Grabbed by Vicious (11 page)

bride every night helps, I’m sure.” Terror grinned

knowingly.

“Yes.” Vicious thought of Hallie and heat streaked

through his belly. He imagined her naked, nubile body

curled up in the corner of his living room couch. Suddenly,

the work day seemed too long and his uniform pants much

too tight.

“She’s beautiful—and not at all what I’d expected,”

Terror said with a laugh. “Dark hair. Petite. Those big

brown eyes.” He shook his head. “What happened to the

blonde bombshell you kept describing as your ideal

woman?”

Vicious started to answer but then realized Terror had

described Hallie perfectly. Eyes narrowed, he let his

fingers tighten into fists but tried to remain calm even as

jealousy and possessiveness surged through him. “How do

you know what my Hallie looks like?”

“I stopped by for a visit and helped her do some

laundry.”

Terror’s matter-of-fact reply didn’t help to allay

Vicious’ warring emotions. He forced his gritted teeth to

unclench so he could speak. “You did
what
?”

“Calm down, Vee.” Terror smacked his arm. “We did

laundry via the vid-screen.”

“What? Why?”

“Because she wasn’t sure how to use the machines.”

“I have laundry service.”

“Yes, I pointed that out, but she muttered something

about privacy.”

Vicious wondered what in the world was so private

about laundry. A thought struck him. Their sheets,

perhaps? She was the kind of woman to be sensitive about

broadcasting the evidence of her loss of virginity. A pang

of guilt made his gut ache. He probably should have taken

care of the sheets himself or at least taken the time to show

her how to use the laundry appliances.

“She’s a fast learner,” Terror remarked.

Vicious nodded. “I think she’s had more education than

most women from her village.”

“You think?”

Vicious shrugged. “I haven’t delved into her history yet.

She seems to have connections to the black market ships

like
Shepherd
,” he admitted. “I was able to learn that

she’d smuggled her sister off-planet.”

“Really?” Terror seemed impressed. “That’s a

courageous thing to do, especially coming from that

place.”

Vicious agreed with a grunt. “I worry that she may have

been involved in something deeper than just moving her

sister to the colonies.”

Terror eyed him carefully. “I didn’t get that vibe from

her, and I stopped by your quarters specifically to test

her.” Vicious started to protest but Terror held up his

hand, silencing him. “When I arrived on the ship this

morning, everyone was talking about this woman you’d

Grabbed. I wanted to see if she was worthy of you.” His

lips settled into a grim line. “You and I both know that

some women bribe the lottery officials so they can find a

Harcos man to take them away from their homes. We’ve

both seen men destroyed by wives who ran off with other

men. Think of Raze and that mess with his wife and the

man from Jesco colony. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t

just after the financial perks or your military connections.”

“You didn’t need to test, Hallie.” His jaw tensed.

“She’s not that kind of woman.”

“I know.”

Vicious remembered his instructions on staying nude all

day. “Did you see her naked?”

Terror smiled. “No. Though I would have appreciated a

glimpse, she kept your shirt on the entire time.” Terror

moved to the chairs in front of Vicious’ desk and lowered

himself into one. “She wouldn’t let me in your quarters

when I brought her lunch tray. Even after I told her we

were friends, she made it clear to me that you wouldn’t

approve of a male visitor and that she didn’t trust me. She

barely cracked that door enough to peep through.” Then,

with a laugh, he added, “She made me put the tray on the

floor, walk to the opposite wall, turn away from her and

put my hands on my head so she could pull it into the

apartment.”

A smile tugged at Vicious’ lips. “I’m not surprised. You

should have seen her yesterday morning. She had a battle

plan before that race even started and a handful of backups

too.”

Terror stretched his legs. “I heard she almost made it to

the safe zone.”

Vicious nodded. “I don’t think she wanted to be caught.

I think maybe she’d been hoping to hit the safe zone, earn

her freedom and take the first ship off that hellhole to the

colonies.”

“Good thing you caught her then,” Terror replied.

“Barely. She’s quick and a little devious.” He chuckled

as he walked to his desk and leaned back against it. “She

forced me to cross a stream to catch her. You should have

seen her flying across that stream on a rope and landing on

the other side like some kind of jungle creature.” He

snorted and confessed, “I snapped the damn branch and

ended up ass first in the water.”

Terror laughed. “And I bet you loved every second of

the chase.”

“Yes.” He eyed Terror for a moment. “You should use

your points and enter a Grab. You and I have both been

eligible for some time now. Seize the chance, Ter.”

Terror made a face and waved dismissively. “The last

thing I need is a wife.”

“I used to think the same thing.” Vicious crossed his

arms. “Last week, when the deadline for this Grab

arrived, I finally realized I was wasting my prime. I

thought, why not here? Why not now? Her planet is known

for its submissive beauties.”

“She didn’t strike me as particularly submissive. Not

after the way she ordered me around in the hallway. She

definitely wasn’t a blonde, either.”

Vicious grunted. “Plans change.”

“Clearly.”

He frowned at Terror. “She isn’t what I thought I

wanted but she’s proving to be exactly what I need.”

“It’s only been a day.”

“And?”

“You can’t possibly know if she’s what you need in that

short of a time period,” Terror countered.

“How would you know?” Vicious arched his brow.

“When you have a mate of your own, we’ll talk bonds and

relationships. Until then—”

“Stow it?” Terror guessed with an amused grin.

Vicious smiled. “Yes. Stow it.”

Terror mockingly saluted. “Yes, sir! Colonel Vicious,

sir!”

Vicious rolled his eyes. “Did you just come here to bust

my balls or did you need something else?”

“Both,” Terror replied. With a sigh, he said, “General

Thorn is on his way to the
Valiant
. You know what that

means.”

His gut twisted. “Hell!”

Terror nodded. “When I heard you had Grabbed a

woman, I figured you’d want to know as quickly as

possible. I’m sure the invite will come down soon. He’ll

expect you to come to his private parties now that you’re

bonded.” Terror hesitated. “He may even expect you to

share—”

“I’ll hand in my resignation written in his blood before

he puts his dick anywhere near my Hallie.”

Terror smirked. “Yes, I think you would. But—you

can’t avoid these get-togethers of his, not if you intend to

keep your position.”

Vicious rubbed the back of his neck. “I know.”

“Just tell your bride she’s going and that’s that.”

Now it was Vicious who smirked. “You would think

it’s that simple.”

“It is. She’s your wife. You own her. Tell her she’s

going and that you expect her to behave with the proper

decorum.”

Vicious guffawed at Terror’s black-and-white view. He

wiped at his eyes and shook his head. “You know, Ter,

maybe you should stay out of the Grab. You wouldn’t

survive the first week as a husband.”

Terror frowned. “When did you get so soft?”

Vicious stilled. He considered his oldest friend’s

assessment. “It’s shocking to me too. I had all of these

preconceived notions of how this was going to work but

one night with Hallie and I’m reconsidering a lot of it.”

Terror seemed flabbergasted. “Why?”

Vicious shrugged. “Because I want to make her happy.”

“And you? Are you happy bowing down to her whims?”

“It’s not bowing down. It’s compromise.”

“It’s soft.” Terror shook his head. “You better not let

General Thorn see you this way. He’ll think you’re unfit

for the position.” Terror stood and touched Vicious’ arm.

“We men in the field need you. With you in our corner, we

don’t have to fear low supplies or the lack of

reinforcements. You were one of us.”

“I still am.” Vicious clamped his hand on Terror’s

shoulder. He squeezed it hard enough to make Terror

wince. “And I’m not getting soft.”

Terror laughed. “We’ll see.”

Vicious let his arm drop. “Are you staying long?”

“Unknown.”

Vicious understood. Officially, Terror was a clerk in

the logistics unit. Unofficially, he was the head of the

Shadow Forces, a covert-ops unit. “If you can, I’d like you

to join us for dinner.”

“Only if your mate wears that shirt again,” Terror

teased.

Vicious glared at him. “Easy, old friend. That’s my

bride you’re talking about.”

“That’s why I didn’t ask for her to serve us in the nude.”

Vicious shook his head and tried to remember why he

loved Terror so much. Otherwise, he might punch him in

the face. Chuckling, he pointed to the door. “Get out of

here. Some of us have to work.”

“Maybe I’ll go see if Hallie needs help figuring out the

entertainment console,” Terror said as he strolled to the

door. “She might find the channels in the 900 range

interesting.”

Vicious narrowed his gaze. The 900 range on the

entertainment satellite offered nothing but endless

pornography. “I don’t find that even the littlest bit funny.”

Terror grinned. “You wouldn’t. I’ll see you around,

Vee.”

Vicious watched his friend leave and returned to his

desk. A message icon flashed on his tablet screen. He

reluctantly opened the message and saw exactly what

Terror had warned. General Thorn had landed and wanted

to hold one of his private officers’ parties.

He wiped his face. Hallie wasn’t ready for that kind of

thing. The debauched parties typically ended in wife

swaps and all kinds of public play. She’d been so scared

in cuffs last night. He couldn’t possibly ask her to go any

further than that, and especially not in public.

If he declined the invitation, there would be hell to pay.

If he accepted the invitation, he risked emotionally

wounding Hallie. He’d never felt so conflicted in his life.

Maybe Terror was right. Maybe he was getting soft.

Making a decision like this would have been simple

before Hallie. Now it was a damn minefield.

But he had to choose. Either way, he was right and truly

fucked.

Chapter Six

Hallie’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the door

open and close. She leapt up from the couch, carefully

placed the tablet on the side table and hurried over to meet

Vicious. Her smile died as he came into view. His

shoulders slumped forward just the smallest bit but it was

noticeable to her. He looked almost…defeated.

“Vicious?” She cautiously stepped forward. “Are you

all right?”

His expression softened and he shifted the black bag he

carried from one hand to the other. He reached for her.

“Come here, Hallie.”

She crossed the short distance between them and

allowed Vicious to gather her tightly in his big arms. His

scent filled her nose. She closed her eyes and relished his

heat and strength. “I missed you.”

He stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. “I

missed you too.”

“Your friend came by,” she said, certain he’d want to

know. “He brought my lunch tray and then helped me

figure out the laundry appliances.”

“Yes, I know. Terror stopped by my office.” He pushed

her back a little and gazed down into her eyes. “What did

you think of him?”

She shrugged. “He seemed nice enough. A bit bossy,”

she added with a grin, “but I’m beginning to think that’s a

cultural thing.”

He laughed. “Yes.”

She hesitated. “His scars?”

A fleeting flash of guilt crossed his handsome face. “We

were on a covert mission in the Kovark prison system.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “Kovark? My god.” She put