“We do not, but I am Raas.” His hot gaze traveled down my body again. “I can do what I wish.”
From the burning look in his eyes, I knew what he meant. In exchange for my sister’s life, I would be expected to pleasure this hulking alien. Cold chills rippled through my entire body, and my heart raced. The thought terrified me, but also sent a thrill through me. A thrill I tried to ignore.
But if that was what he was after, why did he want me? Anyone with eyes could see that my sister was the pretty one. I’d always been the shorter, washed-out version of Tara with too many curves in too many places.
Maybe he didn’t want me for the reasons I was thinking. Maybe my imagination was just running away from me again. Maybe he just wanted a servant. Either way, there was no choice but to agree. I managed to bob my head up and down.
He leaned his head close to mine again and took another long breath. “You agree to come with me willingly? I want you to say it.”
“I agree,” I whispered, even as goosebumps covered my arms.
He straightened and gave me a brusque nod, turning around and calling over his shoulder. “Vaes!”
I hesitated, until he looked back at me, speaking in the universal language again. “Come.”
My legs were shaky as I followed him, passing my sister, whose eyes were wild.
“What’s going on? Where are you taking her?”
I paused in front of her. “It’s okay. If I go with him, he’ll let the rest of you go.”
“Go with him?” Her gaze went to the enormous raider, and she struggled against the two holding her. “No way. You can’t take her. I won’t let you. She has nothing to do with any of this. I’m the captain. It’s my fault.”
The one they called Raas cleared his throat, although he did not stop walking off the bridge. “You should come before I change my mind, Astrid.”
I threw my arms around Tara even though her arms were being pinned to her side, and I gave her a quick hug. “I’m sorry about everything.”
“Don’t do this,” she begged when I pulled away. “You don’t have to do this.”
I gave her a small smile, blinking hard to keep the tears pricking the backs of my eyelids at bay. “Yeah, I do.”
I turned around, hearing her struggle but forcing myself to follow the massive alien off the bridge without turning around and taking one final look at my sister. I knew if I did, I’d start crying, and the last thing I wanted was for my sister’s last memory of me to be of me sobbing like some kind of baby. I didn’t meet any of the stares of the other members of the crew, either. I didn’t want to see the pity I knew would be etched on their faces. Or maybe it would be relief.
I had to practically run to keep up with the leader’s long strides, especially as the rest of the Vandar came up behind me, walking just as quickly as the one they called Raas. There was no sound but the thrum of their boots, like a relentless drumbeat as we moved through the ship. We were walking too fast for me to think about much else, and even my own grief was pushed aside by my attempt to keep pace with them. I paused once we reached the hangar bay and their jet-black shuttle, swallowing hard as I looked at the vessel that would take me away.
As if he sensed my fear, the Raas turned and took me by the arm, propelling me forward and up the ramp before I could think to pull away from him. There were no seats in the ship except for the pilot’s, so I was shuffled to the front as the Vandar warriors clutched an iron rail overhead too high for me to reach. Their bodies pressed in, and I could see nothing but them surrounding me.
The ship’s engines rumbled to life and it surged forward, the Raas wrapping one arm around me to hold me to him so I wouldn’t fall, his tail curling around my legs. It was only when I was cocooned between his thick arm and the firm wall of his body —his heat pulsing into me and making my own skin flush—that the reality of my new life hit me.
I’d made a deal with a Vandar raider. A Raas, no less. One who had complete power over a horde of murderous ships and now over me. I would live the rest of my life—what there was of it—on an alien warship and never see my sister again. Tears rolled hot down my face, the saltiness seeping between my lips.
What had I done?
Chapter Four
Kratos
“Engage invisibility shielding and prepare to resume course,” I commanded, as we touched down inside our warship.
Bron powered down the shuttle. “Yes, Raas.”
I ignored the stares as I led the human down the ramp, flanked by the rest of the boarding party. None of the warriors had uttered a word about me taking the female—not even Bron or Corvak—but I knew they were baffled by my behavior.
There were no females on Vandar raider ships. Only young warriors without mates or families to distract them. Our female needs were met by visits to the hedonistic planets beyond the Zagrath Empire—places where females were free with their affections for coin. Our ships were for battle and nothing else. So why had I violated this tradition and taken the female?
It wasn’t like I hadn’t been responsible for the deaths of females before. As much as we tried to limit our punishment to Zagrath military, there was always collateral damage. And in a war that had spanned generations and showed no signs of ceasing, there would be much more to come.
“Do you wish us to disable the freighter further?” Corvak asked, his eyes darting down—the only acknowledgment of the female beside me.
I jerked my head quickly. “Leave it. They are no threat. They would not be foolish enough to enter Vandar territory again, and they could not track us even if they did.”
The female—Astrid—twitched slightly, but only I felt it. I glanced down at her fair hair, fighting the urge to stroke my hand down it. Only I knew that I would not have killed the female captain. I had wanted to test her courage in the face of death and what her ragtag crew would have done.
I’d wanted to determine how loyal she was to the Zagrath. Instead, this small female had thrown herself at my mercy, and something about her sacrifice had touched me.
Of all those on the command deck of the sad freighter, she had been the last one I would have suspected of such bravery. Even though I surmised that the captain with the fiery hair was her sister, this slight female was clearly not a fighter. Yet she had offered her own life and had not backed down. There was a strength behind the fear. What had surprised me most was my own desire to see more of it. I’d felt drawn to her and the flash of determination behind her green eyes. The sweet curves I had detected beneath her clothing had not hurt, either. Nor had the fact that her scent made my cock hard and my heartbeat quicken.
It had been a long time since I’d felt the thrill I’d experienced when I made the deal with her. My pulse had raced, and blood had rushed hot through my veins, as if I was on a hunt. Even now, my body hummed from the closeness of her as she walked beside me across the flight deck, her footsteps making fast taps on the steel floor. Glancing over, I saw that many of the other warriors were also casting furtive looks at her, their gazes roaming the curves covered snugly by her clothing. Fury flared within me, and my hand went instinctively to my axe before I remembered that the warriors were my own, and I could not fault them for being intrigued by the creature.