I thought of my sister’s face as I’d hugged her for the last time. I hoped I would be able to forget the look of shock and betrayal. I even preferred remembering her rolling her eyes at me to the pain in her eyes before I’d turned from her. She hadn’t understood. How could she? She’d always been the one to sacrifice. No one had ever sacrificed for her. Not until that moment.
I inhaled the hot steam. It didn’t hold the scent of the bubbling water, but it warmed my nose and tickled the length of my throat. Resting my head on the stone ledge, I let the water wash away all the regret and pain of the day. Regret that I’d been the reason my sister had nearly been executed, and the pain of losing her after all. Even though I was on a Vandar warbird and was now the property of its menacing warlord, at the moment, my sister was safe, and I was content.
I hummed as I bobbed in the water, the high notes echoing off the stone walls and reminding me of my mother who used to sing all the time. Tara had forbidden me to sing after our parents had died, so I’d learned to hum quietly to myself instead. Sometimes humming was the only thing that could calm me.
Once my fingers started to wrinkle, I stopped humming and lifted myself out of the steaming pool, casting my eyes around for a towel. Nothing. Did the Vandar drip-dry? That didn’t seem practical, and no way was I going to leave puddles all over the slick floors or put my dry clothes back on while I was soaking wet.
I eyed the open shower at the other end of the bathroom and all the flat buttons inset in the black-stone walls. Maybe one of them was for drying?
Padding over, I inspected the buttons and the various nozzles overhead and imbedded in the walls. None of them were in any language I could read, the symbols completely foreign to me.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself as I pressed a button.
Instead of drying me as I’d hoped, a torrent of water gushed from overhead. I yelped and tried to find the button again, but the water had drenched my head and was streaming into my eyes. It was pleasantly warm, though, and the hard flow felt good on my shoulders. I stood under it, turning so it could pound on all parts of my back and stretching my arms high over my head, the rush of water as it hit the stone floor drowning out any other noise, even my own loud humming.
I finally found the button to stop the water, spluttering and wiping at my eyes. When I opened them, I saw him standing in the doorway, watching me. His face betrayed nothing, but his pupils had dilated so much they shone as obsidian as the stone around me.
Chapter Six
Kratos
I heard the torrent of water the moment I stepped into my quarters, my eyes raking the room and not finding her. My flash of panic faded when I realized that she was bathing and then my body tingled with anticipation that the small female was preparing herself for me. It had been a while since we had visited a pleasure planet, and my fist made a poor substitute for a willing female.
I unhooked my shoulder armor and left it on a stand next to the door, along with my weapons. I should not have any more use for them at the moment. Although the Zagrath ship had arrived quicker than I’d expected, it had not been able to follow us for long, once we’d activated our invisibility shielding. The damage they’d done before we’d gone dark had been minimal, although it had felt like the ship had been tearing apart. Our shields had held, and repairs to the impacted hull were underway. As were we, to the far end of the Carborian sector to resupply.
I kicked off my boots and crossed to the bathing chamber, hearing her before seeing her. The human was humming as she stood under the flow of water, her high notes bouncing off the slick stone and filling the space. I could not remember the last time I’d heard a female’s voice like that, and I was so distracted by the sound that I did not focus on her body right away.
When I did turn my attention to her naked form, water rushing down her pale skin and darkening her light hair, my mouth went dry. She was tiny, that I already knew, but her slight stature did not mean she was small everywhere. I’d already felt her softness when I’d held her earlier, but even as I got only a side view, all her curves were on display for me—her high, round breasts and her flared hips, the gentle curve of her belly and her full ass. My cock stiffened instantly, tenting my battle kilt.
Tvek. I’d never seen a female I wanted to bury my cock in as much as I did this one.
She fumbled on the wall, and I fought my instinct to step in and turn off the water for her. But I didn’t. I waited, watching her as she swiped the droplets off her face and opened her eyes. Her lips parted slightly when she saw me, and she stopped moving, her hands going still by her face. Her gaze drifted down, then her eyes grew wide when she saw my cock straining against my uniform.
I reached behind my waist and unfastened the belt. My kilt loosened and dropped to the floor with a soft thud. Vandar did not wear anything under our battle kilts, as was tradition, and we covered as little of our skin as was necessary. I knew this was not a trait that humans shared.
“What are you…?” She took a step back and hit the wall, activating one of the side nozzles that shot a fine spray of icy mist at her from two sides. She gasped at the sudden cold, her attention drawn from me to the walls and the buttons she did not understand.
I reached her in a couple of long strides, turning off the mist, but not before being covered in the fine spray myself. I looked down and saw that she’d wrapped her arms over her chest and was rubbing them briskly. I reached for her hip to pull her to me, but she flinched from the touch, her face registering pain instead of fear.
Glancing at her skin, I saw that her hip wore an angry bruise. “You’re hurt.”
“I think it’s from when I hit the table earlier. When we fell.” Her voice shook as she stared straight ahead at my chest. “I didn’t notice it until you…”
I cursed myself and dropped my hand, thinking how big and rough it looked next to her soft skin. Skin that was now mottled purple and red.
“It’s fine,” she said, her voice shaking a little less. “I bruise easily, and I’m a total klutz. I’m always falling or bumping into things. It will go away in a few days.”
I frowned and stepped away from her. It did not look like it would fade quickly. It looked painful and tender, like blood was pooling under the surface. Of course, I’d had much worse, but I also had never had skin so soft or unmarred. As far as I could see, she had no scars or marks from combat. Only the damage she’d sustained when she’d come onto my ship.
This was a mistake. This is why we do not have females on warbirds. I had not heard my father’s voice in a while, but it had been my constant companion for many astroyears. I emitted a low growl, as if warning him to stay away. I did not need him telling me what to do any longer. He was gone, and I was Raas.
I spun on my heel and left the bathing chamber, willing my father’s voice to leave me. I did not need him to tell me that I should not show her kindness. I knew what he would have said about sparing her life and bringing her on board. He would have thought me weak. According to him, a Vandar Raas must show no mercy, and certainly not to a human who had dared to violate Vandar law. He had shown no mercy when he’d trained me, and I had the mended bones to prove it.
“You are not here,” I whispered to the air as I crossed naked to the door and pressed the communication panel beside it, barking orders to my first mate.