"This is the last room that hasn't been searched," a deep voice whispered.
Riley shivered as she heard the footsteps divide before everything became silent again. Whoever was searching was very light on their feet. Riley curled up into a tight ball, trying to make herself as small as possible on the top of the crate. She heard the door open again, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the cargo bay.
"Have you found anything?" a familiar voice called out harshly. "I want every crate opened and searched thoroughly."
Vox! Our mates! Riley and her cat both cried out in excitement.
Riley uncurled her huge body and stood up on shaky legs. Damn, she was a nervous wreck. She was so going to be a total crybaby when she got Vox's arms wrapped around her. She shook her body and moved over to the edge of the crate. At the same time, a movement between two crates a short distance away caught her attention. Antrox 157 stepped out, raising a laser pistol, pointing it at Vox's chest. Riley didn't even think about what she was doing. Her horror and fear for her mate overrode all thought. Leaping from the crate at Vox, she shifted as she fell toward him, screaming for him to look out at the same time as Antrox 157 fired the laser pistol.
Riley felt her body jerk when she hit Vox in the chest as he turned toward her scream. They tumbled down, rolling over and over until Vox lay sprawled on top of her. She gripped his shoulders tightly in panic.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a frightened voice.
"Yes, you … " Vox tried to speak over the sounds of laser fire.
"I'm good." She smiled up at him, brushing her palm against his cheek. "Go get that bastard," she gasped as laser fire barely missed them.
"With pleasure," Vox grinned, showing his sharp teeth.
Riley lay still as Vox rolled off her and called out commands to his men to surround the crate where Antrox 157 was hiding. She reached down and touched her side which was beginning to burn fiercely. Her eyes widened when her fingers came away covered in blood. From the feel of it, the damn Antrox hadn't missed after all. Riley coughed slightly as her throat filled, beginning to choke her as she tried to breath in.
We hurt, her cat hissed frightened. I feel essence leaving. We hurt bad.
Our baby? Riley begged.
Our poor baby, her cat moaned softly. Our poor baby.
No! Riley screamed as she struggled to draw in a breath. No! She cried out as darkness blurred her vision. No, damn you! I won't lose them. I love them both too much, she whispered, fighting against the pull on her to give up and let the pain go. Never! she thought as she felt the tug of hands and the cry of despair shattering the sudden quiet of the cargo bay.
Vox motioned with his hand for the four warriors on each side to circle around the crate. There was nowhere for Antrox 157 to go. He was dead, he just didn't realize it yet. Vox looked up and with a swift leap, he landed on silent feet on top of the crate. Running along the edge, he could see the Antrox jerking nervously back and forth trying to keep the openings to the crates in his view. He never looked up. If he had, he would have used the laser pistol on himself instead of worrying about the other warriors. Vox dropped down behind him when 157 turned again. He reached his hand around and gripped the thin creature's wrist, snapping it like it was a twig. Antrox 157's screams filled the cargo bay before they were silenced as Vox lifted the creature up and slammed him against the crate with a grin.
"Now, you die," Vox said letting his right hand shift. "Slowly," he added before he ran one razor-sharp claw across Antrox 157's stomach. "You will never harm my mate again," Vox said, dropping the Antrox when he heard Lodar's desperate cry for him.
Vox spun around, squeezing through the opening between the crates. He stopped in horror when he saw Lodar kneeling over Riley, his hands covered in blood. He moved with jerking, running steps toward her. Dropping down next to her, he cupped her face, turning it toward him.
"What have you done now?" he croaked out.
Riley tried to smile up at Vox as he stared down at her face with worry. "Guess I'm not okay," she whispered weakly. "This sucks."
"Yes, yes, it does," Vox said tenderly. "You are not supposed to get hurt. I do not like it when you are hurt."
Riley's eyes filled with tears. "Don't want to die," she choked out. "Thought I was the heroine this time."
"You are," Vox whispered as he stroked her cheek with trembling fingers. "You will always be my heroine."
Riley smiled softly before her eyelids flickered and closed peacefully. She looked so beautiful. Her hair was spread out in a curly mass of waves around her, making her look just like he had made love to her. Her eyelashes lay like crescents, begging him to kiss them until she woke up.
Vox looked at Lodar in panic. "Help her," he begged his friend. "You have to help her."
Lodar shook his head. "I would need to get her into a regen bed," he said. "There is none on this ship, and she won't survive if we move her."
Vox shook his head in denial. He couldn't lose her. He just couldn't lose her and their son. His shoulders shook as the magnitude of the situation flowed through him. Never had he expected to find his mate. Never had he expected to love someone so much she would become the very fabric of his existence.
"Sir, look!" One of the warriors exclaimed as he picked up the spilled contents of Riley's oversized purse that she carried everywhere. "She has everything in here!"
Lodar glanced up, his eyes widening when he saw the portable regen device the Curizan had developed and kept secret. His breath escaped him in a disbelieving chuckle. Only Riley would have a top-secret medical device the Curizan prized in her purse.
"Give that to me!" Lodar demanded, holding out his hand and waving his fingers urgently at the man. "What else does she have?"
"Everything!" The warrior laughed. "She has medicine in here that will take care of everything from a toothache to ulcers to internal bleeding," he replied, bundling up all the small vials of medicine Riley had taken from the medical unit on the asteroid.
Lodar pulled the portable regen open and attached the probes to her temples to keep her brain functioning before he used the scanner to start the healing process. He ordered one of the men who worked with him in medical to begin using the vials she had taken to stop her internal bleeding and prevent her from getting an infection. They worked steadily while Vox knelt beside Riley, talking to her about all the things he was going to do to her when she woke up.
Twenty minutes later, his voice was hoarse from relating every threat and punishment he could think of. He blinked furiously when Lodar told him Riley and his son would be fine. He looked at his friend's exhausted face and tried to thank him, but his throat was too tight to get the words out. He felt the dampness on his cheeks, and for once, didn't care that his men could also see it. He was going to have to punish Riley for this too. He had never cried in his life, and now she had made him do it twice in as many days.
"You can't punish me," Riley murmured huskily, her eyes still closed. "Your dad said you had to give me whatever I wanted. By the way, I spent a fortune of your credits at the market."
Vox's head jerked down to stare at his mate's beautiful, flushed face. "You did? What did you buy?" he asked in a husky voice.
Riley's brilliant, baby blue eyes open to stare up at him. "I bought the most beautiful oversized purse you've ever seen and the most god-awful jacket. You aren't allowed to kill this one. I love it."
Vox's relieved laughter echoed as he threw back his head and shouted with joy before he gently drew Riley up into his arms. "You can buy whatever handbag and hideous jacket you want. I promise not to destroy it."
Riley's eyes softened. "Can we go home now? I don't like this place."
"Yes, my mate. We can go home now," Vox promised.
Epilogue
"Where's my goddamn gun!" Pearl snarled. "I'm going to fill his ass with lead if he doesn't get it down here! Forget the salt. You damn creatures just lick that shit up, even if it's in your own ass."
Viper clenched his fists tightly at his side and counted to twenty backward. It was one of the few things that helped prevent him from putting his hands around Riley and Tina's grandmother's neck. Even so, it was still very, very tempting.
"He will be here for the ceremony," Viper growled out. "And I did not lick my own ass."
Pearl looked at Viper with an expression that clearly said she didn't believe him. Tina stood to the side, refusing to look at him, which was even more infuriating. He would have thought saving her life would have made her more receptive to him, but no! She kept a wall of ice so thick between them, he really did feel like his dick might freeze off. If it hadn't been for that one night …