The Lonely Orphan (The Lost Planet 5)

Because I’m curious and have heard lovely things about tears, I lean forward and drag my forked tongue along her cheek. She sucks in a sharp breath. I’m stunned by her taste, though. They were right. It’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. A craving to taste more tears—more of her—settles in my bones.

“Aria is safe with Breccan. She’s happy. All she wants is for you to come home to her.” Green.

Lyric is no longer glowering at me but seems to have lost some of her edge. “I want to talk to her.”

“Theron and I can help make that happen. We have communication with them.” Green. “But…” I trail off, already thirsting to taste her again.

“But what, monster man? Out with it.”

“But you have to free us.” Green.

She scoffs. “Ugh. Wasn’t a question, stupid machine. And the answer is no.”

My claws bite into her rump. “I’ll just keep you here forever then.” Green.

“Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Yes.” Green.

She rips the electrodes off my nog and tosses them on the bed beside us. “Fine. Since I know you don’t intend to hurt us, I’ll let you roam. But only on this block. I haven’t spoken to the others yet and I don’t want to create mass hysteria. So you and your freaky friend can hang out here, but I don’t want you going much further. At least not until I’ve spoken with Aria. Can we agree to that?”

“Yes. Don’t you want your truth-teller to confirm?”

She brings her palm to my face, fluttering her fingers along my cheek. “When you’re telling the truth, a line forms here,” she says, rubbing her thumb between my brows. “And when you’re lying, your mouth twitches on one corner.” Her thumb brushes along the corner of my mouth. “You’ll be civil and behave.”

“Oh, I can’t promise I’ll behave,” I say with a wide, wicked grin.

While I marvel over how her blue eyes flare, she snatches the magknife out of my hand and scrambles away from me.

“You’re such a child. That’s why they sent you, huh? To get a break?”

“They sent me because I would do anything for Aria and they know it. This is the most important mission. You are the most important mission.”

Her features soften. “You so much as glare at anyone the wrong way and I’ll send in Zoe with her zap stick.”

I cock my nog. “What’s a zap stick?”

“What the wardens used on the prisoners. Trust me, you do not want to meet the zap stick.”

Rising to my feet, I skim my gaze down her full breasts and flared hips. My own body feels cold without her small one warming me up. Who knew aliens could be so warm? And soft? And sweet? I lick my lips.

“Are you sure you don’t eat humans?” she sneers, eyeing me up like I’m some ferocious beast from The Graveyard.

I don’t tell her I read that whole section about “eating” the females so many times the pages started to wear out and Sayer had to rewrite them.

“Sure,” I say. The corner of my mouth twitches.

Rather than being afraid, she shakes her nog. “Men are the same no matter what species. Always thinking with their dicks.”

She turns, revealing her nice round rump to me. My cock strains against my suit. Turns out, she’s not wrong.

5

Lyric

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Hadrian swaggers—really there’s no other word for it—up to the cell with his friend in it. “Keep your pants on, Ther. The alien is taking me to meet with her friends. I’ve got everything under control.”

“If you have everything under control, then I’m a twirret.”

“What’s a twirret?” I ask. Hadrian tries to herd me away from his companion, but I smack his hands away.

Theron smirks and I’m glad we’ve got the metal bars between us. Hadrian may sound cocky, but from what I’ve gleaned so far with the truth-teller, I don’t think he poses any harm to me or the others. But this guy, there’s something dangerous in his eyes and the rakish slant of his mouth. This one’s trouble.

“A twirret is a small rodent-like creature. They have long tails, big teeth, and thick fur. They reside in what few trees grow around the facility and come out at dark to feed. Good eating—if you can catch them.”

“I do have everything under control,” Hadrian says and pushes between the two of us. “I’m the one they’ve released from the reform cells, you pile of rogshite.”

“You’ve a lot to learn, mortling.” Theron pushes off the bars and turns his back on us. “I’ll be waiting when you return.”

“I’m not a mortling,” Hadrian growls. “Let’s go.”

He storms off before I can so much as answer, and I speed after him—hard considering how remarkably long his legs are. How big do these monsters get? If Hadrian is only eighteen and he’s nearly six and a half feet tall, then how big are the others? Theron is massive. Are the others the same? I’d ask him, but he doesn’t seem so receptive at the moment.