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

  His face was a rictus of rage as he looked down at her, squeezing harder and harder until she couldn’t catch her breath. She lashed out, fists flailing as she tried to make him let go. But it was no good, he was bigger than she was, his strength far greater. She tried to get her feet under her to buck him off but he was too heavy. She gasped, reaching out with questing fingers for something… anything.

  Her vision started to go gray around the edges… this was it. After years of surviving on the streets, she was going to buy it in a luxury fucking apartment on an alien ship.

  Her fingers caught on the edge of something hard. Desperately, she grabbed for it and held on tightly as she brought it up through the air like a scythe. The broken twisted end of one of the table legs sliced into the side of her attacker’s throat, driven deep by her desperation.

  He froze, mouth dropping open and a clicking sound coming from the back of his throat. Surprise filled his eyes as blood fountained over his teeth and then over her hand. She pulled her makeshift shiv back and stabbed again, and again, screaming at the top of her lungs.

  She barely even noticed that he wasn’t breathing anymore. Or that she was on top of him now. His throat and face were nothing more than an unrecognizable mash of flesh and blood, shredded to chum.

  Strong arms closed around her, lifting her bodily as the bloodied table leg was gently plucked from her hand.

  “Shhhh, it’s okay. I have you. You are safe now,” a voice murmured.

  Deep and familiar, it pulled at all her senses. With a small cry, she wrapped herself around him, burrowing as close to safety as she could get. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to see. All she wanted to do was hide away in the comfortable darkness of his presence until it was safe again.

  6

  The alert had sounded as Nyek left the training hall after his daily diraanesh, a warrior’s training regime. It wasn’t the strident, to battle stations shriek of the red alert, but instead the lower, deeper tone that warned of an intruder on board. He’d broken out in a run, heading for the human sector. He’d made it even before the combat avatars, making the humans emerging from the doorway of their quarters jump.

  “Get back inside,” he ordered, blades already in his hands as he strode down the corridors. “We have an intruder on board.”

  He knew where the problem lay as soon as he spotted Indra’s door. She was the only human who hadn’t emerged at the sound of the alarm. His blood froze and he was through the door in a heartbeat.

  He froze as he found a scene from a nightmare.

  Indra was crouched over the body of a warrior, blood and glass everywhere, screaming as she stabbed at him repeatedly. Without thinking, Nyek crossed the space between them and hauled her into his arms. To his surprise, she didn’t fight him, her gaze riveted on the body of her victim.

  Carefully he reached out and took the weapon from her grasp. It was a twisted piece of metal, obviously originally part of the furniture in the room. He handed it off to one of the warriors who had spilled into the room after him, summoned by the sound of the red alert.

  “Shhhh, it’s okay. I have you. You are safe now,” he murmured softly by her ear, trying to calm her as she struggled a little against him.

  Whatever he’d expected, it wasn’t for her to make a small sound like an animal in pain and turn to burrow into his arms. She wrapped herself around him like a deearin, her face buried into the side of his neck.

  He froze for a second, unsure what to do. He was the last person in existence he’d have expected her to seek comfort from. But instinct kicked in and he wrapped her in his arms, smoothing his hand down her back soothingly.

  “It’s going to be okay. I am here,” he muttered and then looked up at the squad of warriors in the room.

  His gaze narrowed as he studied the body on the floor. It was a male—one he didn’t recognize, but that was no surprise given the size of the ship and the fact that he was newly assigned. What he hadn’t missed, though, was the pin attached to the male’s jacket. Intersecting arcs, it was a symbol he was more than familiar with.

  It was the symbol of the purist movement.

  “Alert the war commander,” he ordered, his voice hard. “Tell him we have a purist intruder on board. I want to know who this male is, who his friends are, what he ate for breakfast… Everything!”

  “Yes, Sub-Commander!” The first wave of warriors all but fell over themselves to do his bidding, the kind of sharp eagerness in their reactions that he should have expected from a capital ship crew of this caliber.

  “Double the watch. Make sure all assigned to this sector have a partner from another duty group. And get combat avatars on continuous patrol,” he ordered those that were left. “I do not want any of the humans left unguarded.”

  “And who are you to be issuing orders like that?” a voice drawled from the back of the group. Warriors parted as a tall male pushed his way through from the back. Broad-shouldered, his features were a younger version of those Nyek had seen in holo-form on the emperor mere hours ago.

  A K’Saan, but one who had not been assigned as the second of this ship. Interesting.

  “I am Sub-Commander S’Vaan,” he lifted his chin in challenge. “Second of this vessel. You are?”

  For a moment K’Saan looked at a loss for words. Obviously he wasn’t used to people asking that question.

  “I hardly think I need to answer that question,” he smirked, waving at his face. “And I was not informed of a new second aboard. You could be as much of an intruder as…” He jerked his head toward the body on the floor. “Here to steal away one of the precious females. Give her to me.”

  He gestured presumptuously toward Indra, stepping forward. Nyek’s grip tightened and he swung her up into his arms, holding her against his chest. She didn’t argue, the soft hitches in her breathing catching at his heart strings. She had been attacked, was terrified, and all the K’Saan prince wanted to do was get into a pissing contest.

  “Oh, shut the fuck up, Rohn,” a female voice behind K’Saan spat. “He’s legit and you know it. You’re just being a fucking prick as usual.”

  Another female pushed past K’Saan, her expression tight with panic as her gaze swept the room. The tightness eased a little as she spotted Indra in his arms.

  She was tailed by a tall warrior with a grim expression. Approval filled Nyek that his orders had been carried out so promptly. But then the light caught on the warrior’s arm, highlighting nonorganic lines. A replacement, which meant he wasn’t one of the warriors in the room earlier… Nyek’s eyes narrowed a little as he noted the protective way the male followed the little female—a claim in the making there if he didn’t miss his guess…

  “Besides,” the female turned her ire on the K’Saan prince. “Indra would’ve gutted you on the spot if you’d touched her. So be a good boy, take the win and fuck off.”

  Nyek was forced to hide his smile at the expression of utter fury and frustration that crossed over the prince’s face. Now he had a name, Nyek’s memory filled in the rest. The spoiled and pampered second cousin of the emperor, Rohn K’Saan was seen as a joke. He’d never sit on the throne, but he had all the arrogance of a prince born and bred, assured of his place in the cosmos. Unfortunately, according to his attitude, he seemed to think he was at the center of it.

  “Who do you think you are, female?” he demanded, anger flushing his cheeks. “I am a son of the K’Saan household, descendant of—”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah… son of the grand-high muckety-muck himself, ruler of everything and uber-warrior supreme,” the female cut him off in a bored tone. “We’ve heard this before. For god’s sake change the fucking record.”

  “I will not be spoken to by a female in this manner.” The prince was reduced to a splutter and took a step toward the diminutive female. Several males in the room, including the one tailing her, also stepped forward, a subtle reminder that if he laid a hand on the female, he wouldn’t leave the room alive, royal blood or
not.

  “If you were my female,” he hissed down at her. “I would teach you more respect.”

  “Respect has to be earned.” She didn’t so much as blink in the face of his anger. “Not given because you’ve got someone else’s pretty face or a fancy title. And the quicker you learn that, the better off you’ll be.”

  K’Saan opened his mouth, obviously wanting to argue, but then he snapped it shut. With a growl, he stormed from the room. As soon as he left, a ripple of relief rolled through the room, as everyone seemed to relax. The prince was not well-liked. That was another interesting fact Nyek filed away.

  “Spoiled brat, am I right?” the female asked the room in general, gaining a few smiles. Then she looked directly at Nyek and nodded in acknowledgment. “I’m Gracie, pleasure to meet you… Although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  Her gaze swept the room, not so much as flinching at the gruesome sight on the floor. And she’d just gone toe to toe with an enraged warrior. Rohn might be an entitled draanthic, but he was still a K’Saan and thus highly dangerous.

  Perhaps humans were a little hardier than he’d thought?

  “Indeed. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Gracie.” He nodded in return and then looked at her companion. The notches on his leathers indicated he was a senior warrior aboard. Nyek frowned a little, recalling the faces from the files he’d reviewed earlier.

  “Seren K’Vass, I assume?”

  The warrior with the replacement arm nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Excellent.” Nyek lifted Indra higher in his arms. “As senior in this group, I charge you with monitoring the safety of this sector while I see to the Lady Indra.”

  “Of course, Sub-Commander.”

  Seren’s sharp salute and the little glance he shot toward the female at his side assured Nyek he’d made the right call as he swept from the chamber with Indra in his arms. If he didn’t miss his guess, Seren K’Vass had just been looking for an excuse to get closer to the redhaired human.

  But he had more important things to think about. Like the shivering little human in his arms, who wasn’t quite as tough as she’d made out…

  She was awake, Nyek knew she was, but she lay curled up in his arms with her eyes closed like she wanted to shut out the world. Given what she’d just been through, he could totally understand that reaction. She’d been so tough and aggressive before that her sudden capitulation to his touch had taken him by surprise, but the fact she’d turned to him for protection warmed something deep inside. He wasn’t the kind of male any female should turn to or consider safe, but she had.

  His steps slowed as he reached his quarters and the door opened automatically as soon as the computer registered his presence. A wave of guilt washed over him and he held the female in his arms tighter. He shouldn’t have waited to check out the lack of security in the human quarters. He should have done that right away. Maybe if he had, she wouldn’t have been attacked.

  A shudder rolled through him at what could have happened. She could have been injured, or worse, killed. The image of her lying in the middle of that bloodstained glass in her quarters, sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling, rocked him to the core. He bit back his growl. The idea of her vitality just… gone was wrong on so many levels.

  “You have a window,” she croaked as he walked through the bedroom, her voice raspy from screaming.

  “Yes, I have a window.” He kept his voice low and calm, surprised she’d come out of her fugue state. He continued walking, taking her through to the bathroom.

  “My room doesn’t,” she said.

  He set her down on her feet and tilted her chin up so he could look at her properly. No. She wasn’t really with it yet. Her beautiful dark eyes were still a little unfocused. But she was with it enough to interact with him, which was reassuring.

  “No,” he agreed softly. “Are you hurt anywhere? Did he…” He paused, his jaw tensing for a second. “Did he hurt you?”

  She blinked slowly and then looked down at herself. She was only dressed in a thin top and tiny undergarments, the length of her lean, shapely legs bare. The fabric was red with blood, smears and streaks of it decorating her skin. He needed to make sure none of it was hers.

  “No… no, he wasn’t interested in that. He was trying to kill me,” she whispered, plucking at the edges of her t-shirt. It came away with a little tearing sound as it parted company with her skin. “Called me human scum and said my wiles wouldn’t work on him.”

  Rage flared through him, white hot and intense. He was forced to push it down before he reached out so his touch wouldn’t be too rough and scare her again. She stood still, numb, as he ran his hands over her arms and then down her sides, turning her this way and that.

  “I can’t see any open wounds,” he murmured with relief. Her skin was unmarked so far. It appeared that all of the blood had been from her attacker.

  A soft sound escaped the back of her throat and she swayed toward him, hands clutching at his arms for support. Instantly he pulled her closer, resting her against the lean strength of his larger body.

  “What is it? Do you feel unwell?” His breath escaped in a hiss. “Trall, I can’t see if you’re wounded under your clothing…”

  “So take them off.”

  Her comment made him look at her sharply. Was she offering…? But her expression was still a little unfocused, absent. Like she was divorced from what was happening to her… or she trusted him not to take advantage.

  That thought robbed him of breath for a moment as he closed his eyes. To be granted such a blessed gift from a female, that of trust, was more than he’d ever hoped to achieve in his life. Sending a quick prayer up to the lady goddess herself for strength, he nodded and stepped away.

  “Shhh, shh… it’s just for a second,” he reassured Indra as she complained wordlessly. “I need to check you for wounds, kelariss. That’s all.”

  The endearment slipped from his lips without warning, but he ignored it in favor of easing the thin top from her. It clung and stuck where the blood had begun to dry and the fabric had stiffened, but eventually he managed to get it up and over her head.

  She was glorious. Heat hit him broadside as he looked down at her, only the tiny panties covering her nakedness and leaving the rest of her exposed to his gaze. Even blood-streaked, her skin was flawless… the delicate lines of her neck flowing down into her shoulders, collarbones leading his eyes on a visual journey back to the center of her body.

  He steeled himself against temptation as he looked down, telling himself he was only checking her for wounds he needed to tend to but unable to ignore the full bounty of her breasts. Larger than he’d expected, easily more than enough to fill his hands, they were topped with dark, tight nipples he ached to…

  The growl escaped him this time for real and she started, but he shushed her again, quickly turning her around so he could check her back. He’d thought that would mean less temptation, but once he’d assured himself there were no rends or tears in her skin, all he could see was the arch of her spine and the flare of her hips. He closed his eyes for a second, praying again for strength. She had come to him for protection, nothing else, and he would fulfill that duty—that promise he’d made.

  “You’re okay,” he said softly to reassure her. Then he leaned past her to snap on the shower. “Let’s get you cleaned up and into something warm. Okay?”

  She nodded, standing passively as he tested the water, but when he tried to urge her into it, she shook her head and refused to move. “You…”

  He didn’t understand at first, just looking at her. Then she turned, stepping into his arms and he understood.

  “Okay, I’m here. Don’t worry.”

  Her hands still on his waist, he stripped out of his jacket, toeing off his boots at the same time. For a moment he debated whether to strip his combat pants off, but it would leave him naked with her in the shower. That was way too much temptation, and he didn’t want anyone accusing him
of trying to take advantage of a female who wasn’t his.

  The little voice in the back of his head sniped that he was already well over that line by whisking her off to his quarters and keeping her with him here alone, but he ignored it. He was just looking after her, seeing to her possible injuries and keeping her safe as per his vow to the emperor.

  With her corralled safely in his arms, he stepped under the spray. A little squeak escaped her as the water hit and he turned instantly, taking the bulk of the high-pressure spray over his back to shield her. She shivered and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against his shoulder as they stood there.

  The moment of closeness was one he locked carefully away in his mind, to be brought out and savored later, in the many years he would spend alone. That one, shining moment when he’d held a female in his arms, felt the softness of her skin against his… the brush of her fingers over his skin.

  He groaned as her hands explored him, fingertips taking little forays over his abdomen. His stomach muscles tensed, reacting to her touch, and he reached out to capture her hands.

  “We can’t, little spiraxas” he murmured, his lips brushing gently against her temple. “You deserve a worthy male for a mate and I am Vesh.”

  He felt her pout rather than saw it, the irritated little huff far more like the Indra he knew. Any moment he expected her to be back to her snarky, spikey self, but instead she sighed and rested against him again.

  She needed more time. More time safe from the world outside his quarters and its dangers. More time to come to terms with what had happened. More time to come to terms with having to kill a warrior with her bare hands to defend herself. For any female, even one as aggressive as Indra, that had to be terrifying. But she’d done it.