by KD Jones
“I think if it was OrIN, they would have fired at us first to shake us up a bit.”
“So we have to sit here and wait to see what happens next?”
“Yes.” There was a bit of silence before StrykER turned to face her. “Melody, about what was said earlier—”
“We have a saying on Earth. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” She could see that he had no idea what she was talking about. “It means that if someone does something they normally wouldn’t do like drinking, gambling, or having sex with a stranger while visiting Vegas, they don’t want anyone else to know about it and they just want to forget it happened.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“The shuttle is Vegas. What happened in here between the two of us will remain here and not be spoken about again.”
“You feel ashamed of what happened between us?” He sounded furious and a little hurt.
“Of course not, but evidently you do. Look, I’m just trying to ease the tension between us. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all. After all, we’ll be parting ways after we’re rescued and may never see each other again.”
She grew worried when his face paled and he looked away. She could see a tick in the side of his face, which clued her in to the fact that he was trying to hold back from expressing the strong emotions he was feeling.
Melody was about to ask him if he was all right, but the opening of the transport bay doors drew her attention. “I wonder who our rescuers are. The transport looks so much like Katierans I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Can you?”
“It’s a Kiljorn transport.” He responded dryly.
She had enough of this attitude of his. She tried to relieve him of guilt or responsibility but nothing she did seemed to satisfy him. If he didn’t want to talk to her, she refused to sit near him. She stood up from the co-pilot’s seat and began making her way to the passenger seats.
“What in Kitana are you doing, female? The shuttle has not been secured yet!”
“I’m just going to put some distance between us. What’s the big deal?”
“Any sudden jerk on the shuttle could cause you to fall. You might get hurt.” Just as StrykER warned her, the shuttle tilted to the side then back to the other.
Melody lost her footing and sure enough, she fell down just like StrykER warned her could happen. It would have been fine except that when she went down, her head hit the edge of the seat, making her feel dizzy.
“Melody!”
She heard StrykER call out to her from a distance and she turned a little to look at him. He moved to her side in an instant and lifted her up in his arms gently.
“Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
She felt darkness was surrounding. “I’m about to pass out.” She was fighting it, but her head hurt.
She closed her eyes only to open them when she heard a type of growling. Then she heard a voice she thought she would never hear again.
“What did you do to her?”
“I didn’t do anything. Your people lost control of our shuttle and she fell,” StrykER responded angrily.
“Why in Kitana was she not secured in her seat?”
She lifted her head and looked at the other man in the shuttle arguing with StrykER. She gave him a half smile. “Hi, AshOR.” Then everything went dark.
Chapter 14
StrykER refused to leave Melody alone in the medic wing of the transport ship. He was furious that Melody had been injured and felt unreasonably jealous when he found that their rescuers were led by her previous lover, Commander AshOR.
“You need to report in at command center,” AshOR told him.
“I’m not leaving her alone while she is unconscious. She knows no one here and might awaken frightened.”
“I’ll stay with her,” a female voice said from behind AshOR.
“I don’t know who you are.” StrykER watched as AshOR opened his arms and the blonde-haired female went to him.
“My name is Ava Collins. I’m from Earth and I have experience with dealing with disasters and survivors.”
“She is also my mate,” AshOR warned him in case he said something offensive.
A part of his jealousy faded, knowing that the other male now had a mate of his own. He still didn’t like to leave Melody with strangers.
“I’ll be fine. Go.” Melody’s soft voice came from the small hospital bed she was on.
StrykER looked down at her. “Are you okay? I was worried when you hit your head.” He stroked hair back and gently touched the small bruise on her forehead.
“I’ll be fine. Go do your job.”
He didn’t like it, but he needed to let them know what he found. “I’ll return to check on you.”
She nodded his head. He turned to leave but stopped and surprised everyone there when he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. Then he headed out of the medic wing.
*****
Melody watched StrykER leave with AshOR following behind him. She touched her lips. They still tingled from his brief kiss. She was shocked and confused. Why would he kiss her right there in front of everyone?
“Hi, I’m Ava Collins.”
She looked over at the pretty blonde woman who was still standing next to her bed. She had forgotten she was in the room. “I’m Melody Song—Abrams. My stage name is Song.”
“I’ve heard some of your music. You’re really good.”
“Thanks.” There was an awkward moment where neither woman knew what to say.
Ava pulled a chair up next to her and sat down in it. “Let’s clear the air here. You had something with AshOR once. Now he’s mated to me. Is there going to be a problem?”
She liked Ava. She got right down to the main issue. “Not at all. I’m happy AshOR found you. He’s a good male. We parted as friends and I only feel that for him.”
Ava smiled at her. “I’d have to hurt you if you thought to try to steal him from me or mean to hurt him. He’s mine and I’m a bit protective over him.”
“You have no worries about me. I’m not interested in him in that way.”
“Is that because your interest lies elsewhere?”
She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Ava lifted a brow. “StrykER was ready to tear AshOR apart if he touched you. Then he laid that kiss on you right in front of everyone, letting us know whom you belong to.”
She bit her bottom lip, not sure how to respond. “His people do call him the Boogie Man. To the Morins.”
“Why would they call him the Boogie Man?” Ava asked.
“He has made the captured Morins prisoners break down into tears during his interrogations.”
“Well, I met him briefly and he made me nervous too. Look, I know we just met and the circumstances that make us acquainted with each other are awkward. I want to be your friend if you’ll let me. I’ve worked with disasters on Earth and, although I’m not a therapist, I have helped a lot of people who were abused.”
It took a moment for her to understand the meaning behind Ava’s strange comments. “You think I was abused—sexually?”
“The medics examined you and there were signs of…”
“The Purists kidnapped me and didn’t treat me very well, but they didn’t have time to do anything else to me because StrykER got me out of there.”
“Then it was StrykER?”
She was embarrassed that her privacy had been broken. “Why would the medics tell everyone that?”
“They didn’t. AshOR overheard them and called for me to come speak with you. No one else knows.”
She winced as she sat up. “I wasn’t raped.”
“Don’t protect him. If he hurt you he needs to be punished for that.”
“It was consensual! I wanted to be with him. Okay?”
“Why?”
“Did you see him? He’s fucking gorgeous!”
“I’m sorry we misjudged what happened. Are the two of you mates now?”
She looked away. “We barely know each other. Not enough to make that commitment.”
“Is there something else going on? I’m asking because I care.”
“Why do you? You should be jealous and angry and demanding AshOR kick me off the ship.”
Ava just smiled at her kindly. “He would never do that and I would never ask it of him. He’s a good leader and feels responsible for you. When he heard about your abduction, it hit him hard that it could have been his fault, that maybe he’d hurt you somehow and that was why you wanted to go to Kiljor.”
“It wasn’t AshOR’s fault, or anyone else’s except for the Purists. I needed a change of scenery. No one could have predicted what would have happened.”
“What about what happened with you and StrykER.”
“I was scared of him at first, but even through that I was attracted to him. We had to hide out on some asteroid and power the ship down so that the Purists’ warships wouldn’t find us. One thing led to another.”
“Was it only comfort sex then?”
Melody thought about it. Was it for comfort? Actually, what she had with AshOR that one night had been more for comfort. What she shared with StrykER had been so much more. She shook her head. “It was more than just comfort for me.”
“And now?” Ava prompted her to continue to talk.
“He doesn’t want me anymore.” Melody felt a pain in her heart.
Ava patted her hand. “Both of you need some time. Something horrible happened and you found something unexpected. Time will sort it all out.”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to know right now. I can tell you this—that male is definitely interested in you.”
She looked up with hopeful eyes. “Why do you think that?”
“He threatened to shoot AshOR if he touched you and then he kissed you in front of everyone. That pretty much stakes his claim.”
She sighed. “I wish I could read his mind. One minute we’re having the most incredible sex I’ve ever had, and then he’s telling me that we’re strangers. Now he’s kissed me like he’s marked his territory. I’m so confused.”
Ava winked at her. “That’s a man for you. It doesn’t matter whether he’s human, Katieran, Kiljorn, or Colonial. They all make no sense. I can assure you, he’s probably just as confused about you as you are about him. These males in this culture, in particular, don’t know how to handle human females.”
Melody giggled. “He sure knew how to handle me earlier.”
Both women laughed and the tension eased. Melody started to feel sleepy.
“The medics gave you a low-dose sedative but your adrenaline was keeping you from relaxing. You should sleep for the next few hours.”
“I don’t want—sleep.” She couldn’t keep her eyelids open.
“Rest, Melody Song. I’ll stay here until your mate returns.”
She wanted to deny StrykER was her mate but couldn’t form the words. Maybe a little nap would be okay.
*****
StrykER paced the command center. Commander TylOR and Commander AshOR were both watching him with impatience.
“Your female is fine in the medic wing. You need to finish this report before you return to her.”
He didn’t deny that she was his. StrykER would never be able to deny it again. When AshOR showed up on the shuttle and demanded he hand Melody over to him, something inside him took over. Some kind of protective instinct that he had previously only heard about, but had never experienced. It took several more warriors to make AshOR move back long enough for StrykER to calm down.
The male had the audacity to follow him to medic wing and then proceeded to grill him about what had happened to her. He didn’t answer until the medics asked what all had been done to the female. He had told them her name and that she was not some random female. She was to be treated with the utmost care.
“Specialist StrykER, give your report.” Commander TylOR sat down at the table.
He sat down along with AshOR. “I witnessed several rallies that OrIN gave to convince people to follow him.”
“Did anyone attend that you recognized?”
“No one of high-ranking status. There were so many just simple, regular people. No one really stood out.”
“You got the message about the female.”
“I did. OrIN pulled me to watch as they brought her in. She was shook up and bruised. Her clothes except for the undergarments had been removed.”
“Was she sexually assaulted?” AshOR asked.
“Not from what I could tell and she would have told me. I didn’t have a choice. I had to get her out of there. OrIN was going to torture information out of her and when he didn’t find anything, he planned to have his medics do experiments on her.”
AshOR growled with anger. “What kind of experiments?”
“There was talk of opening her up to see how she differed from our people and there was talk of—mutation.”
Commander TylOR slammed his fist against the table. “They would dare hurt a female this way? It goes against everything that we believe. It’s breaking our laws!”
“OrIN doesn't see it that way. He thinks he is doing the will of the Goddess and saving the Katieran people from the insidious Earth females. He plans to overthrow the ruling primes and become the leader of all three nations.”
“He is insane.” AshOR shook his head in disbelief.
“He also has an infatuation with Prima AriELa. I would warn Prime Leader RendEL that he needs to increase security around her.”
“How did you manage to get free? I thought they kept you from traveling the passages and learning how to leave on your own.” AshOR asked.
“I had help. Commander MarIK, OrIN’s second-in-command male, gave me the information I needed and he took down the security system.”
“Can you trust him?” TylOR raised his eyebrow.
“At the time, I had no choice but to trust him if I was to save Melody.”
“I’ll contact the leaders and let them know to up their personal security.” TylOR took out his digital tablet.
“Wait, there’s more. On our way out, we discovered their armory. It’s full of the stockpile of weapons we supplied them with, but they also had warships.”
“Where in Kitana did they get warships from?” AshOR demanded.
“That’s something that should be top priority to find out. Every ship needs to be accounted for.”
AshOR rubbed his bald head and looked at his older brother TylOR. “If they managed to get warships we didn’t know about, they could have a transport ship as well. Maybe several of them.”
“Go to your female. I’ll contact the leaders and let them know what’s going on.” TylOR dismissed him.
“Wait one second, StrykER.” AshOR moved fast to block him from the doorway.
“Move out of my way.” StrykER had to squeeze his hands into fists to keep from hitting the other male.
“Not until you tell me what is going on between you and Melody.”
“She is mine,” StrykER growled out, pushing AshOR’s shoulder.
“She’s yours until you walk away.”
“You have no room to talk. You used her, then moved on to mate another female.”
“Melody and I were there for each other for comfort. She had no love for me and I had no love for her. We parted as friends. As her friend, I want to make sure she had a male in her life she can count on.”
StrykER didn’t like hearing him talk about his time with Melody. He wasn’t about to discuss his relationship with her with him. “That is between me and Melody.” He shoved past the male and stepped out into the corridor.
He took a deep breath then released it slowly, calming himself. He didn’t want to go back to Melody in a fit of rage. He needed to get control. They had a lot to discuss and he had to make things up to her after he had hurt her.
Chapter 15
StrykER found the female Ava sitting at Melody’s b
edside. He glanced at Melody, who was sleeping peacefully. “How is she?”
“She finally relaxed enough to let the sedatives kick in. Her vitals are strong and the medics said she will heal in the next few hours from the bruises.”
He went to the other side of her bed and picked up her hand gently. “Thank you for staying with her.”
“It was my pleasure. I think she and I will be good friends.”
He looked at the blond female in surprise. “You would befriend her, even though she slept with AshOR?”
Ava shrugged. “That’s in the past. I have nothing to worry about since AshOR’s mine and Melody is interested in you.”
“She said that? That she was interested in me?”
“Yeah, but she’s confused since you told her you two were strangers and gave her the brush off.”
“What is a ‘brush off’?”
AshOR’s voice came from the doorway. “It means you fucked her then tried to pretend it didn’t mean anything.”
Ava stood up and went to her mate. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. “Ready to go get something to eat?”
Ava smiled at him. “Yes, but can we take it back to our quarters? I missed you.”
AshOR growled before kissing her again deeply. StrykER turned his attention back to the female sleeping in the bed. He didn’t hear them leave. At least now he knew what he had done to hurt her. He would see to it that he made up for it.
*****
Melody felt extremely groggy but grateful that nothing was hurting her. She was actually feeling much better physically. She opened her eyes and froze her movements as she caught sight of StrykER sitting uncomfortably in a nearby chair, asleep. Noticing for the first time the bags under his eyes, she wondered how long it had been since he had gotten any sleep.
Whether or not they had a future together, she owed StrykER her life. She never would have made it out of there without him. She watched his eyes slowly open. Then, when he caught sight of her looking at him, he sat straight up.
“How are you feeling?”