I didn’t know if I wanted to gnash my teeth or bark out a laugh. Maybe both.
After I’d finally carried her back to bed from the bathing pools, I’d told her that she should wait for me to return from the mission. I’d assured her in her sex-addled state that the extraction mission would be quick, that there was no need for her to rouse herself for it, and that I’d have her sisters and friend on board the warbird before she awoke. She murmured sleepy words of acquiescence, and I’d believed I’d won.
When I'd slipped from bed in the dark hours of the morning to check on the command deck before coming to the hangar bay,I’d left her sleeping and tangled in the sheets. Now I knew she'd been humoring me.
I avoided my battle chief’s severe gaze, knowing precisely what he thought about humans. He would say that they all tended toward deception and would be improved by some time with him in hisoblek. I hated that my bride’s disobedience was proving him right.
I strode up the ramp and onto the ship, and the raiders scattered to give me a wide berth. It took me the work of a moment to spot her strapped into the co-pilot's seat. Clever, since I’d have to unstrap her to get her out.
Instead of the gossamer gown I’d stripped from her the night before, or even the dreary dress she’d worn in the bakery, Jasmine wore snug leather pants and a matching vest with a silver fur jacket over top. Her hair was pulled back in a tight braid, and her expression was defiant. I was struck by both how beautiful she looked and how Vandar.
"I'm going with you," she said before I could speak. “Unless you plan to forcibly drag me off this ship while I scream, and not the kind of screams you liked so much last night."
Behind me, boots shuffled as any remaining raiders made haste to leave the ship.
I was both annoyed and impressed by my bride. Annoyed that she'd disobeyed me but impressed by her audacity and her bravery. Folding my arms across my chest, I stared down at her and let silence stretch between us. I wanted her to wonder if I was going to call her bluff, drag her off the ship, or lock her in our quarters until this was over.
“You need me,” she said. “I know the planet and my colony better than anyone on the mission. I’ve told you the best routes, the best shortcuts, and all the secret rebel hiding spots, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need me down there. Besides, we had a deal, and I more than kept up my end of the bargain.”
Frustration unspooled within me. I couldn’t refute any of this. If she was anyone else, I wouldn’t hesitate to take her on the mission. If I still wanted to claim that I was a Raas who put the battle above all else, I had to agree. I had to take her with us.
I hesitated about telling her the extent of our plan. If I revealed my strategy, she might balk. If I didn’t, she would have reason to be furious with me afterward. I decided to risk her wrath for the success of the plan.
I bent down, bringing my mouth close to her ear, pitching my voice low enough that only she could hear. “Only because this is your planet and your family, but I am still in charge of this team, and if you disobey my orders on the ground, I will not hesitate to punish you. Even if you are my mate."
Then I nipped her ear, not hard enough to truly hurt, but sharp enough to make my point.
She sucked in a sharp breath, her pupils flaring. If there weren’t raiders waiting at the bottom of the ramp and a mission to complete, I would have yanked her from the seat and taken her against the wall.
Banishing that thought from my mind, I strode to the top of the ramp. “Vaes!"
Kolt led the cluster of raiders inside while Venik took lead on another raiding ship. Jasmine vacated the co-pilot’s seat without being asked, coming to stand next to me as bodies pressed tight.The ramp closed, the engines roared to life, and the ship lifted off, banking hard as we exited the warbird and dove toward the planet below.
I clenched the steel bar overhead with one hand while keeping the other fastened around Jasmine’s waist to keep her steady as the vessel rocked and swayed. When her small body brushed mine, her hair tickling my bare skin beneath my fur, I gritted my teeth to keep from unleashing a tortured groan.
Even with her body encased in leather and fur, and even surrounded by bulky Vandar, it was hard not to want to press her to me and crush my mouth to hers.
Focus, I told myself. You need to focus.
A mission to extract rebels targeted by the Empire was not the time to be distracted, especially considering the plan I’d set in motion with the rest of the horde. Although we hadn’t received intelligence or intercepted evidence that the Zagrath were anywhere near Lexxona, I could not let down my guard. Not when Jasmine was also at risk.
Thoughts of the enemy and what they might do to Jasmine if they caught her, sobered me in an instant. Nothing would happen to her. I wouldn't allow it.
She was mine now, and Vandar defended what was ours to the death.
Chapter 37
Jasmine
Days. It had only been days since I’d left my home, although it felt like a lifetime had passed.
As we descended through the atmosphere toward the frozen planet I'd called home my entire life, I felt like an entirely different person than the woman who'd left it.
Correction, been taken from it. Even that seemed like a thing of the past.
In an impossibly short time, I'd gone from hating the Raas to being married to him. I’d gone from being his war bride in name only to being his Raisa in every way. I’d vowed to never forgive him and then I’d vowed to be his mate for life.
It had been more than a whirlwind. He had been a storm that had swept away everything I’d once believed and left me forever changed.
