Torment

by Tana Stone

  He bit back a growl. She had still not answered him. “I am not thumping my chest.”

  She leaned over and jabbed a finger over his heart. “This is why I don’t work with men. You think you can tell me what to do just because you have a cock.”

  Vrax did not know how they had gone from talking about her crew seducing men for work to his cock. He gave his head a gruff shake. “This has nothing to do with my cock.”

  “It does if you get all hot and bothered thinking about me and my girls touching other guys’ cocks.”

  The thought made blood pound in his head. He could not imagine that K’alvek would react well if he discovered this about his new mate, who was also Tori’s captain. He did not know the fair-haired female his fellow Dothvek had claimed, but he could not imagine that of her. “Do you?”

  Her dark eyes blazed as she glared at him. “Actually, that’s not my area of expertise. I’d rather kill men instead of fuck them.”

  His shoulders relaxed, even though her words made his cock throb. He wasn’t even sure if he was more aroused by the image of her in battle or the thought of fucking her.

  “For your information, Holly and Bexli can get men to do just about anything they ask, and they don’t even have to fuck them.” She uncoiled her fists. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “You are my business,” he said, his voice low. “We are fighting together.”

  Tori opened her mouth then shut it again, and he felt some of the fight go out of her. “Fine. We’re on the same team for now, but don’t get any idea that fighting together gives you any say over what or who I do.”

  He did not agree with this. Females were modeled after the goddesses, and goddesses did not do such things. At least not the goddesses the Dothveks worshipped. But he decided not to argue with her any more. Not when he heard something that made his blood run cold.

  Whispers—coming from inside their ventilation shaft.

  Chapter Five

  Tori felt his body tense even though he was not touching her. Then she heard it.

  Shit. Were the furtive whispers coming from inside the ventilation shaft where they were crouched? It sounded like it, but the strange echo made it hard to determine from which direction. She knew the ducts were a maze that ran throughout the ship, but she also knew that not all were as large as the section they’d chosen. Some parts were so narrow she could barely squeeze through and some were completely impassable. She knew this from working on the mercenary ship and being the only female, and thus smallest crew mate, who’d been sent in when the system needed fixing.

  She held up a hand to steady Vrax as he reached for his blade. The voices could be coming from a smaller section somewhere else on the ship and the sound merely carrying to them. Of course, that also meant that their argument could very well have carried through the vents across the ship.

  “We should fight,” he whispered.

  She shook her head. “We’re outnumbered.”

  He unsheathed his blade. “I have had worse odds.”

  She rolled her eyes. “In the desert, maybe. We’re on a ship hurtling through space, and we don’t have backup. We need to be smart.”

  He frowned at her. “Smart like your crew mates are smart?”

  She almost laughed. “Yeah, no. You don’t want me trying to seduce our way out of this.”

  He visibly bristled. “No, I do not.”

  She wasn’t going another round about this. She pressed a finger to his lips to silence him. When they stopped whispering, the other voices paused, as well.

  She held her breath, hoping maybe they’d been hearing an echo of themselves. A moment later, the other voices resumed, and now they sounded closer.

  Move, she mouthed, motioning with her hands for him to start crawling away from the voices and away from her.

  Not surprisingly, Vrax moved as if he was gliding, and made almost no sound. She tried to be as silent as him, concentrating on sliding her knees and hands, instead of lifting them. They were heading away from the bridge, so that was good. The farther away from Mourad, the better.

  The whispers had vanished, but her gut told her that they were merely laying low. Her heart hammered in her chest as she tried not to think of what would happen to them if they were caught. Nothing good, that was for sure.

  Her stomach churned at the realization that she was the only woman on the ship, and Mourad had always looked at her like he’d like to devour her. With the Gorglik, she couldn’t be sure if that was an actual possibility or not. Even if he didn’t kill her, she could be pretty sure he’d make her wish she were dead.

  Tori forced herself to swallow the bitter bile threatening to choke her. Getting caught wasn’t an option. She focused on the silhouette of Vrax in front of her, attempting to keep her eyes on his wide shoulders spanning the width of the duct instead of his nice ass.

  Getting captured wouldn’t be good for him, either. They might not rape him, but they wouldn’t take too kindly to a barbarian stowaway. The thought of Vrax being tortured made her stomach do a flip.

  Come on, Tori. You barely know the guy, she told herself. Aside from the fact that he did his best to get under her skin. Why couldn’t one of the strong but silent Dothveks have stowed away with her? Maybe the silver fox who barely spoke. That would have been perfect. But, nope. She had to be stuck with the one alien who argued with her nonstop and had an opinion about everything.

  She bit back a sigh. Worrying about Vrax was the last thing she needed. She should be totally focused on sabotaging Mourad’s ship, not thinking about what might happen to the annoying but hot alien if he got caught. It’s not your fault he’s here, she reminded herself. You didn’t ask him to come.

  But she was the one who ran on board without thinking. The one who, once again, allowed herself to be led by rage instead of reason. Not that reasoning had ever been a strength of hers. That’s why she had Danica and Caro and the rest of her logical, strategic crew to calm her down and balance out her violent impulses. Thinking about the crew that had become her family made her clench her jaw and kept moving.

  A hollow thump behind her made her spin her head around. Someone was behind her and was closing in fast. She couldn’t see anything but darkness, but she knew they were there. Her only hope was they hadn’t seen her. If they were moving as fast as she thought they were, it wouldn’t take long until they were on top of her.

  Vrax reached around and tugged her forward, pulling her so that she was in front of him.

  “What are you doing?” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

  His eyes glittered in the dim lighting coming from the vent below them and his body thrummed with energy. “What I’m supposed to do—protect my fellow warrior.”

  His hands were hot on her arms, and she felt like his touch was leaving scorch marks as he cupped her face. She sucked in a breath, the jolt from his gentle touch rendering her speechless.

  Before she could argue that she didn’t need his protection, he’d slid aside the vent and dropped her down into the narrow corridor somewhere in the bowels of the ship. She landed with a thud, glancing around to see that there were none of Mourad’s crew around, then she looked back up to tell him to jump down.

  The vent was back in place, and he was gone.

  “Vrax,” she whispered. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  Fuck. Where had he gone? She had a bad feeling that he was pulling some barbarian hero crap, and was going to find whoever had been following them. She leapt up, trying to reach the vent, but she couldn’t pull herself up and move the heavy metal aside at the same time. She dropped back down, letting out a string of curses that would have made Holly proud.

  “If Mourad’s goons don’t kill you, I will,” she muttered, shooting a final dark look up at the vent.

  If Vrax was going to be an idiot, there was nothing she could do about it now. She needed to hide before one of the bounty hunters stumbled onto her. Luckily, she was in a part of the ship
not many crew ever visited—it was mostly pipes and storage.

  Tori surveyed the area, spotting a nearby shelving unit with a narrow space behind it. She could wedge herself in there and no one would notice her, especially since the only lighting was a flickering bulb in the ceiling that cast a dim yellow light that barely reached the edges of the dingy space.

  As she was squeezing herself behind the shelves stacked tall with crates held in place with chain link doors, she heard shouts followed by the running of feet. She froze, her stomach clenching into a hard knot.

  They’d found him. Or Vrax had confronted them and lost. Or worse, he’d let himself be found to take any potential heat off her.

  Tori flinched at the sounds of a fight. Every fiber of her being wanted to run out and battle with him, but she knew it would be pointless. They would be defeated and both end up in custody. And she knew being taken by Mourad and his crew would be worse for her. If she stayed hidden, she could help him. She swallowed hard, her throat dry and rough. That was, if they kept him alive long enough for her to save.

  You have a mission, she reminded herself. Take revenge on Mourad and his crew. Steal his ship. Go back and save her friends. She couldn’t sacrifice all that because one barbarian was stupid enough to get himself caught.

  He did it to save you, the little voice in the back of her head said. She shifted from one foot to the other, physically uncomfortable with the idea of a man doing anything to protect her. Men had been nothing but a source of disappointment and pain to her before now. From the father who’d left her before she could remember him, to the boys on her home world who’d bullied her because she wasn’t strong enough to fight back, to the men in dingy canteens who didn’t understand the word no. She’d learned that she couldn’t trust any of them. This one wouldn’t be any different in the long run.

  He’d already proved himself to be way too possessive for her liking. Alphas who liked to be in charge were not her type, especially since she considered herself an alpha who liked to be in charge. Although she had to admit that the arrogant bastard had kept her from freezing to death and hadn’t tried anything while she slept. That had been a first.

  Even if he had saved her, no way was she going to be in debt to some hot alien with a caveman complex.

  “I’ll just have to save that cocky asshole right back,” she whispered to herself, peeking out of her hiding place. That way, they’d be even.

  Now, how was she going to get to the brig from there?

  Chapter Six

  “Don’t kill him,” Mourad said, his voice gravelly as he stood across from Vrax with his meaty arms crossed. “Not yet.”

  Vrax pulled himself up to his full height, although his stomach ached from being punched. Even though Mourad was large—with a beefiness that made him look almost bloated—Vrax was taller, and he liked being able to look down on the creatures who’d captured him.

  It took four of them to hold him in place, while another two had beaten him with their fists until he tasted blood. Vrax spit a mouthful of bloody spittle on the floor at the captain’s feet.

  “Let’s try this again,” Mourad said, glancing down at the splatter on his boots. “Why are you on board my ship?”

  Vrax tried to shrug as if the question was of no consequence. “I had never been on a ship that flies through the air.”

  The bounty hunters exchanged looks with each other, as if this made some sense, but Mourad gave an unsatisfied grunt. “Where are the rest of you? I know you don’t think I’m going to buy that you came on here alone.”

  Vrax met his eyes, trying not to react to the alien’s lack of pupils. The alien captain’s black eyes made him want to shiver, but he remained still. “My clansmen do not have the same curiosity I do.”

  “We heard you talking to someone,” one of the crew said, nudging another male. “Didn’t you say you heard talking?”

  “I was repeating the Dothvek mantra to keep my mind occupied,” he said, repeating a Dothvek prayer to the goddesses he’d learned as a boy. Even though it was a lie, the familiar words were a comfort.

  He could sense the captain’s cruelty, and despite his outward calm, it scared him. He’d never encountered a creature who felt pleasure at another’s pain with quite the same relish that this alien did. Not even the Cresteks savored pain like this. Every blow that landed painfully on Vrax’s body came with a rush of the captain’s enjoyment. More so if Vrax made any noise that expressed pain. If he took the hits in silence, Mourad grew bored.

  His unblinking eyes held Vrax’s, their cold depths revealing nothing. But Vrax did not need eyes to understand the soul of another. And this creature’s soul made him glad Tori was staying hidden. He repeated the Dothvek words, feeling them give him strength.

  “Primitives.” Mourad snorted. “I’m glad we’ve seen the last of your backward planet. Give me one reason I shouldn’t put you out an air lock.”

  Vrax steadied his breath as his heartbeat accelerated. “I’m no use to you dead. Alive, I can work.” His gaze flicked to the crew surrounding him. “It’s taken this many of you to subdue me. Imagine if I was fighting on your side.”

  Mourad studied him for a moment, then his lips curled up into a smile that exposed yellow teeth crowding his mouth. “You’re right about one thing. I can’t make anything off you if you’re floating in space. I can make a nice profit on a barbarian like you at the slave markets, though.”

  Not exactly what Vrax had been hoping for, but it was better than being tossed outside the ship.

  “Throw him in the brig.” Mourad jerked his head to one side. “And make sure he’s not any more damaged than he already is. They pay more for a healthy slave than a broken one.” He chuckled as he walked away. “Maybe his new owner will enjoy breaking this one themself.”

  Vrax was dragged through the ship, the four bounty hunters tugging roughly on his arms, until they finally reached a round door that spiraled open as they approached. Beyond the door was a short corridor with more exposed piping in the ceiling, and dark, metal floors. A pair of rooms were positioned side by side, each with three walls and one that appeared to be open. A standing console stood across from the open rooms.

  One of the alien bounty hunters dropped Vrax’s arm and walked to the console, while the other three shoved him into the first open room. Stumbling, Vrax turned to lunge at the men, but a shimmer of blue descended over the opening.

  One of the bounty hunters rocked back on his heels and laughed. “You run into that, you’ll get a nice shock, desert man.”

  Desert man? He ignored the comment and stepped closer to the opening that now hummed. He didn’t know what it was, but he decided not to touch it. Especially since the bounty hunters seemed to be hoping he would.

  After watching him for a few moments, their smiles faded.

  “He must not be as stupid as he looks,” one mumbled.

  “You think one of us should stay?” the one behind the console asked, joining the others as they watched him.

  “And do what? It’s not like he can get through the force field without killing himself, or setting off every alarm in the place. And where’s he going to go?”

  Vrax swiveled to take the space. It was bigger than the tube he’d been hiding in with Tori, but the starkness of the muddy-gray walls and the single bench running along one wall made him long for the cramped quarters. And for her.

  He didn’t regret pushing her out of the vent and confronting the bounty hunter who’d been following them. He might have gotten the better of the smaller male, if the grate hadn’t collapsed from both of their weight and dumped them on top of several more crew members, none who’d been happy to have a Dothvek land on top of them.

  At least she was safe. He didn’t mind taking a few punches, but he’d suspected they would have done more than hit Tori, and the thought made his stomach turn. He would never let that happen.

  “This guy isn’t going anywhere,” one of the aliens said, as they shuffled off, letting
the circular door spiral open and close again behind them.

  He suspected they were right. He sat down hard on the bench, touching a hand to his tender ribs as he stretched out. His muscles welcomed the stretch, even though it hurt when he tried to take deep breaths.

  “Cowards,” he muttered, as he remembered being held in place while the bounty hunters took turns striking him with their fists. Now he understood even more why Tori wanted to take revenge on the dishonorable crew. He would take even greater pleasure in helping her exact her vengeance.

  It had been a few days since he’d had a decent sleep, and he let his eyes close, the comforting thought of revenge and the hum of the invisible thing they’d called a force field lulling him to sleep. He preferred feeling the heat of his planet’s two suns to the stale, cold air of the ship, but he was too overwhelmed with exhaustion to care much, as he pillowed an arm under his head.

  “So this is what you do when I’m not around?”

  He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out, but he slowly opened his eyes to see Tori standing outside the room, her hands on her hips. The buzz was gone, and he no longer saw a ripple of blue energy pulsing across the opening.

  Holding a hand to his side, he stood, his gaze darting to the sealed circular entrance. “You should not be here.”

  She looked at his bare stomach, and her eyes widened slightly. “They beat you.”

  “It was nothing.” He took a step toward her. “You should not be here.”

  She tapped one foot on the floor. “Maybe not, but you shouldn’t have dropped me out of the air duct and left.”

  This female was so stubborn it made his head hurt. “I didn’t want them to find both of us. This way, at least, you are still free.”

  “I still didn’t like it.”

  “Would you have preferred being taken by these males?” he asked, his voice sharper than he intended. “I do not think they would have left you alone in a cell.”