“You are a bigger alien.”
“But you’re not. And it’s no hardship to have you on my lap.”
The room began to shake. Kelsey might have bounced off his lap if the straps weren’t securing her to Crath and the seat. He lowered two more belts over his shoulders and they crisscrossed over her chest.
“What’s going on?” She was terrified.
“That’s the shuttle slinging around the moon. I told you we were using the gravity from it to increase our speed.”
She turned her head, staring at his intensely blue eyes. “You’re totally insane, aren’t you?”
He chuckled. “Trust me.”
“Like I said, I don’t even know you, Crath.”
“You will.” He touched the panel in front of them, watching it instead of her. A map flashed, not that she understood much of it. More symbols glowed. He tapped on a gray circle twice and a chirp sounded.
“What’s going on now?”
“I’m piloting the shuttle to take us to the planet we plan to crash on.”
Kelsey closed her eyes tight and turned her head. She was plastered against Crath’s big, hot body. He put off a lot of heat.
They were going to die. It was terrifying, but so was the idea of being captured by those ugly aliens who wanted to get their clawed hands on her. There was only one thing to do when she found herself in a harrowing situation.
“Shit. Shit. Shit!”
“Please refrain from doing that on me. I offered you use of the bathroom.”
She opened her mouth to let him know cursing made her feel better but decided to remain quiet. It wasn’t the time to correct him. Maybe it was his poor attempt at a joke.
If so, she decided that Crath had the worst timing ever.
Chapter Four
Crath hated when good plans went bad. Everything had gone wrong after his cousin lost the bid to buy Kelsey. The Cristos were an unforeseen factor in their rescue mission. The station shouldn’t have even allowed that race to dock. No civilized aliens trusted them, especially around females compatible for breeding more hatchlings.
The Cristos were a scourge in space. Selling them sex slaves just meant increasing their numbers. Only extremely cruel idiots would do so. Or the most greedy. The Cristos had paid six times the normal price offered even for a highly valued slave. They hadn’t suspected anyone would pay half as much, or Raff would have brought more credits.
The auction demanded instant payment, and his cousin had offered everything he had.
The second thing to go wrong with their plan to save a human had been the station’s security preventing him from reaching his shuttle. He’d had popular Earth foods waiting to make Kelsey happy. Even some beautiful clothing for her to choose from.
He’d imagined seducing the human with his charm and claiming her as his life-lock before he took her back to The Vorge. Then he’d have the rest of their lives together to prove that they were meant to be.
Instead, he’d had to steal a disgusting Nupa shuttle. The only real bed had been stained with the slime that their race oozed from their bodies. He’d had to put her on an uncomfortable sleeping chair in what amounted to a tiny space for pilot. The only clothing he could offer was an emergency blanket. He couldn’t even feed her a good meal.
Now they were about to purposely crash onto a planet.
The piloting controls in the life pod were functioning. That was the only thing currently in his favor. The Nupa shuttle wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good model. It should have been scrapped a long time ago. Crath just hoped the overstressed engines didn’t blow up before they reached the planet they were careening toward.
He checked the speed, inwardly flinching. It was possible the shuttle might break apart in space. The pod would protect them but they’d be left helplessly floating in space, waiting to be picked up by the Cristos. The outdated pod didn’t have the capability to fly them anywhere, just low-powered thrusters to aid in a slower descent. Even if it possessed something more powerful, it would be too slow to escape the advancing hostile ships.
“How are we doing?”
The human on his lap sounded breathless. He worried that Kelsey’s lungs were being squeezed too tightly by the belts holding them both in place as they were rattled about. He pushed back hard against the seat, trying to take some pressure off. “We’ll make it.”
“The vibrations are a lot stronger. I’m not imagining that, am I?” Kelsey sounded panicked.
“No. It will be fine. I know what I’m doing.” Crath made his tone confident, hoping it would alleviate her fear. He also hoped that he didn’t get them both killed. It wasn’t like he had any other options. “We’re almost to the planet.”
“What then?”
“I will find the nearest mountain and set a course for the shuttle to slam into it. We’ll eject just before it does.” He didn’t mention that at the excessively rapid speed they were traveling, it was possible the shuttle might come apart upon entering the planet’s atmosphere, before he had a chance to chart a course.
The pod should hold together, though. They were designed to withstand almost anything.
It would just be very traumatic and violent once they ejected. That part, he didn’t want to warn Kelsey about.
He checked the status of the pursuing Cristos ships. They were still coming but he’d managed to put some distance between them. He deactivated the life pod’s transmitters, taking them completely offline. The last thing they needed was the vessel sending a distress hail to tell their pursuers when it deployed. The trick would be ejecting the pod near enough to where the shuttle crashed, to make it appear like debris if the enemy ships bothered to do a fly over.
The shuttle and pod rattled harder and the overhead lights flickered. The controls stayed functioning. Crath muffled a snarl, worried they might lose interior power completely once they entered the planet’s atmosphere. It would be a very rough transition.
“Kelsey?”
“Yes?”
He heard a tremor in her voice. “We’re about to reach the planet. I need you to press your cheek against my chest and cross your arms over the belts. Don’t curl your fingers under them. Just over them. Fist your hands.”
“Why?”
“To avoid injuries.”
She did as instructed, her face turned toward his, and he pressed his own cheek against her forehead. The controls and monitor power stayed steady and he scanned the planet they were quickly approaching, setting a course. There were quite a few mountains, but he selected one near a large body of water, tall vegetation surrounding it. They’d need the latter to hide. He quickly programmed when the pod should eject, seconds before impact.
The shaking grew worse as he confirmed that the shuttle’s autopilot had received and acknowledged his orders. He released the controls and wrapped one arm around Kelsey’s chest, holding her tight to his body. He used his other arm to cover his face and hers, turning her head a little more toward him.
The female stiffened.
“To shield us,” he rasped. “You are brave and beautiful, Kelsey. I want you to know that. I will do anything to protect you. Trust in me. Now take a deep breath and keep your eyes closed.”
“Fuck,” she whispered. “We’re going to die, aren’t we?”