The Forgotten Commander (The Lost Planet 1)

Damn him for making a mess of my mind.

I forget to be angry when he picks me up for another trek through the facility. “Where are we going?” I ask when my voice returns.

This may be my chance to figure out an escape plan. Or at the very least distract Breccan long enough to get his armband. I feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of betraying him but I can’t afford to be weak. These…men have no qualms about using me. I shouldn’t have any about using them in return.

He gives me a grin I can only describe as roguish and I have to wonder if getting laid hasn’t improved the sour commander’s disposition. “The command center.”

My biting retort dies in my throat. The command center. “Can you put me down? I can walk.”

His gait doesn’t slow. “I don’t mind carrying you. You’re very light for a female of your size.”

“A female of my size?”

“You’ve the hips and breasts for a breeding woman. I’d expected you to weigh much more.”

I throw my weight to the side and by a miracle, manage to land on my feet. “What the hell? Are you calling me fat?”

The pronounced brows on his forehead shift in what I think is a quizzical look. “Are you displeased? These will be useful for when you’re carrying our young. I don’t understand your anger.”

Remember the command center. “Forget it,” I say from between gritted teeth. “Are we almost there?” I think I’ve gotten the directions from his quarters to the main run of the facility. We’re nearing Avrell’s office and the medical bay I remember from before.

“It’s just a bit farther south,” Breccan answers, but he glances at me as though he can’t quite figure me out.

That’ll make two of us, buddy.

The command center is empty when we find it and I wonder if Hadrian’s shift has ended now that Breccan’s here. He slides his armband under the sensor and the doors beep as they slide open. “Welcome, Commander Breccan,” says a slightly digitized female voice.

“Good solar to you, Uvie,” he greets the voice.

We step inside and Breccan crosses to a wall of computer screens atop a bank of countertops covered in different buttons. As he studies the screens intently, I wander around the room, trying to get my bearings. Immediately across from the doors is the giant window that’s now covered with a massive metal door. I’ve been here before. I remember now. A heat creeps up my throat as I recall the way Breccan had stood in front of the open window that day with the sun shining in on him and he looked high as a kite. Avrell had handed him a cloth to clean himself when we walked in. Talk about awkward. Despite us catching him right after he’d been pleasuring himself, he wasn’t ashamed.

Forcing myself to think about other things besides Breccan and his cock, I survey the equipment in the room. Everything, like the rest of the facility is old, but as clean as I’ve come to expect from these strange males. They’ve mentioned disease and infection, but I’m coming to realize they take cleanliness to the extreme.

“We can only stay here for a few minutes—your skin is still sensitive yet.”

“My skin?” I turn to face Breccan, who has come to stand behind me.

“Here,” he says, and starts pulling on the metal door that covers the window. “Let me show you.” A horrible scraping bellows from the wall as it opens. I flinch at the loud sound. “Don’t fret,” he says lowly as he comes to wrap his arms around me from behind. “I will keep you safe.”

The window reveals a swirl of light and an intense wave of heat. I didn’t realize how cold they kept the facility until the rush of warmth greets my skin and I moan in delight. Behind me, Breccan stiffens and hisses out a breath, but I don’t pay much attention because the heat is glorious, almost like a good day at the beach back home. I close my eyes because it’s too bright to look out the window anyway and pretend I’m lying on the sand with the sound of waves in my ear and a nice drink by my side.

Minutes pass, I don’t know how long. So long my knees ache from standing and my skin itches as though I’ve gotten a sunburn. It’s worth it though, because for the first time, I don’t feel so afraid—or so alone.

I turn to Breccan, to thank him or to what, I don’t know—but it doesn’t matter. His skin has gone a horrible shade of red and the blacks of his eyes have been bleached white. He makes a terrible sound before falling to his knees as his eyes roll back into his head and he crumples to the ground.