Page 63 of Arresting the Warlord

I peeked around the shuttle.

Jake had his scary warlord face on, and his laser pistol pointed at the bounty hunter.

“Yours?”Loki grimaced and holstered his pistol.“I should have known a Jones was involved.”

The behemoth I had zapped, groaned, and got to his feet.“What did she hit me with?”He inspected his smoldering armor.

“Lightning. Think of it as payback for punching me.”Rubbing my aching jaw,I walked over to Jake. “You know these guys?”

“They’re my cousin Yakira’s foster brothers. Loki and Ivan are mercenaries and thieves. Never leave them alone within anything of value. Specially weapons or armor.” Jake switched to mind speak.“You hit CeeCee again Ivan and you are a dead man.”

In a placating gesture, Ivan raised his hands.“I did not know she was yours.”

“So, you hit women a lot?”Lightning crackled around me.

“Sometimes my duties as a bounty hunter makes it necessary, my lady,”Ivan responded.

Jake demanded, “What are you doing on Drax’s warbird?”

“We were chasing a bounty and heard Drax was hiring mercenaries to raid Earth for females. We contacted the Overlord and he paid us to investigate.”Loki eyed me curiously.“Drax said his son, Keyan, had claimed this one.”

I snorted in disgust.“In his dreams.”

“CeeCee’s mine,”Jake said, placing a possessive arm around my shoulders.

Power roiled across the shuttle bay and Shazam! Zarek appeared.

Jake did his fist-on-chest salute.“The ship is under our control, my lord.”

“Excellent.”

Ivan blurted out,“We both want an Earth female to mate with.”

“Gee what a surprise,” I muttered under my breath.

Zarek shot me an amused look.“Earth females are unique creatures and difficult to catch or tame.”

“That makes the hunt all the more exciting,”Loki said enthusiastically.

A growl escaped me.

“Manners,” Jake whispered, tightening his grip on me.

I hissed, “We aren’t prey or dogs that need to be housebroken.”

“I think Zarek meant you need careful handling.” Jake stroked my back soothingly.

Was I being managed?

“Earth females need to be wooed, not hunted,”Zarek admonished.

I shot him a disbelieving look.

Ivan held out his arms and crowed,“What female could resist this?”

Oh, dear God. “I am not finding women for those idiots,” I said firmly.

Zarek smiled faintly. “I agree. Your job is finding Trayon’s mate.”

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