by Gail Koger
“Enough. Mark her as yours, but nothing more,” Zarek commanded.
“Yes, my lord.” Hothar gave my neck a long, slow lick.
My body quivered. “A hundred positions, huh?”
“Yes, and a thousand delights.”
Jarok screamed in agony.
“That’s a definite buzz kill. I know Jarok deserves everything Zarek is doing to him, but I don’t want to witness it.”
“Then, you will not.” Hothar gently lowered me to the ground. “Get dressed and I will take you to sick bay.”
Another blood-curdling shriek broke from Jarok and another and another and another.
I fought down the urge to puke and scrambled into my clothes.
Hothar held up his hand. “Before I teleport you to the ship, we have to establish a mental link. The other warriors must know you are mine.”
“Kinda like a dog marking his territory, huh?” Just call me a bitch.
The bastard grinned at me. “I know you are hot, tired and hurting, but it is necessary.”
“My face should scare them off. I look like a parboiled plague victim.”
“The warriors are more interested in your bloodlines, not your looks.”
I sighed. Did I want to deal with a ship full of horny Coletti warriors all hell-bent on claiming me? Nope. Linking minds with Hothar was the second step in the bonding process. If I didn’t accept Hothar, God knows who I would get stuck with. Plus, it would piss off Zarek.
I felt the brush of Hothar’s mind like fingertips stroking my skin. “I will do everything in my power to protect you. To make you happy. Can you accept me as your partner?”
I shivered as the caresses continued. Wowzers! Hothar had to be drawing on Zarek’s seductive skills and Detja was one lucky woman. A delicious warmth grew in my belly. Hothar could suck on my juicy bits any time. Dang! One kiss and I was his. How scary was that?
The bulge in Hothar’s pants thrashed wildly. His hands balled into fists and the muscles in his jaw clench as he fought for control.
“I think your little fellas wanna come out and play,” I teased.
“Little?” Hothar’s eyes popped open and the deep primal need in them, had me taking an involuntary step forward. I craved his touch. I ached for him. What the hell? Had I lost my mind?
“Control it Hothar,” Zarek growled.
Grim determination flashed across Hothar’s face. “It is difficult, my lord.”
“The drive to complete the mating bond is very strong, but you are stronger.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I backed away from Hothar. Was he deliberately trying to influence my decision? Maybe. The hunger I sensed in him called to me. As much as I hated to admit it, there was a connection between us. Did I want him as my partner? Yes, and no. He was on the bossy side. He expected instant obedience and thought I was a chatterbox with destructive tendencies. I expelled a long breath. That one I’d give him. Things did tend to go to hell in a hurry when I was around.
I knew Hothar would stand at my side, no matter what. He was a master at battle tactics and weaponry. In an emergency, his instincts were very, very good. He was even tempered, but if he ever lost it, watch out. When I accidently disabled his Talon, he hadn’t strangled or otherwise hurt me. Best of all, he played Warriors of the Galaxy, my most favorite game in the entire galaxy.
Better yet, the final bond couldn’t occur until I was twenty-one. Which gave me two years to get to know Hothar and ferret out all his secrets. I waggled my eyebrows at him. “I think we’ll make an unbeatable team,” I dropped my shields.
A triumphant smile curled Hothar’s mouth as he slid into my head. I felt a tugging sensation and several light pinches as he created our permanent link. “Don’t make me regret this.”
Hothar brushed his mouth over mine. “You will not.”
Prickles scampered up my back. “Uh oh. Trouble.”
Together we mentally scanned the area for the threat. Hothar bared his fangs in a predatory snarl. “Earth First assassin squads.”
“How did they know where the Overlord was?”
“Someone on his ship is a traitor,” Hothar replied grimly.
A buzzing sensation erupted in my head and I said out loud, “Those bastards also brought along that damned telepathy blocking gizmo.”
“They are wearing the Alliance inhibiting discs too.” Hothar’s mouth tightened into a hard line. “When the Overlord is interrogating a prisoner, it hinders his awareness. I will teleport and warn them.”
“No need.” I let go with my ululating war cry.
Uncle Saul answered with his own battle cry.
I hooted like an owl.
Uncle Saul responded with a very realistic coyote howl.
Hothar stared at me in amazement. “What was that?”
“Apache war cries. The animal sounds are a way to communicate what actions you want the other warrior to take. Did you know there are no rules for an Apache warrior when it comes to fighting? If you’re his enemy, he will kill you.”
“A sound battle practice. Who taught you those sounds?”
“Mangas, a Chiricahua Apache. He’s a fierce, scalp-taking master of death.”
“Scalp-taking?”
“Yep. He has a bunch of Tai-Kok scalps. The monsters feared him.”
“You have interesting allies. What were General Jones’s instructions?”
“Take cover over there.” I pointed to a huge pile of debris from a shipwreck.
Hothar wrapped an arm around my waist and teleported us. “Where did you meet this Mangas?”
“After the Tai-Kok blew up our base, we retreated to the desert. Mangas and his people came to our aid.”
Poof! Zarek and Uncle Saul appeared next to us.
“Nice battle cry, little one,” Zarek said.
“Thanks, but Uncle Saul’s is better.”
“I can’t compete with your bellow.” Uncle Saul pulled his laser pistol. “Here they come.”
I watched as eight men in scuba gear rose out of the water. They were armed with P11 waterproof pistols, APS underwater laser rifles and pint-sized rocket launchers. “What did you do with Jarok?”
“He’s bait.”
Jarok’s shrill cries rang out.
I took a quick peek and latched onto Hothar. “Spiders! Billions of them!”
“They create an excellent distraction,” Zarek responded.
“Yeah, boy.” I risked another look and shuddered. The eight-legged freaks were wrapping Jarok in webbing. So, not good.
One of the assassins held up a tracking scanner.
Hothar tucked me under his arm. “Don’t move.”
I nodded and frowned as prickles burned up my spine. “Another team is coming through the swamp.”
“Their mistake,” Zarek murmured.
“Help me. Please. Please, help me,” Jarok cried pitifully.
The assassins cautiously approached him.
A chorus of blood-curdling screams came from the swamp. Laser beams flashed wildly, and several banyan trees disintegrated into zillions of red fireflies.
Someone shouted, “It’s that fucking Coletti Overlord!” Just like that, the assassins sprinted for the swamp.
I’d love to see their faces when they realized there was no fucking Coletti Overlord, just big, fucking spiders.
Zarek, Hothar and my uncle switched their laser pistols to stun mode and vanished.
They popped in behind the assassins. Zap. Zap. Zap. Zap. Zap. Zap. Zap. Zap. The unlucky hitmen toppled to the ground as uncontrollable muscle spasms shook their bodies.
My scarily efficient Coletti warriors quickly disarmed the assassins and destroyed their psychic jamming devices.
I rubbed my aching head and flinched when I caught a glimpse of Zarek doing a little mental reconnoitering. The man was utterly ruthless as he tore through their minds. The assassins’ guttural groans made my stomach churn. What I needed was a Sedona spa day. I could visit the vortexes, eat great fo
od and have a little R&R. Yeah, that was ticket.
Hothar snorted in my head. “You are not going anywhere without me.”
“I didn’t know you liked getting facials and your nails done.”
“No trips to Sedona alone,” Hothar growled as he helped Uncle Saul and Zarek tie up the assassins.
“I’m a big girl and I don’t need your permission.”
“Yes, you do.”
“This is the way you keep me happy?”
“This is the way I keep you alive,” Hothar countered.
Okay, I’d admit a lot of people had been trying to kill me lately, but my skin was in serious need of a good rejuvenating facial. “A word of advice. Telling me I can’t do something, is never a good idea.”
“Being stupid is not a good idea either.”
What a butthead. Prickles ran up my spine and I spotted two of the Earth First killers running from the swamp. Their wetsuits were covered in spiders. The minute they saw me, they raised their laser rifles. “Not today boys.” I tossed them in the ocean.
Sploush! Sploush! The killers shot to the surface with the spiders riding on their heads and swam away from the island.
Huh? It was almost as if they were swimming to safety.
“Stay put until all of the Earth First warriors have been dealt with,” Hothar instructed.
“Yes’um, boss. I’ll just cower in the corner and cry hysterically until you big, strong he-men can rescue me.”
“You are not amusing.”
Hot prickly stings rolled over my skin. The ocean began to churn violently and to my horror, a big black submarine erupted from the water. The hatch flew open, and a sailor climbed out and manned a pneumatic deck gun built into the bow of the ship.
“Hot lips, we have company.”
“We see it.” The annoyance in Hothar’s voice made me smile. Grabbing two assassins apiece, my deadly warriors teleported, leaving me all alone on a desert island filled with nasty ass spiders. And without a single weapon.
“You are a weapon and you are not alone,” Hothar stated in exasperation.
“You’re right. There are zillions of spiders, two assassins and a submarine full of bad guys to keep me company. You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
“I can teleport to your side in an instant.”
The sailor opened fire on the island. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. The high-powered ammo shredded what was left of the banyan trees.
“Bad idea, unless you’re faster than speeding bullets.”
Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. The deadly projectiles ripped through the shipwreck debris.
I ducked behind a large rusty girder and flinched as bullets pinged off the metal. Wazzock’s piss! Reaching out psychically, I grabbed the gunner’s mind and pain exploded in my head. Damn, that hurt. He was wearing one of those crappy discs and the sub had to be equipped with a jamming gizmo.
Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Another volley churned up the sand and turned their own men into Sushi.
Enough was enough. I telekinetically picked up a section of iron pipe and threw it frisbee style at the sailor manning the deck gun. Thwack! The force of the impact knocked him overboard. Sploush!
More men poured out of the sub.
I studied the junk littering the beach and smiled. Batter up. I pitched a broken sink at the sub. Smack! It caught a sailor dead in the chest. He staggered backwards, crashed into another seaman and over the side of the ship they went. Sploush! Sploush!
Grabbing a broken ship’s mast. I lobbed it and took out four more men. A battered dinghy was followed by old wine casks, a lamp and a volley of ping pong balls. Thud. Plunk. Bang. Bang. Thunk. Thop. Thop. Thop. Sploush! Sploush! Sploush! Sploush!
“Men overboard,” I called and wrapped my mind around a chair.
Hothar grabbed my arm. “You can stop now.”
“I was just getting warmed up.”
“Neither the Overlord nor the Battle Commander will be pleased if you hit them in the head with that chair.”
He was right. I released the chair. You couldn’t outrun a pissed off Coletti warrior. I had tried, and it didn’t end well. “What’s the plan?”
“They wanted the Overlord. They get the Overlord.”
Poof! The Overlord, the Battle Commander, my uncle and several other warriors appeared on the submarine in full battle gear.
“Be careful what you wish for,” I muttered.
My uncle dropped the Coletti version of a flash bang down the hatch. Boom! Thick blue smoke billowed out of the hatch.
“Is that the flash bang that knocks them senseless?”
“It is.”
“All we need now is some beach chairs and a couple of cold beers to watch the show.”
“The only place you are going is to sick bay.”
I took one look at the spiders swarming across the sand and jumped into his arms. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Chapter Seven
There was a flash of black and we appeared in sick bay. I looked around the spotless room. Six top-of-the-line regen tubes lined the back wall. The four examining tables came with all sorts of thingamajigs to ensure a sterile operating field and enhanced diagnostics.
A gentle voice asked, “How may I assist you?”
“My mate needs treatment for this rash and heat exhaustion.” Hothar placed me on an examining table.
The medic walked over to us and my jaw dropped. He had green skin, tubular ears and exotic features. “Oh, my God. You’re Shrek, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“Kaylee told me all about you. How you were an Alliance medic until she hijacked you.”
Shrek smiled and ran a scanner over me. “She hijacked the entire crew. How is the lady warrior and her child?”
“Good. Really good.”
“They need me on the island. I will return.” Poof. Hothar was gone.
I rolled my eyes. “You know how it is with Coletti warriors. Always places to go. People to kill.”
“Indeed.” Shrek handed me a chocolate bar. “How are you are related to the lady warrior?”
“We’re cousins. I went to live with her family when I was nine.” I tore the wrapping off and practically inhaled the bar.
“This will rehydrate you.” He put a pressure injector against my neck and triggered it. “Have you taken your mate’s blood today?”
“I have. Twice.”
“Excellent. Ten minutes in the regen tube should reverse the damage to your skin.”
“Yippee.” I jumped off the table and followed Shrek over to a tube.
His fingers flew across the control panel. The tube opened. “Please remove your clothing.”
“What?” I squawked.
Shrek took one look at my outraged expression and hastily added, “I have seen many female forms.”
“But not mine. I don’t get naked in front of strangers.”
Opening a drawer, Shrek pulled out a blue medical jumpsuit equipped with sensors and handed it to me. “You may wear this.”
“Thank you.” I looked around. “Where do I change?”
Shrek sighed. “I will step out. Please be inside the tube when I return.”
“Ok.” As soon as the door slid shut, I shucked off my sweat-soaked clothing and pulled on the jumpsuit. I wrinkled my nose. What was that awful smell? I sniffed my underarms. Ugh. It was me. I was surprised Hothar had wanted to get within ten feet of me. Dang. There went my idea to douse him with skunk perfume. The need to mate overrode his olfactory senses.
“Get inside the tube, Casey. Shrek has other duties,” Hothar growled in my head.
“Done killing people?”
“Yes. In the tube. Now.”
With an aggravated sigh, I climbed inside the tube and tried to find a comfortable position. “Find your traitor?” The instant the lid closed, a thick white mist swirled around me.
“We have not.”
“That sucks.”
“When the treatment is completed, Bey will escort you to my cabin,” Hothar said.
“Who’s Bey?”
“A friend and trusted warrior.”
“Why do I have the feeling, you’re not telling me everything?”
“I have no idea.” The link broke.
Hmmm. The sneaky bastard was up to something.
Shrek walked back in and examined the control panel on my tube. “Almost done.”
The sick bay doors whooshed open and two burly Alliance soldiers stormed in. Their eye-searing red uniforms were torn and bloody. Was one of them Bey?
Shrek turned to face them. “May I assist you?”
“We have come for the female,” the bigger one said.
The lid on my tube slid back. I sat up and did a little mental snooping. They weren’t Alliance soldiers, they were Earth First assassins. I flashed the info to Hothar.
“You are not authorized to be here. Leave. Now,” Shrek replied, stepping in front of me.
Bless his little heart, he was trying to protect me. My eyes widened when the door swished open and a golden tarantula the size of a dinner platter skittered across the ceiling. A Tabor. A goddamned Tabor and I had a feeling his name was Bey. Was this Hothar’s way of working on my problem?
The bigger assassin shoved Shrek aside. “Stay out of our way or die.”
I scrambled out of the tube. “You heard Shrek. Leave or the only ones dying are you.”
The assassins laughed and charged.
I tossed the bigger one against the wall.
Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Bey peppered him with web balls until all you could see was his horrified eyes.
Shrek grabbed a surgical laser scalpel. Kwishuuuuu! With a flick of his finger it became a light saber.
The other assassin pulled his sword and the duel was on. Vrummmummm! Fvish! Buzz! Vrummmummm! Fvish! Fvish! Fvish! Buzz!
Color me impressed. Shrek was one hell of a swordsman. He deftly blocked all the assassin’s blows. Vrummmummm! Fvish! The assassin’s sword arm fell to the floor.