Tamed by Her Mates

by Sassa Daniels

  Zinnie blushed and quickly buttoned up the front of her dress. Lottie made quick work of tearing open the seams in the corset and found what she was looking for. There was a nice length of wire she could use. She straightened it out and made a little loop at the top.

  “Perfect.”

  Sending out a quick request for aid from whatever supernatural forces were out there in the universe, she knelt in front of Bryn and began to work at releasing the locking mechanism in the cuffs. It was hard to see what she was doing, but eventually the lock sprang open.

  “Thank the stars,” Bryn said as he was freed from the shackles.

  Lottie helped him to his feet. He was a bit wobbly and almost knocked them both over but, after a minute he steadied himself. As he straightened, he hissed out a breath. The wound, which had left a large bloodstain on the front of his tunic, clearly pained him. Shaking it off, he began to pace, twisting his head from side to side and rolling his shoulders back to loosen the stiffness in his muscles.

  “What’s the plan?” Bryn asked.

  In truth, Lottie had no plan. Without knowing the exact number of men on board or the layout of the spaceship, she had intended to play it by ear.

  “We need that door open. They have to come down here soon, either to feed us or...”

  “To take me,” Zinnie said quietly.

  Bryn’s eyes flashed with fire. “What?”

  “They have been taking their pleasure with me,” she admitted.

  Seeing that Bryn looked fit to murder someone on the spot, Lottie laid a hand on his arm and shook her head gently. Zinnie had been through a great deal and he needed to calm down before he frightened her any further. Bryn closed his eyes and took a breath to show Lottie he understood her concerns. He went to Zinnie and cupped her cheek with his hand.

  “I am sorry I was unable to protect you from them.”

  “You were hurt,” Zinnie excused him, “unconscious.”

  “But I am awake now and nobody will hurt you again,” Bryn vowed.

  Lottie didn’t want to break up a tender moment, but they needed to get down to business and she’d just spotted an alternative to the plan of waiting for someone to open the door.

  “Zinnie, your priority will be to shield the baby,” she said. “We need to get her to Taar-Breck. Bryn, you will stay here and protect them both.”

  “And where will you be?”

  “In the command room sending a message to let my mates know where to find us with any luck.”

  “How do you intend to get to the command room?”

  Lottie gestured toward the grate in the ceiling.

  “The ventilation shaft? That’s too dangerous. If the fans come on, you could be cut to ribbons.”

  “It’s nothing compared to what will happen if my mates find out I had a way of getting out and didn’t even try.” Lottie was being deliberately flippant to downplay the potential dangers. Even if she found her way out of this room, she had no idea what she would encounter in her quest to get help. “They like their girl to have a bit of fire in her belly.”

  Bryn frowned.

  “It’s a bad idea.”

  “Look,” Lottie said, adopting a more serious tone, “if we sit on our backsides, the worst that happens to you is that they ransom you back to your people. Things will be worse for us. The High Council wants to put me on trial and Zinnie and the baby, well, they’d fetch a good price at auction, wouldn’t they?”

  A muscle in Bryn’s jaw twitched and Lottie knew she’d won the argument.

  “How do you intend to get up there?”

  “You can give me a boost.”

  “And what about getting the cover off the vent?”

  Lottie glanced up at it again. Even from here, she could see it was rusted. It was a miracle it hadn’t fallen in on their heads already.

  “Brute force,” she replied. “Now, are you going to lift me, or do I have to stand on Zinnie?”

  “I have no idea if you are brave or foolish,” Bryn said as he positioned himself under the grate and crouched down so she could climb onto his shoulders.

  “Bit of both, I suspect.”

  Lottie clambered onto his shoulders and let out an involuntary squeal as he struggled to stand. Her foot caught his side and he growled in agony. If the situation wasn’t so desperate, she might have laughed at how close they were to descending into farce as Bryn staggered and eventually righted himself.

  Reaching up, she managed to get her nails under the edges of the latticed metal panel. She pulled experimentally and realized it wasn’t quite as rickety as she’d thought. It was going to take considerable effort to remove the grate. She tugged harder. A couple of her fingernails bent back uncomfortably, and her fingers bled as they scraped off the ceiling. A sob of frustration and pain escaped her.

  “That’s it, I’m putting you down,” Bryn said, his voice laced with concern.

  “No, give me a minute.”

  Lottie gritted her teeth and pulled at the grate once more. The muscles in her upper arms ached and the tension exacerbated the headache she was already suffering. Just when she started to think about giving up, a chunk of plaster broke away and the grate came loose.

  “There you go,” she said, handing it to Bryn since dropping it on the floor would create too much noise.

  “Try not to get hurt,” Zinnie said as Lottie hauled herself up into the ventilation shaft.

  “I’ll try,” she replied pleasantly, although she was sure before the day was out, she’d be covered in cuts and bruises. If she escaped without broken bones, she would consider herself lucky.

  She crawled along the narrow shaft. Claustrophobia had never been an issue for her, but it was deeply unpleasant in there and the walls seemed to be closing in on her. She was painfully aware of the rise and fall of her chest and it was starting to hurt to breathe. She had to get out of the cramped tunnel at the first opportunity, even if it meant landing right on the enemy’s lap. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find a grate that seemed to be over a corridor. She made a fist and thumped hard against the latticed metal, but it remained stubbornly in place.

  With considerable difficulty, she maneuvered herself into a different position, so she was sitting with her knees bent against her chest. She placed her feet at the outer edges of the grate and, using the wall behind her for leverage, straightened her legs. The metal panel fell away, landing noisily on the floor below. That could attract unwanted attention. Lottie swung herself around and lowered her legs out of the ventilation shaft before easing her body out of the hole and dropping to the floor. She landed hard, but there was no time to dwell on the pain in her ankle.

  She picked up the metal grate from the floor and carried it with her as she headed down the passageway. If it wasn’t lying there, nobody would have a reason to look up and they wouldn’t guess someone had been in the ventilation shaft. Besides that, it would make a useful weapon if she encountered any crewmembers.

  She followed the corridor until she came to a door leading to a staircase. Going up was the only option so she quickly climbed the first two flights until she came to a landing. This was probably where the living quarters for the crew were, so she carried on up the stairs.

  As she looked out into a long passageway, her heart thumped furiously. From what she could see, there were doors on either side of the corridor and one at the end. More worryingly for her, there were windows the whole way along. That was going to make things more interesting. She decided to aim for the door at the end of the corridor as that’s where the ship’s controls were most likely to be. On the balls of her feet, she ran past all the other rooms and came to an abrupt halt. By some miracle, she made it without being apprehended. She peered through the glass panel in the door before her and discovered why she hadn’t been stopped. All six crewmembers were gathered in the room.

  Lottie cursed under her breath. As two of the men came toward the door, she quickly ducked out of view and slipped into the nearest room. She
stood against the wall and held her breath as they walked past.

  “I’m having first crack at the little whore this time,” she heard a voice say.

  Bastards. They must be going for Zinnie. A smirk spread across her face. Bryn should be able to handle the two of them. Hoping that some of the others would leave the control room soon, Lottie stood in darkness and waited. She jumped when an alarm sounded. Heavy footsteps thudded along the corridor outside. She had no idea what emergency they were going to deal with but a better opportunity to act wasn’t going to present itself.

  Moving as quietly as she could, Lottie stepped out into the corridor and glanced into the control room. There were just two men now and they seemed preoccupied with something on their data screens. She slipped into the room and closed the door quietly behind her. Before either man could react, she swung the metal panel and knocked one of them to the floor. She whirled around and hit the other man with such force, the grate was embedded in his skull. He dropped like a stone.

  While the other man was still reeling on the floor, Lottie grabbed the knife. She was about to bring it down on his chest, when he struck out and knocked it from her hand. He shoved her back on the floor and punched her hard, stunning her for a moment. Then she began to fight back. She struggled as hard as she could, but it was futile. He’d gained the upper hand and she couldn’t make him budge. Tears filled her eyes as he hit her again and grabbed her wrists in one hand. Horror filled her as she felt his erection pressing against her and realized he was reaching for the fastenings of his pants.

  Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to blot out what was happening, but before he could force his cock inside her, he gasped and fell to the floor. She quickly pushed his lifeless body off her and looked up at the person who’d saved her by plunging a knife into her attacker’s back.

  “Zinnie?”

  She got to her feet and threw her arms around the other woman. Zinnie hugged her back.

  “Where’s Bryn?” Lottie asked as she pulled back. “Where’s the baby?”

  “They’re safe in the cargo hold. Bryn killed the men who came for us, but he’s badly hurt and can’t get up. I left Caro with him to come help you.”

  Lottie smiled and patted Zinnie’s shoulder.

  “Get back to them. I’ll see if I can stop this heap of junk and get us some help.”

  Zinnie clearly didn’t need to be asked twice, as she turned and ran from the room. Lottie wiped the tears from her face and blew out a breath of relief. She reached for the communication button and realized she had no idea what the name of this vessel was.

  “This is Charlotte Calder of Bylanthia. Is anyone receiving?” Nothing. “This is Charlotte Calder. Is there anyone out there?”

  “This is MV 562 receiving. It’s good to hear from you, Lottie.”

  She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

  “Vicky, we need help. The crew are...” she considered the bloodshed around her for a moment, “incapacitated and I have no idea how to fly this thing.”

  “We’re less than an hour from you,” another voice came over the communicator, a male this time. “Reduce power to the engines so you don’t move any farther from us.”

  “Okay,” Lottie agreed. “You need to hurry. We have one of your men, Lieutenant Bryn Errak on board and he’s in a bad way and Vicky, Zinnie’s here with Lizzie’s baby.”

  Lottie rubbed the side of her head as another wave of nausea hit her.

  “What do you mean, Lizzie’s baby?” Victoria asked. “Lottie?”

  “I... eh... sore head...” Lottie managed to get out before the world went dark.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The situation brought with it a horrible feeling of déjà vu. A sense of helplessness swept over Daen as he stood with Marc and Ren by Lottie’s bedside. Her skin was pale, her body battered and bruised. It was clear from the scene they’d encountered on board the flesh traders’ ship that she’d fought hard against her captors. He might have known their feisty little human wouldn’t just sit around waiting to be rescued. Even though he regretted that she’d been injured, he felt pride swelling in his chest. She was the perfect woman for him and his brothers and he’d been a fool not to claim her officially as they had done. Refusing to even speak to her had been childish. It was true he’d been hurt by her actions, but no matter what passed between them, this woman was his. He would never turn his back on her again. If she recovered from her injuries, he was going to spend the rest of his life making it up to her.

  When they’d found her, she looked so small and fragile, lying on the floor on that cargo ship. He’d been the one to carry her onto the Taar-Breckian military vessel and bring her to the medical bay. He’d desperately wanted to be the one to tend to her, but he’d agreed to stand aside and let Victoria get to work. It was for the best since she knew far more about human medicine than he did. He’d kept a close eye on what she was doing as she took various readings of Lottie’s vital signs and injected some drugs into her. Once she’d made sure her patient was stable, Victoria had left her to rest.

  “Why do they do nothing?” Marc demanded, his frustration coming to the fore. It didn’t surprise Daen that his brother was already getting agitated. He’d never been one for waiting around. “They should be helping her.”

  History really was repeating itself. Marc had been just the same when Lottie was hurt before.

  “They have done all they need to for now,” Daen replied. “She is stable and will wake when she’s ready.”

  “She’d better not take twelve weeks this time because I can’t go through that again.”

  Ren’s words echoed what they were all thinking. To spend months on end hoping for a breakthrough when there were no signs of life would be sheer torture. Worse than that was the thought she might wake up and reject them all over again.

  Moisture dampened his eyes and Daen turned from his brothers. If they caught him crying, they would still be taunting him about it in the next millennium. Blinking back the tears before they could fall, he looked around the room. In the opposite bed, the other human female they’d rescued from the criminals’ ship lay sleeping. Although she’d suffered no physical wounds, she’d been traumatized by her captivity and Victoria had made the decision to sedate her. The baby she’d had with her lay in a cradle, gurgling quietly to herself. It surprised Daen that they’d been equipped to deal with a baby but, it turned out, this was not the first infant the Taar-Breckians had rescued. The baby was a tiny thing, not much bigger than his hand but she seemed destined to be a warrior. She’d survived without proper nutrition for days and seemed no worse for wear.

  At the far side of the room a screen was drawn around the surgical table where the Taar-Breckian medics were tending to one of their own, the male who’d been a prisoner alongside the women. His injuries were severe and his condition critical. The open expressions of sorrow on the faces of the naturally stoic Taar-Breckians told Daen this man was much loved by his people.

  “There is a story to be told about what happened on that ship,” Daen mused as he turned back toward Lottie.

  “We can only hope our mate will wake soon and share it with us,” Ren said.

  He wondered if, like him, his brothers wished Jax was here with them. As the oldest and the one who’d been groomed to lead from an early age, he tended to provide the strength they needed in situations like this. Without him, they were liable to fall headlong into a fit of despair. Standing there watching their mate as she lay unconscious was difficult and Daen felt as though he needed to do something. He remembered how the women had fussed around Lottie when she was in the clinic on Taar-Breck. They’d made her surroundings more pleasant and spent time brushing her hair. That golden-haired one had sung to her. Bylanthians weren’t famed for their musical abilities and the very idea of one of them—Marc in particular—fussing over her hair was ludicrous. The women had also talked to her a lot, and that was something he could manage.

  Daen moved around to
the side of the bed and carefully sat down next to Lottie. He took her hand in his and stroked it gently.

  “We are here for you, Charlotte.”

  Taking their cue from him, the twins moved closer to the bedside. Ren took Lottie’s other hand in his.

  “We want you to get well,” Ren said stiffly, and Daen nodded encouragingly. “We need you to get well.”

  “That is correct.” Marc, it seemed, needed a little time to settle into the conversation.

  For several minutes, they spoke to her in low voices. Daen’s self-consciousness at speaking to someone who didn’t respond gradually faded and he noticed his brothers were also growing more comfortable. They explained to her why Jax wasn’t with them and told her how they’d traveled at reckless speeds to get to her. They praised her bravery and assured her the Bylanthians who’d plotted against her would be made to pay for their crimes. There was nothing to indicate that Lottie heard a word they said but Daen found it comforting to speak to her like everything was going to be alright. Both Marc and Ren pledged to love her for eternity and Daen knew the time had come to lay his own feelings on the line.

  “I will never leave you again,” he promised. “I love you, Lottie, and I am sorry I acted like a fool. I hope you can forgive me.”

  He looked up as Victoria approached the bed. She had a smile on her face, as though she approved of what they were saying.

  “Do you think she can hear us?” he asked.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Marc demanded.

  A grin spread across Victoria’s face.

  “Because, unless I am very much mistaken, she’s been awake for at least five minutes, haven’t you, Charlotte?”

  * * *

  Caught in the act, Lottie peeled her eyes open. She grimaced as the bright light hit her and blinked a few times until she adjusted. She shrugged apologetically as her mates stared at her in disbelief. It was bad of her to lie there and pretend she was still unconscious—she knew that—but she’d been desperate to hear what they would say in an unguarded moment. It had especially pleased her that Daen was there and that he was ready to put things right between them.