Feral Flaw Read online

  Nothing even remotely lust-driven resonated in her features. "It's the blood lust." I managed to swallow most of my disgust.

  She halted, threw a thumb back over her shoulder toward her pod fighter, and opened her mouth.

  Nothing graced him with a sound.

  "You should be lost in the blood lust as well, Darla. We are mated."

  She shut her mouth, blinked, and faced me. "The computer told me to take the antidote after I hurled."

  Vomited? Was she so ill the computer intervened? Nonsense. Now my plan was foiled. "I told you not to use the draught."

  "No." She planted her hands on her hips. "You instructed me to use it sparingly."

  Maybe she concealed Voldon's blood in her pod fighter. Maybe she wretched on purpose and claimed a different cause.

  "Goro."

  My gaze slid from her black boots to her bulging breasts.

  Those are mine. Or they're supposed to be.

  "Goro! What's wrong with you?"

  I slid my gaze up from her exquisite bosom to her concerned mask. Had she no idea I am deep in the blood lust? Although, I seem to be handling it fairly well. I could be ripping off her clothes and taking my due. It's almost been the full forty-eight hours.

  "I really got sick. Go see. The cockpit is coated in puke."

  The wind shifted and filled my nostrils with the noxious smell of bile.

  So that much of her story was true. However, vomit indicated nothing other than she was mated. To someone.

  "Do you care if I bathe somewhere? I can't stand this stench." She held out her arm with her fingers straightened as if she were covered in some toxic material.

  But what about my blood libation? Obviously, she wants nothing to do with me. Sending her down to the beach will at least give me a chance to cure my illness and formulate a new strategy to deduce her allegiance. Especially since I seem too troubled with blood lust myself. Distancing her from me will help me regain my bearings. He pointed to tiny stretch of black beach where two trees parted allowing wayward vacationers a view.

  "Thanks." She shot me a killer smile and stepped off toward the bit of blue water.

  Blessed Devros, those breasts disappeared.

  "Aren't you coming, Goro?"

  Not when conspiracy smothers me. "I'll be there in a minute."

  "Oh, then, I suppose it's safe."

  That's a matter of perspective when the beauty could hurl projectiles without lifting a finger. I pulled a syringe from the shaft of my boot.

  One shot of sanity to reset everything. At least to give me a chance to think things through once again. I shoved it against my bare arm and pressed the trigger.

  An instant later, a wave of serenity spread throughout my body, infiltrating every cell. Driving back the animal that tried to surface.

  Back to your cage where I can think rationally. I sucked in an enormous breath. And exhaled, purging any remnant desire to mate.

  Time to measure everything Darla said, or ruin any future I still might be able to recover in this madness. My footsteps quickly consumed the space between our pod fighters where the opened hatch couldn't hide the sunlight glinting off the bile pooling on the floorboard.

  "Computer?"

  "Yes, commander?"

  "Report Darla's biostats prior to her injection of the blood-lust antidote."

  "Darla's biostats showed she was deep in blood lust."

  For whom? "Did she say anything to indicate her thoughts?"

  "Darla thought she was pregnant, commander. I informed her that she was experiencing blood lust symptoms and that the way to correct the problem was to inject herself with antidote."

  But Darla could have fooled the computer and used a different syringe. Or even something she had staged to be administered by the computer given she returned in animal form. "Do you have any blood in storage ready to administer in case she returns in were-form?"

  "No."

  She didn't seem knowledgeable enough with were-assassin duty to think to store anything. Or that's part of Voldon's plan. Fool me as long as possible. Why? What can I get other than satisfaction in killing my biggest enemy? Or controlling me.

  So the wait continues.

  Was Darla playing me? With her intelligence to contend with, a myriad of scenarios could unfold. Never had I imagined duty would lead me to suicide.

  * * * *

  Waves gently rolled against Darla's bare skin where she stood in waist-deep water, wringing the water out of her leather shirt. Is leather even washable, she wondered. Between dry-cleaning back home and the cleansing chambers on The Seeker, everything seemed so straight forward. "Stupid extraterrestrial clothes. They could include cleaning instructions on a label. Earth sure had lots of great ideas." I shook out the black leather and turned to the beach.

  Goro waited, his exterior a bit softened, watching from where I'd tossed my boots and pants between two boulders.

  Thank goodness he looked more like himself. "Hi." I smiled.

  His stoic gaze watched the watery horizon as if he were the guardian of something too unique to dare losing.

  After three months with the Crellons, a little extra attention was kind of nice. Nobody would believe me about the perks in marrying a barbarian. And we're blood mates. The sex and the desire are amazing. He was so caught up in the emotions himself that he stood the watchdog, protecting me.

  The ocean breeze whipped his long black hair across his face.

  He didn't seem to care.

  Well, he just needed to let loose just a bit more and swim. Risk being caught off guard. Because they'd be back fighting the Blood Wars soon. They'd probably never have this time alone again. But first I need to lay my shirt out to dry. Then I'll drag his stiff butt into the waves. I waded out of the water to spread my shirt in the warm sunlight across one of the boulders.

  He continued to study the glassy water in the distance.

  Warm moist sand begrudgingly gave beneath my footsteps.

  Just like the way Goro hid his smiles. I struggled to shove my feet faster through the sinking layer of grains on the beach. "You're in a funky daze, Goro."

  His indifferent gaze slid to me.

  Is that scrutiny supposed to express his idea of caring? Or was he just admiring the view of his nude mate? I've waited a long time to feel that gaze on my bare skin. I gave my shirt one last shake and stretched it over the flattest surface of the two boulders behind Goro.

  Now to seduce the man. He seems to prefer birthday suits. "I'm going for a swim. It sure looks like you could use a bit of loosening up. Why don't you strip and come along?" I clamped my hands together behind my back and barely shifted left to right, just to swing my breasts at him. Invitingly.

  He didn't flinch. "I wouldn't want to get caught with my pants down."

  Had he really uttered that well-worn earth phrase? Surely it wasn't a universal observation. And the way his eyes frosted over warned he was angered. At what? I'm not allowed to lure him into anything? "What's wrong, Goro?"

  "We need to leave as soon as possible." He turned toward the pod fighters.

  "Right now? You just told me I could wash up." That was the problem. I obviously took too long. Hell. A girl couldn't win with extraterrestrials. I grabbed my clothing and dashed through the warm sand after his swaying form. "Can you let me put my pants on before we countdown for blast off?"

  "As I stated, it is unwise to get caught with your pants down."

  Did he think that smart-ass comment was going to get me back inside my pod fighter jetting off on his tail?

  Chapter Ten

  If Goro thought he was getting away with treating me like crap, he had another think coming, Darla fumed. Eternity was one Hell of a long time. I halted, yanked on my pants, both boots, and slithered into my cantankerous wet shirt.

  Goro's back shrank as he walked across the rocky plateau toward the pod fighters.

  Where is he going? The man just chased me halfway across the universe. Well, it wasn't like he was
going to leave me here. Or would he? Maybe it was better to demand some respect through a little resistance though. Get his attention. I took a step toward Goro's straightened spine and followed at my own pace. Resisting.

  He halted near his pod fighter, turning to face me.

  Okay, he was definitely mad by the way he just waited there, stiff as a tree trunk in the brisk wind. What had I done? After my screw up landing me on a slave ship, I need to pay attention. I stopped a step short of him and snaked my arms across the damp leather covering my chest. "What happened? I've obviously ticked you off."

  One of his black eyebrows arched slightly.

  How odd for the calm commander who never winced or flinched. And what did his shift in body language mean? "Remember I can't read minds, Goro. You're going to have to lower your superior self to speaking."

  His cold gaze locked on mine. "You seem too comfortable in this new environment. Shouldn't you take more care in your decision making?"

  He was disgusted with me because I took a bath? "Excuse me but you're the one who let me go to the beach."

  "I am not the one who injected myself prematurely to avoid the blood lust."

  Oh, that's right. He was pissed when I crawled out of the pod fighter. Like I knew any better. And I thought he was going to take me back to The Cause for termination. Life is so unfair in giving some beings the gift of mindreading and the rest of us insignificant powers. But since he can't read my mind, I'll enlighten him. "I don't know the rules of operation when it comes to blood fucking, Goro."

  He winced at the denigrating label Crazy Darla coined so beautifully.

  "But you have to cut me some slack, dearest mate, if I've done something insulting or sacrilegious. I have no idea how anything in this universe operates outside of what I learned while I was in your care. I can't be held responsible for your inadequate schooling-"

  "This is not my fault." He stepped so close the wind could only blow a hair between our noses.

  Heat radiated off him in an insanely provocative manner.

  Oh, to push him down and ride him or just knee him in the family jewels.

  "The only way I can keep us alive is for our biorhythms to be synchronized," he growled away the seductive ambiance. "And your antsy self-administration of my blood has prevented that singular objective."

  He'd never lost his cool like this.

  I have broken down the indomitable Commander Goro.

  Maybe I should have been stronger. Held out. Just puked every cell out of my body? Well, being angry won't fix this mess. I don't want to be the cause of more stress for him. "Look, I'm sorry. I was getting claustrophobic in that space jet. I didn't realize I was screwing things up for you. I admit it. I'm as dumb as a fence post out here. How can we fix this?"

  He sighed with a snip and minutely straightened his spine. "We'll have to camp here. When the sickness comes upon you, since you have noted your symptoms are far worse, we shall both offer the sacrifice of blood libation."

  Sacrifice? Talk about an interesting way to look at the exchange. A gift had to be part of the ritual. To shift into a were-assassin that could defend free thinkers, one definitely had to pay some kind of price. "Deal."

  I'd have plenty of time to clean the yuck out my pod fighter.

  And we'd get a day's vacation at the beach.

  Sunsets, sunrises, and a whole lot of skinny dipping certainly made for a honeymoon to remember.

  * * * *

  Goro couldn't read anything other than happiness in his mate's mask where she stood before him swathed in glorious sunlight upon the smooth volcanic plain, arguing her innocence before a male who would kill himself if accused of something as irresponsible as letting down The Cause with premature blood libations. But she just stood there, defending herself, he noted. Any rational female would also cower being on the receiving end of an Xquine male's anger. Why does this bother me?

  Had she gotten her way?

  Or was she completely oblivious to the temper his species was renowned for? The temper that led to the fighting ability of which Voldon feared enough to destroy Xquine and its children. Grant it, managing to hide the wild Xquine irritability and avoid sharing my displeasure had been a life's choice gifted through intense meditation and the veneration of Devros. The Seeker's crew knew to walk the straight path of perpetuating free thinking.

  "Okay. Truce." She thrust out a palm for shaking. "You teach me what I need to know, and I'll follow your command. Just give this stupid earth girl a break every now and then. My lesser-evolved mind just can't keep up with your inaccessible thought processes."

  Hopefully, her words revealed everything hovering between us. How in all that was holy was I even to begin to predict a sacred sexual union would cause such a multitude of problems? Destiny could have left me a warning in her legend. But now, all I could do was wait out the game. Feign acquiescence. I slid my fingers across Darla's smooth warm hand and gave it an obligatory squeeze.

  She shot me a coy smile.

  The kind that could worm into your heart and wrap around your soul.

  "So, do we need to waste time building a lean-to or do we just get to spend forty-eight hours getting down and dirty." She blinked demurely.

  If Voldon was going to zombify me, I might as well fuck the brains out of his spy. And those breasts... I'm in trouble, Devros.

  "So what's the great secret for washing out a pod fighter?" she asked.

  That was definitely an excellent task to keep her focused and off my hide. "We use buckets and scrub brushes back aboard The Seeker."

  Her innocent enthusiasm metamorphosed into classic misery.

  "Whether on the seas or riding waves of electro-magnetic radiation, a sailor must contend with swabbing the deck." That would keep the little vixen busy for a while. Sexual espionage or not.

  Darla disappeared down to the beach only to wrestle one of her boots full of water back to where she could dowse out her pod's bowels.

  Sweet approach to solving her problem. I could be nice. I could offer her the rags I carried in my pod. But keeping her busy would keep her out of my annoying uninhibited mane. To the little trooper's credit, she leaned into the cockpit, stretching the leather over her firm sexy ass in formal presentation, and scrubbed her floorboard with twigs and sea water.

  Oh to run my fingers down the seam of the seat of her pants.

  The blessed wind kicked up my hair into a twisting cat-o-nine.

  Probably to flay me for my arousal.

  Maybe the time had come to assume my commander duties of shaving. Why? I commanded only one-a woman who might be manipulating me like a chess piece. Especially with her leather stretched tighter than the ass it covered. That was some intentional positioning. She strategized like a master.

  And when she shot me a straight-lipped smile overarched by an inquisitive dark eyebrow, I dared not utter a word. Or I'd be the one doing the scrubbing.

  An honorable mate should have helped her.

  I really should have.

  But a man had his pride. His honor. And hadn't she gotten the prize with mating? My soul is everything to me. But helping her clean the pod fighter involved two more handfuls of succulent breast. I'm just not ready to succumb to lust. Yet. Again. Even though my traitorous thoughts deceive me.

  Blood lust. I will be stronger, an Xquine commander, the last of a warrior breed that could hold out beyond the normal boundaries of sanity to wait for the kill. Yet, something niggled deep in my core beyond the nearby insistence of my groin to offer interference. Something civilized. Or perhaps sympathetic. Just why should I give her a chance to weave her magic? When I probably frittered away my last free thoughts standing here debating over whether to have sex or not.

  Anger flickered in his chest.

  Everything was either Darla's fault or I owe her everything when I learn she's innocent.

  A lively bit of music danced across the rocky platform.

  Flutes or some sort of woodwind. Where did that come from? I
turned full circle to determine the lilting sound's origin.

  Darla who used a forearm, wiping a strand of dark brown hair from where it stuck to her forehead.

  "Do you hear that music, Darla?"

  "It's mine. The computer had some earth tunes in its files." She smirked and turned back to her chore as if she couldn't believe I had the balls to ask about the music without offering to assist her.

  I couldn't help but lose a weak careless chuckle. But she'd never know about my emotional slip given the wind blew in my direction.

  She folded over the cockpit, pointing her sweet ass back at me.

  Purposely.

  Gods what I'd do to ram into that wet heat. Think about other things before she seduces me into complacency for the kill. So, how in the stars does she plan to get the sloshing water out of that cockpit?

  She hopped down onto the rocky island.

  Okay, she's going to ask for advice.

  She turned and walked toward me.

  Yes, Devros. She requires my knowledge. Maybe she'll repay me with some sexual favors.

  Those breasts bobbed with each of her steps.

  The wind growled.

  Something familiar. Maybe a warning for me to run before I lunge in too deeply.

  That's the sound of a pod fighter taking off.

  Darla stopped, turning back to the spacecraft. Her long brown hair snaked through the air. Her pod fighter rose, hatch open, rolled one-hundred-and-sixty degrees, and hovered upside down.

  Pure genius. What an exceptional way to drain the cockpit. Oh, this woman is far more intelligent than I ever thought. Or she had worked with extraterrestrial spacecraft before he found her.

  Why does that idea not surprise me?

  * * * *

  If that man thought I was going to just fall into line behind him, he had another think coming after watching me scrub out the pod fighter, Darla seethed. Some females in the universe might be that foolish. Not I. I watched my spacecraft land and shut down as I had commanded.

  At least something does what it's supposed to do. "Well," I whirled to Goro, "I guess I'll get busy and make coffee."