Alien General's Beloved (Brion Brides 6)(8)

Together, they moved the three dead Brions. Or Corden did. Lana led the way and kept an eye out. She did her best to clean up the mess the fight had left, mopping up the blood with her jacket. Lana knew that later she'd have to send someone she trusted to do a better job, but it did for now. After a few minutes of walking she noticed that the warrior was going without her guidance and his senses were surely better than hers.

"You know, you could at least pretend not to know my ship better than I do," Lana said, but for some reason she couldn't get mad at the man.

There was something about his presence that made her feel like things were going to be all right. Rationally speaking, they were terrible. Worgen did not forgive attacks on his men and once he found that three of them had died on her ship, there was no way of knowing what he might do. But Lana felt calm. When Corden laughed at her halfhearted accusation, it made the captain smile too.

Terrible time to develop a crush, she reminded herself. Couldn't possibly be worse. Stop that.

The engine room was blessedly empty. After Worgen had ordered the murder of her male crew members, the ship was understaffed, especially there. Since the ship was sailing peacefully in the Abysmal's wake, there was no need to man the engine room. Lana was grateful for that. She went around the rooms, searching for a suitable place and finally found a way to stage the accident required. It would look like the Brions poked something they shouldn't have and there was an explosion, after which the room decompressed itself.

She and Corden waited outside as she triggered the reaction. The explosion shook the entire ship; Lana could feel it shake under her feet. They hurried away before anyone came to check up on the engine.
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Panting, Lana closed the door of her quarters behind her. Once more, Corden looked like running had been no physical exertion at all. He walked around in her modest rooms, studying them with amused curiosity.

A thought went through Lana's mind.

"If you've been here too before—" she warned, but the warrior shook his head.

"No," he assured her. "Although I appreciate being invited."

"This is for the sake of hiding you," Lana said firmly, although her body was giving her a few more good reasons.

Corden gave her a knowing smile, but said nothing. They waited. Lana's comm link beeped almost immediately, reports of the explosion and the bodies being relayed to her. She ordered repair crews and told the bridge to alert General Worgen. The Brion patrols had a straight link to the warship and one of them was always on the bridge.

"It's better if I tell him," she said, her heart in her throat. "That way it doesn't look like I'm guilty."

"I don't think it matters with a man like that," Corden said, and his voice was very dark.

He looked serious, speaking of the general. Lana wanted to ask about it, but the comm informed her that Worgen was already on his way to her. Since the Brions had destroyed all communications systems capable of calling for help, traveling between the ships was the only way to talk. At least the comms were still intact ship-wise. And of course the Abysmal could broadcast what it wanted to the fleet surrounding it.

"I have to go," Lana said, hesitating. "Don't leave. I'll be back and then we can figure out what to do."

The warrior said nothing about that and Lana left with a heavy heart. The ugly rumors had proved to be true. Worgen was killing everyone he didn't find useful. In the case of women, everyone he didn't think worthy of him. She'd seen a few ships try to run and be destroyed by the Abysmal's guns almost instantly. Even jumping to hyperspace didn't help.

It seemed the Brion warship had a way of sensing the warp core firing up and the ship was blasted apart before they could jump. The sheer mindlessness of it took Lana's breath away, but at least finally there was a way for them to fight back. Maybe. All she had to do was make sure she lived to see that fight.

The bay was almost empty, this time. To spare her crew at least that much, Lana had ordered that when the general was aboard, no one remained in the bay but her. Worgen didn't seem to mind. He didn't even seem to notice. The cold, ruthless eyes looked upon the world like an inventory. Everything was either useful or it was not and the people he didn't value were no better than furniture. He certainly discarded them without remorse.

He only spared Palians, for some reason. Lana had tried to pry the reason from Fraly, but the man only shook his head, refusing to comment. The captain was forced to assume it was because of the Palians' skill and intelligence, making them very valued mechanics.

Worgen was waiting for her, as imposing as the first time she'd seen him.

Death seemed to be like an aura around him. As soon as Lana stepped into his presence, the cold dread that she'd be killed settled over her. The general had that effect on almost everyone, she'd noticed. Away from him, it was possible to discuss him, maybe even plot against him. But right before that passionless, black gaze... all hope died.

The general waited in silence as Lana approached. The words tasted ashen on her tongue, but she kept her head high.

"There has been an accident, General," she said, hearing her voice shake, unable to stop her hands from doing the same. "A patrol unit ventured into the engine room. I'm not aware why and I know very little of what happened. There was an explosion and all three were killed."

Worgen's eyes were like bottomless pits of despair, with no light and no warmth.

"That is a lie," he said.

Lana's blood turned to ice. She'd hoped the plan was good enough to fool Worgen at least for a while, but Corden was right. Brions knew when they were being lied to.

"Do you want to try that again before I kill you?" Worgen asked.





CHAPTER SIX

Corden



He followed Lana through the halls of the Raptor, a curious concern beating in his heart.

The gorgeous captain had an effect on him unlike anything else he'd ever experienced. There had been women in his life, but they were all fleeting memories now. Brions bonded for life—the sacred union   between the gesha and the gerion was more important to them than anything else. Before that, they mostly "practiced" with people they liked, often after the heat of battle, but formed no connection with them.#p#分页标题#e#

Lana was different. He hadn't even touched her properly, but already she had a stronger hold over him than any woman he'd been with. The sound of her voice, the body that begged to be touched, it was all driving him insane. Just the sight of her alone made his cock stir, rubbing painfully hard against his pants.

Before, when he'd held her in his arms, it had taken all of his self-control not to take her like her body clearly wished. It was an unknown sensation for Corden, but he only wanted more of it. And the more he thought about her, the worse his concern got. Something eternal and invincible compelled him to follow, had compelled him to tell her his real name.

He wouldn't let Lana face Worgen alone, not after what they'd done. Or more specifically, what he had done. He should have been more careful.

And he was playing with fire again. The danger Lana was in made him careless, a word he had never associated with himself. Coming so close to Worgen was a terrible idea. The other general's senses were bound to be as good as his, possibly even better, since he'd had more time to train himself. Even absence of sound gave clues to those who were listening.

Corden edged as close as he could, masking the sound of his footsteps with the noise of the bay. The engine rumbled beneath his feet, the machinery in the bay still running. There were plenty of distractions for him to cover his approach, but Corden never trusted in luck.

Lana's explanation was good. She had almost mastered that old trick of first believing your own lie and only then telling it. But there were subtle hints that Corden noticed that gave her away. Worgen noticed them too. How could he not?

When the word "kill" echoed through the bay and Lana's beautiful face paled, Corden winced. The thought of her dead sent such a painful spike through his mind it physically hurt.

"Pity," Worgen was saying, approaching the captain like a storm.

She backed away, her mouth opening and closing without a single word coming out.

The sound of Worgen detaching his spear was the loudest Corden had ever heard. And the moment hit with all the ferocity he'd heard about.

Every Brion binding began with the recognizing moment that only the men experienced. One moment of absolute clarity, their life given purpose, everything suddenly in focus. Even the Monster of Briolina, a man believed to be incapable of emotion—a lie, Corden knew—had said that it felt like the world being made whole. It was a brilliant moment that lifted the man up, pushed his entire being to a whole new plane of existence, when he saw his fated.

The sight before Corden's eyes couldn't have been further from amazing. Lana, his fated, his gesha, backing away from the man he'd been sent to kill. One of the most ruthless, powerful men who ever lived. Who was no longer supposed to be alive.

And whose death he was now destined to ensure.

Corden had always prided himself on his self-control. It was what the rest of him was built on, the iron hold he had on his own temper, his desires and wishes. In one second, he was at a war with himself in a way that nearly tore him apart. Every inch of him ached to dash from his cover, pull his own spear and see if he could kill a legend.