Venomous: Erotic Science Fiction Romance (Alien Warrior Book 1) (25 page)

“Don’t let it get me,” I whispered huddling.

It would hurt me, damage me in some screwed up way to add to the never ending pile of fucked up shit I needed therapy for since I’d been abducted.

Snuffling as it stalked my scent, the Dei San grew close enough to spot me.

It threw back its bony skull with a guttural shriek then charged, a lumbering giant possessing the power to crush me with a single blow.

Hand on heart, my life flashed before my eyes.

It was a pitiful flickering I swore to change if fate intervened.

Never again would I trudge aimlessly through life, I’d do better, I’d make something of myself.

My death scream was strangled when the world upended.

Fiercely somersaulted in a feat of gravity defying acrobatics.

We went up, twisted, rolled over, and landed with him on the balls of his feet, five paces back from where we’d been, facing the opposite direction.

With me clutched to his chest, I thought he’d run, but no, the tumble gave him enough space to jump over a swinging blade, and deliver an airborne butterfly kick to the Dei San’s head.

Lurching to avoid another slash of the toothed blade, Fiercely flipped me over his shoulder, and I ended up attached to his broad back, the breath knocked from me, tangled hair obscuring my vision.

I scrambled to grab hold, sinking my fingers into his rubbery bodysuit, and wondering just what
the fuck
he thought he was doing.

Free to advance a frontal attack, Fiercely lashed out, grabbing the thick neck of our aggressor to hold him fast.

Using his talons, he gouged into the spaces between its metal armour, drawing a viscous spurt of blood, and hit a lumpy swelling that popped then splashed the wall with acid puss that ate through the metal.

The Dei San keened, crashing to its knees.

Snarling, Fiercely didn’t stop.

Claws embedded deep, he used the others to shred the breastplate from our assailant.

He plunged his fists into its chest.

Bones shattered as he punched past a fused ribcage, and dug into the Dei San’s steaming innards, macerating them to mush before wrenching back his gore-slicked hands, pulsating viscera clinging to his claw tips.

The pirate gurgled, mucus dripping from its serrated teeth.

Bowels loosening, it keeled over dead.

Rattled by the viciousness and gagging at the rancid stink, I stifled a scream.

It was the slave planet all over again, but in outer space, on a spaceship with a pressurised hull that might get punctured by one of the brainless uglies shooting lasers.

We’d be sucked out into the airless void.

If I didn’t breathe out, I’d have nine seconds of agony where the liquid in my mouth and eyes evaporated with frostbite, my lungs ruptured, and my flesh swelled with water even as the outer layers of my skin flayed from extreme heat caused by radiation.

The agony would end as I passed out from the eye rolling convulsions.

Oh, wait, no eye rolling because my eyeballs will be sightless lumps of ice.

Should I, of course, have enough wits to exhale as my limp body whiplashed out of the jagged tear in the ship, and I hurtled through the black nothing at incalculable speeds, unable to breathe, unable to move, I might even last up to half a minute, and experience the excruciating torment of the bends multiplied by a trillion, as my paralytic husk shattered to fragments when it finally collided with a speck of cosmic dust, but really, why bother?

I wanted off the space voyage and on terra firma in a bad way.

Blocking my nose, counting breaths, I pressed my forehead onto Fiercely’s scaled nape.

It took every ounce of my common sense and self control not to jump off his back then run screaming for Venomous.

The ship was under siege.

Warriors died horribly paces from me.

It was not the time to act on flight impulse because if I ran, I’d get caught.

If I ran, I
would
die.

Slipping, I wrapped my legs around Fiercely’s waist then clasped my own wrist, arms locked around his neck.

It hurt, my wrist throbbing, but my fear of falling was greater.

The corridor was crammed with six-limbed Rä battling Dei San.

The raiders stood two to three feet taller with considerably more mass, rendering the superior Rä warrior skills equal to their brute strength.

Physically, it was all I could do not to faint, emotionally, I was all over the place.

Why hadn’t Venomous found me?

Hadn’t he woken?

Please let him be awake and able to defend himself.

I was beside myself with worry.

How will I find him if they get him off this ship?

Panting with fright, I pressed my mouth to Fiercely’s spiky ear. “How did they find us in open space? Are we ship jacked? Is there ship jacking in space? Is ship jacking even the right term?”

Babbling, I gulped down far too much air, panic building on top of the stress that had been built on more panic.

I didn’t know how to maintain equilibrium.

How am I supposed to deal with the constant terror without going nuts?

“Are we in a shipping lane?” I shrilled. “Because if we are I don’t think that was smart. Not that I’m judging the pilot.... Actually, I
am
judging. Harshly. Considering the circumstances, I have every freaking right to be pissed. This was meant to be a rescue! They are ruining this rescue, and it is
rude
.”

Ignoring my high-pitched blether for what it was, nonsense, Fiercely retreated until my back bumped the wall.

“Thsst!” He’d put himself between me and danger. “They must have lain in wait until we were out of range of an Alliance planet to launch this attack.” Thumping a fist against the inner hull, he hissed, a savage sound of frustration. He clamped a hand around my ankle. “I cannot get you out. They block the route to the escape pods.”

Chills rippled across my flesh. “We can’t leave the ship. Where’s Venom? We have to get him first.”

More Dei San flooded the corridor.

The conflict swung in their favour, overwhelming the warriors with sheer numbers.

Cursing, Fiercely shuffled until we ducked around a corner ignoring my anguished pleas to find my mate.

Running a claw along the dented wall, he grew still, palms pressed to the metal, his head tilted back.

A black opening appeared above us.

It hummed, the noise originating from recessed fans, and blew fresh, cool air onto our upturned faces.

He lifted me. “Get inside.”

I did, but turned around to stick my head back out. “
Venom
–”

“You are no good to him dead.” Bloodied talons stroked my hair. “In here you will be safe. It is better this way. I can look my nest mate in the brille knowing I did all I could to keep you from suffering at their hands.”

Mind fixed on one thing, finding Venomous, the meaning of his words flew right over my head.

I grabbed his hand.

It was slippery with gore, still, I held it tight. “Hide with me. Once they pass, we’ll go after Venom together.”

“You will never know how your words tempt me. Lumen you are.... I am becoming....” A violent tremor shook him then he pulled himself together. “Venomous One must be seeking you. I will go to him. I cannot abandon him now I have found him, and Nāga has a female on board who needs protection.”

Terrified of being abandoned, I wanted to beg him to stay. I sucked it up. “Please find him. Please.”

“Venomous will come for you. If not.... Thsst! Honoured Rä’Na, Lumen, death is worth it to have found you. Forgive me. I should not have separated you from him.”

The vent snapped closed, and I was alone in the darkness.

For the longest time, I huddled there, immobile, staring at where his face used to be then I fell onto my back and covered my face with my hands to weep.

Tears streaked my temples and wet my hair.

It felt as if I lay there forever, sobbing, digging my fingertips into my skull worried I’d go insane.

Time passed.

I grew to hate the dark.

How long has it been since Fiercely left?

The fighting had been so close, I’d heard the horrendous screeches of death.

In a brief moment of calm, I rallied, hoping the warriors would beat the Dei San back, but when it became clear by the terrible sounds that wasn’t happening, I simply begged for it to end.

I could hear their torture.

The screams, the screams, the screams, they were horrifying.

Sounds of pain and anguish tore at my soul, and I believe for a time, I lost my mind.

Venomous was out there.

Surely he’d be awake, and not lying defenceless, his body dragged away to be shackled, or worse, made sport of.

Made to scream.

The thought made me physically sick.

Luckily, the little I’d eaten made a syrupy puddle that wasn’t too bad to lie in.

What if I never see him again?

More time passed.

As the gurgles of death quietened, I became conscious of pressing matters requiring my attention.

I was stuck in a vent, and I had no idea how to open it.

Only Fiercely knew where I hid, and there was a strong likelihood he’d died trying to reach Venomous.

Therefore,
no one
knew where I was.

Not only was I locked inside a vent I couldn’t unlock, I was aboard an enemy occupied battleship floating, literally, in the middle of nowhere.

There was no food, and no water.

I had no weapons.

Hell, I didn’t even have clothes on.

I could crawl my sobbing, petrified, naked self ten feet back and forth.

Taking the time to pace my breathing, I focused on one thing at a time rather than have a breakdown and chew my lips off.

What would Venomous do?

Assess the risks with keeping me safe foremost in his mind.

I can do that.

It was just thinking, after all, nothing difficult about it.

My hiding place was secure; the Dei San hadn’t found me.

They may not even know of my existence, as Fiercely gutted the one that scent tagged me.

If I could find a way to leave the vent, and sneak about the ship, I might find food and water.

I could scope out what the pirates were doing then figure out how to proceed after my most pressing needs were taken care of.

What is the easiest, safest thing to do?

Wait where I was ... and starve to death because no one was coming back for me.

The sensible action was to creep around the, fingers crossed, deserted Trekker corridors until I found the escape pods.

That was where Fiercely tried to take me, so I knew the correct direction to head in.

Will the pods get me where I need to go?

Maybe if I get to one in time, I could fetch the Rä help.

There was the worry they’d all been used, but I intuitively knew the warriors wouldn’t have abandoned ship.

They would have shoved Nāga’s female into a pod then fought to the death.

Curling into a ball for warmth, I wished I’d been stuffed into a heating vent instead of a cooling one.

I cursed Fiercely for disposing of the tunic Venomous had gotten me.

After cursing him, I wept, taking it back and begging any cosmic deities listening to keep him safe from harm if he was alive.

Maybe then he will bring me some bloody clothes.

Anger narrowing my will to a burning desire to find clothing is what caused it to happen.

Globules of silver dripped from the wall to land cold on my shoulder.

I squealed, frantic to somehow rub it off without touching it, but more splashed onto my skin then coalesced into a pool near my hip.

Then nothing, no fiery pain, or microscopic nastiness trying to devour me whole.

Feeling stupid to have reacted so badly, my panic abated.

A sliver of light came from the wall.

I pressed my eye to it, and saw it was the corridor.

Fiercely and Nāga had made things happen in the enclosure with a thought, like bringing up holograms out of thin air, or making lights beam brighter or dimmer.

I had guessed it was a Rä thing, and even if it wasn’t, I’d assumed they would have ensured I was unable to exercise control of my environment as their prisoner.

I have to think the vent open?

Dropping my head back, I pretended to stare past my metal cage into the vastness of outer space to stave off the encroaching feeling of claustrophobia.

Rä used mental commands to control minor functions on the Trekker.

A logical conclusion and not a crazy one?

As crazy as being kidnapped from Earth then falling into lust with an alien warrior?

I blew out a breath then shifted to face the wall.

Trying not to feel stupid, I directed ‘open’ thoughts at it. “Come on, come on. Melt or whatever.”

The wall rippled, as if a pool I’d dabbed in the middle.

Globules separated into metallic beads so minuscule they appeared grains of sand.

The fluid mass ran into a mercury puddle under my knees, cold, yet not wet.

Relief soothed my ragged nerves as the wall opened into the same sized hole I crawled in.

Then I froze.

It took far too long to gather the courage to leave.

Rocking, crying because I was so fucking weak, the entire time, I ignored the urge to pee.

I trained my chaotic mind to focus on one simple fact;
staying here means you will die.

But even that wouldn’t get me moving.

Venomous might be alive, and might die if you do nothing.

I inched forward.

Stopped when the smell of blood wafted from the corridor.

Soon the dry clicks of my tongue and the rumblings of my empty stomach overpowered my fear.

The last thing I wanted was to grow too weak to move.

Dehydration would make me useless, affecting my decision-making abilities, not that they weren’t already messed up.

Mincing to the mouth of the vent, I stilled when the walls vibrated.

Nothing is wrong, you’re trembling, keep going.

Sucking down a breath, I popped my head out, snapped it left then right then jerked back inside within a second flat.