Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart (105 page)

Vox swore loudly before he turned
so his back was to her. He had to quit looking at her or neither one of them
would be dressed in another two seconds. He closed his eyes, but that only made
the image of Riley standing proudly in front of him in that damn sheer outfit
with her huge, perky breasts pointing daggers at him and her creamy flesh
begging for his touch.

Drink milk,
his cat purred.

Guall’s balls.
Vox groaned, forcing his eyes open and his mind to start reciting
every damn training procedure he could remember from his youth.
If I don’t
claim her soon I’m going to explode.

"I’m ready," Riley’s
voice sounded breathlessly behind him.

Vox turned to see Riley dressed in
a long, heavy dark green skirt, a pair of knee-length black boots, and a thick
white sweater. Her hair was still a mass of wild curls that begged for him to
twist his hands around the silky strands while he fucked her until he and his
cat were totally sated. He watched as she pulled that damn huge bag that she
carried everywhere over her shoulder.

"Well, are we being invaded or
not?" Riley snapped, annoyed. "I haven’t even had a chance to brush
my damn teeth. This is really pissing me off," she said running the tip of
her tongue along the edges of her smooth, pearly white teeth.

Vox muttered the entire rite of
passage ceremony speech each Sarafin warrior was required to say before he
finally gave up and decided he needed to get her out of here before he just
said to hell with everything and fucked her. He turned with a sharp nod and
strode out of the door at the same time as a blast flung the heavy metal door
at the far end of the corridor open.

"Run!" Vox snarled as he
felt the change coming over him. "Get to the bridge!"

Riley looked at the faces of the
purple creatures swarming through the door, turned, and hauled ass for the
bridge. She could hear the screams as Vox roared out and charged into the
group. Riley decided this was definitely not the way she wanted to be woken up
in the mornings. Her heart felt like it was about to explode as she raced
through the corridors and up the short ladders until she was on the same level
as the bridge. Fred was at the top of the ladder motioning for her to hurry.

"Vox!" Riley cried out as
she let Cross reach down and pull her the rest of the way up. "Those
purple people eaters are going to get him! Someone has to help him."

"Tor and Lodar are with him.
Come up onto the bridge," Banu said gently as he wrapped his arm around
Riley and pulled her toward the bridge. "The damn door won’t close, so we
are going to have to do what we can to keep them out."

"Do you have a gun?"
Riley asked, looking with frightened eyes at the other men who were working
frantically on a control panel.

"Here, you can hold this one,"
Banu said, pressing one into her hands. "Don’t worry, it is not activated."

"Banu, I don’t think giving
Riley a laser pistol is a good idea," Fred’s left head started to say
before his voice faded at the glare she sent him. "Riley, you know you
have a tendency to do things…" His right head decided he’d better not
finish the sentence when she pointed the pistol at him and glared.

Vox, Tor, and Lodar tumbled through
the open doorway, snapping and snarling. Tor and Lodar shifted back into their
two-legged form, but Vox remained in his cat form. He had blood splattered all
over his coat and along his muzzle. He turned dark eyes on Riley before he
shifted.

He strode over to her, gripping her
arm and seating her in front of the communications console. "You will sit
there and not move! Do you understand?" he snarled.

"But what if—" Riley
began, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

"No!" Vox snapped,
turning to place his hands on each side of the chair, caging her in. She was
forced to sit back when he leaned forward, menacingly. "You. Will. Not.
Move!"

"Well, fine!" she snapped
back in frustration. "I wouldn’t want to have to save your sorry ass
anyway!" She sniffed indignantly.

Vox leaned forward looking deeply
into Riley’s eyes. "I will not let them take you."

"Vox?" Titus asked as he
stepped forward in concern.

"They want Riley. We heard
several of the bastards stating she was to be captured unharmed," Tor
answered for Vox who was still glaring at Riley.

"They have a buyer for her,"
Lodar said quietly moving to stand next to the door.

"That will explain why there
are two of their damn ships," Adur said coolly. "They don’t normally
waste two ships on a freighter this old. Someone must have known Riley was on
it."

Vox turned his head, finally
breaking eye contact with the stubborn female glaring at him. "When I find
out who, I am going to kill him."

Riley rolled her eyes and released
a loud sigh. "Come on, guys. Get real! Who would want me? I’m about as
pleasant as fingernails on a chalkboard."

Bob moved forward and looked over
Vox’s shoulder. "I would want you, Riley," he said quietly.

Riley looked up, startled, and
blushed. A surprised smile curved her lips at her big green friend’s words. In
truth, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"You are such a sweetheart,"
Riley replied shyly. "Some Jell-O girl some day is going to be very, very
lucky when you come calling."

"I don’t believe this!"
Vox exploded as a wave of jealousy swept through him. He looked back and forth
in frustration between Riley’s glowing face and Bob.

"Vox, I think you are going to
have to wait to tear Bob apart," Tor said gruffly trying not to laugh at
his friend and leader’s unfortunate luck where Riley was concerned. "We
have more company heading this way."

Chapter
11

Vox gave Riley one more warning glance
before he pulled away. He had erupted into uncontrollable fury when he heard
the command from the Marastin Dow leading the raiding group to get Riley. His
comment that a king’s ransom worth of credits was at stake told Vox that they
would stop at nothing to get her. The damn purple species lived for murder,
mayhem, and credits. The only difference between them and the Antrox was that the
Marastin Dow enjoyed killing for the sake of killing. Their young were often
encouraged to try to kill each other. Both species’ philosophies were
definitely survival of the fittest. It was amazing any of them survived long
enough to grow into an adult. The adults who did survive were forced to commit
to twenty years aboard raiding ships. Life aboard was not much better. If a
position came open for advancement it was usually due to someone murdering
their commanding officer.

He, Tor, and Lodar had taken out
the first ten members of the boarding party before the others fell back to
regroup. He knew a larger wave would be involved in the next onslaught. He
rolled his shoulders, ignoring the sting from the numerous blasts from the
lasers. In his cat form, his fur was very thick. It was almost impossible for a
laser pistol to penetrate it. Laser swords were a different matter. He had
received several deep cuts along his side as he sliced through the group that
was surging onto the lower level.

"Whatever happens, do not let
them get Riley," Vox snarled before he shifted back into his cat form.

Riley scooted back in her seat when
the huge cat turned its tawny eyes to her. It trotted over to her, staring at
her intently. If she didn’t know better she would swear the damn thing was
challenging her! The look in its beautiful eyes was one of amusement, desire,
and possession.

It’s official,
Riley thought as she leaned forward, tilting her head to the side as
she fell into the shimmering yellow depths.
I’ve lost the last of my sanity
if I think a cat thinks I’m desirable.

Her pulse jerked as the huge head
lowered to rub its muzzle against her leg. She reached out her hand and gently
touched the thick fur. She bit her bottom lip to keep the smile from showing
when she felt the massive chest rumble with a purr.

Leaning forward, she couldn’t help
but whisper in its twitching ear. "You are pretty cute for being a big
hairball."

The huge cat jerked its head up and
shook it back and forth as if denying it was merely "cute." Vox’s
eyes narrowed dangerously before he let his long sandpaper tongue stretch out
and run the length of Riley’s cheek, drawing a startled shriek from her. His
lips pulled back, showing his long fangs as he reacted to her outrage.

"Vox, here they come,"
Tor called out, looking down the corridor as Marastin Dow poured from the upper
and lower levels.

Bob turned a pale green as he
watched what looked like hundreds but was more than likely fifty or more of the
beings converge on the bridge. "I will protect Riley with my life,"
he stammered out.

"Let’s give them hell, boys!"
Riley said with false
bravado
as she stood up to look down the corridor at the mass of purple flesh rushing
for them. She let out a squeal when Vox moved back over and pushed her back
down into her seat forcefully.

"You will not move!" he
snapped out.

"Will you quit changing back
and forth!" Riley snapped back, startled. "First you are a man, then
you are a cat, then you are a man, then you are a cat. Now you are a man again!
Do you have a frigging personality disorder or what?"

Vox opened his mouth to snap back a
reply, but he never got a chance before the first group burst through the door.
He turned, raising his laser sword, and rushed forward with Banu, Tor, Lodar,
Adur, and Titus right beside him. An emergency hatch near the far wall blew
upward with enough force the lid sealing it flew through the air, barely
missing Fred who had been standing to the right of it. The fact he was so short
was probably the only thing that kept him from being killed. Even so, he fell
backward. His hands shook as he fired on the purple male coming up through the
hole.

"Fred, look out!" Riley
cried out as another male popped up behind the one Fred shot.

Riley didn’t think twice, she
lifted the laser pistol in her hand, flipped the activation button, and shot,
hitting the male between the eyes. She stood up to go help Fred when Vox turned
with a loud roar. She froze when she saw his face twist in a savage rage.

"Riley! Sit your big ass down
in that chair and don’t move, or so help me I’m going to smack it," Vox
roared out over the noise of battle.

Riley fell back into the chair in shock
and disbelief. He had done it again! He had told her she had a big ass. Tears
of anger and hurt pooled in her eyes before she settled to burning fury. That
was it. His ass was toast as far as she was concerned. He had told her she had
a big ass at least three times if not more. She knew her ass was big, but there
was no need for him to rub it in her face every chance he got. Not only that,
he had said it so everyone, friend and enemy, could hear. So help her, she was
going to shoot his hairy alien ass the first chance she got. Let him see what
it felt like to be on the wrong side of Ms. Riley St. Claire! She would show
him.

Riley turned in her chair and
crossed her arms, refusing to watch what happened. She would shoot anyone who
came near her, and if the battle ended badly—well, she would figure out what to
do then. She stared down at all the glowing lights on the panel in front of
her. She started when she saw one suddenly light up. Reaching to push it, her
mouth dropped open when a deep, sexy male voice came over the line.

"This is the
Horizon
—do
you need assistance?" the deep voice asked as soon as the communications
link button was pushed.

Riley glanced behind her at the
mayhem of bodies flying through the air. Luckily, it looked like the only ones
doing the flying, or falling, appeared to be purple. She shrugged her shoulders
and turned back to the console panel. It looked like the guys had things under
control, at least for now.

"I’m sorry we can’t come to
the phone right now, but if you would like to leave your name and number after
the beep we’ll be happy to return your call as soon as possible.
BEEP
."
Riley replied.

Vox’s head turned when he heard
Riley’s husky voice talking to someone on the communications console. With his
luck, she was probably having a conversation with the Marastin Dow letting them
know that they were vastly outnumbered. His gaze turned to a female Marastin
Dow as she slipped past Fred, who was battling two of the damn creatures. He
pulled a knife from the chest of one of the dead warriors and threw it,
striking the female in the chest.

"Riley, who in the gods are
you talking to now? You are just supposed to sit there! You aren’t supposed to
be touching anything," Vox roared out as he swung his fist and connected
with the jaw of another male.

"It’s someone called the
Horizon
,"
Riley replied with a wave of her hand.

"Who in the hell is
Horizon
?"
Vox asked as he sliced through the stomach of another male. Guall’s balls, how
many more were there going to be? They were having trouble moving around the
bodies piling up.

"How the bloody hell am I
supposed to know who the hell the
Horizon
is? You just ordered me to sit
here and not move, damn it!" she yelled back.

"Well, stop pushing buttons!
The last time you did that you blew up the asteroid we were on, and we ended up
on this piece of dragon dung!" Vox huffed out as he ducked when a blade
flew at him.

"Well, if you don’t want me
pushing the fucking buttons, then don’t put me where I can reach them!"
Riley said, turning around and glaring at Vox before she stuck her tongue out
at him for added measure.

Laughter sounded from the console
behind her reminding Riley that she had never cut the transmission. "I
repeat, this is…" the deeply amused voice started to say.

"I know who in the fucking
hell you are," Riley bit out in frustration. "I heard you the first
time. We are just a little busy at the moment, and there’s a big pussy pissing
me off right now. Will you just leave a frigging message, and I’ll have him
call you after I declaw his ornery ass?" Riley said before she cursed in
rage as Vox sliced through the throat of one of the purple guys who was just a
few feet from her. It was so close, blood flew through the air, almost getting
on her handbag. "Vox, I swear you need to be neutered! If you get blood on
my handbag I’ll do it with the first dull knife I can find. Do you have any
idea how much I paid for that damn thing?" She had almost forgiven him for
ruining her ultra-expensive jacket, but she would never forgive him if he ruined
her handbag. She had paid almost three hundred dollars for it just days before
she moved to New Mexico.

Perfect, now the big hairball has
shifted into his kitty cat again,
Riley thought,
peeved. She was about to make another derisive comment when she saw a huge
purple guy trying to sneak up on Bob through the hatch in the floor. She
twirled around to line up a shot, but Bob was in the way.

"Bob! Look out behind you,
sweetie. There’s another ugly purple guy coming up through the hatch." She
turned to see who could help him since that guy appeared to be twice the size
of the others. "Fred, be a sweetheart and give Bob a hand." She
cursed when she saw that Fred had a deep cut on the brow of his right head. "Lodar,
baby, I think Fred might have a little cut on one of his heads. There is blood
all down the side of it. When you get a chance, can you look at him?"
Riley called out to Lodar who was fighting two others on the far side of the
bridge. "Tor, darling, why can’t you just zap their asses out into space?
I thought you knew how to do things like that," Riley called out, pushing
a wave of hair back when it fell into her eyes as she swung back and forth in
the chair. She swiveled back around when she heard Lodar’s muffled voice. "What
did you say, Lodar? I couldn’t hear you because a certain hairball was making
too much noise when you spoke," Riley replied, ignoring Vox’s loud roar at
her criticism of him. "Oh yes, dear, I’ll tell Fred you’ll see him as soon
as you finish fighting," she replied before swiveling again so she could
locate Fred in all the chaos going on. "Fred, honey, Lodar is busy, but he’ll
see you as soon as he is done killing the bad guys," Riley called out
cheerfully. It looked like there were fewer purple people eaters than there had
been just minutes earlier. Her cheerful mood evaporated when Vox sliced his
claws across the back of one of the purple bad guys. Blood flew through the air
again, this time landing in a splattering along her thick, green skirt. Dark
stains appeared, and Riley shuddered in horror. "Vox, damn it, you are
totally on my shit list! You got blood on my skirt, you jerk! Go kill someone
on the other side of the room. I can shoot the bastards near me! I don’t need
your help!" she yelled angrily as she reached into her purse to get a Tide
pen out to see if she could get rid of the blood before it stained her skirt.
It was the only heavy one she had with her. All the others were too thin to
wear since the guys didn’t believe in turning on a damn heater.

Riley’s frown turned to amusement
when she heard the laughter from numerous voices coming from the console. She
heard the deep voice speaking to someone else on the other end. "I think
we have found our missing hairball," the man said between chuckles. "I’m
just not sure who he needs rescuing from, the Marastin Dow or the female who is
manning the communication console.

"I heard that, honey,"
Riley replied with an exaggerated Midwestern drawl. "I would place all
bets on that bossy, arrogant, demanding…" Vox’s loud roar of rage
interrupted her descriptive response. She turned and glared at the huge cat
that was glaring back at her in fury. "Well, if you don’t like what I have
to say about you then you can just dump my
big
ass back on my planet!"

Riley refused to back down. She was
royally pissed at him, and he was about to find out just how
unpleasant
she
could be when she was pissed. She had enough self-esteem problems without him
broadcasting to half the solar system that she needed to lose weight. She was
happy with the way she was, and he could just shove it up his hairy ass if he
thought she was going to let him put her down. She had to deal with that from
enough people when she was growing up.

She turned when she heard the voice
of a woman on the other end of the console. Her face flushed when she heard the
woman introduce herself as Carmen Walker from Wyoming. She clenched her jaw as
a wave of emotion swept through her. Tears stung her eyes before she forced
them back. Her chance to go home might just be on the other end of this console,
and she was going to grab it with both hands. If Vox didn’t like her the way
she was, well, that was probably for the best. It was better to stop these
annoying feelings coursing through her before things went any further, anyway.

Riley was just telling Carmen she
hoped she’d had a better time of it than Riley had when Bob’s deep melodious
voice spoke out in protest. He was asking her if it had really been all bad.
Riley released a resigned sigh before explaining to Bob he had been a dear. "…I
was referring to that annoying pile of cat…" This time her voice faded because
Vox had shifted back into his two-legged shape again and was walking toward her
with a look that promised retribution.