Defiance (9 page)

“Why did you bite me?”

“We bite to mate. It marks you with
our scent. You will bite me, too, next time.” He kissed the top of her head. They’d
dressed, and she currently sat cuddled on his chest. “Do you know anything
about
Xyran
culture?”

“Other than what you’ve told me, no,”
she murmured. Her head lay on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around her
lithe body. She touched the gemstone again.

“Our society is formed through
tribes, and our status within the tribe is based on wealth. My father was not
born wealthy. In fact, he was born poor with no rank inside social standings. But
he was determined to rise above his birth and signed into the military at a
young age.”

“Are you in the military?”

“I was,” he said. “I’m not anymore,
but I’ll address that later. My father used his commission to work his way up
the ranks, and with each promotion he earned more wealth. It’s a common
practice within
Xyran
society. And then my father
landed on the ship of Commander Kath, and he was able to amass a huge fortune. He
worked his way up the chain of command until he was Kath’s lieutenant, but even
though he did all the atrocious things that Kath demanded, secretly my father
could never really stomach the life of a raider.”

“What do you raid?”

“Females, mainly.
Many
Xyrans
, like Kath, gain their wealth through the
sex slave markets. We are in conflict with planet Alpha to gain even more
spoils of war.”

She tensed but didn’t say anything,
and he knew she had to be thinking about her own abduction at his hands. Regret
filled him, but that was an emotion was used to. He lived with regret every
hour of every day.

“And then everything changed when Kath
raided a medical convoy and abducted a high ranking woman, one of the stepdaughters
of a tribal leader. Usually such women are considered off limits, but Kath was ruthless.
My father strongly objected, tried to overthrow Kath, and was imprisoned for mutiny.
But he broke free, rescued the woman, and Kath was fined half his wealth. He
swore a blood-oath to avenge his honor, which my father ignored when he bonded
with the female he rescued.”

“Your mother,” she said.

“Yes,” he murmured. “My mother is unusual.
She’s a staunch advocate against sex slaves, and her social position makes her
almost untouchable. She recruited my father into her beliefs.”

“Are they your beliefs?”

One corner of his mouth curled, but
he felt no amusement. “No, but that’s part of the bigger story. It is not
unheard of for there to be many half siblings throughout the family tribes, but
my father and my mother stayed true to each other and were blessed with several
male children and one female, my sister. Her name was
Julyah
.”

“Something happened to her, didn’t
it? I can hear it in your voice.”

Laith
nodded and felt his gut clench with the memories. It still hurt to think about
his beautiful sister. “
Xyrans
wear gemstones in their
chest as battle trophies, and once upon a time I had some. But when I resigned
my commission I got rid of them. I thought I’d never have the desire to put
gems into my body again until I wanted to honor my sister. This gem was in a
necklace she owned.”

“What happened to
Julyah
?”

“Kath found his revenge,” he said
softly.
Sadly.
“You see, my sister was involved in a
network that gave secret routes and
safehouses
to
smuggle women from slavery into freedom.”

“An underground
railroad.”

“I am unfamiliar with that term.”

“
A long time ago on
the continent of
North America
people of color
were
slaves. There was a similar network to smuggle them to free areas.”

He nodded. “Yes.
Julyah’s
involvement was discovered, and in punishment, she
was sold into the slavery she found abhorrent. Before we could get her back, Kath
sold her. She … fought.”

Every time he closed his eyes he
could still see the blood, her twisted limbs.
Her neck at the
wrong angle.
He was afraid he’d see it for the rest of his life.

“We were close,” he murmured.
“Only a year apart in age.
I found her broken body in a
slave tent outside the
Targin
Market. Kath had made
his profit, and she was used until she died.”

“Oh,
Laith
.
I’m so sorry.”

“My father and mother have been in
mourning for a year now, but he is unable to exact revenge because of his position.
To publicly decry sex slaves is tantamount to treason. He would be arrested or
even assassinated.
All my
mother’s work has to be done
in secret.”

“But you’re not part of their
beliefs?”

“I always considered them something
I had to outrun,” he said. “My parents’ beliefs were a bone of contention
between us, considering how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to be glorious
in battle, king of my harem, wealthy and powerful. And parents who fought
against everything I wanted were just an embarrassment I had to distance myself
from.”

“But you’re not like that,” she
said.

He shook his head.
“No, not anymore.
Not from the moment I looked down into my
sister’s dead eyes and realized what it truly meant to be a sex slave. My
sister was raped, again and again, until her body gave out.”

“That was one of the reasons why my
mother hid me as boy.”

“I went on a downward spiral. I
resigned my commission; I left my family. I left my life. And I met a human man
named David
Ballack
. David was helping
Julyah
, and he came after me. Saved me from myself and put
me back together. He’s given up a lot to remain as my slave, and I use that
word sarcastically. He is anything but a slave to me. He is my friend, my
brother, my savior. In fact, it was he who suggested we do what my parents
could not do.”

“You mean kill Kath,” she surmised.

“Yes.”

“Where did I fit into this plan?”

Laith
took a deep breath. “I was never my father’s son. I had sex slaves, but I’m no
longer that monster,
Jordan
.
Yet to avenge my sister, I needed to get onto Kath’s ship, and the only people
who get close to Kath are his raiders. So I needed to become a raider once more.”

“You still haven’t gotten to the
part I play.”

“I’m not proud of the part you
play.”

“Rip the bandage off,
Laith
.”

“I decided to sell a human female
at the
Targin
Market, where Kath operates, in order
to get his attention,” he told her in a monotone voice. “Humans are worth more
than
Xyrans
. We paid a guard at the camp for a
female. You were so spirited that David thought if you put on a good fight, Kath
would surely notice and invite me on board when I pleaded my desire to join his
crew.”

She sat up and slapped him across
the face. “That’s the worst plan I’ve ever heard.”

“It was a sound plan,” he muttered
as he rubbed the reddened skin on his jaw.

“Handsome, yet delusional,” she
said darkly. “There’re too many variables. What if Kath never showed up? What
if he didn’t need any more crew? What if he didn’t care about one human girl? What
if he knew who you were? Let’s not mention the fact that you stole
me
.”

“Yes,” he snorted. “I have never
met a more stubborn, troublesome, irritating female in my life. And that
includes my mother.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. How
did David fit into this plan?”

“He swore a sacred blood-oath to me
to help destroy Kath, even though he is not
Xyran
.” He
stared into her eyes and instead of censure saw understanding. It humbled him
down deep in his soul. “When I joined the military, I fought with my father. I
said some horrible things. I was a bad son, and now, I’m a bad
Xyran
.”

“No, you’re not. Does your father
know about your path of vengeance?”

He shook his head. “No. I have not
talked to my father since
Julyah’s
death. But I will
contact him now to find a way to get
Rell
back to her
people.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I know that
might be hard to do.”

He shrugged. “David has been trying
to get me to contact him this past year.”

“Are you two lovers?”

“In public he is my slave. But
privately, I took him as my blood-kin. No one knows, except you.”

“I don’t know what that means. Is
that like being married?”

“Our relationship is an emotional
bond that cannot be broken,” he explained. “We live together, sleep together,
fight together, and we care for one another if we’re injured. We are everything
to each other, and we want to be everything to you.”

“But you just met me,” she said. “Or,
more accurately, you just abducted me. How can that possibly mean forever?”

“Our scents are never wrong,” he
told her. “If you were
Xyran
, you would know.”

“But I’m not
Xyran
,
and outside of sex, are we even compatible? These are intense circumstances,
and usually those feelings aren’t real.”

He took her hand and kissed the
back. His tongue licked over her skin, causing her belly to tighten as quivers
had her pussy leaking with renewed desire.

“You think too much with your
head,” he murmured. “Think with your instincts.”

She frowned but didn’t say
anything. What could she say? Yes, part of her recognized the primitive
reaction she had each and every time
Laith
or David
touched her. But logic told her that trusting her hormones was stupid. She
didn’t belong out here in space with two freedom fighters.

Or did she?

“I’ve got us on autopilot,” he
said. “Why don’t we clean up and then lie down and try to sleep? It will take a
day to reach my contact.”

“Could I have another blanket and
pillow?
Rell
has mine.”

He shook his head. “You will sleep
between David and
myself
, where a true mate belongs.”

“I’ve not agreed to
becoming
your mate,” she reminded him.

“Yet.”

Chapter Ten

David tried turning on his side. White
hot fire shot up his side, jolting him awake. He pressed a hand against where
the pain was localized and wondered what the hell had happened.

“You are doing well,”
Laith
whispered.

He turned his head and saw that
Laith
was separated from him by
Jordan
’s sleeping form. He studied
his
Xyran
partner carefully and saw a change in him. He
leaned over
Jordan
and smelled her skin.

“I may not be
Xyran
,
but I can smell you on her,” he said.

“You were right, David. She is the
woman for us.
Our mate.”

“She agreed?”

“She gave herself to me,”
Laith
replied softly. “I count that as a yes.”

“Unless she said it and gave you a
definite yes,
don’t
be fooled by her temporary
compliance,” David said, grimacing a little at the lingering pain. “Damn, I’m a
little jealous I missed it. I hope you made her first time pleasant.”

“If you were not wounded I would
call you out for that insult,”
Laith
said darkly.

“If I wasn’t wounded we’d both be
sleeping in post-coital bliss. I must say, she’s quite peaceful when she’s
unconscious. I think I like her best like this, between both of us.”

“She is going to be quite a
handful.”

“Yes, but perfect
for our lives.
She’s a good fighter, she’s protective, loyal and smart,
and I have no doubt that if she’s ever captured she will exasperate her captor to
death.” He and
Laith
shared an amused grin. “How long
have I been out?”

“Not long. As soon as we’re close
enough I plan on calling my father.”

David blinked. What had he missed? “You’re
going to contact your father?
Out of the blue?”

“I needed a solution on how to
return the child.”

“Oh. I’d forgotten about her.”

“I have no other idea on how to get
her back to Alpha except to ask my father for help.”

“He’ll give it.”

“You sound sure about that.”

“I am.
Julyah
always said how your parents missed you.”

“I’m sure you two are having a
terrific conversation,”
Jordan
murmured sleepily. “I don’t know since you’re speaking gibberish, but if you
two don’t shut up and let me sleep some more, I will personally use those
gauntlet things and gut you.”

“Are you always this irritated when
you first wake up?”
Laith
asked, switching to German.

She turned onto her back and
stretched. “You two must bring out the warm
fuzzies
in me.”

David snorted. “Life with you will
certainly be interesting.”

She tensed and looked like she had
something she wanted to say. “You never told me how you knew my language.”

He got the impression that wasn’t
what she wanted to say.

“My last name is
Ballack
. Haven’t you guessed?”

“You’re German?”

“Yep.
Born in
Dusseldorf
.”

 
“I knew
standard
English, of course, but when David became my blood-kin he taught me German. That
is why he chose your camp to find a female to take.”