Page 86 of All You Need is Alien Love
Starblade crossed his arms defiantly and glared at him. “The patient doesn’t get a say in this. You’ll do as you’re told.”
Vardox batted his eyelashes innocently. “Whatever do you mean, my dear captain?”
“I’m following you to your ship, dammit. And I’ll be taking care of you until you’ve recovered.”
“Really? You’re going to nurse me back to health, darling?” Vardox purred, his tentacles undulating with pleasure at the idea.
“Damn right I am.” Starblade pointed an accusatory finger at him. “And you will bloody well listen to me and do what I say the entire time.”
That strange warmth was back and filling Vardox from head to toe.
“Of course, dearest. I’ll do whatever you think is best… within reason, that is,” he allowed.
This was a rare opportunity that Vardox wasn’t going to let pass him by. Already, he was plotting ways he could make the most of Starblade’s tender attention and care while the delectable man was within his grasp.
After all, he wouldn’t be a true Masnok if he let this rare opportunity to conquer his captain’s heart pass him by.
—The Tentacular Tales of Captain Starblade, Ch. 161
Kai
Why exactly didI suggest that I act as bait again?
This is the question I’ve been repeatedly asking myself ever since I was kidnapped by Fabian and Adeline.
Once we transported to the base, Adeline dragged me to one of the cloaked landing vessels a short distance away, while Fabian went to lie in wait for River.
I sincerely hope River isn’t actually going to duel the idiot. He should just shoot him with one of the Groxil slime balls from theamazing weapon Nirblob designed based on River’s idea and be done with it.
I hate to admit it, but that little green Vardox-obsessed Zelitine came through for us big time when we were preparing for imminent invasion.
River’s chided me for it, but I’ve always been wary and more than a little bit resentful of Nirblob. After all, he was involved in River’s own kidnapping fiasco not all that long ago. However, I shouldn’t have doubted that River would work his magic on him and Nirblob would defect from Layne Madison’s side to ours.
And thank the galactic gods that he did.
I must admit, we couldn’t have gotten quite as far as we have in this counter-operation without Nirblob’s help. His technological prowess far surpasses anyone else working at the Alliance. I’m not sure if it’s just a talent he possesses or one common to his species, but even I must admit he’s kind of a genius.
I smirk to myself. Layne Madison made a big mistake not cultivating Nirblob’s loyalties. Instead, he left a perfect opening for River to woo him to our side.
Of course, I don’t think River had any idea how talented the Zelitine is—but he does have an uncanny ability to make friends with powerful and gifted extraterrestrials. It’s proven to be a huge boon for the Alliance. A lot of the help we’ve been able to call on to deal with this threat are folks River’s made friends with or put in his debt in the short time he’s been working for us.
Even now, his parents—along with my grandmother, CJ, and Tom Jones—are running a command station out of the new Alliance Rec Center. From there, they’re coordinating our counter-attack on the invader vessels in orbit around Earth. With all the connections they have between them, River and I agreed it was where they could best help us. I sincerely hope everything is going according to plan on their end.
“Get inside,” Adeline orders, her phaser still pointed at me. It’s no longer pressed against my temple, at least.
She presses a button, and I stumble up the ramp of a formerly cloaked landing vessel that I would hazard to guess is Osairan based on its appearance. It’s built for stealth and speed and is only large enough for about half a dozen occupants.
“Sit,” Adeline orders, pointing me to an exam chair in the ship’s tiny medical bay. “And no funny business or I blast off one of your feet.”
I hesitate.
“I can still use you for my experiments without your feet,” she says, her gaze cold and her smile monstrous.
Unfortunately, I believe her, so I don’t push my luck and instead sit down. With fast and efficient movements, she straps me into the chair so tightly I fear I might start losing circulation in some places.
I focus on regulating my breathing so I don’t fall into a panic spiral. After all, I need to keep my wits about me while I wait for River to come to the rescue. It’s just so hard to think with the constant pounding in my head caused by every little movement.
Once I’m restrained to her satisfaction, Adeline seems to be in no extreme hurry as she hooks me up to a machine and starts running some tests to measure my vitals.
