Cornering Carmen (16 page)

“What species did you say she is?” He asked curiously, enjoying the soft brown of her eyes, her pale, delicate skin, sun-ripe hair, and full lips not to mention the rest of her body.

In a flash, Carmen was pushed behind Creon's massive body and he was snarling. Black scales rippled over his body and he partially shifted. He moved forward until he was mere inches from the other man's face.

“She is mine!” He snarled out. “Remember that or I will remind you.”

Ha'ven's
eyes narrowed as he studied the infuriated male in front of him. “I would protect your mate with my life, my friend. I have no desire to take what is yours. You have deserved this blessing for too long,” he said quietly. “But, I wouldn't mind finding one for myself,” he added with a small, mischievous grin.

Creon stared intently into his friend's eyes. All he could see was the truthfulness behind his statement. With a quiet word to his dragon, he stepped back and took several deep breaths to calm both his dragon and his own self. Gradually, he relaxed enough to nod his understanding.

“We are still very protective of her,” he muttered to his friend.

Cree and Calo came up to stand next to them. The other warriors who had paused to watch the little show Carmen put on and Creon's reaction to it slowly went back to work. Calo put his arm around his brother's shoulder and laughed.

“From the looks of it, she is the one who could do the protecting!” He said with an amused laugh. “Can I have my knife back now, little kitten?”

Carmen raised her eyebrow and smirked as she stepped forward to stand next to her mate. “It's not yours, Calo. It belonged to Cree. Now, it belongs to me,” she said before turning to Cree. “I can use it when I have to protect both of your asses.”

Ha'ven's laugh echoed through the docking bay. Cree and Calo stood with their mouths hanging open again and looking on in astonishment as Creon put a possessive hand on his mate's lower back and guided her toward one of the exits. Both brothers stood frozen until they realized they were being left behind.

“I want to find one for us too,” Cree muttered under his breath to his twin as he strode after the sexy, swaying ass of the female they had been assigned to protect.

“Do you think her species could handle two of us together?” Calo asked in wonder.

Cree's eyes suddenly lit up with fire. “I think the question is going to be if the two of us can handle the one female!”

Carmen placed her hands on Creon's cheeks and pulled his head down to hers. She pressed her lips against his
;
kissing him deeply before pulling back, out of breath. His eyes were blazing with desire as he stared down at her.

“I heard you the first, second, third, fourth…” she couldn’t go on because he was kissing her again.

It had been two weeks since they left Valdier and they were no closer to finding Vox than they had been before. The mining area they visited first was abandoned by the Antrox but they had not taken everything when they moved on. The Antrox had left an old man and one young boy behind when they left. Carmen's heart went out to them. They were human. They had been taken over four years before from Earth. According to the account Creon gave her, the man was no longer considered viable as he could not produce enough work each day to justify his food. They had been left with only a few supplies and one young Pactor too lame to work. The old human said the boy was his grandson. The boy had escaped, hiding in the tunnels so he couldn't be separated from his grandfather. From what the old man told Ha'ven and Creon, the boy had been responsible for taking care of the Pactors.

Creon reluctantly broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “Perhaps you can speak with the old man and the boy today. It might make life more comfortable for everyone. The boy wouldn't leave the Pactor in the mines. He refused to come out of the tunnels until we promised he could bring it with them. Why he has grown attached to the ugly beast, I'll never understand. He has a way with the creature though. It follows him everywhere. The old man and boy have refused to interact with anyone either. The old man has a foul mouth on him. He won't let anyone near the boy saying he is mentally unable to understand what is being said. He also said the boy was a mute. At least, that was the reason he gave for keeping the boy away from everyone. He refused medical assistance for the both of them.
Tandor
didn't push it as they both seemed fine and the initial scans when they were brought aboard didn't flag any disease or illness. Still, they are being very uncooperative,” Creon said huskily. “Perhaps they would be more receptive to our assistance if you were to talk with them.”

“I can try,” Carmen replied
,
pulling away so she could pull on her clothes. “You can hardly blame them. Look at what they have had to endure for the past four years. They've been ripped away from everything and everyone they have ever known and used as slaves. This goes against everything we believe in.”

“It has been over a week since we brought them aboard. We have tried to assure them that things will be better. Ha'ven finally ended up sectioning off one of the repair bays. The old man,
boy
, and Pactor
are
us
ing
it as their living quarters,” he said
,
distractedly watching as she reached for her clothes lying on the floor where he had tossed them earlier. “I like you better the way you are,” he added huskily, his eyes glued to her rounded ass.

Carmen threw an amused look over her shoulder as she bent over to pick up her pants that he had taken off of her. She bit back a chuckle when she heard him groan loudly. It was becoming a bad habit of his to try to keep her naked. She was learning that if she wanted to leave their living quarters on board the
Horizon
, she'd better do it before he got out of the cleansing unit or she wouldn’t make it out until much later.

“What level are they on?” Carmen asked as she slipped the pants on.

“First... come here,” Creon demanded huskily.

Carmen laughed as she picked up his shirt and threw it in his face. “No, if I do neither one of us will be leaving. I thought you had a meeting with Ha'ven and were going to talk with your brothers.”

A heavy sigh was the answer to her reminder. “Shit! I forgot. You are too much of a distraction for me,
mi elila
,” he replied at the same time as his
comlink
sounded.

“Creon?” Ha'ven growled out in annoyance. “Where in the dragon's balls are you? There has been a situation on Valdier.
Tilkmos
, and that damn kid is causing problems again. He went after a couple of warriors with a shovel when they entered the repair bay to get some parts. We should have just left all three of their asses at the mine! The old man is just as bad.”

“You go see what happened,” Carmen said as she brushed a kiss over her mate's lips. “I'll go take care of the old man and the boy.”

Creon reached out and gripped her hand tightly for a moment, looking at her intently. “Cree or Calo will go with you. I will not take a chance of them attacking you.”

She paused for a second, about to argue before seeing he was genuinely worried. “Okay. Tell them to meet me outside the repair bay.”

“Thank you,” he said brushing his fingers down along her cheek. “I love you,
mi elila
, so very much.”

Carmen's eyes darkened with emotion. She cupped his hand and held it tightly against her skin. Tears burned her eyes at the intense emotion glittering in his. She could understand it. Those same feelings were coursing through her. She never thought she would have a second chance and she was afraid
something would take it
away from her.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, staring up into his beautiful golden eyes with a haunted look. “Sometimes I get so afraid this is a dream and I'll wake up.”

He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. “Then, I am having the same dream. One in which I never want to awaken from,” he replied gruffly.

*.*.*

Creon eye's burned with rage as he listened to Zoran. Their mates had been attacked. They were able to rescue Abby before she was taken but both Cara and Trisha had not fared so well. On top of that, the devastating news that his uncle now had a weapon powerful enough to destroy a symbiot was horrifying. Zoran coldly related the deaths of the guards and their symbiots. He explained their findings but as yet they were not sure what was powerful enough to destroy something made of pure energy. Trelon and Kelan were leading the attack on a Curizan warship
Trelon's
symbiot was following. He would keep
them informed
as to when they retrieved Cara and Trisha. Zoran refused to believe that the two women would not be returned safely.

“Who took them?” Creon asked harshly staring out the viewport in the conference room.

“N'tasha was behind it,” Zoran answered in a deadly cold voice. “If Kelan or Trelon do not kill her, I will. She has committed a hideous crime against her people. I want to know every traitor who is in league with Raffvin.”

“We are headed to Kardosa Spaceport,” Creon said. “Vox was not at the first mining operation. It had been abandoned. Ha'ven and I have some contacts on Kardosa who may know which one he has been taken to. I worry Raffvin may send word to go ahead and assassinate him.”

“Watch yourself,” Zoran warned. “He is getting desperate and if he now has a weapon capable of such atrocities as to kill our symbiots, he is even more dangerous than we originally thought.”

“Have you heard from Mandra and Adalard?” Ha'ven asked from where he was seated at the long conference table. “They should have met up by now.”

“Yes,” Zoran replied. “They met up with him earlier today. Adalard has an informant who knows where Raffvin's main base is hidden. They are traveling to meet up with him. If they have a way to stop Raffvin, they will proceed with their attack. If Raffvin suspects anything, he will order Vox's execution immediately to inflame his brothers and the warriors of Sarafin. We could well have a war on our hands.”

“Did you warn Mandra of the weapon Raffvin has?” Creon asked in concern. “It is too dangerous for him and Adalard to go after him alone.”

“Mandra is aware of what happened and will use his best judgment. It may be the only time we have a chance against Raffvin. He will not proceed unless he is sure he can defeat him. He would not risk his life or that of his mate,” Zoran assured his youngest brother.

“Remember also he is not alone. Adalard can be deadly,” Ha'ven said with pride of his younger sibling. “He already has a reason to want Raffvin's head mounted on his wall. He will stand by your brother.”

“Then, we continue on our course to Kardosa unless things change,” Creon
replied
heavily. “Inform me as soon as the women have been rescued. I will contact Mandra and discuss backing him up should they find Raffvin.”

“Stay strong and fight well, brother,” Zoran said, quoting their farewell during times of battle.

“You too, brother,” Creon said before signing off. He turned to stare at Ha'ven. “We need to find Vox as soon as possible and back Mandra up. I have a bad feeling Raffvin is going to do everything he can to kill him once he finds out we have joined forces instead of declaring war.”

The grim expression on Ha’ven’s face showed he agreed. “We will split up on Kardosa and see what we can learn. I worry about your brothers' mates. If he is successful in killing one or both of them…” his voice faded away as both of them realized the grim possibility that Creon and Valdier could lose two of their most valuable warriors.

Creon’s jaw tightened. “It will not happen. Let’s go over what we do know. It will help narrow our search.”

*.*.*

Carmen looked at Cree and rolled her eyes. He tried to insist he was Calo at first but finally gave up when she shook her head in disgust. It was actually fun watching him try to figure out how she could tell them apart. She refused to tell him which just made him even more aggravated. As it was, he refused to let her enter the repair bay first.

“You are under my protection,” he insisted
,
trying to hold his temper when she just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Creon said as much,” he added defensively not knowing what else to say.

“Whatever,” Carmen replied and pressed the control panel. “If it makes
your
big boy britches feel better, be my guest. I can always drag your ass out if you get hurt.”

“I would like to show you
my
…,” he started before biting back a curse. “What I mean is…”

Carmen almost felt sorry for him… almost. “Go on, I know exactly what you were going to say,” she chuckled out enjoying how his cheeks turned a darker red.

She watched as he moved cautiously into the repair bay. He called out to the old man that he had brought a visitor. It was only when Cree saw the old man nod to him as he was coming out of the side room set up for their use that he stepped to one side to allow Carmen to enter.

“I don’t see the boy,” he muttered as she passed him. “Keep your eyes out. They say he isn’t right in the head.”