Hunted & Seduced

by Shelley Munro

  Kaya had told her to get her hands on his cock, to pet it and stroke it and he’d follow her around like a pet.

  Nanu had suggested she strip off her clothes and proposed she practice with him.

  And Mogens had told her to be herself and trust in fate because the clouds predicted beneficial news.

  All excellent advice, but she still needed to get him to see her as a potential mate instead of a troublesome child, which meant getting him talking.

  “Would it be all right if I put on some music?” she asked in desperation, the view gone since they’d long ago left the vicinity of Viros. The bridge of the Gallant was smaller than that of the Indy with seating for two in front of the instruments—the minimal lights and guidance systems not much in the way of distraction—and the silent disapproval started to weigh on her chest and her conscience. She couldn’t continue this nerve-racking silence for another cycle portion.

  He shot her a suspicious glance. “What sort of music?”

  “Would you like to hear some Earth music? I have lots of different types. You can choose. Please, the silence is driving me mad. If I can’t play music, I’ll start prattling, and I know you hate that,” she ended on a rush.

  They stared at each other for a long moment, but she couldn’t read him. Her stomach twisted and a frisson of awareness swept her, tiny whooshes of pleasure ghosting across her breasts and to her sex. She experienced the same enjoyment whenever she used her vibrator, so definitely sexual in nature.

  Weird. Ellard bore little resemblance to the man of her dreams—the one she’d described to her Earth friend, Olivia. Yes, he was big and strong, but no one could call him handsome. Some might comment on his arm, since his right one was artificial. He never spoke much, didn’t initiate conversations, wasn’t outgoing. Yet no other male made her feel this way.

  Only Ellard.

  “We could listen to music,” he conceded.

  Yes! “I’ll play some of everything. I have lots of different playlists.”

  He appeared baffled as he often did when she used Earth jargon. Never mind. She’d start and see what happened. “This is classic rock.”

  A gritty male voice started to sing about being back in black. Since Ellard refrained from comment and scanned the instruments before shifting to autopilot, she relaxed a fraction, let the song finish and change to another about champions. Music she’d come to love, and each time one of the familiar songs played memories flashed to the fore.

  Memories of her on the Indy.

  Memories of dancing and shared laughter.

  Memories of family.

  Her stomach bucked at the thought, but it was true. Her friends were more family to her than her father had ever been. After the running of the Dowry Derby, he’d handed her over to Ry and turned his back on her. Not once had he attempted to contact her. She took after her mother, and in his eyes, the resemblance counted as an unforgivable sin.

  Another portion of a cycle passed, less strained thanks to the music.

  “Want something to eat?” She unfastened her security harness and stood, aware she’d start blubbering if she continued to think of her father’s rejection. Ellard wouldn’t deal well with tears. She sensed it without proof.

  He unfastened his own harness. “I want to research Narenda anyway. I knew of its existence, but know little of the planet and its residents.”

  “I decided to send the link message to them at the last moment. Lynx and Shiloh suspected the leaders would ignore their invitation. They attempted to land once and were escorted away by fighter ships.”

  “What?” He sounded appalled. “Lynx never told me that. I thought this was an easy assignment.”

  No, no, no! She’d hate him to insist they turn around and travel back to Viros. “As I mentioned, they responded after everyone else had left. Lynx and Shiloh want to meet all our neighbors and have contact with them. It’s safer that way. Lynx said something about know thine enemy. They are offering a hand of friendship by extending an invitation for us to visit. They’re willing to listen. Besides, do you think Ry and Camryn would let me go to Narenda if they thought the assignment would place me in danger? Or Jannike?” She crossed her fingers and prayed her gabble reassured him. “No, they wouldn’t. Nor would Lynx and Shiloh. Go on, admit it.” She paused because prattling made her mouth dry. She swallowed and swallowed again after sneaking a glance at him.

  She hoped this stern expression vanished in the bedroom because that would never do. A definite mood-killer. “I’ll sort out something to eat.”

  She fled to the tiny galley without a backward peek, her heart pounding with a boom-boom-boom, loud enough to alert a feline there was something amiss. How would she ever get him to kiss her when he kept his distance? What would Olivia do? For almost another portion of a cycle, she dithered and considered the matter while she made sandwiches, taking her time to regain equilibrium.

  Set the mood.

  Flirtation.

  Finally, after even more soul-searching, she plonked the sandwiches on a small float table and set it to deliver to the cockpit. Once it floated off, she picked up two tubes of a fruit drink—a type of citrus-flavored fruit, purple in color and one she’d never tried until landing on Viros.

  “Here you go.” She plonked into her seat in the cockpit. “I hope the sandwich is okay for you.” She batted her eyelashes in her first attempt at flirtation.

  “It’s fine.” He glanced at her and titled his head to the side.

  It was working. She added a smile and continued a slow and sexy blink.

  His brows rose. “What is wrong with your eyes?”

  A puff of breath escaped her and she cursed under her breath. Stupid man. “I’m flirting with you.”

  “Why?”

  This time the swear words slipped free. “Fuck a duck.”

  “What?”

  Honestly. Did she need to hit the man over the skull to make him understand? She opened her mouth and let her tongue slide out to moisten her lips. Not a calculated move, but holy heck, she’d attracted his attention. To test her conclusion, she repeated the action and his gaze followed the slow glide of her tongue like a pet on a leash.

  She still needed to get him talking—a topic to help him relax and pass the flight. “How does it feel to shift to feline?”

  He stared a fraction harder, his brow knitted together like an Earth dishrag. “What?”

  “I’ve never shifted and I want to know what to expect, should a miracle occur.”

  “You want to shift?”

  “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I? Jannike and Camryn can shift. I bear the feline mark on my cheek, yet I’ve never shifted. Describe it to me. Please. When did you start shifting? Was it scary?” Oops, prattle alert.

  “Prince Jarlath and I shifted at thirteen rotations.” His gaze softened, the green of his eyes lightening as his mind drifted into memories, the dish rag effect fading to smooth, tanned skin. His lips—so sensual they tempted her to touch—curved into the beginnings of a smile. “If you ask him, he’ll tell you he shifted first. That’s not true.” He flashed her a genuine grin and her breath stalled, her tube of fruit juice halting halfway to her mouth.

  The spurt of humor made all the difference. It took his face from plain to arresting. Never handsome. No, her Ellard escaped handsome, but oh, he exhibited heart.

  “So tell me the truth.” Gweneth set her tube down and leaned closer, mesmerized by his expression.

  “I shifted a min earlier than Jarlath. We’d made a deal a couple of rotations earlier to attempt a shift together the sec we felt our felines stir.”

  “Did you do that?”

  “We did. Jarlath told me his skin itched, and he felt as if his chest might burst.” Ellard chuckled. “I couldn’t feel a thing, but I told Jarlath otherwise.”

  “You lied?”

  “My pride was on the line.”

  She smiled, easily imagining the two young felines indulging in a case of one-upmanship. “What happe
ned next?”

  “We decided not to tell my father. He was in charge of training us. Lynx and Shiloh too.”

  “You all grew up together?” She couldn’t help the note of wistfulness bleeding into her voice. She had grown up alone with Amme, her nanny, as a companion. Her father allowed none of the other children on the planet of Ornum to play with the governor’s daughter, and then, once she’d matured and the feline tattoo formed on her cheek, her father permitted no one to see her face either. She’d embarrassed him, and he couldn’t bear to look at her. He’d ordered her to wear a full mask whenever she left the governor’s mansion. He’d lost her respect at that stage, but stupidly, she still yearned for acceptance, a show of love.

  “We did. It was always Jarlath and me against our two brothers Shiloh and Lynx. Shiloh and I grew up knowing we’d act as bodyguards to the two princes.”

  “And Shiloh and Lynx ended up as mates. Did you and Jarlath ever—”

  “No. Jarlath became smitten at the first meeting with Keira. After he met Keira, things changed. Our lives are different now.”

  “For the better?” Curiosity and interest ate at her. He’d never talked to her this way before—as if she was an adult. It was…pleasant.

  “I didn’t think so at the time,” Ellard said. “I told Jarlath he should listen to his parents and marry someone from a respectable family, someone from the upper classes.”

  “He went his own way.”

  “Yes. He kept visiting Keira because he enjoyed the pies she baked. At least that was his story. I knew otherwise and tried to tell him to use her and move on.”

  “He still refused to listen.”

  “Yes, and looking back, I can see their relationship works well. Life has improved at the castle and in the city.”

  “But it took a war to change things.”

  “Yes.” Something—maybe pain—flickered across his face.

  “Back to you and Jarlath shifting. What happened after you fibbed to Jarlath?”

  “We went outside to the rear garden where my father used to conduct our training. Although my father had prepared us and told us what to expect and how to advance the shift, we were both nervous.”

  “And you still couldn’t feel your feline?” This was pleasant. He’d been chatting for almost a full cycle portion without freezing her out.

  “No.”

  “You put on a good front?”

  “A what?”

  “Jarlath believed you because you behaved with confidence.”

  Ellard nodded. “He doesn’t suspect to this day. We disrobed and pictured our felines. I closed my eyes and pictured a black feline, concentrating so hard I wouldn’t have known if the House of Cawdor launched an attack on the city. Then, all of a sudden, I felt my feline, and the change rushed through me so fast I almost blanked out with the pain.”

  “Camryn told us her first shift hurt. Jannike can’t remember because her shift occurred while she was half asleep.”

  “It gets easier with practice.” Ellard paused to take a bite of his sandwich. “This is good.”

  “It’s an Earth dish. I learned how to cook when we visited Earth.”

  He picked up his drink. “My shift burned like firehell. According to Jarlath his never hurt, but I still don’t believe him.”

  “I think it would be worth it, even if it is painful.”

  “It is. The rush of extra sensory perception is amazing.”

  Gweneth glanced out the viewport and let out a horrified squeak. “What’s that? Why aren’t the sensors screaming?”

  The deep black of space now writhed with streams of blood red. Chunks of rock or some other type of material hid within the streams of colorful vapor material. They started to pelt the body of the ship. Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat.

  Ellard cursed, his hands racing over the controls to regain manual control. Belatedly, an alarm began to screech, and Gweneth gripped the arms of her seat as the ship began to shake. The engine chugged instead of purred. Alarming pauses in the clamor of the engine brought another flood of curses.

  “Phrullin’ heap of fodo crap.”

  “What is that stuff?”

  “Space debris.”

  Gweneth froze, her gaze on the swirling mass of color outside the ship. “Where did it come from?”

  “Maybe a crash or cargo dumped on purpose. Any number of sources. Known debris fields are marked on the star maps.”

  “But not this one?”

  “No.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Strap in,” he ordered as the ship began to buck. “These things are unpredictable. I’ve heard rumors of people creating them on purpose and designing them to disable ships.”

  “Space pirates?”

  “Yes. Put on the harness.”

  Gweneth did as he asked, her eyes widening as the red dust thickened until it obscured vision. The entire ship shuddered and whined, dropping without warning. The pelt and shriek of objects striking the hull became a litany. Bang. Bang. Bang. Thump.

  She dug her fingers into her thighs and bit her bottom lip to stem her anxiety. Ellard needed to concentrate. Her hysterics wouldn’t help. The ship’s warning siren continued, the strident whine louder than the cacophony of the storm outside.

  “Shiloh told me the ship was serviced five cycles ago, and he took it for a test run.”

  “He did. Jannike went with him.”

  “The ship’s not responding.”

  Gweneth scanned the instruments and saw the readings were obviously wrong. She peered through the window port. She couldn’t see much. An object the size of a hand struck the viewport and she instinctively ducked. The entire time, the siren blared.

  “Can’t see a damn thing. You?”

  “No…wait! Go to the left. The dust isn’t as thick.”

  Ellard grunted, fighting the steering. “Controls are sluggish. Shiloh needs to sack their ship mechanics.”

  Another chunk flung against the viewport, a scatter of smaller items. Each time an object hurled against the viewport she wondered if it would hold.

  “Keep going left,” she ordered.

  Ellard grunted, forcing the directional stick left. Initially the ship responded, and Gweneth’s tension eased free along with her breath. Then something struck the undercarriage. Something large since the entire ship groaned. Shuddered. The engine cut, the siren ceased, leaving nothing but an eerie silence punctuated by the strike of fragments. Flashes of light blazed across her retinas. She swallowed, fear writhing to life.

  “Are we far from Narenda?”

  “No idea. None of the instruments look right.”

  Gweneth reached for the communication panel and pushed a button. Static.

  She glanced up to see another chunk heading straight for them. She stared at the shiny chunk, her pulse racing. Way too young to die.

  Without warning, an explosion boomed around them. Another flash of retina-searing bright light blasted chunk. It veered away, clipping their ship and scooting them to the left.

  A shriek escaped her, and she blushed at the girlie squeak. “Um, sorry. Took me by surprise.”

  Ellard attempted to restart the ship’s engines. “Phrull it,” He swore at the engine’s cough—three loud barks—before dying again.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Pray,” Ellard snapped.

  A steady thud-thud-thud shelled their ship’s exterior, and Gweneth realized the truth. No need to spell it out. If one of the bigger chunks hit them in a vulnerable spot, they’d die. Not even breathable suits would save them in the middle of this storm.

  Ellard tried the engines and once again, they spluttered.

  Gweneth turned to the communication equipment. Her fingers raced over the keys. Nothing. No signal. It could be the interference from the storm. She’d learned a lot from Nanu, enough to help and maybe fix the problem. She unfastened her harness and slipped from her seat.

  “What are you doing?” Ellard snapped withou
t taking his gaze off the viewport.

  “I’m going to try to work out what is wrong with the communication system. It’s something more than our position. There should be some static and there isn’t. Not a peep.”

  “Stay in your seat.”

  “Why? If a big enough piece hits us, we’ll be history. Either way, I’ll be dead.” And she wouldn’t go down without a fight. Ry and Camryn had taught her that. But first… She scooted closer to Ellard and kissed him dead on the lips. “In case we perish. I’d hate to die without having a kiss. Bad feline.” She patted him on the cheek. “You could have kissed me back.” While he gaped, she slid beneath a panel and peered into the dark innards.

  “Phrull it. Get back in your seat,” Ellard barked.

  The ship shuddered. Gweneth waited until the jolts ceased and prized her fingers free of the handy handholds. In the dim light, she studied the wires, followed the mass to the terminals. Several appeared loose, which seemed weird and a couple of others weren’t attached anywhere. She popped back out from under the panel. A quick glance outside the viewport showed luck had turned their way, and they weren’t in danger of hitting anything in the next few mins.

  “You didn’t kiss me back.” With her heart thudding, she turned to him and planted her hands on her hips. “You owe me a kiss.”

  “More important things to do.”

  “Where is the tool box? I think I can fix the navigation system. Maybe the communication too.”

  “You?”

  Gweneth sniffed. “I’m not just a pretty face.”

  She’d kissed him. She’d kissed him and demanded more. He backed away a fraction and focused. “No more kissing talk. See that big chunk over there.” He gestured out the viewpoint window. “It’s heading our way.” He hauled out a toolbox. “Show me the loose wires.”

  “Ellard, I know how to do this. Nanu taught me. I’ve learned lots of stuff because the Indy crew take the time to educate me. I’m not one of your helpless upper-class shifters.”

  Ellard ignored her affronted tone and slid beneath the main control panel.

  “Pompous oaf,” she muttered.

  A flash of amusement, unexpected, shot through him until he checked the wiring. Phrull it, she was right. Someone had tweaked the wiring, loosening some and tugging at others.