Coletti Warlords: Just Desserts (11 page)

Talree dumped me on my feet and thrust a key into my hand. “Do not leave the barge.”

Crap. His eyes were glowing again. The trappers’ actions gave him the perfect excuse to vent all his pent-up rage. “You can’t take on fifty men by yourself.”

“I am Coletti.”

“Which is synonymous with brain-dead?”

“I’ll be back.” He teleported.

“You’re not the fucking Terminator either!” I shouted after him. God, he was going to do something stupid. I just knew it. The thought of him being hurt or killed made me go cold with fear. If I lost him… My stomach knotted. I would die too. He
was
the other half of my soul. Oh, yay. I was mated for life to that bossy, suicidal jerk.

I headed for the dock. I had to stop him before he got himself killed.

“Stay on the barge,”
Talree snarled in my head.

“I’m your partner. I’m not going to stand idly by while you take on that horde of murdering bandits by yourself.”

His mind ensnared mine.
“Go inside the cabin, and wait for me.”

To my utter horror, I had to follow his commands.
“This is unforgivable.”

“It is necessary to keep you safe.”

“There isn’t anyplace safe on this mud ball. Something could crawl out of the swamp and eat me while you’re off playing Master of the Universe.”

Talree’s growl echoed in my head.
“This is not a game.”

“And you’re not bulletproof.”

“Enough! You will do as I say.”

Once I had unlocked the cabin and gone inside, Talree snapped,
“Stay.”

I fought against his control.
“I’m not a fucking dog.”

“Do not push me now. You will not like the consequences.”

“Let go of me.”
I tried to break free. Intense pain drove me to my knees.
“Stop! You’re hurting me.”

“This battle is mine, and you will stay out of it. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.”
The pain vanished. A tremor shook me.
“If you think I’m going to live like this, think again. I’m a cop. I was trained to kill the bogeyman, not stand in the corner and scream hysterically. So go ahead and do your Lone Ranger act, but don’t you ever chew my ass again for doing the same thing.”

“A Warlord does not let an attack go unanswered.”
Talree broke the link.

“Yippee-ki-yay.” I kicked the wall. Why did men always have to prove who had the biggest balls?

I surveyed my new living space. On one wall was a tiny galley complete with a refrigerator and stove. The other wall held an itty-bitty bathroom and storage unit. At the back of the cabin was a bed. Which my oh-so-lovable mate would not be sharing.

The door opened.

My hand dropped to my laser pistol.

Tae and the kids came in.

Huh? How in the hell had they managed to open the door? Maybe their legs were more nimble than I thought.
“You get enough to eat?”

“Yes, thank you.”
Tae used a string of webbing to close the door behind them.

God, did I need a drink. I opened the refrigerator. It was full of beer, fruit, and vegetables. Imagine that. Talree had filled it with everything I liked. I grabbed a beer and plopped down on the bed. Little red tick things scurried toward me.

With a shriek, I jumped back up.
“Sic ’em, kids!”

My precious babies quickly sucked the ticks up.

I carefully surveyed the bed before sitting back down.
“So, girlfriend, are your males bossy pricks like mine?”

“They can be, but if they make us angry, we just eat them,”
Tae answered.

I gaped at her.
“Really?”

“Yes.”

The babies giggled.

“That’s what I keep telling Datlow, my bossy prick of a mate.”

I laughed. Who knew spiders had a sense of humor?

Tae snagged a glow bug and quickly drained it.
“Why did you come to our world?”

“It wasn’t by choice, believe me. I’ll give you the short version. Our ship was damaged in a firefight with the Rodan, and we crash-landed here.”

“Start at the beginning,”
Tae instructed.

It would keep my mind off Talree’s suicidal tendencies.
“I’m from Earth, a planet in the Milky Way galaxy. Five years ago, the Tai-Kok found our world.”
I shot her mental images of their savage attacks.

“They have much in common with the Kotsors.”

“Both are relentless monsters.”

Tae’s tongue shot out and snatched a bug out of midair.
“Your military was able to stop the Tai-Kok?”

“Oh, hell no. They slaughtered millions of us. Even then, some of our leaders thought we could negotiate a truce with them. All we needed to do was sit down and talk about our differences. What a joke. The Tai-Kok ate the peace delegates on live television.

“That’s when truth sank in. We fought or we died. The first couple of years, a lot of us were butchered. Things changed when we managed to bring down one of the Tai-Kok ships. We salvaged their technology and have been using it against them ever since.”

Tae crawled onto the bed.
“You lost kinsmen?”

A single tear rolled down my cheek as I remembered that horrible day.
“My parents.”

“I grieve with you.”

The kids snuggled on my lap. I stroked them.
“I miss them so much.”

“The dead are never forgotten. Is that where you met your Warlord?”

“No. I met him on a Rodan ship where he was being held prisoner. I had gotten myself captured, and they threw me in his cell as dinner.”

A thunderous explosion shook the barge.

I looked out the tiny window. A rippling fireball engulfed the Kotsor Bar.

Warlords did like blowing stuff up. I linked with my murderous mate. Through his eyes I could see the trading post deck littered with bodies. The prostitutes were cowering in a corner. Shit! Shit! Shit! The beast was in control. Its need to kill drove Talree.

He had to be stopped. But how? Sex? It had worked pretty well so far. But I couldn’t get anywhere close to my mate. Or could I? Talree was an expert at mental sex. All I had to do was borrow some of his expertise. Scrolling through his memories, I found one of him in a whorehouse. Seemed he was a regular there. Go figure. Talree’s favorite was a skanky, blue-skinned female with a long, lizard-like tongue. If the bastard touched her again, he was a dead man. Lizard girl had a very talented tongue, and her specialty was blowjobs. Yeow! She got Talree off in record time.

I mentally duplicated her actions.

Poof! Talree appeared in front of me, his body shaking with need.

I grinned. Hot dang, it had worked. I gave his penis another mental lick. “Liked that, did ya?”

Talree’s voice was a purr of menace. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Duh? “Giving you a blowjob.”

“In the middle of a battle?”

“Yep. It was the only thing I could think of to stop the beast.”

My Warlord stiffened in outrage. “The beast was
not
in control.”

I snorted. “In denial much? You were ten seconds away from killing the females too.”

The rage drained from Talree’s eyes, and he nodded stiffly. “Your techniques are quite effective.”

“Yep. Sex puts the beast back in his cage. So,
partner
, from now on, I’m your backup. If Mister Hyde makes another appearance, I’ll stop him no matter what I have to lick or suck. Got it?”

A reluctant smile touched Talree’s mouth. “Yes, my lady.”

“Good. Let’s get the hell out of here. I promised Tae we would take her home.”

Soulet’s crackle of laughter shattered my concentration and the memory. “Using sex to obtain your mate’s obedience is very creative. Do you think it would work on Hank?”

She definitely didn’t get it.
“I did it to save Talree, not to control him. Hank needs to be able to trust you. Your father took away your choice when he signed the mating agreement with Kall. Do you remember how you felt? How betrayed? How hurt?”

Her tentacles wilted.
“A valid point. I wish Hank to be happy with our joining.”

“He will be, but you need to give him time.”

“Showing me how you and Talree overcame your differences gives me hope. Please continue with your story.”

“Okay, back to the swamp.”

Chapter Ten

Fog shrouded a shattered forest of trees. Vivid red cabbage-like flowers dotted the icky green water. Studded spikes sprouted from the center of the flowers and stank of rotted flesh. A horde of bee-type insects flitted from flower to flower.

Talree skillfully guided the barge around the floating garden. From my perch behind him, I kept watch for any threats. My radar had been twitching for the last hour. I knew without a doubt we were being watched, but so far our watchers hadn’t made any hostile moves.

Tae wiggled impatiently in my lap.
“Why did you stop?”

I started petting her again.
“I thought I saw something.”

“Few enter this place.”

A purple dragonfly the size of a Great Dane hovered over the ship. My hand tightened on the laser rifle.
Shit, look at the claws on that thing. “I can see why.”

Something whooped in the swamp, and it darted away.

Tae continued as if nothing had happened.
“My home, Taborlin, lies beyond the forest of the dead.”

I surveyed the tangled network of raised roots that spread from the charred trees.
“Spooky-lookin’ place.”

“It is haunted by the Old Ones.”

I scratched under Tae’s chin, and one of her legs twitched rapidly. Guess I had hit her G-spot.
“You mean there are real ghosts here?”

“Yes, the dead are trapped forever in this place.”

A cold chill skittered up my spine.
“How? What happened?”

“Their enemy, the Musa, ambushed the Old Ones here.”

Using my Siren’s inner eye, I carefully searched for spirits. No scary ghouls to be seen.
“None of them survived the attack?”

“Only one. Quanah. He set off a weapon of such great power, it destroyed the Musa and every living creature within a hundred clicks. Even now, nothing lives in this land.”

“Shit! We need to turn around.”

“As long as we stay on the water, we are safe,”
Tae advised.

“Uh-huh. Maybe for you Tabors, but what about humans and Colettis?”

Tae patted my hand.
“Many humanoids have traveled through the forest and survived.”

I linked with Talree.
“Did you hear what she said? Can we get any more speed out of this rust bucket?”

“It’s too risky.”
I felt Talree’s alarmed surprise and followed his gaze.

“Holy fucking shit!” Dozens of web-shrouded bodies hung from the trees.
“What’s up with the corpses, Tae?”

“They are a warning to anyone foolish enough to enter our lands.”

“That’s one hell of a KEEP OUT sign. Enter, and you get sucked dry.”

Tae spat,
“The trappers have killed many of our people.”

“Then they deserve to die, but are you sure your sentries won’t decide to turn us into tree ornaments?”

“You are under my protection,”
Tae reassured me.

I stared up at the shriveled husks swinging in the wind. Every one of their faces was frozen in a grotesque mask of agony.
“Yeah, but do they know it?”

Talree brushed a hand across my cheek. “I’ll keep you safe.”

“Not to be a pessimist or anything, but I am a shit magnet.”

Right on cue, the engine made a loud grinding noise, and thick black smoke boiled out.

“Great. A fire.” I was batting a thousand.

The kids screeched and bolted to my head.

Tae wrapped herself around my neck, trembling violently.

Spitting fur out of my mouth, I yelled, “Is there a fire extinguisher on this piece of crap?”

Talree calmly grabbed a long metal tube, flipped the hatch open, and sprayed the contents on the fire.

I stroked Tae soothingly.
“You okay?”

A tremor shook Tae.
“When I was a child, the trappers set our city on fire. The flames killed everything in its path. I lost my parents.”

“I grieve with you.”

“The engine was sabotaged,” Talree announced. Soot covered his face.

To my relief, Tae crawled back to my lap. “Gee, you think someone wants us dead?”

“It’s more likely they want to collect the bounty on us,” Talree said; his eyes simmered with a killing rage.

“Fuck. The Rodan know where we crashed.”

“They do.” Talree carefully scanned the trees.

“Can the engine be fixed?”

“I am Coletti.”

“And so very modest.” Good thing my dad had taught me how to repair anything mechanical. “We got tools?”

Three hot, sweaty hours later, we had the motor fixed. If Tae and the kids hadn’t kept the marauding horde of insects at bay, I’d have been the perfect tree ornament along with all the other corpses.

The setting sun turned the fog from pink to cinnamon-colored to scarlet. It gave Arizona’s sunsets a run for their money. A pang of loneliness hit me. I missed my family and our crazy Sunday dinners. Over platters of fajitas, we’d bitch about our jobs, discuss new ways to kill the monsters, and moan over our love lives or lack thereof.

A flash of movement drew my attention. I turned, and for a brief moment, it was as if the trees were moving. Nah, the heat had fried my brains. The trees moved again. I grabbed the laser rifle and sighted in.

Holy Mary, Mother of God! The trees were full of Tabors. Big fucking Tabors.
“Ah, Tae, I think the sentries are getting ready to attack.”

She scurried out of the cabin with the babies trailing behind her.
“Where?”

I pointed.

Talree wiped his hands on a rag and reached for the laser rifle.

Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!
Web balls exploded, gluing his chest, arms, and legs to the ship’s cabin wall. He roared in fury and struggled to break free.