by Maia Starr
"I copy, Commander Handor. On my way now; good job rescuing the females,” he said.
"Katie, take the girls and continue to hide where you were hiding. Come out for no one until you see the ship. If it is Melinda or I, we will identify ourselves loudly. Do you understand?”
"Yes, I understand. Girls,” she said as she gathered the women to go back into hiding. “The ship will be coming from that direction."
I stepped away from her and shifted into dragon form. I ran to the edge of the hill and flew off the edge, flying toward the auction area. As I got closer, I could see that it was already in progress. If she had already been sold off and put in a ship, I would never find her. I would never forgive myself.
I flew over the auction site, making a circle; this was not uncommon, to see a Drackon flying overhead. But in this case, I was looking to steal their auction property. I landed on a building, peering down. It was then that I saw Melinda with her wrists tied with rope. It was a Drackon warrior that was leading her onto the stage. The human male who I assumed was John Houston was speaking loudly in the Drackon language and giving a description of Melinda. His words made me want to kill him. But if I did that, there would be no time for a rescue.
I watched as her wrists were pulled up above her head and the rope was tied to a post. She was wearing a dress, and I was confused by the way she looked. She didn't look like a detective with tactical gear. Had they given her a change of clothing? Or did she do that to herself? There was no time to think about it. I saw the Simeon hovering above the Temple of Star. Now was the time, before someone noticed.
"Are the packages secured?” I said into the radio.
"Packages on board and secured, all five of them,” Rick said.
"I am headed toward you in 60 seconds," I said back to him.
I pulled out my blaster gun and swooped down toward the auction stage.
BOOM! My blaster gun was aimed at the rope above her head. It hit it square on the rope, letting her loose. Before anyone knew what was going on, I swooped her into my arms as I flew by. I quickly shot straight up into the air and toward the hovering Simeon.
"After him!” I heard voices shout. I could hear the sounds of warriors shifting.
"Melinda! Here!” I said, shoving the blaster gun into her hand. Then I put my arms underneath her arms and faced her behind me. She started blasting away at the warriors following us as I made my way to the Simeon.
"Rick, open the door! Now!” I shouted into the radio communicator.
"Door opening," Rick repeated.
I looked to see a warrior beside me and reaching out for Melinda. “Beside you!” I shouted.
Blast! Melinda shot him out of the sky. The door to the Simeon was wide open. We were only five yards away from it and I shouted, “Rick, close the door!” knowing that it took a few seconds for it to close. I burst into a hard dive and we crash landed inside the ship. The door closed behind us just in time.
"Go! Go! We are on board,” I shouted. The ship began to move and I picked Melinda up off the floor and we moved to the nearest seats and buckled in. “We are secure! Hyperdrive!” I shouted.
In seconds, the ship jolted into hyperdrive and we burst out of the Riolb atmosphere into space and on a path back to Earth. I breathed out in relief. We had done it. I looked over at Melinda, who was looking at me with wide eyes as her breasts moved up and down with her heavy breathing.
"What the hell was that?”
"The women? Are they on board?” she asked.
"They are on board. What the hell were you doing? Were you trying to get yourself killed?” I said to her in anger.
"Coming out of hyperdrive,” Rick said over the intercom. The ship slowed down back to a normal traveling speed. We had been in hyperdrive enough to throw them off course if we were followed, but I knew that would not be the case.
"Thank you! Thank you!” a lot of high-pitched voices came into hall by the door. It was all of the women, and Katie ran up to me and threw her arms around me.
"I knew you would come for me, Eniv. I just knew it. Thank you so much. You are my hero,” she said to me with tears in her eyes.
Melinda looked at both of us then she managed a weak smile as she said, “We are glad that you all are okay. I am going to set up beds for you in the common room. Come, there is water and food,” she said, leading the women away into the common room. I wanted to call after her, but I did not.
Katie looked up at me and said, “Eniv, I am so grateful. I am so grateful to you and to Detective Katiama; it was such a horrible place. I just cannot believe that it is real that human females are being taken in that way.”
"It is all right now; you are safe. I won't let anything happen to you. You are under my protection and nothing like this will ever happen to you again. I can promise you that,” I said to her.
She looked up at me and began to cry even harder and said, “I am sorry to do this to you. I am so grateful that you came all this way for me. You put your life in danger and Detective Katiama did too; that's what makes it so hard to say this, but I have to say what is in my heart."
"I am listening," I said, guiding her to a seat so that she could sit down. I sat next to her.
"This entire ordeal has made me realize just how much I love Earth. I never want to leave Earth ever again. I never want to be around Drackon warriors ever again. I know that not all of you are the way the warriors that stole us are, but I do not want to be married to one. I do not want to live on your planet. I want to live on Earth and marry a human male and live a normal life. I hope you do not hate me for that, because I am grateful that you came for me,” she said, crying.
I could not believe what she was saying. I wasn't going to have to be with a woman I did not love; I could be with Melinda. Katie was the one rejecting me, and I understood her reasons for it. She had just gone through a very traumatic experience and I could see why she would never want to leave Earth ever again.
"Katie, I understand. I will not hold you to your engagement to me. You are free to do as you will. I want you to be happy and I wish you the best. Yes, I rescued you and the other women, but I also did it because it is my duty, so don't feel that you owe me anything. I want you to marry for love; you deserve it after everything you have been through. Now come on, let's get you some food and water and rest. You will be home on Earth soon with your family,” I said to her. She jumped up and threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug.
Chapter 5
DETECTIVE MELINDA KATIAMA
I knew that Eniv was going to be extremely pissed off at me for what I had done. But I had to do it and I knew if I told him my plan, he would not go along with it. He was not going to go along with anything that put me in that kind of danger, but I knew deep inside that it was what needed to be done. I knew it the moment that I saw the Drackon warriors staring at me inside the watering hole. They were almost going to make it too easy.
After I indulged myself and my senses making love to Eniv, I woke up just before dawn feeling guilty that I had allowed myself to take another woman's man. It was a woman that was currently in peril and I was supposed to rescue her. The guilt got to me and I went into action. I went into my bunk and pulled out a disguise. It was a flimsy dress. I pulled off my top and pulled the dress on, over my pants that had many weapons and gadgets concealed in them, as well as in my boots. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail on top of my head and layered on eyeliner and lipstick. I quietly snuck out of the ship, but was not expecting to run into Kolstin.
"Where are you off to, human female?” he said with a smile on his face.
"I am just going market to get foods for my master so that it is ready when he wakes,” I said to him quickly thinking on my feet.
"That is good. You are a good and beautiful human female slave. There are many booths just outside our gate, so you do not have to wander far. Good day to you,” he said with a nod and continued on with his day. I quickly moved out of the gate, covering my head with
the scarf. I had to go quickly and unnoticed until I made it to the watering hole. As soon as I arrived, I saw the two Drackon warriors from the day before.
"Can you help me? I am lost. I have been separated from my master,” I said to them with tears in my eyes.
"Do not worry, human female, we will help you,” they said to me as they gave each other a look. I know exactly what was going to happen. This was all according to my plan.
Of course, they did not help me and instead they pushed me into a dark cell; that is where I saw Katie and the other five women. I gave them a quick plan on how to get to the hill with the star temple that I knew would be Eniv’s first place when looking for me. They were so grateful and burst into tears when I told them that we were here to rescue them. Now it was all up to me. I waited closer to the late morning when I knew the auction was going to happen. It is then that I pulled out my gadgets from my boots and unlocked the cells. I had quietly led the girls out of the cell and just outside the building when one of the warriors caught us.
"Go! I will hold him off," I said as I stayed back and got into a fight with the warrior, which I quickly lost but bought enough time for the women to disappear. I only hope they would make it to the hill. So far, my plan had gone according to what I wanted to happen, but I was not expecting to be locked up in the prison cell by myself. The warriors had searched me and taken my weapons and gadgets, I was now barefoot in my shredded dress. But I felt a sense of accomplishment. I had rescued the women and that was what I was sent here to do. I had solved the crime and let Eniv know that Captain Smith was behind it; he could go back to Earth and make sure that the captain was arrested and put a stop to this crime ring. I had done everything that I had hoped to accomplish and if I had to sacrifice becoming a human slave in the process, then I guessed that is what would have to happen.
But I was not expecting for Eniv to swoop down from the sky and rescue me the way he did. I was in awe of his bravery, flying into a middle of many warriors and criminals. He was doing it all to rescue me; it brought tears to my eyes.
Now, on the ship, I saw just how much Eniv was taken. He was very much engaged to this woman that we had just rescued. I could not watch them be together, so I took the women into the common room to get them food, water, and rest. It was a small ship, so they would have to sleep on makeshift beds. I was glad for the work and I got to it quickly. I needed the distraction and Katie and Eniv needed to be alone. Minutes later, they both walked into the common room and Katie hugged the other women and sat with them to eat and drink. Eniv was staring at me, but there was not the guilt and his eyes like there usually was. Instead, he almost looked happy. What the hell was he thinking? Was he excited that he had two women on board the ship now? I don't think so.
"Detective Katiama, will you join me on the flight deck to speak to the pilot?” he said to me. He turned and walked out of the common room and I followed.
"Look, I'm sorry I did what I did, but I knew it was the only way. I had to get myself kidnapped by those warriors in order to free the women,” I said to him. He turned to me with his mouth wide-open as we stood in the hallway.
"You mean you got caught on purpose?"
"Yes, it was the only way. I hope you see that,” I said to him ready for him to start yelling at me.
"The only thing I see is a very, very brave woman in front of me. I can't believe you did that, risking your own life in that way. You could've been a female slave, forever subjected to many horrors.
"No, I'm sure I would've escaped eventually,” I said with a slight smile.
"You're not going to believe this, but Katie has asked me to break off the engagement. She no longer wants to marry me and she wants to live on Earth forever,” he said to me so fast that I almost did not catch the meaning.
"What?!”
"Yes, can you believe it? She does not want to marry me. Truth be told, I am relieved. I do not want to marry her either. I'm in love with someone else. My true match in all ways” he said to me.
"Oh really? Do I know her?” I said playfully.
"I don't know. She is a feisty woman with a big mouth on her, always ready with a fiery statement to spit back at me. She's really sexy, with full lips and beautiful brown eyes. She is very strong, the strongest female I have ever known. There is no one like her in the universe,” he said to me.
"She sounds like she's too good for you,” I said as I stepped toward him.
"She is, she really is. I am a lucky Drackon weredragon,” he said as he pulled me against his chest and planted a firm kiss on me. I kissed him back and that felt good; it was a damn good kiss. It was the first kiss we shared that was not full of guilt. It was a kiss free of obligation and one that we could enjoy simply because we really wanted each other and now nothing stood in our way.
When we arrived back on Earth, Eniv and I were heroes; we reported immediately, not to the captain but, to the Earth Council before anyone knew what we had found out. We told the Earth Council about John Houston and I had Alfonso at my side who said he followed Michael Spencer, the guard who was at the scene of the crime when the women went missing. The guard had been meeting a couple of times with Captain Smith when Alfonso followed him. The women were able to back up the fact that the guard seemed to allow them to be taken without a fight. It had all come together. The captain was arrested and once he was taken into custody, we heard his testimony.
"It is all their fault. These damn Drackon warriors. They took my daughter from me. They deserve to be exiled from Earth. They should not have relations with our human females. That is why I did it. That is why I helped John Houston with the human female abductions, in order to make it seem like it was the Drackon warriors behind it. I thought if they were caught, it would make it look like this is what they were really doing with our females, not marrying them, but selling them. They took my daughter from me and I will never forgive it. They all deserve to stay on Mooreah and not be on Earth,” he said.
When I looked into the matter, I found out that the captain’s daughter was indeed happily married to a Drackon warrior. She lived on Mooreah and she communicated with friends and family on Earth regularly. She had fallen in love with a Drackon and married him against her father's wishes. This of course made him filled with rage against the entire Drackon race. That's what started it all.
"I am very impressed with you, Detective Katiama,” Lieutenant Kendall said to me.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Kendall,” I said with a big smile.
"You were set up by the captain. He admitted that he sent you on the mission because he thought you would fail. I guess you showed him, didn't you?” the lieutenant said to me.
"I’d like to think so,” I said in return.
"Now you are one of our most highly decorated agents. I hope that you will enjoy a long career here and go on to solve many cases," he said.
"I hope so too,” I said to the lieutenant as he nodded and left me in the conference room with Eniv.
"What are you going to do now?” I asked him.
"What do you want me to do? I can see how much this position at the agency means to you, so I would not to even think about asking you to come back with me to Mooreah,” he said to me with a bit of sorrow in his eyes.
"You are right. I have worked all my life to get this position, and now I am actually proving myself. I can't give that up just to go be someone's wife and give them offspring,” I said truthfully, even though it hurt to say something that could break us apart.
"Well, I do really enjoy flying around Earth. It is really beautiful. Do you think now that I have shown myself to this agency, they might hire me? Maybe they know some agent that needs a partner?” he asked playfully.
"Really? Eniv, are you being serious or are you playing with me? You know you shouldn't play with me. I can get really feisty,” I said as I moved toward him.
"Oh, I know you can. I would never play with you in that way. But what do you say? Do you want me to stay? Or do you want me to le
ave?” he asked me.
"I want you to stay. Please, I really want you to stay. I want to try to see where this goes. I really do love you. I never thought I would say that to you after the first time I met you, but I see the real you, and I love it.”
"Good, then it is settled. I am staying. I am staying to be your partner,” he said to me.
I pushed my arms around his neck and pushed my fingers into his long hair and pulled him toward me. He planted his full lips on mine and kissed me. I was so relieved. I was so happy. I had it all. I had the career and I had proven myself. I had a sensual, romantic Drackon warrior as a lover, and a partner. This was only the beginning of many adventures in cases that we would solve together. It was one hell of a ride.
THE END (Flip the next page to read Book #5 “Kuvo-Dracon Mates!)