Gods, he probably should have told her about the transformation. In all honesty, he hadn’t thought about it since he didn’t think it was going to be an issue. Now, he wasn’t so sure that had been a good thing to keep from her. With his luck, she would finish shredding him to pieces once she found out what he had done.
That’s what you get for thinking, his cat angrily snarled back.
Will you just go lie down? Vox snapped back. And for the sake of all the gods, quit using my insides as a scratching post! It is not helping me.
Vox breathed a sigh of relief when his cat finally settled down in a sullen heap inside him. He tiredly ran his hands over his face. He straightened up when the door sounded to let him know someone was there. His heart jumped for a moment, wondering hopefully if maybe Riley had finally come to her senses and returned to him before he remembered that this was Riley. She never did anything that he expected—or wanted, for that matter. He gave the command for the door to open and let out his breath when he saw Cree standing outside of it alone.
"She’s not coming, is she?" Vox said more than asked.
Cree’s lips turned up in a slight tilt at the corners before he replied. "No, my lord. I have to admit I’ve never heard so many colorful and descriptive ways for body parts to be placed. She said to inform you she will join you when she feels like it. I would not expect her anytime soon."
"Thank you, Cree," Vox said wearily. "I would just like to know how in the gods she is able to avoid me."
Cree’s eyes lit up with amusement. "I couldn’t say, my lord. Though I believe the tiny device she carries around that Lord Ha’ven gave her might have something to do with that," he offered.
Vox’s eyes narrowed. "Thank you again, my friend. If you ever get tired of hanging with the Valdier, you could always come to Sarafin. Who knows, you might find your mate among our females."
Cree’s face smoothed into a blank mask, but Vox saw the slight tightening around his mouth before he replied, "I appreciate the offer, my lord. I may take it under consideration."
Cree nodded to Vox before he turned and strode down the corridor. Vox stood at the door, watching. So, Creon and Ha’ven were behind Riley’s successful escape. He needed to find out what Ha’ven gave her. That damn Curizan was a wizard when it came to creating useful and annoying devices. It was about time he took some of his aggravation out on a couple of royal pains in the asses.
"Computer, what is the location of Ha’ven and Creon?" Vox called out.
"Lords Ha’ven and Creon are currently in the training area," the automated voice replied.
"Perfect." Vox grinned as he headed out the door.
* * *
An hour later, all three men sat on the padding covering the floor. They were drenched in sweat and a small amount of blood. Creon lay back, staring up at the ceiling, drawing in deep breaths while Ha’ven checked out a new wound he had on the back of his arm. Vox sat with his arms draped over his knees, panting.
"That was interesting," Ha’ven said dryly. "Could you keep the claws in next time, Vox? This stings like a Sargum’s piss."
Vox looked up with a nasty grin. "You help Riley again and it won’t be your arm that feels my claws."
Creon chuckled from where he lay on the mat, exhausted. "So that was why you felt the need to kick our asses. I haven’t had to fight so hard since the wars."
Vox glared at Creon. "Don’t think I didn’t figure out that you were the one to help my mate relocate," Vox grunted out. "You two owe me. You have to help me capture her."
"What the hell fun is that?" Ha’ven grumbled.
"I need her," Vox replied quietly. "She will be going through the transformation."
Creon sat up and stared at Vox. "I thought all your females could already transform into cats."
Vox looked at Creon before he turned his gaze down to the floor in front of him. "Sarafin females, yes. As you know, Riley is human. If a female is of a different species and is our mate, a warrior and his cat can share his essence, giving a part of himself to her." He looked up at his two friends who were now focused on what he was saying. "This leaves us vulnerable. Because we have given a part of who we are away, we must be near them, or we suffer great distress."
Creon stared intently at his huge, spotted friend. "Define distress."
Vox grimaced as a wave of pain swept through him. "It is much like you and your dragon," he said. "We feel intense pain, need, and anxiety. Riley will have already begun the transformation. I did not tell her about it. I was afraid if I did she would not be very happy," he grinned briefly. "Riley can be very difficult when she is not happy."
Ha’ven threaded his fingers through his hair and looked at his friend in sympathy. "Gods, Vox, if I had known it would be this difficult for you I would never have given her that damn locator. I was just playing around."
"I know. That is why I didn’t beat your ass into the ground," Vox replied. "But, I will if you ever help her to get away from me again. You know, she is pretty good at that on her own. She put me on the ground twice already."
"If you tell us how she did it, we’ll help you catch her," Creon laughed. "I would pay good credits to hear how she was able to put the mighty king of the Sarafin down on the ground. You know, she is not the most coordinated female I have ever met."
* * *
Carmen came to see Riley later that evening. She explained Vox’s warship, the Shifter, had arrived. If anything, that made Riley want to stay locked in the living quarters even more. All she wanted to do was sit and cry. In fact, that was all she had been wanting to do since she moved into the stupid room. She had thought being away from Vox would have helped her put things in perspective. She was human and returning to Earth; he was an alien and would go off and kill other aliens. Instead, she was suffering from PMS, menopause, and newly discovered sexual frustration on top of feeling like she was about ready to pop out of her own skin when anything brushed against her. Hell, even her clothes were driving her crazy. This morning when she had gotten dressed she had actually hissed when she put on her bra! Who the hell hissed about a bra?
"Are you okay?" Carmen asked as she took in Riley’s flushed face. "You look like you might be running a fever."
Riley’s eyes teared up. "Ever since Vox made love to me I’ve felt funny. I don’t know what is going on. I’m having hot flashes, my skin is so sensitive I want to scream, and it…it…" Her voice hiccuped as she tried to talk over the lump in her throat. "I feel like something is crawling around inside me," she wailed.
Carmen’s eyes grew round as she listened to Riley’s choked explanation. Her mouth tightened as she remembered Creon forgetting to tell her about a vital piece of information when he had claimed her. She suspected what Riley was going through was very similar. Carmen put her arm around Riley and guided her over to a chair. Pushing her friend down, she sat across from her.
"I didn’t understand what it would mean when Creon claimed me," Carmen began. "I don’t know what it is like for the Sarafin species. I can only tell you what happened to me. When a Valdier warrior and his dragon claim a female they release something known as the dragon’s fire into the female. It changes her. I didn’t understand at first. It felt like there was something moving under my skin." Carmen smiled in understanding when Riley brushed her damp cheeks and nodded. "Then, I heard another voice inside me. It turned out to be my dragon. I suddenly remembered seeing scales rippling across my skin when Creon and I were making love. When I heard the voice, everything fell into place. Creon had changed me somehow. I was now able to transform into a dragon as well. I was his true mate," Carmen said before she looked over to stare out into the darkness of space. "It is still unbelievable to me how much my life has changed." Carmen looked back at Riley with sad eyes. "I was waiting to die. My only focus was to return to Earth to do it."
"Do you still want to go back?" Riley asked, sensing there was a lot to Carmen that she didn’t know.
"A part of me does," Carmen admitted s
oftly. "I need closure for my life before. My husband…" Carmen paused and took a deep breath, laying one of her hands across her stomach. "My husband was murdered in front of me. I was pregnant and had been shot several times. I lost them both. I wanted—needed—to kill the man responsible. I knew that I would die as well." Carmen looked at Riley with a haunted expression in her eyes. "I wanted to die before. Now I have Creon, and I’m expecting again. I have a chance at starting over."
"What about your family? Do you have anyone else back on Earth who will miss you?" Riley asked, pushing her own fears and problems aside as she felt the depth of pain in Carmen’s words.
Carmen shook her head. "No. Well, except for Trisha’s dad. My sister is mated to Creon’s older brother. She is all the family I have left."
Riley bit her lip and looked warily at Carmen. "Do you think that Vox did something to me? I know they can turn into a big pussy cat, but surely that doesn’t mean he did anything to make me turn into one."
Carmen chuckled reluctantly as she looked at Riley’s pensive expression. "Truthfully, I don’t know. Vox, Titus, and Banu are the first Sarafin warriors I’ve ever met. It is just the things you are saying you are feeling sound an awful lot like some of the things I was feeling before I turned into a dragon for the first time."
"Great! So what happens when I get home and turn into a big hairball? I really don’t see the local humane society as being a great place to visit," Riley growled out as she started heating up again. This time not because of the changes but because of a certain something a soon to be dead hairball forgot to mention!
Chapter 15
Riley let out another stream of curses as she bounced on Vox’s shoulder. The huge moron and the two traitors had tricked her. Ha’ven had reprogrammed the device he had given her, and Creon had tricked her into coming down to the dining quarters on the pretense Carmen wanted to meet with her. Instead, Vox had been waiting. He had lived up to his promise that if he got his hands on her again he wasn’t going to let her go. He had snuck up behind her. The next thing she knew, he had twirled her around so she could see the determination in his face before he bent over and tossed her struggling, cursing body over his broad shoulder.
"Let me go!" Riley yelled out as she clawed at her hair to get it out of her eyes. "Damn it, Vox, I am not talking to you!"
"You could have fooled me!" He chuckled. "You have threatened me with every possible means of dismemberment. I did not know a female could even think of some of the ways you described."
"I can easily think of a few more," Riley snapped in irritation. "Let me down, you moron. This is totally messing my hair up and I’m wearing a skirt, you creep. I don’t want everyone seeing my underwear."
Vox’s chest rumbled with a purr as he ran his hand up her leg and under her skirt to touch the soft skin of her ass. He grinned in delight as Riley burst into another round of curses and dire threats of what she was going to do to him the moment she got free.
"Stop that!" she squeaked in outrage even as her body heated up as he slid his hand over the cheek of her ass.
Vox breathed in deeply, sighing in pleasure as he picked up her reaction to his touch. She still wanted him even if she refused to admit it. He was not going to let her remain under the misconception that she would be returning to Earth. Creon had told him what Carmen had shared about her conversation with Riley. He needed to get her onto the Shifter and back to Sarafin as soon as they met up with Creon’s brother, Mandra, and took care of Raffvin. Once he had her back on his planet, he would seal her in his quarters and make love to her until she accepted her fate.
Riley sniffed in frustration, tears burning at the back of her eyes. She was so damn confused! She thought she had her emotions, and her body, back under some small amount of control, but the moment he touched her it was like she had grabbed the wrong end of an electric fence. Her whole body came alive, inside and out. Hell, right now it felt like whatever had been moving around under her skin was trying to brush up against Vox.
She drew in a deep, calming breath. The scent that exploded through her had her practically writhing with need, which really pissed her off. Since when could she smell everything so much better? The warm, musky masculine fragrance made her think of cool forests, soft grass, and hot bodies tangled around each other. Just the thought of it turned the burning need in her up another couple of notches. She was so going to kill his ass for making her feel this way!
"Guall’s balls, Riley. I need you," Vox’s husky, deep voice muttered. "As soon as we are on my warship I am locking us in my living quarters," he promised as he moved with long strides down the corridors, ignoring the warriors who stopped to stare.
Riley trembled at the dark promise. "I can’t go with you. Cal and Mel said Creon is taking them back to Earth. I have to go back!" she wailed, trying to fight her own desires.
"Never! I am never letting you go. My cat and I have claimed you. You are now my queen," Vox growled out in fury. "I will never let you return to your world."
Riley bit her bottom lip. She couldn’t go with him! There were too many things she still needed to do. She had a family, damn it. It might be small and dysfunctional, but it was still her family. She and Grandma Pearl and Tina might fight like roosters in a cock fight, but they were still very loyal to each other. Then, there was her ex-boss and his insane father. She had a moral and ethical responsibility to stop them from hurting others, didn’t she? Finally, there was the fact that she didn’t want to turn into a hairball and eat people. She liked fur but turning into a walking coat complete with a tail was not on her bucket list of things to do before she died. Which was the added bonus to her reasons—she was bound to end up dead. It happened in every single movie she’d watched! No, she needed to stay where she was at and think with her head, not her heart.
Riley gasped when she was suddenly lifted off Vox’s shoulder. He slid her down his long, hard length until her feet touched the floor. She used her one free hand—he refused to let her other one go—to push her heavy mane of hair out of her eyes. She looked around, disoriented, before she noticed they were in the same docking bay they had arrived in several days earlier. Now, though, there was a strange-looking shuttle with a long, narrow nose that gradually widened toward the back. A small group of men stood talking with Lodar and Tor. One of the men turned to look at her through narrow, intense eyes. Riley stumbled back a few steps before Vox’s grip on her wrist stopped her.
"That is my younger brother, Viper," Vox stated, looking down at her with a sharp-toothed smile. "I think he just found out about you."
"Great," Riley hissed. "You carry me in here like a damn rug over your shoulder, messing up my hair and putting your hands where they don’t belong, then introduce me to family. That is so totally wrong on way too many levels."
Vox turned her around to face him. His face was cut in stone as he looked down at her defiant one. He could see the flash of fear in her eyes before she covered it up with that stubborn look she got. His heart melted a little when he realized that she was terrified but trying hard not to show it.
"You do not have to be afraid," he murmured quietly. "No one will hurt you. You will learn to adjust once you are on my world."
Riley’s eyes flashed at the reminder that she wasn’t being given a choice. Well, she thought savagely, since when have I ever let that stop me? All she needed to do was get back to her living quarters and lock herself in her room until they reached Earth. And, she thought savagely, I won’t be coming out until I see the big, blue marble for myself. No more trusting the two Cheshire cats!
"I am not afraid because I am not going anywhere with you," she hissed out as she kicked her pointed-toe boot into his shin.
"Son of the gods," Vox yelped as he jumped back.
Riley used her free hand to yank down on the weakest spot of his grip breaking free from his hold. That was a clever move that she learned in a Crisis Prevention Intervention class that she took with a bunch of teachers. She drew her hand
back as Vox reached for her and popped him as hard as she could on the tip of his nose just the way her Grandma Pearl showed her. She cried out when she realized she forgot to keep her thumb on the outside of her hand, but it still had the effect she was hoping for. Vox’s head snapped back, and she knew he would have tears in his eyes.
Riley vaguely heard several of the men who were standing next to the shuttle yell out as she made a dash for the doorway. She could hear Vox snarling out loud curses. She was almost to the doorway leading out of the docking bay when Bob and Fred came through it, blocking her escape.
"Move! Move!" Riley screeched as she looked over her shoulder to see Vox turning to glare at her with murder in his eyes. "Oh shit! Move!"
"Riley, what did you do to him this time?" Fred asked looking back and forth in terror as Vox started stomping toward them with blood trickling from his nose. "He doesn’t look like he is happy with you."
"You think I don’t know that?" Riley growled out. "Bob, get out of the way."
"Riley, you are his mate…" Bob started to say before his voice died.
Riley glanced over her shoulder before she let out a loud groan. Turning, she raised her fists up and glared at Vox defiantly. He didn’t look pissed, he looked like a volcano about to blow its frigging top!
"Vox, you just stay away from me," she bit out. "I don’t want to have to hurt you but so help me I will if you don’t leave me alone! I am not your queen, I’m not your mate, I’m going home!"
"I…am…going…to…whip…your…ass…for…this, Riley," Vox gritted out slowly between his clenched teeth.
Riley stumbled backward as she took in his dark face. Maybe the bop on the nose had been a little too much. She might have been able to get away with just the kick. Right now, she was cursing the fact that she didn’t have her mini-Taser or pepper spray on her.
Note to self, she thought frantically. Never go anywhere without it.
"Just let me go," she responded softly, trying to get him to understand that this really wasn’t a good idea. "I’m nothing but a pain in the ass, just ask my grandma and sister. They were forever telling me I was a headache waiting to happen. I don’t belong on your world. I’m not queen material. Hell, I’m not even girlfriend material!" she added with a self-deprecating smile. "Just ask any of the guys who thought I was. Not a single one lasted more than a week."
Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart Page 98