He drew in a deep breath at my neck, as if smelling my skin, then his deep groan sent a jolt through me. “The only thing I have yet to figure out is exactly what I’m going to do with you.”
Chapter Three
Vassim
I stepped back from the female, steadying my breath and looking away from her stricken face. I jerked my head to Taan. “Take her to my quarters.”
Taan inclined his head and snapped his heels together. “It is done, Raas.”
“Wait!” The female dodged my majak’s attempts to grab her, spinning from the grasp of my tail and out of reach of both of us. “You can’t just take me captive.”
Even though her efforts were futile, I did admire her tenacity. It was more than I’d expected when I’d first seen her and after she’d fainted.
“I am not taking you captive,” I said. “I am holding an alien who stowed away on my ship. Normally stowaways on Vandar warbirds aren’t retained. They’re put out the nearest airlock.”
She swayed on her feet, and I wondered if I’d have to catch her again. I wouldn’t mind holding her once more. The human with gold hair and lots of curves intrigued me. Her skin smelled of sugar, and her eyes were the color of the Jugerian seas. Not to mention the fact that she might be the female in the prophecy.
My stomach tightened. I hadn’t allowed myself to hope that the words the seer had spoken to me would ever be anything but a fantasy. They’d seemed so far-fetched that I hadn’t even bothered to search for the thing she’d claimed would cure me of my cursed dreams.
A female with hair like the sun and a heart and body as pure as gold.
There had been scant few females with pale hair in the far reaches of space where we patrolled and even fewer that could be considered anything close to pure. I’d put the witch’s words from my mind and accepted that I would never close my eyes without reliving the torture of my Raas’ death again and again.
“So why aren’t you putting me out an airlock?” the human asked, squaring her shoulders.
I made no secret of eyeing her curves. “You have more of value than most stowaways.”
Even though her eyes were a cool blue, they flashed with challenge as she fisted her hands by her side. “I’m not going to be your whore, if that’s what you’re planning. I’d rather die first.”
Her fire stoked heat in my own belly, but I only smiled at her. “I have no intention of forcing myself on you, female. Vandar raiders might pillage, but we do not rape. We do not need to. Females are eager to warm our beds, whether in pleasure houses or not.”
That was true, although it had been a long time since I’d joined my raiders on one of our stops at the pleasure planets. It was part of my self-imposed penance. If I did not deem myself worthy of a female from a pleasure house, I would never be worthy of an innocent like this human. She did not know how safe she actually was from me.
Her tight fists relaxed, even as her cheeks flushed. “Is that a promise?”
I gritted my teeth. I was not used to having my word questioned. Then again, this female seemed to know little about the Vandar. “It is a promise. A Raas doesn’t lie.”
She didn’t seem totally convinced, but she finally nodded. “Okay. I guess I have no choice but to trust you.”
“That is correct.” I stepped closer to her and wrapped my tail around her waist. “You have no choice, although I assure you that you will not be harmed. Consider yourself to be our guest.”
Her lips parted slightly as she looked up at me. Her innocence was so foreign to me it was almost intoxicating. The slightest touch from me made her skin turn pink and the vein in the side of her neck throb. How would she react if I jerked her body to mine and crushed my lips to hers? My fingers tingled and my cock twitched as I imagined the feel of her soft curves pressed to my hard muscle.
I tore my gaze from her before my mind wandered any further and made my arousal evident to every warrior standing with me, as well as to the human.
“Vaes,” Taan said to her, but did not reach for her.
She tilted her head at him. “Vaes?”
“It means ‘come.’ You did not learn Vandar from Corvak?” I asked.
“I didn’t talk to him. That was all Sienna. I thought he was a terrifying barbarian.” She slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror at the insult she’d just levied at the Vandar.
Before I could respond, Taan spoke. “I assure you we are not barbarians. Would barbarians travel in warbirds large enough for hundreds to live on board? Would those same warbirds be able to fly invisibly if we were barbarians?”
She shook her head, dropping her hand. “I didn’t mean anything. It’s just what everyone said when Corvak arrived on our planet. We’d never seen anyone as huge, or with as little clothing. And we’d never seen an axe before. Weapons were never allowed on Kimithion III.” She glanced around the hangar bay. “But you’re obviously more advanced than my planet, so I guess we’re really the barbarians.”
“Then you are the most attractive barbarian I’ve ever encountered,” Taan said.
The female gave him a smile she hadn’t given me, and jealousy stabbed at me. Taan had always been known for his skill at seducing females, regardless of their species. I’d seen him at work many times, but never with a female who captured my interest. Or one who could be the solution to my curse.
Instinctively, I growled low, the tip of my tail twitching.
Taan glanced at me with a tip of his head. “Would you like me to escort the female to your quarters, or would you prefer
