Hunter Raze, page 5
The faint scent had him growling as he sniffed. Female. He was certain. A human had been in this tree, and someone had tried to shoot her out of it. He inhaled her scent again, memorizing it. It was faintly on the bark, as if she’d rubbed against the trunk just enough to leave a trace of herself behind.
He turned his head, looking for a way the female could have escaped if she’d needed to. There were more trees nearby, but the branches appeared too thin to hold much weight, even a small human. He walked along a thick branch and leapt into the nearest tree with a sturdy limb.
A soft gasp of surprise left him as he picked up her scent there.
He turned his head, staring at the tree he’d jumped from. It was a good ten-foot distance, at least. He wasn’t aware that humans had such abilities.
Clever and talented human. Or desperate.
Either way, Raze was intrigued and impressed. He tried to follow her scent but lost it two trees later. He jumped down and used vegetation to scrub away the blood of the animal he’d killed from his body before it dried. Then Raze retrieved his belongs before shifting back to his relaxed form on two legs. He put on his boots and pants, not wanting to stain one of his favorite shirts with the blood he hadn’t been able to remove.
He checked the pad, and it had updated. The single life form had moved a great distance from the area. He grinned.
“You are fast too, female.” He felt a sudden surge of excitement. His hunt might soon be over…but it wouldn’t be an easy one.
Chapter Three
Anabel climbed out of the water, shaking her head vigorously since she didn’t have a towel to dry her hair. She visually scanned the area, not liking how many trees surrounded her. Danger could easily remain hidden until it was too late. But this was the only part of the creek deep enough to submerge her body when she sat on the bottom, and it had been nice to get clean.
There was a wide river not too far away, but she hadn’t scoped out the dangers of whatever alien creatures might live in the deeper water. With her luck, it would be killer fish the size of Earth whales or something like a crocodile. She stuck to the creeks for bathing, since they were shallow and clear enough to see all the way to the bottom, enabling her to spot anything that might swim her way.
Now that she’d gotten clean, her mind switched back to earlier. An entire camp had been wiped out. That called for taking the rest of the day off. She’d had her fill of killing. She picked up her jumpsuit, which she’d left to warm in the sun, and put it on, not caring how damp it would become from her body. Her only plans were to return to her cave, climb into bed, and spend the evening daydreaming.
She did that a lot to pass the time. Not that she had much to fantasize about. Her life would end on this planet at some point. It would also be lonely, since she didn’t see the local aliens becoming her friends. It was against fleet regulations, anyway. The reptilian race wasn’t advanced in any way, and therefore she couldn’t risk influencing their culture.
Once the human threat was over, she should probably figure out a way to disassemble each pod enough to be able to drag the parts into one of the rivers. That would be the responsible thing to do, to keep future generations of aliens from having any proof of otherworld visitors. That was in the handbook, too. Destroy or hide any evidence of an intrusion on a primitive planet.
“I hate that fucking handbook and their stupid rules. I should be able to at least try to make alien friends,” she muttered, bending over to pick up her belt. She’d strap her weapons on first, before donning her boots.
Someone grabbed her arm near the elbow and jerked her upright. Shocked, Anabel gasped and spun, blindly punching with her free hand.
Her fist made contact with a solid mass of hot flesh. Her hit didn’t even make the firm body stumble back. She dropped the belt to free her other hand. She’d need both for this fight.
Anabel glanced up. Then adjusted her chin even more.
It was a tall male alien, not a reptilian native, and certainly not one of the crew of the Soapa Six. They’d all been human.
“Female,” he said in a deep, growly voice. “I have captured you.”
Anabel heard his words, realized he spoke in perfect English, and instinct took over. She yanked her arm free of his grasp and threw her body against his much bigger one. It knocked him off balance enough to force him back a step, and she threw another punch, going for his throat to take him down.
He dropped a wrapped bundle of material he carried in his other arm as he flinched away. She missed his throat. The alien had quick reflexes.
She jumped back and kicked out, targeting the kneecap area of his humanoid body.
He avoided the blow with a twist of his leg, then she was the one who had to retreat. The bastard was nimble for six-and-a-half feet of bulky male who had to weigh close to three hundred pounds, if she had to guess at a glance. He only wore pants and boots. She assessed every inch of him as they circled each other.
His race looked familiar but she couldn’t place it, too busy trying to find a weak point to attack on his muscled body. His skin was dark, with a soft fuzzy texture. The alien possessed a broad chest and massive biceps. Well…every inch of him seemed packed with muscle, actually.
He had pointed ears, a mass of curly black hair on the top of his head only, but it could flow down his back. From her frontal view, she couldn’t tell for sure. The sides of his head appeared to be shaved, or perhaps he couldn’t grow hair there.
His eyes were a pale blue and feline-looking, the pupils vertical slits instead of round. Something about that trait clicked in her brain, but she didn’t have time to follow the thought. The big bastard had snuck up on her—something not easy to do—and grabbed her.
That screamed “hostile intent” to Anabel.
She wasn’t about to be captured by some alien. That rarely ended well for humans. Especially women. She’d gone undercover a few times in the past when women had disappeared from colonies, and even from a few space stations. Not all of them had been taken by asshole humans forcing them into the sex trade. Some alien races wanted human women for sex slaves, too. That wouldn’t become her future.
She fisted her hands tighter and lunged again, trying to land punches on his body that she hoped would take him down and give her a shot at escape. He used his big open hands to deflect the blows, easily taking the rapid punches against his palms. The sight of sharp claws growing from his fingertips alarmed her, but she’d been trained too well to let anything thwart her attempt to incapacitate him.
The alien bastard had the nerve to laugh.
Anabel switched tactics, leaping at him bodily. His eyes widened and his massive hands gripped her hips. She felt the tips of those sharp claws along her butt but ignored them, since there wasn’t any pain.
She’d hit him chest to chest when she’d jumped, making him stagger, the weight of her body heavier than anyone would guess by appearances, thanks to her synthetic legs. With his hands occupied, she finally landed a blow to his face. The force of the punch made his entire head snap back, and he grunted.
They hit the ground, Anabel sprawled on top of him. She adjusted her position fast, straddling his waist and squeezing her knees against his ribs as she punched at his throat and face, landing more blows.
His hold on her waist tightened before she was suddenly thrown. Shock jolted through her—the bastard had just proven he was super strong. No human guy could have torn her off him once she got a grip with her knees. She landed in the creek, hitting the water and going under.
She surfaced as he was getting to his feet. Red showed on his full bottom lip that she’d smashed with her fist. He reached up and swiped at it, gazing at the blood on the back of his hand, then his gaze locked with hers.
Anabel climbed out of the creek on the other side and thought about making a run for it, but her weapons were across the water. She wasn’t about to abandon them, or her boots. The only other footwear she had were the ruined work shoes she’d worn the day she’d sabotaged Soapa Six.
“Who in the hell are you?” she shouted at the alien.
He lowered his hand and wiped the blood on his black pants. “I’m a bounty hunter. Stop fighting me, female. I’m taking you back to my ship and plan to hand you over to the male who paid me to find you.”
Surprised at his answer, Anabel gaped at him as she pushed her wet hair off her face. “There’s a bounty on me?”
That was bad news. Somehow, Gemini still existed.
Kurt must not have gotten her message—or the proof she’d transmitted. That wasn’t supposed to happen. One rocket may have been lost, but surely not two.
Kurt had been aboard the Russel, a stealth fleet ship waiting at the edge of safe space travel lanes. The navigation system on all the rockets were programed to fly directly to the Russel.
“Yes. Come with me peacefully, female. You will not be harmed. I give you my oath.”
His deep voice didn’t convince her one tiny bit that he wasn’t a liar. “Right. Sure.” Anabel really needed to get to her weapons and boots. Especially her boots. She could abandon them but her feet would have no protection. That sounded hellish. Her legs might be synthetic, but the skin and nerves weren’t. She still felt pain.
“How much are you being paid? I’ll double it if you walk away. I can give you an account access code useable on any space station or colony where humans are located.” It was worth a shot. Not that the emergency funds she had access to would be near enough to buy her freedom, but he wouldn’t realize that until he was far from her.
His black eyebrows arched. “I gave my oath to my client to retrieve you. This isn’t a negotiation.”
He was smart. Anabel would give him that. “I have a million Earth creds in there,” she lied. “Don’t be hasty. Gemini won’t pay that.” She figured they actually would, if it meant saving their asses, but the alien bounty hunter didn’t need to know that, either.
He stepped closer to the creek. “Who?”
She huffed in frustration. “The man who hired you, whoever he was, works for Gemini. It’s a corrupt company based on Earth. They hate aliens, lie about virtually everything, and will screw you on this deal. You can’t trust them. They’ll kill you before they actually pay what they said they would.”
“That is not my client.”
That had her scowling. “Who is?”
“A Veslor male.”
The news stunned her—but something suddenly clicked. “You’re a Veslor, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
She shivered as the wind blew over her. It was a little chilly, what with her being soaking wet from the cold creek. “Your people once helped a fleet vessel in distress.”
He inhaled deeply, his muscular chest expanding. He was a good-looking alien. There was no denying that. She’d even admit that he was damn sexy. That was rare, in her experience. She’d had to deal with all manner of aliens races in her career. Most grossed her out or left her feeling deeply disturbed by their appearance.
Ke’ters came to mind. She’d helped get revenge against them for an incident on the Gorison Traveler. The fleet had sent four stealth ships to take out a couple Ke’ter vessels as payback and a “don’t fuck with humans ever again” message. Not that she could share that. It was classified.
“I’m impressed by you, female.”
She walked closer to the edge of the creek, moved down a little, and then jumped over the narrowest part. It was only about five feet across. He watched her closely but didn’t move. She slowly approached her weapons and boots.
“Why is that? I’m going to put on my boots.”
“Don’t go for your weapons.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she lied again.
He suddenly lunged toward her and Anabel stumbled back, fists up, prepared to fight. He didn’t come at her, though. Instead, he crouched near her belongings, lifted her weapons, and tossed them into the creek.
Disbelief filled her as she watched them sink below the water’s surface.
He stood and backed off, leaving her belt and boots.
She glared at him “That wasn’t nice.”
“I don’t feel like being shot.”
“Back off more. I don’t trust you.”
He did as she demanded, which surprised her, but she took a seat, yanking on her boots and sealing them around her ankles. Part of her expected him to attack while she was down but he remained still.
She stood, happy to have her boots on. They’d be impossible to replace. She had small feet. None of the crew she had yet to kill would wear her size.
“We will return to my ship now.” He gave her his back, walking toward the bundled cloth he’d dropped.
Anabel was in motion as soon as he turned. She spun, taking off. She leapt over the wider part of the creek, moving as fast as possible. A roar that sounded like a lion came from behind her. She assumed he must have some type of alien cat in his DNA to have those eyes and make that noise.
She picked up her speed, dodging trees. No human could catch her once she got going. As she ran, she almost smiled. The weapons could be replaced when she tracked down more crew members; she was certain some had to be armed. She just needed to lose the alien bounty hunter first.
Her confidence disappeared fast when she heard something heavy gaining on her.
She glanced back—and the alien ran right behind her. It almost made her stumble but she faced forward, nearly tripping on a bush. A rumble of a snarl came from her pursuer.
That was her only warning before two large arms wrapped her around her middle.
She was too out of breath to even curse. She tensed, expecting a hell of a lot of pain when she hit the ground with him on top of her. It didn’t happen. She went down, alright—but on top of his large, solid body. His arms tightened around her as she opened her eyes, staring at the treetops and sky above, her back to his chest.
The alien had obviously twisted them in the air when he’d tackled her to take the brunt of their landing, surprising her yet again. It would have been to his advantage to crush her beneath him. She grabbed his wrists, trying to open his arms to free her middle.
He suddenly rolled them, and his weight was enough to knock the oxygen from her lungs. He grabbed her wrists and yanked them to her sides. He pinned her flat, even using his feet to spread her legs enough that she couldn’t get purchase to try to roll him off her.
“Cease, female,” he panted next to her ear. “You are captured.”
She threw her head back. Pain exploded in her skull as she made contact, probably with his chin. He grunted but his hold on her wrists didn’t go lax for even a split second. He just shoved his head to the side of hers, forcing her cheek into the dirt.
“Enough!” he snarled.
“Fuck you.” She shoved her ass up against his front, trying to wiggle out from under him.
The feel of something hard pressed against her had Anabel going still when he drove his hips forward to force her flat. He not only looked humanoid…but seemed to have every other part associated with a male body. She’d trained with enough guys to know exactly what was pressing between her butt cheeks.
“You’re turned-on? You sick bastard!”
“That is your fault.”
She panted, not happy to have her face pressed against the dirt or his dick against her ass. “Right. Sure it is. All men are pigs. I’m fighting for my freedom while you’re thinking about sex. Give me a break—and the answer is hell no. Get off me!”
“You engaged me in battle.” He slowly lifted his head enough that she could move hers.
She twisted her neck, their faces close together. They locked gazes.
“You appear confused. Our females engage us in battle as foreplay.”
She studied him. She hadn’t hit his chin with the back of her head, like she’d thought. The skin on his cheekbone had been split a tiny bit, some blood smeared on his face from the cut. She didn’t feel an ounce of guilt. Especially since what felt like a large, hard penis was still wedged between her butt cheeks. Her jumpsuit remained soaked and plastered to her skin. She guessed the cold wetness didn’t bother his libido.
“You’ve got a twisted culture then.”
“Stop fighting me, female. You can’t win. I respect you for your attempt and you’ve impressed me with your bravery, but enough. We are returning to my ship.”
“I can’t let that happen. Gemini will kill me.”
“I do not work for the company you mentioned. My client is another Veslor.”
That still didn’t make any sense to her, no matter how many times he said it. She’d never pissed off one of those aliens before, as far as she knew. “Why would a Veslor put a bounty on me?”
“You are a relative to his grouping.”
“Um…no. I’m not.”
“You are.”
Anabel chewed on her bottom lip, a bad habit of hers when she mulled things over, but then she spat when dirt ended up on her tongue.
It was also distracting that the alien remained hard. His dick felt like a metal pipe between her cheeks. Doesn’t that thing ever soften?
“Let me up and I won’t run. At least until after we talk. I give my word.”
He didn’t move his big body off her or ease his hold on her wrists. “I do not trust you, female.”
She couldn’t really blame him after she’d already tried to ditch him once. He had adjusted his oversized body until she wasn’t in any danger of being crushed by his weight, and he’d made sure she could breathe fine. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, though, being pinned against the ground.
“Maybe you’re after another woman who was on Soapa Six. I admit there were very few of us, but I wasn’t the only one. I’ve never been to Veslor space, if this woman screwed over one of your people. You’re the first one I’ve ever met. Swear. I never joined a grouping. Is that like a gang? You’ve got the wrong woman.”
“You are Anabel Brick. I was given an image of you but warned it is outdated. Your hair is longer now but you are the female I seek. You even have the mar on your forehead.”
