Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) (8 page)

She cracked one eye open to find Etor’s concerned filled face staring at her. It took her mind off the burning in her other leg when she realized he was still there with her even after she had been mean to him. The look on his face told her he really cared for her. Any other man she knew would have left her to suffer on her won but not him.
Give the man a chance
, her brain told her. She let out the breath she had been holding as the burn in the second leg receded.

“Subsiding, isn’t it?” Jonik asked her.

She nodded in agreement

“That medicine should speed up the process of healing your legs.” Jonik started to put everything back in his bag. “Etor, you still can’t leave her alone though. It will take probably another day or two before she has enough feeling in her legs to walk on her own.”

“I’ll see to it,” Etor replied as he stood up again. “I’ll have one of the other females sit with her while I am on duty.”

“That will work. I need to go check on the others and will bring Kelly back when I am finished with them. Maggie, you need to stay either in the bed or on the sofa. No getting up on your own, okay?”

“Okay,” she said. She was trying to hide her excitement over seeing Kelly again.

“When are you on duty again, Commander?” Jonik asked him directly.

“In about an hour or so.”

“That should be enough time for me to see the other females and to bring Kelly back here. I’ll contact you if there is a problem. Remember what I said Maggie.” He winked at her then exited the room, leaving her alone again Etor.

The silence between them felt uncomfortable. She didn’t know what to say to Etor or if she should say anything at all.

“Do you need anything?” he asked her.

“Well, I am a bit hungry and I would love some water,” she said.

“Done.” He left the room and returned a few minutes later with the tray from earlier in the day.

“I thought since you liked the soup earlier, you might want some more. I also brought you some keno bread. It’s freshly baked by the cooks on the ship.” He set the tray on her lap.”

“Thank you,” she said without looking at him.

“If you need anything else just holler for me. I have some paper work I need to attend to in my office before I return to duty.”

“Okay,” she said around a mouth full of bread.

Why did she feel like such a heel as he left the room? Dang, he was the one demanding she be his mate! He was the one touching her while she slept, but it did feel good. Maybe if she explained everything to him nicely he would see that she wasn’t interested in a relationship right now.

Who are you trying to kid,
her brain shouted out?
I know you feel something for him. Your body betrays you every time he comes near you.

“Oh shut up!” she told her alter ego. “I don’t feel anything.”

“Liar, Liar pants on fire!”

She ignored her brain as she finished eating her meal. Kelly would be here shortly and she could talk to her about everything.

As soon as Kelly arrived Etor took off without even saying goodbye. His feelings were obviously really hurt.

“Maggie!” Kelly flew into the bedroom and landed on the bed with a bounce! She threw her arms around her and they hug
ged each other tight. “Oh my God, Mags. I thought I lost you! This was all my idea and look what happened. I am so sorry!”

Maggie hugged her childhood friend as if she would never see her again. “It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault really. We are just lucky we survived.”

They pulled apart but didn’t entirely let go of each other. “What the hell happened, Mags? No one has told us much expect that our transport had been damaged. Do you know anything? We’ve been so scared!”

“That part is true according to Commander Etor. But there is more t
o the story than that,” she choked up a bit as she tried to talk without turning into a crybaby.

“Tell me! Tell me everything you know,” Kelly’s friendly demand made her laugh.
As a former police officer, she had a way to get information out of someone.

“Apparently, our transport was sold to a bunch of people called Lephusans.”

“Sold! By whom?” Kelly’s mouth hung open in astonishment.

“The Commander doesn’t know yet, but we were sold to those people as breeders. That’s why the transport only had females on it. Anyhow, on our way there our transport ran into an asteroid field and was struck by one which badly
damaged it and knocked us off course. The Commander’s ship found us drifting when we entered their galaxy. He said we had been drifting for over nine months.”

“Nine months! Oh my God! We were only supposed to be in stasis for three!” Kelly said.

“I know, that’s why my legs won’t work. It’s something to do with the gas, a side effect.”

“They didn’t tell me you couldn’t walk! Is it permanent?” Kelly touched her legs as if she could bring back the feeling.

“No, they gave me some kind of injections a little while ago to help heal them faster.” She shrugged then continued with the news. “Any way, these bad guys wanted us to produce babies with them. I, for one, am glad the Commander found us even if he thinks I am his mate.”

“Whoa there, girlfriend! Did you say mate? What the hell, Mags?”

She had to laugh at her friend’s expression. “Tell me about it. Etor, the Commander, believes I am his one true mate. Crazy, right?”

“Dam, girl. I wish that hunk of a man would claim me as his one true mate. That man has got one fine ass body!” Kelly had a dreamy expression on her face as she thought of her Etor.

See, you are wanting to admit you are attracted to him
, her brain interrupted. Was she really feeling a bit jealous? No way possible.

“Come on, spill it all, Mags! I want all the juicy details!”

The next hour they spent talking about Etor. Kelly couldn’t figure out why the Commander was claiming her best friend but she as hell was going to give him a piece of her mind the next time she saw him. Maggie had been hurt enough by Mark and she didn’t need some alien hurting her too.

Several times during their conversation, Kelly mentioned how hot and sexy Etor was or how she would like to run her hands over all those muscles that bulged our everywhere.

“Aww…come on, Mags. The guy is freaking gorgeous with a capital G! You got to admit it! Matter of fact, every guy I have seen so far on this ship is freaking gorgeous. I
t must be a requirement to be a Qeteran. I can see it now ‘Wanted: hot looking dudes with bulging muscles’.” Kelly laughed at her own stupid joke.

Her friend’s laugh was infectious. She couldn’t help but join in with her as she pictured Etor waiting in line to fill out an application for Kelly’s wanted sign. “What are we going to d
o?” She wiped away the tears from laughing so hard.

“We’re not going back to Earth, that’s for sure. Maybe we should just see how Qetera is and go from there. I mean, it’s got to better than where we were originally headed. These guys don’t seem like the cruel type even if they are as big as giants.”
 

“I guess so.”

Chapter 8

Etor heard the females talking as he entered his quarters. He had left as soon as the female Kelly had arrived and told her he would return in a couple of hours. He didn’t want to leave Maggie especially after receiving those injections. The pull of their bond was growing and he needed to be near her until he could totally bond her to him in every way.

He heard them laughing as the door closed and it sounded like music to his ears. He could listen to Maggie laugh for the rest of his life and he would be satisfied. No, that was a lie. He wanted, or rather needed, to bury his cock in her as she screamed out his name in ecstasy. It was becoming
harder and harder to be near her as he felt his cock hardening as he stood there listening.

“You’re back,” Kelly said catching him off guard.

“Yes, there is an escort coming to bring you back to your quarters. He should be here in a few moments.” He looked to bedroom with the hopes of seeing his mate. “I trust everything went okay.”

“Sure did, but umm…can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

Was something wrong? The female wanted to talk to him without Maggie overhearing. “We can talk in my office.” He led her to the door on the opposite side of his quarters. Once inside Kelly took him by surprise when he turned around. She tried to shove him then decided to poke him in the chest as she started to rant.

“You had better be nice to my friend! She’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember and I won’t let anyone else hurt her. Got it?”

What was this female talking about? Who hurt his mate? He looked down at the tiny woman who steadily poked him in the chest. “Female! Would you stop doing that?” He grabbed her hand to get her to stop.

“I’m just saying
, I don’t want to see my friend hurt again.”

“I understand what you are saying and what I want to know is, who hurt her? Tell m
e and I will have him killed!” He meant it. He would do anything to help his mate not hurt.

“Maggie really needs to
tell you herself, but I’ll tell you this. She witnessed something that scared the crap out of her. That’s why we were on that transport, to get away.” Kelly backed down.

“Get away from what?” he asked.

“Her boyfriend.”

Just as Kelly told him
, there was a knock on the door. The escort had arrived to take her back to her quarters. He didn’t want her to leave now that she had told him Maggie had been in some kind of danger.

Kelly walked to the door of his office then turned to face
him once again. “Look Commander, Maggie means a lot to me and I don’t want her hurt. Just promise me you will treat her right.”

“That is a promise. I would do anything to protect her and make her happy.” It was the truth and he wanted Kelly to believe him.

“Ok, I believe you have good intentions, but you still need to ask her why she is running.” Kelly walked out of the room then left with escort.

He didn’t go to Maggie right away. He need
ed some time to think about what Kelly had told him. Maggie was on the run from something or someone and he wanted to know who. What did she witness that scared her enough to leave her planet?

He ran a hand through his hair then rubbed his tired eyes.  It had been a long day and he was ready to take a shower and get some rest. Question was, would she be okay with him sleeping in the bed as her?

Three days later he was still sleeping on the sofa in his quarters. After his talk with Kelly he had gone into the bedroom to find Maggie sound asleep. In a way he was disappointed then again he was relieved. He didn’t want to fight with her again but he was dying to question her. After his shower he grabbed a pillow off the bed and a spare blanket from the closet. He was exhausted by the time he laid his head on the pillow.

Rhaegos was off roaming the ship somewhere, thank the gods! He would never hear the
end of it from the nosy dragon if he found out a tiny human female managed to chase him out of his own bed.

The past three days had been torture. He barely s
poke with her and avoided going back to his quarters until he absolutely had to. Kelly was more than happy to sit with Maggie but he knew he was avoiding her. Kelly even gave him odd looks each time she left for the evening.

Good thing though, Maggie had regain most of the feelings in her legs and was walking on her own. Jonik had come by each day to monitor her progress and he was pleased with the results. He just told her to take it easy and not to push herself too hard.

It killed him to see Kelly helping her walk when it should have been him. He hadn’t touched her since that day she had awoken and found him massaging her. It was so painful to see her each morning then again in the evening and not touch her. He had to give himself some relief a couple of times when he was alone in the shower. If he didn’t claim her soon, it would literally be too painful to walk any longer. His cock was hard for most of the day and nothing he did relieved the ache he felt for her.

He was sitting on the bridge when the Arabis approached Qetera. It would be a relief to get off the ship and take Maggie back to his home.

“Sir, the shuttles have arrived to begin transporting the crew down to the surface,” Vigo said.

“See that the ship is secured before leaving.” He was going to get Maggie and take her down to his home where his brother, Kharis, would be waiting.

“Yes Sir, Commander.”

Maggie was waiting for him when he entered their quarters. She was sitting near the window looking out at his home world. She looked so beautiful sitting there in one of his shirts.

She didn’t even turn around when he came up behind her.

“It’s so pretty, Etor, and big. It’s got to be at least four times the size of Earth!”

“Most of the planets in the Yahiri Galaxy are big, but Qetera is the largest.” He was happy to answer any questions she asked as long as he got to be near her.

“How many moons does it have? I’ve seen two so far.”

She looked up at him out of curiosity, making his cock jump. “Three. Yahiri also has two suns.”

Her big
blue eyes widen even more at his revelation. “Two suns! Shouldn’t we burn up or something with two suns? My galaxy only has one sun.”

“Well, one of the suns is a red dwarf and doesn’t give off much light. It’s the large sun that gives us light and the heat we need.” Her hair smelled so good. Like fresh cut flowers from the forests of Qetera.

“Fascinating.”

“I came to escort you down to the surface.”

“Oh, we’re going now?” she asked.

“Yes, it’s a short ride down but you will be able to see what my planet looks like.”

Together they walked slowly to the shuttle bay and waited for a shuttle to arrive. He sensed her legs were growing tired by the look on her face. “I can carry you if you would like.”

Her head snapped in his direction. She was so short compared to him, with the top of
her head coming to the middle of his chest. She had to lean her head all the way back to look up at him.

“I’m okay. Will it be much longer?” she asked.

He knew she didn’t want his help and it made him sad to know she didn’t want him to touch her. “The next shuttle should arrive any minute now.” Just as he finished speaking, a shuttle flew into the bay and landed quietly in the specified area.

“There’s our ride.” He guided her to the shuttle with his hand lightly pressing on her back. Inside the shuttle he let her sit by the window while he went to sit in the co-pilot’s chair. He had informed Kelly and the other two females that he wanted them to ride down with Maggie and him. The three women arrived shortly after Maggie and he had boarded, full of excitement.

“Hey, Mags! Glad to see you could make it!”

Etor watched as the three females
took their seats and strapped themselves in. The shuttle lifted off and flew out the shuttle bay. He had to smile to himself when he heard all four females say at the same exact time, “Wow”. He could only imagine how it would feel to see his world for the first time. Even he still liked to view his world from space. The view from space only gave away a part of Qetera’s beauty with its blues, greens, and purples swirling around in the upper atmosphere.

The flight went quickly and they were soon landing. He saw his Kharis waiting for him to emerge from the shuttle. He was anxious to introduce Maggie to him and the rest of his family, especially his mother. She would be happy to know that one of her sons had found their one true mate.

The door to the shuttle opened. Lexie and Hunter were the first two out and were greeted by Kharis. He waited for Maggie to leave her seat before he followed her and Kelly out of the ship.

“Etor! Good to see you again. I see you survived yet another boring mission,”
Kharis said as he stepped towards the shuttle.

“Good to see you too, brother.” The brothers clasped arms in greeting.

“I have…” Kharis broke off as Kelly walked by without a second look at him. “By the gods, brother, who is she?”

Etor had a sense what his brother was feeling while he watched Kelly and Maggie walk by. “The one holding onto the other female is Maggie….”

“No, no. The other one.”

Kharis couldn’t take his eyes off Kelly. “That’s Kelly, my mate’s friend.”

“Is she one of the survivors?”

“Yes.”

“Good because she is mine!” Kharis growled.

******

“Have you found anything yet, Captain Zol’tsa?” Ruehar was growing impatient.

“Nothing yet, Sir. The Qeterans have just arrived home.”

“Get a man down on the planet and find out! Next time I speak to you, you had better have more news.”

“Yes, Sir,” Zol’tsa said as he saluted his king. The screen went blank a second later.

“Get the human captain on the screen,” Ruehar demanded.

Because Earth was twenty-four light years away, it took longer for a transmission to go through. He tapped a skinny finger on his chin as he waited for the captain to appear before him. Before the transmission even cleared he was demanding to know what the human captain had found out so far.

“You had better have some information for me, Captain.”

“King Ruehar, I was just about to send you a transmission but you beat me to it.” The captain faked a laughed. “I do have some interesting news to report. Your transport’s last signal came from an asteroid field twelve
light years from your position. It shows that a small asteroid struck the ship and knocked it off its programmed course. I haven’t been able to determine how much damage the ship incurred.”

“Blasted! You should have made compensations for that damned asteroid field. It’s been there for eons!” Ruehar shouted at the screen.

“I had no idea it was there!” The captain tried to defend himself.

“I want no excuses
!”

“I have more to report, Sir. It seems that one of the women on board the transport is a wanted woman.”

Ruehar whirled around. “What do you mean, wanted?”

“Apparently, she is being accused of stealing
a large amount of money from her ex-boyfriend. He is offering a reward to the one who brings her back to Earth.”

“Interesting,” Ruehar said. “But, I paid for those females and they are mine now. This ‘boyfriend’ no longer has a claim to her.”

“I understand that, sir, but he is insistent that she be found and punished.”

“I don’t care what he wants! The female is mine unless he is willing to provide me with something in exchange for her. I am not willing to lose a breeder just because some human demands a female be returned.”

“He could be a valuable asset if the transport has been found by another planet. All I need to do is send the information to the federation and have her flagged. This way we might be able to find out where the ship is much easier.” The captain waited for Ruehar to respond. This was a touchy situation and he didn’t want to be the recipient the king’s anger.

“That just might work. See that it’s done.” Ruehar ended
the transmission. He was growing weary of all this foolishness. The men on his planet were growing restless for females and he didn’t want a riot on his hands if the promised females were not found soon! Their peak breeding time was approaching and they all needed a female.