Mated (14 page)

grunts that were completely foreign to her. Then he turned back to her and looked at

her questioningly while speaking again, his hand moving from her mouth to her throat.

The foul odor of his breath wafted over to her, practically making her gag.

“I…I don’t understand,” she squeaked. God, both her voice
and
her wits seemed to be failing her.

The monstrous man holding her captive had the audacity to look disgusted. He

turned back to his partner and grunted again.

“Malucons,” she breathed. They had to be; they certainly matched the description

Leikos had given her.

How did they get on this ship?

Belatedly, Natalie remembered the vocalizer. The Malucons were still speaking to

each other, so she surreptitiously reached up and activated the device.

“—must have mated already,” the man holding her throat continued in a disgusted

tone. “That will make the Spygians stronger and harder to defeat.”

“Doesn’t matter,” replied the other Malucon with a careless shrug. “We still

outnumber them three to one.”

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She couldn’t help her sharp, indrawn breath.
Oh god, what’s happening to Andros? To
Zafron and Leikos?
The thought that the Malucons might have hurt her men made her sick.

The man holding her throat nodded in her direction. “What should we do with

her?”

“Kill her,” said his partner dispassionately.

“No,” Natalie whispered, her heart galloping in her chest. It couldn’t end this way.

Not now.

The man holding her shrugged and turned to face her again, his hand squeezing

around her throat. But then, after a moment, his gaze turned thoughtful, calculating, and his fingers eased. He cocked his head to one side. “Perhaps we should bring her

back to the ship with us. After all, we broke the last female we had on board. We’ve

been without one for close to a month now.”

This time Natalie couldn’t hold back her frightened moan. There was no mistaking

the meaning behind his words. A fate worse than death.

The two men ignored her as the other Malucon replied, “She looks weak and frail. I

doubt she’ll last more than a few uses.”

The Malucon holding Natalie sized her up once more. “Still…” Releasing his grip

on her throat, he quickly grasped her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“No,” she finally screamed. “Let me go!”

The Malucons laughed, the one holding her swatting her roughly on the bottom. “It

appears she speaks our language now.” His partner responded with a grunt.

Natalie kicked and screamed as they carried her down to the lower level, where

there was an open bay and a long ramp enclosed in glass that connected their ship to

the invading one.

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Despite her loud screams, none of her men came to her rescue, leading her to one

terrifying conclusion. One that completely broke her heart.

Andros, Leikos and Zafron were dead.

* * * * *

The Malucon ship was dank and dirty and looked positively ancient in comparison

to the ship Natalie had just been dragged from. The two men holding her captive tossed her into a damp, dark chamber that made a normal prison cell look like a luxury hotel room. All her attempts at resistance, at fighting back, had been met with either careless neglect or flat-out laughing.

The men locked the door behind them as they exited, leaving her a prisoner in this

awful hellhole of a space.

As Natalie looked around the small chamber—which contained only a cot with

dirty bedding, a sink with a small glass pitcher in it, and a toilet in one corner—she took in the musty odor of sweat, blood and sex.
This is the same room they kept the other woman
in.
Whatever poor, unfortunate creature had been used, broken and apparently discarded by these cold, unfeeling monsters.

The very fate she was in for.

“What am I going to do?”

Hot tears scalded her face as she dropped down to sit on the floor, resting her back

against one of the walls. Not once when she’d been contemplating the consequences of

agreeing to go off to Spygia had she envisioned that she might end up in a situation like this. Prisoner to a bunch of animals. Waiting to be used as a sex slave, and to be

ultimately broken without an inkling of regard.

Natalie again thought of Andros, Leikos and Zafron, and fresh tears flowed down

her face, obscuring her vision. They had risked all to go to Earth, to find her. Now, because of that, they were dead.

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The thought of never seeing them, of never again being held in their arms,

consumed her in a wave of grief so intense that she doubled over.

I love them.

What a surprise that was. She hadn’t known them more than a few days, and

already she’d fallen for them. “I’m in love with them…and now they’re gone.”

What kind of life could she expect to have now? As a prisoner? Without them.

Natalie staggered to her feet and stumbled over to the tiny round window that

permitted a view of deep space. Apparently the Malucons’ raid had concluded, because

the ship was moving. Stars whizzed by in a swirl of light as the ship traveled swiftly through space, but she was blind to all of that. All she could think of was her Spygian men. Those beautiful men she’d been so lucky to have, even if only for a short period of time.

Natalie doubled over. A fate worse than death awaited her here on this ship.

How…how could she stop this from happening?

In a frenzy, Natalie searched the room for something—anything—she could use.

But the space was empty. There was nothing there, other than…

“The pitcher!”

She rushed over to the sink and picked the pitcher up, throwing it back down into

the sink with enough force to shatter it into several large shards of glass. Without

another moment’s thought, she picked up one of the shards and held it to her neck.

Better dead by my own hand than torn apart by those monsters.

Natalie closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Her mind flashed to

images of the last several days of her life. She’d lived more in these few days than she had in the rest of her life put together.

Scalding tears burned her cheeks as she recalled first meeting Andros and Leikos.

How frightened of them she’d been at first, yet intrigued at the same time. She could 104

Mated

practically hear the sound of Andros’ deep, rumbling voice when he told her that they wanted her to be their mate. That Spygian men cherished and adored their mates.

Even now, her blood heated as she recalled the gentle touch of her men’s bodies—

the slick pleasure of their tongues on her—when they’d begun the mating ritual. The

satisfied looks on their faces once they’d finally gotten to complete the ritual.

God, she was going to miss them. Maybe…maybe in the next life.

With another deep breath, she prepared to press the jagged edge of the glass to the

tender flesh of her neck. She’d just felt the first prick of blood when she suddenly recalled the sound of Zafron’s voice as he called her brave. The glittering promise in Leikos’ eyes when he’d spoken of her as his mate.

“Oh god, what am I doing?”

Natalie slowly lowered the shard.

They wouldn’t have wanted her to give up like this. To end her own life. If they

could see her now, how disappointed would they be? They would want her to go out

fighting. To be the brave woman they so obviously thought she was.

She might not have any control over how she was going to die, but dammit, she

could at least control how she’d live until that final moment.

“I’m going to fight them. I won’t let them destroy me so easily.”

Her voice sounded shaky to her own ears, but also determined. Determined beyond

a shadow of a doubt. Now was not the time to be meek.

If the Malucons were going to come for her, then by god, she’d be ready for them.

For you, my loves, I promise. I’ll be ready.

* * * * *

Andros paced the length of the damaged control room, ignoring the heavy twinges

in his wounded side as he tried to control his deep anxiety. “Any closer to mending the navigational system, Zafron?”

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“We are working as quickly as we can,” Zafron snapped back. It was obvious his

patience was also stretched to the limit. How could it not be? Their mate had been

taken. Kidnapped by the wretched Malucons.

“How could this have happened?” he repeated for the thousandth time since they’d

barely managed to fight off the invaders. “They invaded us—boarded our ship—

without our awareness. It should not have been possible.”

“I am still trying to determine that, Andros,” Leikos replied. “I believe they may

have stolen a piece of Enduvean technology. It would be a recent invention. I’d heard a rumor some time ago that the Enduveans were working on a device that might allow

ships to remain undetected.”

Leikos’ voice sounded gravelly, almost as if he was holding back tears. Andros

understood. He himself felt the weight of tears pressing behind his eyelids, but he

pushed them back. Now was not the time for self-pity, nor for worrying over injuries

that did not threaten life. They had to recover their mate. Quickly.

Thank the heavens Natalie had been wearing the necklace with the tracking device

when they’d taken her. Now they would be able to find her.

Once they managed to start this blasted ship back up.

What fate is she undergoing even now? What gruesome things could they be doing to her?

Andros forced those fears out of his mind. It would not help his mate if he were to

go insane imagining what atrocities might be happening to her. They needed to focus.

For her.

For Natalie.

“Let us try to take command of our ship once again,” Andros commanded. They

would not fail her. They could not.

“Please, Natalie,” Andros murmured under his breath. “For us, please endure. We

will come for you. No matter what, we will always come for you.”

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Natalie was ready for them when they came. Truthfully, it had taken them much

longer than she’d expected. Apparently the Malucons were more bloodthirsty than

horny. That, or she simply didn’t appeal to them much.

She jumped to her feet at the sound of the door being unlocked and moved to stand

next to it—her back pressed tight against the wall, crude homemade weapons at the

ready.

The door slid open and two large Malucons strolled inside. Maybe even the same

ones who’d tossed her in here. They seemed to all look alike, and even dressed alike, in ratty shirts and slacks that appeared to be made out of a burlap material.

From the casual way the Malucons walked in, it was obvious they were not

expecting attack. Perfect.

“Where is the human?” asked one. He scratched his head and turned around.

That’s my cue.
Her body portraying a calm she didn’t feel, Natalie swung one hand out in a graceful arch, slashing the Malucon with the crude knife before he could react.

Her aim was good. She got him right across the stomach, and the cut was deep enough

for the weapon to become lodged in his flesh. Which unfortunately meant she’d lost one of her knives. Thankfully she had two more tucked into the knife belt she’d hastily

made out of ripped bedsheets.

The Malucon stopped short, grunting in pain as he stared down at his stomach. His

features expressed shocked disbelief. Blood welled and began to steadily flow from his wound. “She injured me, Tek. The human pest has cut me.”

Taking advantage of the Malucons’ distraction, Natalie yanked another knife from

her belt, so that she again held a knife in each hand. “Here, let me help,” she taunted.

Not the smartest move, maybe, but she couldn’t help herself.

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Just as she was about to go in for another swipe, the uninjured Malucon, the one

who’d been called Tek, rushed her. As easily as if he were swatting a fly, he reached one large, meaty hand out to swipe at her head.

With a muffled “oomph”, Natalie went flying across the room, hitting the wall hard

with her shoulder. She bit back her groan of pain.
Come on, Natalie. Shrug it off. You can
rest once you’re dead.

With much effort, she righted herself and rushed at Tek, swinging out with her

other arm. The knife in her hand connected with his flesh, but it only struck a glancing blow. He knocked the knife out of her hand with a labored grunt. “What sort of weapon have you fashioned, human?” he asked in a fascinated tone.

She regrouped, ignoring his question. She doubted he really wanted her to tell him

about how she tore the bedding into shreds and wrapped long strips around one edge

of the glass shards to create makeshift knives. “Let me show you,” she said instead,

sweeping out with the other knife. It grazed his other arm, leaving nothing more than a shallow welt. “Shit!”

It would take her half a lifetime to slice and dice them to death at this rate.

And she didn’t have nearly that much time.

Taking a chance, Natalie lunged forward, aiming straight for Tek’s gut. But he saw

her coming and strong-armed her, grabbing her wrist and squeezing until she dropped

the weapon.

“Let me go, asshole,” she cried out furiously as the man wrapped an arm around

her throat and held her immobilized against the wall. He ignored her sharp kicks to his legs as he found and easily discarded her last knife. “No!”