The Abduction (12 page)

“
Please,” she whispered, “tell me you didn’t...”

“Did not what?”

She forced herself to meet his eyes, wanting to gauge the truth to his words. “Tell me you aren’t like the others… When you took Lindsey.” Her lips quivered. “When you look at me. Tell me you wouldn’t…”

Recognition flickered in his eyes and he reached out to take her wrist. He let her pull away and kept his hand out, palm up. “I have never forced a woman, if that’s what you are asking. That’s not in me.”

“All of the other soldiers—”

“Are not me. And I made it a point to teach my brother the same morals.”

A knot loosened inside of Samantha’s stomach. “Do those morals include always telling the truth?”

Rikist sighed. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth and let his hand
s fall helplessly into his lap. He looked up, defeated. “I did it.”

“Did what?”

“I blew up my ship.”

Samantha gaped. “Wha…Why?”

“Because it was my job to get rid of the three high-ranking dignitaries who wanted a front row seat to view the battle.”

“I don’t understand.”

He frowned. “How do you think I got the chocolate, and the crackers, and the games onto my planet?”

Samantha shook her head. “Your connections?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what? What does that mean?”

“I’m a smuggler, Samantha. I use my position in the military to gain access to information and weapons, and turn those over to the rebel forces.”

“Why?”

He guffawed. “Because I like being able to pre-order the next Call of Duty—”

“I’m serious, Rikist!” She slapped his arm. “Why are you so—”

“Because they took away the only thing that I cared about!” he shouted. His nostrils flared and his chest heaved. “Because everyone else on this fucking island blindly listens to whatever the leaders say and takes it up the ass without a thought.”

Samantha sat still, her eyes wide. Rikist glared over at her, his wounded eye tearing
in the swollen corner. He wiped it dry and punched the pillow.

“I am tired of being told what to do. Who to fight. What to feel. After Lindsey…” He clenched his jaw. “I couldn’t just sit back and watch li
ves be destroyed by those currently in power. So I switched sides.”

“And Krissik doesn’t know.”

He snorted. “Of course not. My brother is so loyal to our leaders that he would never go against a direct rule.”

“Krissik wouldn’t turn you in, would he?”

“If he knew about my after-hours hobby…” He shrugged. “Let’s just say I like my head between my shoulders.”

Samantha took his hands in hers and squeezed, her eyes pleading. “Help me,” she begged. “You know what it feels like to
feel trapped. To care about someone so much that you’re willing to do anything for them. And you are the only one I feel like I can trust because as much as you try to blow it off I know that you understand me.”

She took a shaky breath and wiped at her eyes. “
I am scared, Rikist. I am scared of your world, of your rules, and I just want to go home to my boring life on my father’s boring farm. I want to feel safe and be free again.”

She gazed at his amber eyes and the
hard set of his jaw, and leaned forward to press her lips against his. When he didn’t resist, she moved her mouth to part his lips and slid her tongue across his. Rikist lifted a hand to the side of her face, and his lips parted against hers in the beginnings of a return kiss. He made a small sound deep in his throat as he angled his head for a better fit against her lips, and then he suddenly dropped his hand and turned his head.

“You are my brother’s mate.” Rikist
finally met her gaze, his face torn and eyes red. “And you are off-limits.”

Samantha’s heart dropped
. She pressed her lips together and nodded, and then slid off the bed. She hugged her arms around herself, and then hurried out of the room and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Samantha
woke to breakfast in bed. Krissik watched her eat as if mesmerized by her every movement, and purred contentedly as she gave him a chaste kiss and an ear rub afterward. His eyes closed as he laid his head in her lap. He ran the back of his hand down the side of her breast fondly through her nightshirt, his claws tracing the curve of her side.

Samantha
forced a smile down at him. The effort he put into trying to make her feel comfortable and needed was more than she’d ever gotten from all the men she’d ever dated combined, and she had no doubt that he really did love her. It made her heart ache as she remembered Rikist’s soft touch on her cheek, and the need she’d felt against her lips before he’d pushed her away.

If only the other brother had swept me away instead…

Though Rikist had made himself scarce the past week; keeping mostly to himself in his room, spending his time on his phone and—when Krissik wasn’t around—his games in the living room. When Samantha came near, he usually came up with an excuse about needing to sleep or use the bathroom.

His avoidance hurt, but she could understand his anger; a man in uniform had appeared at their door the day after the physician’s visit, letting Rikist know that his medical file was under review and he would be having an
evaluation with his master chief in three weeks. Physically Rikist seemed to be healing, if not slowly, though his mood had grown increasingly sour toward her, and downright hostile toward his brother. Krissik blew it off, blaming it on the additional medication Rikist had been prescribed, but Samantha knew something more ate at the man.

She
leaned back on the pillows, idly rubbing Krissik’s head and neck, wondering if she could get used to the idea of affections from the man in her lap since she was apparently stuck on this planet. She’d been there going on two weeks now, and as much as she didn’t like the idea of staying, she’d reserved herself to the fact that this was most likely her new life. Krissik had kept true to his word and hadn’t forced himself upon her while she ‘adjusted’, but she could tell that his patience was wearing thin.

I should at least make the best of it.

“A physician is coming by this evening for you,” Krissik said suddenly. He twisted his neck to look up at her. “To perform a physical.”

Samantha
froze, and her hands twitched against his skin.

Krissik sat up. “Do not worry. It is very minor and will not hurt.” He touched her face. “I will get off work early so that I can be here for you.”

“I… do I have to?”

“Yes,” he said. “It is a required procedure for all new mates.”

“For what?”

“To check your health.”

Samantha looked him square in the eye. “And what if they found something to be wrong?”

Krissik hesitated; uncertainty flashed in his eyes.  He smiled at her. “I am sure nothing is wrong.
Do not worry.”

He kissed her, and then stepped off the bed. “I must get ready for work. I will need to study through lunch so that I can return home
before he arrives.”

“
I’ll see you later then.”

Krissik dressed and tied on his boots. He kissed her once more before
opening the door. “I care deeply for you, Samantha. I hope you know that.”

Samantha nodded. “I know you do.”

Krissik smiled and left.

Samantha
smashed her face into a pillow and let out a frustrated scream, and then wrapped the sheet around her and opened the door to the bathroom. She dropped the sheet to the floor and stripped off her nightgown as she shut the door behind her and then walked to the shower and turned on the water. She shivered in the cool air, hugging her arms around her bare breasts.

T
he door to the toilet slid open, and Rikist limped out in a rumpled shirt and sweats, the brace around his leg stretching against the cotton material. He looked up at the sound of Samantha’s gasp, and his jaw dropped. He stood unblinking, unable to move or look away.

“Rikist!” Samantha turned sideways and covered herself with her arms. “Well don’t just stand there!”

“I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t know you—”

“Turn around!”

Rikist ducked his head and covered his eyes with one hand. “I shut the door. Don’t you knock on your planet?”

“I didn’t know you were up!” She
stepped sideways and reached for a towel. She let out a frustrated groan when she realized none hung on the pegs. She glanced at the sheet and nightgown on the other side of Rikist. “Hand me that sheet behind you.”

Rikist turned his head to look
back. He hesitated, and then reached down. His left leg wobbled with his fingers inches away, and he straightened to catch his balance. He grimaced and shifted his stance to bend at the waist.

“Rikist, don’t,” Samantha said
, realizing he did not have his crutch. She leaned sideways to make sure he wasn’t looking, and then walked closer. “I’ll get it.”

“I can get it.”

“I don’t want you to fall.”

“Leave it, I’m fine—”

Rikist bent and grabbed the sheet just as Samantha pulled on the other end, and she jerked him off balance to pitch forward against her legs. Samantha yipped as she fell backwards, with Rikist riding her down. She landed hard on her back, and grunted as his weight fell across her stomach and legs. They lay still for a moment; Samantha wide-eyed on her back and Rikist’s face pressed against her belly just below her breasts, his eyes closed and hands held harmlessly out at his sides.

“Samantha…” he began.

Samantha blinked and pushed on his shoulders. “Get-off-get-off-get-off!”

Rikist put his hands on the floor and lifted his upper body so that he
balanced on his good leg in a push-up position above her. “Samantha, I’m not a cripple. You don’t need to act like I can’t—”

He opened his eyes as he moved to twist away and froze, his body stilled. He swallowed with effort, and lifted his eyes to meet Samantha’s.

Samantha’s breath stilled under the heavy weight of his amber stare. Desire and guilt swirled within the predatory eyes, his cat-like pupils dilating and shrinking as he focused. His breathing quickened, and the muscles bounced in his tight jaw. Samantha lifted a hand to rest against his shoulder, her heart leaping at the feel of his firm, heated skin through the fine material of his shirt.

“
Rikist,” she whispered shakily.

Their sudden closeness after a week of avoidance hit her in a rush, and her skin tingled with excitement at every point of contact with his. His scent, musky sandalwood and rich spices of cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, spilled around her like a warm fur blanket, and she leaned closer to brush her nose against his neck and breathe in.
She swallowed down the multitude of terrified butterflies clawing their way through her insides and pulled up her knees to scoot away him, and her thighs brushed against his sides.

The sudden touch seemed to wake something within him, and
Rikist walked his hands further up on the floor in a fluid motion so that the length of his body covered hers, and kissed her. Hard. His lips were dry, and Samantha ran her tongue over his lips until they were moist and supple. The next kiss was harder, and Rikist bit lightly along her lower lip, bringing a small sound from deep within Samantha’s throat. She kissed him back, sliding her hands to either side of his face and gripping the hair behind his ears, pulling him closer.

Rikist kissed her as if he were drinking her
down; eager and hungry from years of pent up sexual frustration. His hands shook as he slid them down her slim sides, cupping her ass and lifting her hips to press against the taught front of his pants. He moaned as Samantha broke the kiss and jerked his hair to tilt his head back to suck the underside of his jaw and nibble at the edge of the jagged scar.

Rikist shook his hair free, and rubbed his cheek against Samantha’s
; a feline scent-marking his property. He licked a slow circle around the outside ridge of her ear and then down her neck. He suddenly rolled to his back, rotating Samantha on top of him so that she straddled his hips.

Samantha’s mouth went dry as she sat over him, looking down at his heavy-lidded eyes and feeling his hard erection pressed against his pants between her legs. She leaned forward, running her hands up his hard stomach and firm chest
through his shirt, letting her breasts hang temptingly close to his face.

Rikist
hooked one arm around her shoulders and pulled her lower. He lifted his head, and his lips slid over her right breast, carefully taking most of the small firm mound in his mouth. He moaned against her skin as he circled his tongue around her raised nipple, and pulled his head back, letting her breast slide out from between his lips until he held her tip within his teeth and let it stretch until she cried out.

Samantha
lifted Rikist’s shirt to bare his muscled abs. She scratched her nails down his skin and through the white line of soft fur, watching him writhe and hiss. She scooted higher on his torso, so that she straddled his bare waist. She felt her own desire dripping from her center, and she rotated her hips in a slow figure eight, letting him feel that she was already hot and slick.

Rikist let ou
t strangled groan as Samantha rotated around, giving him a clear view of her backside as her fingers slid inside the elastic waistband of his sweats.

“S-Sam… Samantha, stop.”

Samantha froze, her skin on fire and heart pounding. She twisted to look at him, confused. “What?”

Rikist pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, his mouth in a stretched grimace.
His chest rose and fell unevenly, and his wounded leg twitched.

“I want nothing more than to
bed you right now,” he said slowly, forcing the words out. “But I can’t. As much as I want to, I can’t.”

Samantha slid off of him and sat on her heels. She lifted one arm to cover her breasts. “But I thought…”

Rikist swallowed and did a sit-up, then used his arms to scoot back toward the wall, sitting out of reach. His cheeks and neck burned crimson, and his eyes glinted wetly.

“I’m sorry.
” He hung his head. “I have been trying so hard not to look at you like this, to stay away, but—”

“Rikist…”

“—It’s just been so long since… and now I finally have the chance...” He closed his eyes and let out a short, defeated laugh. “And you’re screwing my little brother.”

Samantha set her jaw and stared at him through a watery haze. “That’s not fair. That’s not fair at all.”

“Fair or not it’s true.”

“And we haven’t.”

Rikist’s eyes shot open. “What?” He stared at her incredulously. “Are you serious?”

She nodded. “He’s… giving me time to adapt.”

He hesitated, as if considering his options, and then shook his head. “It still doesn’t matter.” Rikist closed his eyes, and let his head lean back against the wall. “You’re
his
.”

“
I am not personal property!” Samantha’s voice rose, cracking with emotion.

“On this planet you are.” He paused at her shocked look. “You are his. If it weren’t for us being brothers and you unmated, I shouldn’t even be able to see you. To do so is banishment for me, and… slavery for you.”

“I’m already a slave then,” she spat. “Unable to leave the apartment, only meant breed. Right?”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“Sometimes just being alive isn’t enough to live. Isn’t freedom what you’re fighting for? To be able to feel or love whoever you want without being told what to do?”

“
In a few weeks I will either be sent back to duty and on a ship across the ocean or sent off to some recovery hospital after discharge—”

“
And what about me?”

“
And you will be here, becoming heavy with child and in the arms of my brother.”

Rikist
sniffed and looked over at Samantha; his eyes letting her see his regret and disappointment. He frowned, and then used the wall to push himself to his feet. He stared down at her, his jaw tight and shoulders set in a straight line, looking very much the stoic military man that had walked into the apartment almost a week ago.

“
There’s nothing I can do. And no matter how much I try I can’t avoid you while living so close together. I think it’s best that I move back to the barracks so that you can focus on Krissik,” he said softly. “I’ll leave in the morning.”

He nodded at her,
eyes filled to the brim, and then left.

Samantha sat in the middle of the cold bathroom, letting the escaping steam from the shower rise and plume around the ceiling to mist down on her cooling skin
as she pulled up her knees and cried.