Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Mercenary (6 page)

Her cheeks flushed when he
moved and his thigh brushed the apex of her legs.

She hoped that the knot in
her hair was holding because right now it felt as though she was
flying.

“
Take care of
our little princess,” Nostra said as the door behind him
opened.

Her heart sunk into her
stomach.

Eryc shot her a wide smile
and winked before he walked out of the door. She watched Nostra
leave, the door close, and then looked at Kosen.

They were going to sell
her on the black market. Panic rapidly filled every inch of her and
she did the only thing that she could think of to convince
Kosen.

She kissed him.

Before he could move away
to lock the door, she clumsily pressed her mouth against his and
kissed him. Inexperience made fear pound in her heart. She was
still opening and closing her mouth, gaping like a Gavaelian carp,
after he had backed off a step.

Miali slowly opened one
eye and then the other, dying inside when she saw that Kosen looked
as though she had slapped him. His eyes were wide but their black
irises held anger. Not quite the reaction that she had
expected.

Perhaps she should have
taken her brothers up on their offer to get her a couple of men
from Lyra Six, the pleasure planet, for her coming of age
present.

Maybe then she wouldn’t
have felt like such an idiot right now and Kosen would have been
putty in her hands.

“
I’m sorry.”
She looked down at her feet but could only see her cleavage. Her
heart was pounding so hard that she could see it beating. A blush
of shame coloured her cheeks and she felt as though she was red
from head to toe.

What kind of romantic
idiot was she that she thought she could sway him with a
kiss?

Especially a kiss as
pathetic as that one.

He was probably going to
tell her how much more she would be worth now that she had proven
herself an innocent and was a princess to boot.

She tensed when his hand
came into view. He cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing across it.
Her cheek was damp. She had been crying. The galaxy had started to
look a little blurred. She blinked and sent the tears running down
to her jaw. His thumb continued to lightly caress her face as he
raised her head. She looked out of the corner of her eye at the
wall, too embarrassed to look at him.

“
I’ll help
you,” Kosen said and her gaze shifted to meet his. “Although I’m
not offering because you kissed me. Just so we’re
straight.”

“
Oh,” she said
and bit her lip. Why did he have to add that? For a moment, she had
thought that perhaps her kiss hadn’t been that bad.

“
Although...”
He dipped his head and her eyes went wide when his lips grazed hers
in a light kiss. Her heart thumped so hard that she was sure he
would be able to feel it against his chest.

His hand held her cheek as
his other claimed her waist. Her eyes slipped shut when he tilted
his head and deepened the kiss, his tongue brushing her lips. She
tentatively brought hers to meet it and a jolt ran through her when
they touched. A moment later, she melted into him, no longer aware
of their surroundings.

She was only aware of this
kiss, of the feel of his body against hers and the incredible
warmth that was filling every inch of her as their tongues stroked
one another, their mouths fused as though they were one.

His lips left hers and she
stayed there, her head tilted, eyebrows raised, eyes closed and
mouth open.

Her breath left her in a
sigh.

That was definitely a
better kiss than the one she had given him.

“
Kosen,” she
said and opened her eyes. He smiled at her, revealing sharp pointed
teeth that left her wondering how she hadn’t cut herself when they
had been kissing. “I’m royalty. Whatever money you need to gain
your sisters’ freedom, I can give you it, in exchange for my
own.”

He nodded, as though he
had already figured out what she had been about to offer him
earlier.

“
I can’t get
you out of here though,” he said.

She looked at the
restraints and remembered what he had said.

Only Nostra could open the
cuffs.

“
When?” Miali
said, hoping that he wasn’t about to change his mind. He looked
worried, as afraid as she felt, but there was a flicker of
something in his eyes. Her brothers had that look sometimes, and
her father. Normally it was before they did something ridiculously
dangerous and heroic.

“
Tomorrow.”

“
At the
market?”

He nodded.

He was going to wait until
the market to set her free. But surely Nostra, Eryc and the others
would be there to guard her. She wouldn’t be alone with Kosen. How
was he planning to help her escape?

“
I think now
might be better—”

“
Not a word,”
he said and silenced her with a brief kiss that sent her head
spinning. He pressed his forehead against hers and whispered
against her lips, “Tomorrow. Only one person is authorised to enter
the medical examination room with you.”

“
A doctor?” she
said and her breath bounced back from his lips. Her heart skipped a
beat and she was thankful that most of her genes had come from her
father. Right now, she couldn’t imagine how dizzying the beat of
two racing hearts would be.

“
That would be
me,” he whispered and reached around behind her. His wrist brushed
her neck as he loosed her hair and then ran his fingers through it.
“We’ll need to move fast. I’ll plan it all tonight. You must eat to
keep your strength up and to silence Nostra. I’ll lock the door
with a new combination and keep an eye on everyone to make sure no
one comes down here.”

The thought of him leaving
her alone again made her want to protest but she knew better than
to say anything. He was doing all that he could to keep her safe.
He had even fought one of his comrades. If he didn’t go back to the
others, they would become suspicious of him. She could only wait
and pray.

“
We will drop
to sub-space again.”

Those words made her feel
sick. He opened a pouch on his belt and took out a yellow
pill.

“
Swallow this.
It will ease your nausea and help you sleep through the
journey.”

She opened her mouth,
willing to take the pill if it meant that she wouldn’t be ill when
they went into sub-space. Kosen had no reason to lie to her about
it or try to poison her. She could see in his expression that he
only wanted to help her.

When she had swallowed the
pill, he turned away from her.

He picked up the protein
pack and bit into the corner. The thought of having to swallow the
disgusting liquid made her stomach turn but Kosen was right. She
had to keep her strength up.

She closed her eyes when
he brought the pack to her lips and grimaced as she swallowed down
its contents. The gooey liquid made her want to retch but she held
it down. When the pack left her lips, she opened her eyes to find
Kosen smiling at her.

He really was handsome.
His smile made her heart flutter and sent warm tendrils outwards
from it. They stretched through her until her whole body was hot,
yearning for his touch and the feel of his lips against hers. Her
hair floated upwards and his smile widened when he stroked his
fingers through it.

“
This is
beautiful, honest,” he said in a low voice as his gaze followed his
fingers through her hair. Her breath left her when his eyes met
hers and he whispered, “You’re beautiful.”

“
Kosen, I...”
There was so much that she wanted to say but, when she thought
about it, it all sounded so ridiculous. She wanted to tell him that
she thought he was handsome, that a male had never affected her
this much before, and that she wanted him to kiss her
again.

“
Try to get
some sleep,” he said and she nodded.

She watched him leave, her
heart heavy with regret. Now that he was gone, the words came
easily, but it was too late to say them. She held them inside,
thinking about them and wondering if they were real and not just a
reaction to her situation.

The door locks clicked
into place.

The lights
dimmed.

With the darkness came the
creeping doubts but this time the chill didn’t reach her heart. She
stared into the darkness, at the point where Kosen had stood not
moments before. Tomorrow they would take her to market.

She closed her eyes when
she felt the ship shift into sub-space and was relieved when she
didn’t feel sick. Her head felt strangely heavy and she yawned as a
sudden wave of tiredness broke over her. Unable to fight it, she
began to drift off, wondering what Kosen was planning and whether
it would work.

In the comforting
blackness of sleep, her mind surrendered its fight against her
feelings and her heart took over. She realised that she hadn’t
kissed Kosen purely to make him help her. She had kissed him
because she was attracted to him, because she saw a good man in
him, one that she was falling for. She wanted to help him too. She
prayed to Iskara that Kosen’s plan worked and they would both be
free.

One fear settled in her
heart and wouldn’t leave.

Would he stay with
her?

Or would he leave her once
he had his sisters?

****

Chapter
6

The cuffs bit into Miali’s
wrists, holding them behind her back. Her eyes darted around the
dark market. Stalls draped with tattered rich brown and dirty grey
coverings packed the large space. The air was thick with the smell
of spices, food, and medicines. An acrid stench wafted from one of
the small tents that they passed and she glanced in, only to choke
and turn away when she saw a big fat blue Sekarian male dissecting
a young child and dropping pieces into a flaming pot.

Kosen’s grip on her right
arm tightened, as though he was silently asking if she was all
right. She tensed her arm to try to tell him that she was. She had
never imagined how horrifying the universe could be. This was worse
than any report she had ever read or anything she had ever seen.
And she was about to become a part of this darker side of the
galaxy, if Kosen couldn’t save her. She kept her head turned
towards him for a moment longer and then glanced to her
left.

Her other arm was held by
a man that had to be Sasue. He was at least a head taller than
Kosen, and as broad as Nostra. Patchy black matted hair half hid
his ugly scarred face. The long strands were each the width of her
finger and shifted as he moved, swaying side to side with his heavy
gait.

He grinned down at her,
his smile showing every disgusting perverted thought that crossed
his mind. His muscles rippled under the tight black flight suit
when he gripped her wrist a little tighter. She turned away from
him, frightened of the things she had seen in his eyes and the way
his thumb stroked her arm as light as a lover’s caress. Soon she
would be free of him. Soon.

Nostra walked ahead of
them, his bulky frame and confident swagger clearing a path through
the crowd. The people that passed them were mostly males, all as
dirty and dangerous looking as Nostra and Sasue. Kosen didn’t seem
to fit in this underworld. He was pale, face clean, his black hair
spiked up. His flight suit fit snugly over his slim, toned body. A
glimmer of intelligence shone in his eyes. He was the opposite of
practically every male here.

His dark eyes held a spark
of concern when they met hers. She went to smile but stopped
herself, aware that someone was watching them.

Behind them walked the
female crewmember, a beautiful young Minervan with pale gold
streaks in her black hair. The gun that she carried looked far too
big for her to handle but something told Miali that she wouldn’t
have a problem. There had been a dark look in the female’s eyes
when she had seen her. It spoke of hatred and violence. She was as
heartless as the male crew was.

Eryc walked beside the
female. He wore a black flight suit similar to the Minervans, as
though he was a part of the crew now. His cocksure smile hadn’t
faded. Miali was itching to wipe the intensely smug look off his
face and make him pay for what he had done to her. If she couldn’t
get revenge on him for his betrayal then she hoped that Nostra
killed him when she had escaped. He had to pay.

Gunfire erupted, bright
yellow laser streaks flashing through the air, illuminating the
market.

Miali dropped to her
knees, her heart beating painfully fast and her body trembling.
Kosen dropped with her and, when she looked at him, she saw that he
was holding a weapon. He had a gun. Perhaps they could escape after
all.

His body covered hers, his
arm tight around her, shielding her. A loud blast shocked her
hearing into deafness on her left side. She wished that she could
cover her ears when Sasue fired the massive rifle again. He slowly
walked forwards until he was beside Nostra.