Big Bad Claws

by Michele Mills

  This was going to be the biggest job of her life. Probably the biggest organizational job of all time. And she was doing it alone. Well, her and Max. And she could put the males to work, but she supposed getting them to help would be a chore unto itself.

  She glanced over at Zayzon. The male who wanted to clasp hands and have her as his Bride. Somehow, he was still asleep through all the loud noises. A gentle smile spread across her face. Should she wake him?

  She stared at the awe-inspiring miner. He’d carried her back to bed last night. And in the middle of the night she’d woken and mumbled for Max, worried he’d been left out in the front room, but Zayzon had told her he’d brought Max back too. So sweet.

  A light snore escaped his lips. Two deadly fangs poked from his mouth. He might frighten other Xylan on the street with his size, his claws and booming voice, but she knew he had two big soft hearts inside of that huge, scary exterior. His very presence lightened her own heart and mind. He was so certain she was safe in his compound. He thought this was the best place she could be to hide from her enemies. She had to believe him.

  He looked almost sweet and innocent, lying there on his back with his enormous green-gloved claws resting on his bare chest.

  She continued to lay in bed while Zayzon dozed and she chewed at her lip, as worry for the people she cared about invaded her consciousness. This was her second morning away from home. Was everyone okay? It drove her crazy that she couldn’t contact anyone. She had no idea what Daniela was doing in retaliation for the fact that she’d disappeared.

  Daniela…Tears pricked at her eyes. They’d grown so close after Dad’s death—and it was all a lie. All of Daniela’s concern and understanding for Lila’s fears and the reasons why she was housebound. It was all a long con to gain control of the corporation and the Garabedian fortune. She placed a hand over her heart because the betrayal hurt that bad.

  If only she could contact Gerard and Roberto too, so they could join forces. Gerard had been Dad’s assistant and would know what to do. Basically, she needed to turn twenty-one, gain control of the corporation and go back home. But maybe afterwards she could return to Timbur? Maybe not.

  Did Xylan like cats? Hmm.

  She had so much responsibility. But she’d also promised Zayzon that she’d clasp his hand when all of this settled. So she’d find a way to make this work. And while she was hiding out here for the next month, she was going to do her best to turn this place into a comfortable home.

  It was weird sharing a room with a male who wanted to marry her. A male who was constantly flaunting his naked body for her perusal. She’d never even had a boyfriend before. Never been on a date or been kissed. Masturbating alone was all she knew, and and her body was on fire, wanting to make up for lost time. Wanting the touch of this male as he alone brought her to climax. How would that feel? She glanced over at him. She wasn’t sure she could hold out this entire moon cycle. All the reasons why she’d said she couldn’t test compatibility with him right now were valid. But could she really wait that long while spending every free moment with this man who was sex on a stick?

  She’d always wanted to get past her fears of snatching so she could boldly go outside into the world and meet a man and fall in love and start a family. Like in those books she read. Although she’d never expected to start falling for—

  Falling?

  Eeek.

  His eyes blinked open. “You can’t stop staring at me, can you?”

  Heat flashed across the back of her neck.

  Zayzon chuckled and reached his arms up and stretched, giving her a terrific show of the cut muscles bulging on his arms and the tight six-pack on his stomach, as well as the V of muscle at his hips that dipped down to that long pipe outlined under the covers. She wanted to lean over and lick every square inch. Starting with his pecs.

  Zayzon sat up and threw aside the covers. He gave her wicked smile, then got out of bed naked and lumbered over to the cleansing unit.

  “Cheater,” she whispered, as she glanced longingly at his perfect meaty ass before he closed the door behind him. And she’d gotten another good look at his beautiful cock too, which even at rest was epic.

  She let out a dreamy sigh and got out of bed, tucking her feet into her kitten slippers. She stood and started making the bed. She’d use the cleansing unit too, after the men left for work. In minutes Zayzon came back out smelling fresh and clean, with a towel around his waist. She sucked in a sharp breath. It never ceased to amaze her how gorgeous this male was. And how difficult it was becoming to keep her hands to herself.

  “I cannot sleep here with you every night,” she said with a shaky voice.

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

  “You are not sleeping elsewhere,” he said as he stomped over and opened a cabinet. He dropped his towel and started changing into his layers of occupational clothing. “You said you would remain by my side this entire moon cycle.”

  She clenched her jaw. Why had she agreed to this? She’d go insane if she stayed in this room with this half-naked male who kept flaunting his hot body every chance he got. “I know what I said, but I cannot stay in here with you this whole moon cycle.”

  “Why not?”

  She put her hands on her hips. “You know why.”

  He grinned and began pulling on his mining gear and boots. “I have heard that a Bride’s arousal can become uncomfortable. It must be hard for you because your species pleasure mates. If you clasp my claw you will initiate my pheromones and I can tend to you.”

  “Tend to me?” she squeaked.

  He inhaled deeply. “I continue to smell your arousal. It lingers constantly.”

  “It’s because you’re naked most of the time. It’s not fair.”

  He winked at her. “I didn’t say I’d play fair.”

  “Damn you. I’m not some timid girl. You can’t just boss me around.”

  “I know. This is why you’re my mate. We make a good pair.” He grinned and picked up something off the dusty table next to the bed and gently tossed it in the air and caught it in his hand.

  Her eyes widened and she rushed over. “Oh my gods, is…is that Illibrium? I’ve never seen it before.”

  He smiled at her indulgently. “Yes, this is my personal Illibrium. I am fever-bonded to this crystal.”

  “Oh wow. Why haven’t I seen this until now?” She continued to fan-girl over the bright blue crystal. Illibrium was the rarest mineral in all the four sectors. Most beings never had the opportunity to see and touch one in real life. Its light seemed to grow brighter and brighter and more brilliant the closer she got. “Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful. I could literally stare at it for hours.”

  He shrugged. “I keep it with me at all times. I had it in my pocket while we went to intake. See how it lights up when you are near? It only does that for me, and now for you too. My crystal likes you.”

  “Really? It likes me. Well, I like your crystal too.”

  He reached out and tapped the tip of her nose. “This means that you’re attuned to Illibrium.”

  A huge smile widened her face. “I am?”

  “Yes, I told them when you were getting your chip implanted that you were attuned. I knew the night you arrived because my crystal lit up brighter the moment it got near you. This helped to convince Minecorp to let you stay.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled and pocketed his crystal. She stared at Zayzon with pride swelling in her chest. He was dressed in all of his work clothes, with a belt, tools and boots. A strong Illibrium miner about to go out and perform heavy labor all day. Why was this so sexy?

  “Let’s go,” he ordered.

  She paused to grab Max from the restroom and followed Zayzon out. All six of his brothers happened to leave their rooms at roughly the same time too. She walked alongside the stampede of heavy boots into the front room, which was still a jumble of chairs, piles of sticks, weapons, and…she didn’t know what.

&nb
sp; She felt terrible for these brothers. They couldn’t even afford a new cleaning or repair bot? As far as she knew there was just Max, the two-hundred-year-old bot who’d been created when the house was originally built and was barely enough to keep Zayzon’s restroom reasonably clean. There might be more of the tiny bots working tirelessly in the other men’s restrooms, but that was it. They didn’t even have a food dispenser. Cannibal had to cook food for them from scratch, like primitive species did.

  “Do you need help getting breakfast ready?” she asked brightly as she set Max down and let him get to work trying to clean floors. She’d gotten to know Cannibal last night and learned that despite his harsh exterior he was actually a kind male. He’d made himself in charge of feeding the crew and he took this task seriously. He kept the kitchen area surprisingly clean, which made her like him more.

  “No,” he answered, “there’s an employee cafeteria at the mine. They’ll send food to our location or we’ll go down and eat there, depending on where we’re mining that day. We’ll stop there first for breakfast then go down to our level.”

  “Aah.” That meant they didn’t need help with breakfast each morning before they left. Although Cannibal had food in a bag and a drink in his claw. But he was the only one.

  “I left breakfast and lunch for you,” he said. “It’s in containers in the cooling unit. And I also left out the Traq machine and the ingredients.”

  Traq was the warm, coffee-like drink he’d given her yesterday morning. More of that sounded fabulous. She placed a hand over her heart. “Thank you. That’s nice of you.” It really was.

  “Are you okay living with such a large crew?” Zayzon whispered in her ear.

  She shivered at his warm breath touching her skin. “I don’t mind at all. When I was growing up, my house was always the place where everyone gathered. My parents were always inviting friends and family over to celebrate. And even now the staff is there. I’m used to there always being other people around. In fact, at night when everyone leaves, it’s kinda lonely. I don’t mind at all living with all of your brothers. I guess I enjoy having a busy house? I’m not one of those people who likes living alone.”

  “Staff,” Scar muttered.

  Her face flamed as she realized she’d admitted too much. Again. Darn it. She really did like it here at the compound, though. She felt comfortable already. And when she got this mess under control, she’d be even more comfortable.

  “This is good, because Xylan normally live together in large extended lines. Sometimes we create a new compound. Hook and Daxon both moved out with their Brides, but they still live with other Xylan close.”

  “I was wondering, why is Daxon your only brother without a nickname?” she asked.

  “It’s because he’s no longer an Illibrium miner, so he lost his crew name,” Heavy answered. “He broke his fever-bond with his crystal and left the planet.”

  “But that wasn’t his choice, right? Wasn’t he banished?”

  “Yes. But the result is the same, therefore his crew nickname is retired.”

  “Oh. What was his nickname before he had to give it up?”

  “It is retired,” Zayzon repeated.

  She blinked. “You won’t tell me?”

  “No. It’s retired, therefore never to be spoken of again.”

  Hmm. A secret. She grinned and leaned into Zayzon. “I’m going to tickle you until you tell me.”

  “I will never give it up. None of us will.”

  “We’ll see about that.” She started digging her fingers into his sides, but his work uniform was so thick it was making her tickling plan super hard—and then he handed her something and she was quickly distracted from the tickling. “What is this?” she gushed. “A new tablet?”

  “Yes. It’s yours.”

  She hugged it to her chest and then her face fell. “Wait, are you sure you can afford this? I don’t want you buying anything for me that I don’t truly need.”

  Chief laughed. “Your Bride is hilarious.”

  “I don’t want to be a burden.”

  Zayzon again reached out to tap the tip of her nose. A gesture she really, really liked. “You’re not a burden,” he replied. “And of course I can afford this.”

  “You’re so sweet. I promise when all of this is over, I will pay you back for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “Stop talking like that. You’re my Bride, what’s mine is yours. That tablet is yours. Use it.”

  She eagerly tapped on the screen and it came to life. It was exactly like the one she’d had to leave back home, but she couldn’t access her account on this one, which sucked. Maybe she could make a fake account and still get in a back way…

  “If you need to get ahold of me while I’m gone, use this.” He showed her the Minecorp communication app and the Fever Brothers tab. “This is our crew link. It will directly alert me if you need me, and if it can’t reach me it will begin pinging my brothers. You will be able to get ahold of someone.”

  “Oh thank you.”

  “We want to be sure that you can still get in touch with us,” Chief said.

  “Yes. And don’t answer the door while we’re gone,” Scar told her. “Don’t talk to anyone but us. We don’t know who your enemies are and how to protect you from them. But the compound’s security is excellent. If you stay inside, don’t communicate with anyone and keep the tablet close, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “Thank you. I promise, I won’t answer the door.”

  “Remember, cleaning the inside of the compound is fine,” Chief said, “but the outside must remain the same. The council must always think we’re living in the worst crew quarters on the colony, so they think our punishment is being carried out. That’s how we’ve managed to keep them out of our affairs.”

  “Yes. I understand.”

  And then they all moved to the front door and stood in line, ready to leave. All of them in their mining gear. She could see the occasional flash of personal crystals that they were either holding or pocketing. Tools, helmets and blasters were attached to their belts. They looked very imposing and ready for work.

  She was so very proud of these miners. They all looked so fresh and ready for work…and she was standing there in wrinkled clothes she’d slept in, bed hair, morning breath and kitten slippers.

  And yet Zayzon still pulled her into his arms and gave her a tight goodbye hug. “We’ll be back in the evening for dinner. The tablet will alert you and let you know when we’re leaving to return. It will even show you where I am in real time on a map.”

  He was basically allowing her to stalk him. And it was all his idea. How was she going to be able to stop herself from falling in love with this guy?

  Zayzon was the last to go. He turned and gave her a lingering look and then strode out the door. Lila watched through the front window as they left. She felt sad and elated at the same time at their departure. She missed that huge miner already.

  She picked up the tablet and Max too and went back to the cleansing unit in Zayzon’s room. She tossed the tablet on the bed, set the bot down, and got herself cleaned up. She washed her one and only Xylan outfit and put it back on along with her red shoes. Then she puttered around his room, glancing at the tablet, wondering what to do. Was it a boon, a way to find out about how everyone was doing back home and a way to contact Gerard and make plans, or was it a potential way for the assassins to locate her? Ugh, she couldn’t decide, so it sat there untouched.

  The bed was made. She hung up her pink pajamas and found a home for her slippers inside of Zayzon’s cabinet. Then she began picking up dusty objects off the floor, trying to find a home for each item.

  It was amazing that the brothers had left her there among all of their possessions. She knew she’d never go into their bedrooms without permission, but how did they really know that? If she were a different type of being, she’d try to break in and take things. It was intimidating how much all of them trusted her, especially Zayzon.

>   Lila glanced around, pleased with what she’d already accomplished. Just in the short time she’d been there with Zayzon she’d steadily picked up bit by bit. He’d be in the cleansing unit or getting dressed and she’d be putting something away. There already wasn’t anything on the floor.

  She loved, loved organizing. She’d always been that way. She loved nothing more than tackling a messy closet and turning it into a perfectly placed gem, with every necessity having a home. Every part of her mansion was perfectly organized without an object out of place. She couldn’t relax or sit still if there was a mess nearby.

  And she was truly grateful to have something to do in order to keep her mind of all her worries. There were so many things she could be freaking out over, if she allowed herself. But instead she focused on the work.

  Zayzon’s room wasn’t perfect yet, by any means, but it would do for now. Time to tackle the real mess. “Let’s go Max,” she told the tiny bot. He blew out a hiss of steam in reply. She picked up the tablet again and Max and they went together down the hall and reentered the front area.

  “Don’t be scared,” she told him as she set the tiny bot on the floor. “We can do this. A little bit at a time, that’s the key.”

  Yesterday the brothers had given her a tour of their domicile. The main living area of the compound was small, but there were bedrooms along the hallway for each brother and each room had its own restroom. There weren’t any actual grounds outside. The backside of the house was immediately encroached by wild jungle. But this didn’t matter since there would be no going outside to garden or get fresh air. She was stuck inside for her own safety.

  She walked into the kitchen to make some Traq and eat breakfast. The whole area was surprisingly clean. The places where Cannibal cooked or food prepped, he kept spotless, but his supplies were all over the place. Last night when she was helping him, she tried to organize, opening and closing cabinets and going into the pantry, trying to covertly take inventory, but she could tell that she was stressing him out. Today she was alone, with no one to interrupt. She couldn’t throw anything out, he’d freak. But she could rearrange things so he could see what he had and his supplies would be easier to access.