Hunter Raze, page 10
“I got a bath in the creek. Do I stink after our fight?”
“You smell pleasant.”
“Good. I was happy to find deodorant was part of the emergency kits on the pods. They include the kind that saturates your skin and lasts about a week every time it’s applied. Otherwise, you sure wouldn’t describe me as ‘pleasant.’ Humans stink when they sweat. Most people think men are worse, but not true. We’re equally stinky after a fight.”
“Never challenge any Veslors males in the future. They will believe you wish to test a mating.”
“I was just trying not to be caught.”
“Our cultures are very different.”
“Apparently. I’ll take you up on that shower in the morning. I don’t suppose you have a way of making me clothing that would fit?” She fingered her jumpsuit. “This outfit has about had it.”
“I can try.” He stood. “You are locked in. No offense, but it’s for the best. Prasky doesn’t trust females. He wouldn’t hurt you, but he’d see it as a sign of aggression if you roamed the ship without me or Bruck. He’d probably put you in a cell. You’ll be much more comfortable here.” He paused for effect. “He’d assume you were trying to entice him if you fought him.”
She sighed. “So you’ve said. I won’t try to break out of your cabin.”
“Good. I’ll be back soon with something you can wear. The bathing room is right there and will handle all your needs. It should be easy to figure out how things work. Our bodies’ functions aren’t too different. I researched humans after you became our target.”
Anabel watched him leave, thinking she probably should take a shower. Raze had her pinned in the dirt earlier. The more she thought about it, the idea of possible hot water was too much to resist. Especially since she’d been positive she’d never see or experience such technology again after marooning herself on the planet.
She got off the bed and the door to the bathroom activated on a motion trigger, opening automatically. The bathroom had a toilet, a weird sink, and a tube-shaped space that appeared to be a shower. She stripped fast and figured out the alien tech without any problems.
There was hot water. She enjoyed every minute she spent beneath it, getting cleaner than she’d been in months.
It sucked to put her jumpsuit back on, but she had little choice. Then she climbed into his huge, comfortable bed. It had to be eight by ten feet, she guessed, the mattress like an oversized fluffy pillow.
A yawn broke from her lips. She was comfortable, had a full belly of good food, and didn’t have to worry about some reptilian alien discovering her cave while she slept.
She trusted Raze enough to know he wasn’t the type to do her any harm while she slept. He’d have already done something if he were.
Chapter Seven
A groan woke Anabel the next morning. For a split second she was confused, until memory hit. She sat up, shoving off a blanket that had been draped over her, probably by Raze, and stared around the dim room.
A huge shape suddenly lifted from the floor to her right.
Her mouth opened but she didn’t make sound. A normal person probably would have screamed. Training had beaten that kind of response from her. Instead, she tensed, prepared to fight as she balled her hands into fists.
The shape was a massive beast. As her eyes adjusted, she saw hair on top of its head, a long, thick body, and skin that appeared to be the texture of dark leather or something equally as tough. It stretched, its back to her, one massive paw lifted. Vicious-looking claws flashed before it settled that paw back down on the floor.
She remained frozen, wondering how in the hell something like that could have breached the Veslors’ ship. Or the cabin. It seemed unaware of her presence, and she wanted to keep it that way. The bathroom was close but the door automatically opened. It wouldn’t be safe to run in there.
She needed to find a weapon to defend herself with. Anabel highly doubted her fists, even if she used her fingernails, would do much damage. Her gaze darted around Raze’s room. Nothing seemed useful in a fight against something so obviously lethal. The only objects she could toss at the beast were books on a shelf near the bed. It seemed Raze liked to collect dozens of them.
The beast groaned again and drew her attention. It moved its massive head as if it were stretching its neck muscles. Then it lowered—and she watched in utter shock as it began to make disturbing noises.
Bones popped and its shape suddenly changed. The legs elongated, the neck seemed to shorten—and within less than a minute, a totally nude Raze crouched on the floor. He rose up, showing off his muscled bare body. He had a great one, too. The shock of seeing it had Anabel sucking air into her lungs.
He jerked his head her way. The room was dimly lit, but she saw his features clearly. He frowned. “I thought you were sleeping. Apologies.” He kept his back to her. “I didn’t sleep well on the sitting place, so I used the floor. It’s more comfortable when I’m in my battle form.” Then he sniffed the air. “I’m not picking up fear. I’m glad.”
Anabel cleared her throat and found her voice. “I was too surprised to be afraid. More like wondering how in the hell something like you got in here.”
He smiled. “I warned you that Veslors have two forms. Now you’ve seen them both.”
“Yes, I have.” She wasn’t certain what else to say.
“I will shower and we’ll start our day after first meal.” He pointed to a small table by the cabin doors. “Clothing for you.” Then he sauntered to the bathroom and stepped inside, the door closing behind him.
Anabel smiled. “Smug son of a bitch with zero body shame. Great damn bod, though, so he’s earned that attitude.” She climbed out of his bed and went to the neatly folded fabric. There was a shirt with short sleeves and a set of pants with a stretchy waist. That killed her good mood. They were more like pajamas than actual clothes. The legs had been trimmed, probably so they weren’t way too long for her to wear. “I’m expected to go hunting in this?”
At least they were clean. Anabel stripped quickly.
The shirt was too big, the bottom hem falling to her thighs. The trimmed pants fit, thanks to the elastic waist, but the legs were still a little long. She rolled the bottoms twice before tucking them into her boots. Part of her missed having undies, since she had left both pairs in her cave. Especially around aliens who seemed to have a heightened sense of smell.
Bras were another thing she missed, but she luckily wasn’t top heavy. She could go without them easily. The one she’d been wearing the day she’d destroyed Soapa Six had been lost after she washed it. One second it had been drying in the sun. The next…the damn bush she’d hung it from had shredded it.
Anabel hadn’t packed any spares in her go-bag. That was only for necessary items. Her small boobs weren’t a priority. The medical team hadn’t enlarged her breasts to make them more appealing, like they did for operatives assigned as sex bait on most of their missions.
A shudder ran down her at the thought of that kind of duty. Thankfully, her handler had learned fast that she was more likely to beat the shit out of a target than try to seduce them. Kurt had done his best to make that clear to the big bosses.
That was one thing the fleet and United Earth ruling committee could never make her do. She flat-out refused to fuck an assignment. The one time they’d attempted to make her, she’d killed the bastard on sight. Mission over. It didn’t matter that the big bosses wanted the human trafficker brought in alive.
That hadn’t been an option since, he liked to fuck women with a bunch of his criminal buddies watching. She’d have had to endure that horror until she could find an opportunity to get him alone. Shooting the bastard dead before he could touch her and fleeing during the ensuing confused panic had sounded like a better plan. One she’d implemented.
She smirked, remembering the white-haired general who’d yelled at her when she’d been ordered to go before him. Kurt, her handler, had been at her side. He’d gotten his ass chewed, too.
Anabel had taken the verbal abuse without comment. The gasbag who’d been pissed had even threatened to kick her out of the fleet. It quickly told her that he didn’t have high enough clearance to see her full file. He wouldn’t have dared raise his voice if he had.
The general would have known she was too dangerous to treat that way…without fear of Anabel killing him, too.
Kurt had chuckled as they left. “Thanks for putting up with his bullshit and not decking him. It makes them feel better if they believe they have control over people like you. He can’t have you tossed.”
“I wish he could. Then I’d be free. It wasn’t worth the pay suspension to punch him in the mouth. I’ve had more idiots insult me worse. I did want to suggest he bend over and let you fuck him, when he said sex was ‘no big deal’ and I should have just taken it. He’d have changed his tune if his ass was on the line.”
“Don’t ever offer up my dick for something like that. I’ve never pissed you off that much, have I? No one wants to fuck that guy. Especially me. I like men, but hot ones. He was old and gross.”
She’d laughed at that. “That’s why I kept my mouth shut. You haven’t ever done me wrong.”
The memory made Anabel miss Kurt badly. He’d been with her from the first mission she’d been assigned. Some handlers didn’t give two shits about their operatives. He was different. She knew Kurt cared enough to fudge some reports of her missions to keep her from getting into trouble. He’d give her a copy first, wink, and walk away. That way, their stories always lined up if there were questions from the big bosses.
She trusted Kurt. That was everything in her line of work. Also very rare. He would have done everything possible to follow her last request by getting her death vid to her sister.
That thought angered her. Jessa had no right to hack into fleet databases to find out how she’d supposedly died. It was reckless and foolish, a mistake that was compounded when she’d sent Veslors to retrieve her. She understood why her sister did it. If she had the skills, she’d probably hack every database in the universe to learn how Jessa was killed. But that wasn’t the point.
“She fucking promised me, damn it,” she muttered.
The bathroom door opened, and Anabel turned. A surprising wave of disappointment hit when a fully dressed Raze stepped out. She’d been wondering what he looked like naked from the front. That would have to remain a mystery.
He wore a black short-sleeved shirt that showed off his impressive biceps and wide shoulders, form-fitting black pants that enhanced his slim hips and muscular thighs, and the same black ass-kicker boots.
“The bathing room is yours.” His blue gaze tracked down her. “They fit. Good. I had to guess at your size.”
“This is what your people wear while hunting?”
“No. You are too small to wear our clothing. We keep a supply of outfits for bounties we go after. Those have never been worn, if humans are offended by being given discards.”
“Why do you keep clothing for your bounties?”
He smiled. “We find a lot of them in pleasure houses. They rarely come without a fight or take the time to put on clothing. Some species are highly uncomfortable being bare in a cell for days or weeks. It also tends to offend the ones who placed the bounty when we hand them over bare. We don’t have a clothing fabricator onboard.”
“Do you go after prostitutes often? What are their crimes? Do they steal from customers?”
His smile faded. “We go after the customers, as you call them. It is a common place to find them; most males enjoy copulating. We rarely accept jobs when the prey is female, unless she’s a deadly threat to many.”
“You came after me. I’m a female.”
“At the request of Roth.”
“Right. You said you’ve worked with him in the past and he’s a good male.”
He nodded. “You are the relative of a mate in his grouping. Veslors help each other. I gave him a big discount.”
“So I’m a bargain bounty. Great.”
“I would have done it for cost. Mates are precious, and so are the family of mates. Especially females. Someone should protect you, Anabel. Roth told me a little about your situation of being stranded in a section of dangerous space, and I couldn’t say no.” Then he smiled. “I like that. Bargain bounty.”
She shook her head, amused. “Never call me that again, or I’ll send a message to this Roth to tell him you said you’d do it solely for gas money on this boat. Then you wouldn’t get paid.”
“He would pay me more than I requested if he knew I’d given him a discount. Veslors are honorable. Are you hungry? Prasky will have first meal ready for us.”
“I could eat. I’ve missed real food. Those ration bars suck.”
“You say that often. I take it that ‘suck’ means bad?” He led the way out of his cabin, the doors opening for him. They returned to the kitchen, where both Veslors were already seated at the table and eating.
“Suck does mean bad.” She took the seat with different food on the plate from the others, figuring that had to be hers. They were eating fruits and veggies for breakfast. She received what looked like cooked meat and chunks of bite-sized bread. There were once again no forks or silverware, so she used her fingers. The bread was soft, flavored like pancakes with something sweet, but not syrup, and it was good. The meat kind of tasted like bacon. “Yummy.” She winked at Prasky. “Thank you.”
He grunted at her and turned his gaze away.
“We made sure there were human-friendly ingredients onboard before we came after you.” Raze dug into his fruits first. “We tend to do that with all of our prey, if the bounty is to bring them back alive.”
She caught his word usage but didn’t ask questions. She didn’t feel like prey. The Veslors had treated her extremely well, and she wasn’t afraid of them. “Well, I appreciate it.”
“One human didn’t survive the night,” Bruck announced.
“And then there were twenty-two,” she said after swallowing and taking a sip of juice. It was the same kind from the night before. “They probably pissed off one of the gorilla-like beasts by setting up a camp under one of their trees and not lighting a fire. Or maybe they had to piss and decided to do it on a killer plant. That makes one less for us to find.”
All three Veslors stared at her with stunned expressions.
“Sorry if that sounded harsh, but these aren’t exactly nice people out there. Would it make you feel better if I pretended to be sad that the planet took out one of them for us? That’s not going to happen. I’ll remind you that those assholes came here to cause mass extinction. They deserve to die for that.”
Bruck suddenly laughed. “I like you, female.”
“We were startled by your words.” Raze smiled at her. “Most females we know wouldn’t describe how they believed someone might have died.”
“I’m not most females. All I hope for is that none of the natives were murdered by the crew. That would upset me. I’ve buried six, and that was six too many. They’d be alive if I’d done my job better on Soapa Six by taking out the crew in space. I tried my best to lock them out of the pods, but I couldn’t blow them all up. I didn’t have enough bombs or the materials to make more.” She looked down at her plate, adding quietly, “Those deaths are on me.”
“You didn’t kill the inhabitants.” Raze leaned closer. “The other humans did. You are trying to stop them. How many of your people have you killed so far that escaped your ship?”
“A bunch.”
His eyes widened.
“You said she wasn’t dangerous,” Prasky snarled.
She looked away from Raze to meet the other Veslor’s angry glare. “I’m only deadly to really bad guys. You’re safe from me.”
Prasky stood.
Raze did, too, and snarled at him. “Sit. You won’t stalk out again. Deal with your grief and stop placing the blame where it doesn’t belong. She is human, and not our enemy. You’ve sulked long enough.”
“What he said,” Bruck growled. “We all saw the proof yesterday. She hunts dangerous prey, just as we do. Hern wouldn’t want you to be bitter.”
Both males sat, and for long minutes, the only sounds were their chewing.
Anabel quickly finished everything on her plate and downed the juice. “I’m sorry to all of you that I’ve caused tension on your ship.”
Then she stared at Prasky until he met her gaze. “I’m not like the bitch who tricked your brother. That was really fucked up. I’m also sorry you lost him. I can’t help that I have breasts and a vagina, but I also have honor. It’s my job to right wrongs. Sometimes that means going undercover to catch criminals, find proof of what they’ve done, and bring them in to face justice. Sometimes, it means taking out threats with deadly force. It’s an automatic death sentence by United Earth to murder aliens and steal their planet. I’m the only one who can hand out justice here, so far away from the fleet. These assholes are from my planet. It’s my responsibility to stop them.”
Prasky blinked finally and gave a single nod of his head. “I hear you.”
“Good.” She used a cloth napkin to clean her fingers and wipe her mouth. “That being said, I don’t want any of you to get into trouble, since I don’t know Veslor laws. I would appreciate your help tracking down the surviving crew members, but you don’t have to kill them. It’s probably best if I do that alone. That way, there’s no blowback that can touch you.”
Raze finished his meal and stood. “You gave us your proof of what those humans have done and planned to do. Our king would not punish us for ending the threat to this planet. It is our duty to protect aliens who are being invaded by a more powerful species. This is considered a hostile situation. We will help you kill them.”
Dread hit as something occurred to her. “You can’t share those files I showed you with your king. I told you what would happen. Those assholes from Gemini and Soapa Six don’t represent all of Earth or the human race, but other aliens may blame all of us anyway.” She rose to her feet. “It could start a war.”
