by Tana Stone
Vox nodded, noticing the guard flinch. He didn’t know if he would bring the little alien back. His priority was finding Shreya, not returning a sex slave to be punished.
Outside the pleasure house, he paused and took in the dark streets lit only by the moons overhead. The main street extended in front of him, but several smaller alleys shot off in different directions. Vox touched a button on the side of his implant. Instantly, a map was projected into his cybernetic eye and directed him to the alley to his left.
When he’d taken the Drexian tracker out of Shreya’s neck, he’d added his own. Not a Kronock tracker, but one that sent information to his implant. He’d hoped he wouldn’t need it, but he was grateful it now pinpointed where his mate was within the maze of the city.
He ran quickly through the alleys, the buildings rising up several stories on both sides of him and creating the feeling of being in a tunnel. Aside from the occasional puddle or pile of debris, the streets were empty, with most residents and visitors either asleep or passed-out drunk. Few lights shone from windows, and he saw no other creatures in the streets.
That both comforted him and scared him. For one, he was glad there weren’t aliens out to harass the two women, but that meant there was also no one to help them if they got into trouble. And on Lymora III, there was always trouble.
Vox cursed himself for bringing Shreya to the lawless, heathen planet. Of all the places for his female to be wandering around, this city would not have been his first choice. Not that a part-Kronock cyborg had many choices when it came to holding females captive in order to mate with them. Not every planet would look kindly on his actions, nor would it welcome him. Here, everyone was wanted for something, so looking the other way was the name of the game.
An alien half his height tripped out of a doorway in front of him, and Vox swerved to avoid flattening him, his heart hammering. He made several sharp turns, wondering why Shreya and the other woman had taken such a circuitous route. He assumed they were heading toward the shipyard, but as he turned once more, he was dismayed to realize that he was running deeper into the roughest part of the city.
Shreya’s tracker stopped moving in an alley behind a strip of bars known for being host to the worst of the worst. Vox clenched his fists, pumping them as he ran faster. They would have paused there only if someone or something had stopped them.
The desire to keep her safe was so powerful that nothing else mattered. Not the smell of the trash in the streets, not the sound of his heavy breath, not the pounding of his feet against the stone that rattled his own teeth. He had to protect her. She was his, and he would die before he would let anyone hurt her or take her from him. Even the Kronock.
The thought jolted him, distracting him and making him nearly trip. Bracing a hand against one of the rough walls, he righted himself and kept running. They would come for him. That he knew. And when they saw the human he had taken for Krav’s plan, but now wanted for himself, they would take her from him.
A primal roar built deep inside him. Well, the Kronock could not have her. Not for Krav’s plan. Not for anything. He wouldn’t let them. He wouldn’t let them take their offspring, either. If there ever was one. Vox did not care about the plan, or his part in it. Not if it meant losing her.
Thoughts of Shreya flooded his mind and obliterated the sound of General Krav’s orders. The smoothness of her skin, the softness of her hair, the feel of the puckered flesh of her breast in his mouth. He would sacrifice everything to get that back.
He turned a corner and almost stumbled over a pile of ruffles sprawled on the ground, with a sweating Xakden bent over it.
“Leave,” the Xakden said in a murderous voice. “These are ours.”
Vox spotted Shreya on the ground a few feet away, as a slightly smaller Xakden wrestled with both the cloak and the diaphanous layers of her dress while she kicked at him.
Vox tried not to stare at the enormous, fur-covered, spiked phalluses both aliens had freed from their pants—the nearest Xakden dragging his with him as he tried to get astride a flailing Cerise—although he knew they would be easier to defeat since they were fully aroused.
“These are my females,” Vox said, seeing Shreya’s head snap up when she heard his voice.
“You may have them after we are done,” the one struggling with Shreya said, as he dodged her legs and ignored her screams for him to piss off. “There may be something left to stick your cock in.”
Blood roared in Vox’s head as he attacked, grabbing the first distracted Xakden by the collar and slamming him into the wall, the creature’s skull crunching before he slid to the ground in a heap. The other alien glanced up, bellowing when he saw the limp form his friend. He tried to rush at Vox, but his engorged cock was a weight that slowed him down and he only punched the air, the momentum of the failed strike causing him to fall. Vox kicked at the creature until he was coughing green blood, finally taking the furry head in both of his hands and quickly snapping his neck.
He stepped back, breathing heavily, and saw both women gaping at him.
“You saved us,” Cerise said, standing up without her fluffy wig, her slightly pointed head tiny and completely smooth.
Shreya was still on the ground, and Vox noticed some blood smeared on the stone beneath her head. He staggered to her, dropping to his knees and cradling her. “Are you hurt?”
She touched a hand to the back of her head. “Nothing serious. Scalp wounds always bleed a lot.”
He pulled her close to him, overcome with relief she wasn’t seriously injured or ripped in half. After a second, he loosened his grip and looked down at her. “You ran from me.”
“It was my idea,” Cerise said from behind him. “I convinced her to escape with me. Don’t punish her.”
Vox swiveled around to see that Cerise had retrieved her wig, and now it sat askew on her head, dirt covering one half of it. “I do not intend to punish her.”
“You don’t?” Shreya looked at him through narrowed lids. “You’re not even going to tie me up again?”
He stood, pulling Shreya with him. “There are no bindings on the ship.”
“We’re leaving here?” she asked, then glanced at the dead Xakden. “I guess that’s probably a good idea, since you just murdered two awfully ugly aliens who probably have a bunch of really mean friends.”
“Murder is rarely punished on Lymora III,” Vox said, taking her hand snugly in his. “We need to leave so I can keep you out of reach of the Kronock.”
Cerise cleared her throat. “I thought you were Kronock.”
Shreya didn’t pull her hand from his. “So did I.”
Chapter Fifteen
Shreya’s hand shook inside Vox’s as she followed blindly behind him. She’d left her cloak on the ground as they’d hurried off, and her teeth chattered even though the planet’s suns were starting to rise and burn off the cool of the night. “I don’t understand. Now we’re running from the Kronock instead of the Drexians?”
She didn’t think her head wound was serious, but she was pretty sure she was in mild shock from the attack. The fear of having that huge monster pawing at her and the realization that his raping her would have killed her—and would have been a really painful way to die—had caused a delayed reaction in her body. She gritted her teeth to keep them from rattling.
“The Kronock are more dangerous than the Drexians.” He glanced down at her and the pressure on her hand increased. “For you.”
They paused where the alleyway spilled into an open square, with a dingy, marble fountain barely spouting water over a pornographic tableau rising up in the center. Although the dawn light cast long shadows, Shreya thought the marble fairy was straddling a shockingly well-endowed centaur, although they were probably statues of alien species’ she’d never heard of, and not mythical creatures.
Vox swung his head from side to side, before rushing them across the empty square and down another narrow alley.
“What about that creepy fairy mad
am?” she asked, glancing over at Cerise, the alien’s skirts swinging as she hurried alongside them. “Won’t she be looking for her girl?”
“Zylia?” Cerise shuddered. “She would never come out looking, herself. She might send Lar, but he’d never hurt me.”
“I’m assuming Lar is the big thing that guards the door?” she asked, rubbing a hand over her goose-pimply arms and remembering the black-haired beast slumped harmlessly against the wall when they’d escaped.
Cerise nodded. “He likes me. More than he likes Zylia.”
“I’m sure everyone likes you more than they like Zylia,” Shreya said. “Whoever thought fairies were innocent and sweet has never met that one.”
“She is not a fairy,” Vox said. “She is a Valoushe, and no one ever thought Valoushes were sweet.”
Cerise shook her head in obvious agreement with Vox, her dirty pink wig bobbing.
Shreya still couldn’t believe that the Kronock hybrid who’d been hell-bent on using her in the plan to destroy the Drexians and Earth was now helping her escape. She’d been convinced he would have been livid at her for tricking him, drugging him, and running away from the pleasure house. As grateful as she was he’d killed those terrifying Xakden, she’d fully expected him to drag her back and chain her to the bed for good.
Her hand that was tucked into his was the only part of her body that wasn’t freezing, and the heat felt comforting as she struggled to keep her trembling under control. She cut her eyes to Vox’s bare chest, a sheen of sweat on his bronze, sculpted muscles. How was he not turning blue?
“Shreya.” His voice caused her to wrench her eyes from him, and she realized that they’d stopped in the middle of a passageway.
She met his gaze. “I’m sorry. What?”
“You’re shaking, and you haven’t responded to my questions.” He moved his hands to her arms, his brows pressing together. “You are too cold.”
She nodded, a wave of dizziness making her sway. “I might be going into shock.” She tried to smile. “It’s been a stressful few days.”
Scooping her up in his arms, he pressed her to his chest, then looked down at Cerise. “Please tell me you are not also going into shock. I do not know how I can carry you both.”
Cerise giggled. “No, I’m fine.”
Shreya pulled her arms into her chest, her face pressed against the heat of his body. He might be part Kronock and part cyborg, but his skin was incredibly soft. “Thank you.”
He glanced down at her, his red cybernetic eye pulsing. “For what?”
She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of his skin, which was musky and male and not at all artificial. “For changing your mind.”
He did not respond, but she felt him start walking again. The warmth of his arms around her and the soothing rhythm of his long strides soon had her breathing and her body temperature returning to normal.
Shreya took deep breaths and, after a while, she noticed that the scent of stale alcohol and festering garbage had been replaced by the faint smell of burning fuel. Opening her eyes, she saw that they were on the edge of the city where the streets opened out onto the shipyard. Even at the early hour, there was movement, as aliens disembarked and headed into the city.
She tapped Vox’s chest. “I should probably walk on my own.”
He did not relax his grip. “Why? You entered the city thrown over my shoulder. No one will think it odd to see me carrying a female to my ship.”
“Maybe not, but I’d still like to walk. I feel a lot better now.” She was also not used to being treated like an invalid or a helpless female. If she could walk, she wanted to walk.
Vox gently set her on the ground, standing awkwardly in front of her for a moment before she took his hand. The air wasn’t as turbulent as it had been when they’d arrived, but dust still kicked up from the ground, and most of the aliens hurrying around them wore coverings over their faces.
“So which one is yours?” Cerise asked, her hand over her nose as she surveyed the spaceships being refueled and repaired on the wide, dusty stretch of land.
Vox pointed to the gray ship that appeared to be covered in scales. In contrast to some of the sleek, curved ships around it, the Kronock ship was all sharp angles and jutting points.
Since she’d been unconscious when she’d boarded the ship and bouncing over his shoulder when she’d left, Shreya hadn’t gotten a good look at it before now. She didn’t know how a ship could look menacing, but this one did.
Vox began walking toward it, tugging her along with him. “We shouldn’t delay.”
“If this is a Kronock ship, won’t the Kronock be able to track it?” she asked, her stomach tightening at the thought that if turnabout was fair play, Vox might be tricking her.
They reached the ship, and Shreya thought it was even bigger and scarier up close, her mouth going dry at the thought of willingly going inside.
Vox dropped her hand and opened a panel underneath the ship, bending down low and peering up into the innards of the vessel. He pulled out a small, black box, no larger than a matchbook, with a blinking, blue light in one corner. “The tracker.”
Instead of crushing it under his heel, he glanced furtively around them before walking over to the ship next to them and tucking it inside the open ramp. He returned and activated his own ship’s ramp, which lowered to the ground. “Now they will not be able to find us.”
“You’re sending them on a wild-goose chase,” she said. “Not bad.”
He cocked is head at her. “I do not know this ‘wild goose.’ Is it very ferocious?”
She grinned. “Ferocious? Not exactly. It’s an Earth expression that means you’re making them waste their time going after something they can’t catch.”
“I like your Earth expressions,” Cerise said, her high heels echoing off the metal ramp as she started to walk up. “Maybe we could go there.”
Shreya could imagine the panic that would ensue if they flew down to Earth in a scaly, alien spaceship, and she disembarked with a tiny alien with shimmering, blue skin, and another who was part cyborg. It would not go well for anyone.
She followed Cerise up the ramp. “I don’t think that’s a great idea. Earth doesn’t know aliens exist.”
Cerise turned and gaped at her. “Earthlings believe they are alone in the universe?”
“Most of them,” Shreya admitted, prodding Cerise to keep walking. “I know it sounds weird, but if you believe in aliens on Earth, you’re considered crazy.”
“Then how did you get here?” Cerise asked, once they’d reached the inside of the ship.
Shreya looked at Vox as his heavy boots thudded up the ramp. “It’s a really long story.”
“I suggest you both strap in, or find something to hold onto,” he said, his expression serious. “It might not be a smooth departure.”
Shreya watched him disappear into the front of the ship, then turned back to Cerise. “What do you think that was all about?”
The alien pointed outside. Though her view was shrinking as the ramp lifted, Shreya saw several figures running toward them, waving their arms and pointing blasters. One of them was huge and covered in black fur, his face clearly twisted in agony as he watched the metal ramp clamp shut with Cerise inside.
Chapter Sixteen
Vox dropped into the pilot’s seat, pulling the straps over his chest as he tapped his fingers on the console to power up the ship. He’d seen Zylia’s guard heading their way, along with what looked like some of the Lymora III enforcers. He knew the armed security force on the renegade planet was used primarily for keeping visitor’s ships from being stolen, but he suspected Zylia had bribed them to keep him grounded. Even though he’d paid for his suite in advance, he suspected Cerise was more valuable to the Valoushe than she’d let on. That, or she relished the woman’s punishment. Knowing Zylia, it was probably the latter.
Shreya skidded to a stop as she ran into the cockpit, the gauzy white fabric of her dress swirling around her leg
s. “You know we’re being fired on, right?”
“Blasters only,” he said, as the engines spun up and hummed beneath his feet.
“I take it the shielding on this thing can withstand blaster fire?”
He gave a snort of laughter. “The hull will be undamaged by their blasters.” He jerked a head to the chair next to him. “Take a seat.”
She sat down, fumbling with the straps until he stilled her hands and quickly fastened her to the chair. He did not want her flying across the cockpit, and he knew their take-off would be rough.
“Cerise is still here?” he asked, flipping a switch and feeling himself pressed into the seat as the ship shot off the ground.
“I’m here,” her voice was high and breathy.
Vox turned to see her clutching one of the bench seats that ran perpendicularly behind them, and he snatched a handful of her skirt’s fabric before she slid off the end and hit the floor. “Strap in.”
She nodded, her bright-pink bow of a mouth open in a perfect O as the ship soared through the atmosphere, and they emerged into the blackness of space in a matter of seconds. He released her and turned back to the console, setting in a course and hoping Zylia hadn’t made it worth the enforcers’ while to pursue them off the planet.
Bracing himself for incoming fire, he accelerated the ship until he was sure they were far enough away that the Lymorans hadn’t pursued or they’d outrun the inferior vessels.
“So where are we going?” Shreya asked after a few minutes.
He wasn’t sure. He’d set a course away from the planet, but not to a specific destination. “I don’t know.”
“But not the Kronock?” she asked, her voice hesitant.
He looked at her, seeing her nibbling the corner of her mouth. “No, not the Kronock. I told you, I will keep you safe from them.”
She nodded, but did not look convinced. Vox knew that after everything that had happened between them, she did not fully trust him. He understood. He was barely able to trust his own feelings, knowing how strong the pull of the Kronock had been, and how deeply his mission had been engrained in him. But as he looked at her and felt heat stirring in his core, he knew his desire for Shreya was stronger than any indoctrination.