Lost Among the Stars (Sky Riders) (9 page)

Chapter 9

Etor’s home was nothing like she expected. As the shuttle landed on the surface of the planet, she had thought the building before her was some kind of official building. Instead, she quickly found out it was his home.

It was the largest palace she had ever seen, the only palace she had ever seen. The single-storied house had to be the size of two football fields if not more. The outside walls reminded her of the terracotta pottery people in the early 21
st
and late 20
th
century like to use to put flowers in for show. Large windows dotted the walls at even intervals and would let in the natural light provided by the two suns of Qetera.

Etor walked beside her as he led them into his home. It didn’t go unnoticed that Kharis was staying uncomfortably close to Kelly who tried to move away from him every time he got near.

“Dude, can you back off some?” Kelly hissed at Kharis once or twice. She knew that Kelly wasn’t the clingy type and that she hated men who were. It was probably the reason why her relationships didn’t last every long. As soon as she started to feel smothered she would breakup with the poor guy.

Kharis responded by growling at her which kind of freaked her out. “Mags,” she whispered into her ear, “did that guy just growl?”

She couldn’t help but laugh at her friend. “Yes, it seems as if they have a problem with that. 

They were led to what appeared to be the heart of the house. It was an immense room with floor to ceiling windows that were left completely bare. A large u-shaped sofa graced the middle of the room and sat directly under the sky lights overhead. All the floors were made from tile or ceramic and blended nicely with the other colors throughout the house. Natural tones of blues, greens, and violets were in almost every object in the grand room. A huge portrait of the night sky hung over an equally huge fireplace that had a fire burning.  Solid colored rugs covered some of the floor in periodic locations mainly near the sofa and fireplace.

“Geez, would you look at this place!” Kelly announced to the room. She stood there in the doorway with her hands on her hips looking around in awe.

Kharis came up behind her and spoke into her ear. “My home is just a beautiful. I can take you to see it.”

Kelly jerked around to glare at the man. “No thanks. I like this one.”

Etor walked up alongside of Maggie, “How do you like my home?”

“It’s beautiful.” She smiled up at him.

“I am happy to hear this. It is your home too.”

The smile left her face. “Etor, please…”

“Everything I have is yours, my mate,” Etor said in front of everyone.

“I am not…,” she was cut off by a loud screech coming from outside. “What the hell was that?”

Kharis and Etor both laughed. “That, little one, is Rhaegos announcing he is home.”

“Who is Rhaegos?” Kelly asked.

Kharis looked at his brother, “She does not know?”

“Know what?” Kelly looked confused by the look on all their faces.

Kharis grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her to the large double door that led outside. “I will show you!”

Maggie didn’t need to be asked to follow. She hurried behind the pair as they exited the door out into a huge garden. She was dying to see Rhaegos at his full height.

“I don’t see anything,” Kelly said.

At the same time Etor and Kharis said, “Look up.”

She and Kelly both looked up into the pale blue sky. It was a lovely
sight to behold as a lite lavender cloud drifted by. Just then a big shadow passed over where they stood. Kelly reached out and gripped her arm in a death grip.

“What the hell is that?”
Kelly tried to back away and into the house.

“No, no, Kelly! That’s Rhaegos! Etor’s dragon.” She pulled on her friend’s hand to keep her from darting away. There wasn’t much that scared her friend
, but seeing a full size dragon for the first would scare the living crap out of anyone.

“Did you say dragon?” Kelly ducked as Rhaegos swooped down low over their heads. “Is he going to eat us? I want to go back inside, Mags!”

Without warning Rhaegos took a nose dive towards them and landed softly on the light green grass. He had to have a wing span of at least twenty feet. The air around them felt like a hard breeze as he flapped his wings a few more times before he folded them neatly to his sides.

Maggie let go of Kelly and approached the dragon. Rhaegos lowered his head and waited for her to pet his nose.

“No, Mags! Don’t touch it!”

Kelly was panicking but she needed to show her that the dragon meant no harm. She reached her hand out and gently rubbed the scaly nose. “Rhaegos, it’s so nice to see you again. Where have you been hiding the last few days?”

Rhaegos respond with a soft puff of smoke then a quick lick of her hand. Maggie couldn’t help but giggle at the feeling of the dragon’s tongue. “Well, that’s a first! Come see, Kelly.”

“No way! I’ll stay
right here.” Kelly was now hiding behind Kharis who looked happy about being the one to protect the scared female.

“Come here, you big chicken!” She knew the tau
nt would get her friend to move. Kelly never let anyone call her a chicken.

“Chicken am I?”

All eyes were on Kelly as she cautiously walked over to where she stood with Rhaegos. She could see the fear in her friend’s eyes and tried to soothe her.

“Just touch his nose,” Maggie told her.

Kelly put a shaking hand out to the dragon who in turn sniffed it then lowered his head to her.

“See I told you, chicken!”

Rhaegos puffed out some smoke then jumped into the air. “Where’s he going?” Kelly asked.

“He’s hungry and is going hunting,” Etor replied.

The four of them stood watching until the purple dragon was out of sight. The breeze picked up as clouds moved over the two suns that were high up in the sky. Rather than being a light lavender shade, these clouds were dark and foreboding.

“We need to move inside. It’s about to rain and the storms here on Qetera can be quite violent at times.” He put his hand on her back. A shock shot through her at his touch and she whirled around to look at him. “I felt it too, little one.”

She huffed then strode past him back into the house. Inside, near the fireplace, stood several servants waiting to greet the Commander.

One older woman stepped forward to greet them. “Commander, we welcome you home.” She eyed Maggie curiously. “Did you brin
g us a mistress of the house?” The old woman’s kindly eyes smiled at Maggie.

“I did, Sumia. This is Maggie, my mate.”

Sumia walked up to her and took her hands in the old, wrinkled hands of hers. “Maggie, a beautiful name. You will bring much happiness to the Commander’s home. You will bear him many sons.”

“I
’m sorry, Sumia, but I am not Etor’s mate. He rescued me and my friends. Our ship was damaged on the way to our new home.”

“Ahh, but you are home, child.”

“No, we are just here temporarily until Etor can provide us with a transport to Lephus.” She pulled her hands out of Sumia’s and took a step back.

Behind them a deafening roar came from Etor. “No,” he shouted at her, “this is your home now. You will not be going to Lephus!”

Etor moved so fast she didn’t even have time to realize what happened until he was out of main room and stalking down a hallway. She was flung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and she didn’t appreciate it. She used her fists to pound on his but she doubted it did any good. The man was thickly muscled and her little punches probably felt like flutters to him.

“Put me down!” she yelled. Each step he took caused his shoulder to jab into her stomach, making it hard to catch her breath as she continued to hit him. “I sai
d, Put. Me. Down.” Her only response was another of those low growls she was becoming accustom to hearing.

He didn’t stop until he was slamming a door behi
nd them and tossing her on the sofa. She scrambled to get to her feet as soon as she hit the cushions.
How dare he treat her like that!

“You will remain in this room until I return.” He stood watching her as she got off the bed.

“The hell I will!” She tried to push past him but it was like moving a stone wall. “Get out of my way!”

He gripped her upper arms and lifted her off her feet so she would be eye to eye with him. She swallowed nervously as she hung there in his hands, stunned. No words whatsoever came out of her mouth. All she could do was lick her suddenly dry lips.
His eyes watched her tongue as it moistened her lips and left them glistening. The next thing she knew she was being pressed up against the wall with his knee between her legs. His lips captured hers in a rough kiss that demanded a response.

She struggled against him, struggled to break the kiss that was beginning to affect her. His tongue ran along her lips seeking an entrance into her mouth. She tried to resist the urge to open and let him in but her resolve failed.
She parted her lips and let him in.

The taste of him filled her senses until she was dizzy. Her han
ds reached for his chest as he deepened their kiss. She basically sat astride his knee with her back pressed to the wall. Against her right knee she could feel the bulge growing rapidly in his pants.
She shouldn’t be doing this!

She felt the low, deep growl vibrate through her, sending tiny little waves down to her core. She needed to break away, but he tasted like heaven! He was the one who eventually broke the kiss to nibble on her neck.

“By the gods, you taste wonderful!” One of his hands left her arm to cup her breast through the material of his shirt she wore. “I want to taste every part of you. I want to be inside of you.”

That did it! “No!” She pushed with
all her strength against his chest. He pulled back to look at her. “For the last time, I am not your mate!”

It was like a slap in the face to him. He let her slid
e to the floor then moved away. Anger flared up in his eyes and his chest heaved from the combination of the kiss and his anger. “You will be my mate and I will take you. There is no denying the bond that we both feel. Soon you will not be able to resist me and it is then I will have you.”

He turned and stormed out of the room. She heard the sliding of a lock as he locked her in the room alone. She touched her swollen lips as she stood motionless in the same spot for several minutes.
What were these strange feelings she kept having every time he touched her? Why did his kiss affect her so much even though she tried to deny it? She didn’t want to get into another relationship when she knew she would be the one who got hurt after Etor tossed her to the side when he tired of her. No, she had to get away before it was too late. There had to be some way she could get off Qetera and make her way…make her way to where? She couldn’t go back to Earth nor did she want to go Lephus. There had to be some place she could go to start her life over again without the fear of being hunted by Mark or Etor. It would take her some time to figure out what she needed to do, but she was getting of this planet!

Chapter 10

“The female is infuriating!” Etor shouted as he paced back and forth in his office. “Why will she not accept me as her true mate?”

“Maybe you need to woo her!” Kharis threw out.

“Woo her! The gods be damned, I know she feels the same as I do! She feels the bond pulling her the same as I do!”

“It’s not going to help any with you storming off with her over your shoulder! By the look on her face she was not too happy.” Kharis was struggling to control the fit of laughter that threatened to spill out. “I’m just glad I don’t have the same problem as you. I will patiently wait for my true mate to reveal herself and if she doesn’t then I will marry when I am allowed to.”

Etor threw himself down into his desk chair. “Y
ou seem to be affected when you saw my mate’s friend.”

Kharis waved him off as if to dismiss him. “It was nothing, just a passing fancy that’s all. I enjoyed teasing her. Now, tell me what happened.”

For the next hour Etor filled his brother in on the details of his mission. Kharis sat silent as he spoke of finding the damaged transport and the women inside. Anger flared up in Kharis as he listened to the part about the dead women and where the transport was originally headed.

“We have to stop them! This won’t be their last attempt at securing females for breeding. They’ve done it before and will do it again.” Kharis knew the Lephusans all too well.

“First, I need to find out who was the one responsible for sending that transport there. Someone on Earth has obviously betrayed the trust of its citizens and needs to be stopped.

“What do you plan to do? Do you even know where Earth is?” Kharis asked.

“No I don’t but it’s not hard to find out. As for a plan, I haven’t come up with one yet.”

The brothers sat in silence as the room grew darker with the storm approaching. The wind was whipping the trees outside the window
as thunder rolled in the background.

“We’ve had a lot of storms lately. One even contained a wind funnel over in Nallume. Vulmar has had a time with the cleanup. He lost several of the shuttles docked over there as well as eighteen citizens.”

“Is he and father on their way here? I want to get everything organized and settled before we even try to stop the Lephusans. Father will not be pleased to find Ruehar is up to his old ways again.” Etor started his pacing again.

“They should be arriving any time now. Father went to help Vulmar after the last storm. I’ve directed extra money to Nallume to speed up the recovery.”

At knock on the heavy, carved, wooden door echoed in the room and the door swung open to let in his father, Folmar, and his youngest brother, Vulmar.

“Ah, my prodigal son has finally returned home!” Folmar took his oldest son in hug. “Don’t be gone so long next time.”

“It’s good to see you too, Father,” he smiled at the one man he admired so much. “Vulmar,” he nodded to his youngest brother then wrapped him in a hug too. “Where is mother?”

“She stayed behind in Nallume. She was up top her ears in children when we left!”
Folmar laughed then took a seat in the nearest chair. “Kharis said you have some interesting news to tell us.”

“You had to go open your big mouth,” Etor frowned at Kharis.

Kharis shrugged his shoulders as he laughed. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Etor shook his head as he laughed too. “Kharis knows pretty much everything, and I don’t know how much he’s already told you, but I have taken a mate.”

Folmar and Vulmar sat frozen, staring at him. His father was the first to recover, “But you are not of the age yet to take a mate. You know this.”

Etor smiled as he thought about the little spitfire waiting for him in his private rooms. “I do not need to be of the age if I have found my one true mate.” He intentionally spoke calmly to get a better reaction out of the two men.

“By the gods! Are you serious?” Vulmar asked with wide eyes.

“This is no joking matter, son.”

“I am not joking. She is in my private rooms as we speak.” He folded his arms across his chest with a smug look on his face.

A smile slowly crept across Folmar’s face. “By the gods and goddesses! It’s true! Your mother will want to hear of this news.”

“But where did you find her?” Vulmar asked, totally interested now.

“We came across a damaged transport on the edge of the galaxy and when we boarded her we found fifty females on board.”

“Fifty females!” Vulmar exclaimed.

Etor waited a moment before finishing, “But, only four of the females were still alive.”

The tension in the air grew thick. Females were highly regarded on Qetera and protected at all times. Males outnumbered the females but it was of no concern since many Qeteran males found mates on other planets within the Yahiri galaxy.

“Who is responsible for this?” his father demanded.

“We managed to get enough information out of the transport data files to find out the transport was headed for Lephus.” He waited for his father’s outburst.

“Lephus! Who the hell
would send a transport full of females to that disease ridden planet?” Folmar hated the Lephusans with every ounce of blood. The Lephusans had caused so much trouble over the years and many lives had been lost because of them.

“That’s what I need to find out. The transport’s course was alt
ered right after it left Earth. I found it odd that only females were aboard until I found out where it was headed and we all know what that means.”

“Ruehar is searching for females to breed with. Their numbers must be dropping drastically,” Vulmar said. “We can’t let them get hold of any females. The fuckers breed like it’s going out of style. They will keep breeding a female until she either dies from the stress on her body or she is unable to produce any
more children. Then they discard them like the daily trash. The Lephus females are born to be breeders and are accustom to doing so, but not other females.”

“I want to send a ship to Earth to see if we can find the one responsible for dealing with Ruehar,” Etor said.

“I think that would be a good idea. I would be willing to take the ship out,” Vulmar said.

All the men agreed
with Vulmar’s decision to head the expedition. “When do you want me to leave?”

“Do you think you can spare the time to go? Can you leave the cleanup of Nallume?” Kharis asked.

“I can put Ievos in charge. Between him and father everything should be able to return to normal shortly.”

“It’s settled then. Vulmar will take a ship and head to Earth to find out who is behind this mess. While he’s gone
we can keep a close eye on Ruehar and see if he plans on doing anything stupid.” Etor moved to the cabinet that contain his collection of wine. He pulled out his favorite brand and popped the cork then poured four glasses. He passed them out then held his up for a toast.

“While we are still in a stressful situation, I do have to celebrate finding my one true mate, Maggie.” He took a sip of the sweet tasting wine.

The other three men all raised their glass along with him and said, “To Maggie!”

“Gods, help her!” Kharis tried to mumble
under his breath.

All four men laughed then drained their glasses.

Yes, he had found his mate, but the problem was he still hadn’t bonded her to him completely. Until that happened she and he would remain with the bond that was already formed and if by some chance one of them was killed then they both would die. A weak bond between mates was dangerous, but a completely formed bond would make the pair very strong in every aspect, especially with healing.

He would need to convince Maggie soon or it might be too late for either of them. Especially if the Lephusans decided to start another war.

******

Maggie watched the approaching storm with interest. She always loved storms back on Earth. It was the perfect time to snuggle up in a comfortable spot with a good book. Here though, she was bored.

Etor had left her hours ago and still hadn’t returned. The whole
time he was gone she couldn’t take her mind off that kiss. The man could kiss, she had to admit. He lit a fire in her that had been dormant for too long and she was scared. She didn’t want to open up her heart again only to have it crushed. Mark had done a fine job of making her steer clear of other men. Etor was different though.

He had been gentle
with her from the very beginning and all she had managed to do was anger him. She could tell just by looking at his eyes that he wanted her. Hell, she wanted him too! She was just to chicken to let go. There was no reason for her to feel guilty about Mark since that relationship had ended a long time ago. Mark never set her on fire like Etor did. Every time he touched her she could feel the fire heating up.

Dang! The man was freaking huge, so would that mean his cock would be just as huge? It had to be just by the feeling she got when it was pressed ag
ainst her leg earlier. Could she let go?

Yes, you fool! Let go! Jump the man’s bones! He obviously wants you!

“Oh shut up,” she told herself.

Just as she was about to turn away from the window something big went flying by. She waited for it to pass by again to make sure she hadn’t been seeing things. Off in the distance she saw the small black dot dipping and flying through the air at a high rate of speed. As it got closer she could just barely make out the tiny form
of a man sitting on the back of the dragon.

“You have got to be kidding me!” She plastered her face up to the window and watched as Rhaegos and Etor flew through the darkening sky. How he held on, she had no idea. It looked like he was just sitting astride the huge beast as it twisted and dipped at dangerous angles. A quick flash of lightening blind
ed her for a second and when her vision cleared the dragon and its rider was gone.

She stayed by the window searching for the awesome sight until she heard the sound of the door opening and slamming shut again. Startled, she whipped around to find Etor standing there dripping wet with rain. His hair was plastered in
odd ways against his face and head while water trickled down into his shirt that was partially open.

Unconsciously she licked her lips as she stared at him. God, he was gorgeous, even wet.
She wasn’t sure what to do or how to act.

“Was that you on
Rhaegos?” she managed to ask over her thudding heart.

He took a couple of steps in her direction then stopped. “Why do you want to know? You’ve made it quite clear you want nothing to do with me.”

“I…I was just curious.” Damn, he just put her in her place and the bad thing was she didn’t like those words coming out of his mouth.

“I need to take a shower. Your dinner will be brought to you shorty.” He strode past her and into another room.

She hadn’t bothered to explore the room she was stuck when he left, so she guessed he went into the bedroom. The sound of water running reached her ears as she sat on the sofa waiting for him to reappear. It didn’t take him long to shower and change.

He walked past her again without saying a word and went to open the door.

“Wait, where are you going?” she asked quickly.

He stopped then turned around slowly to face her. “Does it matter where I go? We are not mated.”

“Then why do I have to stay in here?”

“Because as long as you remain on Qetera you are my responsibility. It will take some time to arrange a shuttle to take you to where ever you wish. In the meantime, you will remain in here
under guard.”

He left her then and for some reason she felt crushed. As many times as she told him she wasn’t his mate, she now knew how it felt to be rejected and she didn’t like it one bit.

Her dinner arrived a short time later only to remain uneaten. Exhaustion took hold of her as she went into the bedroom. She would take a quick shower then go to sleep. She didn’t want to think or feel anymore. The events of the last week had taken its toll on her. She no longer knew what she wanted or needed.

The hot water
felt wonderful on her tired muscles. Her legs still weren’t at a hundred percent so she tired easily. She didn’t even take the time to enjoy the beauty of the bathroom as she stood the water. It was there that the tears were finally left to fall. Tears she had been holding in ever since she saw Mark murder that man in cold blood. She cried until the tears were gone then got out of the shower and dried her body.

The shirt she had been wearing was dirty and she didn’t want to put it back on, but she had nothing else to wear. Keeping the towel wrapped around her body, she climbed into the big bed. The smell of Etor instantly hit her. Everything in the room smelled of him. The pillows, the sheets, the cover, the air.

“Just get some sleep and we’ll figure it all out in the morning,” she told herself. Sleep didn’t come easily as she listened to the storm outside the window. It had to be nearly midnight before she finally fell into a restless and disturbing sleep.