“My sister,” I said, my voice cracking. “I was trying to find my sister.”
The Vandar who were leaning over me exchanged confused looks.
“I can promise you that your sister is not on a Vandar horde,” the Raas said. “At least, not this one.”
I gave my head a small shake, which made it ache. “She was going with Corvak and the bounty hunters.”
The Raas lifted an eyebrow. “You are the sister of Corvak’s mate?”
Putting a hand to my temples, I nodded slowly. “I’m Juliette, her younger sister.”
“You do not resemble her.”
My cheeks heated again, as I remembered being teased for being plump, and Sienna fighting anyone who dared to call me fat. “She’s always been the skinny one, and I’ve always been, well, not.”
His brow furrowed. “I do not mean the shape of you.” He brushed a strand of hair off my cheek. “Your hair is so much lighter than hers.”
“Oh. I look more like our mother, I guess.” My gaze went to his long, black hair that fell forward as he peered down at me, then to the dark marks on the exposed skin of his muscular chest. I’d never been so close to anyone who wore so little. I tried to push myself up again. “I can’t stay here. I need to find my sister.”
“You stowed away on a Vandar ship,” the Raas said, making no attempt to stop me from sitting up this time.
“By mistake. It was a new moons night, so I couldn’t see very well in the dark.” Not that I could tell the difference between a bounty hunter ship and a Vandar one.
The Vandar raiders surrounding me shifted and muttered darkly. Clearly, that wasn’t the right thing to say.
“Have you ever been on a spaceship before, human?” the Raas asked.
I moved off of him and twisted around so I faced him, pulling my dress around my legs and tucking my ankles behind me. “No.”
“But you thought it would be a good idea to sneak aboard a ship without asking for permission to board?”
This wasn’t going in the direction I’d hoped it would. No one was rushing to track down my sister’s ship or rushing to send me back to my planet. I blew out an irritated breath. “I couldn’t ask permission because I was afraid Sienna would say no.”
“You believed your sister would reject your request?” another Vandar asked, this one without the chest straps or shoulder armor of the Raas, but with locks just as long and dark.
I looked away. “She was angry with me, but I couldn’t let her leave without apologizing. That’s why I snuck onto your ship. I was trying to find my sister so I could make amends. So can you please help me find her?”
The Raas stood, towering over me as he cut a quick glance to the other Vandar who’d addressed me. “The bounty hunter ship is far from here, is that not right, Taan?”
The Vandar called Taan gave a sharp nod. “They left before we did, Raas. We do not know their course.”
My heart sank. Sienna was gone. I’d lost my chance to tell her how sorry I was, and how deeply I regretted betraying her. I stood, so I wouldn’t have to crane my neck to meet the Vandars’ eyes. “Then you can return me to my planet.”
The Raas crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me.
“Please?” I added.
He studied me for a few moments longer, and I squirmed under his scrutiny. I wasn’t used to males noticing me, and I definitely wasn’t used to them staring at me like this Raas did.
He pivoted to Taan. “How far are we from Kimithion III, majak?”
“We have been traveling at full impulse since we returned to the warbird. We should be nearly an astro unit away from the alien planet.”
I looked from one warrior to the other. “What’s an astro unit? What does that mean?”
“It means we are too far away to go back to Kimithion III.” Raas Vassim leaned closer to me. “Which means I am not returning you to your planet.”
I gaped at him as the words sunk in. “What do you mean you’re not returning me?” I reached out and grabbed his arm. “You have to!”
A few of the raiders inhaled sharply and then the group went silent. Raas Vassim didn’t react, apart from the muscle that quivered in his jaw. I dropped my hand and stepped back, feeling the first flash of real fear since I’d walked onto the ship.
“I do not have to return you to your planet, female,” the Raas said, his voice low and silky, almost masking the deadly hum beneath it. “I am the Raas of this horde. I do not answer to anyone. And in case you haven’t heard the rumors, I am called the Deranged Raas because I do not follow the rules of war. I do not do what others think I should do, and I do not bow to the demands of stowaways.”
Terror coiled its cold fingers around my heart as I peered up into the pools of cold darkness that were his eyes. “I didn’t mean to demand. I’m…I’m sorry. I just want to go home.”
“You were running from home, were you not?”
I opened my mouth, then clamped it shut. I had been running as far from my home world as I could get, but I hadn’t expected to end up this far.
The Raas lowered his head so that it was next to mine, dropping his voice to a purr that sizzled down my spine. “You might not have meant to stow away onto my ship, female, but you did. That makes you the property of the Vandar, and of me. I cannot return you to your planet, or the bounty hunters, because you belong to me. This horde ship is your home now.”
I sucked in a breath as his tail curled around my waist, keeping me
