Hitched to the Alien General Read online

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  “Over here. Now, asshole.”

  Xaan sighed at the predictable insult. Two men stood by the door at the back of the room, weapons trained on him as Billy motioned for him to step toward the door of the cell. His injured arm had obviously been treated, the thick field dressings that had covered the wounds from the thorns replaced with smaller ones. They must have a flesh regeneration unit he hadn’t seen while in the medical bay. His expression impassive, he moved to the front of the cell as ordered.

  “Arms out. Don’t try anything funny or these two’ll put a bullet through your skull. Understand?”

  The insults might have been predictable, but at least Billy was switched on, not taking chances where Xaan was concerned. Pity, he would have enjoyed introducing the human’s face to the bars. Repeatedly. Especially now he knew from Kenna that these murdering draanthic had killed the original colonists.

  Without a word, he lifted his arms, holding them still as Billy reached through the bars and slapped heavy manacles around his wrists, locking them to each other. He gave them a testing tug only for Billy to laugh as he unlocked the cell door.

  “That ain’t gonna do you any good, sunshine. They might look flimsy but that there’s high tensile Quadtanium steel alloy. Not even one of your bastard alien friends’ll be able to break it.”

  Xaan lifted an eyebrow as he stepped from the cell. Like a lot of humans, Billy was as xenophobic as hell. It didn’t bode well for future human-Latharian integration. But then, he mused as the human shoved his shoulder roughly, pushing him toward the door, this group were not the sort of group his people wanted anything to do with. Yes, the Lathar might be a highly war-focused society but they were honor driven. Dex and his group were so far from any sort of honor code it was unreal.

  “Out. Boss wants to see you.” The order was rough as they herded him toward the door.

  It didn’t take long for the three of them to march him toward the main square of the compound. A small group had assembled in front of Dex and what looked like a big display screen. For a moment Xaan wondered what it was for, but then it flickered into life and displayed an image of his ship. Or rather, the human trader vessel his ship was pretending to be.

  He spotted Kenna in the group as he was pushed to stand in front of them, but she avoided his gaze. Good, she was still keeping to her cover. He had every faith she would find a way to give them an edge. One he didn’t have at the moment with two rifles covering him from different angles. Had the two goons with Billy grouped together nicely for him, he’d have made a play for one of their weapons, disabling one before shooting the other. But sensibly, they’d stayed well apart and far enough away that as soon as he made a move toward one, the other had time to put a bullet through his brain. And, while the Lathar might have a lot of advantages over humanity, a bullet proof cranial coating was not one of them. He’d be dead before he hit the ground.

  He looked at Kenna again. And he had too much to live for to let that happen.

  “Our guest arrives,” Dex smirked as Xaan was pushed to stand next to him. “I hope you find our… hospitality to your liking.”

  He shrugged. “Bed’s a bit hard and the food leaves much to be desired. I’d sack your chef if I was you.”

  Dex laughed, his manner superior and smug, as though he knew he had the upper hand. If Xaan had been in his shoes though, he’d have been wondering why his prisoner was so calm and unruffled. But then, Dex had come across marines before, albeit wounded ones like Stephens, so he was obviously measuring Xaan by that yardstick.

  Good.

  “Now you’ve had a chance to think about it, I want to offer you the opportunity to do the right thing.” He waved toward the ship on the screen. “Give us the access codes for your ship.”

  “No.”

  The word was blunt and to the point, dropping into silence. The crowd murmured as they watched the scene playing out. The eagerness on their faces sealed his impression of them. None of them were innocent. If they’d been part of this colony originally, they weren’t now. They were Dex’s people and complicit in his crimes. He noticed Kenna slip away out of the corner of his eye but didn’t draw attention to the fact he’d noticed, instead focusing on Dex.

  “I beg your pardon?” the scavenger leader spluttered.

  Xaan’s lips quirked. “No need to beg. It’s not manly.”

  Dex nodded to Billy and pain exploded through the back of his skull as the human slammed his rifle butt into the back of Xaan’s neck. He went down on one knee in response. Not because he needed to—the blow hadn’t been that hard—but to keep up the appearance of playing human.

  “Codes. Now,” Dex snarled right in Xaan’s face. He didn’t need to bend down too far to do it, which made Xaan smother a smile of amusement. “Or we’ll destroy your ship.”

  Xaan met him look for look. “No you won’t. You need my ship to get off this planet.”

  “No we don’t,” Dex scoffed. “Why would we want to leave such a veritable paradise?”

  There was no sense arguing with the delusional, so Xaan didn’t. He just shrugged.

  “Codes.”

  “Either you’re deaf or stupid. What part of ‘no’ didn’t you understand?” Xaan was thoroughly enjoying himself now. Who knew throwing human insults at humans could be so entertaining? “Should I use small words as well?”

  Billy hit him again. This time he added a small grunt for effect and imagined shoving the draanthic thing up the human’s ass. Sideways.

  “It seems our spy here wants to conceal the evidence of his crime!” Dex cried out, playing up to the crowd around them. His eyes glittered nastily. “Let’s disabuse him of that notion, shall we?”

  He snatched the radio from his belt. “Karl? Blow it open.”

  Draanth. Xaan swiveled to look as the view on the screen changed. A farm vehicle trundled into view with what looked like a ship gun array mounted to the back. A male, presumably Karl, stood behind the heavy weapon.

  “You might not want to fire that on the surface,” Xaan began. “That looks like an orbital weapon.” Aka something not designed to be fired in atmosphere. He didn’t know about human weaponry, but with the equivalent Lathar version, it would turn Karl and his vehicle into a very pretty fireworks display.

  Dex just grinned.

  “Worried about your ship? Give me the codes and we can stop this all right here, right now.”

  “Worried you’re going to lose your man and have another death on your conscience more like,” Xaan threw back, looking worriedly at the screen but not for the reasons Dex thought. If the male fired that weapon so close to the Jerri’tial’s shielding, the energy rebound would shatter the links between every cell in his body.

  Dex clicked the radio. “Light him up, Karl.”

  Xaan closed his eyes. Less than a second later, an explosion split the air, making him wince. When he opened his eyes, the view on the screen was obliterated. He knew what they’d see, though, before the dust cleared from the air.

  Karl and his vehicle were toast, a burning pyre in their place that stood in testament to Dex’s stupidity. But the untouched ship behind it drew everyone’s attention.

  “What the…” Dex breathed, looking at the screen in utter shock along with the rest of the group. “There’s no way it could have taken a shot like that.”

  Right on cue, the shielding on the Jerri’tial failed. It flickered in and out a few times, juxtaposing the sleek combat flyer with the image of the clunky trader, and then, with an audible fizzle, the trader was gone.

  “It-it’s…” Dex blinked, his mouth dropping open. “It’s an alien ship.”

  He whirled around to stab a finger at Xaan. “Where did you get an alien ship? Tell me! Did they let you have it?”

  “There was no letting me have anything.” The game was up, so Xaan dropped all pretense. Closing his eyes, he disengaged the contacts that had concealed the true appearance of his eyes and looked directly at the human in front
of him. “The ship’s always been mine.”

  “Y-Y-You’re one of them!” Dex whispered, backpedaling. “You’re…”

  “I am Xaandril of the Lathar.” Xaan smiled. “And you wouldn’t believe me how… what’s the phrase humans use? Ah yes. You wouldn’t believe me how fucked you lot are.”

  It took the scavenger leader a few moments to put himself back together. He snapped the radio up to his mouth. “Jason. Emily. I don’t care how you do it, but blow that fucking ship to kingdom come.”

  Xaan watched the screen impassively as two more farm trucks, armed like the first, rolled into view. He didn’t alter his expression when they started to fire on the Jerri’tial. With its shielding down, even its tough hull couldn’t hold out against the sustained fire.

  Within minutes, it exploded, the fire visible on the horizon even from the compound. Dex grinned in triumph. “That’s it. You’re stuck on this planet with us now. Guards, take him away.”

  Xaan didn’t move, a small smile on his lips as he locked gazes with Dex long enough to make the human look uncomfortable. “You’ve got it wrong. You’re stuck on this planet with me. How do you think that’s gonna work out for you, asshole?”

  The snarl warned him a second before Dex yanked a handgun from his belt and jammed it against his temple.

  “Really? I think that’s gonna work out just fine once I’ve splattered your fucking alien brains all over the dirt.”

  Xaan didn’t blink as he read his own death in the human’s eyes. Regret filled him. Not because he was afraid of dying—he’d never been scared of his own death. After his first family had died, he’d spent years actively chasing it, only for the gods to refuse him that salvation. But now? He only regretted that he’d waited so long with Kenna.

  “Pull that trigger,” he said in an ice-cold voice, “and you hand down a death sentence to every human drawing breath on this planet.”

  “Yeah, right,” Dex jeered. “You got a titanium skull or something and you’ll somehow survive me blowing your brains out?”

  “No.” Xaan didn’t move, didn’t break eye contact with the human. “I’ll be dead. But my son isn’t.”

  “Pffft, like I’m scared of your baby boy.”

  Xaan chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. “Oh, you should be. My ‘baby boy’ is the emperor’s shadow… the most lethal assassin in the galaxy. You kill me and he will want vengeance. And that’s before the emperor gets in on the act. Not one of you will survive.”

  He saw Dex’s eyes shift, the fear leaching into the backs of them. Even out here, that name meant something.

  “Not one. Even if you flee this planet, Rynn will find you.”

  The pressure on his temple eased up and then was gone as a commotion started up at the back of the square. Xaan and Dex turned to see one of the colony women marching Kenna toward them, a gun at her back. She shoved the smaller woman forward, Kenna half turning to retaliate. The muzzle aimed point blank between her eyes made her think again and she stopped.

  “What do you mean by this, Aislinn?” Dex demanded, anger in his voice. Xaan was forgotten for a moment as he strode forward.

  “I caught her in the office, tryin’ to send a message!” Aislinn didn’t take her eyes off Kenna, hatred burning bright. “I knew I recognized her.” She dug a small data-pad out of her pocket and handed it to Dex.

  “She’s one of them Sentinel women. The ones the aliens kidnapped. She’s working with him.”

  13

  She’d been a fucking idiot.

  Kenna seethed with frustration and straightened to see the expression on Dex’s face change at Aislinn’s announcement. She should have known the other woman was keeping an eye on her, but even though she’d been careful breaking into the office, Kenna still hadn’t spotted her. Not until there was a muzzle pressed in between her shoulder blades.

  The damn bulldog must have been lurking somewhere out of sight, waiting to make her move. Kenna sighed. She should have expected something like this. Aislinn had had a thing against her since she’d arrived, and letting the woman beat her in a fist fight didn’t seem to have mollified her. Perhaps she suspected the truth… that Kenna could beat her with one hand tied behind her back and blindfolded.

  Some people just couldn’t resist looking a gift horse in the damn mouth. Could they?

  Dex’s expression hardened.

  “Who are you?” he demanded. Finally, she got a glimpse of the real guy behind the mask.

  “Sergeant Kenna Reynolds.” Her expression didn’t flicker as she matched him stare for stare and dropped any pretense of being Suzie Renner. She nodded toward Xaan. “This is Xaandril. We’re the advance scout for a human-Lathar rescue party out this way.”

  Dex frowned. “Rescue party? Because of that stupid little message? Don’t lie to me. No way anyone’s bothered about pathetic colonies out here.”

  She shrugged.

  “You might think they’re pathetic, but command doesn’t. And there’s not just your distress call,” she lied, needing some narrative to keep her and Xaan alive. “These systems have been lighting up like a damn Christmas tree recently. Alien attacks all over the place. The Lathar say it’s not them, so we came to check it out.”

  “Of course it’s them!” Dex dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. “Lying bastards are after all our resources.”

  Gods, he was an asshole.

  “We should kill them. Bury them out in the fields. No one’ll ever know,” Aislinn insisted, her eyes glittering as she leveled her gun at Kenna’s head.

  Xaan made a small sound, murder in his eyes as it looked like he was about to launch himself at the human woman. Kenna warned him no with a tiny shake of her head. If anyone was going for the woman, she was. She had a score to settle with her.

  “Won’t help, sweet cheeks,” she told the other woman. “The Lathar can scan a planet down to the last molecule. They’ll find us no matter what you do. And if you hurt either of us then god help you because no one else will.”

  “CrapcrapCRAP!” Dex ran his hands through his hair, his expression tense and worried. She didn’t blame him for starting to panic. So would she if she was faced with a possible combined alien-human force with advanced technology that could root out everything he’d been hiding.

  “I need to think,” he announced. “Get them out of my sight. Lock them up until I’ve worked out what the fuck to do.”

  They were summarily hauled away and frog marched back to the prison in the old workshop. The instant the cell door closed behind them, Kenna threw herself at Xaan, seeking the security and comfort of his strong arms.

  “Oh my god, I was so worried for you in here,” she admitted, her face buried against his broad shoulder. Closing her eyes, she savored the moment as he wrapped her up tightly and held her close, absorbing his strength and the comfort he offered. “I thought they might hurt you. Kill you.”

  “It was no easier for me in here, kelarris,” he said, his voice little more than a deep rumble in the center of his chest, “with you out there where I couldn’t protect you.”

  She leaned back to look up into his face. “You feel you need to protect me?”

  His face was half hidden in shadow, but she could see enough for the expression there to make her suck in a hard breath.

  “No,” he murmured, reaching up to stroke his thumb over her lower lip. “Not need. Want. I want to protect you, among other things.”

  “Oh?” She raised an eyebrow as the tension between them rose. “Elaborate.”

  The ghost of a smile whispered over his lips, and his large hand flattened over the back of her hips to pull her up flush against him. She caught her breath as the thick bar of his cock pressed against her softer stomach.

  “Oh, you know exactly what I mean, little one.”

  “Uh-huh.” She raised on tiptoe to graze her lips against his. “Perhaps I want you to tell me,” she breathed.

  He bit back a growl, the sound hitting her right in the pussy.
Heat spiraled through her body, threatening to spill out of control. “How about I show you?”

  Then his lips crashed down over hers, parting them in one swift move for him to thrust his tongue past and lay claim to the softness of her mouth beyond.

  Heat slammed into her like a shuttle at high speed. Months of suppressed feelings welled up and bubbled over. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, rubbing her body against his. She wanted… no, needed this. Needed him. She had since the first moment she’d seen him, when he’d disarmed her in the middle of the imperial court.

  The kiss got hot quickly. His tongue slid against hers, thrusting and sliding, and she whimpered again. Her pussy ached, clenching hard as she imagined him over her, filling her, thrusting and sliding in time with the motion of his tongue as he penetrated her twice.

  Made her his.

  “For fuck’s sake. If you two are going to start banging, can you at least keep it down?” a disgruntled voice announced from the shadows. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

  Xaan lifted his head with a chuckle. “Careful. Your jealousy is showing.”

  “Too fucking right,” Stephens growled, sitting up as the couple broke apart. Before any of them could say anything else, the door opposite the cells burst open, slamming into the wall as three people walked in. Two Kenna recognized—Aislinn, holding a gun trained on the cells and Sami, clutching a medical bag with white knuckles. The other guy, armed like Aislinn and with a similar expression of hatred, she didn’t know.

  “Treat him,” Aislinn gave Sami a small shove toward Stephens’ cell. “Boss wants ‘em at least able to stand for later.”

  “Later?” Kenna demanded, dividing her attention between the woman with the gun and the other one letting herself into the human man’s cell. “What’s happening later?”

  Aislinn grinned, unholy amusement and sick anticipation in her eyes. “You fucking traitors are being put on trial. For being fucking spies.”

  Kenna laughed. “You can’t do that. There isn’t a judge on the planet. No trial will be legal.”