Living among the Stars (Sky Riders #2) (7 page)

She was dreaming of being on the beach back on Earth. She had a wonderful time with Maggie, but someone kept ringing an annoying bell.

“Stop ringing that freaking bell!” she shouted out.

She felt her body being shaken awake by a huge hand. The dream ended and reality came back as she opened her eyes to see Kharis’ hand shaking her as he reached for something on the nightstand.

“This better be good,” he mumbled in a husky, sleep filled voice.

It hit her that he was talking into his comlink and the ringing noise in her dream had when the comlink going off. She blinked her eyes several times to bring them into focus as she listened to Kharis’ side of the conversation.

“When do you want us to go?”

She couldn’t hear whoever was on the other end, but it was someone very important.

“I don’t want to leave her behind. It’s not safe enough for me to feel comfortable enough to do that yet. Where was he sighted?” He ran a hand through his sleep-tousled hair. “Give me about an hour.” He disconnected the link and turned to look at her.

“What? What’s the matter?” she asked as she sat up with a sheet pulled up over her breasts.

“That was Etor. One of our scouting ships reported that numerous ships were seen leaving Lephus. He needs me to go assist the ships that are watching Lephus and see what they are up to.”

“Has anyone seen that captain yet?” She didn’t want to have a run in with the man.

“No, that’s one of the other problems. No one has seen him since he escaped, so who is leading what is left of the Lephusan people? Most of their warships were destroyed during the battle, but a few did manage to make a run for it.”

She paled when she thought about Captain Zol’tsa. He probably had some kind of a hit out on her because of the roll she played in getting him captured. Not to mention the way she held a gun to his head.

“What are you going to do?” She definitely didn’t want to stay behind. The man had gotten hold of her and her friends once before and there was a great possibility he would try to do it again.

He slid out of the bed and held a hand out to her. “First I need to take a shower and I want you to join me.”

“That’s probably not a good idea,” she said as she witnessed the need burning in his eyes.

“Oh, it’s a good idea but we will have to be quick.” He pulled her out of the bed and towards the cleaning room.

Well, if she was going on a trip she might as well take advantage of her time with Kharis. There was no telling how much free time he would have while out on a mission.

Chapter 7

            
 
Zol’tsa stood on the bridge of the newly finished transport ship. It was his ship now and he was going to rule it the way he saw fit. His crew was pretty sparse, but he was still able to get the ship under way.

              He was personally going to Earth. After seeing that his people were relocated to Napra, he set out. Ruehar’s files had shown him the exact location of the planet Earth and how to get there. A small wormhole would be used to get to the galaxy the planet in question resided in and since this was the maiden voyage of his ship, he wanted to present.

              The wormhole that he needed to use was farther out in his galaxy and had remained unknown to him until recently. Ruehar must have wanted to keep the wormhole a secret since no one claimed to know of its existence. He had to give his former leader credit, he was a sneaky bastard if anything! But, his downfall had been his blind desire for females. He had been consumed with finding a compatible race that he didn’t bother to look at the entire picture.

              The Lephus people had been slowly dwindling over the last century. Their population had gone from plentiful to barely existing and it was all because of Ruehar. The dictator’s bright idea to conquer the surrounding galaxies had been a huge mistake as far as he was concerned. Rather than trying to build his empire a little at a time, Ruehar wanted to gain control of all it at one time. They were doing well until they came across Qetera and met up with the force of the three brothers who ruled the planet. He knew it had been a mistake the moment they invaded.

              That was all in the past now. He was now supreme leader and would do things his way and right now he was headed to Earth to secure new recruits. It would take about two days to reach Earth then a few days after that to gather the people he needed. He smiled to himself as he thought about his plan to bring down the first of the Qeteran brothers.

              He would go for the weaker, less important two, Vulmar and Kharis. One at a time he lured them out of their comfort zones then strike with deadly force. He also hoped to get hold of those bitches he had been sent to retrieve, especially the one who held the fucking gun to his head. He had special plans for her if he ever got his hands on her again.

              “Sir, we are about to enter the wormhole.”

              His attention snapped back to the bridge. He took a deep breath then gave the order. “Proceed.”

              As the ship entered the wormhole, it vibrated and groaned. The force that a wormhole possessed was not for the kind of heart. The ship would be under tremendous pressure as it travelled through the short cut. He had only been through a wormhole twice and didn’t exactly care for the experience. Well, he had been a lot younger and on his first mission. Now though he stood with confidence and stamina as the ship slipped into the hole that twisted and turned as crazy speeds. The ship’s engines weren’t really needed while in the hole because the pull of the gravity inside would spit them out on the opposite side.

              According to Ruehar’s notes, the wormhole would end near a planet called Jupiter. This was a new galaxy for him, so he was excited about what he would find. He just hoped he would be able to find enough Earth people willing to come and fight for him, even if he had to lie. If that were to happen, there wouldn’t be much the Earth people could do once on board his ship.

              The view out the window of the bridge was a bit scary. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows swirled around the ship as it sped forward. Every now and then they passed a bright patch of white light and assumed it was some kind of space debris that had drifted into the hole. Small rumbles shook the ship, but the alarms remained quiet. A small dot of pure black started form. As the ship drew near the dot expanded.

              “We are nearing the end,” he announced to the bridge. It had taken more than twelve hours to travel through the wormhole. The entire crew had been tense and fearful for most of the journey so far. Once they reached Earth he would allow them some time to prepare for the trip home.

              His best hope of gaining recruits was to head to the same location the transport of women came from. He knew there would be a great of people waiting to leave Earth and he hoped to convince them to go with him.

              As soon as the ship exited the wormhole all the shaking and groaning stopped. To the right of the ship was a massive planet called Jupiter. From what he remembered from the files Jupiter was not inhabited. That was too bad because it was such a giant world and would have made a great new home if it had any solid land mass.

              “How long until we reach Earth,” Zol’tsa asked.

              “In about two hours, sir.”

              Zol’tsa grunted his respond. “Notify me when we are within Earth’s orbit.”

              “Yes sir.”

              He walked of the bridge and headed to his quarters. He wanted to review some of the data he had salvaged from Ruehar’s files regarding Earth and its residents. At one time the Earth hosted over eight billion people, but with her recovering atmosphere many people had chosen to relocate. That was how Ruehar had gained the transport of females only he paid a high price to have someone on Earth reprogram a specified transport with the coordinates that lead to Lephus.

              Upon entering his rooms, he made sure he locked the door. He didn’t want unexpected interruptions. He went to his office to retrieve the tablet he had stored all the files on then returned to the common room. Sitting wearily on the large over-stuffed chair he had requested, he booted up the tablet and began to read the information again.

              Ruehar had a made a critical error when he first contacted the planet. While the numerous transports that left Earth were sent to planets that the Earth officials knew about, Ruehar chose to keep is identity quiet. It might be hard for Zol’tsa to convince the people he needed to come with him. His best bet would be to offer huge rewards for those daring to board his transport.

              He flipped through the files scanning the information when he came across something he had missed. Penal institutions. If all else failed, he could approach the Earth official with an offer to take some of their criminals off their hands. It might be even better that way since the officials probably wouldn’t care if the criminals lived or not.

              “That just might work,” he said out loud. He tapped on the tablet to bring up the information on how many penal institutions Earth had. From the last information, Ruehar received there were over five hundred institutions within a place called the United States alone.

              He pressed his comlink. “When we reach Earth I want the ship directed to a place called the United States. I will put the coordinates into the computer mainframe.”

              “Yes sir.”

              He leaned back with his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. A grin slowly curved his lips as he thought about what lay ahead. His hopes of getting enough people shouldn’t be a problem now. Of course, he still would offer the chance to others who wanted to go freely with him. Now, he just needed to find the strongest among these criminals and those who would be willing to follow his command. Everything so far was going as planned and soon he would have everything he ever wanted, including the Earth bitch called Kelly.

Chapter 8

              The shuttle carrying him and Kelly up to his ship docked without incident. A full crew had already transferred up to the ship and were busy preparing the ship for departure. He hadn’t announced where they were headed yet but as soon as they were under way he would make an announcement over the intercom system.

              Stepping off the shuttle, he guided his mate through the docking bay where all eyes turned to them. Most of his crew didn’t know about Kelly yet. They would all know who she was by the time they exited the docking bay because of her scent.

              When he had claimed her the night before he marked her with his scent so that no one would make the mistake of thinking, she wasn’t mated. One particular group of workers stared a little too long at Kelly, which elicited a loud growl from him. The workers immediately resumed what them were doing and never looked back at them.

              “Why is everyone staring at me?” Kelly asked in a hushed tone.

              “They are curious to know who you are. It won’t take them long to figure it out and no one will both you.” His hand rested on her back as he guided her down the corridor and to the lift system. “Our quarters are located on level eight.”

              “How many levels are there?”

              They stepped into the lift and waited for the door to slide shut again. “Just six. My quarters…our quarters and my second in command’s quarters are located on that level. There are nine levels total with the bridge of the ship being at the top of the ship on level nine.”

              He stared down at the little human female who was his true life mate. He never thought in all his years he would find the one who was meant for him. His search for his true life mate was never really an active search. He left it up to the gods and goddesses to lead him to her. This tiny creature standing next to him was a pure wonder in his eyes. For something so small, she had a very big bite. It was one of her qualities he pleased to discover, though not at first. She proved herself when she and her friends had taken control of the shuttle Zol’tsa had stolen along with them in it. He feared now that the escaped captain would be out for revenge against his mate. Unfortunately, when he had sent men out to search for the man, he had done a good job of hiding himself. Someone or some group were assisting and aiding the escaped prisoner.

              The lift’s door opened to reveal a short corridor with only two doors on each side. He walked to the one on the right, pressed his hand to the sensor pad and waited for it to turn green.

              “I’ll have to program your hand to open the door so that you will be able to get in when I am not with you.” He let her enter first when the door slid open.

              “What about Serelath and Parath?”

              The two dragons were being brought aboard the ship as they spoke. Serelath would have to explain to Parath the rules of the ship since she was new to it all. He still couldn’t get over the fact that his mate had a dragon! He hadn’t informed his brothers yet but knew he needed to do that soon. After he had Kelly settled in their quarters, he would make the call to his brothers and inform them that he had left Qetera.

              “How long are we going to be gone?” Kelly slowly walked around the room studying everything.

              His quarters weren’t the biggest a starship could offer, but it was one of the ones with the best view. With his quarters being one level down from the bridge, visitors in his room would have an excellent view of the stars and planets as they zoomed by because the view was unobstructed.

              “Wow! Now that’s a view!” Kelly uttered in amazement. “I will never get over the beauty of space.”

              He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He bent down to nuzzle her neck which she leaned to the side to give him better access. “You didn’t answer me.”

              “About what?” He nipped at her ear then licked it to ease the pinch.

              “I asked you how long we will be gone.”

              “Does it matter? You’re with me that is what mainly matters.”

              She twisted in his arms until she was facing him. “Yes, it matters. I like to know where I am going and how long I will be there. It must be the cop in me.”

              “What exactly is a cop? I’ve heard you say it a couple of times. I thought you were a police. I don’t know what that is either.”

              She wrapped her arms around his neck as he continued to place small kisses all over her neck. He wanted her to stop talking. He wanted to bend her over the arm of the sofa and take her rough and hard. His cock was painfully hard again and he needed to release.

              “A cop and police officer are the same thing. They are the law enforcement where I come from.”

              He pulled back suddenly. “Law enforcement? What do you mean? You used to make the laws?”

              She giggled at him. “No, silly. I enforced the laws. To put it plainly, I went after the bad guys.”

              He didn’t like hearing that one bit. “Your planet allows females to do such things? Why would you want to do that? You are too fragile and could get hurt very easily.”

              It was her turn to pull away this time. He automatically knew by the look on her face he had pissed her off. “What do you mean, I am too fragile?” She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips.

              He stepped to her, but she retreated again. “You are a female and shouldn’t be doing such things. Catching the bad guys should be left to the males. What would happen if one of your bad guys over-powered you? You could get killed! Even raped!” He felt the Rage swirling in him as he pictured his mate being hurt by another male.

              “Listen, I was a damn good cop and I liked what I did. I don’t have to explain to you what I did or how I did it.” She stared at him as her anger grew. “And, yes, I have been hurt by a bad guy, a couple of times. What’s the big deal? I’m here now aren’t I?”

              “You will not be a cop here. I will not allow it. It is my job to keep you safe.”

              She stepped to him and poked him in the middle of his chest as it rose and feel in frustration. “Where were you when I was kidnapped by that man? Hugh?” She waited for him to answer for a split second then continued. “Not with me that’s for sure. I was the one who took control of that situation. I was the one who held the gun to that guy’s head! So, don’t tell me I don’t know how to protect myself. I’ve been doing it long before I met you!” she turned her back on him and moved to a large window. 

              He walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulders. “I am sorry, my heart. I didn’t mean to over react. Women on my world do not hold such positions. We value them too much to put them in such danger.” He gently turned her to face him then lifted her chin with his finger. “I’m sorry.”

              She raised her soft brown eyes to his face. A wave of guilt swept through him when he saw the sadness written all over her face. He never meant to hurt her and would have to make it up to her.

              “I’m still mad at you,” she said as she folded her arms across her chest.

              “All I want to do is take care of you and protect you. You are my whole life now and I would not be able to live without you.”

              A grin crept across her face as she listened to him speak. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

              He took her face in both of his hands and held it. “I’ve never been more serious about anything else in my entire life.” He placed a kiss on her soft lips. “I promise I will do everything to protect you. I will die if I have to.”

              Her eyes widen in surprise. “You will do no such thing! You will not leave me here alone. Do you hear me?” Water gleamed in her eyes as she poured out her heart to him.

              He pulled her into his arms before she could say another word. She was so small compared to him. The top of her head barely came up to the middle of his chest. This little female had stolen his heart and he didn’t want it back. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent deeply. This female was his for the rest of his life and no one was ever going to take her away from him.

              He kissed the top of her head. “I need to go check in with the bridge. Stay here and rest. I will return when I can.”

              “Promise,” she whispered in his ear when he bent down to give her a goodbye kiss.

              “That’s definitely a promise, my love.”

******

              “Report, please,” he announced when he entered the bridge.

              “Commander Kharis. Everything is working as planned and we are on course for the Epsilon galaxy.”

              “Expected arrival time?”

              “About six hours until we enter the galaxy. Then another two hours to Lephus.”

              Kharis looked around the bridge to make sure his crew was working as expected.  “Excellent. Please contact Commander Etor and filter it into my office.”

              “Yes sir.”

              He went to his office that was on the bridge but only shut off from the rest for privacy. The door slid closed behind him, blocking out the noise coming from the other room. Sitting in his chair, he turned on his viewing screen and waited for his brother’s image to appear.

              “Anything to report, brother?” Etor asked.

              “No, just checking in. Everything is as expected for now. The ship is running fine. We should arrive in Lephus’s orbit in roughly eight hours.”

              “Make sure you do a thermal scan of the planet before you send down a search party. I don’t want any unexpected surprises and I don’t want to see any more of our people killed,” Etor said.

              “I will. As soon as I get the first report back, I will contact you and let you know of the status,” Kharis replied.

              Etor had hesitated for a moment before he asked, “How are things with you and Kelly?”

              A huge grin lit up his face. “I have claimed her as my true life mate and she had accepted me. She is a little hellcat when she wants to be. Did you know that she was a type of law enforcement female?”

              “I suspected as much and Maggie confirmed it for me. I suppose it came as quite a shock.”

              “Hell yes! Would you be happy if your mate went after criminals?” Just the thought of his Kelly injured because of another male made his stomach twist.

              “No, but I was just as unhappy when I found out about Maggie’s ex. He is supposed to be affiliated with what Earth people call a mob. From what Maggie explained to me, a mob is a group of bad guys that kill and extort money from others. She witnessed her ex killing another male in cold blood. She called Kelly to come get her when the male wasn’t home and it was Kelly who suggested that they leave Earth on the transport.”

              Kharis rubbed his hands over his face as he listened to his brother. He was proud of his mate for protecting his brother’s mate, but at the same time he was upset that she had to do such a thing. What sort of male would want to hurt their mate?

              “I am just happy they are safe with us now and don’t have to worry about such things anymore,” Kharis responded.