by Lena Grey
When I’m done checking him out, he’s sporting a raging hard-on that juts out from his leather kilt. At least we know that part of his anatomy still works.
“Remmel safe,” he answers, as if to tell me that I’m worried over nothing. I wish he could share more information with me, but details are limited when communicating like Tarzan and Jane.
“Wait right here,” I say. “I’m going to get you some water.” I hurry back to our camp area and grab my backpack, which holds my canteen. When I return, Remmel is standing up and stretching. Stubborn ass. “What in the hell are you doing? I told you to wait. Sit your ass back down and drink some water.”
Surprisingly, he lowers himself to the ground and takes the canteen from my shaking hands. Now that the immediate danger has passed, I’m trembling from head to toe from the adrenaline rush.
Fuck. I was almost eaten alive by a creepy carnivorous tree with tentacle-like vines and an alien Venus fly trap mouth, and Remmel almost died while saving me.
“Jill-ee-un sit.”
My rubbery legs collapse, and I plop down beside him. The ivy-like vines have receded, and what’s left of the creepy tree looks almost dead. “What was that thing?”
He gulps down the water. “Trappol tree with living vines. Danger.”
“No shit. It came out of nowhere and knocked me off my feet. Then that ivy crap strung me up like prize hog.” I can tell by the look on his face that he doesn’t understand most of what I say.
“Remmel bad.” He looks down at the canteen his lap. “No keep Jill-ee-un safe.”
I put my hand on his arm. There’s no way I’m letting him take responsibility for my misstep. “It’s not your fault. This is a scary, fucked up planet with lots of predators. It’s not your job to look out for me 24/7. You saved my life, and you could have died while doing it.”
“To Rakuis, female life is rare and precious. Remmel would perish to save Jill-ee-un.”
Damn. Tears sting my eyes and I blink them away. I’m not much of a crier, but in my defense, nobody has ever offered to die for me before. Especially not a sexy, badass barbarian with golden skin and a body that’s damn near indestructible. Heat pools between my thighs, and I curse my TEASE for making me horny again.
He must smell my arousal because his black pupils dilate and his hard-on returns. The harshness in his face softens, and he takes my hand. Heat arcs between us, and my breath catches as I wait for him to say what’s on his mind.
Even though he hasn’t knocked me up, if he asks me to be his forevermore mate, I’m ready to say yes. We still have some things to figure out, but there are worse ways to spend my nights on UD237 than in Remmel’s bed.
Before he speaks, the softness in his face fades away and he drops my hand. “Remmel no tell Jill-ee-un about trappol tree.”
I’m such an idiot. He doesn’t want me as his mate. He’s just feeling guilty because he didn’t tell me about the deadly tree. Embarrassed, I wrap my arms around my waist, shrinking away from him.
“Well, you’ve told me now.” My words are short and clipped, and I deliberately lighten my tone. It’s not Remmel’s fault that I jumped to conclusions. “And I’m grateful that you saved my life and thankful that you weren’t seriously hurt. Going forward, how about we work together to keep us both alive?”
He nods. “Yes. Remmel and Jill-ee-un work together.”
We sit for a while longer while we both recover, and I gaze into the trees over his shoulder to avoid looking at him. When I do, I notice something out of place.
Yesterday, Remmel taught me some basic tracking stuff like how to examine footprints in the dirt. What I see a few yards away is a large cluster of unnaturally broken tree limbs with mangled leaves. Forest animals wouldn’t cause this kind of damage to the foliage.
“C’mon!” I jump up and motion for him to follow me. I show him what I found, and he looks pleased.
“Jill-ee-un smart tracker.”
He examines the area, draws his sword, and presses his fingers to his lips. I follow him deeper into the woods, resisting the urge to talk and wishing I hadn’t stashed my laser weapon in my pack.
We don’t have to go far to find what damaged the trees. It’s an escape pod!
I start to rush toward it, but Remmel stops me. He points to footprints in the dirt that I almost messed up. Shit. Guess I’m not a smart tracker after all.
Remmel bends down to study the various footprints, and I follow close behind. Most of the prints are small, like mine. Definitely Terran female. Stepping carefully, we make our way to the pod only to find it empty. I was hoping the girls in there sleeping or just hanging out.
They aren’t here now, but it looks like they stayed with their pod for several days because the floor of the pod is littered with jerky and protein bar wrappers. Based on the number of wrappers I count, if they rationed their food like we were taught during survival training, they haven’t been gone long.
Remmel moves to the back side of the pod and quietly calls out to me. “Jill-ee-un, look.”
He’s pointing to at least two different sets of larger footprints and churned up dirt that looks like the result of a struggle. Fuck.
“Do you think rogues took them?” I ask in barely a whisper.
“Yes,” Remmel confirms. “Remmel and Jill-ee-un get packs then track rogues.”
My body releases more adrenaline because the rubbery feel in my legs goes away, and I feel energized enough to run a marathon. I follow Remmel as we sprint to collect our bags.
While he goes back to our camp tree to get his satchel, I dig through my backpack to find the laser weapon and holster I procured from one of the dead mercenaries and strap it to my waist. Then, I slip the backpack over my shoulders so that my hands are free.
Remmel gets back quickly with his satchel over his shoulder and his sword still in hand. “Jill-ee-un follow Remmel. Be quiet. Stay safe.”
I don’t try to tell him that my weapon is probably better than his if we come across the rogues—or that I’m not afraid to use it. I just agree and step in line behind him.
Now that we know where the pod is, we get back to it fast, and Remmel studies the marks on the ground.
“This way,” he says.
The larger footprints seem to lead in a dozen different directions. “Are you sure?”
He motions for me to come close, and he shows me the footprints walking off in the direction that he wants to go.
I point in a different direction. “I saw the same footprints go that way.”
“No.” Remmel shakes his head. “Heavy steps here. Rogue carries female.”
I squat down to take a closer look and, damn, Remmel’s right. The difference is subtle, but the footsteps he’s found press deeper into the soft ground. And there’s two distinct sets of them. Two rogues weighed down by the two missing girls. He really is good at this tracking shit.
Next, he shows me ripped leaves from the nearby bushes. The way the leaves are crumpled on the ground, it looks like one of the girls was trying to leave a trail so someone could find them. Smart move.
We follow the footprints and the roughed-up bushes, moving as fast as we can while still being quiet. Hours pass, until the suns are high in the sky signaling mid-day. I’m beginning to think we’re going the wrong way when we hear male voices arguing in the distance.
“Oomph!” Remmel stops abruptly, and I slam into his back. He turns his head and glares at me. “Sorry,” I whisper.
He puts his fingers roughly to his lips, an angry warning to stay silent. Yeah, asshole, I know I need to be quiet.
We hunch over to avoid being seen, which is no easy fete for a seven-foot-tall Rakui, and weave our way through the trees toward the voices.
When we’re close enough to see and hear what’s going on, I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a scream.
Charlotte and Taylor, looking dirty and disheveled, are bound and gagged while three very large and menacing aliens argue about them.
Chapter 14
Jillian
“The white-haired one is mine!” bellows one of the rogues in Galactic Common.
“I saw her first,” another rogue argues. “You can have the crazy bitch with the short hair.” That would be Taylor. I’m guessing she was the one that left a trail for us to follow.
Give ‘em hell, Tay!
The third alien, who looks to be their leader, yells, “Silence! Neither of you gets the white-haired girl unless Voltex wishes it, and I would bet that he will want to keep that one for himself.” The guy grabs his crotch. “At least until he tires of her.”
My stomach churns as the three aliens laugh. None of them are the same species, but they all look dangerous.
“What if we don’t return to Voltex’s encampment?” That was the first guy again. “Then we could keep the females to ourselves.”
“Idiot,” alien guy two says, “there are three of us and only two of them, and I’m not taking sloppy seconds.”
“There will be no sloppy seconds. If we keep them for ourselves, one of you has to die,” the leader says with a gristly laugh. “Which one will it be?”
I grab Remmel’s hand and drag him away from the rogue camp. When we’re a safe distance away, I say, “They’re arguing over the girls because there’s three of them and only two of my friends.”
“Jill-ee-un understand rogues?”
“Yeah. It sounds like they’re supposed to take the females to their tribe leader, but two of the rogues want to keep them instead.”
Remmel nods in understanding. “Females are rare treasure here.”
“I have a plan, but you’re not going to like it.”
“What is Jill-ee-un’s plan?”
“Since the rogues are one female short, I could wander into the camp to distract them. They’ll be so excited to add another female to their harem, they won’t even notice when you free Charlotte and Taylor. Once my friends are safe, you and I can fight the rogues.”
I was right. Remmel doesn’t like my plan. “No! NO!” His voice isn’t loud but he might as well be shouting. “Jill-ee-un stay here where safe. Remmel fight rogues.”
“You can’t fight three aliens by yourself.” I shake my head. “My plan is the only one that works.”
The resigned look on his face tells me he knows I’m right. Without another word, he takes my backpack off my shoulders. I unstrap the gun holster from around my waist. I’m not crazy about waltzing in there unarmed, but there’s nowhere to hide a gun or even a knife under my leggings and t-shirt.
Remmel takes off his furry boots and motions for me to put them on. “Why?” I ask.
He makes the motion again so I take the path of least resistance and slip my wrapped feet into his giant boots. Evidently, the boots have pockets inside and he slips my laser weapon into one boot and slides a knife into the other one.
I grin. “I’m beginning to think you’re smarter than the average barbarian.”
He takes me by the shoulders and gives me a little shake. His eyes tell me what he doesn’t have the words to say. Remmel is worried about me. “Jill-ee-un be safe.”
“I’ll be so safe it’ll make your head spin.” He tilts his head at a funny angle, and I know he’s trying to make sense of my words. “Look, if something happens out there, I won’t blame you, okay?”
“Remmel and Jill-ee-un work together. No perish.”
“Together,” I agree.
I give him a head start to circle around the camp so he can approach the girls from behind and then I make my way toward the rogues, clomping along in Remmel’s giant boots.
“Taylor! Charlotte! Where are you!” Calling out for my friends is part of my plan. I want the rogues to know I’m coming so they focus on me and not on Remmel. “Taylor! Charlotte! I found your pod. I know you must be out here somewhere!”
When I stumble into the rogue camp accidentally-on-purpose, I shriek in feigned fear and clutch my hands to my chest. “Oh no!”
“Looks like you won’t be getting sloppy seconds after all, Gjort,” the leader says to the guy I call number two.
“You guys can fight over the white-haired one,” the first guy says. “This one is more to my liking.”
The trio of rogues moves toward me, and it takes everything I’ve got not to cut and run because now my fear is real. These guys are as big as the Rakuis and humanoid in nature, but they look tougher and rougher, with dirty, tattered clothing and scarred arms and faces.
Even though they don’t seem to have guns, how will Remmel and I win a fight against them? I don’t have time to think about that now.
To draw them further away from the girls, I slowly step backwards even as they move faster in my direction.
Chapter 15
Remmel
As the rogues descend on Jill-ee-un, I fight the urge to go her, to save my mate. She belongs to me, although she does not yet believe this. If we survive this mission, when we return to the Rakui village, I vow to convince her of that.
I crawl along the ground until I reach the captured females. When they see me, their eyes go wide with fear and they thrash about, trying to scream through the hides covering their mouths.
Patting my chest, I tell them, “Jill-ee-un’s friend.”
They must believe me because they stop struggling and allow me to cut the bindings on their wrists and ankles so they can pull away the hides covering their mouths.
“Run,” I say. “Run!”
“What about Jill-ee-un?” the one with short black hair asks.
“Remmel keep Jill-ee-un safe. Run.”
The females nod and scramble to get away as I disappear into the trees. But the white-haired one trips and catches the rogues’ attention.
“Thefemalesaregettingaway! Getthemgjort!” The leader yells something I do not understand, and one of the rogues chases after Jill-ee-un’s friends.
Now I am torn. Do I go to Jill-ee-un or save her friends? I know what she would want me to do and charge back into the camp with my sword held high, ready to strike down the rogue chasing her friends.
“Heyboss!” he the rogue yells. “Ivegotcompany!”
Now another rogue runs toward me. I am happy for this because now there is only one rogue pursuing Jill-ee-un.
The rogues are armed with only small crude knives, but they are dirty fighters and it is two against one. I strike, parry, evade, and strike again. My intent is to wound them and wear them down. To stay alive and wait for the rogues to make a mistake.
My sword makes contact time and again, but I have not yet landed a lethal blow. The rogues make contact as well; small cuts to my arms and torso weep with blood.
I risk a glance toward Jill-ee-un and watch as the rogue strikes her cheek hard enough to knock her to the ground. The sight enrages me, and I attack my opponents with renewed vigor.
It is time to end this fight.
Chapter 16
Jillian
The motherfucking rogue backhanded me, and now I’m super pissed. He doesn’t know it yet, but slamming me to the ground is a fatal mistake.
“Get up, female!”
I curl into a fetal position, drawing my knees toward my chest while begging him not to hit me again. “Leave me be. Please don’t hit me. I promise to obey. Just don’t hurt me again.”
The dude snarls something alien that my translator doesn’t catch and then says, “Terran bitch needs to learn who her new master is. Only a proper beating will do.”
He reaches for me, but I’ve reached for something too. Before he can grab my arm to haul me back onto my feet, I pull the laser weapon from my boot, flick off the safety, and point it at his head.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
The fucker doesn’t even know what’s hit him as he drops to the ground.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
Even though he’s dead, I shoot him again. This time in the balls. Well, assuming he has balls. “That’s for hitting me, asswipe.”
The fight’s not over yet, though. One rogu
e alien is down, but there’s still two more to go. From the looks of things, Remmel is holding his own. Still, I’ve had enough action for one day. I want this over with.
I run across the camp and reach the ongoing fight just as Remmel manages to cut one of the rogues down and run him through. Now there’s two down, and the last living rogue decides to make a run for it.
“Oh no you don’t.” I raise the gun, point, and shoot.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
The dude turns hard left and I miss him. Shit!
He’s almost to the woods when Charlotte and Taylor emerge from the trees swinging thick sticks like they’re baseball bats. They’re no match for the giant alien with a knife, but they manage to keep him busy until I can get there seconds later.
“Duck!” I scream and both girls drop to the ground and cover their heads with their hands.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
Zzzttthhhhttt.
This time, I don’t miss.
I press the leaf with root paste against my bruised cheek to let the healing properties do their thing. Remmel wants to tie the damn leaf to my face, but that’s where I draw the line.
After Charlotte and Taylor cleaned up a bit and they filled us in on what they learned from the rogues, Remmel says we can’t stay here long and need to get as far away from this camp as we can before nightfall.
Evidently, the rogues we killed are part of a larger group of hardcore interstellar criminals who were dropped here roughly a year ago when they were sentenced to death. They didn’t die, of course, because UD237 is habitable, even though the limited scientific data available for this planet says it isn’t.
Like the Rakuis, the rogues saw our pods land, and a group was sent to investigate. When they captured Charlotte and Taylor, the girls refused to say how many other pods there were. But when the aliens threatened to rape them unless they talked, they spilled the beans. I don’t blame them for that.
