Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 (12 page)

He knew he hit her hard enough to knock the
breath out of her but he had been so frightened he could barely
restrain himself. Gods! He had almost lost her again. He didn’t
know if his heart would ever beat calmly again. He shifted, rolling
until she was trapped underneath him. His hands were framing her
face as he frantically looked down at her.

“Riley,” he croaked out desperately. “Where
are you hurt?”

Riley opened her mouth as she stared up in a
daze at the huge figure above her. She couldn’t breathe. He had her
pinned under his huge body and had knocked the frigging wind out of
her. She finally drew in a huge breath as dark spots began dancing
around the edges of her vision.

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” she said
confused. “You were supposed to have already escaped.”

“Are you hurt?” Vox tenderly growled out
again as he ran the palms of his big hands down over her hair and
cheeks.

“No, I don’t think so,” Riley said before she
let out a loud squeal as she found herself flung over Vox’s huge
shoulder as he jumped to his feet.

“Good! Once we know for sure I’m going to tan
your ass for this little stunt, female!” Vox growled out turning
back toward the door.

“My suitcase!” Riley cried out looking over
at her big, pink suitcase upside down. “I need it!”

“I’m on it,” Tor said hurrying into the room
and grabbing the huge case with a grunt. “Damn Riley, this is
heavy. What do you have in it?” Tor asked as he jogged down the
corridor behind Vox.

“Can we talk less and run faster?” Lodar
asked coming up the rear. “We have less than two minutes to get far
enough away from this rock we don’t get blown up with it.”

“Sor….ry…ab…ou….t….th…tha…that!” Riley
finally got out as she bounced up and down.
“I….hit….the….wro…ng….butt..on. Damn it…. Vox. Will…. you…. quit….
bouncing…. me!”

Vox’s large hand tightened around Riley’s
legs while his other one landed on her ass with a satisfying whack.
He couldn’t help the grin that lit up his face at her outraged yelp
followed by a long string of colorful curses and threats. He let
his hand rest there enjoying the soft, heated flesh under his
palm.

Gods,
but he loved
this
female!
He thought almost tripping as he bolted down the steps
and charged across the landing bay.
I love her!

He never thought he would feel this feeling
for a female but he realized he did. His cat rolled deep inside him
in disgust as the revelation spread warmth to every inch of his
huge frame. He never expected love to feel like this! He felt
wonderful and terrified at the same time. He, Vox d’Rojah, ruling
King of the Sarafin was terrified of a little alien female from a
species he had never even heard of before. She scared him to the
marrow of his bones and he loved it. She drove him nuts, was
totally oblivious to just who he was and the power he had, and he
never knew what in the Guall’s balls she was going to say or do
next. He was also terrified that something might happen to her. He
and his cat needed to protect her, even if it was from herself.
Speaking of which….

“What in the hell did you think you were
doing?” Vox growled out as he charged up the loading tube to …..
“What in the hell is that?” He croaked out in dismay as he got his
first good look at the dilapidated freighter.

“It is the only thing left,” Banu snarled
out. “Move your asses. Titus and Adur have the engines primed as
much as they could without blowing them. We have less than a minute
to get as far from this place as possible.”

Vox’s curses echoed as Banu sealed the door
behind them and barked out to Titus to get them the fuck out of
there. Vox reached out and grabbed the bar along the side as he
felt the old freighter groan and shake as Titus and Adur pushed it
to the maximum.

“Go! Go! Go!” Lodar muttered under his breath
as he hung on tightly to the bar next to Vox.

“I’m going to go see if I can’t get this
rusted piece of dragon dung to move faster,” Tor snarled, holding
onto the bar as he worked his way down the corridor.

“Ah, hello,” Riley said blowing her hair out
of her face. “Is it possible to be put down now? The blood is like
flowing to my head and I am definitely getting a head rush here.
Not to mention, you have a very uncomfortable shoulder considering
how much meat you’ve got on you. Let me tell you, muscle is not
soft!” She complained.

Vox snarled at Banu who had his eyes glued to
Riley’s ass. “Mine!” He snapped to the younger Sarafin warrior.

Banu grinned at Vox. “If we are about to die
at least give me something nice to look at,” he said with a
shrug.

Cross grinned at Banu. “I couldn’t agree with
you more, my friend. If I have to die I wouldn’t mind having her in
my arms.”

“What are they looking at?” Riley said trying
to walk herself up Vox’s back with her hands. She turned and looked
at Banu and Cross who were grinning mischievously at her. “What is
nice?”

“They are staring at your big ass,” Vox
snapped in irritation. “It is mine!”

Riley’s eyes widened before they narrowed to
dangerous slits. “I know you did not just say I have a big ass, you
hot-headed, no-good, two timing piece of kitty litter trash!” She
snapped. “Put me down right this minute.”

Vox slid Riley’s succulent body down along
his own solid form with a loud purr. Gods, she had curves on top of
curves and was so soft he could feel his hands sinking down into
the creamy flesh as his hands slipped under her shirt. His cat
rumbled in delight as her sweet scent overwhelmed his senses and
his eyes actually rolled back in his head when her huge breasts
caressed his cheeks.

“Gods female, you are potent,” Vox purred
against her ear as he leaned into her.

Riley opened her mouth to let him have it but
before she could the entire freighter shuddered violently, creaking
and groaning as the asteroid exploded. Her arms flew out, wrapping
around his neck at the same time as she tried crawling back up his
huge frame. She had too much to live for to die now. She had to
find a way home, she had to lose her virginity, she had a big,
gorgeous smelling lummox to kill.

Vox turned pressing Riley’s shivering figure
between his body and the wall. She had her long legs wrapped
tightly around his waist and her face was buried in his neck. He
didn’t know whether the groan that escaped him was because he could
feel the old freighter struggling to move through the shockwave or
because he could feel the heat of his mate’s pussy pressing against
his cock which decided it didn’t care that they were in mortal
danger of dying right now. He pressed her against the side of the
corridor as his arms strained to hold onto the metal grip bar that
ran along each side of the long corridor.

“Brace for impact!” Titus’ voice came over
the communication’s system. “Adur, see if this piece of crap’s
shields can be increased to the stern. We have debris coming at
us.”

“Shields are at ninety percent. I’m rerouting
power from life support to give it additional power,” Adur muttered
tensely.

“I’ve got the engines primed,” Tor’s voice
came in. “Give it full thrust, Titus. She can handle it for a short
period. Just get us the fuck out of here.”

“Hang on,” Titus yelled as he pushed the
freighter past its specifications.

Banu cursed as he was jerked almost off his
feet as the freighter lurched before surging forward. Cross reached
out and grabbed Banu, pulling him upright at the last second. Banu
muttered a quick thanks under his breath as he grabbed for the bar
again. Vox whispered quietly in Riley’s ear as she whimpered. His
heart beat heavily against his chest as he turned his face into her
silky hair and pressed his lips against her.

“It will be alright, Riley,” Vox promised in
a soft, husky voice. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.
It will be alright. I’ll keep you safe.”

Riley didn’t answer. She just closed her eyes
and held on as tight as she could to the anchor holding her. She
could always kill him later but for now she needed his strength and
calming presence to keep her from having a complete meltdown.

Riley pressed her lips against his neck,
hoping for that plane of total oblivion until the wild ride they
were having was over. She had always hated roller coasters. She
never understood why anyone wanted to go on something that scared
the shit out of them and thought it was funny. That was why she
kept the damn old Ford she had. It couldn’t go faster than fifty
miles an hour without shaking apart. Slow was good, slow was
safe.

Vox chuckled as he listened to Riley
whispering. That was something else he loved about her. She was
totally open, there was no deceit in her. But most of all, she
could make him laugh even in the face of danger.

“Yes, my sweet mate,” Vox murmured. “Slow can
be very, very good. But I still want to show you how wonderful fast
can be as well.”

Vox muttered another curse as he wiped the
sweat from his eyes. He and Tor had been working on the engines for
the past two days. He had to hand it to his chief engineer, the man
knew his engines. He had rebuilt the main engine while Adur and
Cross worked on the defense systems with a little help from Bob and
Fred. The damn Curizan was just as impressive when it came to his
knowledge of electronics. He knew the species loved their toys.
Hell, Ha’ven the Curizan prince and his brother, Adalard, loved to
show off the damn things they had invented. They had a racing bike
he really wanted but Ha’ven refused to give him another one after
he crashed the first one into a tree less than an hour after Ha’ven
gave it to him.

“So, is Riley talking to you yet?” Tor asked
as he walked up to where Vox was working. He was wiping down
another sleeve that needed to be fitted into the new cylinder that
attached to one of the boosters.

“No,” Vox grunted out as he slammed the cover
on the panel he had been working on closed. “Why she is upset that
I said she had a big ass I’ll never understand. I love it but she
won’t listen to me when I try to tell her that I like her being big
and soft,” he complained as he looked up in frustration at Tor.

“Well, Adur is having to adjust the
environmental systems to handle the extra power he needs for the
shields and weapons systems. It is going to get chilly in here. We
can handle it since we run hotter but our mate will need to be kept
warm. Maybe she will be more receptive to some cuddling,” Tor said
turning away with a grin as Vox snarl at his use of the word ‘our’
mate.

“She is MY mate,” Vox responded in a low
voice. “I will be the only one to keep her warm.”

Tor grinned at his friend and leader. “I am
not the one you have to convince.” He chuckled as he worked the
sleeve onto the booster module and tightened it down.

Vox ran his hand over the back of his neck
tiredly. Once they had made it far enough from the exploding mining
asteroid to be sure they would be safe, Riley had demanded that he
release her. She had smacked his chest and informed him with an
inelegant sniff that she did not have a ‘big’ ass, she had a
maturely figured one and he better never forget it! She had then
grabbed her large pink case that Tor had dropped and marched off to
find her a room of her own. He hadn’t seen her since as Tor needed
assistance trying to keep the damn piece of dragon dung they had
appropriated from falling apart around them. Banu and Titus were
working on the system controls, while Adur, Bob, and Fred worked on
the weapons. Lodar was working on the single replicator that was
malfunctioning and inventorying the medical supplies.

“Well, I think I have the replicator working
temporarily,” Lodar responded tiredly as he walked into the engine
room. “Just don’t order anything elaborate. There is no telling
what the damn thing might do. Oh, and don’t get hurt. The equipment
on this piece of shit is downright barbaric. I wouldn’t operate on
my worst enemy with it. There isn’t even a stolen Curizan portable
regen machine, which by the way I would give my right arm to
appropriate, and all the medicine is out of date by at least twenty
years.”

Vox grimaced. “Have you heard if Titus or
Banu were able to get the communications system up yet? I want to
contact the
Shifter
.”

Lodar shook his head and lean back against
the wall. “Not yet but Banu thought they should have it fixed in
another couple of hours. They are having to dismantle some of the
non-essential control panels to get the parts they need to fix it.
We are going to be operating on the bare minimum until we get off
this death trap.”

“Have you seen Riley?” Vox finally asked
reluctantly.

Lodar laughed. “Yes, she has been like a
small storm sweeping through the upper living and dining quarters.
The only thing that works on this bucket of rust is the laundry
unit. She has washed every piece of cloth on this thing. We all
have nice clean linen on the beds that are available, any clothing
she found was also washed and neatly hung up for our use, and she
has refreshed all her clothing,” Lodar added, raising his eyebrows
up and down with a wicked smile.

Vox’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you do that?”
He demanded.

“Do what?” Lodar asked innocently.

“The eyebrow thing,” Vox growled in a low
voice. “What did she wash that makes you smile like that?”

Tor stopped what he was doing so he could
hear what Lodar had discovered. It had to be good if Lodar got that
look in his eyes. It really took a lot to get a reaction out of his
friend.

Lodar leaned forward excitedly. “She has
these undergarments she wears that are all lacy and sexy. I’ve
never seen anything like it before. There was this one set that
looked like your cat’s coat, Vox. It had the same coloring and
spots. I would kill to see her in it. There were two pieces to it.
The top had these sheer cups that molded to her breasts and they
were like....” Lodar held his big hands out with his fingers spread
wide. “I swear they would overflow both my hands easily! The piece
that she wears over her mound was like....” his voice faded as his
eyes glazed over.