Dating Outside Your DNA

by Karen Kelley

  He went to the glass wall on his right and placed the palms of his hands against it. How thick was it? He knew it was solid, from when he’d slammed against it. He looked around. Other than a scratchy blanket and a few pillows, the cage was empty. He only had one choice, try to weaken the glass enough so that he could eventually shatter it.

  This side would work the best. If anyone else came to check on him, or to taunt him, they might not notice that he was cutting into the glass.

  He fisted his hand so the diamond in his ring could make contact, and drew it across the glass from one corner to the next, then felt along the line he’d just made. Barely a scratch. He kept repeating the action as his mind formed a vision of Lyraka being tortured by that maniac.

  His gut clenched. Every possible way there was to kill a man flashed before him. Each line he drew in the glass was like cutting Banyon’s throat from ear to ear.

  After the twentieth pass there was still just the barest scratch on the surface. It would take him days to weaken the glass enough so that he could break through it.

  God, Lyraka must be scared out of her mind by everything that had happened. His stomach churned. What if he couldn’t save her? No, he wouldn’t think like that. Not when he loved her so much.

  His hand stilled. Love? He rested his head against the glass. When had that happened? He had a feeling he knew—the first time he’d seen her. She’d been a little unsure, but hadn’t backed down. No, she’d met his gaze head-on, as if telling him she was there to stay.

  He drew in a shaky breath. All the more reason to escape and free her. Roan had to tell her how much he loved her.

  Lyraka was pissed off as she walked the perimeter of her glass cage again. It was eight by eight. The middle of the floor was covered with satin pillows in an array of jewel-toned colors. It was a gilded cage. On the other side of her glass walls, it appeared she was in someone’s bedroom. There was a massive bed with a velvet draped canopy.

  Where was she? Why had they kidnapped her? She refused to think about what they might have done with Roan. If they’d harmed one hair on his head, she’d make sure they suffered horribly.

  At one point, they’d forced her to drink a bitter liquid that left her coughing and feeling woozy. Her clothes had been stripped from her body. A shiver of revulsion rippled over her as she remembered lying on a cold table, her hands tied down, and the man in black standing over her, staring at her nakedness.

  He’d touched her, cupped her breasts in his hot, moist hands.

  “Beautiful.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” someone else spoke.

  She’d cringed away from the man in black. “I’ll kill you,” she spat, but her words were thick. She’d pulled against the ties that bound her wrists.

  He laughed. “I think not.” He trailed his fingers over her stomach and through the curls at the juncture of her legs, then moved back to her breasts.

  She caught the scent of dead roses when he breathed close to her face. She tried to turn away, but he caught her chin. “You are mine, my sweet captive. How does it feel to know I can do anything I want to you and there’s not a thing you can do?” To prove his point, he moved his hand back to her breast and squeezed her nipple.

  She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. Just when she thought she would give in to the pain, he laughed. A dark, raspy sound that sent shivers of fear over her.

  Abruptly, he moved away and ordered her dressed in the thin white gown that she still wore. It hid little.

  She was forced to drink more of the bitter liquid, then she was bathed in darkness and oblivion.

  A door opened and the man in black entered the bedroom. She stood tall with her head held high. She refused to shield her body. What did it matter? He’d already seen everything there was to see.

  He noted her rebellion and smiled. “You’re so much like your mother. Aasera fought, too. If the guards hadn’t been surprised, I would have tamed her. But she escaped. A shame. She would have provided many days of entertainment. As will you.”

  “Go to hell.”

  “I don’t believe in your religion, but I know of it. Hell is the place where evil goes. I think I would enjoy ruling there.” He walked closer to the enclosure.

  “What have you done with Roan?”

  “Your friend is dead.”

  Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe and sank to the pillows. Roan, dead? No, she would’ve known if that were true. Wouldn’t she have felt his heart stop beating? He couldn’t be dead. Not when she had just realized she loved him.

  She looked at the man in black and saw the way he watched her reaction. There was something about him that told her he was lying. Hope sprang inside her.

  “You’re lying.” She met his gaze, daring him to tell her differently.

  “Yes, I am.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you and why are you doing this?”

  He bowed slightly. “I am Banyon, Ruler of the Roverts. Welcome to my planet.”

  Her gaze swung from one side to the other. “No, you couldn’t…”

  “But I did. It was quite easy, in fact.” He raised his eyebrows. “You call yourself an agent with an elite force? It took very little effort to take you.”

  “Easy for you to say when you had someone else doing your dirty work.”

  “True, but then I am the king so I can do whatever I want.” His gaze moved slowly over her. “I’m going to have you. You do know this, don’t you? I’m going to mate with you often.”

  “I’d rather you just kill me.”

  He brushed an imaginary fleck off his dark coat. “Yes, I will do that, too. Then I will send your head to Aasera. When she comes after me seeking revenge, I will also kill her.”

  “Is that how you got that scar? Did my mother give it to you?” She sneered. “You have the audacity to think you can beat her? That you will be able to kill her? I don’t think so.”

  His face turned dark red, then he visibly forced himself to relax. “Yes, you are like her. It will be fun breaking you.”

  “You’ll never touch me,” she promised, raising her chin and glaring at him.

  He smiled, then pushed a button on her cage and everything went dark. She couldn’t see. Fear swept over her. She could take just about anything except being caged in the dark.

  “Rest, my sweet. I will return.”

  Anger flared inside her, but it was short lived. In the dark, she had time to think about what was going to happen to Roan, to her. She knelt down, then curled up on the pillows, hugging one close to her. Damn Banyon! If she got the chance, she would give him more than a scar to remember her by.

  Banyon could see Lyraka, but she couldn’t see him. He enjoyed watching her. She was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. She was dark like a Nerakian warrior and had a lot of the fierce determination that he saw in their genetic make-up. Usually he had no desire to mate with a warrior. They were often cold and analytical.

  Lyraka was different, though. Her eyes weren’t dark like a warrior’s. Her eyes were pale blue, and when she looked at him, it was as though she looked deep into his soul. They were mesmerizing.

  He wanted her. He wanted to spread her thighs and plunge deep into her body again and again. He wanted her to cry out his name, to do his bidding. Then, and only then, would he kill her.

  He watched her as she flung the pillow away and rolled to her back. She hugged her middle, her breasts pushing up. He licked his lips as he stared. The thin material hid nothing from him. He wanted her begging him to plunge inside her.

  Maybe he would let the man watch them mate. He knew the earthling had deep feelings for Lyraka. It would give Banyon great pleasure to have him watch them mate. Yes, he would arrange for that as soon as she was submissive.

  Life was good.

  Chapter 26

  “We’ve found the Jeep.” Reeka and Link strode into the training room where the others were gathered.

  Joe looked up. Dread filled him. He’d been
worried since yesterday morning when Roan and Lyraka hadn’t shown up. He’d known there was something between the two. A blind man would’ve seen the attraction, but Roan wouldn’t have skipped training. Not when the Adnams were raising hell.

  He looked at Reeka and Warren, and hoped they weren’t going to tell him that it was at the bottom of one of the deep ravines that snaked through the mountainside.

  “Where?”

  “In town. The one just down the mountain. Springtown.”

  “And Roan and Lyraka?” he asked.

  Reeka shook her head. “No sign.”

  “There’s a carnival in town,” Warren said. “We talked to some of the people who run the booths. We showed their pictures. One of the guys remembered them. Said the woman could shoot as good as a man.”

  Alesha snorted.

  Warren looked apologetic. “His words. Not mine. The Ferris wheel operator said he noticed a man dressed all in black glaring at them when they…uh…”

  Warren’s face turned a bright shade of red. Knowing Roan, it didn’t take much imagination to figure out what they were doing.

  Warren squared his shoulders. “He said that people started clapping when they kissed. He wouldn’t have thought much about it, but the guy in black was evil looking. Someone you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark deserted street.”

  “I knew there was something going on between them.” Link leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankle.

  Ray frowned. “Hell, I thought they hated each other the way he always rode her.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, the way he wanted her to be the best and all. Do you think they might have gotten a motel room and time sort of slipped away? That happened to me once.”

  “There’s something else.” Warren reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “We found these just under the Jeep. Roan wouldn’t have left them. That isn’t all There was a spot on the pavement. It tested positive for blood.”

  “Damn.” Joe stood, walking to the window. What had Roan and Lyraka gotten into? He scraped his fingers through his hair.

  “What do we do, boss?” Alesha asked.

  Joe turned from the window. He still didn’t think she fit his idea of an agent, especially with the elite force. Her scores reflected otherwise. She’d made the highest ones ever on a written exam.

  She’d played football in high school. She was right there in the middle of a bunch of smart-assed boys, but she’d held her own. She might look like a cheerleader, but she could kick some serious ass.

  “What would you do?”

  “I’d take a sketch artist and have the guy who saw the man in black describe him,” Alesha said.

  “Did either one of them have any enemies?” Reeka asked.

  Joe shook his head. “I’m almost positive Lyraka didn’t. Roan had his share.”

  “Do you think they’re still alive?” Ray’s expression was solemn. “You’d think if someone was after money, they would’ve asked for a ransom or something by now.”

  Joe shook his head. “I don’t know.” He’d never felt so useless in his whole life. All he knew was that whoever had them better make damn sure he didn’t harm them because no place, no planet, was big enough for them to hide. He’d hunt them down if it was the last thing he ever did.

  Roan thought he’d been in the glass cage for two days. It was hard to tell. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. Food would be waiting when he woke up. There was a pot to relieve himself that would be replaced with a clean one while he slept.

  He had a feeling there was something in the food that made him sleep so he’d started hiding it beneath the pillows. Banyon had been in one other time to taunt him with what he was doing to Lyraka. Roan hadn’t let the other man goad him. He only stared at Banyon, which had infuriated him.

  But Banyon’s tactics had worked better than the ruler could’ve hoped. He just didn’t know it.

  If Banyon was harming Lyraka, Roan would kill him. He just had to escape. He worked at scoring the glass every chance he got. The grooves were getting deeper. It wouldn’t be long now.

  There was a familiar whish of the door opening. He quickly moved away from the glass and positioned himself so that it shielded that side.

  “I was beginning to wonder where you’ve been.” Roan stood nonchalantly, one hand resting on the glass in front of him. He’d never before felt such a burning desire to kill someone. Until now. He wanted to choke the life out of the smug bastard.

  “It’s nice to know I’m missed.”

  “I’d miss a worm if I thought it would relieve the boredom of sitting in here day after day.”

  “That’s why I have brought something to entertain you.”

  Roan knew by the smirk on Banyon’s face that whatever he was about to do, Roan wouldn’t like it.

  Banyon clapped his hands and the door opened again. A video screen was brought into the room and placed in front of him. The men who carried it in left as quietly as they’d come. The screen was blank until Banyon touched a button.

  Roan’s breath caught in his throat. Lyraka was in a glass cage much like his, but she was obviously in a bed chamber. She wore a thin gown that showed more than it hid. She was being treated as less than nothing, an object on display for Banyon to enjoy at will.

  “Let her go,” Roan said quietly.

  “She is beautiful, isn’t she,” Banyon said as though Roan hadn’t spoken.

  “Let her go now, and I might let you live.” Roan turned his gaze on Banyon. The other man didn’t look quite as sure of himself as he had a moment ago.

  He quickly recovered, and said, “Enjoy what you will never have again.” Banyon turned on his heel and left the room.

  “Lyraka,” Roan breathed. He rested his hands on the glass and drank in the sight of her. “Hang tight, baby. I’ll get us out of here.”

  She glanced around as if she’d heard his words. He held his breath.

  “Can you hear me?”

  She moved to the cushions and sat in the middle of them looking dejected. For just a moment, he’d thought she’d heard him. Even with her sensitive hearing, there were too many walls that separated them.

  But she was alive. He’d been afraid for her. He rested his forehead on the glass and drew in a deep breath.

  As he lifted his head he looked at the video screen. Banyon was walking into the room where Lyraka was in her glass cage. God, he was a sick bastard. Roan got more irritated the nearer Banyon got to the cage.

  Lyraka turned her head and saw Banyon. She slowly sat up, wobbling slightly. He’d given her something. Probably the same thing he’d been putting in Roan’s food.

  Banyon brought a golden key out of his pocket and inserted it into an area of the glass that had looked flush before. Roan felt as though he’d been plunked down in the middle of a dark fairy tale.

  “Stay the hell away from her,” he growled. He began to pace, his gaze never leaving Lyraka.

  Banyon’s face suddenly filled the screen and he smiled. The son of a bitch knew exactly what this was doing to Roan. Banyon liked to play games. Well, Roan didn’t, and when he was free, he’d rip off Banyon’s head.

  Banyon entered the glass cage, then knelt on one knee and ran a hand through Lyraka’s hair. She lay there in her drugged state. Roan’s hands curled into fists as Banyon leaned closer to Lyraka’s face. But rather than kissing her, as he’d probably planned, Lyraka came alive and hit him in the nose as hard as she could.

  Banyon screamed and slapped Lyraka across the face, drawing blood when he busted her lip. Roan slammed his fist against the glass.

  Lyraka jumped to her feet as Banyon ran from the cage, locking the door behind him. Two guards rushed into the room and escorted their leader away.

  Roan turned his attention back to Lyraka who was laughing uncontrollably as she fell back on the cushions. God, she was nervy, and not as drugged as he’d first thought.

  He grinned. Knocking the hell out of Banyon was something he would have
done. No matter what the cost. It was the principle of the matter that counted. Lyraka had thumbed her nose at Banyon and said screw you.

  Damn, he loved her.

  And had more reason to free her. Banyon was going to exact revenge, and Roan didn’t want the axe to fall on her head. Would he be able to break free in time?

  How damn thick was the glass, anyway? He’d been working at making it weaker since he’d awakened. He wouldn’t stop until he was free. He scored across the top, down the side, across the bottom, up the other side. The muscles in his shoulders ached, but he concentrated on what it would feel like to hold Lyraka in his arms again, to pull her against him.

  “Hang in there, babe, I’m coming for you.” Across the top, down the side, across the bottom, back up the other side. His arm burned. Pain was good. It made him remember just what was important in his life.

  Lyraka carefully touched her lip. “Ouch,” she hissed.

  Damn, Banyon had hit her square on the lip. She should be thankful it had been an open handed slap rather than a balled fist.

  He hit like a wuss. Had the man never been in a fight before? Probably not. He was a king and before that, a prince. He’d probably had other people doing his fighting for him.

  But her fisted slam to his nose had been dead on. That had been priceless. She would do it again if she got the chance. She rubbed her sore knuckles. Even if it had hurt her almost as much as him.

  She lay back on the pillows and tried to concentrate on blending in. If Banyon thought she was gone, he might open the door and she’d be able to escape.

  Something in the food had made it impossible for her to blend, though. Some kind of drug had been added. She still felt a little woozy. And she was starving since she’d stopped eating and started hiding the food beneath the pillows.

  She sighed and sat up when the blending still wasn’t working. Hitting Banyon hadn’t been a smart move. He might force the liquid down her again.