Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Xelthar pulled me along the gleaming metal hallways of the spaceship so fast that it took all my effort not to trip.
Plus, I was naked and the hallway was freezing.
I staggered behind him, feeling the metal floor bite into my bare heels.
Each turn of the corridor made me slam into a cold wall, the air nipping at every exposed inch, sending shivers racing down my spine.
I wanted to put on the prison garb I’d snatched from the counter but there was no time to do so.
Also, holy shit, I wanted just a moment to gawk at the incredibleness.
A fucking spaceship. I stole glimpses while stumbling behind Xelthar, each corridor more bewildering than the last. The ship was a curious blend of the bare metal interior of most futuristic science fiction television shows punctuated by glowing squares of a rough-hewn dark stone.
The air smelled faintly of ozone and something mineral, a scent that made my stomach twist with both awe and panic.
We raced through maybe three of these corridors, oddly not seeing another soul, before Xelthar careened around a last corner and slammed to a halt.
He released my hand, the metal disc staying in his palm.
Before I could object, he waved it at the door, which swooshed open.
He stepped through. I hesitated at the threshold, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.
“Now,” he beckoned impatiently, and I followed.
He pointed the disc towards the door behind me.
Locking it? Locking Cair out? That made sense, but a sliver of unease developed as Xelthar crossed the space in three long strides and stopped where the room naturally drew the eye.
I scanned for the disc reader he’d used to lock the door and came up empty, the clothing still bunched in my hands.
The lightweight material reminded me of quick-dry fabric from Earth.
I moaned with pleasure as I slid the dark-blue shirt over my head and it glided across my shoulders, brushing skin still sensitive from the interrogation.
Xelthar paused in his activity at the glowing console across the bridge from where I’d remained just inside the door.
He watched me step into the matching long pants and pull them up.
I sighed in relief as the fabric covered my exposed skin.
His focus, despite the urgency, earned an eye roll.
Males were the same everywhere in the galaxy.
Before I could offer a smart-ass comment, the fabric distracted me by tingling and then resizing itself to a perfect fit.
Cool. My comfort level skyrocketed just from being clothed again.
I didn’t have shoes, so that still sucked.
Xelthar had returned to whatever he was doing at the console. I crossed the ten feet between us on the bridge and stood beside him, his large body dwarfing mine. The cold floor felt like I imagined it might feel to stand barefoot inside a refrigerator.
“You said you could get me back to Earth?” My voice cracked slightly, betraying both hope and residual tension. The inflection at the end of my statement turned it into a clear question.
“Of course,” he said, fingers flying over the console. “I just need the coordinates aligned with the quantum stabilizers—oh, and ignore the blinking lights; those are purely decorative.” I blinked at him. Decorative? On a spaceship? My brain protested. Decorative?!
A low hum began and a glimmer of hope rose within me.
“How long will it take to get there?” Maybe this crazy, erotic nightmare would end soon.
Then Xelthar and Cair could sort their issues without me.
Even with the ship humming beneath my feet, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being inside a giant metal trap, stomping that glimmer of hope.
Was Cair already plotting to cut through these doors?
Maybe I’d underestimated just how smart—and vengeful—these aliens could be.
I bit my lip, chastising myself for thinking like a sci-fi show extra.
Xelthar mumbled something indecipherable while his hands moved atop the console too fast for me to follow. The lights flickered on the bridge, and the low hum intensified.
“Is that normal?” I asked with a slight squeak, swiveling my head to take it all in. The walls pressed close, controls jammed into the front section where we stood. The designers clearly meant the spaceship to be manned (aliened? I snorted inside my head) by a single pilot.
A slight vibration surrounded us, and then a gentle force pushed against me.
“We have jumped,” Xelthar said.
My sense of unease blared an alarm. I wrapped my arms around my midsection, wishing I had shoes—or some sense of balance. “Jumped? Is that what just happened? Weren’t we still in Earth’s orbit?” My stomach flipped as if I’d stepped off a roller coaster.
Xelthar captured one of my hands in his. “Emily Nichols, I promise I will return you to Earth.”
That didn’t sound like an immediate action. I snatched my hand back and stumbled away from him. “When are you returning me to Earth?”
He spread his hands wide. “I cannot risk Cair Anas taking me to Vadhea.” His voice almost sounded sorrowful. Almost.
“What does that mean?” Dread mingled with cold air to goose-pimple my skin.
He uttered, “You will see,” before another gentle pressure pushed against me. The lights flickered again, and the engine’s rumbling decreased in volume until absolute silence remained. Only the eerie metallic sheen of the bridge remained.
“Where are we?” I shouted my question, then spun to face the window over the console. Nothing out of the window had appeared to change during our so-called jump. I thought we’d see space passing by at warp speed or something, but that information from Earth’s entertainment seemed wrong.
“Not far from Earth,” he hedged.
“Where are we?” I repeated, biting off each word.
“Listen,” he said, his voice smarmy. “I just need to meet my colleagues here.” His gaze flicked to the console. “Once they arrive, I will set the coordinates to return this ship to Earth.”
“Sure, because after you’re gone, Cair is just going to release me.” Sarcasm dripped from my statement.
“He might need to finish his interrogation,” Xelthar began, taking a step toward me, “but since you did not know me before last night, you should be able to pass.” He stared down at me with hooded eyes, then wrapped my left shoulder in his right hand.
“You seemed to enjoy the interrogation.” Fingers kneaded my skin through the fabric as he continued speaking, distracting me.
“Although if you would like, I can help you release the tension from the interrogation.”
“What the fuck?” I wrenched free of his hand that gripped my shoulder and pressed my palms against the mesh shirt covering his broad chest.
Before I could push him away, hoping the element of surprise might assist like with Cair in the brig, Xelthar’s meaty hands removed mine from his chest. With a tight hug, he restrained them behind my back, pulling me closer, his breath hot on my face.
I stared up at him, unable to speak around the cotton balls in my mouth. He kept my wrists controlled with one hand and withdrew the other from behind me.
“Let me help you release the tension.” He growled this as his free hand lifted to my face. He ran his knuckles along my jawline before cupping my face and tilting my head back.
Was he going to kiss me? I didn’t want that. But he wasn’t wrong. The unreleased desire from the earlier interrogation roared up at his touch. No. I wouldn’t succumb.
Xelthar rubbed his thumb along my lower lip, prying my mouth open and inserting the digit. He waited for my response.
Tempted to bite the finger off his fucking hand, I gave him nothing.
He sighed and withdrew the finger. “Playing hard to get?” He used his hand holding my wrists behind me to press on the small of my back, forcing my groin into his hard body. His other hand trailed down the prison shirt, pausing to roughly cup my breast and tweak my nipple.
“Oh!” The exhalation slipped out, but it spurred Xelthar further.
His free hand continued down my shirt past my rib cage to the hem.
His fingers played with the edge before his hand went underneath the fabric and reversed course.
The heat of his skin burned against my ribcage, and then he grabbed my breast again.
His fingers squeezed the skin, then rolled over the delicate flesh of my nipple.
My breath sounded ragged even in my own ears.
I shivered—not entirely from the cold. My body betrayed me, remembering the fire from Cair’s hands and now Xelthar’s proximity.
The heat between my legs was reaching inferno status.
God, I wanted to fight him off … and yet, a part of me ached for the same touch.
Like in the brig during the interrogation, I pressed my thighs together.
My silent protest, intended to stem the rising tide, praying I could outlast him.
Xelthar nipped my nose. “No, no, no. We cannot have that.” His hand slid down the bare skin of my torso before pausing at the waistband of the prison pants.
His thumb hooked inside the waistband, and his fingers bunched the fabric.
He attempted to pull them down, but his taller stature made the gesture awkward, and the resized fabric didn’t give as well as he wanted.
With a short, barked growl, he pulled his hand off the waistband and crouched a bit to grab my pussy full-on over the fabric instead.
My eyes closed as Xelthar’s palm pushed against my pubic bone and his fingers probed for my folds through the pants. My jaw dropped open with the need for release.
“Yes. Yes. I know you like—”