Page 7 of Saved By the Alien Mercenary

“Seriously? That’s what you guys thought of behind our backs?” Mandy said before I could speak. She clambered out of her mate’s lap to plant her fists on her hips and stare the male down. Her glare was impressive, and I could see her mate wilt a little beneath that gaze. “Doesn’t Ruby get a say in this? What if she doesn’t want company?”

My eyes shot from the small spitfire of a woman to the giant Hoxiam hulking in the corner. His eyes were alive with heat.I expectedhim to object, but he said nothing. I appreciated that Mandy was standing up for me, but when I considered what was in store for me without help… “I’ll do it. It’s a deal.” The words slipped out a little breathlessly, but once said, I found I didn’t want to take them back. Call me crazy, but despite all the knowledgeI hadabout his species, I was utterly convinced this guy would never harm me.

I rose to my feet a little clumsily;my legs felt weak as noodles, and I knew that was his fault. He made me feel all silly, like a schoolgirl with her first crush. Again, I was going to blame that on the pregnancy hormones and the fact that he smelled like freaking chocolate when I approached him. When he stepped backasI got closer, a smile began to curve my mouth unheeded. So that’s how it was? I should have remembered that he was the shy one, not me. He was the one hiding in his galley so much that not even his crewmates knew what he looked like.

“There’s nothing to fear, Ruby,” he said to me in his deep, growly bassashe backed up another step, his big body wedging itself into the corner as if he wanted to disappear. Fear? Yeah, I was supposed to be scared of him—the big,bad Hoxiam. But it looked to me like he was the one scared of me…

“I know,” I said.

Chapter 6

Brace

When I checked the list on my datapad for a third time, even I knew at that point that it was because I was nervous. What was I doing, leaving theVarakartoomto accompany Ruby? We’d be stuck inside the tiny living quarters of theFinixfor quite some time, just the two of us. The primal side of me, which was very present nowadays, was pleased with this arrangement. Rationally, I knew it was a risk—a big one. I could only control the rageandmy instincts for so long. Once she saw the real me, she’d be terrified.

I still couldn’t believe how fearless she’d been back in the captain’s ready room. When she discovered I had been in the shadows behind her, her pulse had leaped, but her scent had never turned sour with fear. Groaning, I pressed my fist to my cock and urged it to stand down. She’d been intrigued, she’d smelled like a female in heat. I had to forget about that, but I couldn’t. She was gravid;she wouldn’t be interested in another male right now.

Thinking of the round curve of her pregnant belly did nothing to cool the heat running through my veins. I shrugged out of the cumbersome cloak that covered my body, hiding it from view. Nobody needed to see the scars on my back or be reminded of my violent past. My pelt, combined with the cloak, made me overheat, and I panted, hands braced on the edge of the tiny galley counter inside Ruby’s ship.

Forcing myself to think of things to cool my ardor took a minute, but when I remembered the data Asmoded had given me, that did the trick. He’d figured out who the father of Ruby’s baby was, or rather, Dravion the doctor had. I wasn’t happy with the doctor’s betrayal of my female’s trust, but I understood that his loyalty, like mine alwayshadbeen, was solidly with the captain.

It was a Kertinal father;that was knowledge any doctor could gleanwith a simple medical scan. You had to have a sample of DNA to compare toin orderto know the exact malewhohad gotten Ruby pregnant. Dravion had had that sample because we’d run into this male several times before—fought him,so that his blood had ended up on the armor of one of us at least once. I curled my lips, baring my sharp teeth until I was snarling loud enough to rattle the jars lined up inside the cabinets. Opening my maw even wider, my mouth filled with saliva as I considered what it would be like to take a bite out of the bastard.

Knowing who he was, I was convinced he’d hurt Ruby. Which meant I had to be extra careful not to scare her. I had to dig inside myself until I found my gentle side, the one not tainted by my rage. How could I do that when the thought of that bastard made my blood boil? The counter creaked beneath my fists, warning me that I was dangerously close to warping the metal edge with my tight grip. I snapped my mouth shut with a click and jerked away from the counter, my back colliding with the wall behind me,which was much closer than I expected it tobe. This galley wasn’t made to fit a fully grown Hoxiam in his prime.

At the sound of voices,I rushed to yank my cloak back on, my breathing coming in labored bursts. The rage was subsiding,though; I could hear Ruby’s cheerful tones,and there was not a single part of me that wished her to see me in a rage. Instincts, body, mind, we were all aligned on that,which was a first in a very long time.

From the sounds of it, Ruby was not alone; she was accompanied by Elyssa and Harper. I could hear how Elyssa was singing my praises, which warmed me and bothered me at the same time. I appreciated that my childhood friend still thought so highly of me and that she was eager to convince Ruby of my goodness. But I knew I didn’t deserve it. If Elyssa knew half the things I’d doneafterI’d been moved to a different stable, or some of the things that had come after I’d escaped, she would shun me; she wouldn’t want to be my friend. Ruby wouldn’t say, “I know,” when I told her not to fear anything; she’d turn and run the other way.

“When you guys reach Rumcas, you have to give us a call. Okay?” Harper said. “We want to know you made it safely! And you need to stay in touch when you settle in on Ker. We’re friends now, understood?” Ruby didn’t respond to that with anything but sniffles, and they were echoed by the others,from the sound of it. Suddenly, my sensitive nose picked up more than their scents, I tasted salt on my tongue. Stars, they were crying! Why were they crying? Was Ruby hurt?

Frantic with worry, I forgot all about hiding, about sticking to the shadows. I stuck my head out of the galley before I’d even fully assured myself that my hood was on right. The three women weren’t far away, clustered together in the narrow hallway. They were embracing, and Elyssa was tugging gently on one of Ruby’s braids. I thought maybe she was teasing her, but then I saw the watery smile on my mate’s face. Why were they crying and smiling at the same time?

“I’ll stay in touch!” Ruby assured them eventually, her voice all choked up,as if she couldn’t get enough air. “I’ve been so alone all this time.I can’t believe it took what I thought was a pirate attack to find friends…” The three of them laughed, and then Harper and Elyssa were leaving. My Elrohirian friend flashed her eyes up to my doorway once, very quickly. Letting me know she’d seen me, that she knew I was there. She did not say goodbye, did not point out my presence to the others, and then they were gone, ducking into the airlock to go back to theVarakartoom.

I was alone with Ruby. The hairs on my back rose in a primal, visceral response to that knowledge. My gut churned as I fought the urge to close the distance and sweep her into my arms, so I could claim her. This was going to go wrong; I should never have agreed to this, insisted on this. Too late now. The airlock had cycled, and my comm was announcing the departure of theVarakartoomin Aramon’s cheerful voice.

***

Ruby

Once Harper and Elyssa had left, I stood in theFinix’s familiar hallway and listened to the sounds of the ship. It had been my home for the past nine years, ever since I’d recklessly flown her from the Alpha Quadrant to here, the Zeta Quadrant. It had been a three-year journey, as I’d had to stop along the way,trading and picking up cargo wherever I went. Swapping in and out crew the further I came,until I didn’t recognize the species any longer. But I’d learned.I’d adapted.

I gazed around the quiet ship, her engines idlingsoftly asshekept herself from drifting from her current position. TheFinixwas big and clunky, but most of her size came from the holds. The living quarters and the bridge were tiny. So where could my new crew member be hiding? He had to be here, or the shuttle wouldn’t have left. My heart skipped a beat as I contemplated what this meant for me.

I was now officially alone with a stranger, with nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. No, that wasn’t strictly true. Having made theFinixmy homeforas long as I had, I knew every nook and cranny, every hiding place. That was why I’d discovered that blasted Kanfray only two days ago. There were plenty of places I could crawl into for safety, placesa guy as big as a Hoxiam—especially this Hoxiam—would never fit. I didn’t think I’d needthem.

Turning my gaze along the narrow hallway, I assessed the metal hatch that separated it from the bridge at the end. There were two hallways just like this, identical, both with an airlock for docking, and doors that led off these hallwaystothe shared head, the galley, and the sleeping quarters: abunkroom for crew,andone stateroom for the captain.

Peering into the open galley as I passed, I saw nobody there, and the door to the bunkroom was also open, butthere wasno sign of my protector. I knew with certainty that he’d never have gone into my private room, and that door was locked anyway.That left the bridge, but to my surprise, the small command center was empty too. As the heart of the ship—even if it was located in the bow—this was where I spent most of my time. I knew every scratch, line, and groove on the walls and ceiling.I knew every single button and system.

I’d started out as a pilot, much to the displeasure of my mother, whowould have preferredthat Istudy to becomea doctor or an accountant. She had wanted me home, but I’d always had the wanderlust, even before the fires that had made going home impossible. Eyeing the pilot seat, which had previously belonged to the young Sune, Kip, I sat down in it with trepidation. I hadn’t done any flying myself in years, not since I’d earned enough to start hiring crew. It had felt much safer to have two males aboard, maleswhocould be the face for any buyers,so I didn’t have to reveal my gender or my species.

On the viewscreen,I plugged in the sensor data first, so that I could watch the huge black shadow of theVarakartoomas it left. I wasn’t quite sure what they were up to—just that they had more pressing places to be, and,likely, it had something to do with more shipments of Jalima’s. The Kanfray they’d taken from my ship, I’d learned,had been destroyed. They weren’t even going to sell the nasty drug for profit, which would have seemed more in line with their fearsome, notorious reputation.

I had to admit, the pilot and navigator pair of the giant Battle-Class Cruiser did a fine job. They made that ship spin like it was a fucking ballerina. Twirling her through space in a neat curve before leaping away into FTL—Faster-Than-Light—in the blink of an eye. The light of their engines flared blue, searing into my retinas with their afterburn, and then they were truly gone, leaving theFinixbehind, adrift in an empty section of space, light-years away from the nearest inhabitable world.

I pressed my fingers to my chest, where I felt a dull ache. That felt like regret, and I couldn’t quite place it. What did I have to regret? I’d survived my encounter with these pirating mercenaries;I’d even lived through two conversationswith their freaky captain. Along the way, the impossible had happened too: I’d made friends, human and Elrohirian. So what was it I had to regret? Nothing. I didn’t even feel guilt over leaving Kip and Chawz in the black grasp of the mercenaries. They had betrayed me;there could be no safety, no trust, if they had conspired together to smuggle something I abhorred aboard my ship.

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