Alien Paladin's Redemption (Warriors of the Lathar Book 13) Read online

  Indra had grumbled every step of the way. It wasn’t that she was unfit. She didn’t seem at all fazed by the physical exertion. She just seemed to like the sound of her own voice. And to nag at him.

  “Well,” he said, jumping from one boulder up to a higher one before turning to offer her his hand. “I will be sure to send a message to the original pilot that you don’t approve of where he crash-landed.”

  “They crashed here?”

  Her face was a picture of surprise as he pulled her up easily, taking the opportunity to take her into his arms and kiss her. She didn’t fight him anymore, parting her lips and surrendering to him immediately, which brought forth a rumble of approval from the back of his throat.

  He drew out the kiss, drinking from her lips, and rewarded her with long, sensual strokes of his tongue against hers. Then he added small nips against her full, lower lip. He’d discovered she liked that. Her breathing altered, becoming shorter and faster. She pressed herself against him… all the clues he’d worked out meant she was turned on. That he’d aroused her and turned her thoughts to mating.

  Mating… His blood heated at the thought, swelling his cock in his pants. While he’d never been ignorant of the mechanics of the act, he’d never before seen the appeal. His brothers had often frequented the pleasure houses, despite their father’s growing fanaticism and dislike of non-Lathar females, but he’d never joined in on their trips…

  Now he understood. Lady Goddess, did he see the appeal. Just that little catch in her breathing and the softness in her eyes as he lifted his head made him want to turn around and carry her back to the shuttle. Claim her all over again.

  But it was more than that. He didn’t just want to claim her. He wanted to own her. He had a darker side to his nature that he’d always kept locked away, but it had always been there. It was like a darkness that lurked in his blood ready to pounce, and never closer to the surface than during battle. It was the reason he prayed, the reason he punished himself with a level of control most males could only ever dream of, and the reason he’d gone through the Vesh, convinced that if he could just rid himself of that darkness, all would be well.

  But now that darkness had found a new obsession. Her. He wanted to claim her, mate with her in all the ways he’d heard tell of from his fellow warriors. But he wanted other things as well… to bind her to his bed, helpless and at his mercy. But not to hurt her as he’d once feared. He wanted to make her scream, yes, but with pleasure. For her to sob and beg… him for more.

  To test the theory that had been building in his mind, he slid his hand up and gripped the back of her neck. He held her tightly as he tilted her head up to where he wanted. She gasped but didn’t fight back, her hands gripping the front of his jacket and her eyes darkening with desire. He had his answer. She liked it when he did this. Liked being held. Liked his darkness as much as that darkness liked her.

  “We are not far from our destination,” he told her, looking up the slope as his thumb stroked gently over her pulse. It throbbed under his touch, a little faster than normal but not from fear. Good. He would never want her to fear him.

  “I will approach first, and you will remain in cover. Understand? Your safety is my primary concern.”

  She tried to nod but couldn’t until he eased his grip. “What could there be out here?” she asked, gesturing around them. “We’ve not seen anything bigger than a bloody sparrow.”

  He had no idea what a sparrow was but nodded anyway. “Be that as it may, the local predators aren’t what worry me. The shuttle could have automated defenses as well.”

  “It’ll be fine, Nyek.” She smiled, reaching up to pat his cheek before trying to pull away. He held on for a moment longer, not letting her go until he was ready and making sure she knew it. When she settled down again, looking up at him, he nodded and released his grip.

  “You’re a pain in the ass. You know that?” she threw at him over her shoulder as she stomped ahead. “A sexy pain in the ass, but a pain in the ass all the same!”

  A soft chuckle escaped him at the vibe. It hadn’t been delivered with anywhere near its usual venom, and the look in her eyes warmed him through. Especially when her gaze slid down his body to his crotch. He saw no point in attempting to hide the way she affected him, and so he raised an eyebrow, daring her to comment.

  She didn’t, and they carried on making their way up the side of the hill toward the small ledge the crashed shuttle had come to rest on. Nyek put a hand out to stop Indra before they crested the rise.

  “Remain here,” he ordered her, nodding toward a large boulder nearby. “I will approach and if necessary, disable the automated defenses.”

  She looked mutinous for a second. He pulled her toward him, a quick, hard kiss putting paid to any arguments before they could fully form.

  “Go,” he whispered when he lifted his head. Sliding his pack from his shoulder, he gave it to her. “Stay put until I call you.”

  With a small nod, she did as he bid, although a look back told him it was because she had decided to not because he had ordered her. He hid his grin again as he clambered up the last part of the rock face, already anticipating their return to the shuttle.

  By the time he reached the crest, though, he’d locked all those thoughts away to concentrate on the matter at hand. He hadn’t been lying to Indra about the danger posed by the automated defenses. It was entirely possible something had occurred and activated them since the shuttle had been abandoned here. Or… in a worst-case scenario, somehow the AI had activated them. Usually AIs could not do that, but from the mission briefing he’d been given, this was an experimental unit… so Liaanas only knew what it was capable of.

  Not for the first time in his life, Nyek wished he’d qualified to train as a drakeen pilot. Having one of the heavy-duty combat bots at his back would be an advantage right about now. His eyes narrowed as he crouched just below the rise. Without one, though, he would just have to improvise…

  Picking up a rock, he stood and hurled it, aiming around ten feet to his left. Then he quickly dropped back down into cover.

  Silence. Nothing moved. And, more importantly, laser cannons didn’t blast his head off or obliterate the part of the ledge where his decoy had landed. Sending up a quick prayer to the goddess for his continued good fortune, he boosted himself up onto the ledge and walked toward the shuttle.

  It lay at the back of the small outcrop of rock, canted to its side. It was badly damaged, that much was obvious, but whether that was from the original crash or from subsequent movement down the nearly sheer rock faces above, he couldn’t tell. From the original report, this area had been covered in snow when the shuttle had crashed, so it was entirely possible this wasn’t the original crash site and the shuttle had moved with the melting snows.

  He kept his wits about him as he approached and an eye on the remaining cannon array. The other appeared to have been torn off somewhere, but the one nearest to him looked to be functional, if resting in the powered-down state. That didn’t mean anything, though. Under AI control, those things could be powered up and firing in a nanosecond.

  Nothing moved and he breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the side of the shuttle, too close to the hull to be in the array’s line of fire. Standing in front of it, he studied the door. It wasn’t damaged, and there was no sign of life.

  Taking his blade, he pried open the panel to the side to study the controls. They were dead, which meant the entire shuttle was out of power or there was a disconnect someplace. Some wiring had knocked loose in the crash and the events after it maybe. Walking around the vessel, he did a visual inspection. It had come to rest slightly canted to one side, with its nose against a rock face. Rocks covered the front, over the view screen. He frowned as he bent down, trying to get a better look.

  Reaching into a gap between some rocks, he gently pulled something free and then smiled at the jewel-like cube that glittered in his palm. It was part of the view screen, and if that was broken, e
ven just a little, it meant they could get in. He looked up. All they had to do was move all these rocks, shimmy through, and recover the AI unit. Then they’d be on their way.

  The smallest sound behind him made him spin like lightning. A second later he had Indra pinned against the side of the shuttle, his blade against her throat. Her stricken gaze clashed with his, her normally golden skin pale, and he froze. He’d come so close to hurting her…

  “What did I tell you?” he demanded, fear making his voice harsh. “You were to remain in safety until I called you.”

  Carefully, every movement controlled, he lifted the blade, sliding it away into the sheath on his thigh.

  “You didn’t call,” she swallowed, her hands clamped around his upper arms. “I thought something had happened to you. But next time I’ll let some fucking plant eat you or something.”

  Fear had brought her back to her snippy self. With gentle but firm movements, he tilted her head to the side, checking her delicate skin for cuts.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake, I’m not a delicate little flower,” she hissed, yanking herself from his grasp. “I’ve had a blade against my throat before. More times than I can count.”

  His lips compressed. He hadn’t asked her about her past, but now he found himself curious. Where had she come from? What had her life been like before… from her words and manner it had obviously been violent, but the very thought angered him.

  “Females should not be brought to harm,” he started and she whirled on him.

  “Yeah, maybe that’s true for Latharian fe… women. Do you know what this means?” she hissed and pointed at her check.

  “No.”

  He hadn’t missed the scar there. He’d originally assumed it was because she was religious, perhaps a sign of the god or goddess she worshiped. Her words blew that out of the sky, though.

  “It’s the sign of the Tazvarth gang.” Her expression was hard as she looked at him. “The most violent, brutal gang on Talax-Four.”

  He nodded. “And that sign means you belong to a male in this gang?”

  She barked out a laugh. “Bloody Lathar and your claiming shit. I belong to no man. This sign means I am Tazvarth.”

  Her chin rose, her expression as she met his eyes challenging.

  “I passed my initiation when I was little more than sixteen. I’ve been a ganger most of my life, running the rackets on the streets. Until they caught us hitting a food convoy and put me in Mirax Ruas…”

  She laughed bitterly and spread her arms. “You are looking at a bona fide convict, one of the most dangerous humans in the galaxy and sentenced to death for her crimes.”

  He watched her levelly. It would be too easy to bite back, but her anger wasn’t at him. He didn’t know who or what had hurt her, but someone had. That much was obvious.

  “Good, then that means I can count on you.” He nodded toward the shuttle behind her. “We need to clear those rocks to get in. The door is jammed.”

  “When you said you could count on me,” Indra huffed an hour later as they cleared away the last of the rocks. “I didn’t think you meant to put me to work as a hard laborer.”

  He slid her a glance from under his hair as he offered her the water bottle from the pack. “I know what I’d rather put you to work as.”

  “Well, isn’t that just like a man? One-track mind.”

  She barked out a laugh, taking the bottle from him. He watched as she took a good swallow, his need to protect her warring with admiring the way her breasts moved under her tank top.

  He blinked, plastering an innocent look on his face as she handed the bottle back. “I merely meant I would like to put you to work teaching me about humans. Why?” He tilted his head curiously. “What did you think I meant?”

  Her expression froze, somewhere between laughter and mortification. Then she growled, the visceral sound doing things to him that should be illegal. She stalked toward him, but he didn’t back down, letting her get right up into his personal space. This close, it was hard to miss how tiny she was compared to him, even if her attitude did make her seem much larger than life at all other times.

  “Well, I rather thought you’d like to put me to work learning… other things,” she murmured, her voice husky and low.

  His heartbeat stuttered as she drew a line down the center of his chest, hooking a finger under his belt to pull him closer. “You think last night was everything I know? Baby… we’ve only just scratched the surface.”

  Holy Lady of battle herself.

  Just like that, Nyek found himself caught by his own trap. Swallowing, he looked down at her, his voice raspy with need when it emerged. “I intend to discover all your secrets,” he warned. “Every single one.”

  She winked and stepped back, bending down to look into the dark hole they’d created. “After we find this blasted AI. Where should it be?”

  “You are not going in there,” he told her when she dropped to the metal they stood on and made to wriggle inside. “There might be predators hiding in there.”

  She paused in her movements and looked up at him. Pointedly, she glanced at his shoulders and then at the size of the hole again.

  “Sure thing. Want me to find you some lube? Because that’s the only way you’re fitting through there.”

  His jaw worked. She had a point. He knew she did. He just didn’t want to admit it.

  “Besides.” She motioned toward the pile of rocks they’d had to remove just to get this small gap. “If anything’s still alive in there after all this time with that lot there… I’d say it damned well deserves its meal. Don’t you?”

  “Fine.” He hissed through his teeth and then unhooked the blaster from his belt. “Take this. It has a light on the front. Anything… and I mean anything moves in there, you blast it to the hells themselves.”

  “Hells plural?” she asked as she took it from him. Their fingers brushed, a small burst of electricity making her look up at him. “As in more than one?”

  “Yes…”

  She shrugged. “Well, that explains a lot.”

  Before he could ask what she meant, she snapped the light on the blaster and wriggled into the hole they’d created between the rocks.

  Bending down, he crouched by the hole, all his instincts shouting at him that he should be the one going in there. He was the warrior, the one tasked with protecting her. But, thanks to a couple of boulders they couldn’t shift without mechanical help… she was right. There was no way he’d fit through the gap. With his larger body, even as lean as he was, he’d have gotten stuck halfway.

  She slipped out of sight and there was silence long enough for him to start to get worried. The muscle in the corner of his jaw pulsed and he rubbed at the edges of the scar on his wrist. What if there had been some kind of predator lying dormant in there? Draanth, he should have insisted she let him try first.

  “So… what am I looking for in here?” her voice issued from the darkness. “And is there supposed to be water in here? It stinks.”

  “If they crashed into snow and the screen was shattered, snow may have made its way inside,” he leaned down to call back, hand on the rock beside him. “The AI housing should be somewhere near the pilot’s console.”

  He thought quickly. This was a class of shuttle he wasn’t familiar with, but he’d memorized the schematics from the mission briefing. “You’re looking for a rectangular box about the size of my spread hands across. Can you see anything like that?”

  “You sure it’s that big?”

  “Yes. It should be somewhere in that size range.”

  “Did you know the length of a man’s fingers is associated with the length of his dick?”

  He frowned. “I fail to see how that is relevant right at this moment.”

  There were some metallic clunks and scraping sounds. What on Lathar was she doing down there?

  “You have big hands.”

  “I see.” Then his brows winged up. “Are you saying that I… My… That my genit
als are large?”

  A peal of laughter came back. “Yes, you have a big cock.”

  He didn’t answer for a moment as a slow spread of heat and pure male ego washed through his veins. Then he coughed, clearing his throat.

  “So. You find me more than… adequate?” he couldn’t help asking.

  There was another chuckle of amusement from deep within the shadows.

  “I should say so, sunshine. Any more and I’d be walking funny for a week. Oh fuck, yes… come to Momma!”

  More metallic clunks and scrapes emanated from the darkness while he frowned. What did walking have to do with what they’d done… Oh.

  “Do you have it?” he asked, his manner snapping back to professional as a hand became visible in the narrow rock tunnel to the shuttle.

  “Yes… here…”

  She pushed a black box ahead of her. The AI core housing. Leaning in, he took it, giving it a cursory look before putting it aside and focusing on her. It looked relatively undamaged but other than that inert. They’d done all they could do. They’d recovered it physically. It was up to the scientists back on the Izal’vias to check out whether the AI was still operative and contained the information they needed.

  However, while it should be, the mission wasn’t his main concern at the moment. Instead, he was focused on the slender female wriggling her way out of the rock tunnel. Reaching in, he hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her out, holding her against him.

  “Oh my,” she said breathlessly, hands against his upper arms while her feet dangled above the ground. “What big muscles you have.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Muscles you will… feel more intimately when we get back to the shuttle.”

  To the gratification of his male ego, heat flared instantly in her eyes and her lips curved in a sultry smile.

  “Well, we’d better get back there quickly then. Hadn’t we?”

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