Ambushing Ariel (30 page)

“My bound,” came the deep, amused voice.

“Whatever,” Ariel muttered in her best ‘valley girl’ voice. “I have a mate.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t seem to want to wake up. I think it's only fair to say I would never resist waking up to you,” the voice responded.

“I am really going to have to hurt you to get rid of you, aren’t I?” Ariel laughed.

“I can think of less painful ways to convince me to leave,” the voice flirted.

“I am going to kill your ass as soon as I can get out of this bed,” Mandra growled out forcing his eyes open where he stared at Bahadur with murder reflecting from them.

“I was merely trying to entertain your mate while you recovered,” Bahadur said smoothly shooting Ariel a hot look that said he would like to have been doing more.

Mandra forced his body to obey as he sat up and reached for the covers. “You are a dead Curizan admiral. Tell Ha’ven and Adalard they need a new one.”

“Oh no you don’t, you big oaf! You have been on death’s door for several days! You are not going to scare me like that ever again,” Ariel said grabbing Mandra’s bare shoulders and pushing on him to lie back down. She gave a squeak of surprise when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down on top of him.

“Go away, Bahadur. You can find your own damn female. Just leave mine the hell alone,” Mandra growled out darkly as he pulled Ariel even closer.

Bahadur laughed. “I will as soon as you tell me where the female’s planet is. I might have to take some time off and go check it out. I would like to see if I can find me one just like your mate. I find her species… exciting,” Bahadur said letting his eyes roam freely over Ariel’s soft curves.

Ariel turned her head and glared at the big Curizan. “I hope you do. Make sure you make a comment like that to one of them as well. I’d like to see how excited you get when they beat your ass into the ground,” she replied hotly.

“Bahadur, get the hell out of my sleeping quarters before I let my mate show you just what the women on her planet can do,” Mandra said in amusement.

Bahadur laughed and bowed to both of them before excusing himself. He promised to return ignoring Mandra’s hot response he could get off his damn warship. Both of them listened as the door shut behind him. Neither one of them said anything for a while. They were just enjoying being together again.

Mandra chuckled as he thought about the fire in his mate’s eyes. He threaded her long tresses around his fingers enjoying their silky strands. Letting his head fall back, he closed his eyes savoring the feel of her lying on top of him. His arms tightened when he felt her shift but she was merely getting more comfortable. Burying his nose in her hair, he breathed in her warm scent with pleasure.

“Tell me what happened,” Mandra asked quietly without opening his eyes. “Start with how the hell you got out of the detention cell.”

Ariel sighed as she relaxed against Mandra’s hard, warm body. “Precious busted me out. I stole the guard’s laser pistols and Precious brought me to where you were.”

“I thought I lost you again,” Mandra murmured looking down at Ariel. “I love you so much,
mi elila.
”

Ariel lifted her head up enough to look into Mandra’s golden eyes. “I love you, too,” she whispered.

She had been afraid she had lost him. She told him about what happened when she and her Precious entered the control room where he was. She saw Raffvin’s symbiot about to destroy Precious’ other half while Mandra was gravely wounded. She didn’t stop to think when she threw herself in front of the injured symbiot. She remembered feeling the power behind the energy burst as it hit her but everything got blurry after that. She remembered feeling the necklace Tia gave her heating up and glowing. The wave of energy was attracted to it. She felt it absorbing the dark energy from the black symbiot, pulling it from the creature who fought to break away but couldn’t. The force of the energy flowing through the red crystal also pulled at her.

“I remember feeling the deep sadness and despair within Raffvin’s symbiot, as if it was being forced to do things against its will. It was hurting so badly I could feel its pain,” Ariel said staring into Mandra’s warm eyes.

“What did you do?” He asked quietly.

“What I always do when an animal is hurt or scared. I talked to it and reassured it that everything would be alright… to trust me,” she replied with a contented sigh and laid her head back down on his chest. “I could feel the moment it did. All that negative energy was just sucked right out of it.”

“What of Raffvin?” Mandra asked rubbing Ariel’s back gently.

“He escaped,” Adalard said as he and Zebulon walked into the room. “But not with his symbiot. It is safe with the others on board. He will be much weaker.”

Mandra sighed as Ariel rolled over to lie next to him. He refused to let her go, though, curling his arm around her to keep her close. He looked at the two men standing in his sleeping quarters.

“How long have I been out and what do you mean, he escaped?” Mandra asked darkly.

“You’ve been out almost a week. Your symbiot was too weakened to heal you. You had to be healed the old fashion way in the regenerator and with healing accelerators. Raffvin escaped. He slipped out after stealing a Curizan fighter. We are tracking him. We think he is going to go after Vox. If he can kill the Sarafin King it will be blamed on the Valdier. He has him locked up at a mining operation the Antrox are running but we are not sure where. Creon is following leads but so far none of them have proven useful,” Zebulon said sitting down in the chair Ariel had been using.

“Have you talked to Creon or any of my other brothers?” Mandra asked as he scooted so he could sit up.

“Zoran says Abby delivered a healthy boy youngling a week ago. She and the babe are doing well. I am not so sure about Zoran. He looked pretty rough. Trelon doesn’t look much better. I guess his mate is due any time now. Your brother Kelan and his mate are on their way back from her planet. They have retrieved Trisha’s father. I heard they also have a few extra females aboard that are causing some problems. Kelan said he was finished with any more Earth women. They were too difficult to control,” Adalard said with an amused laugh. “I was able to get the location of her planet from him. He just warned me that I was to use the information at my own risk.”

Mandra chuckled when he heard his mate snort. “Serves them right if they kidnapped those other poor women the way we were kidnapped. I hope they give whoever took them holy hell!”

All three men laughed causing Ariel to struggle as her temper flared. “Might I remind you, you are still on my shit list for locking me up!” She growled out pointing a finger at Mandra.

“I think that is our signal that it is time to leave you two alone. I’ll make sure the healer knows you are not to be disturbed,” Zebulon said getting up and moving toward the door.

“We will meet later to discuss pursuing Raffvin. Until then, rest… or not,” Adalard said with an amused grin as he followed Zebulon out of the room.

Mandra waited until he heard the outer door seal before looking at his mate. “So, I am on your shit list,” Mandra said pulling Ariel back down to him. “What happens when you are on someone’s shit list?” He whispered as he nuzzled her jaw.

“You have to do everything they tell you. No questions asked,” Ariel breathed out as she felt a wave of desire building.

Stretching her neck to the side so Mandra had better access to it, she shivered as she felt his lips moving along her slender column. “And what is the first thing on this list?” He asked softly.

Ariel turned her head to look at him. Her dark brown eyes glittered with tiny flames as she thought of all the things she wanted to put on the list. She decided it needed to be a really long one considering how scared she had been.

“The first thing is to bite me,” she whispered as she leaned forward and pressed delicate kisses along his jaw.

“And the… second?” He asked huskily as he felt her teeth scraped along his throat.

“… is to fuck me. All… night… long,” she breathed out.

“I think I am going to like being on your shit list,” Mandra said with a groan as he turned her head to the side and sunk his teeth into her.

To be continued…Cornering Carmen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Smith has always been a romantic and a dreamer. An avid writer, she has spent years writing, although it has usually been technical papers for college. Now, she spends her evenings and weekends writing and her nights dreaming up new stories. An affirmed “geek,” she spends her days working on computers and other peripherals. She enjoys camping and traveling when she is not out on a date with her favorite romantic guy. Fans can reach her at
[email protected]
or visit her web site at
http://sesmithfl.com
.

Additional Books:

Abducting Abby
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 1)

Capturing Cara
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 2)

Tracking Trisha
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 3)

Ambushing Ariel
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 4)

Cornering Carmen
(Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 5) Coming Soon

Choosing Riley
(Sarafin Warriors: Book 1) Coming Soon

River’s Run
(Lords of Kassis: Book 1)

Tink’s Neverland
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 1)

Hannah’s Warrior
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 2)

Tansy’s Titan
(Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 3) November 2012

Gracie’s Touch
(Zion Warriors: Book 1)

Lily’s Cowboys
(Heaven Sent)

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