Oh, hell no, I'm not going anywhere his furry ass is going. I'm going to find the first trader I can and kidnap him even if I have to threaten his ass in order to get back home, Riley thought with determination.
"No, I won't. I've decided to find me a nice little trader to kidnap. Once I do, I'll have him take me home," she replied with a stubborn tilt to her chin. "You boys go on and do your thing. I hope you find whoever it is you plan on killing. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Me? I've got business back on Earth to take care of involving a few dead bodies of my own," she said with a confident nod.
Vox's hands reached out and gripped her hips, moving them slowly up to her waist. He savored every delectable inch as he slid his hands across her soft flesh under the purple top she was wearing. He pulled her closer to him, trapping her folded arms against his broad chest. He leaned into her, running his nose up along her neck as she straightened in an effort to get away from him. His cat purred in delight. Vox groaned, running his tongue along the slender column.
Riley shivered as the rough sandpaper of his tongue ran along her smooth skin. "What do you think you are doing?" she asked in a strangled voice. "You-Your chest is rumbling."
"My cat wants you," Vox whispered against her neck. "So do I. We've both been denied too long." He growled softly against her throat, nipping it gently.
"Ouch," Riley choked out hoarsely. "Well, go lick on someone else! I'm not interested."
Vox ground his hips against her, pushing his thick, swollen cock up against her. He slid one hand up to cup her chin and turned her face until she was forced to look into his blazing eyes. He studied her for a moment before a slight grin pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Liar. I can smell your desire," he said before pressing his lips to hers in a deep, passionate kiss.
Vox had listened with half an ear to Riley, Bob, and Fred as Titus and Tor worked out how to overtake the guards in the control room. Adur, the Curizan warrior, and Titus's brother, Banu, would slip up through a narrow conduit maintenance tunnel they had discovered months ago and take out the guards in the control room. Cross, the Valdier warrior, would secure the arrival bay along with Tor and Lodar. Vox and Titus would secure the supply ship and prepare it for flight. They would need to do a fast refuel. Fred was small and fast enough to get through the tunnels unseen. His father owned a refueling station on one of the Spaceports. He would take care of the refueling before joining them. Bob would take care of making sure Riley was protected and where she was supposed to be. Vox had already warned the huge Gelatian he better make sure Riley was on the supply ship and in one piece, or he would be coming after him personally.
When he heard Riley say she wasn't going to go with them, he knew he had to convince her there would be no discussion in this matter. There would be no room for hesitation as they needed to get off the asteroid as soon as the defense shields were down. If they didn't, they would not be given another chance. His gut-and his cat-were telling him that time was running out.
He knew he had hurt her feelings when he accused her of being a spy. He could smell the hurt radiating out from her. When he had admitted he would have killed her if she had been, she had shut down on him completely. It was as if an icy wall suddenly formed around her emotions.
He pulled away reluctantly. Opening his mouth to explain to her that it was a fruitless endeavor to fight the attraction, his words froze as pain exploded through him. His eyes watered almost as much as when she had sprayed that weapon of hers in his eyes as her head connected with the end of his nose in a blow that had him stumbling back a half step.
His hands released her as he grabbed his offended nose. "What in Guall's balls did you do that for?" he bellowed out, falling back another step when she angrily pushed against him.
"You can smell me?" she demanded, elbowing her way around him and back toward the bed where she had her pepper spray hidden under her pillow. "You can smell me? Is that supposed to be a compliment? If so, that's right up there with, ‘Did you use any deodorant?' or ‘When is the last time you took a bath?' I do not stink!" She was so going to spray his ass.
"Riley, I did not mean you stink. You smell; that is different," Vox's muffled voice came out from behind his hand. "What are you doing?" he asked warily as she turned with a determined look on her beautiful but very angry face.
"I'm going to pepper spray your sorry ass," she growled, holding the small leather cylinder out in front of her. "Then I'm going to make a throw rug out of it! I. Do. Not. Smell!" she yelled out in fury.
Vox edged around her, wondering how he had gotten himself in this position. Holding his hand out, he stepped lightly to the side, heading toward the entrance to their living quarters. His cat hissed at him again for making a mess of the situation.
How in Guall's balls was I supposed to know she would take offense? he muttered to his cat in frustration.
"Riley, I smell desire," he began before he ruefully admitted, "or at least I did."
"I'll show your sorry ass desire," she said as she advanced on him shaking the cylinder menacingly. "Let's see if you can smell this!" she snarled, depressing the button on the spray cylinder at the same time the door opened.
Vox jerked to the side, covering his face in defense. Unfortunately, Tor wasn't as fast. His roar of pain echoed down the long corridor. The sound bounced along the walls, drawing others from their rooms. Several Antrox guards hurried down the corridor. They stopped when they saw Tor writhing on the floor in agony. Riley bent over him trying to pat him on his shoulder as he rolled back and forth.
785 and 157 came hurrying down the corridor. "What has happened?" 785 demanded, stopping and releasing a sigh of frustration when he saw Riley's blond head.
"Oh, baby, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Riley cooed to Tor who was curled in a ball trying to rub his eyes. "I was trying to hurt the big oaf. If he would have stayed still, you wouldn't be hurting. I'm so sorry, darling," she said trying to get him to turn so she could see how bad it was.
Riley looked up and glared at Vox. "Well, don't just stand there like an idiot! Go get me a wet cloth," she demanded.
Vox nodded knowing how much pain his poor friend was in. He hurried back into their living quarters to retrieve the needed item. Riley looked up and scowled at 785 and 157.
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy taking care of my mates?" she snapped, glaring at both of them.
785 sighed and nodded to the guards. "If this is the way she takes care of her mates it might not be necessary to kill them. She will do a better job than we can," he said, the semblance of a smile almost curving his thin, flat lips. "Have the guards return to their post."
157 looked at the Sarafin warrior rolling in pain and whimpering on the floor while the larger one moved back and forth doing the bidding of the female. He shook his head in wonder. Perhaps 785 was right. The female was doing a better job of controlling the males than even he expected. From the reports he had read, he would have never believed the Sarafin king would be jumping to the commands of a female.
157 nodded to the guards. He glanced back once more as the blond-haired female leaned over the male on the hard floor. His mind was working numbers. With her unusual looks he calculated the number of credits he could get for her. If she could handle five mates, including three Sarafin warriors, she could handle much, much more. His flat lips thinned as an idea formed.
Yes, 157 thought. She will bring in a lot of credits as long as I can keep her quiet long enough to sell her.
He knew just the trader to contact. There would be no questions asked; the credits would be deposited to his hidden account, and he would have enough to buy his own mining operation. If all went as planned, the strange female would be available because by tomorrow evening her mates would be dead.
Chapter 6
"I am much better, Lady Riley," Tor said, trying to gently move away from Riley's fluttering hands. "My eyesight is almost clear again."
"Are you sure?" Riley asked, biting her tender lower lip that she had been worrying for the past several hours. "They still appear to be tearing a lot."
Tor would never admit that they still burned like the fires from the hot mountains back home or that his nose and throat weren't in much better shape. He took another sip of the cool water that Lodar handed him. He glanced at his friend and gave him a nod of thanks.
"I hope Vox took that little cylinder away from her," Lodar murmured in a low voice as Riley turned away to check on Bob and Fred, who had just returned. "I don't want to take a chance on her using it on me."