Forty Eight
She was still dredged in misery when she heard the door open. She knew it was Vahn even before he spoke.
“Kara.”
“You bastard.” Her voice was muffled, her face pressed against her knees.
“Kara look at me.”
“Go to hell, you lying piece of snake-shit.”
He sighed and squatted down next to her.
“You want to hit me? Would it make you feel any…”
She punched him in the face as hard as she could.
“ Drek .” He rubbed his chin ruefully. “I asked for that.”
“You should have told me the truth, Vahn. Or should I say, Prince Talvahnax.”
“Yes. I should have. I am deeply sorry. But would you have… would you have loved me if I had?”
“Love?” She laughed bitterly. “You can give it up, your Highness. You don’t need to pretend anymore.”
“Kara, I did not lie. My feelings for you are real. And bringing you onto the ship was the only way I could think of to save your life.”
He sounded wretched and despite herself, Kara wanted to hug him. She steeled herself.
“You let that bitch hit me.”
“I wanted to tear Ela’s arm off for what she did,” he said savagely. “Even though I’ve known her since we were hatchlings. But I couldn’t reveal that I cared for you, Kara. That would have been dangerous.”
Known her from childhood? No wonder she loved him.
“What if she’d blinded me?”
“I would never have let that happen.”
“You could at least have stopped her from shooting Rocky.”
“And raise her suspicions?” he sighed. “I thought perhaps he would survive it. Those hound-beasts are tough, as we know.”
He looked genuinely distraught and Kara remembered he’d loved Rocky too, even though he would never admit it in so many words.
“Fuck, Vahn, it’s all such a mess. I’m so pissed at you for everything.”
“And you have every right to be. But please believe me when I say I will protect you with my last breath, kalehsha. ”
He put his hand on her arm and she found herself softening.
But he’d betrayed her. He’d lied to her and taken her for a fool. It was the oldest trick in the book and she’d fallen for it like a love-sick bimbo.
To hell with him. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness. She gathered her anger like a shield.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” she hissed. “You make me sick, snake boy. Get your filthy hand off me.”
His eyes hardened. He straightened and yanked her to her feet, pulling her so close to him that she could feel every muscle in his body.
“That’s not what you said this morning, when I bent you over that tree trunk and made you reach jarna so many times you…”
“Shut the fuck up!”
Her cheeks flooded with heat at the memory. She’d come so hard she’d nearly passed out. Even now, his proximity was making her breath catch. She pushed at his chest fruitlessly. “I’m serious, Vahn. Get the hell away from me.”
Vahn dragged his eyes over her flushed face.
“I do not think you mean that, human. I think what you mean is ‘pleasure me again, my alien master’. Would you like me to? Hmm?”
He dipped his head and trailed his mouth along the curve of her throat. Kara’s pulse started jumping erratically.
Sweet Jesus. How could she be so susceptible when she knew he was a lying bastard?
“Vahn, stop it.”
Her protest was faint and the Vraxian ignored it. Instead he let a serpetrus drift upwards along her inner thigh.
“Tell me the truth, kalehsha. You still love me. You are still mine.”
Yes. Yes, I’m still yours. Every atom in her body wanted to respond. Wanted to show him her love by kissing him all over until he laid her on the bed and slid his hard length into her silken warmth.
Had it only been that morning when she’d given herself to him so freely? When she’d screamed his name as he effortlessly brought her to climax?
He touched his mouth to the silky skin between her breasts and a riot of sensations flooded her body, leaving her weak and quivering.
It would be so easy to give in, she thought hazily. To melt into the delirious rapture he was coaxing from her. To lose herself in the feverish passion they ignited in each other.
But a tiny, stubborn part of her wouldn’t accept it.
You can’t let this happen. You can’t let him win. Not if you want to keep any shred of self-respect.
She drew on every last bit of strength she had.
“If you force me, I can’t stop you,” she said quietly. Vahn froze. “But I swear to God, I don’t want this. I don’t want you.”
Vahn lifted his head and stared into her eyes. She didn’t know what he saw there – desolation, loathing, perhaps contempt – but he flinched. His hands and serpetri fell away from her and he stepped back.
“Kara,” he said hollowly. “Kara, please…”
“I mean it. I can’t forgive you. I thought you were a soldier, like me. But you’re one of the ones who’ve been driving the war.”
“That is unfair. It is true my father is the Zhaal. But your mother is the Earth’s President. If I am culpable, so are you.”
Kara’s eyes flashed.
“Bullshit! I never hid who I was from you. And I have begged my mother to make peace. But you – you admitted you told your father to carry on fighting. You’re as bad as he is.”
Vahn’s jaw tightened.
“You know me. You know that’s not true.”
“I don’t know anything. And I certainly don’t know you .”
They glared at each other, separated by a gulf of raw emotion.
“Have it your way,” Vahn said at last. He raised his voice. “Guards!”
The door opened and the giant soldiers entered.
“Your Highness?”
“This human is a prisoner of the Vraxian Empire,” Vahn said shortly. “Escort her to the brig.”
Kara’s eyes widened in shock.
“What…?”
“Remember she does not understand our language,” Vahn interrupted harshly. “But make sure she has food and water. And see that no harm comes to her. She is a valuable hostage, we need her in one piece.”
Kara clamped her lips shut. So this was the way he wanted to play it. Fine. She shot him a look of pure vitriol as the soldiers pushed her from the room.
The door shut behind them.
Vahn let out an explosive curse, his shoulders slumping.
Drek’aa beresh. Stubborn, frustrating, infuriating human.
Having Kara locked up was the last thing he wanted. But her anger towards him threatened them both. If it became known they’d been intimate – that she was his kalehsha – his position and reputation would be damaged.
He had to speak to his father. He had to convince the Zhaal to release Kara back to Earth. The idea of being separated from her wrenched at his gut and was almost physically painful. But if that was the price of saving her, he would gladly do it.
He hoped when Kara had calmed down she would see that he’d had no choice. That pretending she was his prisoner was the only way to keep her alive, and that his feelings for her were genuine.
He rubbed his face wearily. He wondered what his people would say if they knew the truth. That the heir to the mighty Empire of Vraxos had been conquered by the enemy. That a tiny human female had taken his heart and singlehandedly brought him to his knees.
He looked out at the cosmos streaming past the viewing window. In a few days they would be back on Vraxian soil and Kara’s life would be in his hands. Come what may, he would protect her from harm.
She was his everything. Without her, there was only emptiness.
He vowed to the gods that he would find a way to end the war and make her love him again. And maybe – just maybe – they would be together once more.
He had to believe it was possible.
Because she was his fate.
His life.
His destiny.
And he would love her until every last star faded into the black.
To be continued in Captured By The Alien (Starbound Book Two)