“I will.”
ACCORDING TO THE TABLET Vrateus and I had brought with us, it’d been only twenty minutes since he’d left, but it felt like hours.
Sitting in the small room, lit only by the short string of glowing blue light, I cuddled into his soft fur blanket. All seemed to be quiet out there. Unnervingly silent. The growling of the Anomaly compressing the wreckage that Vrateus had told me about didn’t reach this far. It must be getting lost in the layers of insulation and paneling, never making it to the outer segments of the disk. Still, sitting alone in this tiny windowless room made me feel claustrophobic and...lonely.
The rustling noise of someone moving inside the tunnel Vrateus had left through sent me to my feet. My heart raced with hope that it was him returning, and fear that it might be someone or something else.
I quickly tossed the glowing string on the floor by the tunnel, illuminating the entrance, it allowed me to hide in the shadows. Grabbing the laser gun from the holster on my thigh, I held it up, ready.
The noise came closer. Then the blue glow fell on the white material of Vrateus’s shirt as he entered.
“You...” I lowered the gun. Relief spread through me in a calming wave.
“Has anyone told you that you look fierce with a gun?” A corner of his mouth lifted in an unexpected smile.
“No.” I holstered the weapon. “Probably because I’ve never handled one before.”
He entered the small space, immediately filling it with his presence. I stepped back to the wall, though everything inside me urged me to come closer.
“You’re a natural, then.” His tone was light.
His words brought back the images of the males I’d killed. I hadn’t thought twice about pulling the trigger, then. I would have done it again, under the same circumstances. The images of the smoldering holes in the dead bodies, however, stayed in my memory.
“Hungry?”
Only now had I noticed a grease-stained, paper-wrapped bundle in his hands. The smell of cooked meat wafted from it. It wasn’t the most appetizing aroma, but my mouth watered. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since I’d last eaten.
“How is everything out there?” I asked, after we both had settled on the blanket, our backs to the wall.
“As I should have expected. Total chaos.” Vrateus shook his head, his mouth tightening into a thin line of disapproval. “They are guzzling unmeasurable amounts of berry wine and butchering a month’s supply of vasai.”
“Are they celebrating?”
“Yes. Crux has declared himself the captain and cancelled all my restrictions.”
He sounded less upset about the loss of his position than about his crew needlessly wasting supplies and resources.
“Here.” He handed me a bone with meat on it. It appeared to be an entire leg of vasai, with a meaty chunk at the very top.
I was too hungry to decline.
“Thank you.” I peeled a strip of meat off then chewed on it, slowly. “Where did you get it? And how?”
“I stole it from the kitchen. It wasn’t hard.” He bit a chunk of meat off another bone he had taken out of the paper bundle. “No one is paying attention to anything. Crux has lifted my limits on wine. They’re getting drunk out of their minds.”
“Sounds like a perfect time to show up and restore the order,” I suggested.
“No. Not yet. It’s best for us to wait. Alcohol has different effects on different species. Ognats have a strong allergy to the berry wine. It doesn’t stop them from drinking as much as they can fit in their bellies, though. Most of the ognats will die before morning.”
“That’s awful,” I gasped. “They’re willingly killing themselves?”
“One of the many reasons I imposed strict limits on alcohol, in the first place.” He shook his head. “Those without the allergy have been getting into fights and scuffles. It’s not going to end well. Dimos, for example, get extremely aggressive when they’re drunk. They’ll fight anything that moves. When plunged in a killing frenzy, they continue fighting even if their heads get cut off.”
“Well.” I rubbed my forehead. “It’s quite a crew you’ve got there.”
“They are what they are.” He shrugged.
“Don’t at least some of them come from civilized worlds?”
“All of them came from planets with some form of government. It’s just that many had been on the fringes of society even before they crashed here. Most of what we have here now used to be pirates, smugglers, and criminals on the run.”
“Those couldn’t be the only space travelers in the area.”
“Many were,” he replied. “Regular trade routes steered clear of the Dark Anomaly. The criminals took risks, by coming closer than they should, to evade being detected or captured. But you’re right, not all who crashed here were on the wrong side of the law. Some were law-abiding citizens. Most of them didn’t survive, though. One needs to be tough and ruthless to make it here.”
“Was your family among those who didn’t make it?” I asked carefully.
Finishing his meat, Vrateus took the water bottles out of the bag, handing one to me.
“My family were merchants,” he said quietly. “Although they didn’t shy away from some illegal smuggling here and there as I’ve learned while examining their log books.”
“Do you remember any of them?”
“Vaguely. Everything that happened before the crash is like a dream—foggy and fragmented. The strongest memory is that of my mother patting me here...” Staring straight ahead, he lifted his hand to his temple, touching the tattoos above his ear. “While she sang me to sleep at night, she would trail her fingers here. It felt soothing...” He dropped his hand to his thigh.
“Do your tattoos have meaning?” I asked softly.
He nodded. Sliding his finger along the ornamental lines, without even being able to see them, he named them all, “My name, the name of my clan, the name of our ship, and its home port on our planet. The tattoos tell where I belong... Where I was supposed to belong.”
Bending his legs, he rested his forearms on his knees.
“Themuls live in clans,” he continued. “The crew of our ship comprised twenty-eight people, all of them related, either by blood or by marriage. My parents, their siblings and their families. My aunts, uncles, cousins...”
“You said not all of them died in the crash.”
He’d mentioned they didn’t live long after. That he had survived the cruel world of the Dark Anomaly alone seemed a miracle to me.
“Most died. I was strapped in bed, sleeping, when it happened. The beds with my cousins were crushed, killing them. Mine ended up wedged under theirs with enough space to keep me alive.”
He ran both hands over his face.
“By the time I climbed out, the ognats and kreers had already made their way onto the ship. The killings of the survivors had started. Then errocks and yourlu joined them, with dimos and the others. That was when the rapes began...”
“Did no one see you?”
“In the chaos that followed, I crawled under wreckage and snuck out.”
“You were only eight years old, Vrateus. How on earth did you survive here alone?”
“I hid. Smaller than anyone, I could fit in tiny places no one would bother to look. As a child, I had the same advantage Malahki has. I had neither the scent of a female to excite lust nor the size or attitude of a male to ignite aggression.”
“Many would still eat you if they caught you.” Even after all my time on the Dark Anomaly, I still couldn’t fully imagine the horrors he had lived through.
“True, food was scarce. As was air and water. Without one interconnected air supply system, we relied on the oxygen production equipment of individual ships. The air was thin and poorly distributed. Cannibalism was rampant and widely accepted in those times. The strongest routinely killed and ate the weakest.”
“Oh God...It’s just awful.” I winced, rubbing the pain out of my tightening throat.
“What did you eat?”
“Whatever I could steal from the others when they were asleep or intoxicated and passed out. A few years later, the ship with vasai crashed here. The centipedes got loose, spreading through the body of the Anomaly. By then, I had grown big enough and learned to hunt them. I would corner one, separating it from the rest, then kill it. After a while, I had enough meat to sustain myself and even to trade for things I needed.”
“When did you decide to become the captain?”
“Well before that.” A crooked smile appeared on his hardened face. “I knew right after the crash that I would kill Raex, one day. The errock boasted he’d raped my mother. He was the unofficial leader. I decided when I was big enough, I would take his place to lead them all. Unlike him, I wanted to do it right.”
“Did you kill him?”
He nodded. “I knew I needed to be patient, and I was. Biding my time, I learned everything I could about the species populating the Dark Anomaly. Their strengths and their weaknesses. What motivated each of them. I used to sneak onto the newly crashed ships. While everyone else looted them for food and weapons, I’d search for data storage devices. Then I brought them all here.” He tipped his chin toward the wall separating us from the library. “I studied everything there was to learn about the world outside and the people we had in here. There was no order back then. But Raex was the leader. I challenged him seven years ago and won that fight.”
“You killed him,” I exhaled.
“Just as I’d promised myself.” An expression of grim satisfaction settled over his face.
“How did the rest of errocks take it? Did they defend one of their own?” I drank more water from my bottle, listening to him intently.
“Back on their planet, errocks live in tribes. The leader of a tribe can be challenged in one-on-one combat for leadership. I defeated Raex in an honest fight. Not all of them liked it, but they’ve accepted it.”
“Is that what you’re planning to do, now?” I asked tentatively, unsure if I’d like the answer. “Are you going to challenge Crux?”
“I’ll give him a chance to surrender first.” He stuffed his canteen back into the bag.
“Do you see him taking that chance?”
He drew in a long breath. “Probably not. But I want to use any possibility to avoid more violence. Our population will already be drastically reduced when all of this is over. No need to court another rampage.”
“Are you planning to talk to Crux?” I cleared my throat, breathing deeply as worry tightened my chest. “When?”
“By tomorrow morning, many of them will have drunk themselves unconscious. Some will be dead. Others hangover. I’ll try to talk with Crux then.”
“We’ll try,” I corrected him.
He glanced my way.
“Svetlana, it would be best if you stayed here.”
“Again?” I stared at him.
He remained silent, shifting his eyes from mine.
I exhaled sharply, calling on my patience. “Listen, I’m not saying I should be out there, slaying men and kicking ass. All I’m asking for is for you not to dismiss my ability and willingness to help. If there is any chance for me to be useful, please, include me in your plans.”
He reached over and moved a strand of my hair away from my face.
“If there was an absolutely safe place anywhere on the Anomaly to hide you, I would,” he admitted. “You have become my dearest treasure, Svetlana. I feel this powerful urge to lock you away and keep you safe.”
I blinked at his confession, uncertain how to take it, though something warm and pleasant glowed inside of me from the tenderness in his tone.
“I know that crashing here was a disaster for you,” he continued. “But for me, your arrival turned out to be the best thing in my life. From the very first moment, I couldn’t get you out of my thoughts. Though, there were some frustration and annoyance too, at the beginning.” He smiled.
“Frustration and annoyance still sound milder than the emotions I had for you.” I chuckled. “I hated you then.”
He tilted his head. “How about now?”
The half-grin remained on his face, slightly teasing. However, the intensity in his eyes betrayed how important my answer was to him. He seemed to halt his breath, waiting for it.
“I’ve already told you, Vrateus, I like you. I just...”
“What is it?” He frowned.
A flicker of enduring hope in his gaze pinched my heart with ache. Vrateus longed for affection, even as he hardly could remember what that feeling was.
Was it specifically my affection that he wished for, though?
I was literally the first woman Vrateus had met who wasn’t family. Would he have cared just as much about any female who’d crashed here instead of me?
On the other hand, my feelings for him were absolutely certain. I liked him, and I wanted to see if more could be possible between us.
Did I need to concern myself with other hypothetical women? After all, I crashed here first, I saw him first. He was now all mine to take.
“Is there a problem, Svetlana?” he prompted, carefully.
“Nothing that can’t be worked out between us, with a little time and patience.” I smiled, placing my hand over his.
The soft fur on the top of his hand reached up to his knuckles, leaving his fingers bare. I circled the green stone of one of the huge rings he wore.
“You’ve made me feel so many things, Vrateus. From hate, to rage, to...attraction. No one else has ever made me feel the way you do.”
Clasping my fingers in his hand, he shifted closer.
“What are you feeling right now, Svetlana?”
“Now?” I slid my gaze to his mouth. Often pressed into a firm line in focus, anger or disapproval, his lips were slightly parted right now. Inviting and enticing. “This very moment...I just want to kiss you again.” The words came out, taking my breath with them.
His eyes flashed with heat as he leaned closer.
“Kiss me then,” he whispered, his lips brushing over mine. “Use the moment, Svetlana, because on the Dark Anomaly that’s all there is. Just this very moment.”
Chapter 20
VRATEUS
He claimed her lips. Remembering everything from their previous kiss, he mirrored her actions. His execution was far from precise. His thoughts were on everything at once as he tried to take her in with all his senses.
Listening and touching.
Tasting and feeling...
She gasped softly into his mouth. Her body stilled, then seemed to come back to life with his touch. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she shifted closer, sliding into his lap. Her scent wrapped around him, and he happily allowed himself to drown in it.
Just like she had, he slipped his tongue deeper, searching for hers. A soft moan vibrated deep in her throat.
Desire jolted through his body like lightning, crushing his self-control.
Letting go of her mouth, he trailed his lips down on the side of her neck, instead. Inhaling deeply, he filled his lungs with her scent, breathing her in. She gasped as his canines grazed her skin. The sound went straight to his cock, making it hard as steel.
Fervently moving his hands, he searched for a way to get under her suit, needing to feel her naked body. His claws sprang from the tips of his fingers, raking along the indestructible material of her suit.
“Here...” She whispered breathlessly, yanking at something in the front. The suit opened from her neck down to her navel.
The claws didn’t disappear all the way as he palmed her breasts through her pink harness. She hissed at the prick of the claws, her nipples tightened and hardened under his thumbs.
“Oh God, yes...” she moaned, riding the hard ridge of his throbbing erection through his pants.
Pressing her breasts into his hands, she grabbed fistfuls of fur on his scruff. Intense pleasure coursed down his back from the sting at the roots, making him growl.
More blood rushed t
o his groin. His cock pulsed hot with need. Hands under her backside, he flipped her down on the fur blanket, grinding himself against her.
Lost in her scent, the feel of her, and her taste, he felt nothing else. Everything ceased to exist. There was just her warm, writhing body under him.
The unbearable, all-consuming need was building up, threatening to explode and tear him apart.
A feral roar vibrated deep in his chest somewhere.
Ecstasy spiked.
Delirious, he bit down on her shoulder, just below her neck, and growled through his teeth as a mind-blowing climax rocked through him.
Again and again.
Brutal pleasure shook his body, rolling through him in waves. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. When the last spurt of his release burst out of him, he no longer knew his own name.
Spent, he released her from the grip of his teeth, gasping for air and rolling off her into the fur blanket.
“Vrateus?” Svetlana’s hand stroked his heaving chest. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
The tender concern in her voice made him want to cry.
Then, worry chilled the sweat on his back.
“Svetlana...” He jerked his head up, searching for her eyes, afraid of what he might find in them. “I did it all wrong, didn’t I?”
For a few blissful moments, he had lost himself to her, forgetting about her pleasure.
Her dark eyes glistened in the bluish glow of the light string as she rose on her elbow at his side.
“Not wrong.” She gazed at him with a warm excitement. “This was...intense.” Her hand went to touch the bite mark on her shoulder. “I knew it would be wild if you let go.” She leaned in, cupping his face. “I’ve seen it in you,” she murmured, with a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. “We haven’t even done the whole thing yet, but was it good for you?”
Good?
He still felt like a part of his soul was floating out there among the lights of the Anomaly. He didn’t think it would ever come back to reunite with his body. Not when she was stroking his head like that, combing through his fur with her delicate little fingers.
Gravity (Dark Anomaly Book 1) Page 16
