by Zoey Draven
“You’re certain?” Tavak asked his brother quietly, his voice cutting through the quiet.
Ravu nodded. “We can have it scanned on Nimida. Just in case. But I felt the chip snap. It shouldn’t be transmitting anymore. The signal should be dark.”
A small relief then.
That meant they were lost in the stars.
Away from Everton, on the cusp of a new life.
Untouchable.
For now, Dravka’s mind whispered, staring at the blood on his female’s back.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Mellkia,” came his voice.
It sounded incredibly far away but as Valerie’s heavy eyelids lifted, as her blurry vision came swirling into view, so did the pain and the throbbing headache.
Her mouth felt dry, an after effect of the sedative, she knew. She was disoriented and felt like there was a heavy pressure weighing her down.
“There you are,” Dravka murmured as he came into focused view. He was above her. No, she realized. She was cradled in his arms, though he was careful to keep his touch away from her left shoulder.
The tracker, she remembered.
“Did,” she started, though her voice sounded hoarse, “…did it work?”
They were moving, she realized. There was a heaviness that she wasn’t used to, weighing her down.
“Is it gone?”
“We couldn’t take it out,” he answered quietly, making a jolt of panic wash through her, “but Ravu managed to destroy the chip. We can see about removing it once we are settled on Dumera. But for now, the transmissions should have stopped.”
Her relief was bright.
“Really?”
He nodded, his eyes softening when he looked down at her. “We will check it once we find a place to stay for the night. Ravu thinks he can find someone with a scanner.”
As more clarity returned, so did the uncomfortable throbbing of pain.
“Are we almost to Nimida?” she asked next, blinking against the heaviness of her eyelids. There was still sedative running through her system, however. She needed to sleep it off, but it would probably take a little while longer.
“We are already here, mellkia,” he said next.
Her breath hitched and her heavy eyes swung around to take in her surroundings. They were already off the vessel? When had that happened? What had happened to the pilot?
“You’ve been asleep for a while,” came a voice and she turned her head to regard Tavak. Next to him was Ravu.
All of them came to a stop at…what looked like a port door. The docking bay of Nimida? It was quiet, dark. So why had they stopped?
“There is a customs check up ahead we have to pass through,” Dravka said. “We don’t want to arouse suspicion by carrying an unconscious human female into a transport colony.”
“Right,” she breathed, understanding dawning on her. She’d heard the stories ever since she was a young girl. Human females were high up on the trafficking list. Always had been. Naturally, Valerie had never needed to worry about it on the colonies since she never went anywhere. But here? She would need to be careful. More mindful.
Dravka seemed to realize this too. They’d never had to navigate this part of their relationship before: being together, in public, when her safety might be compromised. But they would figure it out.
Hell, even the Keriv’is in her company needed to be careful. Their race had always been sought out for sex.
“I can walk,” she told them and after a moment, Dravka lowered her to the ground. The customs checkpoint was a short walk away, an entrance point to Nimida. That was when she realized she didn’t have her New Earth ID on her…or anything at all really. She’d left everything behind on Everton.
So, they all approached the checkpoint, Dravka straightening his shoulders, and Val saying a little prayer to every deity she’d ever heard about.
There was an alien at the checkpoint, seated on a wobbly stool of all things, and half asleep, by the looks of it. A Killup, she recognized, eyeing her grey flesh and the slits like gills in her neck. She straightened when she saw them, making a chirring sound in her throat, and smoothing a webbed palm down her wrinkled blue vest.
“Destination?” she asked, the universal tongue word heavily accented.
If she was startled to see a human female traveling with three Keriv’i males, she didn’t show it…which made relief thread through Valerie. Nimida was a transport hub after all. All kinds of beings passed through there.
Dravka answered for them. “Second Quadrant.”
The Killup female made a small sound. “Nzonito is the transport colony for the Second Quadrant. A vessel will leave for there in two days. You can purchase passage at the kiosk, though it won’t open until morning. It’s quite late,” she said, sounding a little put off at that fact.
“Sorry,” Valerie said, giving her a small smile. “Late flight.”
The Killup made another sound, blinking her large black eyes at her. “Where are you coming from?”
“Fourth Quadrant,” she replied, not specifying the New Earth colonies. She thought it would make her suspicious since Keriv’i weren’t known to be among the New Earth colonies. New Earth was notorious for its closed borders. “We are on our way to meet friends in the Second Quadrant, friends we haven’t seen in a while.”
Another sound from the Killup. She studied each of them in turn while Valerie forced herself not to fidget.
“You are with them willingly?” the Killup asked next, eyeing her.
Valerie’s brows raised. “Yes,” she said, swallowing when she felt Dravka’s hand drift to her lower back. She touched Dravka’s wrist, feeling his heat, an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the Killup. “Of course.”
“He’s your mate?” the Killup asked, gaze narrowing.
“Pax,” Dravka rumbled, the word making Valerie flush with pleasure, despite the circumstance. “Yes,” he corrected. He gestured to Tavak and Ravu. “These are friends of ours, traveling with us.”
Another chittering sound.
“Kiosk opens at dawn. Book your seats early because they sell out,” the Killup finally said, seeming to decide that they posed no major threat and that Valerie was, indeed, not being trafficked by three Keriv’i males. “Be sure to check out our gift shop while you are here, yes?”
From the way Dravka’s brows furrowed, Valerie could tell he was perplexed at whatever a gift shop was, but the strange words coming from the Killup almost made Valerie laugh.
Valerie smiled, though her shoulder twinged when she shifted forward slightly, and said, “We sure will.”
“Last inn open right now is down the third corridor, on your left,” the Killup said, hitting a button against the wall.
The door behind her suddenly slid open, releasing a gust of cool wind into their faces.
“Welcome to Nimida.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Valerie sat perched on the edge of the bed, her fingers thumbing over the soft fabric that covered it, her eyes looking out the small, rectangular window that overlooked part of Nimida’s main depot and the main street below.
A part of her could scarcely believe that she was there. Sitting in an unfamiliar place. The air smelled pleasant, though artificial. Something sweet mingled with the engine fuels that seemed to permeate Nimida.
The room at the inn was surprisingly spacious, a large bed pushed against a corner, its headboard smooth and silver and modern-looking. A small table was pushed against another corner and the dresser drawers were hidden in the walls. They popped open with the slightest wave of her hand. The washroom door was still slid open, steam from her shower billowing out, though she’d been careful not to get her shoulder too wet.
It ached something fierce and the bone felt like it was throbbing. Dravka had told her she’d been bleeding a lot, that they’d had to hurry to close it. A part of her was uncomfortable that the tracker hadn’t been removed entirely—though she understood why. Dravka had told h
er it had been fused to her bone. They couldn’t take it out without seriously injuring her shoulder.
Once we’re on Dumera, she thought, I’ll look into having it removed.
A part of her knew she wouldn’t feel right until it was. A permanent severing from her aunt, from the control and abuse that had plagued her for five years.
Though she winced, Valerie stood from the bed, standing at the window, peering down at the narrow corridor below for any signs of a Keriv’i male. Tavak and Ravu were staying down the hall. They’d been lucky enough to snag two of the last rooms available for the night. The male at the desk—whose species she didn’t know though Dravka had told her he was a Laoti—informed them Nimida was always busy this time of the week. Dravka had passed over the credits that Khiva had given them to pay for the rooms.
There was movement at the door and she tensed. A moment later, it slid open to reveal Dravka. Dangling from his hand was a satchel and in his other was a platter of food.
When he closed and locked the door behind him, Valerie sighed and went to him. She was wearing one of the tunics he’d packed, the material dangling down to her mid-thighs.
“How do you feel?” he rumbled down to her, depositing the food on the table, which he’d gone out in search of with Tavak.
“A little sore,” she admitted, letting him guide her back to the bed.
“Tired?”
“Not really,” she said. She joked, “I think meeting with the customs agent burned away whatever sedative was left. I was a little nervous.”
“It didn’t show,” he assured her, smoothing his palm over her cheek before he turned to the satchel. “There was a shop still open. I got you something to numb your shoulder and this for the pain.”
He held up a vial of blue liquid, which he passed off to her.
“Only take half,” Dravka said, watching as she uncapped it. “The male said humans only need that amount. You can take the rest in the morning.”
Valerie nodded and tipped the vial back. It didn’t taste like anything, though once she swallowed, there was an acrid bitterness at the back of her tongue.
Dravka took the vial from her, setting it down on the table, and then took out the numbing injection from the satchel.
“Take off your shirt,” he murmured, making her eyes dart up to his.
Despite her pain, she felt her nipples pebble underneath his tunic. Something flickered in his eyes, his nostrils flaring a bit.
“Mellkia,” he said, a slight warning in his voice, which, strangely, made her want to smile.
Valerie dropped her gaze though it suddenly felt much warmer in the small room. It had just occurred to her that…they were alone. On Nimida. In a cozy little run-down inn.
Her fingers went to the hem and she tugged off the tunic, draping it over her lap to conceal some of her nudity. For Dravka’s sake. Especially since she could actually feel some of the tension in the room.
Turning, she bared her back to him, the only person she’d ever willingly and easily do that to. Because she trusted him. He’d already seen her scars—hell, he’d tended to those wounds himself.
He’d been there for her. For a long, long time.
There was a prick from the numbing injection and as Dravka pressed down on the cap, a hissing sound released the liquid into her.
Immediately, Valerie sighed in relief, both the pain medication and the injection working quickly. Until she could barely feel anything. Next, she heard rustling and felt Dravka press a soft bandage to her shoulder, adhering it neatly to the skin she’d carefully cleaned.
“Thank you,” she whispered to him, feeling something pull at her chest at his gentleness. The moment they were in the room after the innkeeper had shown them to it, he’d gone off in search of supplies for her. Always looking out for her, taking care of her.
Valerie felt his fingers trail up the back of her neck, stroking the column, and her breath hitched, her head tilting slightly. He touched her hair, still damp from when she’d washed it, and that single, almost innocent touch made her feel dizzy.
Dravka’s swallow echoed in the room. Then a soft curse escaped him and he said, “I’ll go bathe. Eat while I do, mellkia. Pax?”
Before she could say another word, he left her, quickly striding to the washroom door and sliding it shut—firmly—behind him. She heard the shower tube start, heard his clothes dropping to the floor.
Valerie licked her lips, exhaling a long breath, still sitting naked on the edge of the bed.
Now that her pain was at bay, now that she couldn’t feel the throbbing bone in her shoulder, it was easier to think. To want.
She smoothed a hand through her damp hair.
Did he want…did he want her that night?
Because she sure as hell wanted him. Now that they were off Everton, the realization that they’d actually done it—that they’d actually escaped and Valerie had gone with them—was staggering. She didn’t know what to do with herself.
But she was in a little room with Dravka. He’d called her his mate to the customs agent and that was what Valerie wanted to be to him. She’d never felt anything more right than Dravka calling her that.
Then again, he’d also just escaped Everton, a place where he’d been exploited by human women for almost ten years. Not only that, but the journey to Nimida couldn’t have been easy for him. There had been a strain in his eyes when she’d woken. From having to cut into her?
Valerie sat there for so long, debating, that she heard the shower turn off. In fact, she was still sitting on the bed, still naked, when he emerged from the washroom. His brow furrowed, his eyes flickering to the table, to the platter still full of food she didn’t recognize. He was naked too when he stepped out, though that wasn’t anything new. She’d seen him naked more times than she could count over the years.
“You should eat something, mellkia,” he murmured, closing the washroom door behind him, the light automatically shutting off on the inside. It darkened the bedroom slightly but there was enough light streaming in through the window—a red-hued light—to illuminate him clearly enough. “Are you not hungry?”
Quiet stretched between them. Dravka stayed near the washroom door though he was watching her. Carefully. Those dark eyes trying to read her, no doubt.
Taking in a deep breath, Valerie rose from the bed, the tunic she’d taken off sliding to the floor. Dravka’s nostrils flared again, his gaze flickering down her body, completely exposed to him.
“Val,” he bit out as she approached him.
His cock had been hard since the moment he stepped from the washroom. But she watched it twitch as she stepped closer, watched it bob when she placed her hands on Dravka’s chest.
She stroked the strong, shifting muscles there, heard his audible swallow.
“Dravka,” she started softly. “I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“You’re still healing,” he rasped, his voice husky. He was warm from the shower and smelled like he always did. Clean. Like pine, like the trees in the Lake District.
Again, a jolt went through her, realizing she’d never see it again. She’d never see Everton again.
“I don’t feel any pain,” she whispered up to him, reassuring him. “And I’m not tired. But I understand if you are. If you’d rather just go to bed and…”
She could feel his hearts pounding underneath her fingertips. And when she had stepped close enough? The tip of his cock dragged across her belly and he hissed out a small word she didn’t catch.
Valerie licked her lips and murmured, “It’s just that…well, we aren’t on Everton anymore, Dravka. And I’ve wanted you for so long.”
His eyes flared, his body tensing.
“But if you don’t want to, of course—”
For a moment, she thought she’d said the wrong thing. That her words had upset him in some way.
But in the next moment?
Dravka had her up in his arms and she gasped, twining her legs around his waist in res
ponse.
Which made his cock settle against the warm junction of her thighs, making them both groan.
Then his lips were on hers and Valerie felt sharp relief, followed quickly by rising want and need. His hands were on her. All over her, stroking down her back, squeezing the flesh of her ass, his grip possessive. But it was his lips that she focused on, his tongue.
The way it stroked hers, lapping and tangling with her own. The way his kiss made shivers run down her spine until his touch felt pleasurably electrified across her skin. Her head began to swim. Her sex throbbed.
“How could you ever think I don’t want you?” he growled against her. “I always will.”
That was when she felt his pre-cum, slick and wet, soaking into her skin. And when it did?
For a moment, Valerie had forgotten. Forgotten that the male she loved was a Keriv’i.
His pre-cum reacted with her body, just slicked across her flesh. It was that powerful. And tingles burst through her. Her clit began to feel like it was fluttering and throbbing.
Like…like…
She was just hovering on the edge of orgasm.
Like one little touch would be all it took to get her there.
“Dravka,” she gasped.
He made a rumbling, trilling sound in the back of his throat and then he was moving them. Valerie sensed him sinking down onto the edge of the bed until she sat in his lap, her legs straddled around his waist.
Valerie’s hands petted over his strong chest, his wide shoulders. His indigo skin was like suede under her touch.
“Demav, I can scent you, mellkia,” he rasped, briefly breaking away from her lips to suckle the skin on her neck. She moaned, arching into him. His pre-cum made it feel like his lips were all over her body.
She didn’t want to wait. Not any longer. Valerie needed him right then with a desperation that had been five years in the making.
“You need me, Val?” he rumbled against her neck, as if he could read her thoughts.
“Yes,” she whispered, panting, squirming against him.