by Sadie Carter
Zoey’s frown cleared slightly. “True. I’d hate to think that Dex’s friend set us up to be kidnapped.”
Boris held up his hand. Amazingly the two of them turned to look at him.
“Right, we haven’t told you everything, have we?” Zoey asked.
No. They had not.
“Well, you don’t think we would’ve gone to that dive of our own free will, did you?”
He raised one brow. He would not put it past Zoey. But he had thought Nassir would have more sense.
“Rohan suggested that while he and Dex were busy that Nassir and I might want to go out for dinner. His guard came and got us and drove us to that dive. They dropped us off then sped off. It cannot be a coincidence that Tazan and his goons ended up there. We were set up. Question is, by who?”
Chapter Ten
“We must do something!”
Jecan looked over as his brother, Wyan, paced back and forth across the seating area. The area was a common one they shared on their employer’s spacious ship.
Jecan yawned. “What are you talking about?”
Wyan walked past and pushed his feet off the table they had been resting on.
“Hey!” Jecan protested. What was his issue?
“I hate when you put your feet on the furniture.”
“What do you care? It is not even our furniture.”
“You have the manners of a boarn beast,” Wyan snarled.
Jecan jumped to his feet. “And you act like a female having a tantrum.”
They lunged at each other just as the door opened. They stilled, expecting Tazan to walk in. It was one thing to fight with each other when they were alone and another to do so in front of others. To others they presented a united front. Always.
Instead, in walked their oldest brother, Rafal. Not that much more than a few minutes separated them in age. They were a rarity for their species or so their father had told them. Three babies at one time were almost unheard of. Giving birth to three over-sized babies had been too much for their mother. She had died soon after Wyan, the youngest, was born.
Their father had told them she could have been saved if only their uncle had not ignored his emergency call. After their mother’s death, their father had gone into a deep grief. It was a miracle he had survived his mate’s death.
Mollo, their father’s long-time friend, taken them all to a planet far away from their home one. He had basically raised them as their father had spiralled further and further into a crazed grief. He had told them stories of the man their father used to be—a fierce warrior but a fair man.
“What did he say?” Wyan asked. “What is he going to do with her?”
Wyan had a soft spot for females in distress. He and Rafal had pulled Wyan out of more than one sticky situation because of his blindness when it came to a female's lies and deceptions. Like the time he attempted to help a female Raptian and was kidnapped for her harem. Raptians were known as excellent fighters and that one had not wanted to let Wyan leave.
Although why she wanted Wyan when it was well known that Jecan was the more attractive of the three brothers, he did not know.
Rafal looked over at him sharply. Jecan shrugged. “Wyan is worried about our cousin’s mate.”
Rafal sighed. “Wyan—”
“He was only supposed to take the Alyyan female. That was who we were there for. Although I still do not think we should help return her to her uncle. I do not trust him.”
“She stole a fortune from her own uncle. She is not an innocent female, Wyan,” Rafal said in an irritated voice. “You must stop thinking that all females are innocent and in need of your protection.”
“You wish me to become as cynical as the two of you. When was the last time either of you had fun, when you enjoyed a female’s company?”
“I enjoyed a female’s company just three nights ago,” Jecan protested.
Wyan gave him an impatient look. “A whore doesn’t count.”
“I resent that. She was a very well-paid distributor of sex. Rafal is the one who never gets release. Well, from anything other than his hand.”
Both Wyan and Jecan grinned at their oldest brother. He was not known for his easy ways or sense of humor.
“Forgive me for having more important things to do. Like focus on our mission.”
“We missed the meeting with our cousin,” Jecan said. “I knew we should not have trusted Rohan. He used us.”
“He took our credits to set up the meeting and then arranged the pick-up of the Alyyan female at the same time,” Wyan added.
Rafal nodded. “We should have known he would do something like this. All he cared about were the credits we offered to arrange a meeting with Dexanon.”
“It might have been our only chance to get to him,” Wyan said with frustration.
“Not now that we have his mate.” Satisfaction filled Rafal’s voice.
“We can use her to get to him.” Jecan nodded in approval. A Zerconian male would come after his mate. “But she is human. Will he still come for her?”
Rafal shrugged. “He is mated to her.”
“But she is so small,” Wyan worried. “Surely, it is not safe to mate with someone so tiny. Do you think he hurts her?”
“From all accounts, Dexanon is a good leader and male,” Rafal said.
“Not like his father,” Jecan added bitterly. Were it not for that male, their mother might have lived, and their father would have remained sane. Their lives could have been very different. They should have had the life Dexanon had.
“We cannot taint him with his father’s sins,” Rafal cautioned. “We know what that is like.”
They nodded. They had been forced to live in the middle of nowhere due to their father’s extreme fits of temper. He had not been fit to be around other people. When they had lived in a village, they had to endure the whispers, the suspicion from others. So Mollo had moved them into the forest, far away from others.
Lonely, but safe.
“What if he will not allow us to come to Zerconia?” Wyan said. “He may see us as a threat to his role as Emperor.”
“Then we need to reassure him that we do not want the role.” Jecan shuddered at the thought. “Although I still do not think we need to go there.”
“No? You are willing to become what our father was?” Rafal asked.
“No. But taking a mate is a drastic step. What will we do with them?” He had no idea how to look after a mate. How much care would they need?
“We’ll need to stop working for Tazan,” Wyan stated. “This is not the life for a female.”
“This work was necessary, Wyan,” Rafal told him wearily. He sat back on a seat, closing his eyes. “You know that. We needed the funds and he pays well.”
“What we have done has not always been right,” Wyan countered. “We have to live with that.”
Rafal opened his eyes. “I have to live with that. It was my idea to take this job. I am responsible.”
“Not everything lies on your shoulders, Rafal,” Jecan told him, irritated with his self-sacrificing brother. “We can make our own decisions. We all decided to take on this job. No matter the black mark on our souls. So refrain from taking full responsibility. We are in this together.”
Both of his brothers gaped at him.
“What?” Jecan snapped.
“Nothing,” Wyan said slowly. “That was just very deep for you.”
“I have never seen you show so much passion over anything,” Rafal added. “Oh, except for food.”
“The two of you are idiots.” He scowled at them as even Rafal cracked a smile. “So what is the plan, Rafal?”
Rafal glanced away wearily. Jecan knew his brother had rarely slept since they had taken this job as enforcers for Tazan. He was an evil man who only cared about building a fortune, not the lives of those he hunted down. Tazan did not suffer from sleepless nights. But then, neither did Jecan. His brothers were right, a full stomach, perhaps a soft woman now and then, hi
s brothers close by, and he was happy.
“We are taking the Alyyan female back to her uncle. Stars help her,” Rafal muttered.
“We cannot really hand that tiny female over to him, can we?” Wyan asked. “He is evil.”
Something about the pudgy, small-eyed male set Jecan’s instincts off as well. And then there were the rumors that he enjoyed a bit of torture during joining, whether the female agreed or not.
“And what about the mate of our cousin?” Wyan asked. “We cannot allow her near him.”
Rafal shook his head. “We do not have to worry about that. Tazan intends to ransom her.”
Jecan whistled. “Does he know who he deals with? Is he really prepared to bring the Emperor of Zerconia’s wrath down on him? If he lets her go he might be able to get away safely, but the longer she is in his possession the more time he gives Dexanon to find her.”
“If he can,” Wyan adds.
“If she was your mate, would you not do everything to find her?” Rafal asked.
Wyan scowled. “I would burn the universe down.”
“Exactly.” Jecan sat. “This is a mess. Wyan is right. He should not have taken her. When Dexanon catches up to us, we are all dead. We will not even have time to explain ourselves.”
Rafal sighed. “It is a mess.”
“So what do we do?” Wyan asked again.
“I believe it is time to leave Tazan’s service,” Rafal told them.
“When?” Jecan asked.
“He still owes us for this job, so we help him deliver the Alyyan female—”
“But—” Wyan protested.
Rafal put up a hand. “Tazan intends to stay at the palace for a few days. You know how his tastes are similar to the Alyyan King. We take the opportunity to take our cousin’s mate. We rescue her then contact Dexanon.”
Jecan nodded. “Yes, and he will be so grateful, he will be more inclined to meet with us.”
“But what about the other female?”
Rafal sighed. “We cannot save every female you think needs saving, Wyan. She is a thief. A criminal. She deserves what she receives.”
“And what if she is not guilty? Should we not speak to her?”
Rafal looked incredulous. “And risk tipping Tazan as to what we are going to do? He believes that we hate Dexanon and wish revenge on him.”
Jecan widened his eyes. “You think he took our cousin’s mate for us?”
“I think he took her for his own gain. But I believe he would use us as an excuse if necessary.”
“So if Dexanon caught up to us, he would tell him that he kidnapped her so we could use her for revenge.” Jecan shook his head. “He still manages to surprise me.”
“And if he attempts to hurt her?” Wyan asked
Rafal shook his head. “I do not believe he will. He wishes Dexanon to pay the ransom, he always takes care of his ransom victims.”
Wyan started pacing again and Jecan sat back with a sigh. “You are giving me a headache, Wyan. My neck aches from following you.”
“Then do not look at me.”
“I am trying not to, but you keep putting your ugly face in mine,” Jecan quipped.
“Fool. I look just like you.”
“Maybe if you are blind,” he retorted.
Jecan’s pulse raced as Wyan was started towards him. A fight was just what they needed to release their stress.
Their communicators all beeped at the same time. Jecan looked down at it with a groan.
“What do you suppose he wants with her?” Wyan asked, reading the same message demanding that they bring their cousin’s mate to Tazan.
“Probably wishes to make the ransom demand,” Rafal said grimly.
“We have to make certain we are not in that vid,” Jecan added.
The other two nodded.
***
Nassir attempted to reach Boris again. She had found a thread that felt like him, but it was blocked. Was he doing it? Or could Zoey be right? Was there something that blocked them from using telepathy or in Zoey’s case, the mating bond, to speak to each other?
She wished she could speak to Boris. Although he appeared as impassive as always, she was now able to spot a few tell-tale signs of tension. Every so often a line would appear between his eyebrows. And his eyes had grown dark.
Was he upset at what happened between them earlier? Did he regret it?
She didn’t think he often let his guard down. She blushed slightly. What if Zoey had seen them?
Perhaps he was regretting the kiss. But at least she knew this weird attraction did not go just one way. She had felt his rod lengthen against her stomach. It seemed incredibly long and thick.
Like you have anything to compare it to.
If Flencix had grown hard while kissing her, she certainly had not felt it. She shuddered at the thought. Boris raised an eyebrow and she smiled to reassure him that she was fine.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered. She was surprised that they weren’t demanding she tell them everything.
“So is there anything we need to know about your loser uncle?” Zoey asked.
Nassir sighed. “My uncle is a lazy, evil creature who gets others to do everything for him. Greed motivates him. He murdered my parents because he wished to rule, but also because he spent all of his inheritance from my grandparents. He murdered them for credits. He gave me to the one who did the actual killing as payment.”
Zoey reached over and grasped hold of her hands, which she had twisted tightly together. “Neither your uncle or this other dude will hurt you, Nassir. Dex is coming. And believe me, he’s going to be seriously pissed. We can roast some popcorn and watch Dex tear him limb from limb.”
Nassir did not know what popcorn was, but watching Dex tear her uncle apart sounded rather gruesome. Not that she didn’t wish him to suffer, but to watch…? She looked at Boris in alarm, wondering why his lips were twitching.
“You were joking?” she asked Zoey.
“What? No. Why?”
“Oh, it just sounds rather gruesome.”
Zoey frowned slightly then looked alarmed. “Oh, I didn’t mean it literally. I just meant…well, that you don’t need to worry. Dex will take care of your uncle.”
Nassir had not stopped worrying in the last few months. She did not think she could start now.
“How long were you with the guy who killed your parents before you could escape?”
Too long.
The smack of a hand against her cheek. Pain. Degradation. Humiliation.
“Nassir? You don’t have to tell us about it, but if you tell me his name we can make sure he pays for what he did.”
Boris gave a firm nod, a muscle ticking in his cheek. Was he angry on her behalf? Warmth filled her at the thought, chasing away the cold that always enveloped her when she thought of the evil one.
Hands touching her, tainting her. Her stomach lurched.
Keep it together, Nassir. No one must ever know.
She drew on her control, watching as Zoey and Boris shared a look. She knew they wanted more information, but even though she trusted them more than anyone else in this universe, she couldn’t tell them.
“Okay, we won’t ask any more questions,” Zoey said, surprising her. “If Boris starts to badger you, though, you just let me know.” She winked and Nassir actually found herself smiling. “Sometimes he just doesn’t know when to shut up.”
Boris growled at her playfully.
“Dex is going to kill me for not taking any of his warriors with me when we left the palace.” Zoey sighed.
Boris nodded.
Nassir looked at her, startled. “He would harm you?”
“What? Of course not. Dex would never lay a hand on me. It’s a human expression meaning he’s going to be really pissed at me. While these Zerconian warriors have many, many faults, they would never harm a female. In fact, most of their faults stem from their need to protect us. Idiots.”
The insult was said with a lot of
affection, which confused Nassir. But then Zoey was often confusing.
“Although he did spank me once. That was not fun. Not that a bit of spanking isn’t fun in the bedroom, some people like a bit of pain with their pleasure and I’m not dissing that.”
Alarm filled her. They did? She could not help but look over at Boris who seemed to be following their conversation with a mix of interest and horror. Yes, it was definitely getting easier to read him.
“They do?”
“Oh yeah. Sometimes a good girl spanking can really get the juices flowing, ya know?”
Nassir did not know. And she was slightly shocked by this scandalous talk. Her mother would have fainted in horror by now. But she wasn’t so horrified that she was going to end the conversation. This was the first time someone had had a frank conversation with her about sex. She needed to learn all she could.
She hated that she was so naïve. How many women had Boris been with? Women with much more to offer than her, she was certain. Did he enjoy giving females spankings?
“Oh no, look at you. You’re blushing. Am I embarrassing you? Sorry, when I get nervous I talk. A lot. And I overshare. The old bat would be horrified if she heard me talking about sex. She already thinks that I’m an embarrassment to Dex.”
Nassir frowned at the shame she heard in Zoey’s voice. “I think you are wonderful.”
Zoey blinked for a moment and that sadness in her face disappeared as she grinned. “Thanks. I think I’m pretty great as well.”
Nassir was a little taken aback until Zoey winked.
“Teasing. You’re wonderful too, Nassir. You just need to stop worrying so much. You’ll give yourself an ulcer. And wrinkles. Not that you don’t have perfect skin and a perfect body.” Zoey sighed. “If they keep us in here without food for much longer I guess I might actually manage to lose a few pounds.”
“You believe they will starve us?”
Zoey shrugged. “Who knows what they intend to do?” She looked over at Boris. “Are you going to stay mad at me forever?”
Nassir was startled. “He is mad at you?”
“Yep.”
“How do you know?” He did not look angry with her.
