Enslaved by a Rebel [Sold! 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (11 page)

That fucker is laughing at us.
Jarrett was furious. Here he was scared out of his mind, and this overgrown demon spawn was silently chuckling at the state of their ship. Or maybe at them. Possibly both.

“I said I need—”

“I heard you.” The officer turned to the other and said something so softly Jarrett couldn’t hear, but he never took his eyes off Jarrett.

Ranic was behind Jarrett with his face tucked down against the back of his shoulder. He was shaking. Jarrett reached back to comfort him, and the massive beast was in front of Jarrett so fast he didn’t even see him move until he was just there. In order to keep eye contact, Jarrett had to tilt his head far back. It was disconcerting, especially when the creature smelled like raw meat.

“You stay still.” The officer peered past Jarrett to Ranic and looked ready to reach for him.

Jarrett had no idea what possessed him, but he reached up and clasped the Krase officer’s hand. “You will not touch my mate.”

He didn’t drop his hand, but he did stop moving it toward Ranic. The officer tilted his head and turned the focus of his scary gaze fully on Jarrett. Despite the fear that was slamming adrenaline through his body, he didn’t back down. If he was going to die, he would go out protecting the man he loved.

“You are brave.” The officer lowered his hand. “Foolish, but brave.”

Jarrett would take that assessment because he could have just eaten his face off and spit it out. Being complimented then denigrated wasn’t so bad when it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

The other Krase warrior brought a small square of what looked like golden fabric. Ironically, it looked very much like what Ranic had given him to cover up with at the auction house.

“For your mate.” The officer handed the fabric to Jarrett.

Turning slightly to the side, Jarrett gave the golden fabric to Ranic. “Will this work?”

“Yes. Thank you.” Ranic covered up his head, leaned close to Jarrett, and whispered, “You really are very brave.”

Bless him, he left out the calling him a fool part. Jarrett didn’t think it was possible, but he loved him even more.

“Why have you boarded our ship?” Jarrett asked. No sense spilling their guts about everything. Maybe these guys didn’t know. It was highly doubtful, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Your ship?” the officer asked pointedly while lifting both of his brows.

Jarrett met his probing stare with one of his own. Maybe he
was
cut out for a life as a criminal. After he realized these massive monsters weren’t just going to rush in and start tearing limbs off, he felt a little more self-assured.

“This ship is the property of Galf Lor of Yad.” The officer lifted his arm, touched what looked like a wristwatch, and projected a holograph of what looked like a title. As impressed as Jarrett was with the supercool technology, Jarrett didn’t let it show because it was clear from the ho-hum way the officer used the device that it was something he totally took for granted. “It’s clear from this paper that he is the registered owner.”

Rather than infuriate or embarrass him, Jarrett found the information gave him a burst of hope. Maybe all of this was over a stolen ship! “Clearly, there’s been a miscommunication. My mate”—Jarrett couldn’t believe how much he enjoyed calling Ranic that—“rented this ship for several days. It’s not due back until—”

The smirk on the officer’s face turned into a full smile. He chuckled low and grumbly, sounding almost like he was a lawn mower trying to start. “I was furious when I was sent on this mission. I could not believe that I, a fully named warrior with three planets conquered”—he pointed to his right cheek and Jarrett noticed an odd tattoo of a curve with three dots below it—“would be sent to apprehend a puny Earthling and a mysterious Finoc. Yet you are worth everything I’ve endured on this ship from the excretable food to the utter lack of sexual slaves.”

The officer’s gaze raked up Jarrett’s body and settled on his mouth. It was so blatant and suggestive that Jarrett felt molested even though he hadn’t been touched.

“I find I was entirely wrong about Earthlings.”

“Clearly, this is just a mix-up.” Jarrett forged ahead with his it’s-all-been-a-dreadful-mistake plan. “We were taking the ship back.”

“You were taking this ship to Earth.”

Jarrett was going to deny that, but if he did, he would have to tell this massive monster where they were going instead. Sadly, he didn’t know any other planet names. But maybe he could make his ignorance work to his advantage. “We got lost. I got us lost. I was trying to impress my husband, and I didn’t really know what I was doing. If you could just get us back on course to Aeirall, I’d be eternally grateful.”

For a brief moment he thought he had succeeded because a curious expression overcame the officer’s face. However, it washed away, and he was laughing again. Harder this time. “You are priceless.” The officer looked beyond Jarrett’s shoulder to Ranic. “I can’t believe you got him so cheap when he is truly valuable.”

“I wish you would stop laughing at me. It’s rude.”

“Rude?” The officer leaned over so his face was practically a breath away from Jarrett’s. “Rude is you treating me like a simpleton. Rude is you standing there telling me a story that wouldn’t fool a child. Rude is you acting like a big man when you are nothing but a dead man walking.”

His final comment told Jarrett it was all over. This officer knew the whole story and had only been toying with him. From what Ranic had said, Krasekind wasn’t very sympathetic. If they couldn’t fuck it or take it over, they generally destroyed it. Now it was clear they weren’t here for the ship. That was simply incidental. They were here for him. In a way he’d known it in his gut, but his hope had overshadowed that and messed with his mind.

“Don’t hurt my mate.”

The officer pulled back a fraction, his right eye narrowing.

“He didn’t know. He hasn’t done anything wrong except to try to protect me. If I willingly go with you, will you let him go unharmed?” Jarrett didn’t want to die, but if he had to, he sure as hell didn’t want Ranic to join him.

“Don’t offer yourself out like that.” Ranic stepped to Jarrett’s side and gripped his hand. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

The officer considered them for a very long time without any expression on his face at all. Jarrett wasn’t sure if they were going to get laughed at again or if he was gearing up to start rearranging their limbs. If he were forced to choose, he’d rather have the laughter because that only hurt his pride.

“I have been ordered to take you into custody and escort you back to Krase.” He pointed to the other warrior and made a finger gesture that looked like some type of sign language.

The warrior nodded and left them.

“You will follow me without incident.”

“Or?”

The officer met his gaze. “Or I will separate you.”

Jarrett wasn’t sure if he meant him personally, like he would separate him into various piles, or if he meant he would take Ranic somewhere else. Since a fight with him was over long before it started, Jarrett decided simply to follow him wherever he wanted them to go.

Ranic pressed close to his side and said nothing, but it was clear from his trembling that he was scared out of his wits. No wonder. Krase warriors were gigantic. Now that he’d seen one up close, Jarrett found his brain trying to imagine how one of them would fit together with a human male. His ass tightened up in fear. Even if he were into anal sex, he still didn’t think a man could survive an encounter with one of those things. One slip and they’d crush the life out of their lover. Or slave. From what the officer said, there weren’t any sexual slaves on board, so Jarrett really didn’t want him looking at him for that.

“Wow.” Jarrett couldn’t believe his eyes once they stepped from the cargo bay into a hallway.

“What?” Ranic asked, keeping his voice so low Jarrett almost didn’t hear him.

“Now this is what a spaceship is supposed to look like.” The floors had some kind of grippy, spongy carpet that was so clean he could probably eat off it. The walls were covered in green fabric and there was a runner at about shoulder height that looked to be made of some kind of ridged plastic. Jarrett puzzled over it because he didn’t think it was strictly ornamental.

When the officer led them to a door with a panel right next to the archway, buried in the plastic liner, he realized it was probably a conduit for power lines. Since the ship was made of metal, that made sense. Not that it mattered, just that he was curious. And thinking about the ship and how it was engineered helped him to avoid thinking of his inevitable death.

For a moment, Jarrett thought he would have been better off dying in the azure waters of the Caribbean. It would have been over relatively fast, and he would have died doing what he honestly loved. But then again, he never would have had his very brief time with Ranic. Dying earlier would have spared Ranic heartbreak, though. Jarrett wondered if he’d been given this chance to have this moment so he could die knowing what true love was really like.

“You will stay in here.” The officer opened the door and extended his hand.

Jarrett and Ranic stepped within to find a modestly appointed bedroom.

A low cough turned Jarrett’s attention back to the doorway. “If you cause me any trouble, I will put you in two separate rooms. This is a courtesy to you by me because I have thus far been entertained by your courage. However, do not attempt to break out because that would not be courageous.”

“That would be foolish.”

A little grin twisted the right side of the officer’s mouth. “You are far more intelligent than I was led to believe.”

“I can see the obvious.” Jarrett sighed. “How long until we reach Krase?”

The officer’s gaze went from Jarrett to Ranic to the bed. “You will have enough time.” He lifted one brow and then closed the door.

Jarrett didn’t bother to see if it was locked. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to try to break free, and he wouldn’t let Ranic attempt it, either. There was no point since getting out of the room meant they had to face dozens if not hundreds of those gigantic beasts. Since Jarrett couldn’t take on one in a fair fight, he sure as shit knew he wasn’t going to be able to take on a whole ship full of them.

“It’s not a bad room.” Ranic settled on the edge of the bed then took the golden fabric off. There were dried tracks of tears on his cheeks.

Jarrett sat down next to him and wiped them away with the pad of his thumb. “I wondered if your kind cried. I’m sad to find out like this as I much rather would have seen you with tears of joy.”

“Me, too.” Ranic placed his head on Jarrett’s shoulder. “You were so brave.”

“I was foolish.”

“No.” Ranic kissed his shoulder then snuggled closer. “You stepped up to that monster to try to protect me. I don’t think anyone has ever done anything so heroic. Not for me.”

“I wish I could have convinced him to let us go.”

“That would be nice, but we both know that wouldn’t have been likely.” Ranic stroked his hand up Jarrett’s thigh. “What did he mean about us having enough time?”

“I think he was being very kind.”

“He’ll let us go?”

“Not that kind.” Jarrett eased onto the bed and found it was surprisingly hard. It was massive but had the texture of three-day-old bread. “We have enough time to be together one more time. Possibly twice.”

“Oh.” Ranic considered the door, the bed, then looked around the room.

“We don’t have to do anything.” It was obvious Ranic was uncomfortable with the idea that the Krase might be watching them. For some reason, it didn’t bother Jarrett in the slightest, but he figured that was the effect of death being so close.

Ranic met his gaze, and the fear that was there softened. “If you can be brave, so can I.”

To lessen his concerns, they turned off the light, undressed, and slipped under the covers. For some insane reason, Jarrett felt like he was sneaking at his parents’ house while everyone was out. It made him feel slightly giddy, and then he was honestly grateful that he’d impressed their captor enough to gain one last night with his mate.

Ranic’s hands were cold against his chest, but when Jarrett eased him onto his back and then covered him with gentle, passionate kisses, he warmed up and his trembling ceased. Murmuring words of love and praise for his beautiful body, Jarrett kept kissing him as he worked his way under the blankets. When he reached his cock, he sucked lightly, hardening him, but then he backed off because he didn’t want things to be over too soon.

Parting his legs, he slipped between them and then gently tongued Ranic’s hole. Ranic made a curious sound and clutched at Jarrett’s head through the blankets. Unsure if he was trying to stop him or encourage him, Jarrett lifted up. When Ranic made a frustrated whimper, Jarrett had his answer. He returned to teasing his mate’s hole with his tongue. Each teasing swipe seemed to make Ranic more wild. Each plunge caused him to flick his hips as if he were silently asking to be filled. Jarrett teased him until he simply couldn’t resist anymore. He fumbled for his discarded jacket and took the lube from his pocket. Jarrett had put it there hoping for an encounter on the bridge, but he was glad he had it now.