by Presley Hall
But then suddenly, he pulls back, taking a full step backward away from me. He gathers his coat around himself just as I glance down and catch a glimpse of him, his loincloth shifted aside from the force of his arousal. I don’t see anything, really, but just the thought that he’s hard sends a wave of lust through me so powerful that it makes my knees weak.
We’re both panting heavily, and Zhori takes a deep, shaky breath before smiling wryly at me. “Well done. That was good thinking. You’re quick on your feet.”
I nod, trying to catch my own breath. I’m relieved that the guards have passed by without stopping, but more than that, I’m turned on in a way I’ve never felt before in my life. No human man has ever made me feel anything close to what I just experienced.
It’s just because it’s been a long time since you’ve been kissed, and the fact that he’s so damn gorgeous, I tell myself. Maybe even the novelty of it. You’ve never had a massive, barbaric alien crush you up against the wall like you’re the heroine of some fantasy novel before. But he’s an alien. Not someone to lose your head over.
Zhori backs away another step and nods toward the street.
“We should keep going,” he says, his voice a little hoarse. “Just stay close to me, like before. I don’t want anyone thinking you’ll be an easy target.”
We continue on down the street, and I try my best to ignore the steady thud of my heart in my chest. My pulse is still elevated from our encounter in the alley, my whole body humming with the aftereffects of having Zhori’s hands and mouth on me. I want to put it out of my head, but with him so close, it’s hard not to think about the fact that only minutes ago, his lips were on mine, his tongue tangling with my own.
And as it turns out, my quick thinking may not have saved us after all.
We’ve barely made it a half a dozen yards when the skin on the back of my neck prickles. I take a quick peek over my shoulder and see that the guards have turned around and are coming back toward us, suspicious looks on their faces.
Shit.
This time, there’s nowhere to hide—no alleys, no side streets. Just a long row of abandoned and dilapidated buildings on the narrow street we turned down, and no one else around.
“It’s him!” one of the guards yells. “The alien who stole the slave! And I think that’s her with him!”
They charge toward us, and Zhori shoves me backward, drawing his weapon with his other hand. “Stay back,” he tells me sharply. “Let me handle this.”
I stumble backward, pushing my hair out of my face as I watch with wide eyes. Zhori steps forward, blocking their path toward me, and raises his weapon, a short sword with a thick hilt and gleaming blade. To me, it looks terrifying, but the two guards plunge forward without even slowing, their own blades drawn.
They’re no match for Zhori though. Maybe they’re skilled enough to take on most of the smugglers and space trash who make their way to Nierra, but Zhori is something else altogether.
He moves with the fluidity of a dancer, so graceful and powerful that it stuns me to see it. He swings his weapon like he’s practiced these movements a thousand times, like it’s so natural to him that he doesn’t even have to think.
His blade pierces the chest of the first guard, and he grasps the dying alien’s wrist, pulling him close as the sword slides through to the other side. Then Zhori jerks the blade downward.
As the alien guard’s fingers go nerveless, he drops his sword, and Zhori catches it in a fluid motion, yanking his own sword free as he slices out with his left hand at the other guard, who’s trying to take advantage of his opponent’s distraction.
But Zhori doesn’t let him get the upper hand. Leaving the first guard’s body where it fell, he turns to face his new attacker fully.
I can see the fear in the second guard’s eyes as he faces off with Zhori, the certainty of his own death settling coldly on his face. I don’t know why he doesn’t run—maybe the penalty for failing Savyiek is worse than a sword through the chest. Whatever the reason, he lunges forward, clearly intending to at least try to take Zhori with him.
With a fierce expression, the Kalixian warrior curves his back, arching away from the slice of the guard’s sword as he reaches up with his own blades. With perfect precision, he steps forward into a lunge, ducking as he crosses the blades and drags them sideways, opening the guard’s throat in a massive, gaping wound.
The guard drops like a sack of bricks, his head half decapitated, blood streaming out onto the frozen stones. I cover my mouth with one hand, smothering my gasp as I stare down at the gruesome sight. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m almost impressed—in a horrified, detached sort of way. It doesn’t feel real, entirely, like I’m watching a movie play out in front of me.
“Brooke!”
Zhori calls my name, and I look up at him, reality snapping back in a rush.
He’s standing over the bodies, bloody swords in hand, the light of battle still fierce in his eyes. He looks like the most savage, beautiful, barbaric warrior I’ve ever seen or imagined.
Our gazes lock, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe.
10
Zhori
My chest heaves, the adrenaline of the fight still pulsing through my veins.
Brooke’s blue eyes are wide as she stares at me with an expression that’s somewhere between admiration and horror, and as I look down at the two bodies of the guards, I curse under my breath.
I’ve just made our situation even more difficult and dangerous than it was before. Between helping Brooke escape and now killing these two, I’ve cost Savyiek two guards and one slave. He’ll be even more determined to avenge the loss of his property now, which is exactly why I avoided killing the guards the first time that I fought them. I’ve run up enough of a tab with Savyiek already just by helping Brooke escape his clutches. Costing him his guards will only add to that, and I have no doubt he’ll want to take his payment in blood.
I glance at Brooke, who’s still staring at me as if she’s never truly seen me until this moment. I hope she’s as brave and strong-spirited as she seems, because we need to move fast—and we need to do things that she’s probably never imagined doing.
Tossing the guard’s blade down, I wipe mine clean on his tunic and sheathe it.
“We have to hide the bodies,” I say grimly, glancing down the street. “There.” I point to an alley farther down the street, in the direction the guards first came from. “We’ll hide them there. But I need your help.”
To my surprise, Brooke doesn’t hesitate. Her eyes are a little wild, but she straightens and walks swiftly over to me, grabbing the arms of the smaller of the two guards—although they both outweigh her by a quite a lot.
“I’ve got this one, I think.” She grunts softly, already sounding a little out of breath as she starts to drag him down the street.
“We can carry them together. It’ll go faster. Get his legs,” I say, nodding toward the body. I don’t think she wants to be so close to the sight of his gaping neck.
Brooke nods and follows my instructions immediately, averting her eyes a little as we haul the body to the alley, dragging it as deep into the shadows as we can before going back for the second. I’m amazed at how quickly she’s adapted, how she jumped to the task of hiding the bodies instead of getting lost in panic or fright. She seems to understand that I killed them to save us, that it was necessary, and that this is now necessary too.
Her strength makes me even more glad that I came back to Nierra for her. She deserves to make it through this.
As we work at our task, I can’t help but be aware of how close she is to me, her nearness as her arm brushes mine. I can smell her scent, the sweetness so out of place here on this filthy, bloody street. Even the fact that we’re handling dead bodies—something I’m used to after so many years of battle—can’t distract me from her entirely. It’s impossible to forget the sweetness of her lips, or the way her body felt so soft and yielding against mine as I
pressed her to the cold stone in the alleyway.
Although her strategy of kissing me didn’t exactly ward off the guards’ attention in the end, I think ruefully.
But it did help us avoid their scrutiny at first, and at least the fight happened in a less populated area as a result, where we weren’t seen by witnesses.
Determined not to be taken by surprise again, I push thoughts of Brooke out of my head and refocus on the task before us. Once both bodies are hidden far down the alley with snow thrown over them to disguise them for as long as possible, I reach for her hand and tug on it for her to follow me. She looks up at me with a startled expression, and I nod in the direction we came.
“After what just happened, it’s too dangerous to be on the streets. Let’s go back to the inn. We can clean up and regroup there.”
I keep her very close to me for the entirety of the walk back, and she doesn’t resist or seem to disagree with my decision. Keeping my head slightly bowed and hidden by my hood, I search every face that passes by, alert and on edge for any other threat. I’m hoping that the guards I killed won’t be discovered right away, that we’ll have some time to figure out a plan before they’re found.
“We’ll have to lie low for a few days,” I tell Brooke quietly as we turn down the street that leads to the inn. “Savyiek was searching for us both—you, for obvious reasons, and me, because I attacked his guards once before this. I don’t know if he knows that we’re together or that I came here to rescue you, but he may have figured it out by now. Hopefully, if we stay hidden for a few days, he’ll assume we’ve gotten away and left Nierra, and he’ll decide to cut his losses and call off the hunt for us.”
Brooke nods, and I guide her into the inn when we reach the door, glancing up and down the streets anxiously before following her inside. She glances at the proprietor as we head for the stairs, looking worriedly up at me.
“Do you think she’ll rat us out?” she asks in a hushed tone as we walk up the stairs.
I shake my head. “It’s unlikely, I believe,” I tell her as I fish the key to our room out of my coat pocket. “Places like this stay pretty neutral in all the violence and underhanded deals that take place in Nierra. It’s how they stay in business—it doesn’t serve their interests to pick a side. And she won’t want any kind of altercation taking place on her property. If a bloody fight breaks out here, it’d be worse for business than just taking our money and keeping her mouth shut. People won’t feel safe if they think they’ll be sold out, and they’ll stop staying here.”
“Oh. Okay.” Brooke chews on her lower lip. I can tell she doesn’t quite believe me, although she’s clearly still choosing to trust my judgement.
I just pray to the gods that I’m right.
For the next three days, we stay hidden away in the room together. The food I bought lasts us another day, and then I have to venture out to get more—but I go alone, leaving Brooke in the room and moving as quickly as I can, disguised as well as I can be.
If it were just me, I’d probably risk trying to get off the planet sooner rather than later, but I was there when Savyiek bought Brooke. I saw the lascivious look on his face as he bid higher and higher when she was on the auction block. He’s not going to let her go easily.
Not just because of her cost, but because creatures like him don’t take well to having their toys stolen before they’ve had a chance to break them themselves.
I can’t risk us running into more guards, or one or both of us being taken back into Savyiek’s custody. So instead, I summon every ounce of patience I have, and we stay put. It goes against every bit of my nature, but I know it’s the best choice. I won’t risk Brooke.
For her part, the beautiful Terran woman seems every bit as anxious to get off the planet as I am. I can tell she’s eager to get moving, to do something, and I can understand that urge—it’s the same one that burns under my skin. But despite her restlessness, she hasn’t uttered a single word of complaint.
It’s surprisingly easy sharing space with her, even one as small as the tiny room we’re in. I’m used to being in barracks full of other warriors, or sharing a cabin with a few of them on a ship, but I’ve never shared space with just one other person.
And definitely not with a female.
Just like we did that first night, we’ve shared a bed every night since as a defense against the cold. Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself, and I know Brooke is too. There’s a definite need for the shared body heat, since the blankets alone aren’t enough to keep us warm. But I can’t deny that I would want to go to sleep with her in my arms even if the room was well-heated.
Something about the shape of her pressed against me makes it easier to slip into sleep every night, silencing the dreams of battle that so often visit me. Instead, I dream about sweeter things. Better things.
Neither of us have said a word about the kiss we shared—and we certainly haven’t repeated it. But I’ve thought about it often, replaying the memory over in my head. I’ve dreamed about it too. I’ve dreamed about taking it further than that, and woken with my cock hard and throbbing, aching for relief.
I’m drawn to her, and I can’t seem to shake it, even though I know I have no right to be. I need to remember that we’re just pretending to be mates. I have no claim on Brooke and no right to be in her bed as anything but a protector and bodyguard.
I’m grateful for the fact that by early evening on the fourth day, I need to go out and find food for us since our meager supply has completely run out. I need a little space from her, time away from the room that’s filled with her presence and scent. Where there’s nothing to do except talk to each other and pace in circles, trying to ignore the fact that there are so many things we could do to fill the passing minutes—so many things I could do to her, and she to me, in that wasted time.
As I head out to the market stalls, I remain as alert and wary as ever. I’m hoping that Savyiek has lost our trail, but I know better than to drop my guard. The moment one becomes complacent is precisely the moment when the danger will strike—I learned that very early on in my training as a part of the Alpha Force back on Kalix.
Along with a few staples for meals tomorrow, I stop at a street food vendor and purchase dinner from him.
I’ve noticed, the few times we’ve eaten meals from a vendor, that Brooke loves the spicy, greasy meat they sell. It makes me grin as I pay the man and take the steaming box, because I love it too. I never expected to bond with the rescued Terran woman over greasy meat on a stick—but stranger things have happened, I suppose.
The trek back to the room is cold and uneventful, and I’m glad to step indoors by the time I get back to the inn. It’s not just the danger or general squalidness of this planet that makes me eager to get back to Kalix. Even our coldest season is mild compared to this, and Nierra’s cold season lasts for most of their year, with a thaw that comes for only a brief time.
No wonder everyone here is angry, I think grimly as I push open the door to the inn with my shoulder and walk upstairs. Perhaps I would be too, if I’d had to live in this cold my entire life.
When I reach the door to our room, I tense suddenly as I hear a sound I’m not accustomed to. For a moment, I think Brooke might be in trouble, that she’s crying, or—
Then I pause.
No. It’s not crying, I realize, or any other sound of distress. In fact, it’s an extraordinarily beautiful sound.
Brooke is singing.
It’s not any tune I recognize, but the song is entrancing, making me stop dead in my tracks as I listen. It’s heartbreaking and soothing all at once, washing over me and making me feel as if I could listen forever. I’ve never heard anyone sing so beautifully.
Slowly, I push open the door as quietly as I can so as not to disturb her. She doesn’t notice I’ve entered and keeps singing, her back to me as she tidies up the room. Her rich, shiny hair is falling around her face, and I have the sudden urge to set down everything I’m carrying, c
ross the room, and bury my hands in it, turning her around so I can kiss her again.
But I don’t. I just stand there until she’s finished, awestruck and enchanted. Silence falls heavily in the room as the last notes of her song fade away.
“That was beautiful,” I murmur as I set the packages down on the small table.
Brooke jumps as if I’ve startled her out of her skin, whirling around to face me.
She says nothing, but her cheeks flame a bright, angry red.
11
Brooke
Zhori’s voice, soft and appreciative, cuts through the silence from behind me, startling me so much that I jump with a squeak. I whirl around to face him, my face flaming with heat. I don’t know if it’s anger, embarrassment, or both, but I feel horribly self-conscious.
I am angry, I realize suddenly. Angry at myself for not hearing him come in, and at Zhori for not being more obvious about entering the room.
I never sing in front of people. Ever.
And it was more than a little humming. It was a full-on, belted song. I started out by singing quietly to myself after he left the pod, but after I’d been alone for a little while, I broke into a full-out rendition of one of my favorite songs from the Sound of Music. It made me feel close to my grandmother again, soothing and calming me. I lost myself in it, letting it take me far away from here, from all the fear and uncertainty of this dangerous planet.
Finding out that Zhori was eavesdropping takes all of that comfort away in a flash.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” I snap at him, my eyes burning with unshed tears as I cross my arms over my chest.
Zhori flinches a little, obviously surprised by my anger. And I suppose I don’t blame him. I know I’m being a little unreasonable, but I can’t help it. Him hearing me sing, unfettered and openly like that? It makes me feel more exposed than I did when he accidentally walked in on me naked.