Page 20 of Stolen By the Alien Mercenary

The shuttle’s com started beeping insistently as they kept trying to hail us, but by now, panic had struck the bridge. Their navigator had sounded the alarm, and so had their Weapon Master. They could not do their jobs, and their captain’s punishment was swift, brutal, and pointless. I did not tell Harper about this, just focused on leaving a final trap. A repeating broadcast would announce loudly that they worked for Batok and were flying under a fake transponder.

“You did it!” Harper cheered, her finger pointing at the red light on the scanner that showed how the Argamonde was turning away from us. Its path now veered sharply to our starboard and would spin to take it on a direct course to Kertinal space; heavily patrolled Kertinal space. I estimated that it would take them five days to reach, and another day before they would noticed by a Kertinal Warship.

“Yes,” I agreed, grinning. It had taken more finesse than simply overheating their reactor core and blowing up the ship, but I had done as she asked. Now it was in the hands of fate to see it through, but at least we’d be long gone should they somehow manage to regain control of their ship before they reached the Kertinal Empire.

“I can’t believe you did that! No wonder your captain hired you! That was amazing,” Harper said, smiling widely and still leaning over the viewscreen that displayed the departing Argamonde. She raised her head when my wing brushed along her back, and that blue glance turned hot and warm in a flash. Then she threw herself into my arms with a laugh, her warm, slight body colliding with mine.

At that moment, I deeply regretted making her the promise I had. Her lush behind brushed against my groin, sending a sharp bolt of pleasure up my spine. My instincts soared, demanding I claim her, not just with my pleasure cock but with my mating cock. But I’d take anything she was willing to give me, even if they were jubilant kisses and nothing more. Harper was worth waiting for.

Chapter 14

Harper

I was quiet as I watched Nick work. I thought I was masking my nerves, but I should have known I couldn’t fool him. He said I was his mate, and I was truly starting to believe that. He certainly knew me better than anyone else, better maybe even than my granny had. Case in point, he glanced casually over his shoulder at me and his yellow and gold eyes sharpened.

“Are you okay, Harper? We’re currently hidden. We can take as long as we want.” He turned in his seat, pausing what he was doing so he could give me his full attention. I felt cornered and exposed when he leaned in and spread his pretty, white and red wings. Not in a bad way exactly, just like I had no way out but to tell him what was going on in my head. The problem was, I didn’t know what was going on, only that I was really nervous about this next part of the plan.

I rolled a shoulder and looked back at the viewscreen that showed me the planet. Not just any planet but a big grayish ball of dirt, a mining planet already hollowed out by many years of destructive mining. I’d looked into that, how it worked, the machines and techniques they used. It wasn’t anything pretty, and it lined up with what I’d briefly seen when they’d taken me into that vault.

The vault was probably my actual source of nerves. I didn’t want to go back there and see that prison again. But what if that was the only way to get rid of this trauma? To heal from the past? With Nick at my side, I wouldn’t be in danger, and it wasn’t like we needed to go inside.

“You’re sure just accessing the logs from the outside control panel is enough to establish a good timeline?” I asked him quietly. Nick wanted to get all the facts about when they put me in that vault and when Batok tried to retrieve me. I wasn’t sure if it was going to help us or not, but he still hadn’t managed to break the encrypted data on my stupid, old translator implants. He said it could take a long time, and doing something was better than sitting around waiting.

Yesterday, I agreed with that. Today, I was pretty sure I was okay with the waiting, as long as it took. “Yes, you could even stay on the shuttle, little Novi,” Nick said, his voice rumbling with a tender warmth I was coming to expect.

Sometimes, I could see that his instincts tried to get the better of him, that they urged him to push me for more than just cuddles and kisses. He never let that side of him win, giving me that distance he’d promised so I could make up my mind about him.

“No,” I denied immediately at his offer. It felt even more wrong to let him take all the risks alone, to sit on my hands while he took care of things. I was feeling frazzled by the idea of seeing that vault again, but I would deal. “I’ll go. Just need to gather a bit more courage. I think I have to do this.” If I said that out loud, maybe I’d actually believe it myself.

Nick gave me a look that said he didn’t quite believe me, but at least he didn’t pry more. He dipped his head toward me, brushed his mouth over mine in a quick caress, and then he turned back to tap at the console. “The station in orbit over the planet is there to coordinate supplies. The last time we were here, I got direct access when we boarded it. I should still have a backdoor to get inside. It will be the work of a minute to make us invisible to their sensors and download their logs.”

I watched as he did as promised and tried not to fidget with the strap of my water canteen. He steered our shuttle down to the barren-looking planet with competent hands. This was it, time to face the music. “Looks like the mining camp with the vault you were in was abandoned a few months ago. The supply logs indicate that personnel were shuffled to other camps and no supplies have been brought to that location in quite some time.”

It helped to listen to Nick as he listed more pertinent information. Stuff about how Batok hadn’t been to the planet since his last visit a year ago, just days after Nick had rescued me. His voice was soothing, and if I just zoned out while I listened to his tone, I could pretend we weren’t about to visit the location where I’d nearly died a horrible, slow death.

I didn’t recall much of the planet from my previous visit, but I still found myself surprised by how dry and dusty it was. Nick parked our shuttle behind the barren, skeletal remains of what had once been a small stretch of woods. The trees and plants had all died and were now covered by a fine layer of dust. Just stepping out of the airlock and into the open air made my lungs seize up with a nasty cough from that same dust. It was terrible.

“The planet is dying,” Nick said as he handed me a fresh bottle of water to sip from. He did not seem nearly as bothered by the dusty, stale air. A strong wind was whipping at my clothes and my hair, trying to push me over. My winged friend had come well prepared for the journey and what awaited us; he’d pulled out sturdy cargo pants and a thick coat for me.

“Soon the air will grow so thin that it won’t be safe to breathe without assistance.” He gave the dead trees a baleful look. “They must be close to finished stealing all the resources they deemed worthwhile. Last time I was here, these trees were still alive.” He rolled a shoulder to dismiss the topic and pulled a pair of goggles from the bag he had strapped to his lower back beneath his wings. “This should help.”

I put them on gratefully, glad I had something to keep the wind and dust from my eyes. The goggles instantly made the world jump into brighter focus around me, like a veil of dust and grime had been lifted. I could now make out the towering spire in the distance and the fortifications at the foot of it. I recognized that, and an icy shiver ran down my spine.

That spire was like a giant lance that pierced the planet, and when I turned in place, I could see the vague shapes of several more in the distance. My research in the past week about this place informed me that those huge lances, taller than skyscrapers, were surveying spikes that specialized ships launched into the planet from orbit before mining activities started. It looked dramatic and destructive, and it was awe-inspiring to imagine a spaceship capable of shooting lances as huge as these.

“Ready?” Nick asked as he stepped closer. His wing brushed against my back, sheltering me from the wind. He was wearing his black armor, as always, but he’d pulled on gloves too. Several drones were humming in the air around us, and his visor was over his left eye. It glowed in a gentle blue curve from the metallic device clipped to his head just above his ear.

He’d strapped several weapons to his body as well, guns in holsters on his thighs, and a narrow sword in a sheath against his spine. He looked ready for war. He looked like the warrior that he was with just enough of a hint of his more intellectual proclivities to make him look devastatingly smart at the same time.

I loved how confident he looked, and calm; his feathered mohawk rising proudly from his head, ruffled by the wind. When I gave him a nod, he smiled. It was a little tilt at the corner of his mouth, exposing one sharp canine tooth, and it was sexy as sin. His smile grew wider like he knew what he was doing to me.

He swept me up in his arms, which caught me by surprise, and then he was kissing me. I sighed into his embrace, still not used to how easily and often he claimed my mouth this way. His wings swept around us, cocooning me against his chest in a silky, feathery cage. It grew dark and quiet in that little sheltered nook, and I became all sensation and touch. My nerves and fears slipped away like quicksilver, lost in the tide of passion that swept through me.

It was getting harder and harder to resist him, to stay away. All my reasons were growing silly and weaker by the moment, especially when he conquered my mouth like the warrior he was. A man with only one goal in mind, to pleasure me beyond my wildest dreams. I knew that if I gave in, we’d have the best sex of my life. All I had to do was tell him that I wanted him.

“Come,” he groaned against my lips, and I thought he was demanding that I come for him, just like that. His hand slid down along my spine and cupped my rear, yanking me closer. A sharp lance of pleasure burst through my abdomen and made my core spasm. It wouldn’t take much; I ached for him.

A deep rumble made his chest vibrate against mine, stimulating my painfully hard nipples. “Blazing suns, Harper…” He yanked me higher, and instinctively I wrapped my legs around his narrow hips. His cocks made a firm bulge beneath my rear, radiating heat even through his armor, and I couldn’t stop myself from moaning and wriggling against him. “That’s not what I meant,” Nick growled with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “But I’ll oblige, my sweet little Novi.”