Chapter 13 Taz
I woke with a start and almost cried when I lifted my head and every muscle in my neck cramped.
Falling asleep had been a mistake on so many levels, and the pinched nerves in my shoulders were just one of them.
To my surprise, Dargo was exactly where I'd left him.
Sitting in the bed of the truck, staring at me like I was his favorite show.
"How long was I out?" The sun was a little lower in the sky than I remembered but it must not have been too long if Dargo hadn't tried to make a break for it.
"All night."
That woke me up like a bucket of cold water to the face.
"What?" I scrambled out of my chair, almost face-planting as one of the legs caved in. I snatched my binoculars off the ground. "And you didn't wake me up?"
"Why would I? We were safe and you were tired." That would almost be sweet if he wasn't ruining my rescue attempt.
I limped up the hill, every muscle in my body so stiff I felt like a corpse.
For sleeping all evening, through the night, and half the day, I should feel well rested.
But I'd lost a lot of sleep since the world ended and I felt like I could take another nap right now.
I probably fucked my body up, mainlining energy drinks, but caffeine was the only thing keeping me going and I knew I'd chug another can as soon as I scanned the alien camp.
I'd die of a heart attack if this stakeout lasted much longer.
Scooting the last few feet on my belly, I peered through my binoculars and swept my gaze from one end of the camp to the other.
A lot had changed in a day. Two huge tents now covered most of the space, the walls a hodgepodge of materials, and the high center poles made it look like an alien hobo circus.
Smaller tents had been pitched all around the camp and I swore there were even more turochs wandering around than there'd been yesterday.
Past the edge of camp, I spotted a hulking mass of metal. It was huge, bigger than the Goodyear blimp by a mile and there was a thin column of smoke rising off of it. I didn’t know how I'd missed it yesterday, but it had to be the cruiser Dargo said had crashed.
How many aliens had that thing held? A lot more than the males in the camp, that was for sure and I was scared to think where the rest of them went. Though, if there'd been a slave revolt, most of its occupants may be dead.
If more aliens kept arriving, there was a good chance I'd be spotted by newcomers and the thought filled me with dread. There was still no sign of Penny but my odds of getting her out of there were dwindling by the hour.
All my forced positivity curdled in my gut and I abandoned my stakeout when I spotted two huge males beating the shit out of each other at the edge of the camp.
The raw brutality of their fight scared the hell out of me.
Just one of those blows would kill me, and they were shrugging off execution punches like they were nothing.
I didn't have a chance in hell against them.
Shuffling back down to the truck, I tried to ignore my growing sense of helplessness. It would be a lot easier if Dargo wasn't looking at me like he could read every thought I had.
"I still haven't seen her." I didn't know why I was talking to him, except I couldn't handle being in my own head anymore.
"Maybe they haven't arrived yet. Adak was traveling on foot and carrying your friend."
They'd had a headstart, but I doubted even a turoch could run faster than I could drive.
Still, the thought of Penny being alone out there for two nights with Dargo's friend filled me with anxiety.
Anything could be happening right now, and as much as I was starting to like Dargo, I couldn't take his word that his friend was a good male.
I didn't trust myself to know if a person was good, let alone someone else's opinion.
Fuck, I felt useless. I couldn't drive around looking for Penny in case she really was in camp and needed me, and I couldn't just stay here if she was out in the wilderness somewhere and needed me.
I wasn't going to cry. No matter how bad things got, I didn't cry, ever. Sucking in a violent breath through my nose, I stomped around to the cab of the truck and dug through the backseat, trying to look busy and not like I was hiding from Dargo's prying eyes.
By the time I gave up rifling through a stranger's junk for the answer to all my problems, I felt a little more in control and the tears I'd blinked back had retreated. I could do this, I knew I could. Penny needed me, Hope needed me and I refused to fail them.
A little piece of me hoped that Dargo was telling the truth about his people treasuring females.
I didn't intend to abandon Penny to his friend's clutches, but if she was safe and comfortable, at least I didn't have to imagine her suffering while I fumbled this rescue.
I shut the door of the truck and yelped when I turned around and ran right into Dargo.
He loomed over me, crowding me against the truck as he searched my face.
"I can smell your tears, little Firebrand." His voice was a low rumble, the normal lilt of seduction missing.
"I wasn't crying." I set my jaw and glared up at him, refusing to let him see how spooked I was by his sudden appearance. A quick glance between us told me his hands were still tied, so he hadn't escaped. But I'd gotten too used to his presence and treaded into the range of his leash.
It was a stupid mistake, and one I didn't know how to get out of. Bound hands or not, I was no match for Dargo, and my trusty cattle prod was out of charge and laying next to my crumpled camp chair.
"Back off, Dargo." He had me pinned to the truck and there was no way I was going to try and muscle past him and prove how physically weak I was compared to him. Watching those two males duking it out in camp had reinforced just how pointless fighting him would be.
Instead of moving away, he leaned in, until his chest was plastered to mine and I could feel his breath ruffling the hair at the top of my head. I met his gaze, desperately trying to ignore the sudden flutter of awareness growing in my middle the longer he stared into my eyes.
It felt like he was trying to look into my mind and I didn't want that. He needed to stay firmly in his place, as my prisoner and a means to an end.
"You have no reason to fear for your friend, Taz. Adak is an honorable male, he's saved my life countless times and he will keep your friend safe."
He had no idea how badly I wanted to believe him.
But experience told me good people were few and far between.
And even if you thought you knew a person, they could betray you so fast your head would spin.
How could I trust his word, an alien I'd met a few days ago, about a male I'd never spoken to?
"I can't take your word on that," I said, hating that my voice trembled as I spoke. It wasn't even fear for Penny making me all wobbly, it was the intimacy of having Dargo pressing against me. He didn't look away from my eyes.
"You can trust me, Firebrand." He dipped lower until we were eye to eye. "I plan to make you my mate, and a turoch never deceives his mate."
I wanted to laugh at that, I really did. People lied, they just did. They lied to their boss, their friends, their loved ones, hell they lied to themselves. It'd be a cold day in hell when I believed that Dargo wouldn't lie to me just because we were together.
Which we weren't. And we weren't ever going to be.
"I don't want to be your mate, so stop asking."
He smiled, a slow, blatantly sexual grin that scorched my resolve and made me bite my tongue not to return.
"Oh, I wasn't asking. Turoch's don't ask, we claim. And if a female doesn't return the feeling, she can deny us, but if she does want us, she fights her male every step of the way." His voice lowered and he dragged his lips across my temple, trailing a line of heat down to my ear.
I was frozen, caught between dread and excitement as he trapped me against the truck and slowly, gently nipped my earlobe. No matter how much I told myself he didn't affect me, I knew it was a lie.
Especially when he chuckled and whispered in my ear.
"And you, little Firebrand, you fight me every chance you get. I've chosen a mate to do battle with, and I look forward to conquering you."
I swayed, dizzy as his heat and his strangely spicy scent invaded my space. His hands were tied, but I was the one that was trapped. By the truck, by his words, by the fucking look in his eyes as he leaned closer and brushed his lips over mine.
I pressed my hands against his chest, telling myself I was going to push him away, but instead, I was distracted by the feeling of his heart pounding under my palms and the sensation of smooth skin marred by rough-edged scars.
It was his rapid heartbeat that did me in.
Every time he opened his mouth and asked to lick me, I told myself he was just fucking with my head.
He was flirting to get under my skin or throw me off, he didn't really want to do all the things he said.
But with his heart pounding under my hands, I could almost feel his excitement buzzing over his skin.
He wanted this. Even as he deepened the kiss, mouth moving over mine so slowly, I felt like he was taunting me, his pulse gave him away.
Dargo was just as caught up in this moment as I was.
My good sense vanished and I went up on my toes, my hands moving up his chest to cradle his jaw as I met his kiss.
For a moment he froze, his mouth unmoving against mine like he hadn't expected me to respond, and then he smashed me up against the truck. Catching me between his body and the door with a groan as his tongue slipped into my mouth.
Desire curled in my belly and I wrapped a leg around his hip, almost climbing him in my desperation to get closer, and feel more of his powerful body on mine.
His bound hands pressed against my pelvis, the pressure sending flutters of pleasure straight to my core, reminding me that in some small way, I had the upper hand in this.
I’d captured him, he was kissing the brain right out of my head, but in this moment he was just as much my prisoner as I was his. I smiled into our feverish kiss, loving the feeling of having this beast of a male in my power.
I rolled my hips, grinding against the hard cock that had sprung up between us and he dropped his head to my shoulder with a groan. His hot breath skated over my skin, and I shuddered at the sensation.
“I can’t wait to claim you, little Firebrand,” he growled, nipping at my shoulder. “I never dreamed of a female like you.”
His words were like a bucket of cold water to the face and I froze. Lungs heaving, as I realized that I was grinding up against the alien I’d taken hostage in an attempt to save my best friend. A friend who was still missing, alone with a male just like this one.
What was I doing?
I let my leg fall from his hip and shoved him back.
“Stop.”
He stared down at me, lips parted as he panted. The pupils of his inhuman yellow eyes blown out so wide I felt like I was staring into an abyss.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, leaning toward me.
I skittered to the side, getting out of range of his tether and putting a safe distance between us.
Even as I realized what an idiot I’d been, I could feel how wet that short kiss had made me, the pulsing ache in my core demanding that I wrap myself around him again.
“We’re not doing this,” I said, wiping a shaky hand over my swollen mouth like I could wipe the last few minutes away.
It was terrifying, how quickly I’d lost myself in that kiss, how badly I’d wanted to go farther. I didn’t get close to people, I didn’t let myself get swept away in the moment. Unless it was a moment of anger, and I could feel that familiar emotion rising up inside me.
“Stay away from me, Dargo,” I warned, working my way around the front of the truck, needing the physical barrier between us.
He lifted his bound hands as if to remind me I was safe, but I knew better now. He was dangerous even tied up, and I couldn’t forget that even for a moment. Penny needed saving, and I was the only one to do it. I would not let Dargo or any amount of mind-altering kisses change my course.