Page 14 of Doom Averted

“Probably Krektar and whatever the hell Drameil is,” Abigail said, she was patting the portion of tail that Ziame had curled around her waist as she spoke. “You were really lucky they didn’t discover you if that was Drameil himself…” The female shivered, and Arianna did too, clutching her arms around her middle. Neither had met the Crimelord directly and yet they instinctively feared him.

“He walks with a cane,” Camila interjected, “You might have heard that? Creep likes to pretend he’s weak but it’s really just a weapon.” She spoke with such venom that it was clear she’d had her own run-in with the bastard. I wondered if I was the only one present who hadn’t had any direct dealings with the Crimelord.

Unlike the rest of my gladiator brothers, I had been owned by a different master, small time, not a criminal of the caliber of Drameil. While they wanted revenge, I didn’t give a shit about the guy, we’d barely interacted at all. I’d only spend a short year as a gladiator, put out on the sands so quickly only because my training in the Kertinillian Army was better than what many born slaves got before they started them on fights.

“Yeah, I definitely heard a tapping noise,” Arianna said, nodding thoughtfully. Then she stepped around the girls clustered closest to her and ducked beneath Luka’s arm with his handheld as he tried to continue scanning her until she ended up at my side. I tried to ignore the flush of heat rushing through my body at her nearness and I tried even harder to suppress the urge for my body to light up with its bio-luminescence in excitement.

“Does the word Yenger mean anything to you guys? That’s what they were both talking about. It stood out because that uh... Drameil guy sounds like a snake when he talks.” I shared a look with Ziame and then Kitan, she’d heard them talk of the Yengar Spacestation. The place was a known slave market, floating in a neutral portion of the Zeta Quadrant, it was a lawless hole of criminality. Not a bad location at all to expect Drameil to offload his several dozen humans, and make a fortune. A fortune he needed if he wanted to stay in power.

“Yeah, the Yengar Spacestation would be just the place for Drameil to go,” Abigail confirmed, beaming a smile at Arianna so that all her blunt white teeth were on display. “We should head there, and see if we can rescue those poor humans.” I could tell this was going to spark a lively debate and I wanted to leave, I didn’t like it when everyone was talking all at once, it made my head buzz.

The moment I started to step back, hoping I could get to the door without anyone noticing, Arianna’s warm little hand slid into mine. I froze, looking down at our joined digits in shock. Why was she touching me? Why was she choosing my company when she now had her pick of females to make friends with, and much more outgoing Jakar or Eoin to welcome her. I’d seen the way Jakar was looking at her, he really wanted a mate of his own.

“I think this all a bit much for me, can you show me where I’ll sleep?” she murmured at me, a soft smile playing at the edge of her far too pink lips. I felt like there were dozens of eyes on us, staring with curiosity at our little interaction and I felt the urge to curl her under my arm and snap at them. I wanted to hoard all her private little smiles and touches and keep them secret so the others couldn’t gossip and speculate about us.

“Sure,” I grunted at her, my fingers curling more snugly around hers. I was keenly aware of the feel of my metal prosthesis against her soft skin, the hard edges that pressed against her fragile bones. Ignoring the stares, I started pulling her with me out of the med bay but I paused just at the door. “Hey Doc, she has clean bill of health, right?”

He nodded, a confused expression on his face. I really hoped it was too crowded in there for him to pick out what I was feeling, I wasn’t sure what I was feeling myself. Definitely uncomfortable with all those eyes on us, so I pulled Arianna into a jog down the hallway, heading around a few corners to reach the one with the crew quarters. Not that they were crew quarters in the traditional sense now, we’d converted them as needed to private quarters for each of us.

There were still several empty rooms, including the one next door to mine. I pressed the door plate to open it, then paused. “Let me key you to the door so only you can open it, alright?” It only took a few moments to register her biosignature, keying her exclusively to this door. Then I made sure she had access to all the public places she might need.

“Thank you Da’vi,” she said, beaming a smile at me. “That’s nice of you,” she added when I frowned. I didn’t want her to thank me, this was just basic decency, she had a right to private space to withdraw in. When my brothers had made it clear that I had a spot like that on the Vagabond, giving me a good mattress, and a proper place to sleep, it had cemented my loyalty to this ship. These were good people, this was a good home now that I was out of the Army, I hoped Arianna would think the same thing.

Then the thought struck me that she might not want to stay here. What if she wanted to move on, settle on a planet somewhere? I should prepare myself for that, living on a spaceship wasn’t for everyone. It was irrational anyway to want her to stay.

She walked into her newly assigned quarters, her body brushing closely against mine, and I jolted from the sensations. She smelled a little of the musty old ship she’d been on but mostly she smelled like something uniquely female, soft and sweet. It would always baffle me how females, of any species, could smell so nice, but her scent…

It was making my cock go hard so I shifted awkwardly, hoping to hide the evidence, clenching my thigh muscles desperately to get my erection to go down. After my eavesdropping, I had no right at all to lust after her, definitely not until I’d come clean. I just didn’t think I’d ever tell her, she’d hate me then, and I selfishly didn’t want that. So, no touching, no lusting after her.

“Am I sharing all those bunks with anyone?” she asked, my brain firing images at me of the two of us sharing a bunk. My eyes darted away from the soft, warm expression on her face, hoping she couldn’t read what was going through my mind. There were four bunks in this room still, we hadn’t converted it to a single room because we hadn’t needed it.

“No,” I grunted sharply, anxious to get away from here. I was fast losing control of myself and I couldn’t have that, I didn’t want her to realize what I was feeling. She didn’t need to have a grumpy asshole like myself hovering over her when she could have all her social needs filled by the rest of the crew.

Her expression faltered a little and I took a desperate step back, “You can rest here. Should you get hungry, you can ask the ship AI to guide you to the mess hall.” My eyes snagged on the lines glowing purple on my lower arms. Damn it, I was losing it. I needed to stick my head into a mindlessly boring job. Testing the engine over and over again now that we’d made it, that’s what I should be doing.

“Oh, I can’t call you?” she asked, and despite the fact that I was backtracking out of those quarters, she followed me. Her hand landed on my chest, her chin tilted up, eyes on my face, if she stepped any closer she’d feel my hard cock press against her soft belly. I stifled a groan, fighting the urge to close the gap myself.

“No,” I growled at her, trying to shrug off her hand gently. “I need to check on the engines.” I turned, not caring that it was rude at this point, and started to jog down the hallway. Behind me, I heard her draw in a deep breath and my tail lashed angrily back and forth. Look at what I’d done now, I was acting like a total ass. I should offer an apology, invite her to share dinner later, something to make her feel like I wasn’t just abandoning her.

My com chimed on my wrist and I leaped at the opportunity not to have to deal with any of this. Thumbing the accept button before I’d had a chance to check who it was, I answered with a curt ‘Da’vi’ and that was it. Arianna deserved better than what I was giving her, but my brothers could handle it.

“This is Or’tal, we met back on Arakon, briefly,” a voice said in the deep sub-harmonic tones only someone of my own species could make, not one of my brothers at all. My mind flashed back to the planet from which we’d rescued Sunder, his mate, and their children a few months ago. There had been a Kertinillian Spy First Class by that name there, I’d tried to avoid him but I knew he’d recognized me. Wouldn’t surprise me if that was why my former Captain had tried to contact me a few weeks ago.

“What the fuck do you want?” I demanded, not hiding the angry tone of my voice. Here was someone I could snarl at without feeling guilty, I had no loyalty left for them, didn’t need to attempt to be civil.

“Woah, who bit your tail?” the spymaster joked as if we were friends who’d known each other a long time. I hoped he got to the point soon or I’d hang up on him. Then my body shivered, my skin twitching at the point of contact. Arianna had somehow snuck up on me and placed her hand on my arm, peering at the com device strapped to my wrist with a curious expression on her face.

“What do you want from me, spy?” I said and though I tried not to, my tail swung around to curl around Arianna’s hip, anchoring myself to her, or was it her to me? If I gave in to my baser urges right now, I’d toss her over my shoulder and drag her straight into my domain, into the engine room, and I wouldn’t let her out until she knew she was mine.

“Nothing, just offering a warning, Ertague,” was the response. “You’re about to have company you don’t want. I suggest you get that Star Class Cruiser into an FTL jump or you’ll be finding yourself forcefully drafted.” The words send a chill down my spine, arousal forgotten, I shifted my body to curl one arm around Arianna’s shoulders protectively as if it was her they were after, not me.

“ETA?” I asked, but the line had already gone dead. This Or’tal had no business warning me about the arrival of a Kertinillian vessel, it would be the opposite of what his superiors wanted. It was a kind of betrayal even. General Allignon would see him court-marshaled if he found out, which meant this was either an elaborate scheme, or Or’tal felt he owed us after Arakon.

“Akri, long-range scans, any ships approaching our location?” I called out, well aware that the ship AI was always listening. Our sensors were good, better than those on most ships since this had once been a scout vessel, if there was anything approaching, Akri would confirm it.

“Checking scans now, Da’vi,” he intoned and I saw how Arianna’s eyes went wide at the sound. She’d stepped closer as soon as I’d wrapped her in my tail, now both her hands were on my chest, her soft curves pressing against my hard muscles. She mouthed something at me but without sounds, the translator implants couldn’t do their job. “Affirmative, one ship fast approaching, it appears to be a Raptor Class ship.”

“Does that mean that guy’s warning was correct?” Arianna asked. I nodded before I rushed into action. The last thing I wanted was to be here when the Kertinillian Army came to collect me. It was rumor only, but I’d heard about those who didn’t do as they were told, about secret facilities where they’d do whatever they wanted with you until you gave in. That would be my fate if they got their hands on me.