But now, I hesitated. Did I want to leave my new female to pleasure myself with a whore? Then again, I had yet to taste my female, and I’d given her my word that I would not until she was healed. Perhaps I needed to release tension as much as the rest of my men.
“Raas?” Corvak prodded.
“A stop on Jaldon is well-deserved,” I said, raising my voice so all on the command deck could hear. “It is done.”
A low rumbling of pleasure passed through my warriors as I uttered the Vandar phrase that meant I had made a final decision, and I allowed myself a small smile. It was well-deserved. We had been on our current raiding run for too long—intercepting transports and invading Zagrath outposts—and it was past time for us to enjoy the spoils of war.
“Thank you, Raas.” Corvak clicked his heels with a snap before returning to his standing console.
I gave a final visual sweep of the command deck, satisfied that we were flying safely hidden from our enemy, and my eyes lingered on the view screen displaying the dark expanse, pinpoints of light flickering. As much as I was used to life in space, I would be glad to set our ship down on solid ground and have dirt beneath my feet and sunlight on my back. I felt a pang for the wide plains of the home world I’d never seen, wondering what it would be like to lead a horde of warriors thundering across the land instead of the cold sky.
I gave a shake of my head and strode off the command deck, only realizing that Bron was behind me when I’d reached the first iron staircase. I twisted to face him.
“How is she? I heard you called the healer.”
“Bruised in the attack,” I said. “Nothing Vaaton couldn’t fix.”
He nodded, but his gaze dropped.
“What is it, majak? Do you come to question my judgement, too?”
His gaze jerked to mine. “Never. My only concern is for you, Raas.”
“For me?” I almost laughed. “You think the small female a danger to me? Maybe you did not get a good look at her.”
He inclined his head at me, not smiling. “I got a good look at the way you looked at her.”
My throat tightened. Bron had always been able to see into me where others could not. It was why he was my majak, my most trusted advisor and warrior. “You think the way I… You think she will make me weak?”
“There is a reason we do not bring females onto our warbirds,” he said, not answering my question. “They are a distraction.”
“Maybe I need a distraction.” I bit out the words. “Maybe I have been killing and chasing so long I need something to fill my mind aside from memories of war cries and the smell of blood.”
“She will do this for you?”
I did not know what the human would do, but I knew I’d seen something in her that drew me in and made me want to know more. Perhaps she was only a distraction, but she was a desirable one. And I knew all the things I wished to do to her. “She will fill my bed, at least.”
Bron cut his gaze to me. “If that is all she will do, Raas.”
I tamped down my ire as I felt it flare inside me. I knew Bron was not challenging my authority as Raas, or questioning my judgement. It was why he’d stepped off the command deck with me and why he kept his voice low. I could not be angry with my majak for his concern. We had fought too long side by side.
“You know that is all she can do.” My eyes went to the marks on his chest and then to mine—our mating marks. Only when I’d found my one true mate would the marks expand across my arms and down to my stomach and appear on the female’s skin, as well. It had never happened with a female who was not Vandar before.
He exhaled, his relief evident. Even though he was relieved, the reminder that she would only ever be a distraction made my stomach clench. But I had known that when I’d taken her, and I had not cared.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “I will join you on Jaldon, and you will see how the female holds no sway over me.”
His dark eyebrows arched. “Yes, Raas.”
Chapter Nine
Astrid
I stretched my arms overhead and sighed, surprised when my fingers didn’t touch the hard, steel wall of my rack. Our freighter didn’t have space for private quarters—except for a small cabin for the captain—so I slept in the stacked racks that were so tight I couldn’t sit up without hitting my head and couldn’t extend my arms overhead without hitting the wall. At first, the cramped space had made me claustrophobic, and I’d kept the privacy curtain open while I slept, but eventually I’d grown used to it.
I rolled over, the silky sheets slipping over my bare skin. Silky? That made me blink myself awake. The sheets on our ship were rough, and I never slept naked.
The high, dark ceiling loomed over me, and I tipped my head back to see the headboard of iron shields and curved axes welded together. I was definitely not on my sister’s freighter anymore.
The Raas’s quarters were silent and much as I remembered them—sparsely furnished, and dimly-lit with black, reflective floors. One thing I had not remembered was the fire that crackled in a fireplace inset in the far wall. That had not been burning when I’d arrived, although I welcomed it since the room itself was cold.
Sitting up, I wrapped the soft, black sheet around myself. When had I gotten under the covers, and where had my towel gone? The last thing I remembered was getting a shot and falling asleep as the Raas talked to me.
I pressed my lips together. It wasn’t hard to imagine that he’d been the one to remove the towel and put me to bed. I suppose I was lucky that was all he’d done, although I recalled him making a promise not to touch me until I’d healed. Tugging up the sheet, I peered down at my bruise.
“Amazing,” I whispered, running my fingers over the skin that was now pink instead of swollen and furiously purple. Whatever the healer had given me, had really worked. I guessed fancy weapons and cool tech weren’t the only things the Vandar had developed.
I swiveled my head, taking in the entire room and listening for sounds other than the popping of the fire. When I was certain I was alone, I stood and crossed to the fireplace, dragging the sheet with me.
I held one hand at a time to the fire—using the other to keep the sheet wrapped around me—letting the blue flames warm my fingers. It was clearly an artificial fire, but the dancing flames still mesmerized me. I hummed to myself as I watched them, trying to think of anything but the reality of where I was.
Not that I knew where I actually was. The Vandar warbird had taken us who knew how far from where I’d been, and I had no clue how long I’d been sleeping. Although, from the heaviness in my head and the ache in my stomach, I suspected I’d been out for a while.
Inhaling deeply, I smelled something savory that was not coming from the fire. Food. I peered around the room again, this time my gaze catching on some plates and bowls on one end of the long table. I didn’t waste any time hurrying over, lifting the clear domes covering the food and keeping it warm. I pulled a cloth off the top of a bowl to reveal knots of bread, the yeasty scent wafting up.
I almost moaned out loud. That’s what I’d been smelling—freshly baked bread. I took a bite of one of the pieces, closing my eyes to savor the taste. I hadn’t had fresh bread in longer than I could remember. On my sister’s freighter, we survived on protein powders and ration packs.