by T. S. Ryder
"Depends on the asteroid belt I've plotted us through. I'll have to pilot through it manually, and that could take anywhere from a few hours to a day or more if we have to stop to rest. But even if we're delayed, worst case scenario is that we get there in four days. Plenty of time."
Taliga nodded, trying to ignore the twist in his gut as he thought of handing the human over to the Wytsian Order.
The banging from down the corridor increased. His hesitancy combined with the noise made a spike of irritation shoot through him. Did that woman have no sense of when to be quiet?
The T'shav grabbed his black broadsword from where he had leaned it against the wall when he began his meditation. He had forged the blade himself. The blade color was a flaw, from when he had had to melt and shape the ore a second time after his first attempt shattered, but Taliga thought it suited him perfectly. Broken once, but remade stronger than ever.
"Has she been doing that this whole time?" He turned to Kulog with a raised brow.
"Yes. I wanted to see how long she could keep it up, but she's getting damn irritating now." Kulog picked at something between his teeth with the long, sharp dagger he always had strapped to his thigh. "At least she's not screaming anymore. 'Let me go, let me go'. I have half a mind to go in there and rip out her tongue."
A spike of anger shot up Taliga's spine. "You'll do no such thing."
Kulog stared at him, muscles tensing. His grip tightened on his blade. Taliga glared back at him. Musth was not the time to antagonize the already unstable male, but neither was he going to let Kulog harm the human–their commission wanted her untouched.
"We lose money for every mark on her. They might just reject her completely if she's permanently damaged."
Kulog scowled as he stood, slipping his dagger back into its sheath. He cracked his neck from side to side, clearly waiting for Taliga to blink first. It was a pathetic display, but one that was necessary at this point. Until the other T'shav found a way to deal with his increasing aggression, Taliga would have to watch his back.
A lesson he had learned the hard way.
"So," Kulog said, pulling the word out until it was almost three times longer than normal. "If commission goes down with every mark on her, I suppose it means that delaying a day or two and using her for musth is out of the question."
"Yes." Taliga had to resist the urge to run the other T'shav through on the spot. How dare he even suggest such a disgusting, depraved act? "It is most definitely out of the question."
Kulog's nostrils flared. Another loud thud echoed down the corridor and he whirled, fists clenched. "I'll get that woman to shut up if it's the last thing I do. Get the regenerator ready."
"No."
"A few bruises will be easily healed."
"No!" Taliga pushed passed the other T'shav. A hard, angry lump was in the middle of his stomach, and the scar tissue in his chest gave another twinge. "I'll deal with her. You're at the start of your musth and I don't trust you with her. She's too valuable a commodity to risk."
"Are you saying—" Kulog cut himself off and stalked away.
Taliga took a deep breath, calming himself. After bringing himself back into control, he headed up the corridor to the second cargo bay, which had been retrofitted for the human's containment. He flicked the door open. She was standing on the other side, her hair in a wild mess around her, the white gown clinging to her in all the right places. Taliga was struck once again by how breathtakingly beautiful she was.
And then he was struck in the stomach by her fist.
"Ow!" Taliga pulled back, more surprised by her hitting him than anything else.
She struck out again, this time her fist coming at his face, but Taliga caught her wrist easily. She punched with her other hand, and he caught that one, too. She kicked. He shoved her backward, making her lose her footing. She fell heavily. The tight bodice of the dress made her heaving bosom look even bigger.
She glared up at him. "When Zon sends his men after me, you'll be sorry for this!"
He had to admire her fierceness if nothing else. He offered her a hand to help her stand. "My name is Taliga. What's yours?"
Why was he asking her for her name? It was irrelevant. If anything, it was a dangerous question. Knowing names led to emotional connections, and emotional connections made it more difficult to do what was necessary when it was necessary. He was already having a hard enough time managing his feelings for this woman, he didn't need to know her name.
"Vanessa," she said, taking his hand.
He pulled her up–and she instantly struck out again, kicking at his ankle. With a growl, he pushed her again. This time she grabbed at his neck. They fell together. Taliga held out his hands, bracing for impact. But instead of hitting the floor this time, they landed on the mattress he'd thrown into the cargo bay.
Vanessa's dark hair haloed her as she fell back onto the bed, pinned between the blankets and his body. Her pupils expanded. Her hands were still around his neck, and her grip tightened. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. Taliga almost forgot to breathe. Was he seeing the same draw in her that he felt for her? Or was it his mind playing tricks on him?
It wouldn't be the first time. After all, how many times had he seen this same look in Edala's eyes and thought that she felt the same way he did? And in the end, it had all been a lie. She had stared him in the eyes, professed her love for him, and then stabbed him in the back.
Literally.
He let a little more of his weight on Vanessa unconsciously, pushing her thighs over his hips. Ever since Edala, he hadn't allowed himself to become close to anybody. He hadn't even slept with a woman, except for when he needed to at the height of his musth. But those times were always blinded by an overwhelming lust, there was always something missing…
His own gaze moved to her mouth, and he found himself being drawn in. He knew he shouldn’t be this close to her. If Kulog saw them like this, how could he stop the other T'shav from doing what he wanted?
A whimper from Vanessa made her look back to her eyes. The desire in them was fading to pure terror. Taliga released her with a jolt. He scrambled to his feet, shaking his head. He wanted to reassure her that he would never hurt her like that but stopped himself. It was best if she feared him. If she saw him as a person she could trust, then it would make him feel even guiltier about handing her over to their buyer. And he was not going to risk his life for her.
"Stay quiet," he told her gruffly. "If I hear another peep out of you before we reach our destination, you'll regret it."
He turned on his heel and stalked out, not daring to let himself look back.
Chapter Three – Vanessa
Her breath caught in her throat when the door opened. Vanessa tried to quell the heat that swirled in her belly at the sight of the tall T'shav as he brought in a plate of food. She didn't know why she couldn’t get enough of the sight of him.
Ever since he had pinned her to the mattress with his body, she'd been wanting him to do it again. She knew that she shouldn’t, and reminded herself of how frightening the experience actually had been, but nothing seemed to help.
Taliga held the food out to her. "We will be arriving at our destination in a few hours. You had better eat."
"What do you care?"
Vanessa twisted her hands. They were still tender from the hours she had spent banging them against the door, but a few rounds with the ancient regenerator the T'shav had on board had reduced the bruising and swelling to a minimum. Not that she was going to thank them for that. They weren't doing it from the kindness of their hearts, it was only because they were protecting their merchandise. The same with Taliga's insistence that she eat.
"Do you really think starving yourself is going to help you out at all?"
"Oh, yes, I think that it's going to make me thin and so beautiful that you won't be able to bring yourself to selling me to your mysterious third party." She couldn't help but be sarcastic.
Taliga's brow creased as he set the
food down. "How would being thinner make you more beautiful than you already are?"
If he wasn't a kidnapping mercenary, that might have actually been romantic. Vanessa turned her face away, clenching her jaw. The T'shav stared at her a moment longer. He opened his mouth, then shook his head and left her alone in her cell.
The food smelled and looked mediocre at best, but Vanessa's stomach growled, so she ate. As she did so, she hiked up her long skirt and pulled the small silver cross she had hidden in her garter. It was the last thing she had from Earth, a gift from her mother when she was eighteen (despite the fact that Vanessa had stopped going to church and had no intention of returning). Wearing it during the dawning rites had been strictly forbidden, as were any religious items not directly related to the rites, but Vanessa always kept it with her.
If her mother was here now… well, she would have words for her daughter about the feelings she had been having of late.
Despite the fact that he kidnapped her, Vanessa's heart lurched a little every time she saw Taliga. She knew it wasn't right. Maybe even a little Stockholmy, although maybe it was a little too quick for that. Whatever the reason, she couldn’t help herself. Whenever she was around him, her heart would hammer, her breath would quicken, and she'd have a spinning sensation in her head and a tightening between her legs.
And that wasn’t the worst of it. When he was gone and she found herself alone, her thoughts were inevitably drawn to him. He was a gorgeous specimen. A terrible, criminal, kidnapping person, but oh so gorgeous. More than once she woke with her heart racing from dreams where he was laying over her, gently undressing her.
In any other situation, she would have a much harder time not finding a way to make it come true.
The image came into Vanessa's mind again, of Taliga's mouth on various parts of her body. Her core tightened. And guilt rose in her chest. She had always been taught that sex was something sacred that should only happen between married partners. It didn't matter if she had rejected most tenants of the faith she was raised in, that one stayed. It was wrong to have these lustful thoughts about a man she had no intention of being with, especially about an alien that had kidnapped her!
"It must be because he's in musth," she whispered. "It's his pheromones playing with my head."
But was musth really that specific? Yes, she was having desires for Taliga, but the other T'shav left her cold. The sneers, the open ogling. He made her skin crawl. He was the one that had mentioned being in musth. So shouldn't she be drawn to him, or at least both of them? If only she knew more about musth…
Vanessa slid the necklace over her head, tucking the cross hidden into her cleavage. Now was not the time for the feeling of lust or guilt over her lust. It was a natural bodily function, no need to feel guilt for it, but it was distracting her from the real problem she had.
Getting away from these two before they sold her to their mysterious buyer was the real problem. Because anybody who would hire a couple of mercenaries to get her certainly would not have her best interests at heart. Maybe they were going to ransom her, but chances were they had a much darker purpose.
So how could she convince them to release her?
***
The planet they landed on was a dark, cold place. Its orbit was synchronized with a larger one closer to the sun, casting it in near-permanent shadow. The grass that grew here were tall and spindly, and so pale that they looked skeletal. They spread out in every direction. The ship's landing propulsions had flattened the flora in a large circle around them, but beyond that it was just tall enough to be past Taliga's head.
Vanessa fought to stay calm as Taliga pulled her out of the ship. She had no plan to get away from here, but she knew she had to act.
"The restraints are too tight," She said, holding up her wrists. They were bound together by circles of blue energy, projected by small silver clasps stuck to the back of her hand.
"No, they're not," Taliga said, not looking at her as he pulled her along. He glanced around. "Looks like our buyer is just arriving."
Vanessa saw the bright lights of a second ship just through the pale grass. Her stomach cramped. This was her only chance. If she could get into the flora, then perhaps they would lose her. Her white dress would blend in if nothing else.
She yanked her arm away from Taliga and dashed towards the tall grasses. She managed five feet before both T'shav were on her again. Kulog grabbed her first, arms circling her chest. Taliga tore her away from the other T'shav and threw her over his shoulder.
"I could handle her," Kulog growled.
"And I'd rather not waste time while you threaten her," Taliga growled back.
Vanessa kicked her feet. "Let me go!"
He ignored her, as expected. They headed towards the other ship Vanessa fought the best she could, but there was no freeing herself from the strong T'shav. When he finally put her down, he spun her to face his buyers. Vanessa froze as fear flooded her.
Half a dozen men stood in a semi-circle around the gangplank. Light spilled out from their ship, casting their faces into shadow. But the light blue robes with golden trim, matched with collars of purple and black, told her enough. They were priests from the Wytsian Order. Their creed was that the influx of humans found in the stasis chambers weren't 'real' humans, and needed to be wiped out.
Taliga was selling her to be slaughtered.
"Our human at last," one of them, a blue-skinned Aphrosian said, greedy golden eyes locked on her.
"Untouched, without a bruise on her," Taliga said. His hand was clamped hard on her shoulder.
Vanessa glanced at him. While he may not have shown kindness to her on their way here, he hadn't been cruel, either. His desire for her had been obvious as well, terrifying her as much as it drew her in. But he hadn't acted on it, had even protected her from Kulog. She hadn't expected this. Out of everybody he could have stolen her for, why did they have to be people who would kill her?
"Payment, as promised," the priest said, waving his hand. One of his fellows stepped forward with a box.
"Please." Vanessa turned to Taliga. She grabbed his hand but he pulled it away. "Please, don't give me to them. You know they'll kill me. Please. Please! I haven't done anything wrong."
Kulog yawned. "So? We're not in the business of taking in strays, you know. We spent good money getting you, and now we're getting a profit off of you. It's just business."
Vanessa reached for Taliga's hand again. Fear was so thick in her chest she thought she might choke on it. Her whole body trembled as the priest came forward with the payment. If she couldn’t reach this T'shav somehow… shew as finished. There would be no getting away from the Wytsian Order.
"Please," she begged again. "I'll do anything you ask of me. I'll be your slave for when you go through musth if that's what you want me to do. Please."
Finally, she had a reaction from him. The cold expression on his face faltered and he shook his head.
"I don't want a slave for such purposes," he said quietly.
"You know they're going to kill me. Don't you have a heart?"
He turned her away from him and pushed her towards the priests. "What will you do with her now?"
Oh, so he cared, did he? Vanessa wished she had a knife. If she did, she'd stab him in the heart he didn't have. Her lip trembled. Why? Why did this have to happen? To feel that draw to him, only to have this happen? As if it wasn't already enough of a betrayal for her body to long to be twined with his.
"We'll take her back to the place where Humans first roamed and preform a sacrifice to appease the angered spirits of our ancestors that such a creature was allowed to live."
"I'm human," Vanessa cried. She tried to shy away from the priest as he handed the box to Kulog, but Taliga's hand was firm on her shoulder, stopping her from moving in any direction. "Please, I'm human. I was born in 1989 in Toronto, Canada, Earth. My parents were—"
The priest cut her off with a terrible glare. "You are an imposter."
&n
bsp; "How will you kill her?" Taliga's voice was flat. "Quickly?"
"What does it matter?" Kulog gave him a disgusted look. "We've gotten our payment, just give them the woman and we can be on our way. If it's so hard for you, just imagine that she's Edala."
Taliga grunted. His grip on her shoulder tightened.
"Come on." Kulog rolled his eyes. "You know as well as anybody that women can't be trusted. I bet she's led on dozens of men, then turned around and accused them of horrible things. Getting sacrificed is no more than she deserves."
"How will you kill her?" Taliga repeated.
The priest didn't move his eyes from Vanessa's face. "We'll cut her heart out and feed it to the Earth."
Vanessa cried out in horror. Behind her, Taliga tensed.
Chapter Four – Taliga
Why should he care?
It wasn't like he knew her. Kulog was right. A woman like her, with all her delicious curves and that beautiful face, could have a choice of any man she wanted. Just like Edala, using her beauty against him. And even if she wasn't, she was cargo. He was getting well paid to deliver her to these priests.
What they did to her after they had her was their own business. He had known from the start that they were going to kill her. It didn't matter what method they were going to use. It didn't matter that Vanessa was pressed against him, shivering, tears pooling in her eyes. It didn't matter that she was the furthest thing from Edala Taliga had ever met.
It didn't matter that he wanted to tear apart all of these priests for daring to even think of hurting her.
His hand gripped the butt of his blaster. Even if he wanted to try to save her, he wouldn’t be able to do it. First, he'd have to shoot Kulog, or the other T'shav would get in his way. Then he'd have to lay down a cover fire at the priests while pulling Vanessa back through the grass towards the ship and hope they didn't return his fire.