by Lily Thomas
Instead, he was attached to a human woman who felt nothing except… fear. Maybe. She’d been relatively courageous or stupid when she decided to go up against him. She hadn’t known she was his mate, and she’d risked angering him, a seven-foot-tall Vrak’rir. She had spunk.
Kruhn had to find her and persuade her that being a Vrak’rir mate would benefit her. She’d always have an ally no matter what, and it meant she wouldn’t have to worry about another relationship ever again.
It sounded like a good deal to him, but he was a Vrak’rir. He’d grown up knowing he would someday find his mate. Jade Meeks hadn’t. Kruhn knew he could be persuasive… if he could just find the troublesome woman.
Even with her kneeing him she couldn’t quell his desire. If anything, she’d spurred him on a little bit more. She might not be a Vrak’rir, but she was a spitfire, and he liked that about her.
Kruhn made his way to the bridge where his men were waiting for him.
Drelz looked up from a console. “We rounded up the last of the humans and put them in the brig.”
“Lock out access to the cells, except from the bridge.” Kruhn ordered.
“Why?” Veux swiveled in his seat to look over at him.
“We have a human female running around, and I get the feeling releasing her crewmates will be the first thing on her mind.”
Drelz raised an eyebrow.
“Bet you fifty credits I know what woman it is.” Veux laughed from where he was lounging in the captain’s seat, his legs resting on one of the chair arms.
“You’re on.” Drelz smiled back, his black eyes dancing with amusement until he saw the frown on Kruhn’s face. “Brig doors are locked,” Drelz confirmed after a couple of quick clicks on the consoles in front of him with his black claws.
Kruhn glanced at his hands. Maybe he’d hurt her while groping her breast… it wasn’t like he’d been of sound mind.
“Now try and find a human woman aboard the ship. Her bio signature would be somewhere outside of the brigs.” Kruhn informed his men. Or his claws had just scared her. Vrak’rir and humans were very different. He was blue-skinned, with black eyes and claws, and covered with black tattoos.
“Why are you so concerned about this human woman?” Drelz asked. He sent Kruhn a quizzical look from under all the tattoos on his face. “With access to the cells removed, she won’t have much of a chance to release anyone.”
“The human female is my mate.” He informed them.
Veux choked, and it took a moment for the coughing to subside before he was able to croak out, “Human? I’m sorry, but human?”
Kruhn growled in Veux’s direction. “I don’t care what species she is. All that matters is that she is my mate, and I want her in my arms again.” And under him, taking his hard length, and letting him fill her with his seed.
“Let me get this straight,” Drelz commented as he leaned back against the console. “You got close enough for her scent to affect you, but she somehow escaped your grasp?”
Veux choked down another laugh while Kruhn glared in his direction.
“She ended up being a lot spunkier than I would have expected for a human woman. She kneed me in the crotch, and then punched me in the face.” Kruhn rubbed his nose. It was still a bit sore, but not bad, and there was no blood, which was good.
“And that brought you down?”
“You try following after someone after being kneed in the balls.” He’d needed a second to recover, and he wasn’t ashamed of it. She’d bested him, and he’d admit it.
Drelz held up his hands in surrender. “I’ve never been in such a situation, but I’ll take your word for it.”
“Now find her bio signature. And get out of my seat.” Kruhn knocked Veux’s feet off the armrest.
Veux grumped, but he got up and moved to another seat, where he immediately slumped over in that one.
“A human.” Veux continued. “I’d be so unhappy with fate if I was set up with a human.”
“Good thing you weren’t then.” Drelz drawled.
“But in our line of work? What will you do, Kruhn?” Veux turned to look at him, the smile gone from his face for once.
“Do about what?” Kruhn wasn’t sure what his friend was getting at.
“Will you change professions? I mean, you might have to. Those human women are fragile little creatures, and you wouldn’t want her getting shot when we steal ships.”
Kruhn hadn’t thought about it. Would he really need to stop stealing ships to keep her safe?
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Drelz threw out. “I mean, she took you out, didn’t she? Maybe she could handle herself as a part of our crew. She’s already on a prison ship, and that can’t be an easy job. Just imagine it, we’ll finally have a woman on our team. She’ll bring a new perspective to our missions.”
Kruhn was thankful for Drelz’s reasoning. She was a prison guard, which meant she had to be able to handle tough situations. Veux was just trying to get under his skin.
“I found her,” Drelz announced.
“Good. Where is she?” Kruhn stood up, ready to leave the bridge and capture his wily human mate. They had a little-unfinished business.
“Well, I guess I should say I did find her.” Drelz scratched his head as his hands moved over the console in front of him in a flurry. “Sensors went down the moment I found her bio signature, and now it looks like I’m locked out.”
“Sneaky woman you have there, Kruhn.” Veux couldn’t hide the smirk plastered across his face.
“Well, where was her last location?” Kruhn asked in frustration.
“A room on the fifth floor right under the brigs. You better find her before she takes out the engines or the weapons systems,” Drelz warned. “Or figures out how to release her crewmates.”
He was right. The longer Jade Meeks was on the loose, the more havoc she’d be able to cause on the ship. Kruhn headed off the bridge. Time to find his troublesome mate.
Jade didn’t want to let her fellow prison guards out of the brig since they hadn’t done anything for her while she’d been on the ship, but she knew she had to. She couldn’t take on three Vrak’rir by herself… as much as she wished she could. She would need help, dammit.
Jade peaked around a corner and saw the immediate corridor was empty, nothing but panels of metal and consoles in the walls that showed the schematics of the ship. She’d been avoiding the Vrak’rir by hiding in the ship vents and any vacant rooms that she could find. So far, she’d been able to avoid detection for a couple of hours, ever since Kruhn had accosted her in her cabin.
But Jade wasn’t about to celebrate success quite yet.
It was time to go to the brig where her crewmates were being held against their will. It would be dangerous since she assumed Kruhn and his two buddies would predict that move, but it was the only option left to her at this point.
There were only so many systems she could sabotage with her passcodes.
Either she risked getting caught now, or she risked getting caught later on down the road. There were only so many places she could hide, and eventually she’d be found.
Gradually, Jade worked her way down the corridor, almost creeping as she tiptoed her way over the metal flooring, making sure to listen for any sorts of sounds, like footsteps or doors opening.
After a few cautious moments, she made it to the brig door without any Vrak’rir jumping out and yelling boo. So far, so good.
The door slid open and as she walked in she was greeted with a sight that slightly pleased her. All her fellow crewmates and Captain Drew were confined within the cells inside the brig.
If she had the means to take a photo, she would have, just so she could relish this moment in time for the rest of her life. Here she was, a woman, about to save their asses. She wanted to rub it in Captain Drew’s face. The only useless one on this ship was him.
The captain spotted her first. “I was wondering where you were lurking. I had some suspicions you might b
e working alongside the Vrak’rir when they didn’t throw you in here with us, and now I know I was right!”
Jade felt her face flush with indignation. How dare he accuse her of something like that! She was a prison guard, not a space pirate.
“Of course I’m not involved in this.” Jade glared at the captain, but he only glared back at her with the same intensity.
“Then how’d you get out of your locked cabin?” Jacob asked from inside a different cell, as he crossed his arms over his chest. His hazel eyes bored into her. “It wasn’t like we let you out, and I doubt you were able to get out on your own.”
“One of the Vrak’rir let me out,” Jade explained as she made her way over to the brig console.
“Working with them then.” Another crewmate muttered. “You were right captain. We never should’ve doubted you.”
Her hands paused over the console screen. She really shouldn’t let any of them out if they were going to be this ungrateful. None of them deserved the freedom she could give them. They all probably deserved whatever the Vrak’rir had in store for them.
“Well, hurry up and let us out to prove you aren’t working with them.” Captain Drew called out from inside his cell.
“Give me a second.” Jade tried typing in her code, but it wasn’t working. Had the Vrak’rir locked her out of the brig controls? She glanced up and over at the cells. “The access to the force fields is blocked.”
The captain’s brown eyes squinted over at her as his eyebrows drew down over the bridge of his nose, as he studied her. “So you say. Too bad we can’t confirm that from over here.”
“Look, I managed to escape from the one Vrak’rir that let me out. I won’t be able to go up against all three of them, though. Give me your code, and I can try to see if that will override it.”
“Like I’d give you my code.” He spat out. “You’ve been sent here by the Vrak’rir to get it. Then you can forge my clearance on all space communications and explain away any deviation from our original flight plan.”
“Fine then.” Jade threw her hands in the air. “There is nothing more I can do from here.” Jade walked away from the console and made her way to the brig doors. She couldn’t stay in one place for too long because she was sure the Vrak’rir were actively searching the ship for her.
“Where are you going?” Captain Drew asked, but Jade kept walking. She didn’t have time to debate her involvement with the Vrak’rir with him anymore. Once Captain Drew set his mind on something, he was like a bulldog, unwilling to let go until his prey gasped its last breath.
The brig doors closed behind her, as she entered the corridor. She breathed a sigh of relief. Damn Captain Drew for mistrusting her. For all they knew, his code would have worked at setting the crew free. Jade rolled her eyes. Unfortunately, she had no solid proof to offer the captain of her innocence.
Now she had no choice, but to try and take the Vrak’rir out on her own. Could she do it? Time would only tell. But she was going to do her best, even if no one on this ship actually deserved it. She was going to save her crewmates, not because she wanted to, but because it was the right thing to do.
Jade cautiously peeked around a corner before heading down the next hallway. How was she going to take down three large Vrak’rir who were natural warriors?
She racked her brain for ideas. Kruhn had acted like she might be his mate. Maybe she could play that angle and use it to her advantage.
Jade headed through the ship until the sound of voices carried down the corridor in front of her. Her heart rate skyrocketed, and she leaped into the nearest room. She glanced around the room for somewhere to hide, and the vent caught her attention. It would be a tight squeeze, and she wasn’t a huge fan of tight spaces, but she’d just have to do it.
Jumping on top of a table she pried open the vent cover and squeezed into the opening. Time to find the supplies she’d need to lead Kruhn to his demise.
Wiggling through the vents, she made her way to another opening and peered through the grill. It was someone’s cabin. The wrong room then. Traveling through the vents was harder than she’d thought it would be.
Backing up, she tried not to bump her elbows and knees, doing her best to avoid making any sounds against the metal vent, but it was difficult within the tight space. She had no idea what the layout of the ship was when traveling through vents, but it was the safest way for her to move around the ship without being seen.
Plus, no broad shouldered Vrak’rir would be able to follow her in here.
Within an hour, she found a storage room. Placing her hands on the grill, she gave a push and the cover popped off, flying into the room before clattering to the floor. Jade slid out of the vent face first, landing in an embarrassing heap on the ground.
Thankfully, she hadn’t broken her neck.
Rising onto her feet, she darted over to a shelf and dug around until she found some handcuffs.
“Perfect.” Jade smiled. Kruhn was about to have the surprise of his life.
She made her way back to the vent, slithered inside, and then crawled her way over to the vent that led to her cabin. She was going to wait for the Vrak’rir to show up in her cabin and then jump him.
If he were her mate, then he wouldn’t be able to resist visiting at some point, and hopefully, she’d take him by surprise.
Chapter 5
“I’m off to my cabin,” Kruhn said as he stood up from his chair on the bridge and gave a light stretch to loosen up his muscles.
They’d given up on trying to find the human woman, for now. Although she’d locked them out of some systems, they had successfully prevented her from accessing the cells, the engines, and communications. There was little she could do now other than face them directly, and that was a fight that she would not win. Kruhn just had to remain patient and keep his eyes peeled for her while he traveled around the ship.
“You mean her cabin, not yours.” Veux wiggled his eyebrows, as a smile adorned his face.
“I can’t wait until you find your mate, and I can tease you in return.” Kruhn tossed back.
“If I find my mate, I’m sure she will be a Vrak’rir, so you’ll have nothing to tease me about. She’ll have blue skin and legs spread wide in welcome.”
“We’ll see. We don’t see too many Vrak’rir women in our travels.”
Veux waved it off, still unconcerned.
“We’ll let you know if anything changes, or if we find your human,” Drelz commented from his console.
Kruhn exited the bridge and quickly made his way back to Jade’s room. He was excited to explore her things and find out more about her. For instance, was she close with her family? Would she be willing to travel the galaxy with him, far from home?
He hoped she wasn’t already in a relationship because that would present a problem. Kruhn would win her over, he was sure, but he wasn’t sure he could keep himself from killing anyone who tried to lay claim to her in the meantime.
He’d spent most of the day searching the ship for her, but all he’d ended up finding were a couple of vent covers on the floor of a couple of rooms. He got the feeling his little mate was traveling through the vents to avoid running into any Vrak’rir.
It was smart of her because none of them would be able to follow after her. But it also made him worry he wouldn’t get his hands on her before he dropped this ship off, which would definitely be a problem. All he could do for now was be patient.
With the internal sensors down, he’d been unable to follow her movements, and he was also unable to follow her inside the vents. He’d tried to get in one of the vents, only to find his shoulders were too broad for the frame.
It was frustrating. He’d found his mate and was so close to her, but he was unable to get his hands on her.
The moment he walked into her room, her scent cocooned him in bliss, pushing away his troublesome thoughts. Closing his eyes, he took the scent deep into his lungs. His cock jumped to attention, as he remembered her pressed aga
inst him. He’d loved the small sample he’d gotten earlier. It was seared into his brain.
Kruhn opened his eyes and strolled over to her dresser and opened it up. There was nothing but clothing inside, but one article of clothing, in particular, caught his eye.
A grin spread across his face. He hooked a finger around the waistline of the red scrap of cloth and drew it out. His cock went hard as he thought of Jade only wearing this thin piece of clothing over her pussy.
Kruhn let out a groan and shoved a hand against his crotch. He needed his mate.
Where was she? He was ready for her, and he was sure he could make her ready for him. She’d melted against him all too willingly the last time he held her in his arms. All he needed was for her to give him a chance, and he would show her the awesome pleasure of being a Vrak’rir mate.
And it wasn’t just sex. Kruhn wanted to hold her, treasure her, and explore the galaxy with her.
He placed her thrilling underwear back into her dresser. He hoped she would someday wear that for him, so he could see it hug her curves.
Glancing over at the coffee table he saw a few pictures of people who were in her life. There was one of his mate with what had to be her parents. They were smiling, and it appeared to be a candid shot of a joyous occasion. So, she had a good relationship with her family. That was good. It was important to him that his mate have a good relationship with her family.
Another picture caught his eyes. This picture was of a man.
Kruhn picked it up so he could examine the photo up close. The man was smiling, his arm wrapped around Jade’s waist. Was it a man who was romantically involved with her?
Jealousy pumped through his blood for a moment, but as he examined their faces, he caught similarities between their eyes and their noses. Maybe the male was just a relative, perhaps a brother.
When he found his mate, he’d learn more about her personal life. Until then he would have to wait patiently. He placed the picture back where he’d found it. There wasn’t much else for him to look into. She was a guard on a prison ship. He hadn’t expected to find too many personal items, but he had hoped for a little more so he could learn more about her in preparation for their next encounter.
