The Barbarian's Captive (7 page)

“We shall arrive on our home planet in about four time cycles. You will rest in my suite until then.”

As he started down the hall, her hand enveloped in his, she hurried to keep up, taking two steps for each of his long-legged strides. They passed other people — all men — dressed in the same tunics as the healer, but in different colors. After several turns, they arrived at a lift and got in. She barely felt it move before the doors opened again. Thinking they hadn’t gone anywhere, she stayed where she was only to be tugged out by Max.

“This is the warrior’s level. We’re almost there.”

“It looks the same as the floor we just left.”

“Look up. The colored stripe on the ceiling indicates the level you are at.” He slowed as they approached double doors. “Here we are.” He passed his hand over a sensor embedded high in the wall and they opened. “I’ll have the doors programmed for your heat signature after you have learned your way around. It might not be on this flight, however. Our transit will be brief.”

He guided her into a large room with plush furniture and several large viewing screens on the wall. Bypassing it, he proceeded down a short hallway, through another set of doors, and into a bedroom. “We sleep here.”

“We?” she squeaked.

“Of course.” He arched a brow and cast her a meaningful look as he crossed to the wide bed. “I would think last night made it clear you belong to me now.”

Eva bristled. “I’m not sure what last night was all about since I didn’t understand a word you said. What’s more, I’m a lieutenant in the United States Interstellar Forces. I don’t belong to anyone except myself. Nor do I answer to anyone other than my captain.”

“Correction. You are my mate, so you answer to me. And since you are soon to be of the planet Primaria, of which I am Maxime Princep, that goes doubly so. None of what you were before is relevant any longer.” He pulled down the linens on the bed as he gave her more directives. “Remove your clothes and climb in. I am going to shower and change. Then I have some contacts to make before I can attend to you. I will rejoin you later.” Without waiting to see if she complied, he left.

She stood staring after him in shock, her mouth opening and shutting in outrage. “His mate!” she finally sputtered. “Fuck that!” She spun on her heel, and rushed out of the bedroom. “And fuck him,” she grumbled as she retraced their path through the suite to the main entrance. Where she would go, or what she would do beyond that she had no idea. She only knew she had to get away from the bossy, arrogant, infuriating alien.

“What I was before is irrelevant now, my ass.”

When the door didn’t open, she waved her hand over the sensor, a stretch for her, as it was placed high on the wall to accommodate the above average height of Max Kerr and his cohorts. It didn’t budge, nor did the indicator light flash as it had for him. She took her hand away and tried again, frowning when nothing happened. Laying both hands flat on the door, she tried to slide it. When that didn’t work, she eyed the sensor panel at length. It had to be the key.

Dragging over a heavy chair from a nearby table, she climbed onto it to get a better look. She studied the glass paneled recessed box for a moment. Maybe she could pop off the outer casing and rewire—

“What are you doing?”

She jumped and shrieked, twisting around to discover Max standing about three feet behind her, arms crossed over his chest, lips flattened into a thin line, his golden eyes snapping with anger. But she moved too fast, losing her balance. She flailed her arms wildly, trying to keep from falling. He was there in an instant, steadying her with his big hands on her hips. Her own fell instinctively to his broad shoulders as she stabilized.

That was when she noticed the change.

Max’s loincloth and miles of bare, tanned skin were gone, instead replaced by a dark red tunic and black pants. There were gold slashes across the shoulders which she assumed signified his rank. His long silky black hair had been tamed and gathered at the back of his neck and the full, somewhat overlong beard had been removed, leaving his face clean-shaven and smooth. The barbarian had disappeared, and in his place stood a handsome, sophisticated, evolved man.

“I asked what you were doing, little one.” His dark brow angled up, a habit she noticed he had when annoyed or impatient. “I’m not used to repeating myself. Nor am I used to having my orders blatantly disobeyed. Where are you supposed to be?” His fingers flexed, digging into her hips, not painfully so, yet delivering a clear warning that she was trying his patience.

Eva opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He dipped his shoulder with a grunt that sounded much like annoyance, and the next thing she knew she was once more draped over it, being carried back down the hall. Her ass was in the air, her upper body dangling down his back, his heavy arm clasped around her thighs to keep her there. Once more, he’d thrown her off balance — quite literally. Before she was able to get her bearings, he flipped her, and she landed flat on her back, this time on a plush mattress. As her world righted, she looked up into eyes flashing with formidable determination.

“What are you called?”

“Uh—” She hadn’t expected him to ask, anticipating a lecture, or more smacks on the behind like he’d given her the previous night. “Eva.”

“Well, then, little Eva, heed me well. I don’t have time to explain all the rules right now. I will, however, clue you in to one that you haven’t quite figured out. You are my mate. As such, you belong to me and will do what I tell you. If it makes it easier, lieutenant, think of me as your new captain, and know that when I give you an order, I expect it to be obeyed. If I tell you to remove your clothes, which I did and am doing so again now, you
will
get naked. If I tell you to rest in my bed, you will do that as well. And, if I tell you to spread your thighs for me so that I can take you as I did in my tent last night, you will do so eagerly and without hesitation. You see, Eva, you are not in your United States anymore. You are in my world, where men make the rules and women obey them. That is the way it is, and you will adjust to it in time. If you do not, you will learn quickly that disobedience carries consequences — and it’s often more extensive than the few light swats I laid upon your backside last night. I advise that you not test me further.”

He paused, his hand gently brushing the hair out of her eyes and back off her forehead, while ignoring her slackened jaw as she stared up at him in shocked amazement. “Obey me, pretty one, and we will get along together very well. Please me, like last night, and the favor will be returned tenfold, resulting in more pleasure than you ever thought possible. Fight me on this and — well, if you choose that path, I promise that you will find me a worthy and very capable opponent. One that you cannot and will not defeat.” He bent and touched his mouth lightly to her parted lips. “Now, I really must go. Be good while I’m gone, and get some rest.”

His face disappeared and she stared up at the ceiling, hearing the thuds of his footfalls followed by a whoosh of the doors which indicated he had left the suite. She lay there, rendered speechless by his archaic views on men and women, and came to a disheartening conclusion. Clean him up, dress him in fine clothes, and surround him by technology, yet despite the showy façade, beneath it all, the Philistine remained.

“Holy cow!” she mused aloud. “I’ve been mated to a freakin’ barbarian!”

Chapter 5

P
ausing outside the meeting room door, Kerr glanced over Jarlan’s report one more time. The news was excellent. All eight of the new females had tested positively and conception rates were predicted as excellent with a highly matched pair. The lone piece of bad news that wouldn’t go over well, was that not all of the warriors had matched well with their female. They would have to be entered into the data bank to determine a more favorable pairing. Despite their inevitable disappointment, five out of eight positive matches gave promising odds that other of their males would prove so as well.

Inhaling slowly, he collected himself before opening the door. Once through, all conversation ended. Gathered were the members of the hunting party, and his leaders, Commander Rothke, in charge of his space fleet; General Trask, the leader of his army; Lothar, the general’s second in command; and Krager, his closest kinsman and heir. Two of the elders also attended, their keen gazes ever watchful. All eyes were upon Max as he walked to the front of the room to address them.

“As I first told you on Ventorcopia, my female was compatible and matched with me at an exceptionally high rate of 99.5%, which bodes well for the species as a whole. Jarlan has confirmed my initial findings with biocellular samples on all the alien females. They are not only compatible, there is only a very slight variance in our cellular morphology, which is amazing. Jarlan here”—Kerr tipped his head toward the healer who had also joined them—”was practically doing back flips over the findings.”

A rousing cheer went up amongst them, their exuberance making him smile. Long had they searched for a species that could help in the repopulation of Primaria. They hadn’t spoken of it aloud, but many of the leaders and the council of elders had begun to give up hope. Not him, however. It was prophesied that this day would eventually come, and his faith had never wavered.

“The breaching,” Lothar asked, raising his voice to be heard over the others who quieted immediately at the topic. “Did it go well, Kerr? Any difficulties we need to be aware of before we proceed?”

His lips curved upward as memories of last night came to mind.

Trask, who knew him better than anyone, commented immediately, clearly reading his self-satisfied expression. “Obviously, our very capable leader had no trouble.”

He allowed the knowing laughter for a moment, then raised his hands for quiet. “As expected, she was frightened, and required patience and gentling at times.”

“The way your female and several of the more aggressive ones behave, taming is more like it,” Mordrun muttered.

“Something our warriors are well equipped to do,” Trask replied.

Kerr didn’t respond. His friend would find out in due time the challenge and reward of having one of the new females as his own. “The greatest differences between these females and ours, is that they are smaller and used to independence. I haven’t had time to inquire about the males of their species; I suspect they might be a female dominant race. This will present a challenge in helping them adjust to our ways. My advice is to proceed with care.”

Trask practically sprang to his feet. “Are we through here, Kerr? I’m ready to proceed with care, have been for at least twelve time cycles, in fact.”

Kerr looked to Rothke. “I’m afraid you will be short a few men for the trip home, but it can’t be helped. The sooner the breachings happen, and the bonding begins, the better.”

“I hate to delay the mating festivities, but I have some news of my own to impart before we adjourn.” Rothke ignored the grumbles and groans from the eager men and continued. “We have tracked the females’ ship to the fifth quadrant. They have slowed and established orbit around one of the smaller marginally habitable planets. It doesn’t appear they are planning a return trip to pick up their missing crew.”

Kerr frowned. “What kind of species abandons their own?”

“I’m not sure, but preliminary scans estimate nearly three hundred on board. We need to be closer for more in-depth scans to be sure. However, what if — like their landing team — the crew is all female as well? The few we acquired are not nearly enough. Forty times that many wouldn’t be either, though it would be a step in the right direction. And, we can teach them about Primarian loyalty once we get them home, don’t you think?”

“You’re proposing we go after them?”

“Absolutely!”

Kerr had serious doubts. Claiming eight females on an expedition was one thing; chasing and commandeering an entire
vessel
, and summarily taking every member of its crew captive, was quite another.

“I know this goes against the grain for you, Kerr,” said Elgin, one of the elders. “But we agreed to do whatever it takes to save our people from extinction.”

“It is the first promising race we have found in a decade,” Mordrun added, now in agreement. “The females will adapt and learn our ways soon enough.”

Silence encompassed the room as they awaited Kerr’s ruling. As their leader, it was up to him. As always, a decision of this magnitude weighed heavily upon his shoulders. Rothke was correct; three hundred females wouldn’t be nearly enough to meet their needs — and would likely bring havoc to his usually well-ordered world. There were nearly one thousand times that many males, all of them yearning for mates. If this turned out well, he knew the males would want to go further, perhaps as far as conquering their entire planet to meet their need for females. He didn’t want to think about the toll that would take on both of their people. However, in twenty years, this was the only reasonable chance they’d had.

He looked at his commander. “Surely, we’re not prepared to take three hundred more on board the
Intrepid
.”

“No. We can wait and take the
Dauntless
. It can be readied by the time we arrive home.”

The
Dauntless
, the premier vessel of their space fleet, was the largest, newest, and best equipped. It required a minimum of two hundred crewmembers, but could easily quarter five times that many. Three hundred “guests” — even unwilling ones — would not be an issue.

“How do you propose taking the ship?” Kerr asked after a long moment of consideration. “I won’t see them harmed.”

“Neural gas,” Jarlan suggested. “Odorless, tasteless, it causes temporary paralysis of the motor functions, and there are no significant after effects. Nausea, headache, maybe some dizziness would be expected for most of them until it passes out of their system. The worst we can expect is some bumps and bruises if they fall when the gas takes effect.”