Any of the guys back home would have left her on the floor. Or have been copping a feel when she came to. She shuddered, swallowing her nausea. This guy, weird though he was, had been a gentleman.
“I’m fine. I’m not unprotected.”
He frowned and she reached into her boot to pull the knife out of the holster she kept there. “See?”
He shook his head. “You. Female.”
“Yes, I am. Thanks for noticing. What gave it away, my tits?” Not that she had much, but she was hoping she might gain some with all the eating she was doing.
“Tits?”
“Breasts. Boobies. The twins. The girls. What do you call them?” She cupped her breasts.
His eyes widened. His gaze was stuck on her hands. Hmm, maybe that wasn’t the best move, Georgie. Stop flirting with the guy; you’re going to get yourself into trouble.
“But really, I’ve got to leave. People are waiting for me.”
Yeah, right. No one was looking for her. No one would notice she was missing for a while. She sighed.
This was such a good idea, Georgie. Well done.
She rubbed at her eyes. Stupid. Stupid.
“You. Tired.”
“Yeah, I am,” she admitted. It wasn’t even a lie. She was exhausted. A lifetime of having to always be on alert, of having to always watch your own back would kind of do that to a girl.
“You. Sleep.” He gestured to the bed.
“What? Here?” She gaped at him.
He nodded. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, looking stern. “I. Watch.”
“Now listen, it’s great that you want to look out for me and stuff, but I can take care of myself. I have a perfectly good bed in my own room. I don’t need you to watch over me.”
“You. Sleep. I. Watch.”
She thunked the palm of her hand against her forehead with a groan. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you’re stubborn.”
He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling it away from her face. She shivered as arousal washed through her. She saw something in his face shift. His eyes flashed amber. She gasped. What was with that?
“What?”
“Your eyes, they turned amber.”
“Not hurt you. Sleep.”
He pointed at the bed and gave her a firm nod. She sighed. “You’re not going to give in on this, are you?
He didn’t say anything. Big surprise there.
“Someone will miss me.”
He snorted derisively. “Humans. Fools.”
“Hey, I’m human.” She glared at him.
“You stay. I protect.”
They stared at each other. All right, what were her options here? Try to make a run for it and most likely fail?
Most likely? You haven’t got a chance.
Or pretend to sleep and sneak out? One involved athletic ability and a shit ton of luck. The other involved a bit of acting and sneaking around.
Yeah, so only really one viable choice, then.
“Fine. I’ll sleep for a bit, but I’m not staying the night.”
He gave her a stern look. “You. Sleep. Now.”
Fine. Like she had a choice. He was bigger. And he was definitely more stubborn. “You are not sleeping in the same bed as me.”
He just turned and pointed at the chair. “Stay there.”
“You’ll stay there while I sleep?” she asked to make certain they were on the same wavelength. She wondered if all Zerconians spoke like this or it was just her luck to find the caveman among them.
“I will.”
She knew she shouldn’t trust him. At least her head told her not to trust him. But her heart. . .her heart could just butt the hell out. Her body might think he was a bit of all right, but Georgie had already made one mistake today when she’d come here.
Best she listen to her head right now. She nodded. “All right, then. I need to use the bathroom.”
He lifted her down off the bed.
“Okay, bad Lub.” She slapped at his hand then pulled it back as she realized what she’d done. “Sorry. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you. Did I hurt you?”
He made a scoffing sound at her. “Hurt. Like bug.”
She frowned. “Hey. I pack more punch than a bug.” Insulting. She wiggled her finger at him. “But just so you know, I am not a doll you can just pick up and move around. I’m also not fond of this whole bossy attitude you got going on. I’m not sure why you’ve appointed yourself as my keeper, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
She made herself walk calmly into the bathroom and take care of things. She stared into the mirror. “How the hell do you get yourself into these things, Georgie?”
Hmm. Maybe because she was impulsive, curious, and a little reckless.
Yeah. That would do it. When she walked back into the bedroom, he was standing by the bed waiting for her. A shiver raced over her skin. What was it about him that had her insides lighting on fire? That made her want to run her hands all over him, followed by her tongue and. . .
“I’ll just get into bed now,” she squeaked. She kind of leaped into the bed, and to her shock, he pulled up the covers and proceeded to tuck her in.
She froze, staring up at him.
“What wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing, I just… You don’t look like the type to tuck a person into bed.” He looked like the sort who preferred to rip off limbs and bathe in the blood of his enemies.
So don’t be his enemy, Georgie.
That could be difficult. Her mouth tended to run away on her at the best of times.
He simply grunted and turned away to sit on the only other piece of furniture in the room, the chair. It creaked under his weight and she winced, expecting it to crack, but it held steady. He turned it towards the door and sat facing the one entrance and exit point.
To make sure she didn’t escape?
Or to protect her against anyone coming in?
“You know no one is going to attack us, right? We’re safe here. We’re on a transporter on our way to Zerconia.”
He simply grunted.
“I’m gonna need more than that,” she told him with exasperation. “I don’t speak grunt.”
He half-turned towards her, raising his eyebrows. “Not safe. Humans.”
She sighed. “Once again, I’m a human.”
Another grunt. Okay, seemed if she wanted to communicate with him, she was going to have to learn how to speak alpha male.
He barked out a command for the lights to dim and she settled in. She yawned again. All right, she needed to figure out a way of staying awake. Another yawn. Was he asleep yet? How long would it take him?
“Relax. Sleep. No let anyone hurt you.”
Okay, that was really sweet. And it seemed totally at odds with his appearance. She wasn’t sure who exactly he was protecting her from. She guessed her reaction to him earlier was what made him think she was in danger. But the stubborn guy didn’t want to listen to her.
She closed her eyes to pretend to sleep. Could he see in the dark? She really didn’t know enough about these Zerconian warriors. A sigh left her.
And she drifted off to sleep.
4
She gasped as a hand landed over her mouth.
She tried to fight, throwing her arms up, but she was easily overpowered and dragged from the bed.
Fuck. Shit. Panic threatened to drown her. Her heart raced sickeningly.
“Shh. Someone coming,” a rough voice commanded her as she was shoved under the bed. She lay there trying to calm her breathing. What the fuck was going on? Why had someone had broken into her room just to shove her under the bed? Light suddenly filled the room and she blinked blurrily as she stared out at a pair of large, bare feet.
Was there a giant in her room? A giant who wanted her to hide under the bed? Shouldn’t he be under the bed?
Duh, Georgie, how is he going to fit under your bed? He’s a giant. Okay, now you’re just delusional.
“What you want?�
�� a voice growled.
Lub. That was Lub’s voice. Okay, that made way more sense than some strange giant breaking into her room and forcing her under the bed. She wasn’t even in her room. She must have fallen asleep in his bed.
Jesus, you idiot. How long did you even last? A few minutes before you drifted off?
How had she fallen asleep with him in the room? She should have been on high alert. He was a stranger. Except her body thought she knew him, could trust him. Damn, this was all so confusing.
Why had he shoved her under the bed, though? What was going on?
There was a thumping noise followed by the sounds of footsteps. Wait, was someone else here? Was that why he’d shoved her under here? Was he afraid of someone seeing her with him?
Georgie often woke up disorientated. It usually took her a few minutes to get her bearings. But she needed to get with the program quickly.
“Mr. Lub,” a male voice drawled. She thought she recognized the voice. It was the captain. She knew it because he’d spoken several times over the loud speaker to give them instructions or updates on their journey.
Okay, so it was probably a good thing that Lub had shoved her under the bed. She didn’t want to be caught in here.
“Where were you last evening, Mr. Lub?” the captain barked at him.
Huh. He didn’t sound very friendly. She wanted to peek out, but she didn’t dare do anything that might capture his attention.
“What?”
That was Lub, verbose as ever.
All right, you met the guy five minutes ago. Why the hell are you thinking about him like you’re old friends? Seriously, Georgie, you’ve got issues, girl.
“I repeat, where were you last evening, Mr. Lub?” he repeated.
“Here.”
“Really? So you weren’t in Elise Peters’ room?”
Elise Peters? Was that the same Elise she’d met at breakfast yesterday? What were the odds there would be two women called Elise on this ship?
“Who?” Lub asked.
“Elise Peters,” the captain repeated. There was something about the tone in his voice she didn’t like. He sounded smug. Over-confident. Condescending. Like he knew something that Lub didn’t. Why the hell would he be here in the middle of the night asking Lub if he’d been in Elise’s room?
Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.
“Were you or were you not in her bedroom two hours ago?” the captain barked.
She took a look at the time on her communicator, something else they’d all been supplied with for the journey. Turned out she hadn’t been asleep that long. So that would be a no to Lub being Elise’s room, since that was about the time she was negotiating nap time with him.
“No.”
“Really? Because she claims that you were. She also claims that you put your hands on her. That you hurt her. And she has the bruises to back up her claim.”
“I did not hurt her.”
She winced at the growing fury she heard in Lub’s voice. Mind you, could you blame him? He was being falsely accused of hurting someone. Why would Elise lie about this, though?
“Well, now, seems it’s your word against hers. And since she’s the bruised and injured party, I’m going to have to put you into lockdown until we get this sorted.”
Georgie clenched her hands into fists, biting down on her lip. She needed to get out there. Make herself known. Tell the captain there was no way Lub could have hurt Elise.
“I no hurt her,” he said in a voice so cold and so deep, it actually made her shiver.
“I’ve seen the bruises. You’re coming into lockdown with us.”
“No!”
Georgie winced at the noise coming from Lub. It sounded so full of despair and anger that it shocked her. She started to move out from under the bed. She couldn’t hide here like a coward while Lub was locked up for something he didn’t do.
She jolted as she heard something smash. What the hell was going on?
“Stop! What are you doing? Guards, get him! Tranq him!” the captain said urgently. There was the sound of grunting, a loud thump. Someone else yelled out. How many people were in the room?
A loud, agonized roar had tears dripping down her cheeks.
Get out there, Georgie.
“Shoot him again! Again! The big bastard needs more than one tranq to put him down!”
Something thumped against the floor. She stared in shock at Lub’s unconscious form lying on the floor just a few feet away from her.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.
She was incapable of moving. Her body was rocked with tremors. She was thrust back into the past.
Wake up, Annie. Wake up.
There was a grunting noise. Orders were yelled. Footsteps plodded against the floor. But she tuned all of it out.
Wake up, Annie. Wake up.
Blood. Blood everywhere. Her sister’s lifeless eyes staring at her.
Wake up, Annie.
She didn’t know how long she lay there. How long she was stuck under the bed in her own personal version of hell before she came back to reality. She took in a deep breath then another one. Her body was cold. Her limbs frozen and aching.
Fuck. Shit.
Georgie, you wimp.
She’d just lain there while they tranqed him. While they took him away and locked him up for something he hadn’t done.
You need to fix this.
Pathetically, it took her several attempts before she managed to roll out from under the bed. How could she just lie there while they did that to Lub? He didn’t even know her and yet all he’d done had been to protect her. Even when she didn’t need protecting. And she hadn’t done a thing to help him in return.
She glanced down at her wristband communicator, noting the time. It was after one a.m. She’d been lying there for close to an hour. She ran her hand over her face.
“Lights on.”
Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the room. The chair lay on its side. The wall opposite her was damaged with several holes in it as though someone had smashed it with something. She saw glints of red on several pieces of the jagged, broken parts. Holy shit. Was that blood? She frowned. Had they hurt Lub? Or had he hurt himself? Had he punched the wall?
They’d tranqed him and dragged him off to wherever the hell lockdown was. She gulped heavily. She had to help him. She had to free him.
She took a few settling breaths. First thing she needed to do was go talk to Elise and find out why the hell she was lying.
* * *
Turned out getting to Elise was harder than she’d thought it would be. She knew which rooms the other woman occupied, since she’d planned to meet Hunter for a play date. But when she got there, she noted the two human guards standing in front of the door. Not wanting them to see her and question what she was doing, she’d gone back to her room, where she’d paced the room until dawn.
Now her eyes hurt from lack of sleep, her fingernails were bitten to the quick, and she had a headache from trying to think too much. As soon as other people were moving around, she’d walked out into the passage and towards Elise’s room.
Still two guards standing outside.
Shit.
All right, Georgie. You can do this.
“Hi,” she called out as she approached the guards. They eyed her warily. “I’m Georgie. I’ve come to walk with Elise and Hunter to breakfast. What are you guys doing here?”
There, that sounded friendly and clueless, right?
One of the guards gave her a suspicious look and she widened her smile.
Okay, might want to ease up before you start to look like that creepy guy in those old cartoons. What was his name? The Prankster? No, the Joker.
“Can I go in?” she asked.
“No,” the suspicious guard snapped.
The other one gave her a leering look.
“Is everything okay with Elise and Hunter?” Georgie asked.
“She’s sick. It could be contagious. Everyone needs
to stay away from her right now,” the leering guard said.
“Oh, that’s no good. Would you like me to get her some food from the dining hall for breakfast?”
Maybe she could slip her a note, ask if everything was all right. Because this was all very suspicious. Why would the guards lie about her being ill?
Because she really was injured? Or because they were trying to hide that she wasn’t injured and this was all some lie to. . .to what? The captain allowed Lub to board, so why would he make up this lie to lock him up?
She resisted the urge to rub the pounding in her temples. This was getting weirder and weirder. And the only person who might be able to help with answers was behind that door.
“No. Food is being brought to her. You need to move on.”
“All right, thanks!” Georgie forced herself to leave. When she got around the corner, she leaned back against the wall. What to do now?
Crap. Well, as far as she could see, there was only one option.
Going to the captain.
5
That ignorant, smug prickhead.
Georgie stormed into her bedroom and barely managed to wait until the door slid closed to let out a scream of frustration.
What. The. Fuck.
Jerkwad. Deadshit. Douchenoggin.
Goddamn condescending mircropenis. She kicked her foot against the wall then let out a yell of pain before limping her way over to the bed to collapse. Okay, so they were all doomed since the captain of this ship couldn’t find his brains with a microscope.
She sighed, lying back on the bed with her arm over her eyes as she tried to ignore the throbbing in her foot.
“So that could have gone better.” She removed her arm and stared up at the ceiling. She hadn’t thought that he would refuse to believe her. Not only that, but he’d basically told her that she’d imagined it all.
“Bastard,” she muttered. Why wouldn’t he listen to her? Because Elise had given him some sort of proof that Lub attacked her? Or because he didn’t want to believe Georgie? Because he wanted the Zerconian to be guilty?
But why? That made no sense. This was going to be hell on Zerconian-Earther relations, which weren’t that great currently.
Alien Conquest Page 3