Page 1 of Stealing the Lorgor's Heart

ChapterOne

Captain Varik Otorol stood before the vast viewing screen projecting the serenity of space and the glowing planet that lay ahead of them. A serenity that he did not feel inside. Seven revolutions, four hundred and twenty flights away from Caysta, had failed to dull the pain of separation. A pain that he had no right to feel for a female that was not his, and for whom he would be executed to even think about if anyone outside his most trusted confidents found out. The royal prince, Gaix of Caysta, had well over a hundred brides, half of whom he forgot even existed, but he was also a ruthlessly jealous male who guarded his harem, not as a male guarding his mate, but as a spoiled youngling guarding his coveted toys.

It broke something within Otorol to imagine her as nothing more than toy ruthlessly used and abandoned at turns of the male’s whims. A male to whom she gave everything without even the devoted affection and love of a mate. Of the twenty females he had been assigned to deliver to Gaix from Earth, each a beauty in his estimation, only one had stolen his breath the moment he had seen her and made his frillum swell in response. He could still picture perfectly within his mind how she looked aboard his ship, seated serenely on one the cushioned benches with a happy glow about her as she read her book or stared out of the port viewing area with a wistful smile upon her face.

He shook his head, wishing the memory to leave him. He had to cease this, immediately. He had tormented himself needlessly for revolutions with thoughts and memories of her when she had no interest in him. Was he now to continue it for the rest of his life-span? She had made her opinion regarding her “horrendous lizard escort” abundantly clear. Why was it her, of all females, he had encountered in his service to the empire? And yet that moment of cruelty was so brief that he forced himself to cling to that memory just to keep himself from acting on the impulse that grew within him as the days passed and the scent of her teased him mercilessly. She was not for him, and he would be wise to remember that.

Unfortunately, the rest of him did not comply with logic. He had been foolishly captivated by her. Despite the cruelty of her words, he had covertly watched her and had been drawn in by her softness. He had admired and slowly began to desire the happy bride that any male would desire for his nest. So small and lush, she had stirred both his desire and his protective instincts. And he had compounded his own torture by dreaming of her every night. That it was him that she greeted with her sweet smile, and his body that her small human hands and mouth would caress and her plush legs part in welcome. Oh yes, there was a carnal element to the dreams, but it went further than that as he dreamed of their life together and their comfortable home build sturdily around one of the many pools and ponds of Lorgoon whenever he was on leave from his duties.

And it had haunted him ever since, no matter how much he had tried to expunge it from his thoughts, no matter how many times he replayed her words in his memory, and no matter how much he told himself that he had no right to interfere. No right to a female who not only did not want him, but was disgusted at the sight of him. He was not Calysii. He was Lorgor and honorable. Too honorable to steal her from what she obviously wanted. So then, what was this obsession?

It did not make any sense. His species was not one that required a perfect alignment of pheromones or specific qualities that called them to only one mate. Mating among the Lorgor tended more toward practical. It was only after mating that things became complicated where the separation of mates drove rutting males to madness and despondent females to grief, a condition which all too often proved fatal.

He did not feel as if he were mad. He did not feel… right… either. His aggression was getting worse, his venom sacs constantly dripping sweet, spicy venom into his mouth. The venom, undiluted, was technically an aphrodisiac that his body made for his mate. It was only around other males that a secondary venom was pumped into it, making it grow sharp and stringent and turned it into a potentially lethal hallucinogen. Thankfully, he had managed to retain control over himself and there hadn’t been any accidents. Not yet, at least.

Perhaps never.

And that was looking at it from the most positive position. He was no longer optimistic that it would eventually pass. He had been cured of that hope revolutions ago. Sighing heavily, he ran a hand down his vibinum, the thick webbing that started out short between the rough horny crests that ran up his brow only to grow thicker and longer descending from the crown. His claws caught briefly on one of the longer vibinum that sprouted beneath the last bony crest just behind his ear and plucked at it. The scrape of his claws raked across his senses with a mild soothing sensation, but he froze and consciously removed his hand. He refused to become one of those stressed males with shredded and dropped vibinum from constantly plucking at them.

“Captain, Commander Saigik is requesting to speak to you.” The communications officer looked at him sympathetically as he delivered the news.

Varik hid his grimace behind a mask of icy indifference and coolly nodded. “Patch him through.”

The officer nodded and moved his hands quickly over the panel in front of him. The view of Caysta in front of him blinked out and was immediately replaced with the stern gaze of his father. There wasn’t even so much as a hint of paternal softness in the male’s gaze. One would not even know that they were related if it were not for the fact that they bore a strong resemblance to each other. He might have been mirror image, if not for his vibrant teal coloring and blue eyes like his mother’s, rather than his father’s dark green coloring and red eyes. Or that his mother, Konya Otorol, was probably one of the most well-known upper rank females within Caysta’s Lorgor fleet. When she was not on his father’s arm, she was organizing and orchestrating behind the scenes, a constant presence that made things run smoothly—something which had become even more important since so many from the fleet had defected to the Lorgor rebellion. She was practically legendary.

Naturally, his mother’s disdain for rebellion was equally legendary among the fleet, matched only by that of his father.

Varik swallowed back the bitter bile rising in the back of his throat as he met his father’s stony gaze. Although his parents did not know that his sympathies lay with the rebellion, the tension between them had only grown more strained over the revolutions. He should have defected long ago and put an end to the charade and done something far more honorable with his skills and knowledge. He would leave now and not look back if it weren’t for one very important thing that kept him attached to the fleet and a loyal servant of the Calysii Empire that had generations ago subjugated his home world Lorgoon, among many others.

Stacey Kendricks.

No matter how far he ran, he was unable to sever himself from her completely. And because of that, he was caught perpetually within the fleet. He could not have her, but he could not abandon her entirely and leave her behind forever on Caysta. And it was that which caught him, where his loyalty to his parents never could have. There were times he wondered if they suspected that there was something else keeping him tied to the fleet, but he was careful to never give it away. He did not let a hint of it show on his face, any more than he allowed his symptoms of separation distress show, nor that every order from Emperor Gaix and the Calysii High Command added to the poison that was destroying him little by little.

“Commander. What can I do for you?” he queried, his ridged brow raising.

“Captain.” His father inclined his head in a stiff greeting. “I was pleased to hear that you had returned from your latest assignment from the eighth sector.”

“Oh?” That was unusual. His father was not the sentimental sort that tracked his returns from various assignments. Or, if he did, he did not acknowledge it. Surely there was some ulterior motive. “Is there some occasion of which I was not aware?”

He narrowed his eyes as the elder male folded his arms behind him and inclined his head.

“There is an event being arranged and Prince Gaix asked for you personally. A great honor to you and the house.” Their family house, though that much was left unsaid. “Many captains would vie for the opportunity to serve the prince directly and so distinguish themselves further.”

As far as Varik was concerned, he had distinguished himself more than enough. He had not only transported his human brides, but had even chased down the female that had been abducted by pirates from his ship. That the female was mated when he found her and unwilling to comply with returning toAcasai Horinthi—King’s Glory—was beside the point and one that he kept to himself, despite the prince’s displeasure.

But now he wanted him?

“May I inquire what the assignment is?”

The Commander grimaced faintly with distaste. It was barely a flicker of expression before it was gone again but it said volumes of what exactly his father thought of it. “A human holiday, it appears. A holiday of lovers and romance. The prince wishes to take a… ‘romantic cruise,’” he recited, “with his human mates.”

Varik felt something within him clench uncomfortably. “All nineteen of the females will be with him on board?”

“Naturally,” Commander Saigik agreed. “He is looking forward to this celebration of indulgence with his mates. Your orders are being transferred to you now.” He nodded to someone out of view and Varik heard his comm ping. “I trust that you will see to it that they have everything that they need and are not disturbed.”

“Of course, Commander,” Varik replied in a tight voice. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, comm your mother. There is something of some importance that she wishes to discuss, especially with the prince’s current favor toward you. Do not disappoint us.”

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