Bounty, page 20
part #1 of Barbarians of the Sand Planet Series
He pulled her so she was half on top of him and rubbed a hand on her marked skin. “My poor little captain.”
Danica slapped his arm. “Who are you calling little?” She sensed his amusement as he lowered a hand to cup one breast.
“You are right. These are not little.” He rubbed his thumb across her nipple. “They are perfect. Just like you.”
Her cheeks warmed at the compliment as she climbed off him and stretched out on her side on the rugs. “So, did you like your wake-up call?”
He tilted his head, furrowing his brow.
"On my ship we had alarms—electronic things that beeped to tell you when it was time to wake up. I guess you don't have anything like that, here." Danica certainly wasn't going to miss the hash beep of her alarm. She'd take waking up to hot sex over the beep of a computer any day of the week.
K’alvek chuckled softly. "We wake with the suns. They are our alarm."
Danica nodded and looked up at the tent ceiling and around at the layers of leathers and fabrics covering the floor. It was the same tent she'd slept in the last time they were there. “This is your tent, isn't it? Is this where we'll be staying?”
He nodded.
“I like it,” she said. “Simple yet elegant.”
Another tilt of the head.
“Nothing,” Danica told him. “Just a joke. Something said to make others laugh."
"We have much still to learn about each other." K’alvek took her face in his hand, running his thumb down her chin and kissing her softly on the lips. “This is your home now. With me. As my mate.”
Her stomach did a flip-flop. She never would have imagined herself content to be lying in an alien barbarian’s tent and being claimed as his mate, but a lot had happened over the past few days.
“Danica?”
His voice jerked her from her thoughts, and she peered up at him. “Sorry. I was just thinking about everything.”
“I know,” he said, tapping a finger to his temple. “We are also mind mates.”
“Right.” Her face flushed as she remembered that he could sense her thoughts. It was a hard concept to get used to. “Mind mates. Does that mean other Dothveks can’t sense my feelings?”
He expression grew stormy. “Of course not. There is only one mind bond for each Dothvek.” The tightness in his jaw relaxed. “And you are mine. Forever.”
Once upon a time, that word would have had Danica running for the hills, but now, it sent a rush of pleasure through her. The thought of forever with him made happiness flutter in her chest. “Sounds good to me.”
K’alvek gave her another soft, deep kiss before tapping her ass lightly, rising to his feet, and stretching.
She couldn't help staring at him as he stood fully naked with his massive arms raised over his head. The only thing covering his body were the straps wrapped around his wrists that reached halfway up his forearm. He twisted his torso in a stretch, and his muscles rippled. Danica’s pulse quickened as her eyes drifted down from his corded stomach to the long cock hanging between the thick muscles of his thighs. Dothveks were way less self-conscious than humans, she thought, although he had a lot worth flaunting.
He walked to the flap of the tent.
“Are you going out like that?” she asked. Even in her head it sounded shrill.
He looked down at himself.
“If Holly is out there, she might faint,” Danica said. “Or try to jump you. I don’t know what Bexli would do.”
He grinned at this, and she rolled her eyes and tossed him his pants. “I'm not ready to share, big guy.”
At the word "share," he bristled. “Dothveks do not share.”
“I didn't think so. Neither does this human.”
He smiled at this while he pulled on his pants, then disappeared through the tent flap.
Danica searched the floor for the rest of her clothes—gray cargo pants, a long-sleeved white T-shirt, and a plain nude-colored bra—and was glad she'd had the foresight to change into some spare clothes back at the ship. She got dressed and finger combed her hair before following K’alvek outside the tent.
She spotted Holly standing near the fire pit where meat rotated on a spit. Dothveks moved around the camp, tending to the braying jebels, and feeding the small snuffling animals in the pens. Bexli stood talking to a group of female Dothvek warriors, holding Pog and stroking his back. Or what she assumed was his back, since in his natural state, the creature was completely round.
"Look who's awake!" Her engineer waved her over when she saw her.
Danica hadn't known how much she'd missed being around her crew until Holly threw her arms around her shoulders and handed her a piece of warm flatbread. "So you're going to have to fill me in a little bit. How did you end up with these guys, and how did you find us?"
"To make a long story short," Danica said. "K’alvek found me on the sands when Tori and I got separated. He saved me from a sandstorm and a nasty pair of Cresteks before we even made it here, then he convinced most of his tribe to cross the desert to rescue the rest of you."
Her eyebrows popped up. "Well, that's pretty lucky." She glanced over her shoulder to where K’alvek stood in quiet conversation with Tommel. "Is that why you decided to bang him?"
Danica inhaled sharply and almost choked on a bite of bread.
Holly pounded on her back until she could breathe again. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you choke."
"It's okay. You just surprised me is all."
"You know I'm not known for beating around the bush," she said. "Plus, the tents around here are pretty thin, so it's not a huge secret."
Danica frowned. "I didn't bang him to get him to rescue you guys. He would have helped me anyway."
Holly held up a hand. "Girl, no judgment. I'd probably fuck him for even less of a reason."
Danica burst out laughing. Holly had never been one to stifle her sexuality or find shame in it. "Well, it's more complicated than that."
Holly studied her for a moment, her eyes flicking between her captain and K’alvek. "As long as he treats you well, and this isn't some kind of situation where you fell in love with your captor."
"He's not my captor," Danica assured her. “But we are mind mates.”
Holly’s eyebrows disappeared under her bangs. “Come again?”
Danica’s cheeks warmed. “The Dothveks are empathic. Somehow I can also sense what K’alvek is feeling.”
Holly wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure if I’d want to know what a guy was really thinking. I know I wouldn’t want him to know what I was.” She grabbed Danica’s arm. “Is it like mind-reading?”
“No.” Danica laughed. “Neither of use can read each other’s thoughts, but we can sense moods.”
“And that makes you mind mates?” Holly asked, looking skeptical.
“Apparently, mind mates aren’t very common, and a Dothvek only ever gets one.”
“And you’re this guy’s mind mate?” Holly let out a low whistle. “So is it like being married?”
“No,” Danica said quickly, then paused. “Actually, I don’t know. It’s not like we had a ceremony or anything.”
Holly winkled at her. “Not yet, at least.” She squeezed her captain’s arm. “Hey, as long as you’re happy and you’re not being forced into some sort of alien sex slavery. Although with these aliens, I might not mind so much.”
“You’re so bad.” Danica swatted at Holly, then purposefully changed the subject as she remembered K’alvek holding her down and how much she’d liked it. "Do you know if they've heard from the party that was tracking down Max? Or the group that went to confirm our ship is gone?"
Holly crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What do you mean heard from? Unless I've missed something, these folks don't have any sort of technology. Or does their empath thing work over long distances?"
"Probably now," Danica said. She caught K’alvek's eyes as he looked over at her. His expression was somber, and she could sense that he’d gotten mixed news.
Bexli joined them around the fire, plopping down and crossing her lean legs. “Did you hear? The ship was blasted to bits, but their guy located Max.”
Danica felt a moment of relief that Max was okay, but then the reality of losing her ship sunk in, and tears stung the back of her eyes. She looked up and blinked quickly to keep the tears from falling. She hadn't been surprised by the news, but the finality still hurt. "So Mourad actually did blow it up."
Holly wrapped an arm around Danica's shoulders. "I know how much that bucket of bolts meant to you. And to me, after all the hours I put into that engine. If I ever get off this planet, I'm going to skin that asshole alive. Correction." She held out a finger. "First I'll cut off his balls, then I'll skin him alive."
A few Dothveks gave the women startled glances.
"Then we're stuck here?" Holly pressed her lips together as she looked around the camp.
"The Dothveks aren't so bad," Danica told her.
Bexli gave her boss an arch smile. "I know. We could hear that this morning. It seems like they're more than not so bad."
Danica tried not to blush again, as she watched K’alvek walking toward them. "You're right. To be honest, I'm pretty okay being stuck here with him. I'll be happier once we have our crew back together, but at least we're all alive. Mourad probably thought we'd starve or die of thirst when he marooned us down here."
Holly popped a bite of bread into her mouth. "The joke's on him. He's still out there trying to hunt down Dr. Max Dryden, and he stranded her with us."
Danica enjoyed the thought that they'd pulled one over on their nemesis, although she hoped Mourad never realized his mistake. She didn't like to imagine what the sadistic bounty hunter would be like if he was truly angry. Or what he’d do if he returned.
She eyed K’alvek as he closed the distance between them, and a warm feeling bubbled up in her chest that she knew had nothing to do with his juju.
"You know," Holly whispered in her ear before stepping away. "These Dothveks would make pretty badass bounty hunters. I wouldn’t mind if the bounty hunter babes became the bounty hunter babes and barbarians.”
“We’d need a ship for that,” Danica reminded her. “We’re never going to find that here.”
Bexli shrugged as Pog purred in her lap. “Never say never.”
Chapter Forty-Two
K’alvek made his way past the fire pit, ignoring the restless growl of his stomach. The village was waking slowly, although he noticed that most of the female bounty hunters were already up and moving around outside. Seeing Tommel standing on the edge of the water, he made his way over to join him.
“I did not think we would see you so early,” the elder Dothvek said.
K’alvek’s face warmed slightly. There were no secrets among the tents. “I had hoped to see Kush’s rescue party returning.”
Tommel clasped his hands behind him and rocked back on his bare heels. “If he did not reach them before they went into the city, he will not give up. He will try to break in and get the female.”
K’alvek grunted, unhappy with what Tommel said, but knowing it was true. “Going into the Crestek city would be suicide.”
Tommel cut his eyes to K’alvek. “Your cousin will not fail, even if it means death.”
K’alvek shook his head, as if ridding his mind of the possibility. Kush was his closest friend. He could not lose him. “If he does not return, I will go after him. I have not yet slaked my thirst for Crestek blood.”
“You still seek vengeance?” Tommel asked.
Although Danica and her crew had diverted K’alvek’s focus, he had not forgotten his father’s death and his desire to see his enemy pay for it. During the battle to save the women, he’d slayed several Cresteks, but their deaths had not given him any satisfaction.
“Blood may not be the answer to what you seek,” Tommel continued when K’alvek did not answer.
“You sound very much like my mother,” K’alvek grumbled, hating the petulant sound of his voice.
Tommel did not bristle at this. “She is a very wise woman. I have been compared to worse.”
“Wiser than the male who shares her bed.”
The elder rested a hand on K’alvek’s arm. “Tread carefully. He is not wise, but he is shrewd. That makes him dangerous.”
“I do not fear him,” K’alvek said.
“Not while your mother’s presence protects you and keeps him in check.”
K’alvek swallowed hard, hating the reminder that his mother was only Zatvar’s mate to keep him safe. He balled his fists as he thought of the unworthy warrior who’d taken his father’s place. “The clan will not follow him forever. Not if he holds his truce in higher regard than battle and honor.”
Tommel cocked his head to one side. “Perhaps not.”
The jebels brayed, the noise drowning out the soft sounds of low voices and a quiet breeze rustling the tent fabric. K’alvek glanced behind him at his mate, as she stood beside her crewmate with hair like fire.
“Not all of us will be blessed by the goddesses with a mind mate,” Tommel said, following his gaze. “Perhaps a Dothvek so lucky does not need to chase vengeance.”
Before K’alvek could reply, Tommel turned and walked away, disappearing through the maze of tents. Letting out a long breath, K’alvek turned his attention to Danica and her friends as they talked and laughed.
He felt a brief pang of jealousy at their closeness, and his mind ached to connect to Kush, although he knew his kinsman was too far away. The idea of him behind the Crestek walls made a chill pass through his body. He would not lose another kinsman to his enemy. Not even if he had to tear down every stone in their walls to reach him.
Chapter Forty-Three
Max stumbled over a rock as the cloaked alien jerked her forward. Her breath was hot and uneven, and her side ached from running. She tried to wrench her hand from his grip, but he tightened his hold on her wrist until she yelped in pain.
How did she get to this point, she wondered to herself. Just a couple of days ago, she was minding her own business and making real headway with her research. That was, until she was taken captive by a bunch of female bounty hunters. She still couldn’t believe there was a bounty on her head. Her. A scientist. She’d never crossed anyone as long as she’d lived. She’d had her nose jammed too deep in her research to get mixed up in galactic politics. Regardless, here she was, marooned on a sand planet and being dragged off by a bunch of aliens, who were running from another bunch of even more menacing aliens. This was clearly not her day.
“Faster.” The cloaked alien’s language sounded rough and guttural to her ears, but thanks to her universal translator implant, she could understand him. Most of the time.
“I can’t,” she said, as black spots danced in front of her eyes.
Another rough tug of her hand, and she looked up to see city gates looming in front of them. They appeared to be made of wood, which shimmered as gold as the sands, and Max wondered if it came from the decimated forests they’d passed through earlier. The iridescent gold wood had been polished to a high shine, and caught the fading light from the suns. She would have found it pretty, if the thought of being locked up behind it wasn’t so terrifying.
The gates must have been over ten meters high and, although they were made from a natural substance, there was nothing rustic about them. With no apparent handles, they connected seamlessly to a slightly lower stone wall that extended out in both directions and curved around to enclose the city. These aliens have a serious security complex, she thought. Either that, or all the barbarians from the desert were as terrifying as these guys thought they were.
She glanced over her shoulder and spotted the smoke billowing from the desert. She wasn’t positive what had been blown up, but she had a feeling she didn’t need to worry about fixing the ship she’d arrived in anymore.
Another alien prodded her forward from behind, as the gates swung open on silent hinges. She moved slowly, captivated by the graceful movement of the massive, wooden structure, even though the alien holding her hand tried to rush forward, clearly impatient and eager to be inside his city walls.
Before she could get through the gates, the hoard of the barbarians who attacked earlier appeared and rushed through the group of cloaked aliens, knocking them down with expert swipes of curved blades. She didn’t know how they’d crept up so stealthily, but Max froze in place as the group erupted into chaos. The alien who’d held on so cruelly to her wrist, was felled with a single swipe and dropped to the ground.
“Shit.” She backed away, staring down as blood pooled around the dead alien.
She caught a glimpse of Tori, hair flying wildly behind her and sharp steel glinting as she slashed with her needle-like hair pins. She wanted to call out to the woman, but her voice seemed trapped in her throat. Why was Tori with these barbarians? Even without knowing what was going on, she knew she’d rather be with Tori, than stuck with the aliens who’d been dragging her across the planet.
Before she could run, she was pushed from behind and then another hand closed around her wrist. Voices screamed to close the gates, and her breath caught in her chest as she was yanked forward and through the city gates moments before they slammed shut.
Max fell to the ground, her entire body shaking, as she fought the bitter bile rising up in her throat. When she finally did look up, another wave of nausea threatened to level her. The cloaked alien stood above her breathing heavily, his dark eyes flashing as he stared down at her with a mixture of triumph and curiosity.
Behind him was a crowd of massive creatures with the same dark-gold skin and pointed ears, their expressions startled as they gazed down at her. Max swallowed hard. She was surrounded by aliens who didn’t seem all that friendly, now she was a captive in their city, and Tori was on the other side of the gate. Things were going from bad to worse.
Epilogue
Mourad stood on the bridge of his ship, pacing and pounding a fist into his hand. They'd been searching the sector for days, but there was no sign of the doctor anywhere. It had been days since they'd blown up the remains of Danica's ship, and now he cursed himself for wasting time by swinging back around to the planet.
