by Hope Hart
I keep my face blank. Females do not fight.
She narrows her eyes at me, seemingly reading my mind. “What do you suggest?” she bites out. “I can’t just leave her there.”
“You can tell me everything you remember about the area where you and your friend were kept before you were separated. We will travel back to my tashiv, and I will send a message to an acquaintance, asking him to send some warriors to help us.”
She thinks on this for a moment, a tiny line appearing between her brows as she seems to think this over. “I know it makes sense,” she mutters finally. “But I don’t want to leave her.”
“You have already left her,” I say, and she flinches. I silently curse. I have never had the correct words to say to females, and this female is no different.
“It’s not just Zoey,” she says. “Our friend Beth managed to escape and never returned with help. I know she would’ve come back if she could have. I need to find her as well.”
“The territory surrounding this area is home to a tribe that is not an ally to the tribes I am allied to. If we are found here, we will be in severe danger. You cannot help your friends if you are dead.”
She stares at me for a long moment, her gaze lingering on my collarbone. I grit my teeth against the pain as I wait for her to make a decision. Truthfully, there is only one choice for her to make, and if I need to tie her to my mishua to force her cooperation, that is what I will do.
I have done worse.
The female seems to see the resolve on my face because she narrows her eyes at me.
“Fine,” she finally says. “Let’s go get some more help.”
Ivy
I work with a lot of big guys. You have to be strong to be a firefighter.
But this alien makes them look like prepubescent boys.
Vrex lifts his good hand, letting out a loud whistle. Then his dark eyes examine me as he waits for God only knows what.
He’s a good-looking man. Even with the long, winding scar that trails across his forehead.
He’s probably got at least a foot on me, and from the look of his bulging muscles, he could likely bench-press my body without any effort. His hair is dark, hanging slightly past his shoulders and braided back from his face. He has a smudge of dirt on his chin, and I have the weirdest urge to wipe it away.
His eyes are a dark brown, shuttered and inscrutable.
He’s hiding something from me. For sure. After everything I’ve been through since I was taken from Earth, I’m in no hurry to trust an enigmatic stranger who says he’s here to help me.
But at the same time, there’s no doubt that he really did save my bacon back in those prexas. And I don’t really have all that many options available to me.
Choices, choices.
Vrex shifts on his feet, glancing over his shoulder, and I don’t miss the slight wince on his face. I broke my collarbone a few years ago when a wooden beam collapsed in a warehouse as we searched for anyone who could be trapped.
It was pure agony. There’s no way to wrap a cast around a collarbone, so the pain was excruciating as the broken bone shifted with even the tiniest movement.
This guy is handling it like a champ. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was in more pain with my twisted ankle.
Something moves between the trees, and I tense, but Vrex doesn’t look at all concerned. He shifts impatiently, and my mouth drops open as a four-legged lizard creature appears.
It’s covered in dark-green scales, although if I just looked at its furry legs, I’d think it was an oversize wolf. Its head is covered in huge white horns, and it stares at me through dark-red eyes.
“What the fuck is that?”
Vrex tilts his head. “This is my mishua.”
“Mishua?”
He nods and gently strokes the beast as it moves forward, nuzzling at him.
“I’ll walk.”
His eyes lighten with amusement. “We don’t have time. We must be gone from this territory before dark.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
He raises one eyebrow, smoothly sidestepping to protect his bad arm as the mishua nuzzles closer. “You escaped a pack of Voildi and braved the prexas alone, but the mishua frightens you?”
I scowl at him. “I had no choice about the other things. I have no desire to end up an Ivy kebab when that thing skewers me with its horns.”
“Her name is Nari.”
Of course. Because why wouldn’t a giant killing machine be called something sweet and unassuming like Nari?
Vrex gestures to the mishua, and she lowers herself to the ground.
“I won’t let her hurt you,” he promises me in his low voice. Strangely, I trust him. In this, at least.
“Fine,” I sigh. “But if I get impaled before I can escape this planet, I’m gonna be real pissy.”
Vrex holds out his hand, and I move closer, careful to keep the huge guy between me and the mishua’s head. The lizard-wolf seems to find this amusing, because she lets out a snort and tosses her head, still staring at me.
“No sudden movements,” I tell myself. But I take Vrex’s good hand as he helps me onto the leather saddle. He slides in behind me, and I curse, scrabbling for something to hold on to as the animal gets to her feet.
Vrex shows me where to put my hands—apparently the beast will be just fine with me clutching at one of the horns sticking out from her neck.
“This doesn’t seem safe,” I mutter.
Vrex simply lets out a low chuckle, and the mishua begins to walk.
Within a few minutes, I’ve settled into her long-legged stride.
How did I end up here? On an alien planet, on the run from fuckwits who want to sell me?
The last thing I remember on Earth is drinking copious amounts of wine after Steve broke up with me. Over the phone.
“This isn’t working,” he’d said. “I love you, but I can’t do this any longer. You’re never home, and when you’re at work, I never know if someone’s going to knock on the door and tell me that you’ve gone down in the line.”
I grind my teeth. Two years we were together. And he couldn’t even tell me it was over to my face. The ironic part? I knew I was better off alone. Steve spent six months convincing me to go on a date with him before I gave in. And it was just two years before the reality of my life slapped him in the face.
I have no idea how the Grivath took me. I wasn’t rostered on that night, so I was at home, in the Brooklyn apartment that had suddenly become half empty while I was at the firehouse.
When I woke up on that spaceship, I actually laughed. You think a breakup is bad? Try getting abducted by aliens and sold on a slave planet.
“How many other females are there like you on this planet?” Vrex asks, dragging me from my thoughts.
“Um, I think there were around eight or nine of us. We all got separated when a few guys like you appeared and attacked the Voildi.”
He nods, and we travel in silence for a few more minutes.
“Where do you live anyway?” I ask.
“My tashiv is close to the Seinex Forest.”
“Tashiv?”
“It is my home. I prefer my privacy.”
I nod. Great. Follow the huge warrior to his remote forest lair, Ivy. That’s never ended badly.
Strangely, I don’t think Vrex will hurt me. He’s definitely a man of few words, and I wouldn’t give him points for charm. But if he wanted to take me out, he could’ve done it at any time before now.
Unless he’s waiting to rape and murder you in solitude.
I almost snort. This guy is definitely hiding something from me, but I don’t think he’s the type to go to all this trouble just to hurt me.
I’m not an idiot though. I’ll still keep an eye on him just in case.
Chapter Five
Ivy
When this guy said he had a home in the woods, I was expecting a shack like the tiny houses in the town where Zoey and I were kept.
; “Wow,” I murmur as the Vrex makes the mishua kneel again and helps me off her back. “This is gorgeous.”
His face is still blank as he gazes at the huge log cabin sprawling in front of us, but somehow, I can sense his pride at my words.
“Thank you.”
I can hear the crashing of water nearby. Other than the sound of the water splashing over rocks and the call of birds in the trees surrounding the clearing, there’s nothing but sweet, sweet silence.
I’m about as far from Brooklyn as I can get.
I shift my attention back to Vrex. “How long did this take you to build?”
“Two revolutions.”
I’m guessing he means two years. And it’s easy to see how it would take at least that long. From what I’ve seen of this planet so far, I’m doubting that there were any cranes or other machinery to help. No, Vrex built this entirely with his hands.
“Did you build this alone?”
A single sharp nod. He leads the mishua to a small pen and takes off her saddle, rubbing her down with a murmur. I watch as the fearsome beast becomes about as cuddly as a kitten. She’s practically purring as he grabs a cloth sack, maneuvering it with his good hand so he can pour some kind of food into a long wooden trough.
When he’s done, his dark gaze scans the area around us.
“You shouldn’t walk around here by yourself,” he says, and I raise an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“I have built many different traps to protect my territory from predators. If you take the wrong path, you may end up hurt or worse.”
I shiver at that, once again questioning the wisdom of following a strange man back to his cabin in the woods. He seems to read my mind, his eyes lightening in amusement.
“I won’t hurt you,” he says.
“I’m sure Bundy said the same thing,” I mutter, but I can’t help but smile at his confused frown. “Listen,” I continue. “When can we get a message to your friend? We need to ask him to send us some backup so we can rescue Zoey.”
“The trading post is not open every day,” he says. “Today it was open, but tomorrow it is not.”
I rub at my face in frustration. Of course.
The sun is going down, and I shiver as a cool breeze sweeps over us.
“You’re cold,” Vrex murmurs. “I will show you my tashiv.”
He strides forward and unlatches some kind of mechanism on his door. Then he gestures for me to precede him, and I step inside.
This is obviously the Agron version of a living room, and there’s a pile of wood stacked next to a firepit in the corner. I glance up at the roof. It even has a cleverly constructed chimney to let out the smoke.
A few wooden chairs sit near the fire along with a pile of furs. I can see Vrex relaxing here after a long day of lumbering around doing whatever it is that huge warriors do on this planet.
“Bathing room,” he says in a gruff voice, gesturing to a doorway. He strides through another door, and I trail after him, finding a large mattress sandwiched between two painstakingly carved wooden tables. I move closer, running my fingers over the top of the one closest.
“This is a dragon,” I murmur.
It’s gorgeous. The scales have been so intricately carved that it looks almost lifelike, and it must have taken weeks to complete. On Earth, this thing would sell for thousands.
“Did you make this?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. You’re seriously talented.”
Vrex shifts on his feet, the first sign of discomfort I’ve seen from the stoic warrior. Weirdly, his awkward reaction to my compliment is kind of endearing, and I feel something in my chest relax.
“Thank you,” he says gruffly. He stalks across the room to where a huge chest sits beneath a window. My breath catches in my throat as I gaze at the view.
The water is a bright cerulean blue, the river winding between huge trees. Here and there, huge stones and boulders peek up from the water, surrounded by white froth.
“What a view,” I murmur.
Vrex lifts his head from where he’s using his good hand to rummage through the chest, surveying the picturesque scene in front of us. His shoulders relax as we both stand and stare at the water for a moment.
“This is why I chose this place for my home,” he says.
I open my mouth—to say…I don’t know what—but he’s already returning his attention to the chest. He pulls out a few large furs and strides back into the living room, throwing them on top of the pile. Then he runs his gaze over my body clinically before returning to the chest and throwing a few more furs on the bed.
“I will sleep there,” he says, pointing to the furs on the floor in the living room.
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” I begin, but he ignores me, gesturing for me to follow him into the bathroom.
I’m treated to the same view out the window, but I’m immediately entranced by the huge tub that dominates the room. It looks like it could fit two warriors the same size as Vrex, and my skin practically itches with the need to get clean.
“Would you like to bathe?” he asks.
“More than just about anything.”
He nods, and then I’m once again trailing after him as he moves back outside. A huge metal container sits next to the window, a firepit beneath it. He lights the fire and then reaches inside the window, pushing and pulling some kind of lever.
It’s a pump, and I grin as water begins to flow into the bath. The grin leaves my face as I glance back up at Vrex, whose face has turned gray.
“Here, get away from that thing. I can do it. That arm needs to be in a sling.”
Surprisingly, he moves out of the way, and I continue to pump the water into the bath.
“I will go check my traps,” he says, and my stomach lets out a rumble at the thought of food.
His eyes are the color of good whiskey as they lighten at the sound. He hesitates.
“You will stay here,” he says.
I nod, ignoring the commanding tone. I’m always pissy when I’m hurt as well.
“I’ll take a bath while I wait for you.”
He stares at me for one long moment. Finally, he nods and turns, ambling away.
I blow out a breath as I watch him leave. Even with the amount of pain that I know he’s in, with his arm held at a ninety-degree angle, he walks with a long, easy stride, head high, shoulders back.
No, Ivy. No perving at the giant, scarred warrior.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that “happily ever after” isn’t for me. But if I’m not careful, I may end up rebounding with tall, scarred, and deadly.
I snort. The only emotion the guy has shown in my presence was a hint of frustration when he was convincing me to follow him here and a moment of grim resolve that told me he’d be throwing me onto his weird lizard creature if I didn’t make the right choice. Oh, and a tiny shard of amusement when my stomach rumbled earlier.
Other than that, he’s basically a robot.
Vrex
This female threatens my control.
I am under no illusion as to what my life holds. A future with a beautiful female is not for me.
I run the back of my hand along the scar that winds across my forehead. A gift from my mother’s brother after she died.
Exquisite, delicate females are for other warriors. I learned young that my oversize body and clumsiness, combined with the vicious scar on my face, made the females of mating age shiver in fear.
“You will be alone,” a voice hisses in my ear. “Just like your father.”
I push Hevi’s voice out of my head as I check my trap, pleased to find an udazin that succumbed to my trap recently, the beast still warm to the touch.
Truthfully, my bone aches and throbs. If I move too quickly, black spots appear in front of my eyes. I quickly butcher the udazin, thankful that I do not need to go and hunt for food today.
I’m cooking the meat when Ivy opens the door, peeking out at me. She has w
rapped a fur around herself after her bath, and I attempt to wrench my eyes away from the drop of water that winds down her neck and into her cleavage.
“Do you have something I can wear?” she asks. “These pajamas are rags.”
I slide the meat onto plates and nod, getting to my feet. Within moments I’ve found a shirt that she will be able to wear until I can return her to Rakiz. She sends me a grateful smile as I hand the shirt to her, and I wait for her by the fire.
“This looks delicious,” she says as I hand her a plate.
I nod, and we eat in silence while I carefully keep my eyes off her bare legs.
“Why were your clothes so torn?” I ask finally. Her pants were little more than scraps of material, rising well above her knees.
“I thought it would help the others find us,” she says, her mouth twisting. “But I’m guessing they didn’t look.” She raises her eyes to mine. “Thank you for helping me,” she says, her voice low.
If I were an honorable male, I would tell this female that her friends did look for her. That one of them is now a tribe queen who convinced her mate to bargain with me to find her. But still I am unwilling to admit to this female that she is just another assignment. That her safety means another favor owed to me by one of the tribe kings on this planet.
This female believes that I am honorable. I find myself unable to destroy her illusions of me so quickly.
“Mmm, this is good,” she says, and I ignore the burst of pride that her words cause. A female can sneak under a male’s defenses before he is even aware of it, with her sweet words and soft skin. I’ve seen this happen before.
If a male is not careful, he will find himself forever changed by the female in question, without ever being truly conscious of how it happened.
“Man of few words, huh?”
I raise my head and catch the amusement in her eyes, the hint of a smirk playing around her mouth.
“I…apologize. I am unused to conversation.”
Her eyes soften, and I have to look away.
“That wasn’t a dig. I think most of us fantasize about escaping to a remote cabin at some point in our lives.”
