She had learned how to fly. She’d known how to navigate. They hadn’t taught her how to engage the weaponry on the battleships, yet, but she’d manage. Every day she spent on this pod was a day she could be looking for Tal, and, yet, she’d been postponing her departure. She’d told herself she was waiting for the right opportunity—the perfect chance to slip away undetected.
But that was a lie.
Her reasons for dragging her feet were only about one particularly possessive and dominant male. She also should acknowledge every planet rotation she stayed with Lundric would make it harder to leave.
The next opportunity she got, she needed to take. Or she needed to create her own opportunity. Tal had been sold by the factory owners where they both worked. She needed to go to Ocretia and find a way to access their slave database to locate him. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was better than sitting around and accepting the fate some other being shoved at her.
Still, the thought of leaving Lundric felt like shards of glass being driven through her chest. She liked to think maybe they’d meet again, after she found Tal. But she knew, even if they did—which was highly unlikely, considering he was part of the suicide mission to take back Zandia—he’d never forgive her. She could no longer pretend his interest was just about scratching a sexual itch.
Lundric waited for her at the door, his gaze heating the closer she drew to him. “You enjoyed yourself,” he observed, a look of fascinated amusement dancing over his features.
She shrugged. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Fight all you like, little rebel, just know this: I will rip out the throat of anyone who leaves a mark on you.”
Laughter bubbled up in her—as it had with more frequency lately. His overprotectiveness should bother her, but all she could do was marvel at the fact someone besides Tal cared about her well-being. She wrote it off as hyperbole, like she did with all his absurdly possessive declarations. She breezed past him. “You leave marks on me every planet rotation,” she tossed over her shoulder.
His huge hand collided with her ass, and this time she giggled out loud.
Dearest Mother Earth, she’d never giggled before in her life. Particularly not with a male. Lundric made her feel...lighter. His intensity, his protection and care allowed her to relax some of the tight control, the overriding anxiety and fear she’d always lived with.
He closed his large hand around hers, and she was surprised at how comfortable it felt. How right. “What now, little female? Are you hungry again?” Lundric thought it amusing how often and how much she ate. Once he’d realized she worried about missing meals, he’d started asking every few hours if she was hungry. She hadn’t seen him eat yet. Apparently, the Zandians only ate once a week, so long as they had access to their crystals.
“No, not yet. But I have to do my chores.” She’d been assigned laundry duty. It was menial work compared to the tasks she’d done at the factory—building complex circuit boards and programming the software for robots—but she didn’t mind.
“I’ll help.”
She peered up at him, taking in the sturdy line of his jaw, the long lashes framing his brown-purple irises. “Isn’t it time for you to sleep?”
“I don’t need sleep. Are you trying to get rid of me?” He spoke lightly, but a shadow had fallen across his face.
“No, stupid, I just—”
“Stupid?” His brows shot up, and the world tilted as he scooped her over his shoulder, smacking her ass with his huge, paddle-like hand. “Are you sure you want to call me that?”
She shrieked and laughed, kicking her feet as he clomped down the corridor, spanking her as he went. They passed a Zandian guard, who looked amused, but the clump of humans they passed stared with what appeared to be dislike. Whether it was of her or Lundric, she couldn’t be sure. Maybe they resented her for cultivating special favors with their guards. Maybe they’d heard he’d killed a human.
“I’m sorry—sorry! Please put me down.” Her face was surely as red as her hair.
Lundric lowered her to her feet but held her close, the heat of his huge, hard body radiating through her clothing. He gripped her nape and tilted her head up for a kiss. Though she wanted to be somewhere more private, especially with the group of humans looking on, her body melted into his, pussy turning to liquid heat.
His kiss was just enough to leave her wobbly-kneed, and he seemed to know it because the smug warrior smirked as he released her. “Let’s go, little female.” He walked with her, through all the cells, where she collected laundry from the bins—blankets and sheets, mostly. Some towels. No being had thrown clothing in, probably because they did
n’t have much extra clothing to wear.
Lundric insisted on pushing the large wheeled cart. When she tried to force him to let her—because she cringed to think what the other humans would say when they saw she’d convinced a guard to help her do her chores—he tossed her into the cart, too, running to drive it at top speed through the corridors.
She laughed and stood up in the cart, balancing without holding on, surfing the careening cart.
They reached the laundry room, and Lundric caught her up as she climbed out, lifting her the rest of the way and settling her with her legs wrapped around his waist.
“Mm,” he growled against her neck and walked her backward. He pinned her back against the wall and ground his hips against hers. “This is how I’ve been wanting you.”
Her pussy dampened her panties at the pressure from his cock. “Not here, Lundric,” she protested, even as she rubbed herself over his hardened bulge.
“You think you have a choice?”
She brought her fist down on his massive shoulder without real effort. “Yes.”