Yes, sir—she thought as she lifted the tray to her nose to smell the fragrant soup—something hot for the belly and a bunch of nice, clean blankets piled high waiting for me in my own room. Now all I need is a good movie or book to go with it.
She was humming along with the song she was listening to, her eyes focused on the tray so she wouldn’t spill any when a low rumbling sound made her eyes jerk up. Her mouth opened in surprise and horror as she saw the biggest damn cat in the universe glaring at her in rage. A high scream worthy of any King Kong heroine burst from her lips as it launched itself at her. She jerked her hands up, throwing the tray over her head as she tried to protect her face from the massive teeth in its mouth. She closed her eyes and screamed even louder and longer the second time as the huge cat hit her square in her chest, knocking her backward until she was lying on the floor. She could feel its teeth and claws as it ripped into her jacket. She continued to scream, unable to stop as the huge cat tugged and pulled until the material of her jacket fell away from her body. A final quick tug pulled the remaining earbud out of her ear. Riley felt the change in the body above her at the same time as she felt the freezing air of the freighter.
"Riley, speak to me." Vox’s husky voice resonated through her at the same time as frantic fingers kept pulling at the tattered remains of her beloved jacket. "My lumi, please speak to me. Tell me if it is still hurting you."
It took a minute for his words to process in her stunned brain. What the hell was he talking about? If what was still hurting her? She slowly opened her eyes to stare into the frantically worried tawny color eyes above her. A shiver coursed through her as the icy metal under her seeped into her already chilled body. Huge warm hands pulled her up into equally huge and warm arms. One big palm pressed her head against his chest as the other pushed the remains of her jacket away from her. Riley’s heart began to slow even as the heart under her ear beat with a thundering roar, as if he had just run a marathon.
"Please, my love, please be all right," Vox whispered cradling her against him fiercely. "It will not harm you again. I promise."
"Vox, let me look at her," Lodar said urgently coming up behind him. "I need to see what damage the creature may have done. It was wrapped all around her."
"Adur, Cross, and Banu can help me search the freighter for any more of the creatures," Tor said harshly. "We should have done that in the first place," he added with disgust.
"Perhaps that is why no one else wanted this ship," Fred whispered, looking up at Bob who was standing behind him.
"I have sealed off the two lower levels," Bob said. "If there are any there, they will not be able to get to us and with the environmental systems shut down they shouldn’t be able to survive for long."
"I have not seen any other purple and silver creatures, but if I modify the scanners I might be able to pick them up on it," Titus added.
"I can help you," Cross said, looking down at the remnants of the beast that had attacked Riley. "I have never seen anything like this before," he murmured as he pushed a piece of the purple fur with the tip of his toe.
Riley listened as the men talked back and forth between each other. Each piece slowly fitting together in her brain to make the puzzle clearer until the image of her jacket, totally shredded, loomed like a beacon in the mass confusion. At first, just a little giggle escaped as she thought about Fred’s reaction when he first saw it. His comment and her offhand, sarcastic response floated through her memory. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that they actually thought her jacket had been alive. That it was some type of alien creature that ate aliens! A little hiccup escaped her as she fought the surge of adrenaline-laced hysteria at having the shit scared out of her all because of her beautiful but dead birthday present.
Vox stroked Riley’s back tenderly as he felt her beginning to shake. He looked at Lodar with wide, worried eyes. Lodar nodded as he moved in closer so he could examine her without having to pull her too far from his friend.
"Riley, it will be all right," Lodar said calmly. "We won’t let anything happen to you. I just need to take a closer look at you. Can you tell me about what happened?"
Riley turned her face into Vox’s chest and burst out into uncontrollable laughter. It was just too much! They were totally freaking out over a gaudy piece of cloth. She shook her head, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to speak rationally yet. She was too busy having a hysterical moment.
"Just… just…a…moment," she breathed out in a muffled voice against Vox’s warm skin. Hell, he was ten times warmer than her jacket! She snuggled closer and was rewarded when Vox’s arms wrapped even tighter around her, pulling her so close she was practically molded into him. "You… You… You…killed my…my…jacket," Riley giggled.
"I killed your what?" Vox asked, confused, looking at Lodar to see if he understood what she was trying to say.
Lodar shrugged and touched Riley’s wild wave of curly hair. "What did you say, Riley? We couldn’t understand," he asked gently.
Riley tilted her head back until she was looking up at both men. Her eyes danced with merriment as she fought back the uncontrollable laughter threatening to escape her. Her face warmed as she saw the other men looking on with concern.
"Vox, you dolt, you killed my favorite jacket!" Riley burst out laughing. "This is priceless! You thought my jacket was attacking me, and you killed it! My Grandma Pearl was right. She said that it looked like an alien attacking me and threatened to shoot it the one time I wore it to the bar. But hell! I never really thought that would ha-ha-happen!" Riley crowed before she buried her face into Vox’s warm chest again as her body shook with glee.
* * *
"Not one damn word," Vox growled out, looking down at Fred. "Do not say one damn word!"
Fred tucked both of his chins down into his chest and nodded before scurrying away. Vox watched the little Tiliquan move rapidly down the corridor. He was probably going to go apologize again to Riley for getting her jacket killed.
"You should go easy on the little guy," Adur said, trying to keep a straight face. "After all, we all thought the damn thing was alive."
Banu and Titus turned around quickly, trying to hide their grins. Cross didn’t even bother turning around. He just grinned. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next. He had to admit, ever since they had been introduced to the young female, life had been very, very interesting.
Vox growled darkly at all of them before he got up and strode off the bridge. Why, oh why, did he continue to screw up whenever he was around Riley? He had always been so in control, so commanding, so not an idiot before he met her. Hell, others trembled in fear of him! Riley trembled, but it was because she was either madder than hell at him or laughing her ass off at the idiotic things he did.
Vox paused and took a deep breath. Well, that was about to end. He was going to show her that he was not some idiot! He was the Sarafin king! He ruled over some of the fiercest warriors in the known star systems. He was a male that females from numerous different species begged to make love to them. It was about time that Riley realized that. She was his damn mate, his queen. It was time he claimed Ms. Riley St. Claire from Denver, Colorado and showed her he wasn’t going to take no for an answer any longer.
Chapter 10
Riley snuggled down into the thick pile of blankets trying to get warm. She could swear ice was beginning to form on the inside of the walls. She understood they needed to have shields and things like that, but none of that would do a damn bit of good to them if they were all dead from hyperthermia. She hated cold weather! That was why she had left Colorado and stayed to the south as much as she could. She should have just gone to live back in San Diego where her Grandma Pearl and Tina lived, but she had wanted to see if she could make it on her own.
Tears pooled in her eyes and overflowed as she thought about what a mess she had made of her already crazy life. Was it too much to ask for just one thing to go right in her life? She pulled the covers over her he
ad and turned her cellphone on. She was going to have to talk to Tor about recharging it and her iPad again. She didn’t know how he did it, but she was grateful that he had figured out a way to keep them charged for her. It was the only link she had to her life back on Earth.
She pulled up a video of her sister and Pearl at the bar. She had recorded it on Tina’s birthday several months ago. Her Grandma was relating some silly story that happened the weekend before when a bunch of biker wannabes encountered the real thing. They had sat around laughing, drinking beer, and having a good time. Tina and she had been getting along better lately. Riley had a feeling it was because they had confided to each other that they were terrified of ending up being like their mom and Pearl. All either one of them really wanted was to fall in love, have a happy home, a couple of kids, and the mangy mutt that would come along and adopt them.
"Pearl, have you heard from momma lately?" Tina was asking Pearl.
"Now don’t you be asking about that wasted piece of fluff," Pearl said gruffly. "She made her decision when she left you girls and decided not to come back."
"But," Tina started to say.
"She’s gone, Tina," Riley heard her videotaped voice say. "Let her go."
Riley bit her lip now as she looked at the sadness in her baby sister’s eyes. Tina was only two years younger than she but had never given up hope that their mom would one day come home. Riley and Pearl knew that would never happen. Riley had used her contacts at the bail bond company she had been working for to look up information on their mother. She found out their mom had died when she was ten and Tina was eight, of a drug overdose in Los Angeles. Riley had traveled up to the City of Angels to visit the grave. Pearl had their mom cremated and her ashes placed between her great-grandparents.
Riley had confronted Pearl, wanting her to tell Tina, but Pearl had been adamant. "Your momma has caused enough pain and sorrow. Let your sister have her dream for a little longer. She will find out eventually. I’m just not ready for her to find out yet."
Riley had reluctantly agreed simply because it was Tina’s twenty-second birthday, and she didn’t want her sister to remember finding out their mother was dead on her special day. Tina had always been the more sensitive of the two of them. Riley wasn’t really sure who Tina took after, but it was probably her dad. Riley had never found any information on him or her own father. Riley knew she had Pearl’s smart mouth while Tina just became quieter when she was confronted. Riley figured she took after her father in size. There was no doubt about that. Tina was petite like Pearl and the pictures they had of their mom when she was a little girl, and had their mom’s straight, dark hair.
Tears poured down her cheeks as her iPhone finally cut off. She sniffed and let them come; quiet sobs poured out of her as she thought of her small family back home that she would more than likely never see again. She figured she deserved a good cry every once in a while. No one could blame her for that. She drew in a deep breath when she felt the bed she was lying on suddenly sink down. The covers were pulled free from around her head until she could feel the freezing air on her damp cheeks. She looked up into dark, tawny eyes filled with concern.
"Can I hold you?" the deep voice asked quietly.
Riley’s eyes filled with more tears, she bit her lip and nodded slowly. She pulled the pile of blankets back so Vox’s huge figure could crawl under them with her. She waited as he pulled his boots and vest off. He tossed them onto a nearby chair before he crawled under the covers with her. She didn’t care that she had promised herself that she would stay away from his ornery ass. She didn’t care about anything but feeling safe, protected, and warm for a little while. She needed to be held and he was offering. She would have been the biggest fool in every known star system if she turned down a heater better than any electric blanket, not to mention she was just feeling very fragile and lost right now and needed something she could hold onto. She would kick his stubborn butt out after she had a good night’s sleep and was feeling better.
Riley curled up as close as she could next to Vox’s warm body without actually pulling him on top of her. She let out a deep sigh of contentment as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist, pulling her even closer. Her head rested on his broad shoulder, and she rested her hand over his heart.
Vox held her close. After a few minutes he noticed her breathing had slowed down, and her body had melted against his as she slipped into a deep sleep. A chuckle shook his body slightly. This was the last thing he expected. Why he should be surprised or have expected anything less was beyond him anymore. He had planned to claim his mate. He had expected a fierce fight, followed by some new bruises, before he would wrestle her down and make love to her so much she would have to concede that she was his mate. Instead, he had entered the room she had claimed only to hear her muffled sobs. They had broken through his fierce determination and replaced it with something inside him he had never experienced before—tenderness. When he had drawn the covers back and she looked at him with her big, baby blue eyes shimmering with tears and sadness, his heart had actually hurt. It had melted into a mushy puddle when she gazed up at him with such heartfelt need when he had asked if he could hold her. He bit back a silent groan as he felt her soft, plump flesh melt against his body. Her hand moved up to curl in the hair at the base of his neck just as she rolled over enough to bury her nose contently against his chest, a soft snore escaping her. His body pulsed for a moment before he felt it relax as his own tiredness overwhelmed him. He turned his head so he could rub his cheek against her hair.
It feels so good to hold her, he thought sleepily. I’m never going to sleep without her against me again.
Vox gave up on trying to stay awake. He would claim her when they were both well rested. It would be more fun anyway. A smile curved his lips as he realized this was the first time he had been able to hold her without getting hurt. He was making progress after all.
* * *
The violent shudder of the freighter woke Vox before the sound of the alarms did. He paused for just a moment before he jerked into a sitting position and looked around in confusion for a moment. He ran his hand through his hair as he felt the freighter groan again.
"Vox!" Titus’s voice boomed out over the communications console. "Get your ass up here! We’re under attack by two fucking Marastin Dow pirate ships! The shields are failing."
A soft moan sounded next to him, and a slender, pale arm reached out and grabbed for the covers. "Tell them to come back later, I’m still sleeping," Riley muttered before she rolled over, dragging the covers over her head.
Vox’s chuckle turned into a loud laugh as he surged to his feet. His mate was not a morning person. He would have to let the fucking purple pirates know that if he let any of them live. He pulled his boots and vest on before he turned around to his mate who was snoring away under the covers.
"Riley, you have to get up," Vox growled out as he felt another shudder before the sounds of hooks scraping against metal resonated through the freighter. Shit, they were about to be boarded. "Riley, get your ass up now! We are under attack."
Riley jerked into a sitting position, fighting to drag the blankets off her head and push her wild mass of curly hair out of her face. She scowled deeply in irritation at Vox. She grabbed one of the blankets and dragged it around her shoulders.
"Well, you are the stupid warriors! Go kick them off. I am not in the mood to deal with anyone until after ten o’clock in the morning, a good breakfast, and three pots of coffee. You go on, I’ll follow in a bit," she said before she started to slide back down under the pile of blankets again. "Besides, it’s too damn cold to fight. Tell them the heater is broken."
"Vox, we could really use your help," Adur barked out. "They have breached one of the lower levels that wasn’t sealed off."
Vox let loose a long stream of curses. The damn purple bastards were only a level below them. He had to get Riley out of there now! Those bastards always killed anything that wasn’t of value. If th
ey saw Riley, they would know she was very valuable. They would kill everyone else to get to her.
Vox leaned over and ripped the pile of covers off Riley, flinging them across the room with a flick of his wrist. His breath slammed out of him, and his eyes widened as he gazed down at where she lay glaring up at him. His throat worked up and down as he fought to get a sound pass the lump in his throat. His eyes glazed as he took in her lush figure in the sheer blue lacy cloth. The front had a deep V that went all the way down to her softly rounded stomach. There were slits on each side that parted, leaving her legs bare and only a narrow length of the fabric lay between her legs. His eyes roamed her full figure, noting the darker rose color of her nipples that poked up, lifting the sheer material and leaving very little hidden from his view. He could see the slightly darker patch of curls between her legs.
It was official. He was an idiot. He was the biggest, stupidest male in all the known star systems. He had fallen into her bed, wrapped her in his arms, and slept like a baby while she was wearing… He swallowed again as she rolled over onto her hands and knees in an effort to get out of the bed. His cat went nuts. Before he even realized it, he was draped over her back molding his groin to her ass and rubbing his pulsing cock against the shadowed line while his hands kneaded her hips. His loud purr rumbled through the room as he rubbed himself back and forth against her.
"What in the hell?" Riley’s voice faded as she looked over her shoulder at Vox’s glazed eyes. "What do you think you are doing?" she demanded hoarsely as she felt his swollen cock pressing against her.
"Mine!" he purred in a deep, low voice.
The door opened behind them, and Lodar stuck his head into the room. His eyes widened when he saw Riley pinned on her hands and knees with Vox’s hands glued to her hips. From where he was standing all he could see was creamy flesh and a hint of sheer blue lace.
"Aw, gods, Riley," Lodar groaned out loud. "You are killing me! Vox, you are going to have to wait. The Marastin Dow have broken through the first door, and they are heading this way."
Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart Page 93