Page 15 of Chased By the Alien Mercenary
Beyond that very narrow opening, a passage had formed that sloped down rapidly. In the distance, light glowed, the kind that came from moss or insects. It wasn’t far, and the sight of that light was a good sign: it meant there was more space ahead and possibly a source of warmth, like the Tashill rocks. We’d have to be careful going down that narrow tunnel; water was sluicing in along with us, making it wet and slippery.
Gently, so as not to startle her, I pulled the comm device back out of a pocket and flicked on the light at its lowest setting. She still blinked rapidly, her pupils huge inside her pretty blue eyes. Her teeth were still clacking together, too, and when I ran myhand over her spine, I discovered her entire body was trembling. Her lips had also turned an odd shade of purple, rather than their normal pink. Cold, she had to be cold. Brushing my mind to hers, I desperately hoped she could hear me, but I knew it was in vain. “I’ve got you, not long. Hang in there, my mate.”
The passage was too narrow for me to carry her, or for us to do much more than crawl through it on our hands and knees. She went, guided by the light, without a word or complaint, but then, her clacking teeth still prevented her from speaking. I needed to ask Aramon about that, but if I reached out to him, all he’d try to do was talk me out of retrieving the navigational data. I couldn’t have that, but I was certain I could figure out how to take care of Lyra. We just needed to find a warm spot, and if there were no Tashill rocks, I’d use my own body to heat her. She could have all my heat if she needed it; I had plenty to spare.
When the passage did widen, it also leveled off onto a rocky, moss-covered plateau. The water that had dribbled down the passage with us had formed a channel through the rock here, leading to what appeared to be an underground river. Well, perhapsriverwas an ambitious word, it was just a tiny stream here, with a wider and shallower pool to one side before it ducked under rock and out of sight. The walls here weren’t tall, but they were covered with softly glowing lichen. This was the light I’d seen earlier.
With my hand on the small of her back, I urged Lyra out of the little channel and onto the mossy plateau. She slipped, her hands scrambling on the slick surface, cursing out loud. Leaning past her, I found purchase with my claws where she could not with her blunt nails. Then it was finally possible to lift her against my chest again and get us onto the relatively dry andsafe moss farther away from the water. Everything was wet—especially the blankets and Lyra’s clothes—but we were in luck: Tashill rocks lined the whole floor, and the moss was causing them to gently heat.
When I put her down against the warmth, Lyra flopped back with a sigh. “That’s better. Thank you.” I eyed her warily for a moment, worried she might start catching a fever on the spot, but she had stopped shaking. I set out to spread the blankets over the driest and warmest parts of the moss, piling what little remained of our food and water in a corner. Then I focused on my mate again. Her lips were still that odd shade, and she could not be comfortable with her clothing all wet. They had to come off to dry, I decided.
Crouching at her feet, I tugged off the too-large boots and then unrolled several pairs of socks to the sound of her laughter. “That tickles,” she accused, her foot kicking against my wrist with the softest little tap. Then she sat up, her expression much more serious. “I’m already warming back up. Don’t worry, I just need to take this off.” She shrugged out of the wet, soggy coat, and I took it from her to spread out to dry when she seemed to struggle a little with the heavy, drenched fabric. I squeezed what water I could out of it over the softly flowing stream, then turned to lay the clothing down to dry.
Freezing in my tracks, I stared when I discovered that what remained of my mate’s clothing had gone completely transparent against her chest. The wet fabric clung to her breasts, the rosy tips hard points, pink and mouthwateringly pretty. Her golden brown hair appeared almost black, curling around her face and clinging to one shoulder. She was still wearing pants, but at the moment, she was trying to shimmyout of the clinging fabric. The wriggle of her hips was simply too enticing. My cock stiffened beneath my armor, which had kept me perfectly dry and warm—until now. Suddenly, I felt overheated and wanted to yank it all off the way she was stripping herself of her cold, wet things.
I was so distracted by the sight that, when the stolen comm device chimed with an incoming call, I raised it and flicked the answer button on autopilot. My eyes fixated on the image of my nearly naked mate, working to get out of her wet clothes. My mouth was dry, my pulse pounded in my throat, and my entire body seemed to vibrate with the need to claim her. She’d let me touch her, pleasure her, would she let me mate her next?
“Solear, is that you?” The voice of my captain, filling the charged silence in the moss- and lichen-heated cavern, was like a splash of ice water down my spine. I jerked my eyes away from Lyra to glance at the comm I’d answered so casually. Asmoded’s face was displayed on the tiny screen, but all he could see was the ceiling of the cave. Good, because he wasn’t getting a look at my mate, not the way she looked now. I glanced—a mistake—and rattled with a growl that was all tension and restrained desire. So fucking pretty, sitting there in that transparent shirt and finger-combing her long, wet hair. Her lips were pink once again, and her cheeks, too. How could she look at me that way, so casually comfortable in her own skin, unafraid to be near me no matter how often or loudly I snarled. Even when I could not bring myself to make words cross my lips.
“I recognize that growl,” Asmoded said dryly. “Listen, son,” he added, and that got my attention. My eyes snapped back to the comm, and I finally twisted it so he could see me, just me and the lichen-covered cave wall, never Lyra. Asmoded rarely calledAramon or me “son.” When he did, it was usually with great fondness or worry. That made my teeth ache as I gritted them together, because I was pretty sure he wasn’t feeling particularly fond of me right now. I’d screwed up, gotten myself captured and separated from the others. It was because my twin and I had recklessly attacked in the first place that we’d blundered into this mess. I hated disappointing him, but I still wouldn’t change a thing. If I hadn’t done what I’d done, Lyra would be hurt now.
“Aramon told me you are set on retrieving the data if it’s still there, and I’m here to order you not to. Do you hear me? You’re to stand down and wait for retrieval. Copy that?” he hissed, and my skin itched along the back of my neck, but my growl didn’t falter. I was getting that data, we needed it to find Jalima and end the bastard once and for all. He, of all people, should want me to get this more than anything. He was the one who ordered this mission, so why was he backing down now? Once, vengeance for the wrongs Jalima had done to all of us was what had united us, made us family. I didn’t understand why that had changed. They had mates, yes, but wasn’t the mission just as important?
“Hi,” Lyra said brightly, and her hand, still alarmingly cold, landed on my forearm. I thought for a moment that she was talking to me, but she was leaning over the comm, peering at the tiny screen to see my captain. “I’m Lyra. Nice to meet you.” I yanked the comm out of the way, lest he see stuff that wasn’t his to see, like the pretty outline of her nipples against the soggy shirt she still hadn’t taken off, or the glow on her cheeks, or the sparkle in her eyes. Why was she so pretty?
Curling my arm around her chest covered her breasts and pushed the delicious, warm weight of them against my forearm.She let me tug her into my chest, her small body snuggling against me as I tried to keep the comm out of her range so Asmoded could see only the crown of her brown hair. “I am very pleased to meet you, Lyra,” he said, his low voice rumbling from the device with a pleased purr. “You have no idea how happy I am to discover you exist, and know that Solear’s mate will always have a home aboard my ship and my protection.”
I froze then, my breath growing tight inside my chest. Lyra had frozen too, and she’d stopped ineffectively pulling on the hand holding the comm. Her head twisted slowly, chin lifting as her brow lowered over her pretty blue eyes. There was something sparking deep inside those sapphire depths that made the unease crawling along my skin from hearing my captain’s reprimand feel like nothing. She was upset with me, but why?
“Stay safe,” Asmoded ordered, but through the rushing in my ears, I barely heard it. I was also only vaguely aware of my twin’s presence at the back of my mind, laughing, observing the mess of feelings in my head. “Lyra, don’t let him act stupid. Get to the port. You’ve got a small window, a meteor storm is coming. Hurry, no distractions.” Meteors weren’t important when I had a mate glaring at me like I’d just murdered—and then eaten—her pet Riho. Lyra had never looked at me like that before. What had I done?
Releasing her, I shuffled back, the comm slipping from my fingers as soon as the call disconnected. I raised my hands in a placating gesture, the way people so often did toward me, but it didn’t help with Lyra any more than it made me feel calmer. “What do I do?” I asked Aramon, but the bastard abruptly made himself scarce, leaving me alone inside my head—alone in thislatest cave with a furious mate. I didn’t understand this, not one bit.
Chapter 14
Lyra
Mate? That’s what that captain said, mate. I knew what that word implied in this context; I knew it all too well. I’d been in too many foreign places, among aliens different from humans, with different mating practices. The wordmatewasn’t bandied around lightly anywhere, and for that strange male on the other side of the comm connection to extend such a warm welcome—right after he’d called Solear “Son”—that meant something really huge. No wonder Solear’s twin andhismate had been so warm and welcoming, so excited to speak with me. They thought I was marrying into the freaking family.
The frantic, confused expression on Solear’s face wasn’t helping. Had he been hiding this from me? This huge thing? No, that was mean to think, he had a serious issue communicating, and that wasn’t his fault. At least, I didn’t think it was. Not that anybody had explained to mewhyhe didn’t speak when his twin obviously, enthusiastically could.
I shot him a glare, but he was backing away, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head like a… well, like a scared animal, really. Instantly, I felt like I’d just kicked a dog while he was down. Solear looked horribly upset, just because I was feeling upset and ready for me to strike him. Him—even though he was the one three times my size, all lethal, murderous alien hunk.
“You thought I knew, didn’t you?” I said, after I took a very deep, calming breath. It wasn’t helping much, because damn it, thiswas big—and it was pretty scary, even. This guy was supposed to be my mate for life? If he had any say in it, I was pretty sure he’d drag me to his ship and lock me in his room in a heartbeat. Did he even have a room like a normal person aboard the ship? He seemed so feral and beastly one moment, and oddly competent with technology the next.
He had backed himself into a corner, his back quite literally against the wall. All anger at feeling like something had been hidden from me on purpose faded. Solear hadn’t hidden anything, he’d never had any pretense or artifice; he justwas. He showed all his freaking emotions as soon as he felt them, and I couldn’t forget how broken and hurt he’d been in his dreams, his memories. He hadn’t lied to me. He hadn’t hidden anything, though perhaps his twinhad. If I should be mad at anyone, it was him. But how could I, when clearly all anyone wanted was for Solear to be happy—with me? It was just a lot to take in, a huge responsibility to shoulder. What if I screwed it up? I wasn’t a people person either. I hid behind my camera; that was my skill—not...drawing wounded, dangerous aliens out of their shell, let alone wrangling them into not doing crazy things.
I had not forgotten how the last thing that captain said was basically an order for me not to let Solear do what he so badly wanted to do. And I knew there was no way I could stop him, no way at all. He’d made up his mind, and it felt a little like stepping in front of a stampeding bull to try to stop him.
From what little I understood of it, he needed to steal navigational data off a computer inside that mansion. Data needed to get to the bad guy, Jalipa, or something. And my Solear had a serious bone to pick with this guy. When I eyed his dejected form and worried expression, I wondered if the guy hewas after was responsible for the desolation young Solear had experienced. My fists balled at my sides, and now I wondered if I wasn’t a little onboard with getting payback after all.
“It’s okay,” I said with a sigh. “It just caught me by surprise, okay? Humans don’t feel mate bonds, or at least not in the same way many aliens do. Uh, other species do. But I’m guessingyoudidn’t know about that. It always seems easier from the outside looking in.” I wryly tapped the comm device that had fallen to the moss with my toe, implying the camera I liked to hide behind.
Solear stared at me, not growling, not snarling, not baring his sharp teeth at me like he so often did. Just stared, frozen still. I tried to figure out how to reach him, even though I was still reeling a little myself. At least I wasn’t cold inside this strange little cave he’d found, despite the downpour. That instantly reminded me of our passionate make-out session just before the rain, and his frantic way of protecting me and finding shelter when he’d discovered I was growing too cold. Warmth instantly filled my belly, because I really liked how much he wanted to take care of me.
I wanted to take care of him now, but when I stepped a little closer, he shifted to the side. Then, abruptly, he ducked around me, his large body moving so swiftly and agilely that it felt like he’d slithered away like quicksilver, darting for the narrow entrance and disappearing into the hole without so much as a sound.
“Damn it!” I swore out loud after he had well and truly departed. Again? Seriously? I hated when he did that, when he left me alone and I didn’t know where he’d gone or why. I pressed afist to my rapidly pounding heartbeat and sighed. This was my fault; it definitely was my mess. I should never have gotten mad when I discovered what Solear thought of me—wanted from me. Normally, I was the one who kept a level head. Plucky in the face of danger, since I was pretty used to taking care of myself in the furthest reaches of the Alpha Quadrant. But thiswasn’tthe Alpha Quadrant, and the rules had changed on me.
