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"With a good reason," he growled, pleased that at least one of the human sisters had some sense.
"Well," she said, starting to sit up. "At least now I won't have to sign up for the Mating Program."
His mind went blank for a moment, and then it filled with the idea of Sadie with another male. Red filtered down over his vision and his possessive instincts raged to the surface.
In the next heartbeat, he turned and yanked her beneath him. Fury raged through his veins as he leaned in to capture her lips in a hard, demanding kiss. He didn't give her any chance to argue or refuse him. The kiss wasn't about exploration, but proving to her who she belonged to.
Him.
"You are not signing up for anything," he said with a growl, the sound deep and welling up from his soul. "Ever again. You're mine. You'll always be mine."
The air crackled with tension as he held her gaze, his chest rising and falling harshly. He would not lose her to another male. He'd paint the corridors of Devon Station in blood and guts before he allowed that to happen.
She opened her mouth to reply, but her words were cut off by the sudden shrieking of the alarms from the consoles at the front of the cockpit.
He snapped his head around towards the control panel, all his warrior instincts kicking into high gear. This was a clear route and that was a proximity alarm.
Who was out here with them?
10
"Stay here," Vaarn said, leaping off the bed. Grabbing his pants, he yanked them on and walked into his boots as he headed for the pilot's seat. He dropped into it, his fingers going to the keyboard at the same time. His hands flew over the controls, bringing up all the shields and deploying sensors as he tried to pinpoint the source of the alarm.
"What's going on?" Sadie asked, dragging on a long shirt she'd brought with her for sleeping in and dropped into the co-pilot's seat next to him. He was pleased to see that her first action was to strap herself in. Perhaps she did have some common sense after all.
"We're being targeted," he said, his voice tight as he scanned the readouts. "Long-range. It's the Liis. They must have tracked us from the station."
The ship shuddered as a warning shot narrowly missed them, jolting both of them. His jaw tightened as he gritted his teeth, mind racing to come up with a plan to get them out of there, and get her to safety. This was why he'd wanted to come on this mission alone, and why a precious human female should never be out here in the first place.
"We need to evade them," he said, sliding her sideways glance. "The ship’s not designed for close quarters combat with pirate vessels like this, it's not armed enough. They'll cut through our hull like a tin can so we need to run, and run fast. Hold on, this could get rough."
She nodded, her face pale but her expression determined as she settled herself in the co-pilot's seat, small hands gripping the arm rests. He nodded in approval. Dropping the ship into manual control, he took over the flight systems. He might not have been a trained star fighter, but he knew this ship inside out, and what she was capable of. Plus he knew what technology was in the Liis ship's. Their weapons targeting systems would be on predictive models, which meant that he had to be unpredictable.
His fingers flew over the controls, spinning the ship into a hard roll as another blast streaked past them. The force of the turn slammed them both back into their seats, and he cut a quick glance at Sadie. He was Latharian, a warrior trained and conditioned for the brutalities of battle. His enhanced physiology could handle the extra g-forces, but she was human… and female. She should never be put into these kinds of conditions.
She gripped the armrests tightly, her knuckles white, but she didn't look terrified. He had no doubt this was the most excitement she'd ever experienced. And while he hated the fact that she was in danger, there was a part of him, a very small part, that was thrilled that she was here. That she could see him in his own environment, and he could show off his skills to impress his mate.
"Hold on," he called out. "Evasive maneuvers!"
He threw the ship to port, then snapped it back starboard in a zigzag pattern. His movements were so random that the Liis' targeting systems struggled to lock on, but he still winced as a few blasts came close. Warning lights flashed on the console as the shields took damage. That was too close with his precious mate on board.
He bared his teeth in a snarl. These draanthing pirates would not threaten what was his. "We need to break their line of sight." He kept up a running commentary. "There's an asteroid field up ahead. We can use that for cover."
Her eyes wide, she nodded. He hit the engines and poured on the speed, trusting the ship's engines to get them to the asteroid field before the pirates. It wasn't a walk in the park, even for an experienced pilot such as himself. Huge rocks tumbled through space ahead of them, an assault course that ranged from small boulders to planetoids kilometers across. His jaw tightened. It wouldn't have been his first choice, but they were out of options, and the debris would wreak havoc with the Liis' targeting sensors. They wouldn't be able to follow them in there. One, they wouldn’t be able to see them, and two, the pirate ships were too big, not maneuverable enough. They'd be destroyed within minutes of entering the field.
"Hold on," he warned a moment before he flipped the ship to its side, and raced through a narrow gap between two tumbling asteroids. The pitted gray surface streaked past in the front view screen, so close they could almost reach out and touch it.
A second later, he flipped them the other way and hit the brakes to bring them up sharply so they didn't smash nose first into another asteroid.
He wove the ship between the spinning rocks, his muscles tight as he wrestled with the controls, dodging and rolling to stay ahead of their pursuers and avoid them being smashed apart. All the time he was conscious of the little squeaks and gasps as Sadie clung to the armrests as though her life depended on it.
"Can they follow us in here?" she asked, her voice so tight with fear that all he wanted to do was reach out and drag her into his arms to reassure her. But he couldn't, he had to keep all his attention on what he was doing or they wouldn't survive this.
"No," he shook his head. "Their ships are too large and not as maneuverable."
Behind them, the Liis ships struggled to keep up. He allowed himself a fierce growl of satisfaction as one clipped an asteroid, which sent it into a tailspin. It slammed into another asteroid, becoming a fiery blossom against the unforgiving rock.
"Ha! Not so easy without your computers to do the flying for you, is it?" He taunted the Liis, even though they couldn't hear him. "Draanthing pirates."
