Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 (14 page)

“Please, my love, please be alright,” Vox
whispered cradling her against him fiercely. “It will not harm you
again. I promise.”

“Vox, let me look at her,” Lodar said
urgently coming up behind him. “I need to see what damage the
creature may have done. It was wrapped all around her.”

“Adur, Cross, and Banu can help me search the
freighter for any more of the creatures,” Tor said harshly. “We
should have done that in the first place,” he added with
disgust.

“Perhaps that is why no one else wanted this
ship,” Fred whispered looking up at Bob who was standing behind
him.

“I have sealed off the two lower levels,” Bob
said. “If there are any there, they will not be able to get to us
and with the environmental systems shut down they shouldn’t be able
to survive for long.”

“I have not seen any other purple and silver
creatures but if I modify the scanners I might be able to pick them
up on it,” Titus added.

“I can help you,” Cross said looking down at
the remnants of the beast that had attacked Riley. “I have never
seen anything like this before,” he murmured as he pushed a piece
of the purple fur with the tip of his toe.

Riley listened as the men talked back and
forth between each other. Each piece slowly fitting together in her
brain to make the puzzle clearer until the image of her jacket,
totally shredded, loomed like a beacon in the mass confusion. At
first, just a little giggle escaped as she thought about Fred’s
reaction when he first saw it. His comment and her offhanded,
sarcastic response floated through her memory. The more she thought
about it the more she realized that they actually thought her
jacket had been alive. That it was some type of alien creature that
ate aliens! A little hiccup escaped her as she fought the surge of
adrenaline-laced hysteria at having the shit scared out of her all
because of her beautiful but dead birthday present.

Vox stroked Riley’s back tenderly as he felt
her beginning to shake. He looked at Lodar with wide, worried eyes.
Lodar nodded as he moved in closer so he could examine her without
having to pull her too far from his friend.

“Riley, it will be alright,” Lodar said
calmly. “We won’t let anything happen to you. I just need to take a
closer look at you. Can you tell me about what happened?”

Riley turned her face into Vox’s chest and
burst out into uncontrollable laughter. It was just too much! They
were totally freaking out over a gaudy piece of cloth. She shook
her head, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to speak rationally
yet. She was too busy having a hysterical moment.

“Just…. just… a…. moment,” she breathed out
in a muffled voice against Vox’s warm skin. Hell, he was ten times
warmer than her jacket! She snuggled closer and was rewarded when
Vox’s arms wrapped even tighter around her, pulling her so close
she was practically molded into him. “You…. You…. You…. killed my….
my …. jacket,” Riley giggled.

“I killed your what?” Vox asked confused,
looking at Lodar to see if he understood what she was trying to
say.

Lodar shrugged and touched Riley’s wild wave
of curly hair. “What did you say, Riley? We couldn’t understand,”
he asked gently.

Riley tilted her head back until she was
looking up at both men. Her eyes danced with merriment as she
fought back the uncontrollable laughter threatening to escape her.
Her face warmed as she saw the other men looking on with
concern.

“Vox, you dolt, you killed my favorite
jacket!” Riley burst out laughing. “This is priceless! You thought
my jacket was attacking me and you killed it! My Grandma Pearl was
right. She said that it looked like an alien attacking me and
threatened to shoot it the one time I wore it to the bar. But hell!
I never really thought that would ha…. ha…. happen!” Riley crowed
before she buried her face into Vox’s warm chest again as her body
shook with glee.

*.*.*

“Not one damn word,” Vox growled out looking
down at Fred. “Do not say one damn word!”

Fred tucked both of his chins down into his
chest and nodded before scurrying away. Vox watched the little
Tiliquan move rapidly down the corridor. He was probably going to
go apologize again to Riley for getting her jacket killed.

“You should go easy on the little guy,” Adur
said trying to keep a straight face. “After all, we all thought the
damn thing was alive.”

Banu and Titus turned around quickly trying
to hide their grins. Cross didn’t even bother turning around. He
just grinned. He couldn’t wait to see what happened next. He had to
admit, ever since they had been introduced to the young female life
had been very, very interesting.

Vox growled darkly at all of them before he
got up and strode off the bridge. Why, oh why, did he continue to
screw up whenever he was around Riley? He had always been so in
control, so commanding, so not an idiot before he met her. Hell,
others trembled in fear of him! Riley trembled, but it was because
she was either madder than hell at him or laughing her ass off at
the idiotic things he did.

Vox paused and took a deep breath. Well, that
was about to end. He was going to show her that he was not some
idiot! He was the Sarafin King! He ruled over some of the fiercest
warriors in the known star systems. He was a male that females from
numerous different species begged for him to make love to them. It
was about time that Riley realized that. She was his damn mate, his
queen. It was time he claimed Ms. Riley St. Claire from Denver,
Colorado and showed her he wasn’t going to take no for an answer
any longer.

Riley snuggled down into the thick pile of
blankets trying to get warm. She could swear ice was beginning to
form on the inside of the walls. She understood they needed to have
shields and things like that but none of that would do a damn bit
of good to them if they were all dead from hyperthermia. She hated
cold weather! That was why she had left Colorado and stayed to the
south as much as she could. She should have just gone to live back
in San Diego where her Grandma Pearl and Tina lived but she had
wanted to see if she could make it on her own.

Tears pooled in her eyes and overflowed as
she thought about what a mess she had made of her already crazy
life. Was it too much to ask for just one thing to go right in her
life? She pulled the covers over her head and turned her cellphone
on. She was going to have to talk to Tor about recharging it and
her iPad again. She didn’t know how he did it but she was grateful
that he had figured out a way to keep them charged for her. It was
the only link she had to her life back on Earth.

She pulled up a video of her sister and Pearl
at the bar. She had recorded it on Tina’s birthday several months
ago. Her Grandma was relating some silly story that happened the
weekend before when a bunch of biker wannabes encountered the real
thing. They had sat around laughing, drinking beer, and having a
good time. Tina and she had been getting along better lately. Riley
had a feeling it was because they had confided to each other that
they were terrified of ending up being like their mom and Pearl.
All either one of them really wanted was to fall in love, have a
happy home, a couple of kids, and the mangy mutt that would come
along and adopt them.

“Pearl, have you heard from momma lately?”
Tina was asking Pearl.

“Now don’t you be asking about that wasted
piece of fluff,” Pearl said gruffly. “She made her decision when
she left you girls and decided not to come back.”

“But,” Tina started to say.

“She’s gone, Tina,” Riley heard her
videotaped voice say. “Let her go.”

Riley bit her lip now as she looked at the
sadness in her baby sister’s eyes. Tina was only two years younger
than her but had never given up hope that their mom would one day
come home. Riley and Pearl knew that would never happen. Riley had
used her contacts at the bail bond company she had been working for
to look up information on their mother. She found out their mom had
died when she was ten and Tina was eight of a drug overdose in Los
Angeles. Riley had traveled up to the City of Angels to visit the
grave. Pearl had their mom cremated and her ashes placed between
her great-grandparents.

Riley had confronted Pearl, wanting her to
tell Tina but Pearl had been adamant. “Your momma has caused enough
pain and sorrow. Let your sister have her dream for a little
longer. She will find out eventually. I’m just not ready for her to
find out yet.”

Riley had reluctantly agreed simply because
it was Tina’s twenty-second birthday and she didn’t want her sister
to remember finding out their mother was dead on her special day.
Tina had always been the more sensitive of the two of them. Riley
wasn’t really sure who Tina took after but it was probably her dad.
Riley had never found any information on him or her own father.
Riley knew she had Pearl’s smart mouth while Tina just became
quieter when she was confronted. Riley figured she took after her
father in size. There was no doubt about that. Tina was petite like
Pearl and the pictures they had of their mom when she was a little
girl and had their mom’s straight, dark hair.

Tears poured down her cheeks as her iPhone
finally cut off. She sniffed and let them come, quiet sobs poured
out of her as she thought of her small family back home that she
would more than likely never see again. She figured she deserved a
good cry every once in a while. No one could blame her for that.
She drew in a deep breath when she felt the bed she was lying on
suddenly sink down. The covers were pulled free from around her
head until she could feel the freezing air on her damp cheeks. She
looked up into dark, tawny eyes filled with concern.

“Can I hold you?” The deep voice asked
quietly.

Riley’s eyes filled with more tears, she bit
her lip and nodded slowly. She pulled the pile of blankets back so
Vox’s huge figure could crawl under them with her. She waited as he
pulled his boots and vest off. He tossed them onto a nearby chair
before he crawled under the covers with her. She didn’t care that
she had promised herself that she would stay away from his ornery
ass. She didn’t care about anything but feeling safe, protected,
and warm for a little while. She needed to be held and he was
offering. She would have been the biggest fool in every known star
system if she turned down a heater better than any electric
blanket, not to mention, she was just feeling very fragile and lost
right now and needed something she could hold onto. She would kick
his stubborn butt out after she had a good night’s sleep and was
feeling better.

Riley curled up as close as she could next to
Vox’s warm body without actually pulling him on top of her. She let
out a deep sigh of contentment as he wrapped his strong arms around
her waist, pulling her even closer. Her head rested on his broad
shoulder and she rested her hand over his heart.

Vox held her close. After a few minutes he
noticed her breathing had slowed down and her body had melted
against his as she slipped into a deep sleep. A chuckle shook his
body slightly. This was the last thing he expected. Why he should
be surprised or have expected anything less was beyond him anymore.
He had planned to claim his mate. He had expected a fierce fight,
followed by some new bruises, before he would wrestle her down and
make love to her so much she would have to concede that she was his
mate. Instead, he had entered the room she had claimed only to hear
her muffled sobs. They had broken through his fierce determination
and replaced it with something inside him he had never experienced
before - tenderness. When he had drawn the covers back and she
looked at him with her big, baby blue eyes shimmering with tears
and sadness, his heart had actually hurt. It had melted into a
mushy puddle when she gazed up at him with such heartfelt need when
he had asked if he could hold her. He bit back a silent groan as he
felt her soft, plump flesh melt against his body. Her hand moved up
to curl in his hair at the base of his neck just as she rolled over
enough to bury her nose contently against his chest, a soft snore
escaping her. His body pulsed for a moment before he felt it relax
as his own tiredness overwhelmed him. He turned his head so he
could rub his cheek against her hair.

It feels so good to hold her,
he
thought sleepily.
I’m never going to sleep without her against
me again.

Vox gave up on trying to stay awake. He would
claim her when they were both well rested. It would be more fun
anyway. A smile curved his lips as he realized this was the first
time he had been able to hold her without getting hurt. He was
making progress after all.

*.*.*

The violent shudder of the freighter woke Vox
before the sound of the alarms did. He paused for just a moment
before he jerked into a sitting position and looked around in
confusion for a moment. He ran his hand through his hair as he felt
the freighter groan again.

“Vox!” Titus voice boomed out over the
communications console. “Get your ass up here! We’re under attack
by two fucking Marastin Dow pirate ships! The shields are
failing.”

A soft moan sounded next to him and a
slender, pale arm reached out and grabbed for the covers. “Tell
them to come back later, I’m still sleeping,” Riley muttered before
she rolled over, dragging the covers over her head.

Vox’s chuckle turned into a loud laugh as he
surged to his feet. His mate was not a morning person. He would
have to let the fucking purple pirates know that if he let any of
them live. He pulled his boots and vest on before he turned around
to his mate who was snoring away under the covers.

“Riley, you have to get up,” Vox growled out
as he felt another shudder before the sounds of hooks scraping
against metal resonated through the freighter. Shit, they were
about to be boarded. “Riley, get your ass up now! We are under
attack.”