Coletti Warlords: Vexing Voss (8 page)

“Hothar, engage the anti-grav,” Lothel shouted.

The kid nodded, and the screens floated back up and abruptly crashed again.

My babysitter stomped over to the kid and started yelling at him in High Coletti.

If I didn’t find a bathroom soon, I was gonna pee my pants. I slid off the rock and hurried down the hillside.

A big hand grabbed my braid and jerked me to a halt.

That did it. I spun around and kicked Lothel in the shin with my steel-toed boot.

He just grinned at me.

“So help me God, if you grab my braid one more time, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Laughing, Lothel wrapped my braid around his hand and dragged me back up the hillside.

My temper flared to life, and I bit his hand hard enough to draw blood.

He flashed his lethal fangs at me. “You are a weak little female, and no match for a trained warrior.”

Weak? I literally saw red. “I’m the Battle Commander’s mate, and you will treat me accordingly.”

Lothel smirked.

“You wanna play hardball? Batter up.” Drawing heavily on my powers, I hit him with everything I had.

Lothel’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he toppled over like a felled tree.

“That, dickhead, is what we call a home run.” My triumphant grin faded. Oh sweet Jesus. Voss would lock me up and throw away the key.

Hothar ambled over and stared down at Lothel. “Nice punch.”

“Ah, thanks. Gotta go.” Locking my shields down tightly, I bolted for the truck and prayed desperately that the big guy was too busy to check on me.

Hothar jogged beside me.

“Go away.”

His expression one of fierce determination, Hothar replied, “I cannot leave the Battle Commander’s mate unguarded.”

“Sure you can.” I waved my hand at him. “Shoo! Go away.”

“Do you think I am without honor?”

Oh dear God, why me? “No, of course not, but I can take care of myself.”

“You are but a tiny female.”

“Who knocked out Lothel?” I skidded to a stop by the battered red truck. The poor truck driver was still standing there, staring blankly at a cactus. I slid into the semi driver’s mind and commanded,
“Go home.”

With an agreeable nod, he turned and started walking. I really hoped he didn’t live in Tucson or Flagstaff.

I scrambled into the truck and started the engine.

Hothar opened the passenger door and climbed in. “Where are we going?”

“I need to find a bathroom.” I hit the gas, spun the truck around in a tight U-turn, and headed for Phoenix.

He plucked several feathers from my hair. “If you wish to clean up, I can teleport you to our ship.”

A slightly hysterical laugh escaped me. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary. There’s a burger joint up the road a bit. I can use their facilities and get something to eat too.”

He settled back against the seat and curiously surveyed the interior of the truck. “I like cheeseburgers and fries.”

I flashed him a surprised glance. “Really? They serve burgers on your ship?”

“No, we eat them at your base cafeteria.” He opened the glove box and peered inside.

“Oh.” The general was a big suck-up. He probably thought supplying the Colettis with their favorite human food would get him that gig at Central Command. Not!

Hothar fiddled with the radio, smiling at the variety of music available.

“How long have you served on the Commander’s warbird?”

“Two of your years.”

Whipping around several slow moving cars, I kicked the monster truck up to eighty and did a quick scan of the area. No sign of Lothel or Voss. Yet.

Hothar pulled out the cigarette lighter and examined it. “Why are you disguised as a male?”

“I’m a reporter, and sometimes I use disguises to get close to the bad guys.”

“Your males allow you to endanger yourself in such a manner?”

Spoken like a true Coletti. “Men don’t get to tell me what I can or cannot do.”

He grinned. “Have you told the Battle Commander that?”

“I have.”

With a disbelieving shake of his head, Hothar added, “Coletti warriors are raised to cherish and protect females.”

“Yeah, right into the grave. On this world, if you don’t want to be dinner for the fucking monsters, you learn how to fight. If your women had known how to protect themselves during the Great War, the Coletti race wouldn’t be facing extinction now.”

Hothar was silent for a moment and nodded. “The Overlord did take a mate who could defend herself. The Battle Commander also chose you for your psychic abilities.”

“Lucky me.”

“Who do you hunt?”

“I’m tracking human traitors who are helping the Tai-Kok and Rodan.”

“They have killed many?”

“Over thirty million of my people have been slaughtered in the last ten years, and unless I find the traitors, thousands more will die.” I took the next turnoff and pulled into the parking lot of the Burger Palace.

He gently touched my arm. “I grieve for your loss, and I will help you hunt them.”

“Thanks.” To my utter surprise, the crushing grief was gone. Voss mucking about in my head had muted my memories. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hug him or slug him.

I turned off the engine. “Let’s go get some burgers.”

Like any typical teenager, Hothar was out of the truck in a flash. “And a soda?”

“And a soda,” I answered with a grin.

The Burger Palace was a heavily fortified restaurant with metal doors and shutters. The interior was painted a cheerful red with old movie posters adorning the walls. The booths were charcoal gray with red-and-black-striped cushions.

A glass case behind the cash register held three AK-47 rifles and several grenades. A sign read: BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

There was always some fool who wasn’t armed and thought nothing bad could ever happen to them. Until the Tai-Kok came looking for dinner.

Ignoring the startled looks of the customers, I made a beeline for the women’s restroom and hurried inside. An elderly woman dressed in a pink jogging suit let out a screech that would have raised the dead.

Crap! I gave myself a mental head smack. I should have used the men’s room. “It’s okay. I’m not a guy. I’m going to a costume party.”

The old woman pointed at Hothar and sobbed, “Are we under attack?”

Smothering a groan, I smiled brightly and shook my head. “No, she looks like the real thing, doesn’t she?”

The woman examined Hothar in disbelief. “That’s a woman?”

Hothar growled.

“Stop it,”
I commanded him mentally.
“We don’t need the police showing up.”

He smiled at her, showing a lot of fang.

The woman’s eyes bugged out. “Those fangs look awfully real.”

“They do, don’t they?” I quickly slid into her mind. “Go back to your family.”

“Certainly, dear.” She hurried out.

“For future reference, men are not allowed in the women’s restroom.”

“I go where you go,” Hothar stated implacably.

“Are you by any chance related to the Battle Commander?”

“He is my uncle.”

Of course he was. “I want you to wait outside the door.”

“I cannot leave you unguarded.”

Taking a deep calming breath, I gestured around the small room. “There is only one way in or out.”

“Anyone can teleport in and take you,” he countered logically.

“Fine, but you are not coming in the stall with me.”

Hothar opened the stall door and peered inside. “Agreed.”

I rolled my eyes in exasperation, slammed the stall door shut, and quickly did my business. “Crap, no toilet paper.”

Hothar’s big hand appeared over the top of the stall with a roll.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it. “You haven’t told your uncle about our little road trip, have you?”

“He is aware of your location.”

“What!” I quickly flushed the toilet and opened the door. “How?”

“The mate bond allows him to track you.”

That sucked. “He’s coming, isn’t he?”

Hothar nodded. “I have ordered our food to go.”

A hurricane of power crashed into the room, and Voss was suddenly standing in front of me. He looked at Hothar. “Leave us.”

The kid vanished.

A shaft of pure gut-deep panic shot through me at the rage simmering in Voss’s eyes. Sweet Jesus, that look was enough to send seasoned warriors running for their lives. No wonder worlds surrendered when his warbird paid a visit.

“You attacked my warrior and ran.”

“I taught your warrior some manners, and I came here to use the facilities and get some food.” I edged around him, turned the faucet on, and began washing my hands. The mate bond kept him from killing me, didn’t it?

The Battle Commander loomed over me. “How did Lothel offend you?”

I met his gaze in the mirror, and something dark and terrifying flickered in the Battle Commander’s eyes. “Lothel kept grabbing my braid. I warned him if he did it again, I was gonna kick his ass, and I did.”

“I see.” He rubbed a hand over his face and inquired blandly, “Did he do anything else?”

“He laughed at me, and he was disrespectful. I haven’t had any chocolate today, and I’m a tad bit cranky. You got a problem with that?”

“Yes, it is my duty as your mate to take care of disrespectful warriors.” His voice was a low, aggressive growl.

Yanking off a piece of paper towel, I dried my hands, and my evil twin made a sudden reappearance. “You weren’t there now, were you? So I took care of it myself. Since you neglected to ask me if I needed anything like food, water, or a bathroom, you forfeited your right to yell at me for coming here.”

“Is that so?” Voss’s hands clamped down on my shoulders.

A yelp broke from me when his fingers dug into my bruised shoulder.

Voss roared, “Who hurt you?”

“El Jefe’s henchmen were shooting at me, and I took a hit in the shoulder. It’s a bruise. No big deal.”

Voss pulled a knife from his boot, sliced open his hand, and held it up to my mouth. “Drink.”

I looked at the badly bleeding wound in horror. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a bit?”

His scary index shot off the charts. “Drink. Now.”

Self-preservation kicked in, and I reluctantly took his hand. With a grimace of distaste I sucked down some of his warm, coppery blood. Ewww. Gross. Chocolate it wasn’t.

“More.”

Did he practice his intimidating look in the mirror every morning? ’Cause it was really effective. “Do I hafta?”

“Yes.”

Ick. Ick. Ick. Fighting back the urge to puke, I kept on sucking. All of a sudden I noticed his blood was starting to taste pretty darn good. What was up with that? Was it another facet of the mate bond?

Voss stroked my mind soothingly. “Blood exchanges are a necessary part of our mating.”

“Reading my thoughts again?”

“Yes, they are quite entertaining.”

“I’ll bet.” Warmth seeped into my stomach and began to spread throughout my body, easing my aches and pains. The rumors were true. Their blood did have healing qualities.

“Feeling better?”

“I am. Thanks.”

Voss licked his wound, and the bleeding stopped. “I will endeavor to take better care of you.”

“I’m quite capable taking of myself.”

“You almost died in Dallas,” Voss snapped.

“But I didn’t, and I killed the Rodan raiders. All of them.”

Voss bared his teeth in a snarl. “You were catatonic from overusing your powers. If your mother hadn’t hidden you from us, you would have received the proper medical care and training.”

I snarled right back at him. “She wanted a better life for me. She knew that Central Command would lock me up and forcibly mate me to a Coletti warrior.”

“As is proper.”

“This is the United States, and slavery was outlawed a long time ago.”

“Earth now belongs to the Overlord. You have no choice but to obey our rules.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Without our protection, the Tai-Kok and Rodan would continue to slaughter your people.”

“News flash. They still are.”

“You have my promise that we will find the traitors.”

I let out a long sigh. “Another promise you have no intention of keeping?”

Voss’s hands clamped around my waist, and he lifted me until we were eye to eye. “I am not in the habit of explaining my actions to anyone.”

“I’m not anyone. I’m your mate. Is this going to be a partnership or a dictatorship?”

“A little of both.” His mouth closed over mine in a toe-curling kiss.

My thought process ground to a complete and utter stop as Voss’s mental finger circled my clit. Wowzers.
“Don’t stop.”

“Never.”
His naughty, naughty finger slid deep inside my channel, stroking me with long, hard thrusts.

My eyes rolled back in my head as a mind-melting cataclysm of sensation flooded me. Bed. We needed a bed.

The next thing I knew, we were standing by that damned boulder. “Don’t even think about it,” I spat, trying to ignore the tremors still shaking me.

The big jerk put me right back onto the rock. “Stay out of trouble, and you may have chocolate.”

What a sneaky bastard. Through the mating bond, he knew I would do just about anything for chocolate. “Deal, but I want the good stuff.”

“Done.”

Hothar handed me my food and sat beside me. “I’ve never had chocolate.”

“And you’re not getting any of mine.” Okay, I’m a selfish bitch, but chocolate had been too damn hard to find in the last couple of years. I looked around. “Where’s Lothel?”

“On body detail,” Voss answered, then snagged half of my fries and walked over to the command center.

“Is that as bad as it sounds?”

“Worse,” Hothar replied through a mouthful of burger.

“So who gets to guard me now?”

“I do.”

“First good news I’ve had all day.” I happily chowed down on my burger, well aware the big guy was keeping a close eye on me.

Chapter Seven

Central Command descended on the crime scene like a swarm of locusts. I was a bit surprised when Uncle Saul, a five-star general who commands the western United States, walked out of a shuttle craft in full combat gear. His two muscle-bound bodyguards followed him down the ramp. I guess discovering a hidden Tai-Kok outpost in your territory would be kind of embarrassing.