by Liza Probz
“Just a minute, beautiful. We’re going to help you come into yourself. Okay?” The hot press of the male’s lips against her ear caused something to snap deep inside of her.
Beautiful? Never.
She jerked away and turned, grabbing the knife from the male’s belt and sinking it deep into his chest before she could even think through her actions.
He groaned as blue blood poured from his chest and dropped to his knees, reaching for her and staining her white dress with evidence of his murder.
“No,” she whispered as horror ran over her. “No. Gods no.”
There was only one way off of Vanfia, and that was through the port at the edge of town. By paying someone off, she might be able to relocate to another planet. But the likelihood of negotiating passage off world with the meager stash of funds she had was slim. She had one other thing to barter with, although the chances of someone taking her up on the offer of her body might be slimmer still.
And could she really surrender her virginity for a chance at escape? Mayra thought so.
Anything’s better than death.
She ran through the hallway back to Demaylia’s room and slipped inside. The girl was purring loudly and already asleep.
“Praise the gods of Territh,” she whispered and moved into the closet to grab one of the princess’s robes. She plucked a bag of rubbals from the girl’s dresser drawers and moved back out into the hall, racing toward the kitchen and slipping out into the garden to hide among the trees. There was likely no way she was going to make it to the port before they found the body and the palace guards surrounded her, but it was worth a try. Standing around and taking credit for killing a guard was the worst possible thing she could think to do.
After checking her surroundings once more, she jogged down as deep as she could get into the nearby forest and walked out into the marketplace. She pulled the thick red robe over her head and pulled it in tightly around her neck before making her way over to Demaylia’s favorite vendor.
“Ah, Mayra. You poor soul. Did the princess send you to do her bidding again?” The tall, lanky creature hovered over her as small wings flapped along her back.
“She did. A bottle of face cream and three peppermint sticks for her bath please.” Mayra waited until the woman busied herself with getting together the items she’d ordered to turn and search the crowd. It was a busy afternoon, but no one seemed to be the wiser that something had gone down at the castle.
“Here you are!” The woman spoke loudly, and Mayra yelped and turned back to offer her a few of the coins from the small purse.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect you to have it together so fast.”
“No reason to tarry when there is money involved, right?” The woman smiled, and Mayra wished she hadn’t. Half of her teeth were gone and the ones that weren’t were black and falling out of her mouth. The clerk’s eyes moved to stare over Mayra’s shoulders as her cheeks turned pink. “How lovely. Can you imagine? A Territhian male taking you back to his beautiful world and making you his bride?”
Mayra glanced over her shoulder and scanned the crowd, not seeing anyone that might fit the woman’s description. “I don’t see a human. Maybe I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“Ugh. Silly, simple girl. Come here.” The woman walked around the counter and put her hands on Mayra’s shoulders, turning her and moving her toward the edge of the tarp that hovered above their heads. “Right there. Jeez.”
Mayra moved to her left as the male came into view. Every cell in her body warmed as if the light inside of her had figured out a way to speak. Even with his back to her, she could tell that he was beautiful. Thick shoulders and a strong-looking back gave way to a shapely rear and big thighs. The smooth, tanned skin that showed from the sleeves of his shirt left her heart fluttering. No hair, no scales, no bony-like structure. Just skin. Skin like hers.
“Wow,” she whispered, almost forgetting her plan to get out of Vanfia as quickly as possible. “That’s what a human looks like?”
“Yes, ma’am, and I hear they pack quite a punch.” The merchant laughed and walked back to the center of the store as Mayra gagged and moved out into the dusty street. The odor of the merchant’s breath was heinous, and she almost felt sorry for anyone who might have to look on her and feel what she felt when being offended by something vile.
His voice was deep, smooth, hypnotic as he spoke to the gems dealer.
“I’d love to see the blue razule. It’s so incredibly rare, is it not?” The male spoke with an odd authority mixed with curiosity.
His dark hair was cut close to his head, and the smooth skin that ran along his neck and up to his ears drew her in. How kissable would it be? Her mouth grew wet at the idea of moving in behind him and lifting to her toes just enough to press her lips against him.
“Stop it,” she mumbled and turned as he glanced over his shoulder.
She hated not to get a good look at his face, but to have him stare back at her in horror would have been almost worse than death itself. To be called vile by vile creatures themselves was painful enough, but to have something beautiful look down upon her?
It would be devastating in a way that she wasn’t sure she could handle at the moment.
“Hey!” His voice grew in volume as she darted through the crowd and ran toward the castle. She would have to turn back and run through the trees near the forest again, but it would be a better bet than running into him. He most likely wasn’t even talking to her, but she took the chance that he was and ran harder.
After making it to the edge of the market, she paused and glanced over her shoulder to find that she’d finally lost him.
“If he was even chasing you, idiot.” She rolled her eyes and turned to run, crashing directly into two of the palace guards.
“Grab her.” One of them reached for her and pulled the cloak off, tearing at her hair in the process.
She screamed and jerked back as the other popped her in the side of the face with the flat part of his sword, cutting her only a little but busting the side of her lip.
“No. Please. It was an accident. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” She backed up and tripped over something, falling on the ground and busting her butt. A cry raced from her lips as she rolled over and clamored to her feet.
Her only hope was to run. Run until they caught up with her and took her back to Rantel for her punishment. A punishment that was sure to rival death.
Chapter 6
“Dammit,” Nojan muttered as he stopped chasing the girl in front of him. What was he doing? His father had been more than clear in his directives to stay low-key, buy a few things in the marketplace, and then ask to meet the king with an offer he couldn’t refuse on choice linens.
He turned and walked back toward the gem dealer as the crowd seemed to grow thinner around him. Something was happening near the castle, but it had nothing to do with him. After traveling for two days to get to Vanfia and then having to hypnotize the guards that escorted him off his ship so that he wouldn’t be scanned, he was exhausted. Getting a quick nap sounded like the best use of his time, and yet something nagged at him. There was something about the woman in the red cloak. The smell of vanilla lingered in the air, and he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Jazmine.
Whoever she was, she’d run away from him in fear. That, and she was Territhian for sure.
“Where did you go?” The large male cat glanced up from his seated position. His body was bare except for the tiny underwear he wore, which left his saggy skin on display.
Nojan avoided looking at him and tried hard to keep a calm facade stuck on his face. No reason to offend anyone and get thrown in jail. The rules on various planets were different, but the main one on Vanfia was not to offend a citizen or his sensitivities. It only applied to the men though. Females were not accorded such elevated legal status.
So odd.
“I thought I saw someone I knew from my own planet.” Nojan shrugged and reached
up to pick up the jewel again. “How much for this?”
“More than you have, my friend.” The vendor laughed and leaned over as he turned his head toward the commotion. “Wonder what is going on in the square today.”
“Who knows?” Nojan rubbed his thumb over the stone and lifted it toward the light. Counterfeit.
“I’ll give it to you for eight thousand rubbals.”
“You’re right.” Nojan smiled at him and laid it back down. “That’s far more than I have on me today.”
“Another time then?” The vendor moved back and pulled the table with him. “Move or you’ll get run over.”
“By whom?” Nojan moved in time to see the girl from earlier racing by him with two large palace guards on her ass.
The wind had hold of her long fire-colored hair, making it impossible to see her face, but her body was the stuff of dreams. He turned and watched her run with all of her might before realizing that she was fighting for her life.
“Who is that?” He stepped out in the street. His father would fucking kill him for getting involved in something political on another planet. He needed to remain the ghost his people were thought to be, but to watch something bad befall a woman—and a beautiful one, from what he could tell—was out.
“She’s a slave. Leave it be, foreigner. Nothing will cause you more harm than getting involved with the wrong woman.”
Nojan chuckled and moved down the far aisle of street vendors before jogging toward the commotion. He watched the girl duck into one of the folds of a dress dealer’s shop.
The guards rushed toward him and paused. “Did you see a human girl? Red hair? Ugly as hell?”
“Yes. That way.” Nojan pointed toward the castle and waited until they were gone to move toward the trembling servant still wrapped up in the cloth on the side of the dress vendor. “I think they’re gone for now. You’re safe to run.”
“They’ll be back.” Her voice was nothing more than a sweet whisper. It raced across his skin and left his heart constricting in his chest. Was this her? The oracle who had been torn down to shreds?
“Who are you?” He pressed his shoulder against the lump that was her and smiled, unable to help himself as her sweet smell filled his senses.
“No one.”
“I very much doubt that.” He tugged at the edge of the cloth only to have her pull it in more tightly.
“Please.” Her voice was filled with tears all of a sudden. “Please leave me be. They’re out to kill me or turn me into a whore. Just leave me alone. Please. I’ve done nothing to you.”
“Why would they want to kill you?” Nojan reached out and pressed his hand to what looked like it might be her shoulder as she cried softly.
“I killed a guard. Go. Seriously.” Her sniffles were beyond cute, and yet the sadness behind them tore him open.
His father might have his ass for it, but he wasn’t leaving the girl until he was sure she was safe. Nojan had been the one royal son who’d collected stray animals and bound up the wings of broken birds. It was his nature. He was a lover of everything, and those that needed fixing were irresistible to him.
“I’m not leaving you. Tell me your name, girl.” Nojan tugged at the cloth again, half expecting her to grip it more tightly. He almost stumbled back as she released it and let him open it.
She grabbed his shirt and dragged him behind the curtain with her before pulling the cloth back tightly around them both. The position had them pressed chest to chest, and for the first time in his long life, Nojan couldn’t find words.
“There. Are you happy? You’ve seen me. Now, go make fun of me somewhere else and leave me to die.” She pushed at him as she released the cloth.
He reached up and grabbed it tightly, pulling it hard and forcing them to press tighter together. Who was she? What was she blabbering about?
“Intoxicating,” he whispered and reached up to touch the side of her alabaster face. “Who hurt you?”
A long cut ran down her cheek, a bruise was on the other, and her full ruby-red lip was busted. Outside of being roughed up, she had to be the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. She put Jazmine to shame ten times over easily.
Thick silky waves of dark red hair framed her face, and her button nose and deep blue eyes were beautifully matched to her skin tone, as if heaven had made one last angel before closing its doors.
“The guards, you idiot.” She pushed at his chest. “Stop looking at me. Please. Leave me a smidgen of dignity before they tear my head from my shoulders.”
“Why did you kill a guard?” He licked at his lips, suddenly aware of just how violently his body was reacting to the beautiful girl. His cock was working its way down the leg of his pants, pulsing with his heartbeat, and no doubt giving the girl full access to just how much control she could have over him, given the chance.
“He tried to rape me.” She pushed at Nojan again. “Let me go. We’re both going to be killed if we get caught in here.”
“Who are you?” He glanced down as the swell of her prodigious chest lifted with each breath she took. A small blue charm sat between her breasts, hanging from a tarnished gold chain around her neck.
“I’m nobody,” she growled, which only seemed to shoot fire down the center of his stomach. “I told you that already.”
He’d been turned on by watching commentary about Territhian women or reading books, but this was a whole new experience. He needed to watch himself or his eyes would—
“What the hell is wrong with your eyes?” She reached up and brushed her fingers just below his eye.
“Nothing at all, angel.” He plucked the charm from the top of her breasts and stifled a groan at how good her skin felt against his fingertips. “You’re the oracle. I’ve come for you.”
“No, you haven’t. You have the wrong girl, creature.” She kneed him in the balls and jerked out of the folded curtain.
He groaned loudly and dropped to his knees. Fire raced up his stomach and left him dizzy as he tried to get his breath.
“Wait,” he mumbled and pressed his hands into the sandy earth beneath him. “Wait. I need to talk to you.”
She was running full speed ahead, which only left him with one choice. Swallow his nuts as they sat in his throat and pray like hell he would catch her before the palace guards did.
He forced himself to his feet and took off, cupping his crotch and cursing the girl with what little anger he could muster. She was scared, running for her life, half beaten, and believed herself to be some hideous creature that she most certainly wasn’t.
How many times had she asked him not to look upon her or referenced her beauty as if she were the vilest creature known to exist? Was she kidding, or had Rantel’s people somehow forced her to believe that she wasn’t at all the woman she was?
Nojan picked up his jog to a sprint as he caught sight of her crimson hair dancing in the wind behind her. Knowing her name would have helped a lot, and yet he was almost on top of her.
“Wait!” he called out to her and ignored the stares he got from the various creatures all around them. “What can I do to help?”
She turned and her big blue eyes widened, almost stealing his heart with nothing more than a look.
“Nothing. Turn and run.” She cried out as three guards tackled her and threw her to the ground a few feet in front of him. She glanced up from the ground as she struggled under the weight of one of them and mouthed, “Run.”
“I can’t,” Nojan mumbled and moved toward the closest vendor to pretend as if he were looking at something beautiful, which he was. They were mistaken about her. All of them. She wasn’t vile in any manner of the word, or maybe something was wrong with him.
It wouldn’t have taken more than her muttering that she was interested to have her over his shoulder and on her way to being properly fucked for the entirety of the afternoon.
Was she the virgin that Kara spoke of? He turned as they picked her up and walked her back toward the castle.
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br /> “You’re going to pay for this, you bitch.” One of the guards backhanded her as Nojan growled softly behind them.
He might want to rush in and save the day, but after studying the ways of the cat-people for far too long, he knew it would only mean death. Once he was slain and his blood ran black, they would know that the Vartiks were alive and well.
Nothing was worth that. Nothing.
Chapter 7
How embarrassing.
Terror and embarrassment held her captive as the guards dragged her back toward the castle. She’d not been at fault for anything other than protecting herself and running from the guards out of fear. The humanoid male wasn’t far behind her. She could almost sense him, like a warm beacon in a cold winter’s wind. She had no clue who he was, but Terap’s words continued to play in her mind, over and over.
A savior is coming.
Was it true? Could she really cling to the hope that life had the possibility to turn around and be something better? Was a savior really coming? Surely not. How could that be possible?
She could almost hear Terap’s scratchy voice in her ear again as if the woman were right beside her. “A savior is coming.”
Was he the dark-haired god behind her with strong arms and a beautiful smile? The warmth in his chestnut eyes as he studied her left her heart fluttering in her chest. Did it matter?
It did. It mattered more than anything in the world might. It was as if he’d really seen her. Seen beyond her ugliness and found something of interest. She could see it in his eyes as he questioned her, though she tried hard to spare him from having to look upon her. It was futile. It almost seemed like he was taken by her.
Tears dripped down her face as soft sobs left her weak.
“That’s right, bitch. Cry over what you’ve done. No one will spare you from punishment. Not even the princess. Death will be your reward or something far worse.” The guard to her right gripped her arm more tightly.