Vexing Voss:Coletti Warlords 03(13)

"As is proper."

"This is the United States, and slavery was outlawed a long time ago."

"Earth now belongs to the Overlord. You have no choice but to obey our rules."

"Wanna bet?"

"Without our protection, the Tai-Kok and Rodan would continue to slaughter your people."

"News flash. They still are."

"You have my promise that we will find the traitors."

I let out a long sigh. "Another promise you have no intention of keeping?"

Voss's hands clamped around my waist, and he lifted me until we were eye  to eye. "I am not in the habit of explaining my actions to anyone."

"I'm not anyone. I'm your mate. Is this going to be a partnership or a dictatorship?"

"A little of both." His mouth closed over mine in a toe-curling kiss.

My thought process ground to a complete and utter stop as Voss's mental finger circled my clit. Wowzers. "Don't stop."

"Never." His naughty, naughty finger slid deep inside my channel, stroking me with long, hard thrusts.

My eyes rolled back in my head as a mind-melting cataclysm of sensation flooded me. Bed. We needed a bed.

The next thing I knew, we were standing by that damned boulder. "Don't  even think about it," I spat, trying to ignore the tremors still shaking  me.

The big jerk put me right back onto the rock. "Stay out of trouble, and you may have chocolate."

What a sneaky bastard. Through the mating bond, he knew I would do just  about anything for chocolate. "Deal, but I want the good stuff."

"Done."

Hothar handed me my food and sat beside me. "I've never had chocolate."

"And you're not getting any of mine." Okay, I'm a selfish bitch, but  chocolate had been too damn hard to find in the last couple of years. I  looked around. "Where's Lothel?"

"On body detail," Voss answered, then snagged half of my fries and walked over to the command center.

"Is that as bad as it sounds?"

"Worse," Hothar replied through a mouthful of burger.

"So who gets to guard me now?"

"I do."

"First good news I've had all day." I happily chowed down on my burger, well aware the big guy was keeping a close eye on me.





Chapter Seven

Central Command descended on the crime scene like a swarm of locusts. I  was a bit surprised when Uncle Saul, a five-star general who commands  the western United States, walked out of a shuttle craft in full combat  gear. His two muscle-bound bodyguards followed him down the ramp. I  guess discovering a hidden Tai-Kok outpost in your territory would be  kind of embarrassing.

Uncle Saul's a big, distinguished-looking man with thick hair gray and  the cold soulless eyes of a serial killer. He's as deadly as any Coletti  warlord and just as ruthless. Unlike my father, Uncle Saul's fiercely  protective of his family, and he never forgot my birthday or Christmas.

My uncle surveyed the destruction, and his gaze stopped dead on me. His  familiar presence filled my mind. "Another investigation, Zoey?"

"I'm still looking for the traitors, Uncle Saul." Because of my "unique"  brain pattern, he always saw right through my disguises. Both times I  had sneaked into Central Command, he had caught me. Believe me, you do  not want him yelling at you.

A smile pulled at his hard mouth when he noticed Voss watching us  intently from the command center. "I see the Battle Commander finally  caught you."                       
       
           



       

I gaped at him in stunned disbelief. "What? How did you …  Wait a minute.  I'm family. You knew he was hunting me and never said anything?"

"I never told the Coletti about you either. Now come give an old man a hug."

With my faithful shadow dogging my heels, I walked over and hugged him. "Thanks for coming to the funeral."

Uncle Saul embraced me, ignoring the astonished stares of his men. "Your  mother was a very special lady." He patted my back gently. "How are you  holding up?"

"I miss her a lot. Voss mucked with my head, and I'm not having crying jags anymore."

His deadly gaze settled on Voss. "If the Battle Commander doesn't treat you right, you let me know, and I will deal with him."

My jaw dropped. He was dead serious. Uncle Saul was a mean sonovabitch,  but to take on Voss? Wowzers. That was a death sentence. "Ah …  Thanks,  but I think I can handle him."

My uncle laughed like that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "He's definitely going to have his hands full with you."

I bristled. "Voss said he wanted a warrior for a mate."

"And he got one," Uncle Saul answered, still chuckling. "Do you need anything?"

"You could shoot Daddy for me."

All the humor fled from his face. "It might come to that."

Hothar sucked noisily on his soda. "Why would you want to kill your father?"

"It's a long story. Uncle Saul, this is Hothar, my bodyguard."

"The Battle Commander's nephew." My uncle extended his hand. "I had the  pleasure of meeting your father on Tanith. He's a true master at  designing warbirds."

Hothar quickly wiped his hand on his battle suit before shaking my uncle's. "Thank you, sir."

Voss's impatient voice rumbled in my head. "Zoey, you have delayed the general long enough. Send him to me. Now."

Scowling, I shot him a quick glance, and in my best timid-mouse voice  replied, "Yes, your lordship. I humbly beg your forgiveness, your  lordship."

A phantom hand smacked my bottom. "Enough."

Ouch! I gave Voss the one-fingered salute and turned to my uncle. "The  Battle Commander requests your immediate presence at the command  center."

With a wry little half smile on his mouth, Uncle Saul asked, "You do realize how powerful Voss is, don't you?"

"Yeah, the big guy's downright scary, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna roll over and play dead."

Uncle Saul pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Sweetheart, you're one of a kind." His back ramrod straight, he marched over to Voss.

A camouflage-painted armored vehicle skidded to a halt, raising a big  cloud of dust. Ted bailed out and opened the back door. My father  stepped out like he was royalty, wearing an immaculate, perfectly  pressed dress uniform.

In looks, he's a pale image of my uncle. My idiot father actually thinks  his battle tactics rival those of Alexander the Great's. Talk about  delusional. His poor command decisions during a Rodan raid on Spokane  led to the slaughter of half his troops. He was promptly demoted to a  one-star general.

Me? I would have busted my father back to private and put him on the  front lines where he could fight the monsters up close and personal. It  might teach him some humility.

Daddy also carries one hell of a grudge against his big brother. Uncle  Saul had put a stop to his abusive use of mind control on the men and  women under his command. After the disaster in Spokane, my uncle  transferred him to the base in Phoenix and keeps him on a tight leash.

"That, unfortunately, is my father," I said to Hothar as Dad sauntered  casually over to the command center with Ted trailing behind him.

"He thinks highly of himself," Hothar commented.

"Yeah, Dad's a narcissistic ass with a lot of explaining to do." I mean  the Tai-Kok had set up shop in his backyard, and he hadn't known about  it? C'mon, how stupid did he think we were? Was he the traitor? The  evidence was piling up, and either way it was a definite career killer.

Uncle Saul wouldn't give a tinker's damn that Daddy was his brother. A betrayal of that magnitude would be a death sentence.                       
       
           



       

Fire ants danced across my mind. I scanned the area and sensed several  dozen Tai-Kok hiding in a partially demolished tunnel. They were too  damned close. I touched Voss's mind. "Sweet cheeks, you missed some  monsters."

"Where?"

"Right quadrant of the debris field," I said, flashing him a mental picture.

"Where do you come up with these ridiculous names?"

"It's a gift."

"We will discuss your disrespect later." Voss broke the link and pointed  to a view screen. A few minutes later, he, Jaylan, and a dozen warriors  vanished.

Uncle Saul walked over to talk to a warrior on perimeter duty while my father watched the view screens intently.

Unease crawled up my spine. Crap, now what? Like this day hadn't been  exciting enough? On the view screen, a ship appeared. Crap. A shuttle  load of trouble was heading our way. I couldn't sense any Tai-Kok or  Rodan on it. I frowned. No, the brain patterns were definitely Coletti,  but somehow twisted and abnormal.

The old, battered shuttle craft landed with a clanking thump. What a  piss-poor pilot. Even I could land a shuttle better than that.