Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart (119 page)

Touch of Frost

S. E. Smith

Excerpt

Frost stood in the doorway of the
dwelling staring in shock at the female. He blinked several times to clear his
eyes. Nothing else seemed to register in his mind except that she was glowing…
with the bright, soft light of the early morning sun reflecting across a fresh
snowfall. The brilliant colors swirling around her settled on her skin like the
first touch of frost against the petals of the snow flowers.

He watched the patterns settle
around her. As the twinkling faded, the delicate patterns caressed her skin
dancing for him. Patterns only he could see. Patterns showing that she was his
chosen one.

Time suddenly fast forwarded as he
realized that she was in mortal danger. Panic and fear, two emotions that he
refused to acknowledge, ricocheted through him as he caught the glint of cold
metal and Taar’s massive form behind her.

"Taar!" Frost yelled,
throwing his right hand up. "Freeze."

The dark brown eyes of the female
jerked up to his in shock. Her lips parted to form a small, delectable circle
as she stared back at him. He barely registered that she had her arms wrapped
protectively around the body of the golden-haired mammal. He did look twice
when the tiny creature suddenly let go of the tip of Taar’s tail and grinned up
at him.

"Move," Frost snarled as
he continued to shoot bursts of ice outward toward Taar.

A confused frown crossed the lovely
face of the female as she tilted sideways away from where the icy stream was
pulsing. She gasped as she saw the ice-covered mask of the lizard behind her.
She stumbled against a chair that had fallen. The movement, combined with the
extra weight in her arms, caused her to move backwards instead of toward him.
At the same time, Taar’s enraged roar and the sound of shattering ice echoed
through the room.

"What is going on? Who are
you?" The female shouted in exasperation. "Larry,
let… me… go
!"

Frost clenched his fingers into a
tight fist as Taar wrapped one of his hands in the female’s long dark brown
hair while the other raised the sharp blade to her throat. The sound of the
Learian’s loud hisses rubbed against his senses like sand against glass.

"Star Ranger!" Taar
hissed, ignoring the sharp stinging in his tail and the pulsing shocks burning
the palm of his hand where he gripped the female. "I should have known that
Passion would send you. This is going to make my escape even sweeter knowing
I’ve killed yet another one of you."

"Let her go, Taar," Frost
responded in a cold, hard voice. "This is between you and I."

"Not any longer," Taar
sneered. "This one is going to die."

Frost’s mind worked frantically at
a way to get the female away from Taar. Fear and rage burned inside him as the
blade in Taar’s fisted claw rested against the pale skin of the female. He
fingered the explosives in his other hand. They would stun Taar briefly, but
they might kill the woman.

His eyes moved to the slender figure
that had become very still. The look of uncertainty and confusion was still in
her eyes, but there was something else as well, as if she was trying to
understand what they were saying. Her eyes locked with his and he saw she was
studying him with a frown. He rolled the small explosives in his left hand. Her
eyes moved to his hand before rising to look at him again, this time with
disapproval. She gave a tiny shake of her head.

Frost couldn’t hold back his growl
of frustration. The stupid female had no idea of the danger she was in!
Stiffening his shoulders, he slipped the explosives into the pocket of his
trousers. The likelihood of him surviving a hand-to-hand combat with the
Learian was slim, but he had no choice. He could not let Taar kill his female.

"Fight me," Frost
demanded in desperation. "Hand to hand, no weapons, just you and me."

Taar’s bark of harsh laughter
resounded through the room at Frost’s challenge. Frost took a step forward when
Taar jerked on the female’s hair instead, pulling her back a step and drawing a
cry of pain from her. His hands instinctively tried to reach for her before his
mouth dropped open as she suddenly turned around in fury and pressed one hand
against Taar’s chest. The blade Taar held against her throat vanished into a
puff of smoke as she twirled to face the Learian.

He fell back a step when her voice
rose in a commanding tone. He didn’t understand a word she was saying, but
whatever it was had a profound effect on Taar. The Learian’s eyes widened in
shock before he began to shimmer. One second the huge reptilian species stood
in front of the female, the next he was gone.

Frost stood frozen in disbelief
watching as the woman lowered the golden mammal in her arms to the floor before
she grabbed a small, clear container off the floor. With another series of
mumbled words, the contents of the container disappeared. When she finally
stood straight again, she was holding the container between the palms of her
hands with a look of disgust on her face. Inside was a miniature replica of
Taar, now only about five inches high.

His throat worked up and down as
the female turned her heated gaze on him. He started to stumble backwards when
she took a step toward him, her eyes glittering in determination. His vision
blurred as she waved her hand at him. Panic gripped him as the world began to
grow around him. He tried to turn on his heel, but found he was unable to move
as trillions of sparkling lights danced around him for several long, eternal
seconds.

His eyes closed as he fought with
his frozen muscles, trying to get them to obey him. When he opened his eyes,
the golden mammal was looking at him, nose to nose. He grimaced when a pink
tongue swept out to lick the fur covering his face.

Fur! I don’t have…
Frost thought for a brief moment before his eyes lit on the
reflection in the smoky glass of what looked like a cooking device. With a
tentative hop forward, he gazed at his reflection.
I… I…
His brain
rebelled at the same time as he felt a firm, but gentle hand, grab him by the
back of his neck and lift him.
I have long ears!
He thought before his
mind shut down and he slipped into an exhausted slumber as soothing words
washed over him.

Hunter’s Claim

S. E. Smith

Excerpt

Jesse rolled stiffly to her knees
before using the side wall to help her stand. She had been frozen in one spot
for almost three hours before the lights in the other room had finally gone
out. She bit back a groan as her stiff muscles protested. She wasn’t sure if
the three men and one woman were ever going to settle down. The one huge guy
had come out every thirty minutes to climb into the back of the van before
leaving again.

She bent to pick up her backpack
before releasing a sigh of resignation. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just
leave the alien to die. She had listened to the others talk about what they
were going to do to him. She would just as soon shove her dad’s hunting knife
into his heart if he had one then leave him to those crazy lunatics.

Straightening up once again, she
drew in a deep breath behind the black scarf covering most of her face. She
would release him. Well, she would release most of him if she could and leave
him the means to finish the task while she ran like hell. She ran her hand over
the universal key set her dad had shown her how to use. It would be a huge loss
but she wouldn’t have much choice.

Jesse set the black backpack just
inside the opening that she had squeezed through before. She might have to run
like hell but she couldn’t leave the food behind this time. Her sisters
desperately needed it.

Pulling her father’s hunting knife
out, she glanced around the fallen debris before quietly stepping out. She let
her eyes sweep the area before she swiftly jogged over to the side of the
moving van. Pressing her back up against the cold metal, she  waited for
several long seconds, listening. Sweat beaded on her brow even though the air
was frigid. She could even feel the dampness as it slid down between her
shoulder blades, a testament to her fear.

She refused to give in to the
terror threatening to choke her though. She couldn’t just leave him to die,
even if he was an alien. No one deserved to die the way the men and woman were
planning. If she couldn’t release him, the least she could do was end his life
in a more humane way.

Jesse moved slowly, pausing to
listen in case anyone came out to check on the van again. Her heart was
pounding in her chest as she reached over and carefully slid back the bar locking
the back of the van. Her hands shook as she pulled the door open just far
enough for her to slip through the opening.

The silence and darkness inside the
moving van caused her to start panting. She had never seen one of the aliens up
close before. She had always done everything in her power to stay as far away
from them as possible so she had no idea of what she was about to see.

She fumbled in the front pocket of
her black cargo pants for the small penlight that she always carried. She
turned it on and moved it along the floor until she saw the leg of a metal
bench. Taking a timid step forward, she ran the light up along the bench until
she encountered the huge boots of the alien.

She stepped forward on silent feet
until she was even with his feet. She frowned when she saw the thick chains
holding him to the metal bench. She moved up his body, staring at the chains
that were threaded through every few inches up his body. She flashed the light
down to the corners and saw that there was a master lock on each corner. She
turned to look at the top of the metal bed to see if there were additional
locks there as well.

She froze when her eyes locked on a
pair of glowing yellow ones that were watching her with silent rage. Her hand
began to shake so badly that she had to use both hands to hold the beam steady.

"I…," she began in a
muffled whispered. She licked her dry lips behind the scarf before impatiently
pulling it down below her chin when she felt like she was about to suffocate.
"I… oh hell."

Jesse stared at the beautiful
features of the man lying on the table. Even with the gag in his mouth, she
could tell he was handsome in an exotic kind of way. He had long, thick black
hair that was pulled back. His eyes were the shape of a lion or tiger. They
were a deep yellow, almost gold color and glowed in the reflection of the
flashlight. He had high cheekbones and small ridges along his nose which was
flatter than a humans. Her eyes moved down over his shoulders and chest. He had
very little hair on him considering he looked like he was part feline. One
thing stood out above all others, though. He was huge! He had to be close to
seven feet tall and she had never seen any man outside of the movies that
muscular.

Her eyes jerked back to his when
she felt more than heard the slight rumble of a growl coming from him. That was
when she realized that she had dropped her left hand down to rest on his
stomach. Blushing, she pulled her hand away quickly and took a step closer to
his head. She needed to make him realize she was there to help him.

"Please,
be quiet," she whispered next to his ear. "They will kill me or worse
if they catch me and I can’t be… I have to leave…."

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