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Jessica
I’m too enraged to breathe. The other men surround us, listening while trying to not be too obvious. I don’t blame them. This is probably the most excitement this planet has seen in eons. Cinq is still talking, saying things like help, protect, adore, mate, duty.
Fuck all that. Two times in the sack does not mean a lifetime chained to this man. I wait until he runs out of words, just staring at him until he’s quiet.
“Well?” he asks. “Do you understand why I must forbid you from leaving?”
“I do, and yet you still don’t get why I have to go.” If I listen to the loudspeaker, because I can still hear Stacie’s voice, I can run and catch up to them. My body will be sweaty, hopefully, and they’ll find me with my body heat. “Sorry. I have to try.”
Turning on my heel, I sprint for the cave opening. This is easier than I thought. I’m outside and slow my run once far enough away from the cavern. I pause, trying to hear Stacie over my heart beat.
There, just ahead. I begin to sprint again when Cinq grabs me from behind. I’d know his hold anywhere and kick at his feet. “Damn it, no. Let me go.” I struggle but the man not only looks like bronze, he’s as solid as the metal, too. “Stacie!” I scream as loud as I can. “Come back! I’m being held prisoner! Help!”
“Jessica, stop,” Cinq growls in my ear as I continue to pry my body from his hold.
“Stacie!” I yell. “Come back!”
His hand covers my mouth. “Pless it, Jess, I’m trying to save your life. Stop fighting me.”
I wriggle, barely able to hear my friend’s voice. He has me pressed against him, which would be sexy if I weren’t so desperate and pissed off. I’m going to miss my chance to go home if I don’t do something serious. Cinq’s afraid of being caught, of losing me, and I understand. But if I let him hold me back, I’ll never see my mom again.
Sorry, Cinq, I think and bite down on one of his fingers, hard. It works. He lets go of me and I step back, ready to flee.
“Bikking tunsa,” he hollers, holding his hand to his torso. “You little slarka, you bit me.” He doubles over. “That really hurt.”
“Yeah, let go when I say let go,” I say and take off, hoping I haven’t ruined my chances of getting away. I jog at first, gaining speed and hoping I’m going in the right direction. Far too soon, breathing becomes tougher. I press on, stopping every so often to listen for Stacie.
I haven’t heard her in a while. A coldness seeps into my bones from the chilly air. I’m not sure if my shivering is from realizing I’ve missed my one chance. Maybe it’s from how unfamiliar my surroundings are. Then again, the sunlight is dimmer now than when I left the cave. I cough a couple of times, the air hurting my chest.
The leaves around me move, rustling in a breeze. I wrap my arms around me and look up. Seeing Quin up there and hovering above the tree tops isn’t a surprise. It’s also not a good sign. He wouldn’t be up there if the ship were anywhere nearby.
Quin drops down as if my thoughts summoned him, landing softly on his feet. Impressive if I weren’t so upset. He comes up to me. “Are you all right?”
“No.” Tears fill my eyes, making me even angrier. “No, damn it all to hell, I’m not okay.” I wipe my eyes with the back of my hands. “I’ve lost my only chance to go home, thanks to Cinq.” I look around us and one tree looks like all the others. “How the hell do we get back to the cave?”
“Do you want to go back?”
His gentle voice asking me what I want instead of telling me trips the crying trigger in me. Despite trying to keep it together, I begin crying. I struggle to stop which only makes it worse. I bury my face in my hands, sobbing, unable to help myself. If that isn’t a metaphor for my entire ordeal since the abduction, I don’t know what is.
Quin takes me in his arms, letting me literally cry on his shoulder. I don’t cling to him like I do Cinq, of course, but it’s comforting to have a friend.
“What the pless is this?”
Cinq’s voice cuts through my crying. I step back from Quin, wiping my face and sniffling. “What do you mean by that? I missed my one shot at getting home thanks to you.” I glance down at his hand, only looking long enough to see he’s still cradling it against his torso. “Sorry about your hand.”
“Forget it.” He comes up to stand toe to toe with me. “What you need to apologize for is potentially putting all of us in danger. I’m probably set up for system deletion any moment now, so I’m a lost cause but these guys don’t deserve you bringing the authorities and bounty hunters for them.”
“Bounty hunters?” I glance at Quin, then Nilt and S’Tou as they come up from the same path leading us here. “What the hell have you all done to get prices on your heads? I know you don’t like society in a criminal way and Cinq’s something of a hacker, but you’re not murderers, are you?”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I feel like an idiot. Of course, they’re going to be honest with me about whatever crimes they’ve done. Aren’t all fugitives truthful? Each of them hangs back, waiting for one of the others to go first. “None of you want to be honest with me?” I turn to Cinq. “Not even you, my dearest bondmate?”
The more I look at him, the more furious I become. “All that lovey dovey stuff you told me during sex was sweet, but when push came to shove and I could go home, you kept me trapped here. True love means giving up the person you say you love the most. Not hold her back from returning to her planet.”
“I do love you and you are my bondmate,” he replies in a voice far quieter than my own. “Although I’m regretting accepting our match right now.”
The word regret sears my nerves like an electric current. My fingernails bite into my palm from my clenched hands. “Oh, that’s nice. Of course, you regret it.” Fury overtakes my common sense and I blurt out, “You’ve already had sex with me and checked that block, now haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what the pless you’re saying right now,” he says, taking a step toward me, fists clenched like mine are.
