It didn’t matter that we’d made a deal for her to stay with me, or that she’d snuck on my ship in the first place. I knew she’d been running away to find her sister, and I’d intentionally kept Juliette from her. I’d wanted to keep her with me for as long as possible, even if it meant hiding the truth from her. If she’d gotten my mating marks and broken my curse, it would have been worth it. But she had no marks, and now she knew I’d been keeping her sister’s location from her.
“You have the command,” I told Taan as I strode toward the door.
“Raas!” He hurried after me, grasping my arm outside the door. “I know you are concerned that the human saw Corvak, but…”
“You don’t understand, majak.”
His gaze bored into me. “I understand that you are Raas, and we are in the middle of a battle. You can find her once we’ve defeated the empire.”
I shook off his grip. “It cannot wait. You are my most trusted officer. You know what to do.”
“Vassim.” His use of my name alone stopped me. “No one cherishes females more than me, but we are Vandar raiders. We do not let females rule us.”
“This is not just any female, majak,” I said, the certainly of my words settling over me. “Juliette is mine. I will not lose her, and I will not give her up.”
He gave me a pained look. “You still believe she will break the curse?”
“I don’t care about the curse.” I backed away from him. “All I care about is her.”
I didn’t glance back as I leapt down the stairs, landing with a thud that rattled the metal floor. I rushed through the ship toward the hangar bay, pushing past the steady flow of raiders running to battle posts or with me to the hangar bay.
I took only a moment to duck my head inside my quarters. As I expected, she was not there. No, she’d been too upset to return to wait for me. If I was correct, she would try to get off the ship in any way possible. Since she’d already stowed aboard a vessel once, I didn’t put it past her to try to sneak on another one. I only hoped the Neebix apprentice would slow her down or keep her from leaving.
For the first time, I regretted not posting Vandar guards outside the doors of my quarters. At first, I hadn’t deemed it necessary because she was too terrified to wander the warbird by herself, and later I didn’t bother because I thought she was content to stay on the ship and with me. For a brief time, I’d even thought she was happy. My mind returned to my body cocooning hers in the bathing pool, one hand cupping her full breast and another swirling around her slick little nub. Her moans of pleasure had been as real as mine. I pressed my lips together to stifle a roar of frustration.
I could not lose her. Not when I’d finally found someone who soothed my tumultuous soul and made me feel whole. Not when I’d found my one true mate. The realization was a jolt that almost sent me stumbling across a suspended walkway. I caught myself before I went spiraling over the side, gripping the steel railing and sucking in a breath.
Juliette was my one true mate. I didn’t need mating marks to tell me. I’d never been so consumed by a female before, and I’d had plenty of females tempt me. But none had been such a balm to my heart, and none had made my torment seem so insignificant. It made no sense that a Raas of the Vandar would find his match in a tiny, human female—and one who was the furthest thing from a warrior—but I didn’t care. I also didn’t care whether she broke the curse or not. She’d already broken the curse of my hardened heart, and that was enough.
I ran the rest of the way without pausing, bursting into the hangar bay and scanning the bustling space. I saw no hint of her pale green dress or of the Neebix apprentice. Only broad chested raiders gripping battle axes as they boarded shiny, black transport ships. Several clicked their heels when they saw me.
“Raas,” one of the hangar bay engineers approached me holding a tablet. “We are sending ships with the bounty hunter vessel as you requested.”
“How many have already departed?”
He tilted his head at me. “Three. Do you wish to join one of the transports to the surface?”
“Tell me, Vandar. Did the human female get into one of the ships?”
His eyes widened. “No, Raas. We would not send the female on a ship of battle.”
Relief surged through me, then I hesitated. “But was she here?”
“She was, with the Neebix and that little Gerwyn.” He shuddered at the mention of the spiky-tailed creature. “But I told her she would have to wait until the battle ships had departed before I could send her on an escape shuttle.” He glanced around as if just remembering this. “She should be waiting around here somewhere.”
If I was correct, Juliette was not waiting. She’d snuck onto a ship already, and was headed to the surface of Carlogia Prime to meet the bounty hunter ship and reunite with her sister.
I growled and strode toward one of loading transports. “Your Raas will be joining you on the planet.”
Cheers went up among the raiders as fists were thrust into the air. I jumped onto the nearest transport, grabbing an overhead bar to keep me steady. “For Vandar!”
My raiders joined in my war cry. “For Vandar!”
The ramp to the transport lifted and slammed shut, the engines roaring as we tore across the floor of the hangar bay and into space. I rested my free hand on the hilt of my battle axe, my heart pounding. My mate would not escape me so
