Page 31 of Stealing the Lorgor's Heart

But she was about to be very dead. She trembled as her head snapped up at the sound of Athdar rushing toward her, the heavy thud of his boots echoing through the temple room. She stared at him in horror, her fingers grappling for a rock or any kind of weapon she might use. The roar that left him was terrifying, but it was cut short by bolt of plasma fire hitting him directly in the chest, sending the gonsi stumbling to the ground. A second shot followed obliterated the male’s head, spraying her with the outward propulsion of its contents and fragments of skull. Thoroughly disgusted with the crap covering her, Stacey turned in surprise to the doorway and her knees nearly collapsed with relief.

Varik wasn’t dead! He was alive and Jornesh too as the male peeked into the room around the two males filling the doorway. Her mate turned a disgusted look at the Kadesh at his side. “Does it always have to be the head with you?

Lerix smirked. “What can I say…Old Betsy likes some head.”

Stacey rose unsteadily to her feet as Varik hurried toward her. Stumbling, she met him halfway with a happy sob as she threw her arms around him and buried her nose against his powerful body to breathe his comforting scent in. His heart thudded a frantic beat beneath her ear but the warm weight of his arms and tail settled around her, seeking to comfort them both. Stacey knew without looking that the dangerous spins along the frill descending down his tail where likely lifted defensively, warning away all others from even thinking of getting close.

She was grateful for the support of his large frame, however, when relief made her suddenly weak in the knees at the sounds of voices echoing up the corridor. Turning in his arms, she gave a teary smile to the women flooding the temple, their eyes widening with surprise as they peered at the bloody scene. The remaining four Lorgor clung attentively close to their sides as they entered and gently steered the women away from the mess Athdar made on the temple floor as they stared at it with a mixture of revulsion and varying degrees of satisfaction. Of the women, the breeders were in the worst condition. Their gowns were dirty and torn and more than one smeared by the blood that had apparently come from Destiny, judging by the medi-patch adhered to her skin where it was visible on her belly due to the gap in her torn gown.

Quin drew in close to the large male closest to her and wrinkled her nose. “So, do we just head back to the boats then? Talk about some wild animals getting them?”

There were as a murmur of relieved and weary assent from the other women, but Lerix coughed uncomfortably.

“I am afraid it is not that easy. You see, I was not lying about the creatures and I did tell Prince Gaix that coming into the island’s interior was a very bad idea. Most of the predators are small and nocturnal, but pretty nasty in their own right and a pack of them can take a healthy, grown male down on their own. This entire complex has been surrounded by them for a while but the big ones… well they come from a pretty unique spot that we really can’t outrun.”

“And where is that?” Kelly asked nervously as she pressed closer to Destiny’s side.

Lerix grimaced and pointed downward.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Stacey groaned.

“In all fairness, it is not their fault. It is quite probable that they never bothered surfacing until the prince started dumping tasty treats,” he explained, tipping his head toward the well. “Unfortunately, the smaller night-time predators are dangerous enough to deal with this, but the giant senthei sea serpents, while preferring to live in the sea caverns, are not averse to slithering over land to catch prey. And they are sadly not only large but quick. Just having us here drawing in the other predators is going to draw their attention soon.”

Varik’s jaw hardened. “Very well. Then we mount a defensive until morning comes and hope that the predators retreat.”

“We could,” Lerix drawled. “Or we can go with my plan. I did say I had a plan. I just wasn’t sure how we would arrive there. Well, we have arrived.” The corners of his mouth curled in a smirk as he holstered his weapon to draw out his comm. “Are you there, starshipDegleth Dena?”

“We are here,” a feminine and very human voice replied. “Are you ready for transport, Lerix?”

“We are. It is going to be a bit tricky going to put down in the courtyard… you are probably going to ruin plants and some minor architecture thousands of revolutions old but it is better than being senthei bait. Confirm?”

“Confirmed, Lerix,” was the droll reply. “I am assuming you set the receiver there to give me a spot to pinpoint for landing? My mates won’t be happy if they have to repair more extensive damages toFreedom. I assume the package has been dealt with so that we don’t have to deal with an immediate assault.”

“More or less,” Lerix agreed. “No guarantees once we are in space but by then Captain Otorol here should be able to make contact with his ship without the attempting to shoot you down first as you make your approach.”

“Understood. I am making my approach. Be ready for us. I hate fishing and absolutely refuse to sit like bait on a line for something to try and eat us the moment we set down.”

“On our way,” Lerix replied cheerfully and disconnected the link. “All right, you heard your pilot. To the courtyard.”

The ship that descended into the courtyard wasn’t especially large for a starship but considerable enough that it cast a shadow on the palace and wasn’t able fit more than the end of its ass in the courtyard. The ladder that was thrown down from the open hatch was at least something and they were able to scurry up it without too much trouble as the sound of wildlife outside the palace walls rose to a fever pitch. Stacey shivered at the sound and didn’t even protest when Varik held her tightly to his body and climbed the rope ladder with one hand. She could have climbed it easily enough as dancing had given her more upper body strength than some of the other women, but she decided that she liked being coddled by her big mate for the time being.

It didn’t escape her notice that a few of the other Lorgor had likewise chosen to scoop up a woman and assist her in climbing quickly aboard. She hid her smile at the flirtatious way Vera grinned at the male Varik addressed as Jornesh. And Quin was happily making eyes at the male smiling shyly at her as he deposited her inside the ship’s cargo hold before returning to fetch Nancy at her request. It was all rather sweet since none of the males had sought out to pair up with Nancy, nor with Jasmine, but neither woman seemed to notice the lack of their attention. Meanwhile the other two males seemed to take pleasure in helping the other women in turn as the hurried around distributing blankets provided for them by two very large, gruff looking aliens with spiny fanning crests rising from their heads and thick tails just as powerful as anything any Lorgor sported.

The entire time, Varik kept her tucked in his arms, safely against his chest, his eyes following the movement of all the males around the room. He was on edge but held his control, the rapidly coiling tension easing in turn whenever she began to soothingly stroke his chest as the ship ascended from above the palace.

Pillowing her head against his chest, Stacey frowned in confusion. “I don’t get it. Who are these people? I thought Kaidava had rigid security that would make getting off this planet a nightmare.”

“It does,” Lerix replied cheerfully as he dropped into an empty seat across from them. “But like I have always said—it is all in who you know. And a good hacker in your pocket is worth their weight in gold when you need to slip off planet for unauthorized reasons.”

“And that would be me,” a woman filled in as she stepped through the doors and into the cargo hold to stand directly between the two large males towering at either side of her. Wearing some sort of high-tech eye piece and gloves covered with fine lines if tiny, implanted cybernetics, she gave Lerix an impatient look. “I suppose you want dropped off.”

The Kadesh grinned back at her. “All in good time. I did promise Cara that would make a tiny run if you were interested in making some credits.”

The male at her left rolled his eyes. “I told you he would want something, Crystal. This one always has another plan close to his chest. Saving humans was just to sweeten the pot.”

“It is just a tiny little something extra, Borth,” Lerix argued, squeezing his thumb and forefinger together. “Very small… almost an insignificant amount of effort for a nice stack of credits in your pocket. And you know very well I would not have left the humans in peril. Cara would skin me, and I would not be so pretty without my scales.”

“Bah, it is time we returned to our farm for a season or two so I can forget this red bastard’s ugly face,” Borsh retorted, drawing a subtle rumble of amusement from deep within Varik.

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