Page 2 of Star-Crossed Captive
Blinked, her brain not registering what she saw.
An intricate blue tattoo covered his abdominals. Tellusian blue. Her hands trembled.
Warrior. Terrorist. Slaver.Enemy.
She stepped back, a scream lodged in her throat. A hand snaked out to grab her wrist, and she dropped the regenerator. The man’s icy blue eyes captured hers.
Her heart froze in her chest.
He swung his legs over the bed and jerked her toward him at the same time. She spun as he whirled them toward the bulkhead. Her scream morphed into a sharp intake of breath as her spine slammed into his chest. A wafting scent of sweat and blood filled her head.
The triage bay muddied into a kaleidoscope of color. Doctors ran for safety. The defenders on security detail moved, everyone scrambling all at once. They aimed their guns right at her: AL-22s. Set to maximum, it would cleave her in two. Laser sights bounced in her vision.
This can’t be happening again.The defenders must be shouting words, but she could only hear a muffled buzzing in her brain and someone gasping for breath. Her eyes focused on the transfusion portal swinging where it disconnected from the Tellusian’s arm, a red stream dripping to the deck beside where her black cap had fallen.
The arm wrapped beneath her breasts was too tight, she couldn’t breathe. Nia struggled, kicking her feet. Something cold and narrow pressed against her neck. She tensed, recognizing the shape.Laser scalpel.One wrong touch to the control and her head would roll to the deck.
“Stay still.” He spoke with his lips next to her ear, his Common accent throaty.
All the heat left her body. Another Tellusian’s voice filled her head from years ago.Here’s a pretty.Blood, so much blood. And it wasn’t from someone’s surgery…
“I don’t want to hurt you.” The voice behind her returned her to the present. “But I will if you keep moving.” The laser scalpel pressed deeper into her skin.
She squirmed and grasped his forearm, fingers twitching to grab the scalpel. Could she do it before he could cut her?
“That would not end well for you.”
Bile rose in her throat. She swallowed and forced herself to relax. Her feet barely touched the deck. Needing to gain space between them, she dug her fingers into the gap between his forearm and her breasts. His grip tightened, making her gasp, then he loosened his hold a fraction.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the kill order. One doctor wasn’t worth risking the whole station. The defenders would kill them both and be done with it.Please be painless.
An unnatural quiet fell over the bay. She felt every one of the Tellusian’s breaths in her spine.
“Drop her or die, you Tell piece of shit,” the lead defender yelled.
Her eyes popped open. They weren’t going to shoot her? The defender’s visor was translucent, revealing his face: Bradford, one of Calvin’s friends.
“Move back or I cut her,” the Tellusian barked, his accent guttural in her ear.
The defenders didn’t move, didn’t fire, their aim unwavering.
She felt the Tellusian’s thumb move closer to the laser scalpel’s controls. Images of cut throats filled her head, defenders she’d tried to save, blood leaving their bodies at a relentless pace.
“Which way out?” A curl of her hair moved with his words.
A negative sound, a denial, left her lips. She wouldn’t help a terrorist escape justice.
His arm twitched against her, and he moved, inch by inch toward the nearest exit, her body protecting his. The wall of defenders followed, keeping their formation. Behind the silver uniforms, Ezra stood rigid, his face frozen in horror.
How did this happen?She’d been saving this man’s life. He wore a defender’s uniform. How had he passed the scans to get on board?
The Tellusian stopped next to a door. “Open it.”
Her fingers dug into his forearm. She wouldn’t help him. It would only mean her death.
A rough hand grabbed her wrist, twisted, and slapped her PALM against the control panel. A startled cry left her lips as the door slid open.
Three defenders waited on the other side. Laser fire erupted around them. The world blurred and spun with a grunt and a curse. Helmets smashed together with a hollowthunk. The scalpel hummed. A leg kicked. Someone gasped.Pop.The triage bay door sealed shut when the Tellusian shot out its control panel.
