Colonial Commander (11 page)

Chapter 19

“Leader Krosis, we detect movement coming closer in. Should we put up our shields?” the Morin lieutenant called out.

“They cannot detect our presence.” The Leader sat in his chair smugly. Their enemy may have followed them through the wormhole to hunt them, but they certainly couldn’t catch them.

“As soon as they leave we will resume our claiming of the planet. There are plenty of females there we can take back with us.” Krosis crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t prepared for the ship to shake and knock him off his seat.

The emergency lights flashed. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’re under attack!”

“How in Kitana did they find us?” He had to hold on to the sides of his chair to keep from falling out of it as they were hit with another blast.

“They hit the satellites!”

“Raise the shields!”

“Shields are failing. They’re at forty percent, thirty-five, thirty…”

“Send out our warships!” He watched in horror as one by one their enemies’ warships shot down their own warships.

“Sir, the shields are at twenty percent!”

“Fire the transport weapons! Take out as many as we can until we are able to escape.”

“Sir, our shields are gone and we are losing power!”

Kitana!
Krosis got up and backed out of the command center, then turned and walked briskly down the corridor. He had to get to a shuttle and escape. The shields were down and losing power, leaving them defenseless. If the power gave out completely there would be no way to launch a ship to escape. His only chance for survival would be to let all the fire be drawn to the transport while he escaped to the moon on his shuttle.

The ship shook and tilted to the side. “Move out of my way!” He shoved one of his warriors to the floor and stepped on him to get by. He could do it; he was almost to the docking bay. Just a little further... The alarms went to red and he froze. “No!!”

*****

“Sir the Morin transport is dead, all power has been cut off. They have only a few hours left of oxygen and the docking bays have been destroyed!”

TylOR smiled. “Lieutenant, give me the coordinates of the Morin shuttle.” A few minutes later he used his comm link.

“This is Commander AshOR. Give me some good news.”

“The shuttle is less than a mile to the west of you.”

“What about the Morin transport?”

“Dead in space. I’m sending a shuttle your way with a few medics.”

“Thanks.” AshOR disconnected his comm link and pointed his ship to the west. He prayed that the medics would not be needed.

*****

Ava knew something was up. One of the Morins had gone into the shuttle to communicate with the transport orbiting somewhere above. The other one started toward her, and then there was shouting. Now they were getting their stuff together in a hurry. They definitely looked panicked.

“Find the aerial adjuster, we can’t fly the shuttle without it!”

“I had it a few minutes ago!”

That must be the part that the Morin had left next to her. She finished getting the final rope cut. She had no time to waste; this was the perfect moment for her to make her escape, while they were distracted. She placed the aerial adjuster in her back pocket, then got to her hands and knees and slowly started to crawl backwards until she was behind the boulder. She used the large stone to pull herself to her feet. Damn, her legs felt like jelly. She had to go, like right now.

She stepped backwards until she was further in the trees. Then she turned around and began running as best she could. She had been immobile for a while, so she tripped a lot. She wasn’t sure how long it would take until they noticed that she was gone, but it was imperative she get as far as she could.

It was getting dark, and the forest’s canopy was blocking the sunlight. She fumbled and fell because she couldn’t see very well. There were times she wondered if she’d gotten turned around. Her face hit a low limb, and she knew she would have a bruise along with the cuts and scrapes she already had.  Damn, she really couldn’t see anything. She hadn’t heard movement behind her. Maybe they found a way to leave without the missing part and decided she wasn’t worth chasing.

She stopped and looked back. Big mistake. Yellow eyes glowed between the trees, and they were getting closer.
Fuck!
She started running again, hoping and praying she was going in the right direction. She could be heading away from the city, toward the mountains. It was just too dark for her human eyes to see anything.

Ava’s heart raced and panic set in when she heard footsteps close behind her. There was yelling, and she thought she heard weapons going off. She couldn’t afford to look. A growl behind her made her stumble, and then she was shoved from behind hard.

She tumbled to the ground and a hard heavy body came down on top of her. The Morin grabbed her and turned her over to her back. He straddled her, glaring down as he searched her for the part to the shuttle.

“I should kill you now, female. You have been more trouble than you are worth.”

She was breathing heavy and she hurt all over. She wouldn’t give up, she would continue to fight to free herself. “I would rather die than be anywhere near you!”

“Too bad, you’re coming with me.” He moved off of her and gripped her hair, dragging her behind him through the woods and back to the shuttle.

Ava tried to slow him down by planting her feet hard on the ground, but he yanked her forward. She reached up and scratched at his hand. He had a good strong hold on her, and he wasn’t about to let her go.

She knew if he got her off the planet she was a dead woman. It was just a matter of how long she would last, and she would rather die than let them have her. Her head hit something, and she cried out in pain, seeing stars.

One minute she was being dragged like a sack of potatoes over every rock and stump, then the next thing she knew she wasn’t moving at all. The hard hand that had gripped her hair was yanked from her head. She lay there stunned, not sure what was happening. Everything was spinning and she couldn’t move at all. She wanted to move, to run away from the deadly sounds she was hearing. What the fuck was going on? Then there was silence.

She waited there, helpless to see what her fate would be. She closed her eyes and breathed.

“Ava, baby, are you okay?”

Wow, she was hearing AshOR’s voice. It was such a deep timbre and made her think of sex. “I love you, AshOR. Goodbye.”

“Where in Kitana are you going? Open your eyes, beautiful.”

She blinked and opened her eyes. Was she seeing things? Whatever she was seeing, there were two of them. “AshOR?”

“Thank the Goddess.” He gently lifted her up into his arms.

“Ouch.” Just breathing seemed to be hurting her.

“Oh honey, I am so sorry. I need a medic here right now!”

“I hurt.”

“I know, baby, I know. The medic is coming. Just hang on for me. Can you do you do that?”

“I would do anything for you. I love you.”

His hand gently cupped her uninjured cheek. “I am so in love with you, too.”

“You are? You’re sure about that?”

“I have been an idiot denying what I feel. I won’t make the same mistake again. You are my true bond mate, and as soon as we get back home I plan to have a naming ceremony to declare you mine to everyone.”

She patted his hand. “You’re supposed to ask a girl to marry you, not just tell her that she will be marrying you.”

He snorted. “I’m not giving you room to back out of our official mating. I will have Lizzie plan it all, she’s very organized.”

She laughed, but it turned to coughing. “I don’t feel so good.” She passed out in his arms.

*****

AshOR held his mate in his arms. She was weak and injured. He wanted to kill the Morin all over again. He caressed her bruised and cut face. She was so delicate; he shouldn’t expose her to dangers like this. She was a blessing from the Goddess, someone who could fill the void and emptiness he had in his heart with love and family. He had to do whatever it took to take care of her. He was determined to never let her be in danger like this again.

Chapter 20

Ava woke up in the medic wing on board the Colonial transport. The ship’s clock on the wall indicated that she had been there for about twelve hours, and she found she was able to sit up.

“Glad to see you’re awake.” Zander and his sister were standing next to her bed—actually, almost all of the Norads were gathered around her.

“I’m feeling better. Where’s AshOR? Is he okay?” Her first thoughts were of her mate and how he’d told her he loved her.

“He was here most of the time until the lead medic kicked him out. All the lieutenants were coming in to report and it was causing a lot of chaos.”

She felt herself blush. She hated to be causing problems.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon. He refuses to stay away from you.”

She nodded. “How are you and your people doing?

“We’re good. We’ll be moving to the Katieran transport soon.”

She frowned. “I thought you were going to travel on the Kiljorn transport.”

“Commander TylOR was concerned about the thrusters not all being in working order. It’s going to take them almost twice as long to reach Kiljor. He didn’t want my people to have to be on board that length of time. We aren’t space travelers, and we aren’t used to being off planet. Keeping us confined to the medic wing while we learned slowly about their advanced technology was the right decision.”

She looked at all the faces around her. She wasn’t used to so much attention.

“My people wanted to let you know how much we appreciate what you’ve done for us. We all wanted to be here when you woke up to let you know that,” Zander told her.

Ava felt tears forming behind her eyes. “I didn’t do much. The warrior and medics are the ones to thank.”

Zander’s sister stepped up to her and took her hand, squeezing it gently. She was very shy, and when she spoke her voice was light. “You sat at each of our bedsides, held our hands, comforted us when we couldn’t hold back tears, and you told us that everything would be okay. The medics healed our bodies, but you helped heal our souls.”

Okay, now the tears were coming freely. The young girl squeezed her hand again and moved to the side to allow another person to come forward and do the same. One by one, each of the Norad survivors came to thank her. Ava loved helping people; it was what made her happy. She didn’t do it for approval or recognition, but it made her heart full of joy to see that her efforts were appreciated and reciprocated. Now the tables were turned, and she was the one who needed comfort, and they were there for her.

“Thank you, everyone.” She wiped her tears away.

“Enough, she needs to get her rest,” the lead medic said, motioning them to move away.

“They don’t have to go.” Ava protested even as she yawned. The medic used his scope to scan her vitals. “I’m feeling much better, I only ache a little bit.”

“The nanos we gave you are working to help repair you from the inside. You should be able to return to your quarters tomorrow morning.”

“Wonderful, there are so many things I need to do.” Her face lit up with excitement.

The medic shook his head. “You are to remain in your bed another three days. After that we will evaluate you.”

She pouted. “Come on, I’m better.”

“You hit your head, badly. We want to make sure that there are no aftereffects from that. I’m not a human specialist, and it will be a few weeks before we reach our home world.”

She crossed her arms over her chest—or tried to; she had an IV in her arm. “Fine.”

He patted her hand and walked away to check on the other patients. Damn medics. Zander came back to her side and sat down. “I’ll stay here with you for a little bit. I have another therapy session soon.”

“Thanks.” She listened to Zander talk about his people and how they were dealing with going to a new and strange planet. She could understand that, because she was doing the same thing.

She must have dozed off at some point. When she woke up again she was being squished next to a large warm body. “What the…”

“Shh...You’re going to wake the others,” AshOR whispered to her.

He was in her small bed, holding her against him. Her IV had been removed at some point while she slept.

“What are you doing?” she whispered back.

“I had late meetings, and when I was able to come back here, you were already sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“There are other people here.” She didn’t struggle to move out of his arms, though.

“I had the medics set up a privacy screen.”

She lifted her head and looked. Sure enough, there were screens surrounding her bed on three sides. “Okay.” She wasn’t going to argue it. She struggled to turn to her other side so that she could face him, and he helped by lifting and turning her. She lay back down with her head resting on his arm.

“Hi,” she said, looking into his dark eyes.

“Hi. How are you feeling?” He stroked one hand over her lower back.

“Much better now. I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too, but I checked in several times with the medics to see how you were doing. They said you should be able to leave the medic wing in the morning.”

“I’m glad, I would really like to take a shower and sleep in my own bed.” He growled, surprising her. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you in your bed, I want you in our bed, in our quarters.”

She smiled and reached up to run her finger over his bottom lip. “I want that too. I love you, AshOR.”

“I love you more than my next breath.” He leaned down and kissed her senseless.

AshOR’s other hand reached between them and cupped her breast, pinching her nipple. She gasped.

Someone cleared their throat on the other side of the partition. “We may not see you, but we can still hear you. You might want to save that for when you really are alone.”

Zander. Ava pressed her forehead against AshOR’s chest, hiding her face. She didn’t want everyone in the room to hear them. She was shy about things like that.

AshOR growled and scooted off the bed.

“Don’t say anything,” she whispered.

“I’m not, but I’m not waiting for morning either.” He bent and picked her up in his arms, sheet and all, and started heading for the door.

When one of the medics attempted to step in front of him he actually bared his teeth. The man jumped back like he was scalded. She raised her eyebrow at AshOR.

He shrugged. “A mated male is dangerous when he is protecting his mate.”

“No one is trying to hurt me.”

“They’re hurting me by keeping me from getting my mate home.”

“She is not able to share sex yet, she needs another day or two,” the medic protested.

“Fine, I will not share sex until she is cleared, but I want her in my bed so that I can take care of her myself.”

She blinked in surprise. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“I will handle everything from our quarters. I need to be alone with you.”

She smiled. “I want to be alone with you too.”

The medics moved out of his way, and he headed down the corridor. “So, we’ll have to wait a day or two to make love.”

He gave her a sexy smile. “There are other ways to please my mate.”

Ava laughed. “Well then, hurry up. I want to see what you have planned for me.” She looked forward to seeing what her future with AshOR would be like. It would be exciting, for sure.

*****

Hours later they lay naked in AshOR’s bed, holding each other. AshOR had been so careful and gentle as he made love to her with his hands and mouth, and she’d stroked his cock to release. “So, we’re heading to Kiljor first, then to the Colonial planet?”

“Yes. The Morin transport was destroyed. It’s time to head back home and take on my responsibilities there. Are you disappointed about not going to Katiera as you had originally planned?”

She raised her leg up on his hip and scooted until his half hardened cock touched her mound. “Katiera doesn’t have what I want or need.”

He chuckled. “I think my mate is insatiable.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. I am the luckiest male in the galaxy.”

“I’m the lucky one.”

“We have a lifetime to decide who’s the luckiest. I shouldn’t—”

“If you go really slow, it will be fine.” She rotated her hips, lifting them up and forcing him into her little by little.

“Kitana, you feel good.”

“So do you.” She sighed when his comm link beeped, but he reached over and turned it off. “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

“I will later. Right now, I have a mate to satisfy.”

“Yes, please.” She moaned as he made his way into her body, just as he had with her heart.