Idiots.
Movement in the shadows above me had my eyes flicking towards the ceiling. It was hundreds of feet above, but I saw Ohem clinging to it. He came to give me some backup. He was a darker shadow against the black cavern of the ceiling. I moved my eyes back to the front and continued walking. It warmed my heart that we were hunting together.
Past the first mountains of crates was an opening with what I was assuming were the cranes to lift the cargo, they had faint lights glowing on them. It gave the large square clearing the perfect feel for an ambush. I heard them moving to box me in and hid a smile. A single male stepped out of the dark and into the glow of the machines, his plasma rifle pointed at me. He was grim and had that practiced movement of a trained soldier. This was their ringleader, no doubt about it. He was here to take care of the hassle of killing me himself. I laughed at him when his people melted out of the shadows behind him. There were only twelve of them. Elite soldiers, but they’d only brought twelve.
My voice echoed inside the hold and I quoted my favorite movie husband, the opportunity too good to pass up. “You made three mistakes. First, you took the job. Second, you came light. A twelve man crew for me? Fucking insulting. But the worst mistake you made,” I looked up and watched Ohem drop behind them and rise, his Izi lighting up slowly from his feet to his helmeted head. Other shapes took position along the top of the crates, Ohem’s soldiers were here. I turned back to the ringleader and smiled. “Was thinking I came alone.”
Chapter 17
The enemy soldiers didn’t hesitate, their weapons spitting out plasma fire that lit the area in a chaotic display of light and deafening sound. The smell of ozone filled my nose, making my eyes water. It took precious seconds to shake the disorientation. The soldiers had split into teams to keep Ohem and I under a constant barrage of burning hot ionized gas. Ohem’s men rained down hell from above, burning up the enemy soldiers. The plasma shots slicked off Ohem’s armor and the faceless helmet that covered his entire head.
I wasn’t so lucky in my plasma proofness this time around. Only my berserker was immune to the blue fire and the shots that hit me burned chunks of skin and fur off my shifted form. Gaping holes blown in my body healed rapidly enough, but the pain was intense, and I hissed between clenched teeth every time I was touched by the shots. I ducked and weaved, slashing with claws to sever arms from bodies, but the soldiers from our side were damn good and killed most of the enemy before I even got to them. I think I only killed two and maim one more before all of them were dead except for Ringleader. The whole fight lasted only a minute or two. It was all very anticlimactic. Anger sparkled in my gut at having my kills stolen from me, but I shoved it down deep and didn’t snarl at the good guys when they jumped down to surround me, weapons at low ready. They faced away from me, watching the dark for any more targets.
Being protected had my hackles raised. The weight of Ohem’s gaze watching me from behind his faceless helmet pulled my eyes to him, and knew he was laughing. He had the Ringleader kneeling on the floor in front of him. The traitor’s leader was bleeding in various places all over his body and one arm was a smoking stump, the plasma having cauterized the wound so he wouldn’t die before we could question him. As irritated as I was at the unwelcome fire support, I still admired my deadly male as he stood over his enemy. Ohem’s armor was bulkier than before and it was the darker red black of old blood. He’d put on his war pants for me. How romantic!
I was going to let him soothe my pique later. He was going to have to sex my irritation right out of my body. I was going to work up a real good mad, so he’d have to work twice as hard to make it right. Calling in backup in an ambush? The nerve! I wanted compensation!
I grinned at Ohem, and his arms crossed over his chest. His shoulders shook slightly with silent laughter. I sighed and barely avoided melting into a puddle of lovesick goo at his feet.
Ohem’s helmet melted away from his head and he met my eyes briefly, their glow full of heated promise, before they went dark and cold as he turned his attention towards Ringleader.
“Take him to Aga,” Ohem said.
The other soldier’s helmet dissolved and his nasty smile told me that my new friend Aga wasn’t someone you wanted to interrogate you. Given his admiration for my more violent tendencies, I wasn’t all that surprised that Aga was a persuasive interrogator.
A soldier walked up and handed me a set of folded red clothes with a pair of flats placed on top and turned his back for me to shift. Ohem was watching intently and everyone averted their eyes, so he wouldn’t snarl at them while I stood naked for a whole two seconds before I put my clothes on.
The clothes stuck to the blood spattered all over my body, and I grimaced at the feeling. I dressed and told them it was safe to use their eyes againn. Two of Ohem’s men dragged the ringleader through the cargo crates and out of sight with the others falling in behind them, leaving my mate and I alone.
He wrapped a hand around my upper arm and pulled me into him. “Are you angry that I brought support?”
I shook my head. “My instincts want to rage about the stolen kills, but my brain says it was smart. You can still make it up to me, though.”
Ohem’s hand squeezed my arm harder and laughed, turning to pull me along after him towards the exit. “I will do just that,ursang. I can’t have my wife angry with me, it’s bad for morale.”
I was still laughing when we entered the portal that took us to the security headquarters where Aga had already started the interrogation of the ringleader in another room. Ohem led me to a table in a staff break room and I sat to wait until Aga had some information for us.
Ohem went to the sink built into the wall and waved his hand in front of a panel that slid out to reveal purple cloth stacked neatly inside. He picked one up, wet it at the sink, and then came to kneel beside my chair and started washing the blood from my face. I closed my eyes so he could scrub the stubborn blood that had dried into my eyebrows.
When he was satisfied with his work, he placed the soiled cloth in a retractable bin and gathered me into his arms before sitting in his own seat. I rested my head against his armored chest and sighed. We sat in silence for a few moments until I couldn’t take it anymore and asked the first thing that popped into my head to beat back the boredom.
“Is kissing something your kind do, or is that something you picked up from the girls on the Vrax ship?” I asked. I was curious, of course, but waiting patiently had never been a strong suit of mine. I could never sit in silence for long before starting a conversation just for the sake of talking.
Ohem’s chest vibrated against my cheek when he chuckled. “Did you think only humans had found a use for every orifice on the body when it came to sex or intimacy?” He laughed some more, which was a little uncalled for.
I pushed off his chest and sat up in his lap to give him my best glare. “A simple ‘yes, we kiss’ would have sufficed.”
If his horns wouldn’t have punched through the wall behind us, I think he’d have thrown his head back and laughed until he cried. I slapped my palm against his chest and only made my hand sting. I shook it out and tried to hide my smile so he wouldn’t be encouraged.
“Well, what about the way you were all touchy feely right before we crashed and then down on the planet? I hadn’t told you we were mated yet.”
He glowed cheerfully and shook his head and tapped my nose with a claw. “I have very good hearing, Jack. And neither you nor Patty were trying to be quiet as you discussed your jealous rage in the Vrax dining facility or your desire for me to fuck you.”
I scrunched my face in mild embarrassment. “You heard me!”
I slapped his chest a second time when he started laughing again. My cheeks grew hot and I covered them with my hands before glaring at Ohem. He grabbed my shoulders and gave me a little shake while he got himself under control enough to speak.
“I had been fascinated by you the moment I saw you outside my cell, as I’ve already told you before. I wanted you. You were bold, even in your fear.” He glowed a little softer and tightened his grip. “You rubbed your nose in my chest and moaned. I was lost to you in that moment, at least to the lust you ignited,” he said and winked two of his four eyes at me.
