” he said. His voice was deep, almost rumbly. Although he spoke to Bryn, I noticed his eyes drifted back to me. Bryn tugged me even closer, which meant he noticed, too. “And bearing gifts.”
“She is not a gift. She is mine.” Yeah, Bryn was jealous. I’d never heard the sharp bite of his tone before.
Styx’s gaze raked me from head to toe in a slow perusal, too slow to be anything but sexual. Whether he found me actually appealing or not was unclear, but he’d made it more than obvious to Bryn that I still might be a gift. “Then you are a fool, Hunter, to bring her here.” Styx arched a dark brow and crossed his arms over his broad chest.
Jeez. These guys were all ridiculous. I leaned forward in my chair. “Look, no one tells me what to do
.”
Styx turned to the silver haired devil beside him and nodded in my direction. The man set his weapon down on top of Styx’s oversized desk and approached me. Slowly. “I am Blade.”
“Katherine.”
He knelt on the floor before me and leaned forward in an oddly hypnotic movement. I had no idea what the hell he was doing, until his nose hovered over my knee, then higher, inching toward my pussy.
Bryn shifted in his chair but two large hands landed on his shoulder holding him in place as I was—inspected.
Half animal? Hybrid? Umm, yeah. And hot as hell. If I wasn’t already so wrapped up in Bryn that I couldn’t think straight, these guys would have pushed every damn button I had.
Blade inhaled deeply, his face inches from my body. A shudder passed through him, the barest hint of a shiver racing over his skin. But I noticed. And so did Bryn.
“She is untouched.”
Untouched, but my pussy was still wet from what Bryn had done to me before we landed. No doubt he discovered that, but how he discovered I was a virgin? I had no clue.
Silver eyes held mine as he rose, a bit slower than was strictly necessary, and backed away from me to resume his place next to Styx, who smiled in earnest. “Well, then, Hunter. It appears you have yet to claim this beauty.”
“She’s mine.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at his sudden intense declaration. I’d thrown myself at him. Begged him to fuck me. But no. And now? Well, now it was too late, and one of these weirdos had just sniffed my pussy and figured out I was a virgin. Things were getting dangerous now. It seemed that no matter what planet you were from a guy didn’t like another one sniffing his woman.
I cleared my throat. “Look, you have a problem, Styx. And we came here to help you solve it.”
“And what problem is that?”
Bryn answered. “An Everian assassin is hiding in your legion. He took out a member of the Seven. Murdered his wife and two young sons. Left a bloody mess and a trail right back to your moon.”
His Virgin Bride (Interstellar Brides: The Virgins) (Volume 2) Page 5
