Then, he closed the door.
Fates…why?Why had he been gifted with a female he could never claim?She was not only a compatible Breeding partner, judging from his Instinct’s reaction to her, but he sensed that there was something deeper.She was…his fated mate.But that was surely impossible, wasn’t it?What were the chances that the first human female he’d set eyes on after Kate, Vaxa’an’s mate, would be his ownluxiva?
Despair made him reach out a hand to steady himself on the wall of the hallway.Everything he had ever wanted—a mate, a family, an escape from the crippling loneliness that had been plaguing him the past few rotations—was dangling right in front of him…and yet, he couldn’t have it.He couldn’t haveher.
Not that she would even wanthimanyway.
With a growl, he pushed away from the wall and made his way to the command center.He had other pressing problems, one of them being getting every occupant on the vessel back to Luxiria safely.After he accomplished the mission Vaxa’an, his close friend and the Prime Leader of his species, tasked to him, perhaps then he could figure out what to do next.
“Beks,” he said, testing the name on his tongue.
Her name tasted of silk and the light of Luxiria’s morning suns.
THREE
Beks stared at the spot that the large, scarred alien had occupied just moments before and then she let out a sharp exhale, her limbs slowly unwrapping from around her body.
The alien was…intense.That was an appropriate word to describe him.Her hand trembled when she reached out to touch the shirt he’d left on the edge of the bed and remembered the feel of the shifting, thick muscles of his chest.For some reason, his obvious strength comforted Beks.If he had wanted to hurt her, he would have already.Instead, he’d stayed far away in an attempt to ease her.
Beks’ gaze shifted around the room she was in.The room was small.The size reminded her of her old dorm room in college, but somehow it didn’t seem crowded.The bed, she estimated, was a little larger than a full-sized bed and three-feet longer, no doubt to accommodate the sheer bulk of the alien.Anything less and he’d be falling off.
The walls were bare and made of a silvery metal material.There were no windows that she could see out of and the door seemed like it was activated by a keypad that Beks didn’t even want to try to access, even though she worked in the tech industry.Her inner nerd was immediately wary.
Gingerly, she got off the bed.She eyed the shirt, scooping it up as though it might bite her, and walked through the door the alien had pointed to.
There was a clear, vertical tube set against the far wall, which she assumed was a shower of some kind.After fiddling with the pad imbedded into the glass, and perhaps through sheer luck, she got it to work.A steady stream of water poured down from the ceiling and she stepped eagerly into the spray.Beks almost moaned.She didn’t remember the last time she’d bathed…the night before she’d been abducted, most likely, and the timeline for how long she’d been captured was still a little fuzzy in her mind.
There was no soap, at least none that she could see, but the hot water was enough.For now.Even though she wanted to scrub her skin raw, to erase that cage, that lizard alien’s fingers on her bare skin, by the time she’d stepped out of the stall, she felt slightly better, albeit tired.
She wanted to sleep, but she was afraid of what might happen if she let her guard down.She tried so hard not to think about what had almost happened back in that room, right before the scarred alien had killed the other with his bare hands.Beks squeezed her eyes shut, her hands trembling as she pulled the borrowed shirt on.It fell to her knees and the sleeves came to her elbows.She was dripping in material, but picturing the size of the scarred alien, she figured it might even be a little tight on him.
The material was airy and light, the softest material she’d ever felt, but it was the scent that made her nipples bead.She almost gasped out loud, she was so surprised by her reaction.
The shirt smelled like a minty musk, oddly enough.Masculine and unexpected.She knew it was the alien’s scent.Dimly, when he’d carried her out of that room where she’d been kept caged for so long, she’d smelled him.
She cursed her reaction, even as she lifted the front to inhale more deeply.Heat bloomed between her thighs and she dropped the shirt, embarrassed.Beks had never been prudish about her sexuality, but finding herself physically attracted to an alien, with dark curling horns and muscled shoulders that made her toes clench, was dangerous.Especially after everything she’d experienced.Her attraction to him didn’t make any sense.She was confused, obviously.It was much better if she simply ignored it.
Beks shivered, sitting back down on the bed.
Where are the others?she wondered, staring at the door.Were they safe?
She hadn’t even thought to ask when the scarred alien had been there.There were a lot of questions she’d wished she’d asked, now that she could get her mind working.Like, what were the new aliens’ plans for the women?Where were they taking them?What would they do with them?
So go demand answers, she thought.That was what her old self would’ve done.Her old self, pre-capture, would’ve marched around wherever she was, raising hell, until she got what she came for.Relentless.That was what her best friend, Kate, had always called her.
A pang of loss hit her.Kate had disappeared over a month ago…or had it been two months now?Beks shook her head, frustrated and sad.Two peas in a pod.Kate had been the sister and family that Beks had always wanted…and she had a sneaking suspicion that Kate had been captured like she had, by those aliens.
It physically hurt to think about what might have been her best friend’s fate.Was she even still alive?
A sudden burst of anger took her by surprise and it made her shoot off the bed and march to the silver keypad on the wall.She was tired of not knowing, of allowing others to control what happened to her.Back on Earth, Beks never let anyone get in the way of what she wanted.And right now?She wanted some damn answers.
It took her ten or eleven tries to finally get the door toswooshopen, but the lost time hadn’t dulled her determination.The corridor where the room was situated was empty and she decided to take a right and follow the hall, hoping it would lead her to someone who could direct her to the scarred alien.The alien who hadn’t told her his name, even though she’d told him hers.The alien she was sort of, kind of—okay, definitely—attracted to, which had trouble written all over it.
Even though she felt a little silly roaming about in a shirt with no shoes, with no idea where to even go, she finally came across an alien.He wasn’t as broad asheralien, but he still towered over her.At the sight of Beks, his brows shot up and he approached her warily.An urge to laugh bubbled in her throat.This alien looked like a spooked animal and yet he easily had a hundred pounds on her.It eased her nerves, at least.He didn’t seem like he’d hurt her.
“I’m looking for…” she exhaled sharply, wishing that damn alien had just told her his name.“The alien who…” she trailed off, wondering if he took offense to the word ‘alien.’She cleared her throat, “To the guy who brought me on the ship.He’s about your height…with a scar on his face.I need to talk to him.Right now.”
She realized just then that it was foolish of her to assume he spoke English.
