Chapter 12 Wrexxon
Wrexxon
"Saved me?" The words spluttered from her. "You abducted me like some barbaric brute. And don't pretend like that was a random lottery. I know I was taken on purpose. I just don’t know why.”
Her hands waved as she ranted, one almost knocking into her wine glass.
Then she seemed to remember that she was alone with the Qeth’rex in his private quarters, that she was completely at my mercy, and that insulting me could have consequences.
She thinned her lips and blinked at me, something like fear finally flickering across her face.
I could have been angry. It wasn’t every day I was called a barbaric brute to my face. Instead, I was impressed by her courage. I leaned forward and rested my forearms on the edge of the table. "You're right."
Her eyes widened.
"You being here is no accident, and the lottery was not random.”
Her mouth went slack. Maybe she'd expected me to deny it or maintain the fiction of random chance. Maybe she'd hoped her suspicions about me, or the leaders of her colony, were wrong.
"What?" The word came out small.
I took a bite of the roll on my plate. It was good, but nowhere near as delicious as the bread she'd baked this morning, a nutty wheat loaf I could still taste in memory.
"I said that you are right," I repeated, setting down the roll.
"It is no accident you are here. The deal our hordes have been making with colonies was meant to be insurance so nervous or weak leaders did not double-cross us or turn back to the Empire. A war bride seemed as good a guarantee of good faith as any.” I grinned. “Not to mention the side benefits.”
Fire sparked afresh in her eyes, and I tempered my smile, even though I savored her instinct to challenge as I added, “If the bond is true between a Vandar and a war bride, she can become his Raisa, his queen.”
“Not just his whore?” she snapped.
I brushed off the ire her accusation provoked, taking a long sip of wine and bestowing my most charming smile on her. “No mate of the Vandar is ever a whore, not that we hold pleasurers in low regard.”
This made her blink at me, as if she didn’t know what to say to that. Maybe her colony did not have pleasure houses or enterprising females who offered their company in exchange for coin.
"But then we obtained from the Zagrath,” I continued, careful not to mention or how reveal that we had an informant within Imperial ranks.
“Credible intelligence. A list of rebels they intended to capture and execute for treason against the Empire.
They identified the leader of an underground rebellion in your colony, a female who'd been targeting their soldiers, sabotaging their supply vessels, and disrupting their operations. "
Jasmine's eyes widened further, the color draining from her face.
I tipped my head toward her. "You."
She looked too shocked to deny it. Finally, she shook her head. "How could they know?"
I shrugged, still unwilling to reveal my source, although of all people I suspected she would be the last to betray a spy.
"That I cannot say, but I do know that they planned to take you into custody the next time they visited your planet.
" I paused, letting my words settle. "That is why I took you first."
Her hands gripped the edge of the table as if keeping her from sagging to the floor. "I thought it was because..."
I watched her carefully, curious about what she'd been about to say. What reason had she imagined? That I'd seen her this morning and decided on a whim? That I’d felt an inexplicable pull to her? That I’d desired her too much to deny myself?
Those things were also true, but I couldn't admit that to anyone.
The truth was more complicated than intelligence.
Yes, I'd seen her name on the execution list. Yes, that had been the catalyst for ensuring she'd be chosen.
But even if she hadn't been targeted, even if the enemy had no interest in her whatsoever, I would have wanted her anyway.
I would have taken her. That was the truth I would keep hidden.
I resumed eating, even though I wasn't particularly hungry. The silence stretched, broken only by the clink of my utensils against the plate since the woman had stopped eating.
Finally, I set down my fork. "You are a guest on my warbird.
You will be treated with respect as befits a war bride, but if you think that your habit of sabotage will be tolerated here, you're mistaken.
" I let my voice hone more sharply. "Do not mistake my intention to thwart our mutual enemy for softness. "
Her head snapped up, and I saw a flash of guilt. That momentary slip that told me I'd guessed correctly.
"Ah," I said, unable to keep the note of dry amusement from my voice. "So, you did plan to be a disrupter here, as well?”
Her chin jutted forward. "What did you expect from someone who thought she’d been abducted?”
I sighed and stood, the chair scraping against the floor. I crossed to her side of the table in three long strides, watching her tense as I approached. She didn't back away. She couldn't escape me since she was trapped between me and the chair, but every line of her body tensed.
I stopped close enough that I could smell the faint scent of flour and yeast still clinging to her hair and close enough to see her pulse twitching in her long, smooth neck.
"I had hoped," I said quietly, "that you could be an ally. That we could fight the same enemy together, but maybe I should treat you as my captive, after all."
She inhaled a quick breath. “Maybe we could make a deal. The Vandar make deals, right? You made a deal with the thaw-soft leaders of my colony, didn’t you?”
The female was trying to barter with me? “What kind of deal?”
“I could work for you.” The words tumbled from her. “You know I led a rebel team on Lexxona. I could do the same for the Vandar.”
“You wish to lead a rebellion within my warbird?”
She started to bob her head up and down then caught herself and shook her head vigorously. “No. Not against you. I could help you in overthrowing the Zagrath.”
“My battle chief leads our efforts against the Empire,” I said, thinking of Kolt and how he might mutiny if I assigned a human to his team. “He needs no help.”
Her face fell. “Then I could do something else for you. What about baking?”
I tempered my growing amusement. “We have cooks and bakers. As tasty as your bread was, I am not sure if I would trust you not to attempt to poison me.”
Her mouth fell open. “I would never…” Then her words trailed off, as if she hadn’t considered poisoning me but was now.
“The deal has already been made, little rebel. You have secured your colony’s safety, as well as your sisters’, and bought them Vandar protection.”
“I didn’t agree to any deal,” she snapped.
I reached out, cupping her chin in one hand and tilting her face up so she had no choice but to meet my gaze. Her skin was soft and warm beneath my palm. She tried to jerk her head away, but I kept a firm hold. “No, you didn’t. But you are here nonetheless.”
“Not willingly,” she spat.
I studied her defiant expression. “If you do not wish to be my willing guest, we can make other arrangements.”
"You mean you can throw me in a cell?" Her voice trembled slightly, though whether from fear or fury I couldn't tell.
I slid my other hand through her hair, feeling the silky strands catch against my calloused fingers.
I held the back of her head gently, tipping it back to expose even more of her lush throat to me and fighting the urge to savage it.
“You look at me like I’m a monster. Good.
Monsters do not relinquish what is theirs. ”
Her pupils flared wide, and I dragged one rough thumb across her lower lip. “Like it or not, you belong to me now. If I’m not the hero of your story, I’m happy being the villain who saved you anyway. And for now, sharing quarters with the Vandar you despise is punishment enough."
Then I released her and turned away, forcing myself to walk toward the door with sure steps when every instinct I had screamed at me to stay and to kiss her until her defiant fury transformed into something else entirely.
But I didn't.
My heart pounded as I strode through the doorway, the door sliding shut behind me with a soft hiss. Then I stood in the corridor, breathing harder than I should have been, trying to regain the control I'd nearly lost.
Touching her had been a mistake. Feeling the warmth of her skin, the softness of her hair, and the haphazard beat of her pulse had made the wanting sharper and more impossible to ignore. And keeping her in my quarters? That was possibly the worst tactical decision since I’d been named Raas.
Before I could turn around and do something even more foolish, a ship wide siren blared. My fingers tingled as I remembered the Imperial convoy and the planned raid.
I blew out a relieved breath. That's what I should be focusing on. Straightening my shoulders, I broke into a jog across a walkway toward the hangar bay, grateful that raiding an Imperial convoy would be easier than facing off against a female.