However, traveling to Earth and back to spy on her was their fault. How many times had they secretly visited her?
Wait a minute. That was it. Addy couldn’t have been the only Earthling under surveillance. Ferly Mor or someone was bound to head back to Earth in the near future.
She’d have to wallow in anger and humiliation, and ask all her
why me
questions later. Right now she needed to shove her emotions aside and think. She got off the couch. She always thought best while moving.
“Are you okay?” Tess asked.
Of course she wasn’t okay. Who would be okay after hearing news like this? But she nodded anyway. She drew on her training to remain calm in the face of stress. Why Ferly Mor had been monitoring her didn’t matter right now. There was no changing the past. But she could change her future. That was where her focus needed to be.
She could reward herself with a meltdown after she figured out how to escape and hitch a ride to Earth.
She poured another glass of water and returned to the sitting area. With renewed confidence she declared, “Duncan, you’re taking me home.”
“Och, lass, I canna take ye back.”
“Why not? You brought me here, so you can bring me home.”
“Addy, he can’t fly a spaceship. No one can. This is your home now.”
She slammed her glass on the table. Water splashed out everywhere. “This will never be my home.” So much for staying cool under stress. Rookie.
The room was silent except for Duncan shifting in his chair and Tess wiping the spill with Addy’s discarded towel.
Addy dried her hand on the seat of her shorts, and calmed her voice. “Duncan, when is your next trip to Earth? I’ll stow away onboard their ship.”
“I dinna ken, lassie. I’ve only gone four times since Tess was a wee bairn.”
“How often is that, once every five or six years? I can’t stay in this Yard that long.” Where could she run to and hide while waiting for the next trip to Earth? “If I can’t return home yet, then I’ll escape to the equator.”
“Surely ye’ll die out there.”
“I should have died in that forest fire five weeks ago, Duncan.”
“Ye
did
die, lass.”
“I mean I should have stayed dead,” she snapped.
“Such contempt. Aren’t ye pleased ye’re alive and well?”
“Alive and well? I’m a freaking broodmare on an alien planet. Maybe things are different in Scotland, but in America we value our freedom. Live free or die. It’s the heart of who we are. Of who I am.”
Adrenaline coursed through her blue blood. Leaping onto the couch, arms in the air, she shouted, “‘Give me liberty or give me death.’ ‘Let freedom ring.’ ‘I have a dream.’”
“Get down before you fall.” Tess stood and reached for her hand.
She jumped to the other cushion quoting, “‘I’ve not yet begun to fight.’ Now, unless you want to hear me butcher the national anthem, I suggest you tell me how to get out of HuBReC.”
“I dinna ken how.”
A deep inhale. “Oh, say can you see...,” she belted way off-key. Duncan and Tess covered their ears.
“But I ken who does, lass.”
“Who?”
Duncan uncovered his ears and let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. “Max.”
The name snuffed out the patriotic fire in her blood.
B
y late afternoon, the ground had dried, making Addy’s daily run easier. Even without the mud, her runs were becoming slower and shorter, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she had to stop them altogether.
Damned pregnancy.
In the zone, legs carrying her without effort, she utilized her daily thinking time and concluded that going to the kennel and asking Max for help was out of the question.
If he was smart enough to figure out how to escape, then so was she.
She checked her running watch. It had been a gift from Duncan, and a tremendous help in keeping track of the thirty-hour days. Unfortunately, she'd reached the edge of the warrior’s training field two minutes slower than last week. Oh well. Through the trees, men and boys as young as five practiced hand-to-hand combat. Her stomach soured. She turned and followed her path deeper into the forest around the field.
“What’s your hurry, pet?”
Jerked from her thoughts, she looked up, seeing nothing but path and woods. Her heart skipped a beat—which wasn’t a good thing when running.
A large form jumped out from behind a tree, and Addy crashed into Regan’s rock-hard bare chest. She turned to run the way she came, but powerful hands grabbed her, pulled her back into his chest. “Well, well.” His meaty arms encircled her, trapping her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been avoiding me.”
He reeked of sweat and was covered in dirt and blood. She had no doubt his fighting matches had pumped his testosterone to dangerous levels.
She squirmed. “Let me go.”
He tightened his hold like a boa constrictor, and her chest crushed under his squeezing force. Gasping for breath, she stopped moving. He loosened his grip, and precious air expanded her lungs.
“Normally you run this path in the morning.”
He’d been keeping track of her? “You haven’t been waiting for me since then, have you?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Then what are you doing in the woods? Marking your territory?”
His fingers dug into her shoulders as he forced her back into a tree. Her shoulder blades grated against rough bark. “The entire Yard and everyone in it is my territory. Including you. Disrespect me and suffer the consequences.” He cocked his hand.
“Don’t.” She moved to block the strike. “I’m pregnant.”
His angry eyes softened and a sly smile tugged his lips. He lowered his hand. “Even better.” He covered her mouth with his.
She clamped her jaws tight together. Pressure like a vice grip squeezed her upper arm until she cried out, but his tongue in her throat stifled the sound. It wasn’t a quick kiss to prove his alpha status. This time it was predatory. Greedy and vicious. Meant to teach her a lesson.
Her frantic heart pounded as calloused hands slid up under her shirt and ripped her sports bra. She flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to punch, scratch, and kick him. He didn’t stop.
Addy bit his tongue.
The blow came so hard and fast she didn’t know what happened until she landed on the ground, jaw pounding and ear ringing. Something wet rolled down her chin. Standing over her, wiping blood from his lips, Regan looked the epitome of a fierce barbarian.
She had known this day was inevitable, had long debated whether to fight or lie still. It seemed instinct had decided for her, and it was too late to take it back.
“You dare challenge me?” His menacing words sent a chill through her core.
Scrambling to get away, she crab-walked backward, turned and almost got to her feet before he grabbed her ankle and jerked. Her face smacked against the rough path. She spit dirt and forest debris.
Twisting her leg, he flipped her to her back, straddled her hips and pinned her arms over her head. Tears streamed down her temples. “Please don’t hurt me, Regan.”
He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, “I am the champion alpha gladiator. Do you realize what I can do to you?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.
“Tell me.”
She had been here once before with Max and hadn’t been able to fight him off. He only stopped when she’d called him an animal. There was no way she’d be able to fight off Regan either. And there was no way he’d stop until he was done with her. “A-anything,” she choked out. Saying the word admitted her defeat.
“That’s right. No matter how much you fight, you’ll lose. I can withstand more pain than you could ever dream of inflicting. And I’ll bet my soul you can’t say the same. So I’ll give you the choice. If you don’t want to get hurt, retract your claws and canines. Understand?”
What choice was that? She nodded again, the tears slipping between shut lids.
“That’s a good pet.” His heavy weight crushed her as his mouth found hers again.
Fire erupted inside, setting her soul ablaze. She couldn’t lay still. She had to fight even if it meant getting beaten. She gathered her strength and waited for the opportune moment to strike him.
A musical tune sounded through the trees.
Regan stopped, shorts at her knees. “Not now, you hairy Hyborean fuck!” He brought his face to hers. Addy closed her eyes. Thick stubble scraped against her cheek. Hot breath rasped in her ear. “We’ll finish this at midnight, twenty-five hundred hours. Right here. Under this tree. Don’t make me come looking for you.”
The music sounded again. When Addy opened her eyes, he was gone.
She didn’t know how long she lay there shaking before managing to assess the damage. Opening and closing her mouth, she brushed a palm over what felt like a huge lump in her throbbing jaw. At least it wasn’t broken. A finger sweep over her teeth indicated they were all accounted for. Curling into the fetal position, she hugged her knees and cried.
She couldn’t live like this.
Dammit, she
wouldn’t
live like this.
Too scared to go to Duncan’s, but too scared to stay, she swallowed her pride and walked to the one place she knew she had to go to.
Minutes later, Addy stood at the “people door” that led from the Yard into HuBReC’s infirmary. Duncan had explained that any person seeking medical treatment could enter here.
Before she lost her nerve, she sublimated the door and entered the cleanser-and-adhesive-scented foyer. Shelves containing bandages, ointments, antiseptic, and first aid supplies aligned the back wall. The conspicuous absence of drug bottles and sharp cutting tools didn’t go unnoticed.
Two door buttons—one on the right wall and one on the left—faced each other. The right door led into HuBReC’s waiting room. The other led into a room she had never been in before. The room that housed visiting humans and hospital patients.
She shuddered. This kennel would have been her home had she not been adopted by Ferly Mor.
She pressed the button on the left wall and watched the white vapor swirl in the doorway. It’s now or never. She crossed the threshold. Behind her, the door crackled.
The kennel, lined with cages on both sides of a long center isle, reminded her of the stables she used to muck out back home, except these were clean and didn’t stink as she had expected. The cages appeared to be the same size as the breeding box and made of the same material—just like everything else on the planet, the Hyboreans weren’t too creative with building materials—only instead of solid walls lining the isle, they had bars like jail cells.
Addy tiptoed down the isle, peered into each one. Empty. Empty. Empty. Max.
Her gut clenched and legs itched to run away. She inhaled a deep, fortifying breath, and forced herself to stay. No matter how much she hated Max, he was the only one who had escaped before. That made him her only hope.
He slept by a heating cube with his naked back toward her. His wounds, after only a week of the Hyboreans’ superior medical care, were nearly gone.
In the corner of his stall, er room, sat his black backpack and the apple basket she had thrown at him. The lightstick poked out the top. Next to him was a half-eaten bowl of fruit and a small bundle she knew contained his food stash
in case they didn’t feed him
.
Heeding his words, Addy had kept a similar stash until she realized that if Ferly Mor had forgotten to feed her—which he never had—she would not go hungry. The Yard yielded plenty of fruits, vegetables, and fish.
So why did Max continue to hoard food?
“You want something?” The last time she’d heard the sleep in Max’s voice it sounded husky. Sexy. This time it sounded gruff. He stretched and rolled over to face her.
She tried not to stare at the little round welts on his chest from last night. “You pick another bushel of ammunition?”
“I’m not going to apologi—.”
“Hell, woman, I didn’t expect you to.” His monotone voice came across as tired, not resentful.
What did he mean by that? She glared at him in awkward silence while he assessed her. Direct from Regan’s attack, she must have looked like crap covered with grime, sweat, and forest debris. Her jaw was probably a lovely shade of purple by now.
“Who won?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I need—” She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Your help.”
His eyes narrowed. “With?”
“Planning my escape.”
* * *
“Hell no.” He rolled away, pulling his blanket up over his shoulder. He’d thought she was going to ask him to train her to fight. Based on that bruise on her cheek, she’d made an enemy.
“Duncan said you’re the only one who can help.”
“Yeah, well, Duncan says more than his prayers.”
“I’m not asking you to do anything that would get you in trouble. Just tell me how you did it. How far you got. How you were captured. What it’s like on the outs—”
“Whoa, woman.” He rolled to face her again. “Where the hell do you think you’ll go?”
“Home. To Earth.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously.” Her straight spine and set jaw showed fortitude, but then her bottom lip quivered and she grasped the cell bars, perhaps to keep from collapsing. “You don’t understand.” Desperation colored her words. “I just have to get back home. My freezer is full of blackberries.”
“Well, that’s one I’ve never heard before.” Either it was some pop culture reference coined after his abduction or she really liked blackberries. “You have any idea where in the universe you are?”
She shook her head no. Red-blonde wisps that had escaped her ponytail floated around her pretty gray eyes.
“I can see you’ve thought this through.” Why was he listening to her fantasies of escaping when he should be resting and healing? He rolled away again.
“But I think Duncan knows. He’s been to Earth and back a few times.”
“Possible.” Since she wasn’t going to let him sleep, he might as well play her game. He rolled back, propped himself on his elbow and rested his head in his hand. This should be entertaining. “So your plan is to escape the Yard, commandeer an alien spaceship, and fly it home?”