by Lily Thomas
Despite his alertness, his hands remained relaxed and at his sides, but Zoe hadn’t missed the plasma pistols strapped to each hip. She didn’t doubt that he would have those weapons in his hands before she could even manage to take a step toward him.
Zoe caught herself and straightened quickly. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had surprised her. Her captor smiled in amusement, as if he knew better.
He tilted his head to the side, and his shoulder-length silver hair caught the light and reflected it back to his face in a light halo, causing his eyes, also silver, to glow brightly as he studied her. He looked mythical, radiating light like an otherworldly being, and Zoe found herself momentarily speechless.
Her captor reached some internal decision and stepped forward to grip her arm. Immediately, Zoe’s defensive training kicked in, and she side-stepped his grasp while simultaneously knocking his hand away.
Slipping on her authoritative doctor’s face, Zoe put her hands on her hips and prepared to treat him like a misbehaving patient.
“I didn’t think the Daen’su dealt in slave-trading.”
Zoe had hoped to insult him, or at least catch him off-guard by identifying his race, but it didn’t appear to have worked. The Daen’su merely gave her an amused look, but he was keeping his hands to himself now, so Zoe was going to count it as a win.
The Daen’su spoke. “We need a doctor. A human doctor.”
Zoe was stunned. He was asking her to assist them after he had kidnapped her? Seriously? “You could’ve asked me for help rather than drug me in a dark alleyway.” Zoe tapped her foot in annoyance. “Or you could have brought your injured comrade to a hospital. They have programs to assist people in need, if money is a concern.”
The silver eyes above her darkened. “Money is not a concern of mine.”
Zoe raised her eyebrows. “You know what will be a concern of yours? The authorities on Guit’re. My co-workers will have already reported me missing. You can count on that.”
The Daen’su smiled. They both knew Guit’re was steadily falling to the hands of thugs. Even if Zoe’s coworkers had noticed her absence, which wasn’t likely with her suspension, the authorities wouldn’t care about one lost doctor. They already had their hands full.
“I’ve been a wanted man practically my entire life, sweetheart. One more organization after me won’t make me lose any sleep.” The Daen’su turned away impatiently. “Come with me to the medical bay. We’ve wasted enough time with chit chat.”
Zoe crossed her arms and stuck out her chin. “What if I refuse to help you?”
The Daen’su turned and studied her with cold eyes. “Then I would have to find another use for you. I hear the Frirens are paying well to stock their battle arenas these days. They’d find a spirited human like you quite amusing, no doubt.”
Zoe gritted her teeth. She really needed to stop talking without thinking.
“Fine,” she ground out. “I will tend to your wounded.”
“Follow me.” The Daen’su commanded.
He turned and led the way to the shuttle bay door. Zoe started to follow him, but she missed a step as she had an unpleasant thought.
“After I help your patient, you’ll return to me Guit’re, right?”
The masculine figure before her barely glanced back. “I’ll make sure that you get passage back to your planet,” he said as they strode down the corridor.
Zoe felt her heart speed up. She didn’t entirely trust his vague response. She’d have to do her best to keep this patient alive and well, while continuing to plan for an escape from this man’s clutches.
Zoe allowed herself a small smile. Stressful situations always brought out her best. Plus, once they reached the medical bay she’d be able to clear her head with something. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she noticed a nasty headache beginning to develop behind her right eye.
Zoe realized that the Daen’su was talking and struggled to focus past the encroaching pain in her head.
“The patient was shot at and took several hits from plasma guns. Right now it is unclear if she will survive. It is your job to ensure that she does,” the Daen’su stated, louder than he needed to, in Zoe’s opinion.
“Can you shut up?” she asked, a little more forcefully than she meant to.
His silver eyes widened, and his nostrils flared.
“Whatever you injected into my neck is killing me,” Zoe stated quickly.
“You’re dying?” The Daen’su came to an abrupt stop in the corridor and started running his hands over her.
“Stop! Stop!” Zoe beat back his hands right as he groped the sides of her breasts. “It’s a figure of speech, meaning that I have a major headache. That’s all. Now, are we going to the medical bay or not?”
Reassured that Zoe was going to survive to treat his precious patient, the Daen’su gave her a cocky grin and let his hands linger before turning to lead the way down the corridor again.
Zoe really needed something for her head now, because little alarm bells were going off in it. The feeling of his hands running over her skin had sent tingles throughout her entire body. Zoe scoffed at herself. The tingles were an after effect of the drug. She might have plenty of things to worry about, but an attraction for her kidnapper was not one of them.
As they entered the medical bay, Zoe rubbed the sore part of her neck again. “What did you inject me with, anyways?”
The Daen’su led her over to a table and handed her a vial. “This was what I used,” he said, and then pointed to a syringe. “And I filled it up to there.”
Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “Were you trying to tranquilize a human woman or a shri’el?” Clearly, he couldn’t tell the difference between a mammoth with rhino-like skin and a tiny human.
He shrugged. “I didn’t kill you.”
“By sheer luck,” Zoe spit out, as she rummaged through the medical bay drawers to find something to counteract the drug in her system. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, injected herself, waited a few minutes, and was relieved as her head began to clear.
Thank goodness. Some of the stress in her shoulders melted away. Now she’d be able to think clearly and help whatever patient he had in here.
The Daen’su had braced his back against a wall, while he watched her. “Feeling better? Maybe a little less grumpy?”
Zoe glared at him. “You want less grumpy? Why don’t you give me the guns and I’ll watch over your shoulder while you take care of the patient?” Zoe looked around the outdated medical bay. “Speaking of, where is this patient?”
“She’s in here.” The Daen’su led her to a small room off the main part of the medical bay. “We managed to place her in a stasis field, but it will begin degrading soon. She needs a doctor.” He looked at her pointedly.
As Zoe walked into the side room, she saw a human woman lying in a stasis field. Well, that explained why they wanted a human doctor.
As Zoe slipped on some gloves, she glanced at the woman. She had a slight build, shorter than Zoe, and tight orange-red curls that fell haphazardly on the pillow. Zoe pulled open the woman’s eyelids to flash a light into her jade eyes to see pupillary contraction. Everything looked good there.
The woman’s top had been lifted, exposing several plasma blast burns on her abdomen. Zoe checked the woman’s vitals on the medical screen. Acceptable, considering the trauma she could see. Zoe examined the red and blistered plasma burns, prodding the edges gently with her fingers.
The wounds were severe, but she’d seen other people recover from even worse injuries on Guit’re. Unfortunately, Zoe couldn’t tell what kind of internal damage they were dealing with, and nothing in this disused medical bay would be able to help her.
Zoe straightened and scowled at the Daen’su. “This woman needs more than a doctor. She needs to get to a hospital immediately.” Zoe waved a hand at the area around her. “This is no medical bay. Maybe fifty years ago it met the standards, but no
t today. I simply can’t perform the kind of procedures that I could with appropriate equipment.”
“We can’t go to a hospital. I’m a wanted man, as are the rest of my crew.”
Zoe stripped off her gloves and tossed them into a receptacle.
“Well, that’s kind of crappy news for you, isn’t it? Might teach you not to deal in the black market. But I can’t help in this environment.” Zoe folded her arms across her chest.
She wanted to be useful so he didn’t sell her to the highest bidder, but she was also hoping there might be a chance to convince him to go back to Guit’re. She wasn’t lying about the working conditions of his medical bay. It could use with some updating.
Her captor’s silver eyes evaluated her carefully. “Then this woman will die, and you will have to live with the fact you didn’t do anything to save her.”
Zoe groaned internally. Why did he have to keep calling her bluff? Even if it weren’t for her oath, Zoe would bet the woman on the table in front of her hadn’t been given any more of a choice in boarding the Daen’su ship than Zoe herself. She was undoubtedly another kidnapped victim. At least they had something in common to bond over, if the woman ever recovered.
“You really need to take her to a hospital,” Zoe stated firmly. She met the silver eyes across the room and felt a spike of energy rush through her. Those eyes of his were so mesmerizing, like molten pools of silver. She would swear they were swirling, drawing her into their depths.
The Daen’su shook his head. “We can’t be delayed any longer. We have a delivery to make, and we can’t afford the time it takes to stop by a medical facility.”
Zoe sighed as she passed the Daen’su and began gathering up medical instruments from the bay. “Well, I guess you and your rusted old boat are lucky you stole me for your doctor.”
The Daen’su gave a growl, and Zoe raised her head from her work in surprise. His silver eyes had darkened a shade. “Fix her on this rusted old boat or let her die. Keep in mind, if she dies, then you’re next.”
Zoe tried to appear unaffected by his threat. She carefully set the medical instruments out alongside the woman.
“So who is she, anyway?” Zoe asked as she set down the last piece. “Or are you just starting a human collection?”
The Daen’su ignored her. “I’ll be back for an update later.” Striding out of the room, he called back, “Do your best to save her, if you want to make it off this ship alive.”
Zoe set her mouth as she tied up her hair.
“You better not die,” she said to the unconscious woman.
Chapter 3
Je’lak fumed as he headed back to the bridge. His ship wasn’t exactly top of the line, but she was one of the best in her class and not a rusted old boat. Je’lak made sure to maintain her well – his life often depended on the performance of his vessel in tough circumstances.
Well, they’d just see how well the doctor performed with her perfectly adequate medical bay. Either she was good at her job or she wasn’t.
Je’lak frowned. He couldn’t afford to let his prisoner die. His client had made it quite clear that the woman must be delivered alive, or there would be…consequences.
Je’lak shuddered. If the doctor thought he was dangerous, wait until she saw the man who had secured Je’lak’s services for this job. Now there was a savage man. No one crossed him and lived long. And from what Je’lak had heard, death came as a welcome release once his client was done with them.
Je’lak paused outside the entrance to the bridge. If he had to, he’d go to a hospital, but that would make this delivery that much trickier. The doctor had no idea who she was healing, but it would be risky to expose their patient to a hospital full of people who could recognize her.
Thinking of the doctor brought back the memory of running his hands over her luscious body. Je’lak leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, reliving the feeling of her soft curves underneath his hands. Up close, her scent had been tantalizing. If he hadn’t needed to get her to work treating his prisoner, he might have tried running his hands through those gorgeous blonde locks, pressing her up against the wall, and kissing away her protests.
His cock jumped to attention, and Je’lak groaned as he shoved his palm against the maddening member. She was here to heal his cargo, not become his bedmate.
Oh, but she was delectable. And more intriguing than she had any right to be. Je’lak’s mouth quirked as he thought about her ability to catch him off guard with her defensive moves. He wouldn’t mind discovering some of her moves in a more intimate embrace.
Je’lak straightened up from the wall and shook his head. This wasn’t the time to lust after the doctor. All he could do now was hope that Doctor Anderson was skilled enough to save the woman’s life.
“How did it go?” Kynt asked, as Je’lak entered the bridge.
“The doctor is tending to the Ambassador of Earth. She… isn’t confident about the injuries, but she is treating the Ambassador as we speak.”
Ji’hun turned in his seat. “That doesn’t sound encouraging. If the ambassador dies, you know he won’t be pleased. He’ll hunt us all down and kill us slowly if we don’t deliver her alive like we promised.”
Je’lak didn’t like thinking there was a man out there who could threaten his life so easily, but he wasn’t stupid. His client was a nasty guy with a quick temper and no sympathy for people who didn’t please him.
“Let’s just focus on getting to the drop-off site without the human military finding us first.” Je’lak commented. They’d worry if and when the ambassador died.
“We have incoming!” Ji’hun hollered from across the bridge.
“Put it up on the view screen,” Je’lak commanded, as he took a seat in the captain’s chair. Who was after them now? The list was longer than Je’lak could remember.
A human war ship appeared, a destroyer. Damn. Why had he mentioned their military? Sometimes it felt like he just called trouble down on himself.
These humans desperately wanted to get their Ambassador back, for obvious reasons, he supposed. They couldn’t risk having an important official divulge important information about Earth and its defenses.
“Hail them!” Je’lak barked. Maybe he could talk his way out of this.
“They’re firing!”
Or not.
Je’lak was thrown from his seat, as the impact jolted the ship. “Fire back! I don’t care what you send their way, just do it! We can’t let them take out our weapons or engines.”
Ji’hun jumped over to the weapons console and fired away at the destroyer. They were outgunned by the much larger vessel, but they had maneuverability on their side. He just hoped it would be enough to get them out of here with their ship undamaged.
Ji’hun called out, “I’ve incapacitated one of their engines.”
“Yes!” Kynt pumped his fist enthusiastically.
Je’lak rolled his eyes. Leave it to him to think a battle for their lives was a great deal of fun.
“Jump back into hyperspace,” Je’lak ordered. He cursed to himself. If only they hadn’t needed to stop and go back for the doctor in her escape pod.
Their ship turned toward their original trajectory, and Je’lak felt that odd suspension that came over a spaceship right before entering hyperspace.
The war ship released another volley of missiles as they turned, and one caught their ship just as they began the jump. The consoles in front of Kynt and Ji’hun exploded, knocking them both to the floor.
Je’lak rushed over to the navigation console in front of Kynt. The ship had managed to keep its course, and Je’lak breathed a sigh of relief as they left the human ship behind. The impact to their engine power would delay them long enough for Je’lak and his crew to lose them.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to figure out how the humans had found them in the first place. Kynt and Ji’hun were alive, but they both had serious burns. Je’lak needed to take them down to the medical bay.
He helped up first Ji’hun, who was closer to him, and then Kynt. He let each one of them lean on his shoulders. “Let’s get you two down to the doctor, so she can patch you up.”
Gently, Je’lak guided them off the bridge and to the medical bay.
Je’lak helped his men through the doorway into the doctor’s domain and led them to a medical bed on the side of the room.
“Doctor Anderson!” he barked, as he looked over his men.
The wounds didn’t appear life-threatening, but he wasn’t a doctor and he didn’t need them dying on his watch. Je’lak grabbed a tube of combination antibiotic/healing ointment from a cabinet that he thought might help and fiddled with the cap. He might not come out and say it, but he cared about Ji’hun and Kynt as if they were his own brothers.
Je’lak reached out to spread some of the ointment across a burn on Kynt’s face, but a small hand snaked out from his side and smacked his wrist.
“Have you washed your hands?”
Je’lak turned in surprise to look down at Dr. Anderson. Her hair was still pulled back in its bun, but now it was slightly disheveled, and he liked the way the random wisps of hair softened her features.
“Are you going to stand there like a dazed idiot or are you going to assist me?” His tiny doctor snatched the ointment away and shooed him toward the sink.
“I can’t believe you don’t have a sterilization chamber,” she continued peevishly, taking a clean bandage, spreading the ointment on it directly from the tube, and then securing the bandage across the burn on Kynt’s cheek. “This medical bay hasn’t been updated in decades. And I know you didn’t sink that money into high-end escape pods, which, by the way, aren’t very good at escaping.”
Je’lak frowned. He didn’t entirely follow her ramblings, shot over her shoulder with barely a space to breathe.
Across the room, Ji’hun let out a low whistle. “Did you just insult Je’lak’s ship? He must really want you around to keep that ambass –” Je’lak locked eyes with Ji’hun and made a slicing motion with his hand to cut him off. Ji’hun cleared his throat. “To keep – that woman – alive.”