Alien Explosions

by Sadie Carter

  “What?”

  “Sorry. Being crude. Don’t mind me. I tend to get mouthy when I’m being held prisoner. What can I say? Fear makes me talkative.”

  “You talk a lot no matter what the circumstances.”

  “That’s me, a regular chatterbox. Ouch! Easy!”

  “We must stretch out the muscles. Had I known you were so tight, I would have recommended stretching exercises for you before now. How often do you exercise?”

  “Um, have you looked at me? Do I look like I exercise?”

  He studied her. “I do not understand. How is looking at you supposed to tell me whether you exercise?”

  “I’m fat, Moroco. Surely you have to have noticed the extra sponge I’m carrying.”

  He shook his head. “You think you are overweight?”

  “I don’t think it, I know it. Look, I know I’m not a beauty. Sophie got all the looks and I’m perfectly okay with that.”

  How could she think so poorly about herself? She was beautiful. She had long, dark hair that was thick and lush. Brown eyes that sparkled, especially when she was in the middle of a temper, and curves he had admired too many times to count. He did not like this view she seemed to have of herself, that she was somehow less attractive than her sister. Personally, Sophie was too fragile for him.

  “I’ve tried so many diets but none of them ever work. In fact, half the time I end up fatter than when I started.”

  “Diets? You restrict your food intake?”

  “That’s generally what a diet is. Ow, ouch. That’s hurting.”

  He eased off on the stretch, realizing that he’d been pushing too hard. He stepped back and she sat up slowly. “Thanks, that feels better.”

  “You should not be restricting your diet, you will do that no longer.”

  “I will? You know you have a real knack of making everything sound like an order.”

  “Because when I speak to you it is an order.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And you wonder why you and I clash.”

  “I do not wonder about that. We clash because you are disobedient and reckless. You should have obeyed me earlier when I told you to leave the room in medical. Now, we find ourselves here.”

  “That’s not my fault,” she protested. “Even if I hadn’t been there they would have taken you. And then you would be here alone.”

  “Which would be vastly preferable!” Then he wouldn’t have to worry about her getting hurt. He wouldn’t have to protect her. He wouldn’t have this fear filling him at the thought of something happening to her that he couldn’t prevent.

  “Right. Of course, because you’d much rather be here alone than with me.”

  Yes. He bit back the word, seeing the way she hunched over as though in pain. “You being here is a complication.”

  “Uh-huh.” She tightened her arms around her legs, which were pulled up against her chest. She looked so small, so defenseless. Normally, he had little care for how his words affected others. It wasn’t as though he spoke to many females, especially human females, and other warriors did not care that he was abrupt and bad-tempered.

  But he did not like that he had hurt this little female.

  He sighed. “I now have you to worry about as well.”

  “I get it. I fucked up. You wish I wasn’t here. Next time, I’ll run away and let you get taken by the big, bad aliens on your own, okay?”

  She understood. Good. “Yes.”

  “I’m not some weak idiot who you have to protect. I can take care of myself.”

  She obviously had no idea of the danger they were in. Perhaps that was for the best. It would stop her from being too fearful. He was not a man who enjoyed hysterics or tears. He shuddered at the thought.

  “What’s wrong? You look like you’re going to vomit or hit someone. I’m not sure which.”

  He watched her attempt to move around, saw her wince with pain.

  “You should be doing stretches every day.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement. In fact, I could get started right now. Not like there’s anything else to do around here. They could at least provide us with a bathroom.” She looked around, her eyes growing wide. “We’ve really been kidnapped, haven’t we?”

  He could see that this was just starting to sink in.

  “Yes, we have.”

  She stood, swaying slightly. He reached for her, clasping hold of her arm to steady her. “Easy.”

  “Sorry. Guess I stood too fast.” She looked up at him, those beautiful brown eyes filled with alarm. “How are we going to get out of this?”

  Saffron could feel herself starting to panic. Logically, she knew that panicking wasn’t the answer, it wasn’t going to help anything. But still, she couldn’t seem to stop the fear coursing through her. Those other alien dudes had been freakishly cold. She could tell they wouldn’t think twice about killing them. In fact, she was kind of surprised they hadn’t killed her rather than bring her along.

  “You are frightened.”

  Duh. “Yes. Aren’t you?”

  He shook his head, looking calm. “No. They need us. They would not have brought us with them if they intended to kill us.”

  “They need you. I’m just a pet. Seriously, in what realm would I be considered a pet?”

  “Indeed. I found that difficult to believe, also.”

  “Thank you.”

  “After all, any pet of mine would be much more obedient and well-behaved.”

  “Hey, what? Obedient? Well-behaved? Are you kidding? No, of course you’re not kidding. You never kid.” She ran her hand over her face. “I can’t believe that the only reason you think I wouldn’t be your pet is because I’m not obedient enough. I’m a person. Not an animal.”

  “There are many races who keep other species as pets. Who would probably keep a human as their pet.”

  Her mouth dropped open. All right, she had to stop doing that. She knew it wasn’t attractive.

  “I can’t believe this. So, they really do think I’m your pet?”

  “Yes, a very disobedient one. What did you think you were doing, following me into that room?”

  “I was angry at you! You were refusing to listen to me.”

  “That is no excuse for the way you disobeyed me. As soon as you saw there were strangers present, you should have deferred to me as your minder.”

  She raised her hands again. “There you go again. You aren’t in charge of me!”

  “Until we are rescued or I find a way to free us, you will do exactly as I say. No more doing whatever you wish and foolishly putting yourself at risk. Understand?”

  “I understand that you think pigs are about to fly.” She snorted.

  “What? Why do you wish to speak of flying pigs?”

  “I’m saying that in your dreams will I obey you. I have a mind of my own. You guys all think you have to look after the little woman. I know how to look after myself; I’ve been doing it a long, long time.”

  “This is a situation you know nothing about. Sky Warriors are dangerous. One wrong look from you and they could kill you without a qualm.”

  He moved closer to her and she had to force herself to hold her ground. “I am male. I am stronger. I have more fighting experience. And they believe you are my pet. Do you know how close I came to having to punish you in front of them? Is that what you want?”

  “You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” she muttered.

  “Believe me the idea of it is growing more attractive by the minute.”

  Asshole.

  “Do you want them to find out that you’re not my pet? Because I can tell you what they’ll do then. They’ll either separate us or they will kill you. Is that what you wish?”

  “Of course it’s not,” she replied, but her voice had lost its strength. Be separated from him? Fear filled her at the thought of being alone here.

  “Fine. I won’t argue with you when they’re around, is that what you want?”

  “No. What I want is for
you to obey me without argument, whether they are close by or not.”

  She snorted. “Don’t ask for much, do you?”

  “You are not making things easy for me. You cannot lead them to believe that you mean nothing to me.”

  Ouch. Wow, he knew how to pack a punch.

  “When we are around them I’ll be an obedient little pet who will hang on your every word. Happy, now?”

  “Not in the slightest. I will be happy once we are safe and free.”

  “Your people will come for you, right?” Fear sent chills through her or was that the reaction to being transported? Right now, she wasn’t so sure.

  “Yes. But as they have no idea where we are, it will likely take them awhile. Our best hope is that once their packmate is well that the Sky Warriors will drop us off at a port and I can call for help.”

  “So what do we do in the meantime?”

  “You do nothing. You will trust me to get us out of here.”

  “I don’t trust anyone but Sophie.”

  “Then you will have to start. I will not let any harm come to you, Saffron.”

  Warmth filled her. “I’m surprised you care.”

  “So am I.”

  Right. Because she meant nothing to him. Coming to see him had been a bad idea. In more ways than one. Now she was stuck on a strange spaceship, headed God knows where.

  And she had to pretend to be his obedient pet.

  Someone, somewhere was definitely pissed off at her.

  “You really think they’ll kill me if they know I’m not your pet?”

  He swung around to her. “That is the last time you say that you’re not my pet, understand? From now on, that is exactly what you are. It’s not a pretense. It is our reality until we are safe. Because if you forget and allow them to see that you are not under my protection then yes, they could easily kill you. It is obvious you are not Zerconian. They may not believe you have the protection of Zerconia. Sky Warriors are very loyal to each other, but they do not like or have time for other races. They would not understand that the Emperor might go to war with them over you.”

  Saffron was pretty certain he wouldn’t go to war over her.

  “If you are my pet you have my protection.”

  Part of her wasn’t certain that he wasn’t punking her. Except Zerconians didn’t really joke around.

  “I know this will be difficult for you.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “But you need to try, Saffron. I am serious. You keep disobeying me and they might wonder why I am not punishing you. If they insist that I punish you in front of them then we are both going to be placed in a difficult and uncomfortable situation.”

  Great. Just wonderful. This situation just kept growing more and more impossible.

  “If I’m your pet then you can’t act like touching me will give you some terrible disease.”

  He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “You practically jump away from me every time I come close to you. Which is weird, considering you offered to show me your cock.”

  “That was a mistake.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. I got that message loud and clear. Is it some sort of phobia?” she asked, curiously. Or did it have something to do with his mate dying?

  Although part of her wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Not that she thought he had killed her. She just wasn’t sure she could stand listening to him talk about the woman he’d loved. It would be self-torture, knowing how little he thought of her.

  You mean nothing to me.

  He pulled at something on his wrists and tugged a pair of gloves off. She hadn’t realized he was still wearing those things.

  “I do not have a phobia of touch.”

  “Good to know. What are you doing?” she asked as he lay down on the cold, hard floor and closed his eyes.

  “Sleeping.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, now. I have had very little sleep these past few days and I will need to be at full strength to deal with all of this. Provided you remain quiet long enough for me to fall asleep.” He opened one eye and glared at her. “Do you think you are capable of doing that?”

  “Yes, of course I am.”

  Maybe.

  Chapter Five

  She was bored. And lonely. And scared.

  Morocco had been asleep for what felt like forever. And she’d spent that whole time watching him. Wasn’t like she had much choice. There was no way she could sleep. She was too wound up, and the cold, hard floor wasn’t exactly tempting.

  She guessed he didn’t feel aches or cold like most mere mortals. But it was a good chance to study him. This was the first time she’d ever had the chance to just look at him.

  He wasn’t the most handsome man she’d ever seen. There were some gorgeous Zerconian warriors. He wasn’t the biggest either. Toriq had half a head on him and he was wider through the shoulders. He was built though. When he was awake he had this aura of confidence. Of strength. That didn’t dissipate even when he was asleep. But those lines on his face softened and made him look younger. More approachable.

  What was it about him that she found so damn fascinating? Men had never interested her that much. Yet, she had these dreams about him, dreams she was never going to tell him about. But boy, were they sexy as hell.

  She knew one night with him would blow her mind. All that intensity aimed at her would be out of this world. Maybe that was why she’d searched him out today. Because she knew she was leaving and she wanted one memory to keep her warm during the cold, lonely nights and days that followed.

  But he doesn’t want you.

  She sighed. What a mess. That run-in with Ricky made it hard for her to trust men. Her libido wasn’t dead, but it had definitely been buried deep. Until Moroco had walked into her life. Ramroaded his way in. With his insulting manner and arrogant demands. And sexy body.

  She shook her head. Instead of daydreaming about what he looked like under those clothes she should be thinking of some plan to escape.

  Except how?

  Sophie was going to be so worried once she discovered she was gone. A knot tightened in her stomach. She was the one person who would actually care if something happened to her. And wasn’t that a sad reflection on her life.

  “Could you sigh a little quieter? You’re keeping me awake.” Moroco sat up, startling her.

  “I thought you were asleep.”

  “I would be if you would stop making so much noise.”

  “Sorry.” She wasn’t really.

  He studied her for a moment. Whatever he saw made him sigh. Her stomach rumbled and she blushed at how loud it sounded.

  He frowned slightly. “You need food.”

  “I’m all right.”

  “I am fairly certain they will not starve us, but I do not know how often they eat. They may not realize that we eat more regularly.”

  She drew her legs up against her chest, hugging them tightly in an effort to comfort herself. She had the sudden wish that he would hug her.

  I would have to be losing my mind to ask him for a hug.

  She had her pride after all. She was supposed to be the strong one.

  Plus, she really didn’t think she could deal with being rejected right now. So she simply sat there and stared at him.

  He stood and pushed one arm up high over his head then bent over. All right, watching him stretch should not be so damn sexy.

  But it was.

  All those thick muscles, the deeply tanned skin, the intense look on his face, made her pulse race.

  Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to ask him to touch her. One thing might lead to another and…what did it matter if he didn’t truly care about her? You didn’t have to care about someone to fuck them.

  She’d been taught that very early on.

  “Moroco, I—”

  The door slid open, interrupting her.

  “You. Come.” One of the Sky Warriors pointed at Moroco.

  Oh God, he wo
uldn’t leave her, would he?

  “Where are we going?” Moroco asked.

  “To eat.”

  “My pet is hungry.”

  The Sky Warrior turned to look at her as if just remembering she was there. “Bring it.”

  Oh, she’d bring it all right.

  She stepped forward with a scowl. Moroco grabbed onto her arm, squeezing hard. When she glared up at him, he gave her a meaningful look.

  “Stay behind me, pet, and mind your manners,” he said in a low drawl that sent shivers of arousal across her skin.

  Ah, crap. That’s right. She couldn’t bring it. She was the pet. The obedient pet. Fuck. This was going to be torture.

  She followed Moroco as he walked behind the Sky Warrior. Actually, this wasn’t a bad position to be in, she reasoned with herself. Sure, she might have to pretend to obey one asshole so a bunch of bigger assholes wouldn’t kill her. But at least no one was likely to pay her much attention, right? All their attention would be on Moroco and she could just blend into the background. Maybe she could even figure out some way out of here.

  She peered around her in interest. The rest of this spaceship looked just like the room they’d been locked up in. Gray and drab. These guys needed a makeover. She snorted softly to herself.

  “Eyes down, pet,” Moroco ordered.

  She raised her eyes to his briefly and he scowled at her. “Do I need to send you back to our room without any food?”

  What? No! He knew she was starving.

  Ah, shit. She went back to her original thought.

  This was going to be torture.

  Chapter Six

  They followed the Sky Warrior into a surprisingly large and light room. It was by far the nicest part of the spaceship she’d seen. Not that she’d seen that much, considering she’d had to keep her eyes down.

  Damn Moroco anyway. She was certain he was playing this up. On some kind of power trip.

  He’s trying to keep me safe. Just do what he says. I don’t want to be the cause of something happening to him, do I?

  That thought sobered her up like nothing else.

  A large table filled the center of the room. There was easily enough room for twenty people, even though there were just six place settings. She stepped forward to pull out a chair then abruptly realized she was supposed to stay behind Moroco. With her head down. This being subservient shit was really going to kill her.