by Eve Langlais
Oops. Princess had discovered his secret, which he’d expected to happen sooner or later. He was surprised it took this long actually. Then again, in her arrogance and insistence that humans were lesser beings, it probably never even occurred to her that he was more than he claimed.
She sucked in a breath and kept going. “No wonder I was never allowed to meet the commander before going planet-side. You knew I’d figure it out.”
More like afraid she’d react psychotically. He did his best to ignore her ranting and the cold throbbing in his body. He’d not expected to get shot. Research said that Rattius and his tribe eschewed modern weapons. They actually had a planetary treaty banning them. Apparently, they’d lied. Even worse, Azteriya had been right to suspect them.
Not that he’d admit she was right. She’d never let him live it down. He groaned and fluttered his eyes open.
A vivid blue gaze stared only inches away. “Don’t you die yet. I have questions for you.”
“Don’t you mean a harangue?” he grumbled.
“How dare you not tell me you were the commander.”
“Can you blame me given your attitude about humans?” he asked as he sat up and eased his injured body out of the metal suit. It was harder than expected given his hands trembled.
“I can’t believe a human was the one giving me orders this entire time.”
“Orders you continually ignored.”
“Obviously, my subconscious knew better than to obey. The very idea of a Kulin warrior being subservient to a human.”
“You’re not a Kulin warrior; you’re a crewmember of my ship,” he growled, not in the mood to deal with her attitude.
“Your ship?” Pitched in a high note. “Humans aren’t allowed to own ships according to the Galactic Charters. Anyone caught selling Earthlings and other barbaric cultures advanced technology—”
“Is subject to death. Yeah. I know. Hence why the previous commander had me adopt the suit before he gave me the ship.”
“Someone gave this to you?” Incredulity marked her words.
More like inherited once Klardivus, who originally bought a lost human boy at auction, saving him from the dinner pot, retired. “Can we discuss this another time? I’ve got to make sure the ship isn’t under attack.” Plus a few holes to fill. His side ached, and his shirt was soaked with blood. However, he was more concerned with the fact that they’d left a pile of bodies behind.
Getting shorted on a deal happened all the time. So did killing those who cheated. That didn’t mean that it wouldn’t result in retaliation.
He lurched to his feet, and the room swayed. Damn Rattius. His guys probably laced the pellets shot at Jedrek with something.
He blinked away the fuzziness and stumbled his way to the bridge, Azteriya at his heels, still bitching. “You should be in the medical bay.”
He held his side, putting pressure on the wound. “I’m shocked you care.”
“I don’t. However, you are dripping blood all over my starship.”
“Your starship?” He cast her a side eye as he sank into his commander seat.
“Yes, mine. You can’t own it. Therefore, I claim it.”
He snorted. “You ain’t claiming shit, princess. The ship is mine.” The only thing of worth he had, apart from a growing credit account—a dented one given the upgrades he’d given the spacecraft—and he was damned if some spoiled purple princess was taking it from him.
She planted herself in front of him, a warrior goddess covered in blood and soot, eyes flashing bright blue, and so damned sexy it almost made him forget he was hurt.
“Do you mind? I’m trying to fly the ship.”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“Says the woman standing in front of me blocking the view. Get out of the way.”
“Make me.” She cocked her head as she dared him.
He lunged out of his seat, but dizziness sat him back down hard. A shake of his head didn’t clear it. “Thizzz izz bullshitz.” He slurred, the change in position making him dizzy.
“You’ve been drugged,” she stated, kneeling in front of him.
A denial sat on the tip of his tongue, but the sluggishness in his veins stopped him from speaking the lie. He retained enough wits to know one thing. If he passed out, there would be no one to control his ship. No one to give orders if they were attacked or something happened.
He closed his eyes as he did the unthinkable. “Attlus,” he spoke slowly, trying to enunciate the words, “should I be incapable of giving orders, then you are to obey crewmember Azteriya.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Azteriya?” He said her name as a query mostly because he couldn’t see her anymore. Darkness filmed over his vision.
“What is it, human?”
“Don’t break my ship.”
“You mean my ship.”
He might have retorted, but a slumbering beast took hold of his consciousness and swallowed it whole.
When he next woke, it was to find himself in a medical unit.
Naked and tethered. He somehow didn’t think it was for erotic pleasure.
“Princess!”
Seven
Having expected the bellow, Azteriya did her best not to rush.
The human had spent way too much time convalescing. Really, how long did it take to heal a few wounds?
No, really, how long? She’d never seen actual injuries before. Those who got hurt went to the medical centers on her planet. Either they came back fixed or not at all.
In her lifetime, she’d only suffered minor wounds and breaks, nothing that required intensive care. They had healers with the best technology to fix them.
However, on the ship, she was the one who had to initiate the healing unit. Had to wait and watch as the poison was leached from Jedrek’s system and his pallor turned from a sallow gray to the more oddly tanned hue he sported.
As she and the ship had learned to work together— with her yelling at it, “Imbecile machine, what part of find me something to kill don’t you get?” with its flat reply, “Please specify a destination”—she’d shared her time between the bridge and all its confusing lights and panels and the med bay, where she stared at his still body.
His lying human body.
Commander indeed. It stuck in her craw that she’d not suspected. Then again, she’d never actually met the commander in person. Jedrek claimed the thing inside the armor preferred to keep to himself. She never thought to question it. As for Jedrek, the male never said or did anything to reveal the truth.
What an underhanded thing to do.
Brilliant too.
A human had found a way to circumvent the laws, and no one knew. No one but her.
It put her in a position of power.
Head held high, Azteriya kept that in mind as she entered the medical bay and did her best to appear aloof. After all, she cared nothing for the human. As a matter of fact, she merely kept him alive because of his knowledge of this ship. Father had taught her to fight, not pilot. On her planet, transportation was automated. Get in a vehicle, tell it a destination, and you arrived.
But this ship…it required precise commands. She couldn’t just tell it to find a planet she could pillage. She didn’t know the stars and galaxies beyond her own. Which meant they drifted in space. Literally. She’d somehow managed to have the ship stop moving, and now it sulked.
Why else did it not obey her when she spoke? For that reason alone she needed Jedrek—and not because an odd discomfort made her internal organs ache at the thought of his death.
Taking a deep breath as if preparing for battle, she entered the room. “Finally, it awakens,” she stated, doing her best to hide any joy she felt at seeing him conscious.
“Untie me this instant,” he raged from the bed. He strained, his body heaving, his face turning a reddish hue that reminded her of the Toemmatto beasts. Except when they got too dark, they exploded. Should she take cover?
“Calm yourself,” she
ordered.
“I’ll calm myself when you remove the rope from my wrists and ankles.”
Ah yes, the tethers. He’d thrashed quite a bit during his illness. Rather than hold him down, she was practical. “They are there to ensure you don’t cause yourself injury. The poison took a toll on your fragile human body.”
“Did it not occur to you to use the synthesizer to remove it from my blood?”
She peeked at the machine, the one with all the buttons and no instructions. Rather than admit ignorance, she changed the subject. “You seem rather agitated.”
“Could it be because you fucking tied me up?” he yelled.
“The correct term is frukx,” she said. “Really, if you’re going to blend in, then you should learn how to properly speak.”
“I am going to throttle your scrawny little neck, princess.” The words growled from him, and the threat of violence made her smile.
Much better than him lying there pale and still. “Is that any way to thank me for saving you?”
“I wouldn’t need saving if you hadn’t caused the fight in the first place.”
Caused it for good reason. “Those creatures were trying to cheat you.”
“But you didn’t know that until after you started a fight and killed them.”
“Yes, I did kill them. A rather goodly number too. You’re welcome. If I’d not removed so many of them, you probably would have suffered a more fatal outcome.” She’d acquitted herself quite well. I wonder if Dorrys got my message and pictures yet. Surely, once she showed Mother, her matron would finally grasp that Azteriya was meant to be a warrior.
“You are a lunatic.”
“I think your injury has addled your wits. I am perfectly lucid. I think what you meant to say is I’m accomplished.”
“No, I meant crazy.”
Her gaze narrowed. “For a male currently incapacitated, you should be nicer.”
“Fuck nice. I was nice to you when I let you stay on board instead of shipping you back home so your mommy could marry your purple ass off to some poor unsuspecting idiot.”
“I wouldn’t have married.”
“The male population thanks you for that.”
Did he imply she’d make a poor mate? “I would make a warrior a delightful mate.”
“Considering what I’ve seen thus far, highly doubtful. You’re argumentative, violent, arrogant, and not womanly at all.”
The insults pricked, even if they were mostly true. All but the last. “I am extremely feminine.”
“You keep telling yourself that, princess.”
“You find me attractive.”
“You wish. I like my women to be soft. Gentle. Womanly.” Spoken with a sneer.
His insistence only served to make her determined. “You are attracted to me,” she insisted.
“Nope. I don’t like you one bit.”
For some reason, the insistence angered her. “I shall prove you a liar.” She clambered atop the recovery unit, straddling his body.
“What are you doing?”
“If you think I am so unappealing, then this won’t cause a reaction at all.” She lowered herself on his groin and squirmed.
“Get off me.” Said through gritted teeth.
“Why? It’s not like your body cares if I’m atop it, rubbing.”
“I don’t feel a thing.” He glared.
She felt a moment of doubt as nothing hard prodded her bottom. She wouldn’t lose this battle. “I’m sure if I were to unlace my bodice and display my breasts, you wouldn’t care at all.” At times, she wished she had three like her mother and the other females. Alas, she was stunted and only had a pair—like a human—but they were hugely bountiful.
Having read up on Earthlings while Jedrek lay comatose—for information of course, not interest—she knew the males were visual creatures when it came to attraction. The mammalian glands apparently held a particular fascination.
She exposed them, and his breath sucked in. His eyes stared. Her aureoles shriveled as if a cold wind kissed them.
The heat in his gaze made her want to cover up and preen at the same time.
She cocked her head and smiled. Gave a little wiggle. “Still going to claim I’m not attractive?” The erection pressing hard against her sex stated otherwise.
“Fine. You have a banging body. Is that what you wanted to hear? I’d fuck you, but it doesn’t mean I like you.”
He didn’t like her?
Who cared what a human thought?
I do.
She didn’t care to examine why. She leaned down, the tips of her breasts brushing against the sheet covering his body.
“You don’t like me because you know I am far superior to you.”
“No, I don’t like you because you’re a snob. I prefer nice girls. Easy girls are even better. The kind who don’t play games.”
“What kind of game do you think I play?”
“You’re a cock tease. All talk, no action. I’ll bet you’ve never even kissed a guy.”
“Kissed?” She frowned as she sat up. She knew what he meant. Had even seen it during her research. It was the pressing of lips together. She just didn’t understand the allure. On her planet, only the sexually deviant strayed from proper fornication techniques.
He laughed. “Yes, kissed. And don’t say you have because I can tell from the expression on your face you’ve never done it.”
“Why would I? It seems a useless action.”
“Virgin.” He stated the word as if it were an insult.
She glared. “Only mated pairs fornicate.”
“Because the women on your planet are chattel. You do what the men tell you.”
“I do not!” Indignantly spoken. “If I obeyed my parents, I would not be here.”
“Please. You went on a teeny, tiny adventure. You killed a few things. But you’re too cowardly to do anything else.” He taunted.
Challenged.
He accused her of being afraid.
She feared nothing. Especially not the boring press of lips. I’ll show him.
Leaning low, she touched her mouth to his.
A zap of electricity startled her, and she drew away. “What was that?”
“Attraction, princess.”
“I am not attracted to you.”
“Then kiss me again.”
“I have no need. I’ve proven my point.” Proven that, even tied up, he was dangerous to her.
“Afraid?” His gaze dared her to try again.
She knew she shouldn’t. There was something happening to her, happening to her body when she touched him.
She ignored the warning and did it again. Kissed him. At least she thought she was when she pressed her mouth, but he laughed, the rumble trembling against her lips.
“That’s not a kiss.”
“Our mouths are touching,” she mumbled.
“A kiss means you’re tasting. Like this.”
He showed her, his mouth moving over hers, dragging across and starting a tingling. He licked the seam of her mouth, drawing a gasp. He took advantage of the parting of her lips to insinuate his tongue.
He put his tongue in her mouth, and she liked it.
No, liked was too weak a word. It set her aflame, ignited a throbbing low in her belly. Set her body to squirming atop him, the friction of his erection against her giving her more pleasure than her fingers ever managed.
The kiss kept going, and she understood what he meant by taste, as his mouth still held the minty freshness of the medical unit that kept him hydrated. The more he chewed on her lower lip and sucked her tongue, the more her body trembled, the harder she ground herself against him.
A fever invaded her body, and she uttered noises as she ground against him. He made noise too, moans and grunts. He even whispered, “That’s it, princess, ride me. Ride me hard.”
She couldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop the build of pressure and pleasure. When he said, “Give me your nipple,” she didn’t stop to wond
er why or question. She tore her mouth from his and presented it.
He latched onto the tip, sucked it, tugging hard enough to send a jolt right down to her sex.
It tipped her over an edge. Sent her body rippling into a climax that tore a surprised gasp from her. Her channel clenched and rippled, vibrating her entire body with a bliss that left her limp.
She collapsed atop him, smothering his face with her body until he mumbled, “Can’t breathe.”
She rose slowly. Her body still tingling with awareness, her breasts feeling heavy. Her lips pleasantly sore while, between her legs, she throbbed.
“How did you like your first kiss?” He sounded so smug.
She clambered off him with a nonchalant, “It was nice.” Which might have sounded more authentic if her knees didn’t buckle.
His knowing chuckle didn’t help, and she felt an odd heat in her cheeks. Had the human infected her with a fever?
Before she could accuse him of having barbarian germs, an alarm sounded.
“What is that warning for?” she asked.
“Proximity alert.” He struggled in the bed. “Let me go. We might be under attack.”
“I will handle it.”
“You don’t have the first clue how to fight with my ship.”
“I’ll learn. I’m good at fighting.” Just look how quickly she managed to get a battle going with Jedrek every time they spoke.
“This isn’t some game, princess. We’re in space. The slightest misstep could kill us.”
“Then we will die with honor.”
“How about not dying at all?” he yelled. He strained. “Let me go, goddammit. Stop being so bloody stubborn.”
Now he sounded like her mother. She didn’t listen to her either.
“I will go see what is happening.”
“Azteriya! Come back here.”
She ignored him. He was probably right. She didn’t know how to truly fly this ship. Thus far, the computer had done all the work.
But how hard could it be? After all, a simple human had learned to do it.
A short while later, when the ship went silent and dark and the cold began to creep because the enemy ship did something that knocked out their power source, she had time to regret not freeing Jedrek.