Miners of Djaromir: K'hor

by Leora Gonzales

  Juniper returned the look with a smile as fake as the woman’s eye-popping red hair. The sour expression on Eva’s face was a perfect match for her general disposition. She was the living, breathing version of what Juniper equated to a human Dementor. The longer you were around her, the more joy she somehow managed to suck away.

  Juniper always felt gross after meeting with her. As if somehow Eva’s bad juju had managed to rub off a bit on her.

  She also really, really, sucked as a bridal liaison. The woman had been nothing but unpleasant at every step along way, constantly questioning everything Juniper did with a sneer on her face. It was the type of face someone made when they unexpectedly smelled shit. At first, Eva’s obvious dislike of her had been annoying but now Juniper had to admit she was becoming slightly entertained by it all.

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” Eva asked, her expression one that could only be described as disapproval.

  “Yep!” Juniper answered with a chirp, knowing it would annoy the witch before her.

  Then, she almost swallowed her tongue in shock. Eva had somehow managed to frown even harder than before.

  How is that even physically possible?

  Barely suppressing a shudder as she felt her remaining positive energy drawn from her by this now confirmed soul-sucker, Juniper was glad when Eva simply nodded once and gestured for her to follow. Apparently, she wanted this over just as much as Juniper did.

  Walking down the deserted hallway, Juniper had to wonder how Eva managed to keep her job. Not only that, but why? Everyone could see that she hated it, even the brides she was supposed to be ‘helping.’ If this was the face of the bridal pact recruitment team there was no way it would be successful.

  The only reason she had stuck it out was because she was that desperate for a change.

  Excited for the future and grateful that her time with the horrid woman was almost over, Juniper followed along absentmindedly. It wasn’t until they reached the main floor that she noticed how quiet the center was. The normally crowded atrium was completely empty. Juniper looked around to see that the same went for the guard stations that manned the doors. One desk had the monitors and lamp on, but the armed guard was nowhere to be seen.

  “Did the Intake Center close already?” Juniper glanced across the space, looking for a sign of anyone else in the building. Everything was motionless, even the large bank of elevators lining the wall.

  “Technically,” Eva bit out between prudish lips. “The Phaetons prefer to pick up their brides without all of the attention.”

  “Really?” She frowned. Something about Eva’s words rang false but Juniper was too wound up to pick them apart.

  “Yes,” Eva snapped, her voice as hard as the clicks of her heels against the marble floor. The sound continued until they reached a back door marked with a glowing sign that said Exit.

  Juniper froze in her tracks as the base of her neck began to tingle. “Where are we going?”

  “The shuttle is right out here.” Eva pushed the bar to open the door and held it awkwardly open for Juniper to walk through ahead of her.

  Squinting at the darkness that had fallen outside, Juniper struggled to see what was on the other side. With the light from the hall behind her she could barely see in front of her. Taking a few tentative steps forward, she crossed the threshold and stepped into the void.

  “I thought—" Juniper lost what she was going to say the moment she slammed into someone. It was on the tip of her tongue to automatically apologize when a sharp pain on her arm distracted her. “Ow!” Slapping weakly at the sting, her hand left tingled as if the limb had begun to fall asleep.

  “Whaaassshpning?” she tried to ask even as her legs began to give away.

  The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Eva’s voice. “Good riddance.”

  Chapter One

  “…they stole us from mercenaries who were planning to sell us as sex slaves,” the woman who had introduced herself as Charlotte finished.

  “Say that again,” Juniper demanded as she sat stunned, still struggling to get her bearings.

  “What part?”

  What part? Ummmm...all of it?

  Juniper rubbed her temples in a circular motion. This was literally the worse time she could’ve ever picked to stop cursing. Right now, the only thing she wanted to do was scream a string of them like a crazy person and she was barely hanging on as it was. She’d woken up with a slight headache but the shitasprophe she found herself in had turned it up.

  Way up.

  Charlotte must have read the look on Juniper’s face because she instantly leaned forward and placed a hand on her arm. “From what me and the other brides can figure, these guys are telling the truth.” Charlotte nodded to the man standing at the door behind her. “We just have to stay here until the storm clears enough for the Phaetons to land. A couple of the gals have scoped out our assigned rooms and they’re nice and clean.”

  Charlotte tapped her foot against the dirt-packed floor with a slight grimace. “Well, as clean as they can be considering the miners carved a city of caves. You have to see the rest of this place, everywhere you go they have these weird glowing stones that they use for light. They give off such a natural glow that you kind of forget you’re basically in a tunnel. It’s pretty amazing how they’ve managed all this.” Charlotte paused and gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry, I was an interior designer on Earth and I can’t seem to help myself.” Standing up, she walked over to a cart loaded with bottles against the stone carved wall. Picking it up, she tossed it between her hands as she glanced around the room. “For being underground, I expected to feel a little more claustrophobic, ya know?”

  Juniper couldn’t help but stare at the other woman who’d finally stopped talking. First, she was curious how long Charlotte could hold her breath, considering she hadn’t seen her take a breath yet. Second, Juniper wasn’t going to take anyone’s word but her own when it came to her safety. Charlotte may think everything was butterflies and roses, but that was something Juniper was going to need to decide for herself.

  “I guess.” Juniper rubbed her eyes, hoping this was all a dream. Grimacing when the mere action of raising her arm called attention to how sore her entire body was, she realized that this was indeed not a dream.

  Nope. It was a fucking nightmare.

  Charlotte walked close to hand her the green bottle she had been juggling. “Here, try this. It tastes like water but cleaner than the stuff that comes out of the tap back home. Take a few sips. I remember how dry my throat was when I first woke up.”

  “When was that?” Juniper sniffed the bottle before raising it to her lips. It did taste like water on Earth…just somehow fresher. Letting out a sigh at the instant soothing of her throat, she smiled in thanks before tipping the container back again for another rush of liquid.

  “Last night.” Charlotte gestured to the large guard behind her, bringing Juniper’s attention back to the man she truly hoped wasn’t a threat. “That’s Saber,” she said, her cheeks blushing a pretty pink. “He’s watching over us until the guy in charge comes back.”

  When the man nodded and smiled politely at the pair of women, Juniper gave him a timid smile back. Whoever these miners were, they weren’t unattractive if their guard was anything to go by. Like the Phaetons, they could easily pass for human men from Earth.

  “The leader has been waking us up one at a time to explain what happened. He was here earlier but he was called away before you were totally awake. I think he’s some sort of King or something here. I remember they called him Lord…”

  Juniper barely listened to Charlotte as she studied Saber. These miners were bigger than the Phaetons.

  Much bigger.

  Although she had never met a Phaeton in person, the few she saw on the television hadn’t looked nearly as big as these guys. Saber was about the same height but thicker, more heavily muscled. Juniper eyed the guard as she continued to tune out Charlotte’s cha
tter.

  He was ridiculously attractive even if he wasn’t exactly her type. Her personal tastes had always run a little darker than the blond man in front of her.

  Tall and muscled, the guard was pretty much what she pictured when she thought of a miner—or maybe a lumberjack. Not an actual miner miner, but more along what you would expect from the movie version of one. With a full ginger-tinged beard, bulging arms, leather pants and tunic, and an edgy blond haircut, he looked as if he had stepped right out of a casting call. All that was missing were a few strategically placed dirt streaks to emphasize how ripped he was.

  When Charlotte leaned forward a bit as if she were going to tell a secret, Juniper’s thoughts were interrupted. “I know it all sounds crazy—”

  Juniper stopped Charlotte in her tracks by gesturing for a time-out as if she were in the middle of a sporting event. “Pump the brakes, lady. Crazy is an understatement.” Juniper gestured widely around the room, realizing mid-swing how sore she was. “How can we be sure they ‘rescued’ us?” she asked, busting out the finger quotes for emphasis. “What if they’re the ones that kidnapped us and this is all a lie to get us to go with the flow and not fight back. Maybe they’re the bad guys.”

  “I vow that’s not the case.”

  At the introduction of a deep voice, Juniper about jumped out of her skin. Whipping her head around, she hastily brushed her overly long bangs back when they fell into her eyes. Juniper was in the middle of blinking away the irritation when he came into focus.

  Ho-lee shit that was some focus.

  Juniper’s mouth popped open when she saw the man who’d snuck in. She blinked. Then blinked again. Unless she was losing it, the man standing in the doorway looked exactly like a dark-haired version of Thor.

  A deliciously muscled god who happened to be smiling at her while she stared up at him like some sort of slack-jawed idiot. Her dark-haired Thor even had a perfect smile from what she could see. Nice lips, plump but not overly plump, that parted perfectly to show a bright set of straight white teeth. Even the skin on his lips looked perfect. They were just a bit wet as if he’d licked them seconds before.

  Juniper licked her own lips just thinking about them. Whoever dark-haired Thor was—DHT for short—he was damn tempting.

  Charlotte stepped between the pair. “She didn’t—”

  “Don’t worry, Charlotte King.” Taking the few steps needed to enter the room, DHT smiled at Charlotte. “Caution is expected in circumstances like these. In fact, it is applauded.”

  Juniper frowned at them both. She didn’t know why, but the attention he gave the other woman irked her.

  “Who’re you?” Juniper interrupted as Charlotte stepped closer to him.

  A deep rumble came from the guard at the door, grabbing all their attention. Seeing the tight jaw of the guard made Juniper realize she wasn’t the only one who was annoyed with the flirtation.

  “Sorry, Juniper.” Charlotte apologized with a wrinkle of her nose. “This is K’hor. He’s the lord I mentioned earlier.”

  “I am one of the Warlords that govern our mining planets.” K’hor stepped next to the cot and held out his hand for Juniper to shake which she did automatically.

  As she marveled at the large hand dwarfing her own, she couldn’t help but think about the supposed correlation between hands and a certain other body part. Following the tanned skin up, she swallowed hard at the sight of his arms perfectly exposed by his sleeveless tunic. Juniper couldn’t help the shiver that slid down her spine.

  This man was a walking lady-boner.

  “This is how you do it, correct?” K’hor asked, his voice calling her attention away from the staring contest she had been having with his muscled forearms.

  “Sorry?” Juniper asked before she realized she was still pumping his hand. Dropping it like a hot potato, she knew her face was turning red as embarrassment washed over her. “Oh! I’m sorry.”

  K’hor shot her a quick grin before turning to the other woman in the room. “Charlotte, there’s a female that needs the assistance of a bride and the others have already left to break their fast. Saber can take you to her and I will take over here.” When K’hor nodded to a man at the door, he stepped forward with a bow. “He’ll make sure that the both of you make it safely to the dining halls once you’ve finished.”

  “Got it!” Charlotte turned back toward Juniper and winked while mouthing ‘he’s so hot.’ “Let me know if you need anything else, okay?” Without waiting for a response, Charlotte took Saber’s arm and allowed him to lead her out.

  Once they’d gone, Juniper eyed the man she’d been left alone with. She wasn’t picking up any bad vibes coming from him but still wasn’t quite sure what to make of the situation she’d found herself in. It wasn’t every day she found herself kidnapped and almost sold to sex traffickers.

  “You have concerns.” K’hor moved to one of the rock walls lined with glowing rocks and leaned back against it, his pose casual and nonthreatening. “Would you like to talk about them?”

  Juniper swallowed hard when her eyes automatically fell to his flat abdomen and muscled thighs outlined in leather. Her first thought was that of course she had concerns—then her hormones took over and she forgot what she’d been getting ready to say. He was so freaking hot she was having a hard time keeping the drool in her mouth. She’d never had such an intense attraction to anyone before, especially someone she’d just met. Everything about him was drawing her in, even the odd color of his eyes. From where she was sitting, they looked violet, but that couldn’t be right, could it?

  “Are your eyes rea…” her voice trailed off when K’hor smiled. The action displayed a dimple that had been playing peek-a-boo on his right cheek. Juniper bit her cheek to keep herself from letting out a needy sigh at the sight. Her reaction surprised her a bit.

  She never knew dimples were her kryptonite.

  K’hor licked his lips as he watched her from across the room. He was doing nothing more than standing still and she’d practically melted into a hormone filled puddle.

  Her vagina might as well wave the white flag of surrender now because the battle was over. Charlotte had been dead on with her earlier comment regarding the lusciousness in front of her. With short cropped dark hair framing a classically handsome face complete with full lips, he was almost too hot.

  “Ummm, I meant,” she stuttered as she began to feel warm under his eyes. “Can you explain how you captured all of us again?”

  “I believe the word you meant to use was rescue,” he offered, tilting his head to the side as he watched her.

  “Uh huh,” she agreed automatically, unable to stop from admiring the varying shades of purple his eyes held as they focused on her. They were so beautiful that Juniper found herself mesmerized before she’d realized she was staring. Dropping her eyes to her lap, she toyed with the blanket puddled there.

  “How do you know English?” Juniper asked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. She cringed on the inside. That hadn’t been what she’d meant to say but the silence had been driving her crazy.

  This was why she didn’t date.

  Seriously. She had no idea how to act around someone she was attracted to. She knew she should probably be asking carefully thought out questions, but the only thing she could think about was how damn hot he was. If she’d had to watch him lick his lips one more time, there would have been a good chance the words out of her mouth would have been inappropriate to say the least.

  Pushing off the wall, K’hor grabbed himself a drink from the cart and opened the bottle with a quick twist of his thick wrists. She didn’t know opening a bottle could be sexy, but somehow the man in front of her had managed to do it.

  “Even on the outer edges we have access to information and the languages of other species in the galaxy. Not long after the Phaetons began working with Earth, the people of Djaromir decided to add the most popular dialects to our language bank.” Holding the bottle in her direction, he o
ffered it to her.

  Juniper shook her head. “The Djaromir are friends with the Phaetons?”

  “I wouldn’t go that far but we’re not at war.” K’hor approached the cot she’d woken up on. “May I sit with you as we talk?”

  Juniper nodded. Even though she was still a little apprehensive, she couldn’t deny that she wanted him close. When it came to K’hor, her instincts weren’t screaming that she was in danger. Of course, they hadn’t warned her before she got kidnapped but that was another story.

  As K’hor settled on the mattress, it dipped slightly his direction, causing her to slide a bit closer unintentionally. Fighting the squishy feelings in her stomach at the feel of him against her, Juniper quickly murmured an apology and braced herself to push back.

  The brutal reminder of her sore muscles had her freezing mid-push with a pained groan. “Ouuuch.”

  “Are you still sore from your time in stasis?” With a large hand on her side and hip, he helped her scoot back to where she’d been perched.

  Juniper was surprised when the touch of his palms warmed her entire body. Even through her dress she could feel the heat coming off him. It reminded her of how she felt when she’d wrap herself up in towels fresh from the dryer. She had the strangest urge to snuggle closer.

  Don’t be weird, Junie.

  She shook her head to clear the thought. “Is that why I feel like I have the flu?”

  “What’s a flu?”

  Waving a hand in the air, she dismissed her own question. “My whole body aches.”

  “That’s to be expected considering you were contained for so long. Do you recall your last memory?” he asked, a look of concern on his handsome features as he watched her closely.

  Juniper thought back, trying to focus on what she remembered doing before waking up to hear she and the other brides had been hijacked. Searching her memories, panic began to set in when there was nothing but fuzziness and an increase in her headache for her efforts.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you,” K’hor blurted quickly when a tear slid out of the corner of her eye and down her cheek.