Sienna, page 3
Whatever power she’d felt from the pull of the water was evaporating now, weakness sucking at her very soul. “You’re wasting both your time and mine,” she said, her voice as parched as her throat. Though her feet had managed to suck in some moisture from the silt and mud that had edged the river, it hadn’t been anywhere near enough to fortify her.
She might have cried if she’d had the energy. How long was this winged madman going to imprison her and try to make her tell him things she knew nothing about? She only had a handful of days to find the rest of the rares so they could meet and perhaps find a way to continue surviving here on planet Earth.
That the Dronians had only one weakness that she knew of wouldn’t be of any use to Gray. Earth’s atmosphere was unique. She’d be telling him nothing he needed to know.
It was only when one of her breasts brushed against the stretchy leather surrounding his torso that she remembered she was naked. On her own world, nudity was considered normal, yet with Gray she’d never felt more exposed. “I left my clothes back near the river,” she said quietly.
“I know. I left your rapier there too,” he reminded, as though she should be far more concerned about being weaponless. Under normal circumstances she would be, but none of this was normal. Not even close.
That his voice was detached and emotionless made her stiffen. There was no getting through to him now. He was in bounty hunter mode. He’d captured his quarry, his payment was likely within reach—once he dragged the answers out of her that he needed. She gritted her teeth. Never! Even if she knew what he wanted she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of telling him.
“Are you cold?” he asked, looking down at her nudity with a bland expression. Either he didn’t lust after her anymore or he had too much else on his mind. Like the reward he’d be getting for her?
“Would it matter to you if I was?” she asked in a brittle tone.
He snorted, as though her question was all too obvious. “I’m not completely heartless. I might have killed others in the past but they deserved to die. You, on the hand, deserve to live.”
“How very kind of you.” She blinked up at him. “It wouldn’t be because you’ve yet to ask me some serious questions? In which case, my death would be very inconvenient to you.”
“Have you always been this cynical?” he asked drily.
“Cynical or rational?” she countered hoarsely. “You must be pretty good at killing,” she added conversationally, like they were talking about something as mundane as the weather.
“Oh?”
“How many Dronians did you kill back in the train?”
“There were only two,” he stated just as blandly, like killing two armored soldiers was insignificant. “I’m not some killing machine, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I wasn’t thinking that,” she lied, though any further debate was next to impossible with the river getting farther away and her energy fading fast. “They’ll be after you too, now,” she added in a thin voice. She wasn’t one to give up, not ever, but she had no fight left in her. Even his long, rolling stride seemed to want to rock her to sleep.
As her lashes fluttered closed, all consciousness faded away...
When she forced her eyes open sometime later, it was to find sunshine flooding through a net curtain that covered a square window, a breeze making the bottom of the curtain dance and snap against an aged, cream-yellow wall.
She sat, aware of a mattress beneath her and the silken touch of a sheet against her bare skin, the top sheet them tumbling off her as she sucked in deep, panicked breaths.
No amount of training had prepared her for this. Not with weakness flooding through her veins and taking away not only her ability to react but to think straight. That she was alone in the room was clear to her right away. Gray had a presence about him she’d sense anywhere, no matter how indisposed she might feel.
She slipped her legs to the side of the mattress, surprised to find she wasn’t restrained. But then, Gray probably knew she was as defenseless as she’d ever be, and as weak as any human.
She stood, the worn linoleum cool beneath her feet but her limbs trembling as they supported her weight. Bloody hell. She’d never once allowed herself to get to this point, but she had only herself to blame. Yes, she could live without the river sustaining her and giving power to her abilities, but it’d be like expecting a duck to live without water.
There were two doors. She tried one but of course it was locked. The next door swung open, revealing a windowless bathroom with a showerhead fitted above a bathtub, a toilet in the corner. After using the latter, she tossed up between having a bath—the water covering her body wouldn’t have the minerals of the river, but it would be better than nothing—or exploring the bedroom.
Her need for water could wait a few more minutes. She stepped back into the bedroom and headed to the window, flipping aside the net curtain to stare through the fly-screen at the drop beneath. Shit. The sloping ground had to be at least ten meters below her. She glanced at the outer walls of the house. There was nothing to grip onto, nothing that she could use to make her escape, not in her weakened state.
Three little bangs sounded on the locked door behind her as its bolts were flipped aside. It creaked open, and though her pulse thudded wildly, she didn’t turn around to greet her captor. Instead she squeezed her eyes shut while panic squeezed her chest. She hadn’t escaped the Dronians just to be imprisoned by this man!
“I brought you breakfast,” he said, as casually as though he was speaking to some honored guest. “I’m guessing you must be hungry.”
Her stomach clenched and growled fitfully, but still she didn’t speak or acknowledge him in any way. He’d kidnapped her! He’d taken away her liberty! What he didn’t know—or did he?—was that he’d probably also taken away her chance to meet up with the remaining six of her kind.
“It appears you’re not ready yet to talk.” He sighed heavily, and she could almost imagine him crossing his arms. That his broad shoulders were powerful enough to carry such immense wings made her breathing tighter still. “You know, the sooner we chat the sooner I can let you go.”
Something snapped in her then. She flew around to face him and in half-a-dozen jerky strides she was standing in front on him, quivering with rage.
A distant part of her noticed that the gash on his face and his arm was gone, as though the injury had never been. Then there was his damp hair and his change of clothes, his fresh scent of vanilla soap and an elusive forest scent that was all him. His black pants stretched over the length of his muscled thighs and calves, his white T-shirt not even bothering to conceal the wings that were folded behind him.
She gritted her teeth, hating him more than ever. “I don’t want your food. I don’t want anything from you!” She smacked the breakfast tray off the bed, sending the glass of juice into the air, along with two slices of toast and scrambled eggs. The glass hit the wall and shattered, juice splattering everywhere. The eggs slopped onto the floor and the toast skidded.
And her ability to implode a living thing from the inside out rose inside her as she screamed, “Leave me alone!”
Chapter Four
Gray’s entire body tingled and prickled as a surge of power raised the hairs on the back of his head and neck, his vision glowing at the edges.
Whatever rare ability Sienna was using it was beyond powerful and highly volatile, its energy pulsating the very air between them before its strength as quickly subsided.
He stared at her, awed by the fact she’d managed to throw out such force when she was about as weak as she’d possibly get. He narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”
She crossed her arms, as though warding off his question even as she unwittingly pushed her breasts up. That she seemed immune to her nakedness now only tantalized him more, his blood pressure surging right along with his dick. She might be strong like a warrior but she had a feminine, soft side too, with curves in all the right places.
It’d taken everything he had just to pretend indifference to her and go to some distant place in his head while he’d carried her naked in his arms. That his dick had taken on a life of its own, no matter where he’d gone to in his head hadn’t mattered. She’d been in his arms, and thankfully, unable to see his concrete erection.
Her sudden, crooked little smile did crazy things to his pulse. “You might need to explain yourself better,” she said, making light of what he’d felt. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
He reached out and cupped her chin, holding her gaze with his. “Don’t play games with me, Sienna. I’ve seen and done things that would make you sick to your stomach and make you think twice about—”
“Is that a threat?” she interjected. Her gaze glowed faintly with green. “Did you not think I might have already seen the worst I can possibly see? I saw my people die—women and children—watched them get slashed into ribbons. Watched my lands become a bloodbath. I doubt that you’ve lived through anything worse than that.”
He sucked air through his teeth. She was right. Nothing he’d seen and done compared. Her people had been wiped out—all but seven of them, to his knowledge—murdered by an alien race of sadistic motherfuckers that only cared about being at the top of the power-chain.
It made his own quest to learn what he could about the Dronians even more imperative. His people were on the verge of collapse already, though his people loved to fuck, their desire to breed lessened with each generation. Despite Gorema’s powerful weapons, the sheer numbers of Dronians meant they would destroy his unique world all too easily.
His whole body stiffened. They were running out of time! The Dronians might well decide the last seven of the Strazanians weren’t worth the effort of killing, then move onto the next planet to annihilate.
His voice came out rough and unapologetic despite his words. “My apologies for making light of your past experiences, it couldn’t have been easy. You’re a true survivor, and not just because you’re one of the last of your kind.”
Her hard gaze softened fractionally, and his constricted chest loosened even as his breath steadied. He didn’t want them to be enemies, though that was an impossibility being that he held her prisoner.
She inhaled sharply, as though reminding herself of that very thing, her feel good vibes disappearing. “All I ask is that you let me go. Release me and I won’t hold any of this against you.”
He sighed heavily. “Sorry, no can do. Not until you’re ready to talk. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can go.”
She pulled away from his clasp on her chin and dropped her arms to her sides. “Do you really think I’m that gullible? You could kill me the moment I told you anything I know, which is nothing, by the way.”
“I have no intention of killing you, Sienna, I never have.” Whether she believed him or not was another matter. “For now, let’s pretend you don’t know anything about the Dronians. What I want to know was the power you almost let loose against me—a power I have no doubt the Dronians know about and are afraid of...so much so they’re willing to kill you and the other rares.”
Her eyes went wide. “You think the Dronians killed all my people because of the powers us rares have?”
He held her stare. “It’s a possibility. Your world isn’t known for its technological advances.”
She didn’t drop her eyes when she finally conceded, “I have an ability to implode another being from the inside out. It’s come in very handy against my enemies.”
It made so much sense! Her power had been incredible! That she hadn’t sent him exploding into kingdom come had to be a good thing. She didn’t yet consider him to be her ultimate enemy.
He planned to keep it that way.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
Her eyes widened as she looked over at the door. “Who is that?”
He grinned and stalked toward the offender. “That would be Bongo.” He opened the door and then closed it behind a brindle-colored dog that trotted into the room, tail wagging madly. The dog touched his nose to the floor and sniffed his way toward the egg on the floor, gobbling it then the toast up as though he was starving.
From the way Sienna pressed a hand to her stomach, she had to be regretting throwing her food away. She was probably wondering how she’d possibly escape now without any of the nutrients the food would have provided.
Gray chuckled. “You’ll have to excuse Bongo, he’s still learning not to be a street dog. He’s very...opportunistic when it comes to food.”
“Bongo is yours?” she asked faintly.
He shrugged. “Since he claimed me from the moment I shared my bagel with him, I’d say I’m his.”
She stepped over the slimy, wet marks left on the floor made from Bongo’s tongue, then sat on the edge of the bed. As though finally aware of Gray’s eyes on her, she grabbed the top sheet and wrapped it around her. But if she hoped he hadn’t noticed how her nipples had pebbled beneath his gaze, she was sadly mistaken.
She cleared her throat. “Pets seem to be a thing here on Earth. Nero even has himself a cat.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, as though realizing she’d given him information, even if it was trivial. She was clearly determined not to tell him anything. She probably didn’t think he deserved to learn a thing about her or her friends.
That she was right was like a rock sitting uncomfortably in his stomach. But he couldn’t afford to get soft and empathetic now. His world and his people were in jeopardy.
He managed to stay indifferent to her little slip of information. “I figured I’d look after Bongo while I’m still here on Earth.”
She frowned, looking oddly outraged. “Then what? Are you just going to abandon him?”
Did she seriously think the dog would be allowed on his world? So why did her words pinprick him with guilt? “I’ll find him a new home.”
As though aware they were talking about him, Bongo looked up and trotted over to his master. Gray gave him a good head scratch before the dog left him to jump onto the bed beside Sienna, where he plonked himself down and rested his head on her lap while his big brown eyes looked at her as though she was the best thing since sliced bread.
Gray laughed, secretly pleased by their quick bonding. “I think he likes you.”
She ruffled Bongo’s head, his floppy ears bouncing and his lips folding into a doggy grin. “I’m surprised. I’m not very good with animals,” she admitted. She looked up at him, and said reprovingly, “I have even worse luck with men.”
“Well Bongo sure approves,” Gray said with a raised brow. He pushed a hand through his thick, shoulder-length hair. “Perhaps the animals on Earth are more attuned to Strazanians?”
“Perhaps.”
The conversation was clearly wearing her out. With no river to sustain her, and no nutrients from food or even drink, she was fading fast. It was only lucky she’d had some sleep to rejuvenate her enough for this small exchange.
Whether she liked it or not, he’d already learned a little more about her and her friends. But he wouldn’t push her any farther. He’d save that for later.
He tapped his thigh, then whistled. “Here, Bongo.”
The dog looked up at her, as though reluctant to leave his newfound friend, then he jumped to the floor and trotted to Gray, the dog’s claws clicking against the worn linoleum. “Good boy.” Taking one long, last look at her, he said, “I’ll find you some clothes to wear when I bring lunch. We’ll eat together. Then we’ll talk.”
Chapter Five
Sienna flopped back onto the bed, her stomach chewing on itself. Then turning and punching the nearest pillow into a depression to better fit her head, she closed her eyes, ignoring her captor. Seconds later his tread, along with Bongo’s, faded away, the door clicking shut softly behind them.
It wasn’t until she heard the three bolts banging back into position that her anger resurfaced right along with resentment and a need for vengeance. That she was too tired to do anything but drown in many layers of sleep couldn’t be helped.
That sleep also took her right back to the place she wanted so desperately to forget was just another distant observation. Some obscure part of her subconscious told her she was dreaming, but the knowledge faded as quickly as the dream became reality.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
She smiled at her fellow rare. He’d given her the physical release she’d needed last night, but then his dick was by far his best feature. That she wasn’t the only woman to think that didn’t bother her. Skylang could share himself around all he wanted. He wasn’t mate material. Not for her, anyway.
“It sure is, Skylang.” She fell into step beside him as they began their patrol around the palace, a routine that started outside, with the three suns blazing down on them, before they’d enter the royal residence and tour through its many rooms to ensure everything was in order. She glanced over at the Great Waters, her nose twitching at the tantalizing aromas of minerals and other Strazan elements. “A swim would have been nice.”
“Or even better, a hunt with some of the other rares who got the day off.”
She nodded, their bare, thick-scaled feet slapping against the rock floor. While most of their kind didn’t bother with clothes, all the rares on duty had to wear a uniform. Their black robes not only blended in with the volcanic rock but held their weapons of choice. “We’re rostered off next.”
He sent her a heated look, his eyes glowing neon blue. “Maybe we can hunt in the Great Waters after we’ve had some more of our own fun?”
“Maybe,” she said non-committedly. She was already losing interest in him, just like she’d lost interest in the previous three rare males she’d been intimate with. That she seemed destined to be single for the rest of her life had long ago ceased to bother her.
She had her career, she was happy enough. And once she was an elder, she’d be content training the next wave of rares who came through.
