He immediately knelt down next to her, sliding his arm around her and snarling silently at Fred who was trying to help her. He felt a moment of intense joy when she relaxed back against him before it was dashed again back down to the bottom of the mines when she turned her pain-filled eyes up to glare at him in reproach. He tried to look remorseful, but something told him she wasn't buying it.
"Stop snarling and growling," Riley snapped as pain racked her. "That's what got me in the position I'm in now!"
"Riley, you need to learn not to come up on me when I'm disciplining my crew," Vox tried to explain as he gently held her in his arms.
"I will most certainly come up on your hairy ass if you try biting one of my mates again," Riley snapped. "Only next time, I'm going to get one of those stunning rods so I can shove it up your stubborn backside, you moron! You. Do. Not. Ever. Sink your teeth into Tor, Lodar, Fred, or Bob again, do you understand me mister?" Riley demanded stubbornly, thrusting her quivering chin out. "Do you?"
Vox stared down into her big blue eyes and felt like he was a drowning cat. He would promise her the moons, the star systems, and Tor's pelt for a rug if she asked. His head lowered on its own as he fell into the beautiful blue oceans of her soul.
"I promise," he whispered. "As long as he promises to never imagine drinking milk from your beautiful big breasts again. That is my fantasy."
Riley's eyes widen before she reacted out of pure frustration. She threw up her good arm and popped Vox right on the end of his beautifully shaped nose as hard as she could. It wasn't until she was connecting that it dawned on her that was probably not the best decision she could have made considering he was holding her up in the air and she already had a broken wrist. Thankfully, Lodar was standing close enough to catch her as Vox howled in pain and rage. Riley's scream of pain mixed with Vox's as her arm was jostled in the exchange. The sound was enough to draw the attention of the guards, and their door opened just as Lodar tripped over poor Fred who was trying to get out from under everyone's feet. Lodar hit the floor with a wailing Riley while blood poured from Vox's nose.
157 looked down at the sobbing female who was being held in the arms of one of her Sarafin mates before jerking to the other Sarafin warrior. The Sarafin king had blood pouring down his face while the third Sarafin warrior was sitting to the side wiping blood from his throat. 157 finally looked down at the small Tiliquan who was rubbing one of his injured feet. The only one not injured was the huge Gelatian.
"I do not even want to know what is going on," 157 muttered, shaking his head.
Lodar tucked his head so the Antrox guards couldn't see his collar wasn't glowing. "Our mate broke her wrist. She needs medical care," he said, rising with Riley in his arms.
Bob moved forward quickly, putting his larger body between the warriors and the guards. He reached out and scooped Riley into his arms and turned. Moving closer to 157 and the guards, he crowded them, forcing them back toward the door.
"I will carry our mate to medical," Bob said quietly. "The others are in no shape to do so."
157 tried to look around the massive figure in front of him but finally decided it wasn't worth the effort. He was tired of being called down here. He would be glad when the final payment of credits was received and he could dispose of the males once and for all. By tomorrow, he would be a very wealthy Antrox. He had contacted the trader who dealt in supplying sex slaves for the pleasure houses on the nearby spaceport. He had been promised a large sum of credits and immediate pickup. By this time tomorrow, the males would be dead and the female gone.
157 turned to the two guards standing behind him. "Take her to medical and make sure she is completely healed. If necessary, keep her there the rest of the evening," he ordered.
Bob ignored the three low growls that escaped the men behind him. "I will remain with our mate and make sure she is safe. She will be returned safely," he spoke loudly enough to be heard by everyone.
"I … I need my things," Riley cried softly. "I … I can't leave my things. They are all I have left."
"I will bring them to you, Riley," Fred promised. "I won't forget."
Riley looked over Bob's head and smiled a watery smile at her little friend. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"Riley," Vox started forward, still holding his nose which had finally stopped bleeding.
Riley's eyes watered, and she shook her head gently. "Go," she whispered quietly looking at him with sorrow in her eyes. "It is better this way," she murmured before she laid her head tiredly on Bob's shoulder. "Please take me to medical. I hurt."
Vox watched as the small group left the room, the door sealing behind them. A dark emptiness filled him and his cat as both of them felt the loss of their mate. Vox's low, animalistic roar echoed through the level as he and his cat called for their mate to return to them.
"We will not leave without her," Tor said quietly coming up behind his friend and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Vox turned dark, burning eyes on Tor and Lodar. "You bet your cat we won't," he vowed.
Chapter 7
Riley felt much better several hours later. Bob had carried her up through the mines to a special lift that moved through the center of it. Riley vaguely saw the door to the control room as they passed it heading to the medical unit. The only reason she recognized it was because several Antrox guards were leaving the room, and they had to wait along the side of the corridor since Bob was too big to move past them at the same time.
The medical unit was a very small, depressing-looking room with only one bed in it. The healer was a dark red, leathery-looking man with little tufts of white hair hanging about his head in all different directions. Riley wasn't so sure she wanted some guy that looked that weird working on her, but she was in too much pain to complain when Bob gently laid her down on the small, single bed.
The healer insisted that Riley stay the night, telling her and Bob that Antrox 157 wanted to make sure she was completely healed before he was allowed to release her. Riley didn't think it was really necessary but decided it was probably for the best after everything that had happened. After the old healer put her arm in that strange looking machine it felt almost as good as new. Bob had been a darling through it all, especially since Riley didn't handle being hurt very well. The huge Gelatian had refused to leave her alone. He had held her good hand in one of his and talked quietly to her the whole time in an effort to take her mind off what was happening. Fred, true to his word, had appeared a little over an hour later with all of her things. Her large, pink suitcase and her oversized purse had been hooked together, and Riley couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her as she watched the small Tiliquan struggle to roll it into the medical unit.
"Vox wants to know how you are feeling," Fred muttered under his breath as he sat down wearily on her suitcase. "This is very heavy, Riley. What do you have in it?"
Riley chuckled again as she watched both of Fred's heads droop tiredly. "A little bit of everything. I don't have much as I tend to move around a lot, but what I do have, I cherish. It is mostly clothes and shoes, but I also have a few mementos that I didn't want anything to happen to. You never know when you might need something so I try to be ready for just about anything that can happen."
"Vox will be very upset that I took your things. I had to sneak them out when he and the other two went to meet with Titus and Banu. The good thing is you are closer to the shuttle bay here. It will not be as far or as hard for you to get there tomorrow," Fred said quietly.
Riley lowered her head so Fred couldn't see her eyes. The incident earlier made her even more aware of the differences between her and those around her. She bit her lower lip and winced. Lip-biting was becoming a very bad habit she had picked up just since she arrived on this huge chunk of rock. If she wasn't careful, she wouldn't have any lips left by the time she got home.
No, it is better for everyone if I just find my way back home with the next trader or whoever is heading that way, Riley thought with resolve. The last thing I need is some huge cat sticking his claws or teeth into me.
"Fred, I'm really tired. Why don't you and Bob go on back down," Riley said, looking at her little friend with big, sad eyes. "You probably still have things that need to be taken care of before tomorrow, anyway."
Bob moved forward with a frown-at least she thought the crease between his eyes was a frown. "I will stay and guard you, Lady Riley," he insisted.
Riley rose and tenderly touched the huge, green gelatinous figure. "No," she said with a determined shake of her head. "I will be fine here. The healer said I needed to stay the night and rest. I wouldn't be able to sleep well if you stayed as I would be too worried about you. The room is too small for the two of us anyway. Go back to our rooms; the others may need you."