Daxon's Hostage (Alien Bounty Hunters Book 6)

by Michele Mills

  His eyes roamed over the curves hidden under the dark cloth, and the smooth features of…a human female? He took his claw off of his blaster and continued to quietly gaze at this being. Thankfully, she wasn’t a fully colorless aberration, as many of these strange humans were, nor was she one of the royal pigment humans. Her skin tone seemed similar to his own, which was acceptable, because Margols were the true Xylan; the backbone of their species.

  He noticed that the female sleeping in his bunk was wearing the robe of a multigod priestess, layered over a strange white dress. She had some of the trappings of a priestess, but he assumed she wasn’t. A true priestess wouldn’t be on his ship. In the dim light he could see her smooth forehead, her small frame and the five clawless crowded fingers on each hand. Her hair was unbraided, and her human features were strange and foreign.

  His nostrils flared as a pleasant scent tickled his nose.

  What was that?

  He inhaled deeply, his lungs filling and a warmth blooming in his chest. And at that moment he was ninety-nine percent certain this odd human was going to be his future mate.

  His eyes widened and he took a step back, his mind flooded with uncertainty.

  A human as a mate? He was trying to leave this annoying planet and now he was discovering one of this strange species was going to be his mate? Well, Joyzal’s mate was human and that warrior seemed happy to have started his line. So, it was possible. Humans were Xylan allies and also mating compatible. And despite this species’ dizzying array of pigment options, this one appeared to be Margol, which was pleasant.

  He inhaled again. Daxon’s line was notorious for being able to scent their true mate with ninety-nine percent accuracy and only using compatibility testing to confirm their suspicion. He had known this would happen one day, that he would scent his Bride, but he’d assumed it would be with one of his own species, not with…a human. And now wasn’t the time for him to take on a mate. He’d lost his position on Timbur and he’d just started his new job.

  Plus, who was this female? She’d illegally gained access to his vessel and had fallen asleep in his bunk like she owned the place. What did this say about the being who was in his quarters? He knew nothing about her.

  His instincts and the computer’s security system might be telling him that she could potentially be “the one” but his logical mind remained cautious. There was only one way to be one hundred percent certain. He glanced down at her tiny, clawless hand and realized he would soon perform a testing of compatibility ceremony with this female.

  Because he had to know if she truly was his mate, or not.

  Then her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up, took one look at him and screamed.

  4

  Darcy gulped in great breaths and scooted back against the wall, her heart beating furiously.

  Holy crap.

  An enormous, terrifying being stood next to the bunk, the shadows in the dark room making him seem ten times scarier.

  What had she been thinking? Why had she fallen asleep here? It wasn’t like she normally crashed in strangers’ beds. There had to have been other rooms, other places she could’ve hidden while she waited for take-off…but she’d been so tired, and this exact spot had looked so inviting and smelled so good.

  The lights flicked on and her mouth fell open.

  She got a better look at the being standing in the doorway. He crossed the threshold and a scowling Xylan male took up all the space in the room.

  Oh wow.

  She knew that two years ago this honor-bound species had gone to war with the Hurlians who’d enslaved the humans of New Earth and kicked those assholes off the planet, but she’d never seen a Xylan in real life.

  The Hurlians used to randomly sweep down in their red hovercrafts, snatch humans and take them away to—no one knew. But, whoever was snatched was never returned. Everyone had known someone they’d loved who’d been taken. It was awful living like that, waiting for the next raid, knowing someone you loved would go missing, and never having enough power to make it stop.

  But for over two years now the citizens of New Earth had been living free because of the generosity of the Xylan Imperial Military. But still there were basically no Xylan on New Earth, they’d arrived for the battle and left, leaving behind one lone Xylan Ambassador for the humans to formally communicate with Chronos when needed. All humans on New Earth considered the Xylan mysterious benefactors who’d brought peace and safety and then just…disappeared.

  Her gaze went up and up his muscular form because this male’s height was never-ending. His chest was wider than wide, and his biceps were two mounds of granite. He was powerfully built, his sleeveless clothing exposing muscular arms and a trim waist. Dark pants covered his epic thighs and his medium-toned skin was very similar to her own. Horizontal ridges covered his forehead and his hair was swept back and fell down his back into a series of black and creamy brown braids. She glanced down and noted his hands weren’t formed like typical humans’ hands, but instead were four-fingered claws. Fangs peeking out of his lips. Actual fangs. And they looked super sharp. This warrior was scary and yet her eyes lingered on his rough-hewn features because he reminded her of the honorable, elite guards who were sworn to protect New Earth’s President.

  But what did any of this matter? Looks were nothing. She’d left at the altar a handsome male who was evil personified.

  They stared at each other, quiet and assessing. And then she remembered why Hector had placed her on this ship and a flush swept across her cheeks. “Sorry for the scream…I…I was startled,” she said. Then she scooted over to the edge of the bunk and grabbed her pointy shoes, readying herself to get out of this guy’s personal space. There had to be somewhere else on this ship she could stay, rather than in his bed.

  He continued to stare at her with an intense gaze, not saying a word. He wasn’t saying anything, not specifically ordering her out of his bed or off of his ship. Shoot. She couldn’t get a read on him and therefore had no idea if he was completely pissed off, or mellow about the whole idea of finding some stranger asleep in his bed. But one good thing, there wasn’t a gleam of lust in his eyes and he wasn’t staring inappropriately at her body and his focus remained on her face.

  He obviously had a stowaway to deal with, though, and what was he going to do? The last thing she needed was for this warrior to angrily return her to New Earth Peacekeepers. Her number one hope was that he’d agree to drop her off at a busy space station where she could get a job and start her entire life over again. She’d simply walk off his ship and disappear into the crowds and he’d never have to deal with her ever again.

  Although, all of this was moot if they hadn’t even left the planet yet.

  “Um, can I ask you a question?” she said, her fingers fidgeting with the high heels in her hand. What if he didn’t even understand her language? She didn’t speak Xylan…“First, I have to know…where are we? Have we left New Earth?”

  “Huh,” he grunted and shook his head. “Yes, little stowaway, if it makes you feel better, we are already in deep space and also, I’m not returning you to New Earth authorities, you’re staying on this ship.”

  She let out a huge breath and a goofy smile spread across her face. Thank gods. He knew English and they could communicate, and they were off New Earth. Perfect. “Yes, yes that does make me feel better. Thank you very much,” she answered brightly.

  Darcy bent to slip on her shoes, then she stood next to the bunk. The typical heaviness that had been lodged in her heart for the last moon cycle, and the agitation that was always just under her skin, was already disappearing. And the wheels in her head were spinning. Step number one: escape from Gurpreet’s Palace. Check. Mission accomplished. Step number two: orchestrate Gurpreet’s arrest and make sure that monster was held accountable for his actions and was no longer able to hurt women and children. She had zero idea how she was going to accomplish that from outer space, but she’d certainly try her hardest. Step number three: tal
k her way into being dropped off at some fancy intergalactic space station. She bit her lip, unsure how she was going to make that last one happen.

  The Xylan scowled at her. “And now that you’ve had your question answered let’s move to the most important points. Who are you and why are you on my ship?”

  She grimaced. “Oh, um…well…”

  He moved across the room, casually dropping a tool he’d been holding onto the floor. “And don’t bother lying,” he said as he lowered his giant form into a large, comfy-looking chair.

  She blinked, surprised at his casual acceptance of the situation. No anger or rage, he was simply trying to figure her out. This was good.

  Then she glanced around, realizing this room she’d ended up in was much larger than she’d originally thought. There was a chair, a small table, a whole kitchen along one wall, some extra cabinets and even a door that she was certain led to a restroom. Which was great because she needed to pee.

  He waved a claw at her, gesturing for her to sit back down on the bunk. “Sit. Tell me the absolute truth and we’ll deal with whatever trouble you’re in together.”

  She gingerly lowered herself back down onto the edge of the bed, arranging layers of white skirts so they settled around her. Okaaaay. Guess this meant she wasn’t going to immediately end up in a brig somewhere, that was good.

  Her eyes were now on the floor and the piles of clutter and dirty clothes strewn everywhere. She was right now resting her heels on top of clothing. She kicked the pile aside, trying to make a clear space to place her feet. She noted a side table was positioned at the warrior’s elbow, which held a teetering pile of detritus. When she’d first arrived, the room was dark and shadowy and she’d been intent on finding a place to sleep, and now that the lights were on… Jeez, this place was a mess. This guy was a total slob. She couldn’t even actually see the floor due to all the stuff. And yet somehow it still smelled nice in here. In fact, now that he’d arrived it smelled even better, as if the woodsy scent was centered on this male’s body. Did all Xylan smell this good?

  She met his intense hazel gaze. His eyes were beautiful, she could get lost in the gold flecks and those long eyelashes. Her stomach fluttered pleasantly.

  She opened her mouth to answer his question, but nothing came out. Where should she start? He didn’t seem pissed off, but still, she assumed she was on shaky ground.

  “Let me start,” he offered. “I’m a Bounty Hunter and this ship you’ve hidden on is the basic model for target retrieval. It has quarters for one Hunter, a small med bay, bridge and engine room, a cargo area for storing targets in lockdown stasis and a medium-sized holo deck for training purposes.”

  “You’re a Bounty Hunter?” she squeaked. Holy crap. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Were Bounty Hunters actual law enforcement?

  He crooked an eyebrow. “You didn’t know?”

  She swallowed. “No, my brother chose this ship. He said hiding here with an honorable Xylan warrior was my safest bet.”

  The Xylan lifted his chin and grunted. “Your brother was right.” He picked up a tablet next to him and used the tip of his claw to tap a few symbols that streamed across the surface, then he tossed it back down onto the side table. In the process, an empty cup and plate teetered and dropped to the floor. He didn’t seem to care.

  He also didn’t seem to notice what everyone else had noticed on Singapore—her supposed beauty. He hadn’t leered or remarked on her appearance, which was refreshing. The community she’d grown up amongst had never swooned over her looks either, they’d all been more focused on her growing ability to fix their broken machinery or recalibrate their robotics. It was nice that he was treating her normal, like everyone in her life usually did before everything had turned upside down this last moon cycle. It made her feel comfortable.

  “I’ve never met a Bounty Hunter or been on a spaceship or in outer space my entire life,” she admitted. “But I am eager to learn all the inner workings of this model.” Which was totally true. She hoped she’d learn every single bolt and piece of wiring. She adored hardware; it was her specialty. Darcy’s life had been spent examining machinery of any kind and thinking, how does that work? And then wanting to take it apart and put it back together to find out every secret it held. A smile widened on her face as she imagined hours spent behind panels and inside the conduits of this Hunter ship. It would be fascinating.

  “I wasn’t off-planet much either prior to this position,” he admitted.

  “Did you live on Chronos?”

  He lifted his chin. “No, before this I lived on Timbor. I was an Illibrium miner.”

  She swallowed hard. Now this male’s gruff manner and size made complete sense. She’d learned in school that most mining in the four sectors was now done by robots, except for the retrieval of Illibrium. Illibrium was the exception because it was so very delicate and volatile it needed to be touched directly by sentient beings as it was extracted, or the crystal lost its effectiveness. And strangely, it turned out Margol Xylan were best fit for this job because they bonded well with the Illibrium. And because only Margol Xylan could mine, and not all Margol Xylan—the Illibrium still often rejected miners—the Margol who passed the training phase and became true miners were celebrated, and rare. Everyone considered Illibrium miners to be well-paid independent-minded badasses. You didn’t mess with Illibrium miners. Even the fantastically rich owners of the mines bowed to the wishes of their miners. Without them, there was no Illibrium production.

  “Why would you leave your position as an Illibrium miner to become a Bounty Hunter?” she blurted out, because really, why? Why would he make such a foolish mistake?

  He grunted. “I’ll tell you my tragic story after you tell me the reason why you were so desperate to leave New Earth that you hid on my ship.”

  She took a deep breath. Oh gods, confession time. “It’s a long story,” she warned him.

  He opened his claws. “As you can see I’m not busy. You may begin. I am ready to listen.”

  She looked away because his eyes, his features, his voice…even though she barely knew him, his gaze was causing strange feelings to creep across her stomach and into her chest. She shifted in her seat because the area between her thighs was uncomfortably hot and wet. Never had a male affected her this way. It was strange.

  She reached down and fisted the fabric of her robe, twisting it in her fingers. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll tell you the truth. First, I want you to know that when I hid on your ship, I didn’t know you were a Bounty Hunter and I’m sorry if that complicates things… Look, I live on a remote farm with my family and I’m not used to big cities or space ships. We grow Salphalfa. Lots and lots of Salphalfa, because it’s the number one source of grain on the planet. That’s what we do and that’s what my family has done for generations. I’m just a farm girl who was trying to live her life. But I was being pressured into a marriage I didn’t want by my family with the eldest son of the neighboring farm.”

  A growl rumbled in the warrior’s chest. “You were going to test mating compatibility? Were you proven compatible with this eldest son? Did he claim you?”

  “Mating compatible? No. And he didn’t claim me. I don’t even know what that means. His name is Dale Cheung and he’s my brother’s best friend, but we weren’t in love. I think he felt pressured into marriage too. We never tried to make sure we were alone to talk about the wedding. Never. That’s not good, right? You shouldn’t marry a friend. Actually, I’m happy for Dale, because now that I’ve left, he’s free to find someone else to marry. He can finally find a woman he really loves.”

  The Xylan nodded in agreement. “You left your planet in order to avoid mating with the eldest son of the neighboring farm?”

  “No, that’s not why I left, I wouldn’t have left New Earth over that. I left my friends and family, my whole planet, because that safe marriage with Dale had been cancelled and I was instead being forced into marriage with a man I despised. A man who I t
hought might literally kill me one day. I snuck onto your ship in order to escape from him.”

  “Tell me,” he growled.

  “One day I was discovered”—she used air quotes to emphasize the word—“by Gurpreet Singh, the richest, most eligible bachelor on New Earth. He’d been on a world-wide tour to discover the female he considered to be the most beautiful virgin on the planet, and when he found her, he was going to marry her. I was accidentally pushed into a Bridal Tour line-up and introduced to him against my will. Even though I had no wish to be his bride because I didn’t know him and also I was about to be married to Dale—Gurpreet took one look at me and declared that I was the most beautiful girl on the planet and I was going to be his bride.”

  “You were being forced into testing of compatibility?” the warrior said with a shocked expression on his face. “Isn’t this illegal on your planet?”

  “The public didn’t know I was being forced. I said I didn’t want this but no one heard me, and then the Singh family’s guards were there to escort me to their Palace and there were lots and lots of bribes to make officials look the other way.”

  The warrior shook his head, clearly having trouble accepting this part of her story. Hell, it was hard for her to accept too.

  “The problem,” she continued, “was that when I got back to his Palace, I discovered Gurpreet Singh wasn’t simply a man I wasn’t sure of marrying because I didn’t know him and his lifestyle at the capital city was completely foreign to me. It turned out he had a secret harem of women and children hidden there—his own children—who he regularly beat and sometimes killed. And that was when I ran away. If I stayed and married him this would be my future. Marriage to a murderer.”

  His eyes were hard and flinty. “You ran away from this lazhul who wanted to make you his bride?”

  “Yes,” she answered, assuming lazhul meant something bad in his language.

  A muscle ticked on his jaw and he gave a curt nod. “Perfect,” he answered.