Lovers of the Galaxy: Book Three: Raiders of the Lost Heart (12 page)

Once Jaxxon nodded, the woman vanished with the
warriors.

Someone laughed behind them. Startled, Venus spun
around to glare at Zandor.

“You are a quick one,” he stated. “I didn’t think a
human could move that fast and be that deadly.”

Before Venus could say a word, Charlotte sneaked up
behind Zandor and kicked right under his knee. He stumbled and spun
around with a long, copper looking knife in his hand. “What do you
think you are doing, woman? I could have killed you.” He placed his
long blade back into his holder and snarled, but that didn’t stop
Charlotte.

“I was showing you that we females know how to handle
ourselves. You will quit hassling Venus, or I swear I’ll make sure
you have no balls left to father any children, you over-grown
lizard.” Charlotte poked his chest, her five-foot- frame barely
coming up to his chin.

“And here I thought you were a gentleman,” she
grumbled and turned to walk away, but not before Zandor wrapped his
arm around her waist, holding her still.

“I never said I was a gentleman.” He leaned over and
nipped Charlotte’s nose. “Don’t temp us, beautiful woman. We do not
want to hurt you. We are more than you can handle.” Zandor turned
to stare at Venus. He held himself still, looking at her, as if
trying to come to a conclusion.

“I apologize if I offended you, Venus, but I was
really paying you a compliment. You certainly are the warrior my
friends claim you are.” He bowed his head

Three sets of dings filled the main floor room,
shocking them all as they spun towards the noise.

She turned to see what the men were looking at. “What
the…?” Venus saw that the elevator bank in the hallway was
operational.

“I wonder what else I have over looked,” she
grumbled, upset, knowing that anything could have gotten in from
the tunnels beneath the city, she hadn’t been as secure as she’d
thought she had been.

“I believe we are about to see something of what is
down in the tunnels.” Zandor pushed Charlotte behind him, as Jaxxon
and Volund stepped in front of her too, protecting her.

Venus’s mates were now covered in their armor, battle
ready. She smiled and reached to run a hand over first Volund’s and
then Jaxxon’s back, but yanked her hand back knowing she should not
distract them right now.

The elevator door opened, and three of the warriors
pulled a skinny, dirty man out. “Watch it, you alien freaks!” he
snapped.

“Oh, my god, it’s our perverted mayor! Of all the men
to be alive, it had to be him,” Gram yelled looking into the room
from the hallway. Acwel and Badden were both trying to hold her
back.

“Release me, you big fools. I’m gonna kick his skinny
ass,” Gram declared, angrier than Venus had ever seen her.

Venus and Charlotte laughed, watching as Gram tried
to get round Badden, but he wouldn’t budge. Venus tapped Volund’s
shoulder. “Move out of the way. I want to see this weasel of a
man.”

He stepped aside, but pinned her to his side.

She grinned and shook her head, as she gave her full
attention to the mayor, Andrew Warton. “Gram is right. Of all men
in this city, why the disease spared you is beyond me. God, you
look pitiful. All these years you’ve been hiding in those tunnels?”
Venus wrinkled her nose, before she covered her face with her
hand.

“And what the hell is that odor? My god, Andrew,
don’t you ever bathe?”

Her stomach rolled, and her eyes watered as the mayor
stared at her.

One warrior snarled behind Andrew. “It seems this man
has a whole security system set up downstairs. From what we saw, he
watched everything you and your mate did, Sir.”

“To think you lay with those freaks,” the mayor
shouted, half crazed. He tried to step closer to her, but Jaxxon
growled, baring his fangs. “What would your parents think?”

Jaxxon wrapped his hand around Andrew’s neck and
lifted him. “You watched our woman and then you attack her with
words. Throw him outside,” he glanced at the warrior who guarded
the mayor, “and let the Bone Eaters have him.” He tossed Andrew
across the lobby to the huge steel doors.

“No,” said Venus. “We can’t do that. It’s dark now,
so don’t take any unnecessary chances due to that jerk. We can put
him at the edge of town tomorrow morning, but until then we need to
lock him up. Put him in one of the traps I use for catching the
Bone Eaters.” She spun away tucking her face into Volund’s
now-naked chest, inhaling.

“Would someone please wash him or get him out of
here? I’m going to be sick.”

Once again, Venus found herself in Volund’s arms and
in their personal quarters. She sighed and glanced over to see her
grandmother, just as she slugged Acwel.

“Damn you, tell me first when you’re going to do
something like that.” Gram grabbed her stomach and moaned, her gaze
meeting hers. “How the hell do you get use to that vanishing trick?
It’s worse than those old roller coasters.” She plopped down onto a
chair.

Badden sat next to Gram, as Jaxxon and Acwel appeared
in the room.

Placing Venus on her feet, Volund nodded to a chair.
“Sit. I’ll get you something to settle your stomach.”

She joined her Gram at the table, keeping her
attention on Zander when he showed up with Charlotte, who jerked
away from him kicking him in the shins, before joining them at the
table. “Keep your darn hands to yourself asshole.”

“What else was found in the tunnels, Zandor? You’ve
sent some of your men down there, I take it you can telepathically
communicate with your warriors?”

He nodded, but kept his gaze on her Charlotte and
looked at her foot. “Did you hurt yourself? He knelt in front of
Charlotte to look at her foot, but she yanked her foot away from
him.

“I’m fine you big lug,” Charlotte snapped.

“Is there something I should know about?” she asked,
looking at her Charlotte then at Zandor.

When her face turned a nice shade of pink, Charlotte
yelled, “Venus!”

Standing back, Zander’s attention was now on her.
“There is nothing…yet. When we decided to move forward we will let
you know. As for the tunnels, I’m afraid there are no food supplies
left. The west end of the tunnel is not fit for any women or man.
It’s no wonder your species is on the verge of extinction, such
waste and destruction from a tiny worm, and to think he was your
mayor.”

As if on cue, Remus appeared in the room and agreed
with him before he leaned over, sniffing Charlottes’ neck. “Our men
will go through and see if there is anything we can salvage. We’ll
take out and burn everything else.”

The 19th century cowgirl she was, Charlotte swatted
at him and pushed Remus away. “Will you two please stop with the
sniffing? I swear you remind me of a couple of wild dogs.”

Venus frowned and looked around the room. “Jaxxon,
where is Tonto? I haven’t seen him for a while. He’s always around
me.” She stood and walked to the hallway, but Jaxxon stepped in
front of her.

Volund hugged her from behind.

“Tonto was hurt when we were hunting earlier. Right
now, we have him resting in the back room of the lab,” Jaxxon said
and tried to cup her cheek, but she yanked away. “We need to make
sure the bite does not infect him, Venus.”

She clenched her fists at her sides and glared at
him. “You’re just now telling me this? How did he get bitten and by
what?” She pushed Jaxxon’s hand away and stepped out of Volund’s
arms. Tonto had been her one and only companion for the past few
years, a friend who kept her sane.

Venus sat on the lab floor with Tonto’s head in her
lap. Her men had been furious that she was there. With the chance
of infection still so strong they had all but demanded she stay
away, but she wasn’t about to leave her pet alone. He’d saved her
many times over. Ino and Ka tried to lie down next to them to keep
them company, but their size had them sitting at the door,
watching.

“Mommy’s here, Tonto. I won’t leave you. You saved my
life so many times. I’ll never forget the day I found you, huddled
in the bottom of that well. You were wet, dirty, and hungry.” Tears
flowed down her cheeks, as she ran her hand down his back. The fur
around his leg stained with his blood. “You’ll be okay, Tonto.”

Jaxxon and Volund kneeled in front of her. “Venus,
you can’t stay here all night. You need to eat and to rest. We will
watch over Tonto.” Volund wiped away her tears.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop that animal from biting
him. It was so fast. I think it was one of the animals you call it
a cat.”

“He was attacked by a cat?” She knew there were no
domestic cats around, and a small feline wouldn’t leave a wound
this size unless… She slowly scooted out from underneath Tonto and
accepted Volund’s hand in getting up.

She strode to the tablet and turned it on. Biting her
bottom lip, she turned the pages in the gallery of pictures she’d
taken of various animals she’d encountered the last few years.
Stopping at one picture, she glanced at Volund. “Is this the animal
that attacked Tonto?”

He glanced over her shoulder. “Yes, that is the
creature. Even Ino and Ka could not catch it. It was vicious and
reminded me of a smaller version of
manga
, from the planet
Ron.”

Jaxxon hissed. “Don’t speak of that animal. It
shredded our tents just for the fun of it before he killed our
concos
.” He nodded to the picture. “You have had earlier
run-ins with it and lived?”

“Concos?” Venus echoed.

“They are comparable to chickens,” Volund
answered.

Laughing, she patted Jaxxon’s arm. “Yes, here in my
world we call the cat a cougar. Tonto will be fine. You must have
gotten close to her babies. She usually stays close to her den.”
She turned and smiled down at Tonto. “I told you to leave her
alone. You’re lucky for some reason the cougars don’t seem to get
infected.”

His shoulders slumped, Volund released a loud sigh,
and lifted her hand up to his mouth kissing it. “That is such a
relief. I was worried, and he was with me when it happened. I would
do anything for you, Venus, and to see the hurt in your eyes all
but killed me.” He hugged her tightly.

Placing a kiss on Volund’s chest, Venus rested her
head on it. Jaxxon kissed the back of her neck. With just the three
of them in the lab, she needed information and took the opportunity
to discuss something privately.

She stared up at Volund. “Now, do you want to tell me
what is going on with your red friends and Charlotte?” She wasn’t
worried about Gram, she could hold her own with Acwel and Badden.
Charlotte was a different story. She did not know if the red
warriors frightened her, too.

Jaxxon cleared his throat, and Volund nodded. In
seconds, they transhifted to their private quarters. Bringing Tonto
and his pallet with them. Three heaping plates of food rested on
the table, but no one was there. Gram or one of the others must
have prepared everything for them.

“Sit, and we’ll explain.” Jaxxon pulled out a chair
for her. “You need to eat.” He cupped her breast from behind and
squeezed. “I love you, Venus.”

“We both do.” Volund kissed her cheek and sat next to
her.

Something was up, and for some reason she wasn’t sure
if she was going to like it. “Do you really think I can eat all
this, and what are these?” Using her fork, she picked up a round,
bright pink, leafy thing.

Volund grinned. “It’s sort of like your vegetables,
but sweeter and contains all the nutrition you need for your
pregnancy. Zandor and Remus brought a supply of it for you. They
also brought the seeds so we can grow it.”

Always curious, Venus took a small bite. At once, the
food item melted on her tongue. A burst of flavor had her taste
buds quivering. It was if her tongue had its first orgasm. “Oh,
my!”

It was honey, no chocolate, no caramel—the flavors
kept changing. Venus’s eyes teared when the fire hit her, as the
food entered her stomach. Volund handed her a glass of water.

Both of her mates laughed and rubbed her back.

“It does have its drawbacks,” said Volund, “but it is
the best source of nutrients for you and our unborn.”

They were both up to something, as she watched both
men strip out of their clothes. Jaxxon’s long black hair was now in
a braid pulled back, only showing a little of the red streaks that
went through it. His eyes turned a deeper red color when he turned
to go into their sleeping quarters.

With Jaxxon gone, she took another bit and
concentrated on Volund. He grabbed a bottle of water and guzzled it
down. His cock thick and hard already, jerked as if…Her gaze flew
to up to see Volund smiling at her.

“Like what you see do you?” He took another gulp, but
watched her at the same time.

She took another gulp of water, and prepared to
bombard her husbands with questions about Charlotte, even if they
were making her horny.

***

He could see it in her eyes, knowing they hadn’t
deterred her questions. “Before you even start. I’m watching them
very closely and so are others. From what I can see, we think
Charlotte is their mate.” Volund raised his hand and stopped the
words.

“Yes, it can happen. They are compatible, but
Charlotte must really want this, and agree with it before they can
take her. Their race is different from ours, and Charlotte will of
course have to be changed as you were.”

She took another bite from her second plate of food.
He loved how Venus tongue would come out and touch the fork before
she placed the food in her mouth.

He reached for his cock and slowly started to stroke
it watching her. “Take your shirt of Venus, I want to see you.”

Her head came up, and stared at him for but a moment.
She set her fork down, doing as he instructed and sat back at the
table taking another bite. Her nipples were hard and her breathing
had become faster. He could see the excitement in her gaze.