Page 23 of Venomous Lust
She had escaped Aveyn and Bobbie’s devious choke-hold on her life only to find herself in a worse situation. No, not just a worse situation. A knee-deep, stinking pile of shit situation. The kind of fuck-up that was liable to get her killed—or worse.
“Nothing you need to worry yourself about.” Khal watched her with his Prussian blue eyes, breathtaking and unreadable. “Zaxis will escort you back to my personal sleeping quarters where you will remain until I can safely deliver you to someone who can take you back to where you belong. I sent a message to Representative Jonah earlier about the male who abused you. He will never lay a finger on a female again. I also left specific instructions for your immediate transfer to Earth.”
“You did?” Hazel spoke with the dying end of a breath. “You’re sending me to Earth?”
“As soon as we reach Garana, yes. We will part ways then, but not before I ensure your safety.”
They faced each other for long seconds, like nothing else existed but her and Khal. He was giving her what she had been so desperate to have, what she had put her life in danger to obtain.
Then why was her throat closing up and her stomach squeezing?
Because this meant she was about to leave Khal forever.
What is the matter with me?
The contradiction of feelings collided inside Hazel—her torn sadness at losing Khal forever, and her elation at finally attaining her goal to get back to Sally.
“Those people were bounty hunters,” Hazel began, her mind finally putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “They were after Knut and they thought you were, too. Are you? Are you going after the reward?”
Khal’s too-blue eyes stayed on her for long seconds and Hazel was sure he was about to say something. Something meaningful, something she needed to know.
“This does not concern you.” Khal’s voice slashed like the crack of a whip and he turned away from her, forcing her to stare at the broadness of his well-muscled back. “You know more than you should already.”
His tone was matter of fact, but she still heard the warning there. Captain Roohl was going after the bounty placed on Knut’s head, a reward so large, he and his entire crew could live like royalty from it for the rest of their lives.
Hazel considered her options cautiously. All her instincts pushed her to demand more information, but it would be a mistake. Maybe not knowing was safer.
He’s sending me back to Sally. That is all that matters. So what if he doesn’t tell me?
But the lack of trust stung nevertheless. Still, what Khal had offered her was exactly what she had been after, what she had risked her life to gain. She wasn’t going to jeopardize it for the sake of some Eok mission, no matter her attraction to Khal.
“Fine.” Hazel hoped her voice didn’t betray her feelings. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I’ll be out of your way soon enough anyway.”
He shot her a glance over his broad shoulder. A fast glance. A glance that said she didn’t matter.
The sting grew, but Hazel kept her feelings under control. What was she hoping for, anyway? So, he had almost kissed her. It had meant nothing to him. If only it had meant nothing to her as well.
Khal studied his screen, not paying attention to her until she shouted a long string of curses at his back. He turned, but not toward her. His focused face turned to Zaxis.
“They’re releasing the Myrador.” He spoke with military efficiency, with complete control over his own emotions as Hazel swam in hers like in a torrent. “They’ve wrecked the hyper-propulsion and disabled our communications relay.”
Zaxis cursed loudly, then turned to exit the room, but a great shockwave forced him to hold on to the chair. Hazel fell backwards to the ground, her teeth chattering together. The taste of blood entered her mouth as she bit her tongue, but she barely noticed.
“What is that?”
“They’ve disengaged the magnetic anchors,” Khal answered her. He was the only one of them who seemed unaffected by the earthquake-level shaking. His face was laser-focused and his eyes ran across the control panel as Zaxis got to his feet, then ran out of the room.
“Is Roohl going to hurt us?” By that, she meant: was Roohl going to shoot them into oblivion in the middle of space? After all, she wouldn’t put it past the Cattelan captain of the Mother.
“No, he won’t blast us.” Khal shook his head. “He knows I sent a notice of boarding to both Prime Councilor Aav and the Eok nation on Eokim the second he beamed us in. He doesn’t want to become the target of a vengeance team of Mantrilla and Eok warriors.”
“So, we’re safe, then?”
Khal turned his face to her, his grim expression telling her everything she needed to know. They weren’t safe, not by a long shot. They were incredibly far from safe.
“Without our hyper-propulsion and communication ability, we’re easy prey. This close to the Frontier, any pirate ship can do whatever they want to us. We won’t be able to defend ourselves.”
Hazel nodded, the full weight of the gravity of their situation settling on her shoulders. She watched as Khal worked fast, looking up things she understood nothing about on the controls, her mind running too fast for her to grasp any particular thought.
