Bounty, page 7
part #1 of Barbarians of the Sand Planet Series
Soon it was dark, and Danica could barely see the path in front of her. One of the creeps shone a light on the path, but was difficult to see much from the narrow beam bouncing around as he walked. She stopped when her foot slipped off the ledge, and she heard the pebbles she'd kicked off plummet far below. One of the aliens caught her by the elbow.
"Holy shit." Danica stepped back from the ledge and flattened herself against the rock face. "This is insane. I can't see a thing."
The aliens argued for a minute about stopping or continuing on, while she breathed heavily and sized up her chances of escape. Without their light or any knowledge of the mountains, she didn't give herself very good odds of getting away from them in the dark. Then again, if they kept going, there was a very good chance that she'd fall over the side anyway.
One of the aliens took out a metal device and began scanning the mountain. The other nodded and gestured for her to walk between them single file through a narrow crack in the rock face a few meters ahead.
Danica guessed anything was better than staying out on the ledge, so she went between them, turning sideways at one point as the pass narrowed. After about twenty meters, the crack widened into an open cavern. It wasn't as tall as the other cave, so the aliens hunched over as they entered it. One of them pointed to the far side where the roof sloped down to meet the rock floor.
"So, this is where we're sleeping?" Danica said, more to herself than to them as she dropped to the floor.
It was slightly warmer inside the cavern, but she still slipped her arms inside her short-sleeved top to conserve body heat. She noticed one of the aliens watching her again, his eyes widening when her arms disappeared into her shirt.
Danica rolled her eyes. "If you think that's impressive, you should have seen me take off my bra underneath my shirt. Not that I'm offering a repeat demonstration."
One of the aliens sat down and pulled three foot-long rods out of the pack on his back. He did something to them and they lit up, then he leaned them against each other teepee style. Within a minute, the cave began to warm up.
"Well, that’s pretty cool," Danica muttered, intrigued despite herself.
The other alien remained standing and paced the mouth of the cavern. Even though she couldn't sense his thoughts or feelings, it didn't take a mind-reader to sense that he was agitated. He pointed to her and, from the tone of his voice, Danica could tell he was asking a question. Something about invading.
She shook her head. "I don’t know what you're saying, but I’m not here to invade your planet."
He stared at her, and his face contorted in anger. She backed away from him and sized up her chances of running past both aliens and escaping into the mountains without getting caught or plummeting to her death. Probably not great, although maybe not worse than being around a pissed-off alien.
The other alien studied her and then shrugged, looking away.
Danica wasn't sure what was going on, but she definitely didn't like it. She would have given anything to have her blaster with her. And hers wouldn’t just leave a red mark on their chests; it would blow their heads clean off.
The standing alien unfastened his cloak and dropped it to the ground. At first Danica thought he might give it to her, but he kicked it behind him. She could see that, although he wasn't nearly as brawny as the alien who'd saved her, he had broad shoulders and at least fifty pounds on her. He wore what looked like a white linen tunic under his cloak and he whipped that over his head, leaving only his low-slung fabric pants. His chest didn't have any tattoos, but she could see from the light coming off the heat rods that his back was ridged, and he also had the vee of ridges below his waist.
Danica felt her heart begin to beat faster, and she slipped her arms out from under her shirt. What the hell was this guy thinking?
The other alien said something about waiting, but the guy who was half-naked snapped back at him, his words a series of angry barks telling him to back off.
Danica's mouth went dry as he approached her, and she balled her hands into fists. "There is no fucking way."
Her father had taught her basic self-defense, and she'd gotten some practice with overly aggressive men at some of the outposts. But none of those men had been as big as this one, or as sober. And she’d always had a blaster close at hand and usually one of her crewmates within shouting distance. Thinking of her crew made her miss Tori more than ever. If only she was facing off against the angry alien with her security chief by her side. Now that would be a fair fight, especially if Tori had her steel hair pins.
Danica met the alien’s eyes as they flashed, assuming a fighting stance and glaring back.
The alien lunged forward, dodging her kick and grabbing one of her feet. He snapped it toward him and she flew up and onto her back, the impact on the rock floor knocking the breath out of her. As she tried to breathe again, he shoved her shirt up, running one hand roughly over her stomach. The feel of his hard skin snapped her out of her shock. She kicked him, but the impact of her foot seemed to make no difference. He barely flinched, but instead took hold of her knees and jerked her so that her legs straddled him. Danica bucked against him as he tugged her shirt further up with one hand, exposing her breasts. He grabbed them with both hands, kneading them roughly. She screamed in pain and clawed at his hands with her nails, even though it felt like clawing against granite.
The alien across the room said something her translator missed, and the guy on top of her replied with a laugh and squeezed her nipples hard between his fingers, jerking her pelvis toward him so that she could feel how hard he was, reminding her that their anatomy had a lot in common with humans.
"Son of a bitch!" Danica felt a rush of anger, almost uncontrollable rage, as she rained punches on his arms. If only she had a blaster, she would blow that twisted grin off his face.
She heard a yell from across the cave followed by the growl of a wild animal. The alien on top of her twisted to look moments before being pulled away by one leg, lifted into the air, and flung across the cavern, his skull hitting the stone with a thud. Danica watched him slide down the cave wall, leaving a slick trail of blood. The other alien lay in a heap on the ground, his neck bent in an unnatural angle and his eyes wide and unblinking.
Her hands shook as she sat up and pulled down her shirt, almost afraid to see the beast that had just killed two aliens much bigger and tougher than her.
Chapter Twelve
When K’alvek came to, it was pitch dark, and no light came from the hole in the top of the cave. His chest felt like it was on fire, so he touched one hand to his scorched skin. No blood.
He stood using the wall for support. His head swam, throbbing from where he must have hit the stone floor. He ignored the pain and took a few steps toward the entrance of the cave, groping along the rough walls for guidance.
He reached out his mind, searching for her, trying not to focus on the mix of anger and panic that he felt knowing the Cresteks had taken her. His only thought was to get her back. They could not have her, not when they’d already taken everything that mattered to him. Even though it was the last thing he wanted or needed, K’alvek couldn't deny the overpowering desire he felt to protect her.
He could sense her mind, but only faintly. She was safe, although he could not feel more. The blaster shot had drained his energy, and he muttered a curse at himself for being foolish enough to get shot.
Reaching the entrance to the cave, he moved around the boulder and took deep gulps of the cold night air. The air renewed him, and as he looked out across the crests of the dunes glowing nearly white in the light of the three moons, he extended his mind once more.
K’alvek felt a flash of her fear and could almost see the spot where her foot slipped. He began jogging along the rocky path in her direction. From the pale-blue light at the horizon, he knew they had no more than an hour's head start, and he knew they moved slowly.
He could not run as fast as usual. Between the uneven path cutting along the side of the mountain and his weakness from the blaster shot, his legs did not lift as high or his breathing come as easily. He ignored the pain shooting through his shoulder with each step and focused only on reaching her.
K’alvek tried not to think of the Cresteks and why they'd taken her. He knew they did not need a reason. They took whether they wanted or needed it, but knowing the Cresteks had as few females as his people, they would consider any potential mate valuable. They’d lost the ability to create mind bonds generations ago, so mind mating did not matter to them. The idea of a Crestek claiming her made him taste bile. He increased his pace. As much as his brain told him to forget about her, that she was nothing but a distraction he did not need, he could not quell the urge to kill any Crestek who laid a hand on her. He was only relieved his cousin, Kush, could not see him chasing blindly after a female. After all, he had his reputation as a heartless warrior to protect.
He raised his face to the inky blue of the night sky, marking his progress by a line of bright stars high above. As the temperature dropped, he thought of the thin coverings the female wore that were so ill-suited to the harshness of the sand and rocks, and blazing heat and freezing cold of his planet. He wondered where she came from that such flimsy coverings were suitable. Nowhere like his world, he thought, as he let his mind wander to planets beyond his. Another glance up at the stars. If she’d truly arrived in the ship that fell from the sky, had she been to some of the points of light he now saw?
Offworlders had come to his planet before. He’d seen the flash of ships overhead and the trails they’d left streaked across the sky. They did not stay, though, either finding the environment too inhospitable or the natives too fearful of outsiders. His clan had always avoided offworlders, although he knew the Cresteks were more curious, and the scavengers who also inhabited the planet would trade and steal from anyone. But if you flew in a ship among the stars, what could a sand planet have to offer you? Offworlders like the frail female must have seen so much he couldn’t even imagine. It was almost too much for his mind to handle, so he focused on the feel of the hard rock beneath his feet and the cool air hitting his face as he ran faster.
He stumbled, nearly crying out as fear ripped through him. Her fear. The female was near, and was being hurt. He focused all his thoughts on her as he pounded down the path and then down a narrow crevice, hearing the voices before they came into view.
"You should wait until we get her back to the city. We do not know what she is, and the elders will want to question her."
"I just want to get a closer look. Maybe have a little taste. See why that Dothvek brute wanted to keep her all to himself." The Crestek laughed. "Give her something to really make her scream."
When he reached the open cavern, it took only a second to see what was happening. One of the Cresteks was fully dressed, kneeling over a heat source and watching the other. The female was on her back with her legs spread while the other Crestek, wearing nothing but thin pants, was between her legs, groping her exposed breasts. He saw the contorted rage on her face and her arms thrashing at the Crestek. She did not want him, but her weak punches had little effect; the Crestek merely looked down at her and laughed.
K’alvek's rage fueled his injured body and, before the first Crestek could even stand, he had snapped his neck and tossed the lifeless body on the ground. Then he pulled the other Crestek by one foot and hurled him headfirst at the stone wall, hearing the satisfying crunch as his skull made contact and shattered.
As he breathed heavily and appraised the broken bodies and shaking female, he felt a knot in his core. He’d been right. She was nothing but trouble, a distraction he did not need and one that would keep him from his mission. But he also knew he would kill anyone who tried to touch her.
Chapter Thirteen
Danica looked up and saw the alien who'd rescued her from the storm standing a meter away, his breath ragged. His expression was one of pure fury, and she could feel his terror and rage course through her. The scorch mark on his upper chest had faded, but when he stepped toward her his gait was jerky and unsteady. He stared at her, his gaze intense and searching.
"I'm fine," Danica said, pushing herself up to stand. "Thanks."
She felt his anger melt away, replaced by concern as he reached out and took her hands, turning them palms up. She glanced down and noticed they were scratched from the alien dragging her across the rock floor. He touched a finger to the cuts and made a low noise in his throat. “You are hurt.”
His voice was deep and sonorous. It was a shame he seemed to be the strong and silent type, because it was incredibly sexy.
"I've had worse," she said, trying to shrug it off with a laugh before jerking her head up. “So you do talk.”
He smiled and nodded, which made her laugh, as she felt a familiar, tingly warmth spread through her hands and up her arms. She couldn't blame it on leaves this time. The alien definitely did something to her.
She pulled her hands away. The comforting warmth faded as did the adrenaline, and she started to shake, fighting back the urge to puke all over the floor. She doubled over with her hands on her knees until the urge to vomit passed, then she slowly straightened up.
“You are cold.” He scooped up the cloak that had been dropped on the ground and wrapped it around her shoulders. It wasn't thick, but it helped.
Danica could tell the adrenaline was wearing off him, as well. His eyelids drooped and he staggered back a few steps, and she felt the pain shooting through his chest as though it was her own. She instinctively rushed forward to catch him, remembering too late how much heavier he was than her. They both went down to the ground with her underneath his massive body.
His weight stunned her, and it took a few seconds for her to realize that he was passed out on top of her. Just great, Danica thought. She was underneath a smoking-hot man, and he was passed out. Story of her life.
Luckily, he only lay on one half of her, so she used her free leg for leverage, gingerly rolling him off, holding his head so it didn't hit the rock floor. She leaned over and pressed her ear to his chest. Whew. Aliens on the sand planet had hearts, and his was still beating.
Danica balled up the other alien's discarded tunic and shoved it under his head as a pillow, then looked around the cavern. Both of the dead aliens lay in crumpled heaps nearby. She wasn't crazy about spending the night next to two dead bodies, especially since one of them was leaking blood. She held a hand over her nose to block the cloying scent, as she glanced at the shiny pool expanding around the creature’s head.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t roughed it before, but she drew the line at sleeping near corpses. She had to move them. She took the shirtless one by the legs and leaned back with all her weight. He was heavy, but little by little Danica managed to drag him out of the cavern. She pulled him all the way to the outside ledge and rolled him over the side, wincing as she heard the crunch of his body hitting the ground below, then reminding herself that the guy had tried to assault her. Good riddance.
By the time she did the same to the second alien, Danica was panting, but felt much better that the cave wasn't filled with dead aliens. The big guy hadn't moved since she rolled him off her, but his chest rose and fell, so she sat cross-legged next to him, the cloak pulled tight around her against the frigid night air.
She knew she should probably try to find her way back to the ship, but not only did she have no idea where it was at that point, she felt it would be disloyal to leave the alien after he'd saved her. Twice. Plus, it was freezing outside, and the only heat anywhere came from three glowing sticks and the sleeping giant. She moved the heat sticks closer, intrigued that they weren't hot to the touch even though they radiated heat. For what appeared to be a primitive planet, they had some interesting technology. At least the vicious aliens did, with their blasters and heat sticks. Her alien seemed more primitive. Aside from the empath thing, which she still couldn't explain.
He looked every bit the barbarian—bare chest, tattoos, leather clothes, long hair—not to mention the ridges. But she'd never known of any primitive cultures that could transmit their feelings. You couldn't be a dumb brute and do that. From the brief glimpses she'd gotten of his emotions, he was far from a brainless barbarian.
Whatever he was, he’d saved her ass. She shifted uncomfortably, not sure how she felt about that. She'd been the boss for so long, she wasn't used to being saved. Especially by men. The only man she'd ever been able to rely on had been her father, and he'd been gone for ages. She wasn't sure if she liked the idea of a guy saving her, although as she inspected the scrapes on her palms, she knew it beat the alternative.
She traced her fingers over the wide, black markings on his chest and followed them up across his shoulders while he slept. Why did he have them, while the other aliens didn't? It seemed obvious they were the same species, although she couldn't help thinking that the two aliens who'd kidnapped her were some sort of watered-down, shitty version.
Danica let her eyes drift down to his taut stomach, running one finger down the muscle that led from his hip and disappeared under his pants. It was her favorite part of a man's body, although she'd never seen one so defined. She couldn't even say for sure that any of the men she'd been with had those muscles. And this guy had a series of v-shaped ridges that disappeared beneath his pants, as well.
He moaned in his sleep, and she snatched her hand back like it had been burned. Served her right for getting all handsy while he slept. If a guy she barely knew did the same thing to her, Danica would be livid. If a guy tried that with Tori, she thought with a chuckle, they'd be dead.
Her mind went to Tori and her crewmates. Had Tori made it back to the ship, or had she been hit by the sand storm? Danica thought back to the blackness of the swirling sands and how it had stung her skin even though the alien had been shielding her. She told herself that Tori was tough and would have made it through, but the thought of her friend by herself on the sand dunes made her feel sick.
