Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 (19 page)

“They actually have a pretty good replicator.
How about a ham and cheese sandwich and chips?” Carmen asked.

“That sounds wonderful,” Riley replied as her
stomach gave a loud growl.

Carmen laughed as she turned away. Riley
watched Carmen walk over to the other side of the room where the
replicators were located. She glanced around noticing with relief
that there was hardly anyone else in the room. The warship was a
lot different from anything else she had been on to date. Between
the trader’s small ship, the asteroid, and the old freighter Riley
had been anything but impressed with the idea of space travel slash
alien worlds. This ship could make her change her mind, though.
Everything on the inside gleamed. There were over a dozen silver
round tables with matching swivel chairs bolted to the floor. The
flooring was a polished black offset by the white walls. On the far
wall were a series of replicators inset into the wall. In the far
left corner was an opening where dirty dishes disappeared into a
cleansing unit. Riley sighed and rested her chin on her palm. She
wondered if she could fit one of the replicators in her suitcase.
She would love to never have to cook again. That was another thing
that she didn’t excel at. She loved to eat - out. Her cooking
skills were basic at best.

There were probably only about a dozen men in
the room. Riley was surprised that there weren’t any women. She
would have thought with all the Star Trek episodes she had seen
that the crew would have been about half and half. She was so deep
in thought that she didn’t even notice the shadow that fell over
her until the sound of a clearing throat drew her attention from
her thoughts.

Riley turned and smiled up at the handsome
young man staring down at her. She sat up straighter, raising an
eyebrow in amusement as she observed that he was focused on her
curly mane of hair. She reached up and twirled a few of the strands
around her finger before she said anything to the silent figure
standing over her.

“Yes, I am a natural blonde,” she drawled out
in her best Midwest accent. “But don’t try any of the blond jokes
if you want to live,” she added with a dimpled smile.

“Can I touch it?” The man asked
hesitantly.

Riley chuckled as she held out her slender
hand. “I think we should at least introduce ourselves before you
start feeling me up,” she replied with a grin. “My name is Riley
St. Claire and I’m from the mile-high city of Denver,
Colorado.”

“I am called Mondu,” he replied. “I am from
the Curizan star system. You are the female from the freighter, the
one with five mates?”

Riley blushed and looked over at Carmen who
was talking to another male. Riley frowned when she realized he
looked like the same guy who had been shadowing Carmen last night
when they first came on board but there was something different
about him. Whatever Carmen was saying to the guy, he didn’t look
like he was very happy about it.

She looked back at the male who had slid into
the seat next to her. She leaned back a little in surprise when he
moved into her personal space. She opened her mouth to respond to
him but the words died as he wound his fingers in her hair, pulling
it closer to his face.

“It was the only way to prevent them from
being someone’s dinner,” Riley said with a slight squeak in her
voice. “I mean, it wasn’t real or anything. Besides, those stickmen
really pissed me off. It was worth saying I’d take the guys just to
see the expression on their faces.”

Mondu smiled down at Riley. He was enjoying
watching her nervousness. He had been captivated by her the moment
he walked into the room. Some of the other men had been talking
about the beautiful female with the white hair. He wanted to see if
she was anything like Lord Creon’s mate. Few things surprised him
but this female had definitely done that. He was expecting her to
be slender like Lady Carmen but this female - this female had
curves that a male could hold onto. If she was not truly mated to
any of the males then he would make his move.

“So you are not mated to any of them?” Mondu
asked with a satisfied curve to his lips.

Riley nervously pulled her hair away from him
and scooted over as far as she could without falling out of her
seat. What was it with these guys? Sure she got the occasional
stare or comment back home but these guys were like in your face,
here I am, not the nice wolf whistle she could shoot a bird at.

“No, I’m not mated to any of them,” Riley
said in exasperation waving her hand at him. “Listen, do you mind -
like - sitting back. You are crowding me and I don’t like it when
people get in my personal space and all.”

Mondu chuckled but leaned back in his seat.
“What do you like?”

Riley looked over to where Carmen was picking
up a tray full of food. “I like food that I don’t have to cook,
warm beaches, good movies, and ....,” she paused to look at Mondu
with a dimpled grin. “Shopping for great deals.”

Mondu’s chuckle turned to a laugh as he
picked up one of her waving hands. “What do you not like?”

Riley tilted her head as she tugged
unsuccessfully to remove her hand from his grasp. “Spending my own
money, liars, murders, and cheats but most of all,” she said with a
pointed look in her eyes, “pushy men who don’t know their
places.”

“Like me?” Mondu asked with a lazy grin
caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.

“Like you if you don’t let go of my hand,”
Riley replied with another tug.

“What if I don’t want to let it go?” He asked
raising it to his lips.

“Then you die,” a dark snarl sounded behind
him.

Riley looked up startled to stare at Vox’s
dark face. Dark wasn’t the word for it. Truthfully, she didn’t know
a face could be that frightening. Mondu slowly released her hand
and stood, turning to face the furious ruler of the Sarafin. He
appeared to be relaxed but Riley could tell from his stance that he
had moved into a defensive pose. Vox must have realized it as well
because a menacing growl escaped from him as he focused his
narrowed eyes on the huge male standing between him and Riley.

“Move away from my mate or I will kill you,”
Vox demanded, flexing his fingers.

“The female says she has no mate,” Mondu
replied calmly.

Vox’s eyes narrowed and he took another step
closer. “I have claimed her. She wears my mark.”

Mondu glanced over his shoulder at Riley who
was looking back and forth between the two of them with huge,
bright wary eyes. “Show me his mark,” he said.

“What?” Riley asked puzzled.

Vox glared down at Riley. “Show him my mark
before I kill him, Riley.”

Riley stood up and glared at Vox. “Which one?
You frigging left bruises all over me, you big ape! I am not in the
mood to deal with your mangy ass right now, especially if you think
you can talk to me in that tone of voice after what you did to
me.”

“What did he do?” Carmen demanded dropping
the tray on the table with a loud bang. “Did he hurt you?”

Riley’s eyes brightened with furious tears.
She was so not having this conversation with everyone staring at
her. This was worse than the high school dance because this time
she had been the idiot who said ‘yes’ to going behind the building
instead of remembering her dear Grandma Pearl’s words of wisdom.
She angrily brushed a tear that escaped down her cheek, turned on
her heel without another word and strode out of the dining
quarters.

Vox took a step to follow but Carmen stepped
in his way. “I don’t know what you did to her but you need to step
back now before I put you on your ass,” she hissed out in a cold
voice.

Vox looked down in surprise at Creon’s mate.
Her eyes glittered with a deadly promise of retribution if he
should try to move around her. “She is my mate,” he explained
quietly. “I will see to her needs.”

Carmen shook her head. “Right now what she
needs is a little breathing room.” She looked over his shoulder at
Calo who was glaring at her. “You guys don’t realize we Earth girls
aren’t used to all this claiming bullshit. It can be a little
overwhelming. Just back off for a little while and give her time to
collect herself. She would not appreciate you breathing down her
neck right now.”

Vox swore darkly under his breath. He nodded
briefly to Carmen before looking at Mundo. He would only tell the
Curizan male once more that Riley was his. If he saw the male near
her again, he would kill him.

“Stay away from my mate,” Vox growled out in
a low, cold voice. “Let the others know she has been claimed and I
will kill any who touch her.”

Mundo studied Vox for several seconds before
bowing his head in respect. “Your claim will not be challenged by
me, my lord.”

Vox turned back to Carmen with a frown. “You
will go to her?”

Carmen raised an eyebrow and stared at the
huge male in front of her. Nodding her head, she couldn’t resist
making a jab at Calo. Creon had assigned the twin brothers to be
her shadow despite all her protests. Calo was on duty today. She
had a feeling Riley might be able to help her figure out a few
phrases she had missed calling them. If nothing else, it would give
her something else to think about.

“Yeah, me and Fido will make sure she is
okay,” Carmen said before grabbing the tray she had dropped. “Come
on, boy. That’s a good boy, come on.”

“One of these days, Carmen....” Calo muttered
darkly as he followed her out of the dining quarters. “One of these
days.....”

Vox listened as Carmen laughed at the huge
male following her. He shook his head in wonder that such a small,
delicate species could be such a big pain in the ass. He couldn’t
help but marvel what his family was going to think of his mate. Or
what his mate was going to think of his family.

“Do you think there might be more of them?”
Mundo asked, coming to stand next to Vox.

Vox gave a dry chuckle. “Gods, I hope not.
I’m having a hard enough time with the one I’ve got. I can’t
imagine what would happen to our worlds if there were more of
them.”

*.*.*

Riley stared out the viewport without really
seeing anything. Her mind and her body kept drifting to a certain
irritating fur ball that had gotten not only under her skin but
into her heart. Every movement of her body reminded her of his
touch. She had to admit it had been an incredible night but it
would have to be the only incredible night. She couldn’t take a
chance of letting herself fall any further.

“Are you alright?” Carmen’s soft voice asked
as she entered the small conference room she had been directed to
thanks to Calo’s inquiries.

Riley wiped at her face to make sure her
cheeks were dry and quickly put on her I-don’t-give-a-damn mask.
She had learned a long, long time ago how to perfect hiding her
feelings. No one cared anyway. Even her Grandma Pearl said feelings
were for drunks, weak men, and wimps. None of those were allowed in
their house when she was growing up.

Riley turned with a grimace and a shrug.
“Yeah, hate it when I’m PMSing.”

Carmen set the tray down on the table near
the viewport and sat down. “We never did get a chance to eat. I
don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

Riley gave a short laugh and nodded. “Me too.
So, how did you end up in the Twilight Zone?”

Carmen looked around and shook her head in
amazement. “My sister and my best friend were piloting a client of
the Boswell’s back to California along with another friend who was
a mechanic for the company. I hitched a ride. The client, Abby, was
kidnapped by the local sheriff who had the hots for her. Trisha,
Cara, my sister Ariel and I took off after them with the hopes of
rescuing Abby. Turns out her boyfriend was not only hot but ‘out of
this world’ hot,” Carmen explained with a grin. “I don’t remember
much. I had been stabbed a couple of times and was pretty much dead
by the time Zoran and his brothers got there. They transported me
and the others up to their ship after toasting the bad guy. I woke
up and the rest is history,” she muttered before taking a big bite
of her sandwich. “What about you?”

Riley picked at her sandwich not really sure
she was hungry anymore. “I found out my boss and his daddy were
running drugs and guns among other things. When my boss made a pass
at me, I clobbered him,” she smirked at Carmen. “He probably will
never be able to give himself a hand job or have kids. Anyway, I
had found out they also had a dead guy buried under the shed out
back. I decided it was in my best interest to get out of town
before I ended up joining him. Needless to say, my car broke down,
I got in a truck with a major asshole, and the lights did NOT
belong to the dwarf biker gang as I had hoped.”

Carmen choked at Riley’s vague explanation of
events. “So, how did you end up with five mates?” She sighed
heavily when Riley lifted her eyebrow at her. “I promised Creon I’d
find out.”

Riley chuckled. “You lose?”

Carmen nodded. “I never should have taught
him how to play poker,” she said before a rosy blush swept up her
cheeks.

Riley sighed before she looked up at Carmen.
“Will you help me get back home?” She asked nervously.

Carmen stared into Riley’s eyes for several
minutes before she nodded. “If that is what you want, I will do my
best to see that you get back home.”

Riley looked away as tears burned her eyes
again. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Between the sudden
hot flashes and the emotional roller coasters she was about ready
to go postal on someone’s ass. She was too damn young for
menopause.

“I have family back home,” Riley said
clearing her throat. “I have a grandmother and a baby sister. Not
much, but it is all I have. Plus, I need to stop Dudley Dipshit and
Daddy Dumbest from killing anyone else. I took the files and photos
that would put them away but it doesn’t do a damn bit of good up
here.”