by Aria Bell
I grunted and shrugged. “In the galaxy? Too many to count. Why?”
She rolled her eyes. “Because I’m trying to get an idea of who might want you dead, that’s why.”
“Many people could benefit from my death. Many are greedy, or desire power. The simple reasons are probably the most likely.”
“That’s true. But it’s clear they don’t want to take you on directly or they wouldn’t be relying on assassin bots.”
I grunted. “Cowards. Their robots will always fail. A robot cannot be a warrior.”
She nodded absently, but I could see she was still mulling the whole thing over.
After we finished eating, we headed to the throne room. We used the heavily guarded back corridors, walking side by side. The Jardan guards snapped to attention as we passed.
I met with my advisors and counselors before opening court. News broadcasts all across Avoloxa were speculating wildly as to the reasons behind the assassination attempts. I met with a few ambassadors from the Galactic Imperium. All the while, Melika stayed nearby, watching my back. It wasn’t needed, but it felt good to know she was near. That way I could keep an eye on her. After officially taking her as mate then claiming her last night, I was not about to let her out of my sight for a moment.
The session of court went smoothly until a representative from the Gotanz Guild had to be escorted from the throne room after I refused to change my mind on the trade treaty with Katal Minor. I had already determined the trade deal would harm Avoloxa more than help, so I curtly denied him. He left with the rest of his entourage in a highly aggravated state.
It was late by the time we left the throne room. I was nearly dying of hunger, and dying with the need to take my mate to bed.
“We need to check out that representative from the Gotanz Guild,” Melika said as we headed back down the corridors to our chambers. “He didn’t make outright threats, but something about him feels off to me. Human intuition.”
“They are only merchants,” I said, frowning. “They aren’t warriors. On Jardan, the merchants pursue battle through business.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t try and remove someone—say a prince—who is standing in their way of a business deal.”
I considered it. “Fair enough. Tell it to Quaysan Lo’Dal, the captain of the guard, and to Brydal Hi’Vyn. He’s the lead investigator. They can look into it.”
And they could look into it later. Because now, I was looking forward to just one thing. Getting her naked. Getting my cock inside her. And getting us both off.
Correction. Three things.
The sun was beginning to set when we took dinner and drinks on the second balcony. A smaller version of the first that faced the direction of the setting sun. Unlike the main balcony, this one had columns of crystal that did beautiful things with the changing colors of a sunset.
“You are beautiful,” I told her as the last rays of the sun shaded her skin.
Her cheeks pinkened even further. That was a human trait I found fascinating.
“Thank you, Vorgyn.” She looked down at her empty plate as she smiled. Then she glanced out toward the horizon. The wistful look on her face made me want to pull her tight against me and never let her go.
I took her small, delicate hand in mine. I bit back a smirk because those hands might look delicate, but I’d seen the damage she could dish out with them. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I don’t know. Too many things at once.” She shook her head. “How I ended up here, with you. Everything that’s happened so far. I didn’t see any of it coming.” Her cheeks flared pink again. “Being your courtezhana. At first I knew I needed to do anything to get close to you. But last night…”
“Changed things?”
“Yes. Is that…is that how you feel?”
“I tried to deny myself from having you.” I chuckled. “Humans always bring complications. I prefer to see things in simpler terms.”
“I’m glad simple thinking works for you, my prince,” she teased.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Don’t make me come over there and fuck that smile right off your pretty face.”
She glanced around the balcony. This one was smaller and more intimate, but had the same infinite edge drop-off protected by force fields. We had some privacy. Or as much as I needed. “Don’t make threats you can’t follow through with, Your Royal Highness.”
“I never do,” I said, keeping my voice deep and low. But the coy look in her eye and the way she licked those lush lips of hers already had my cock stiffening in my pants. I stood from the table, not bothering to hide how my erection bulged against my pants, eager to be free. I undid my sword belt and let it drop. It thudded to the floor forgotten.
Her eyes widened and her mouth quirked into a smile as she also stood to face me. I claimed her with an embrace, wrapping my arms around her warm curves and pulling her into a kiss. Her little tongue darted into my mouth, and my cock instantly grew harder. I deepened the kiss, leaving her breathless. My hands caressed along her body, her breasts, her ass, up her back to cup her cheek and slow my kiss into something tender.
Melika sighed when my lips left hers, but I was far from done. She groaned as I kissed my way up her neck to nibble at her delightfully tiny earlobes. “We should…we should go inside…oh. Ohh.”
I ignored her words because I was listening to her body. Her nipples were tight and hard, I loved how they pressed against my palm when I cupped her breast. My other hand was on her ass, grinding her into my erection. I wanted her to know exactly how much I wanted her. How much I needed her.
“We should go inside,” she said again, panting into my chest. I undid her clothing and bared her breasts. I groaned with pure lustful delight as I admired them, as I cupped one, gently tweaking her nipple, and lowered my head to the other, sucking her, teasing her, pleasuring her until she arched, giving my mouth more of her.
The sound of crunching glass and ceramic reached my ears. My eyes shot open. My vision filled with the sight of a sleek black assassin robot not a meter away. It silently raised two of its limbs, aiming weapons at me.
“Melika, get down!” I yelled, pushing her out of danger. The assassin bot fired at me, but I was already moving and it missed. I bellowed as rage filled me like never before. They dared attack me when I was with my mate? They dared?
I launched myself at the assassin bot, hammering it with my bare fists. I only cared about ripping this threat to shreds with my bare hands. My blows were powerful enough to stagger it. Every time it tried to shoot me or stab me, I hammered it with another blow that knocked it off balance.
“Vorgyn!” Melika shouted.
I glanced at her. She stood a few meters away with my sword in her hand, and tossed it to me.
As soon as she threw it, the assassin droid turned and locked on her movement. It fired. The blaster bolt hit her in the arm just as the sword left her hand. She cried out in pain and fell.
A scream of fury ripped from me as the sword flew into my hand. My vision went red.
I spun and raised the sword, and with one mighty blow, I sheared straight through the assassin robot, splitting it in two. It crashed to the ground in a spray of sparks as I dropped my blade and ran to Melika’s side.
She was on her knees, struggling to get back to her feet. But I saw at once she was in shock. Her hand had been completely blasted away. The sight of her blood chilled me all the way through.
She gave me a weak smile. “Nice one. You cut it in two.”
“Hush,” I murmured as I tied off her wrist, clamping it hard. My heart was beating so hard it made my hands shake in a way they never shook when I was in combat. Facing my own death never frightened me, but the thought of my mate’s death terrified me. Her blood was on her and on me as I wrapped her in cloth covering the table and picked her up.
By now, my bodyguards had flooded the area. I ordered them out of the way and they scrambled to obey. Two of them ran ahead of me, opening d
oors as I carried Melika in my arms through the fortress. Her eyes were closed and her head leaned limply against my chest. Her breathing was shallow, and she felt cold.
I stormed through the halls, bringing Melika to the medical center. Security had called ahead, and the medical emergency staff met us half way with a float stretcher. They wanted to take her from me, take her out of my arms. I growled at them and they scurried back, until a logical thought finally made it through the fog of rage in my mind. They were here to help her.
They could do for her what I could not.
I never felt so powerless, so weak, in all my life.
I laid her on the stretcher, and they rushed her away. I followed them. They tried to keep me out of the operating room, but I shouldered my way inside.
“Who is the doctor here?” I demanded.
A middle-aged male with dusky blue skin answered. “I am.”
I grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground with one arm.
“Save her. Or you will answer to me.”
It wasn’t kind and it wasn’t fair, but right now, with Melika hurt, I didn’t care.
He nodded quickly, his eyes bulging. I put him down. I took one last look at Melika as she lay there. The sight of her hurt was like a sword in my heart.
One of the med team took my arm, gently, and guided me out of the room. I let him.
She was in surgery for hours. The fortress was in lockdown, being searched room by room for enemies. The medical area was filled with my men, both elite bodyguards and fortress security. They brought me some fresh clothes to replace my bloodstained ones, and asked me if I was hurt, fussing over me as if I were some injured dorza cub. I growled at them and they backed away and left me alone.
Finally, the doctor came out to meet with me. He kept his distance. I felt a little bad about scaring him, but not too bad. Every part of me wanted to find the dishonorable scum responsible for hurting my mate and break them into pieces.
“Is she going to survive?” I demanded.
“She will. We had to have human blood airlifted in, but she will make it.”
I didn’t like the look on his face. And it wasn’t just about nearly being choked. “What is it? Speak up.”
“She lost her hand. There was nothing of it left to save. I’m sorry. But we’ve fitted her with a bionic prosthetic, controlled by her nervous system. So far, all indications are good that her body will accept the implant. However, we were at a loss to find one small enough for a human female.”
“I understand.” I looked him in the eye and nodded. At least I thought I understood. She would live. She would have a bionic hand. A Jardan hand. It would be stronger than her original one. She would probably like that. The better to swing that stick of hers with. “Thank you. For everything.”
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. Then I went in to see my courtezhana.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Melika Gendressa
The light above me was so bright that I had to blink away its afterimages the moment I woke up. Memories of the attack came flashing back into my brain. Vorgyn fighting the assassin robot while I stood there half naked, trying to fix my clothing. The robot shooting me after I threw the prince his sword. The pain.
It was my fault. I should have brought him inside. I shouldn’t have bothered with modesty; I should have reached for my own weapon and taken out the bot myself, topless if need be. The bot wouldn’t have cared.
I nearly got my prince killed.
Again.
This courtezhana thing was clearly not working out. There was no way to protect a man while you were lying in his arms, thinking about your own pleasure.
I glanced around quickly to see where I was. A medical unit of some sort, obviously, filled with machines and equipment and lights that were too bright and things beeping at me. Then I turned and saw Vorgyn slumped in a chair next to me. He was sleeping. Snoring softly.
Emotion flooded me. A pressure squeezed my chest. I had to swallow hard because my throat was suddenly too tight. He had stayed by my side the entire time. The pressure was replaced with a warmth that spread through my entire body. Love. Only that word could describe the depth of my feelings for my prince. My Vorgyn.
“Hey,” I tried to say, but my voice was only a harsh rasp of air.
He jerked awake anyway. His green eyes met mine, filled with concern. Seeing that emotion on his face almost brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe tears were a side effect of whatever pain medicine they’d given me. Had to be.
He reached out and took my hand. His hands were really warm. I loved how rough his hands were. They were full of calluses from his sword training, but when he was touching me, the roughness was so him that it excited me.
But thinking of hands made me think of my injury. I definitely had to be feeling the effects of some pain medication, because it was difficult to keep my concentration. I looked at the hand that had been hit.
Where my right hand used to be, there was now a metal prosthetic. No skin, only servos and pressure gears. Four fingers and a thumb. It was a little too big and too long for my body. Designed for a Jardan female? Of course. There would be no reason for them to keep a supply of human prosthetics when there were ordinarily no humans on Jardan. I don’t know why I didn’t feel much of anything now after all the feelings of love and tenderness for Vorgyn I’d just experienced. Now I only felt numb.
Numb, and empty.
And ugly and deformed.
My punishment for failing him again.
Vorgyn squeezed my human hand gently. “I’m sorry, Melika. The assassin robot hit you with blaster fire. There wasn’t enough of your hand left to save.” He leaned forward and kissed my good hand.
His expression touched my heart. He was so upset for me. I still felt numb, as if this were a dream I’d eventually wake up from.
I looked at it closely. I tried not to hate it as I tried to will my fingers open and shut. It didn’t respond.
“It’s the pain killers,” Vorgyn said. “The doctor said it would be a few hours before they wore off enough so that you could move the prosthetic.”
I looked at the hideous array of metal rods and pins and wires and wondered how much retraining I was going to have to do to effectively fight with that hand again.
“It’s ugly, isn’t it?” I said, putting a lighter note in my voice than I really felt.
“No, mate, it is beautiful.”
I snorted and held the too-big-for-my-body robotic hand up for him to see. In case he had missed it. “No, this hand is the one I mean. The one that looks like a child had drawn it onto my arm, like some kind of hideous joke.”
His mouth quirked in a tight smile. “You’re wrong. It is beautiful because it’s a wound you earned with your valor. Whoever sees that hand will know exactly what you sacrificed. They will know your spirit matches that of any Jardan warrior.”
“It had to be my right hand. I’m right-handed.”
“Then you’ll be even more powerful.”
I closed my eyes and replayed the scene in my mind of me tossing him his sword. His words did make me feel better. “I guess I won’t need a big strong male to open jars for me anymore.”
“That hand has more features than mere strength. It’s electronically engineered to interact with computer terminals, controlled by your thoughts. If it malfunctions, even the slightest, calibration programs in our computers will instantly know.”
I looked up at him. “Great. So I can change the vidscreen without the remote.”
He smiled at me. “Also, when you punch your enemies, they will lose more teeth.”
“Ah, well, then. Wrap it up. I’ll take it.” I stared down at my new hand, trying to flex the fingers again and feeling a strange sensation, like pain starting to return as the medication wore off. Which was ridiculous, because there were no fingers there to feel pain.
A flood of emotions threatened to choke me again. I quickly changed the subject.
“
You cut that robot in half. It was a Drav Silent Killer. Lots of armor. Dangerous.”
He shook his head. “Robots mean nothing to me. I only destroyed it so easily because you threw me my sword. We defeated it together. If you’d like, I can have it scrapped and made into a new hand for you.”
“Ugh. No. I don’t want the reminder of my failure in front of me every day of my life. Melt it down.” I took a deep breath. I felt a spark of anger flare inside me. Maybe the pain drugs were wearing off because my thoughts seemed less fuzzy. “I can’t believe I let that assassin bot get so close.”
I deserved to lose my hand. I deserved to be dead. The assassin had caught me completely vulnerable. In ten more seconds, it would have found me naked and fucking the prince I was supposed to be protecting. I was a shameful Ron-Zishu, not worthy of the name.
He squeezed my hand. “You’re not to blame. When I’m with you, I can think about nothing else but you. I want you near me always.”
I shook my head slowly. I wanted to let his words lift my heart, but they just made it feel more broken. “It’s my job to keep you safe. I was reckless. I failed.”
His expression was like stone. “Enough, my courtezhana. My mate. Stop attacking yourself over the past. You think you were reckless? I am reckless. Life is reckless. But I will never cower. I will never hide. I will live recklessly until the moment I die. My love for you won’t be denied, no matter how dangerous, no matter how much it may complicate things.” His green eyes softened as he looked at me, and I could see the emotion shining in them. “Mate, you will live recklessly with me, right by my side. That is what I demand of you. It’s the only thing I require. Your love I must earn and keep, but you will live alongside me. Always.”
I couldn’t answer. All my replies only lodged in my throat. I blinked back tears.
“Now,” he said, leaning toward me. “I have already cleared it with your doctor. You are healthy enough to leave here. So you will be coming back with me where I can keep an eye on you.”