Chapter 20
Wrexxon
The sheet was tugged from my body, waking me from the sleep I'd finally fallen into after hours of lying rigidly on my side of the bed, painfully aware of the naked female within arm’s reach.
Then came the thud and the curse.
I opened my eyes to darkness broken only by the faint glow of the fire, but I could hear her perfectly. Lying still for a moment, I tracked her movement by the rustling and scuttling alone. She was crawling, although where did the human think she could go?
Careful not to make a sound, I pushed myself up and out of bed, my eyes adjusting quickly to the low light. Like I’d suspected, she was crawling on all fours with the sheet half-wrapped around her body, half-trailing behind her like a shimmering, silky tail.
I took a few silent steps so I could block her path, then she reached my feet and froze. She didn't move, and she didn't look up.
Since Vandar slept unclothed, I was completely naked.
We weren't a species that felt self-conscious about our bodies or others’, although I’d heard that humans felt differently about such things.
Still, I was aware that if she looked up, she would be staring directly at my cock, which was thickening the longer I observed the female on all fours.
"Come back to bed." I said, keeping my voice as calm as I could manage considering I’d just woken.
But she didn't look up or respond. She stayed motionless, aside from the slight tremble I detected. I was used to others fearing me, and I’d spent years building that fear deliberately, using it as a weapon as effective as any blade.
I was the Qeth’rex, the Scourge, the monster in the darkness that made Imperial commanders run.
I'd always thrived on that fear and used it to my advantage. Now I wasn’t sure if I desired it or if she did.
I squatted, lifting her chin so she was forced to meet my gaze. “You’re trembling, Jasmine. Is it fear or desire?” She didn’t answer, so I shrugged. “No matter. I’m going to enjoy finding out.”
Then I took her by the arms and lifted her from the floor , trying to be as gentle as I could. “You think you can resist me? I’ve conquered entire alien fleets. I’ll conquer you too.”
Her mouth gaped and she jerked her arms from my grip, stepping back. My heartbeat quickened as I grinned at her and her absurd courage. “Considering the fact that I could easily take you to my bed and do whatever I want to you, maybe you should be afraid.”
Her gaze darted to the door, and the part of me that was the most feared warlord in the galaxy stepped to her so quickly she couldn’t back away.
I dropped my lips so that they grazed her ear.
“Run if you want. I would love the chase almost as much as I’ll love catching you.
” Then I straightened and cocked my head, part of me wishing she’d give me an excuse to chase her.
“But I suggest you save us both the effort and come back to bed.”
Despite my words, I tried valiantly to make my voice gentle. How did you temper a voice you’d spent a decade sharpening?
Turning, I sauntered to the bed, dropping down and stretching out on my back. Jasmine’s gaze flitted timidly across my naked form, lingering on my cock so long I wondered if she’d ever seen one before. Then I propped myself up on my elbows and lifted my chin, summoning her.
After a long pause in which I thought I might have to get her and drag her back to bed, she hurried over and climbed in on the other side. The sheet was still wrapped around her, and she lay on her back as close to the other edge as possible.
“Closer,” I ordered. I had no intention of forcing myself on her, but I did want my share of the sheet. And if my commands instilled enough fear in her that she wouldn’t continue to defy me, all the better.
She shuffled over the smallest amount possible while staring straight at the ceiling. Tvek, the woman was impossible.
Rolling over, I hooked an arm around her and pulled her across the bed so that she was flush against me.
Then I slowly unwrapped the sheet from her legs, stopping at the top of her creamy thighs.
I hesitated, aware how little effort it would take to spread her legs but also aware that she was holding her breath.
I lay back, using the freed sheet to cover myself from the waist down. “Did you enjoy my bathing pool?”
“I…um…how did you know…?
“Damp hair.” I slid my gaze to her for a beat. “I was not watching you, if that is what you believed.”
She released a sigh. “Right, no, I didn’t think…it was nice. We don’t have anything like that on Lexxona.”
“I would think warm bathing pools would be welcome on such a planet.”
“They would be, but we were a mining colony before the mines dried up. They didn’t worry about luxuries like baths for miners and their families.”
I remembered some of the intel we’d gotten on her planet. “Not even after enough precious minerals were pulled from the ground to adorn all the necks in the Empire?”
She snorted a laugh that sounded more bitter than amused. “Not even then. The only reason we weren’t abandoned entirely was our location. We’re the last habitable planet before you leave the Outer Rim and the last chance for ships to refuel.”
“The colony can survive on that alone?”
“We manage,” she said with a shrug. “The ships that stop bring enough business to keep us going, and it isn’t always as cold as when you came.”
“No?” I asked. “Does it get colder?”
She stifled a laugh, but this one held traces of amusement. “It gets warmer. Not a lot, but we do get a thaw, and the lakes melt enough for us to fish. We even have a festival to celebrate.”
“A festival to celebrate a thaw?”
“And the end of months of darkness.” She sounded a bit offended. “It’s actually quite fun.”
I didn’t comment on her idea of fun. I supposed if you froze most of the year, a melt would be reason to celebrate. It was no different from the many planets that celebrated the birthdays of their gods or the harvesting of crops.
“Do you miss it?” I asked. “Your planet?”
She hesitated. “I miss my people, but the planet itself? I always dreamed of leaving.” Then she added in a rush, “Not like this though.”
I chose not to take offense.
“Do you miss your home?” she asked.
“This is my home,” I said automatically. “I have lived on this ship since before there was scruff on my cheeks.”
“What about your planet?”
I fought the nervous twitch of my tail. “I did not grow up on the home world of Vandar. That was destroyed generations ago by the Zagrath. Like most Vandar now, I was raised in a hidden colony until I was old enough to join a horde. Then the horde became my home.”
She shuddered beside me. “I can’t imagine a spaceship being home.”
I opted not to remind her that a spaceship now was her home. Instead, I closed my eyes and lengthened my breath, ready to return to sleep before I was needed on the command deck.
“That’s it?” she whispered.
I opened my eyes. “What’s it?”
“You’re going back to sleep?”
I twisted so I was facing her and holding myself up on one elbow. I then lowered my head until I could feather my lips across the hollow of her throat. “Not if you don’t want me to.”
Her breath caught in her chest, and she arched into me. Then a siren’s wail sliced through the air.
We were under attack.
I snapped into action, my body moving before my mind fully processed the threat, as I snatched the battle kilt from where I'd dropped it the night before and stepped into it. I shoved my feet into waiting boots.
Jasmine had jumped from the bed and stood with the sheet still clutched around her chest, her eyes wide.
Then the ship lurched hard to starboard and she stumbled, her bare feet skittering on the smooth floor, unable to find purchase.
I moved instinctively, looping an arm around her waist and pulling her against me before she hit the floor.
The softness of her body pressed against mine through the thin sheet and the scent of my bathing oils, my scent on her skin sent desire thrumming through me.
I shook it off before I deposited her on the bed, more roughly than I'd intended. "I need to get to the command deck."
"You're going to leave me here?" Her voice wobbled. “Alone? While we're under attack?"
I glanced at the naked female swaddled in a sheet. "The command deck of a warbird is no place for you.”
She balked, her expression shifting from fear to fury in an instant. "I’m not staying locked in your quarters by myself during an attack."
I also hated the idea of leaving her alone during an attack. What if we were breached? What if Imperial soldiers made it onto the ship? She'd be defenseless, trapped in my quarters with no way to protect herself. But bringing her to the command deck during a battle was its own kind of risk.
"You aren't even dressed," I said, gesturing at the sheet.
She hurried into the bathing chamber, the sheet fluttering behind her, and returned moments later wearing the flour-dusted dress from the day before. It looked even worse for wear now. But gods of old if I didn’t admire her courage for putting it on and insisting on coming with me.
“Now I’m dressed.”
I made a snap decision. I’d rather have her with me, even if it wasn’t completely safe, than leave her alone in quarters that could become a tomb if things went badly.
Moving quickly to my wardrobe, I retrieved pieces I rarely used, hooking leather shoulder armor over each of her arms and cinching a wide, metal-studded belt around her waist. It looked ridiculous and somehow right all at once.
"Now you look more Vandar," I grunted.
The ship lurched again, harder this time. I turned toward the door and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind me. Her fingers were small in mine, but her grip was tight.
"Stay close," I commanded as the door opened at my touch. "Do exactly as I say."
As I led her with me toward the command deck with sirens echoing throughout the warbird, Jasmine didn't argue, which told me more about her fear than any words could have.