by Tana Stone
I groaned as I reached down and scooped her into my arms, water streaming from her body. Even though I’d just learned that she was on my ship to assassinate me, I couldn’t bear the thought of her being punished by Corvak. And if I told my battle chief what I’d discovered, there would be no choice but to let him interrogate her in his oblek. Anything else would be betraying the Vandar, and our mission to destroy the empire. Any other action, and I would be failing in my duty to protect my horde and my people.
Taking long steps from the bathing pools, I stood for a moment on the glossy black, floor as scented water puddled around my feet. I didn’t bother to use the pressurized air to dry us as I knew it would wake her. Instead, I carried her into the main room, pulling a length of cloth from an inset drawer and tossing it on the bed before laying her on top.
The sight of her naked body made my cock harden, but I wrapped her quickly in the thick fabric. She’d passed out from the intoxicating effects of the oil, and I didn’t want her this way.
But you do want her.
I turned away quickly, striding naked away from the bed and the female who made such a mess of my thoughts. I took out another length of fabric, wrapping it around my waist and trying to ignore how my hardness tented the makeshift kilt.
But I couldn’t ignore what I’d learned. That would be suicide, especially if she had second thoughts about sparing me. But I’d never live with myself if I allowed her to be tortured or killed.
I stormed across the room until I was gazing out the wide wall overlooking space. What would Kratos do, I wondered? He’d never been known to show mercy. Until he’d met his human female, that is. Then he’d spared her life and claimed her as his prize—part of the spoils of war the Vandar took as our right.
I’d been adamant that I would not do the same, that I wouldn’t take Alana as my captive.
“That was before you learned her secret,” I said to myself, casting a quick glance at the female still sleeping in my bed. “That was before you discovered she’s a sworn enemy of the Vandar.”
I had no choice. If I wanted to keep her secret safe—and keep her from telling anyone about Zendaren—I would have to claim her as mine. I would have to tell my most trusted officers that I’d decided I wanted her to warm my bed, and we wouldn’t be delivering her to the planet of Ludvok.
I pressed one flat palm against the glass, welcoming the coolness on my hot flesh. Would Svar and Corvak—the two Vandar raiders who knew me best on the ship—be convinced by my words after I’d insisted I did not want the female—that I had no desire to take any female? Svar might take me at my word. He was my majak, after all.
But Corvak would not. He’d always been more suspicious. His position as battle chief demanded he see danger around every corner and a deception lurking in every heart. It was one of the reasons he was such a skilled interrogator. Not only that, but he’d also seen Alana in the battle ring and shared the suspicions that had just been borne out by my questioning. I would need more than empty words to convince him I’d changed my mind. I would have to convince him that I was so overcome with desire that I could not give her up. That she fucked me so well that I preferred only her in my bed instead of the pleasurers we frequented.
I twisted to look at her again, her dark hair spilling across the crimson sheets and my mouth went dry. That would not be the hard part. The hard part would be telling Alana that she now belonged to me—and she would not be leaving my ship.
Chapter Seventeen
Alana
The dull ache of my head woke me, and I touched a hand to my temple as I opened my eyes. Where was I again? I peered through the dimly lit room, the only light emanating from the blue flames in the wall fireplace.
“That’s right,” I mumbled to myself. “The Raas’ quarters.”
There was no sound, save the crackling of the fire and the constant hum of the ship’s engines. The Raas must have slept somewhere else because as I sat up, I realized I was alone in the huge bed. The slippery sheet fell to my waist, and I pulled it back up as I glanced down. Alone in bed, and very naked.
Swinging my feet over the side of the bed, I rubbed my head. When had I undressed, and where were my clothes?
My eyes caught on the arched doorway leading to the bathing pools, and my stomach clenched. The bathing pools. My last memory was sitting in the fragrant water and talking to Raas Bron. Words floated through my mind as I tried desperately to recall what I’d told him.
He’d been asking me questions about myself and my past. I cringed as I remembered telling him that I was born on Faaral. So much for my cover story of being a miner escaping the empire.
“Fuck.” I stood so quickly my head swam, but I ignored the pain and the surge of nausea as my gaze locked on the heavy, iron door. If the Raas knew I wasn’t who I claimed to be, I needed to get the hell off his ship. He might have left me alone for now, but I doubted I would be afforded my freedom for much longer.
I wrapped the sheet around me and walked across the room as quickly as I could, a train of fabric swishing behind me like a tail. I couldn’t even worry about the mission that I’d clearly have to abandon. Now my only goal was to get off the Vandar ship alive. I’d have to worry about the repercussions once there was no chance I’d be tortured to death by the raiders or put out an airlock. The Vandar did not have a reputation for mercy, and I’d heard rumors they didn’t even have a brig because they never took anyone alive, or waited to mete out punishment.
When I reached the door, I slapped my hand on the panel to one side. The round metal door didn’t part like it normally did. I pressed harder, but it didn’t budge.
“No no no no no no,” I whispered, as I let the sheet fall and tried to wedge my fingers at the seam of the door and pull the two sides apart.
Nothing happened. They were locked. I leaned my palms against the door and heaved in a breath. I wouldn’t be escaping from the Vandar, after all. Was the Raas’ menacing battle chief on his way now to take me? Would there be any kind of trial or would they kill me immediately?
Bile churned in my gut, and I squeezed my eyes tight. How had I been so stupid? I knew better than to reveal information about myself. I thought back to talking with the Raas. But it had felt so right to answer his questions. Actually, it had seemed like an impossibility not to answer them.
Regret joined my growing sense of dread. Would I see Raas Bron before I was executed? Even though he was the reason I’d failed to fulfill my mission, I wished I could see him again.
“Don’t be stupid, Alana,” I said, lifting my head and trying to gather my courage. “He wouldn’t want to see you.”
“I hope you aren’t talking about me.”
The voice came out of the darkness, causing me to spin and scramble for the sheet puddled on the floor. “What the hell?!”
I squinted toward the glass wall, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. The figure sitting at the long table stood, and the Raas walked slowly toward me.
Even though I was standing at the door, I instinctively took a step back as the massive warrior advanced on me, and I bumped against the cold metal. “How long have you been there? Were you watching me sleep?”
“I was waiting for you to wake.”
I’d been thoroughly trained in hand-to-hand combat, but even I wasn’t brash enough to attack the huge alien while wearing nothing but a sheet and nursing some kind of weird hangover. Not that I wanted to attack the Raas. As bizarre as it seemed, the sight of him provoked a fluttering of my pulse and throbbing between my legs, instead of murderous instincts.
When he was towering over me, I forced myself to meet his serious gaze. “So, you can tell me my fate?”
He inclined his head slightly. “You could say that.”
My heart pounded so hard I put a hand to my chest. I’d been trained for everything, but the reality of death still sent fear clawing at my throat. “Can you do it quick? I don’t know what the Vandar usually do to prisoners, but I’d rather not be torture
d before you kill me.”
“Kill you?” Bron closed his hand over mine. “You think I was waiting for you to wake so I could kill you?” He shook his head. “If I wanted you dead, you would not have lived through the night.”
“Oh.” That was comforting, I guess. Maybe I hadn’t told the Raas the truth about me. Maybe I’d dreamt it all, and my cover was still intact. “Are we still en route to Ludvok?”
He tightened his hand around mine, pulling it toward him. “I do not think it would be fair to the citizens of that planet to drop off a Zagrath spy and assassin, do you?”
I attempted to jerk my hand away, but he held firm. Then he grabbed my other wrist, causing me to lose my grip on the sheet entirely. It cascaded to a heap at my feet, leaving me naked and struggling to get away from him.
“There is no point in fighting me, female.” His voice was so calm it startled me into stopping my flailing. “I told you I have no intention of killing you for your treachery.”
“It wasn’t personal,” I said, my voice cracking as I lifted my chin to meet his gaze. “I don’t know if I could have killed you, anyway.”
“I know.” His grip on my wrists loosened, but I didn’t move. “That is why I’m not going to tell my officers what I know about you.”
“You aren’t?”
“If any other Vandar learns the truth about you, I will have no choice but to turn you over to my battle chief for interrogation.” He sighed. “Anything else would be a betrayal of my people.”
“Why would you help me?” My breath hitched in my chest. “Especially since I was sent here to kill you.”
He pulled me until I bumped against his bare chest. “You are as much a casualty of the empire as my people. Just as their actions made us take to space and become raiders, the Zagrath forced you to be a killer. But neither of us need to let our enemy define us. Only we get to decide who we are.”
I shook my head, a familiar wave of inevitable despair washing over me. “I don’t know anything but killing for the empire. It’s who I am.”
“Not anymore. Now you are mine.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he crushed his lips to mine, wrapping his arms around me and pinning my wrists to the small of my back. My protests were swallowed by his hard kiss, which sent shivers of pleasure ricocheting through my body. When he tore his mouth away just as suddenly, I was left gasping.
Raas Bron’s gaze was blazing as he stared down at me, his breathing ragged. “I will give you a choice the empire never gave you. You can choose to be mine and be given all the protections of the Raas or you can answer for your crimes.”
My heart skittered like a Garnithian water bug dancing across a pond. “What do you mean ‘be yours?’”
“The only way I can keep you on board without my motives being questioned is if I claim you as part of the spoils of war my people claim as raiders.” He lowered his mouth so that his lips buzzed against my neck. “You would be my mate and the property of the Vandar.”
I inhaled sharply. “Until we stop somewhere, and you release me?”
“No.” His arms tightened around my back. “Once you are mine, there is no going back. You will remain on my ship and in my bed.”
“You could pretend you didn’t know. Drop me off as planned and go about your way.”
His gaze bored into me. “But didn’t you say that if you failed the empire would send someone to kill you?”
“But I wouldn’t be your problem.” I attempted to step back, desperate to put some distance between us. “You could walk away without feeling guilty that you had anything to do with what happens to me.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
I groaned. “No one told me that Vandar were so stubborn, or that they had some outdated sense of chivalry.”
“You believe me wanting to protect you is outdated?”
I lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “I can take care of myself. I’m not your responsibility.”
“You’re wrong about that.” He moved my hands behind me and leaned closer, so I had to bow my back to stare up at him. “I have already claimed you as mine. You are mine.”
“Just because you say something—“
He jerked me so I was flush to him. “The words of a Vandar Raas have power. I have claimed you and given you the protection of all the Vandar warriors under my command.”
I sucked in a breath, his molten gaze making my legs weak. There was an honesty in his gaze that took my breath away. For the first time in as long as I could remember, someone wanted to help me, and it wasn’t because they would be getting a bag of coin for their troubles. I didn’t know why he was so set on saving me, but my gut told me that this Vandar was worthy of my rarely bestowed trust.
“You aren’t afraid I’ll kill you while we sleep?”
He chuckled low, as he reached down and swept me into his arms. “Who said anything about sleep?”
Chapter Eighteen
Bron
I carried Alana to the bed and let her fall back as I released her arms.
She propped herself on her elbows and scooted back. “When you said you would claim me, I didn’t think you meant now.”
She didn’t attempt to cover her naked body, and part of me wished she was some shy creature who embarrassed easily. Keeping my gaze from the swell of her breasts and the bare folds of her sex was a challenge. One I was failing at, as my blood fired, and my cock swelled. I forced my eyes to focus on her face and the pink hue of her cheeks, instead of the arousing flush of her chest. “You had no issue with timing when you attempted to seduce me earlier.”
Her cheeks mottled a deeper pink, and her gaze shifted away from me. “That was because it was part of my plan.”
“You think this is not?”
She cut her eyes back to me, narrowing them as she looked up at me. “You expect me to believe you want to fuck me because of some plan?”
I bent over her and braced one hand on the bed, sinking into the softness. “My plan is to claim you so you will not be declared an enemy of the Vandar and held in my battle chief’s oblek. Once you are mine, you will have my protection. But that is not why I want to fuck you.”
Her dark pupils swallowed the lighter iris of her eyes. “No?”
I shook my head as the vein on the side of her neck throbbed. “I’ve never fucked an assassin before, especially not one who wanted to kill me.”
“And I’ve never fucked a mark who knew he was a mark.”
“Is that why they call you the Mantis?” I lowered my head and inhaled deeply at her neck, detecting remnants of the scented oil clinging to her skin. “You fuck your victim before you kill them?”
She quickly wrapped her legs around my waist, jerking hard and flipping me onto the bed beside her. Another hard move and she’d rolled on top of me, straddling my waist and pressing her hands to my chest. She smiled down at me, twitching one shoulder. “Everyone deserves to die happy, even the guilty.”
She was faster than I’d given her credit for—and stronger. I reached up and grasped her waist, my large hands spanning across her belly. “I agree.”
I lifted her up and tossed her to one side, where she landed on her belly. Before she could push up, I’d flipped on top of her and pinned her down, my hands flattening hers over her head. She bucked against me, but I avoided the sharp movement of her head. I pressed my own head to the side of hers to keep her from trying to head butt me again. “Why do you fight me?”
Her breathing was heavy, and she wiggled beneath me. “I’m used to being on top.”
Her struggling made my cock ache as it strained against the leather of my battle kilt. “I’m sure you are, but you’ve never been with a Vandar Raas before, have you?”
She huffed out a breath. “You’re still a male. You aren’t so different from the rest.”
“We’ll see.” I nipped at her neck, and she yelped, thrashing beneath me. I released her hands and sat back, allowing her to turn onto her back.
I glanced at the smooth flesh of her breasts, imagining dark swirls curling across it. “If I mark you, you will know.”
Her eyes flashed but then dropped to my marks. “Are those your mating marks?”
Her comment reminded me that she’d studied up on my people to better infiltrate us and assassinate me. I stood and backed away from her. “You do not need to worry yourself about those.”
“I know humans have gotten them. Word reached the empire about Raas Kratos’ mate.”
“She is his Raisa,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. “And she is with child.”
Alana sat up, leaning back on her hands. “And you don’t think you risk that by screwing me?”
She clearly hadn’t learned enough about the Vandar. “Just because I fuck you doesn’t mean you would become heavy with child. Only a Vandar’s true mate can take his mating marks or become pregnant.”
She eyebrows lifted. “So, you have to find your one fated mate or you can’t have children? That’s rough.”
“Rough?”
She shrugged. “What if you fall for someone who never takes your marks?” She studied me. “And what about me? You said I’d never leave this ship or your bed. Does that mean you’ll never take a Vandar mate? That you’re stuck with me even if I never get your marks or get knocked up?”
I hadn’t thought beyond my instinct to protect her and keep her from the vengeful grasp of Corvak and keep her knowledge out of the hands of the empire, but she was right. If I claimed her as my war prize, I would have to give her up one day or live with the reality of never having a legacy. Unless she ended up taking my marks, which I knew was possible for a human but doubtful for a trained assassin who associated sex with murder.
I eyed the dark-haired beauty on the bed, her muscles tensed as if ready to battle me again. Could this imperial spy possibly be my one true mate? It seemed impossible.