Alien Salvation (14 page)

No, I’m definitely worried about who’s
already here. No wonder we lost the war.

But the sudden stab of fear didn’t
temper the desire that seeing the aliens’ power had incited. Their
show of physical supremacy aroused her as easily as last night’s
kisses.

Lindsey might have spent more time
worrying about her urges, but Bacoj and Japohn were emerging from
the treeline. The Nobek carried a bedraggled, unconscious woman in
his arms.

“Get medical,” Bacoj called to
Vax.

The Imdiko ran to the shuttle. The
Earthers crowded around the dark-haired refugee as soon as Japohn
laid her gently on the ground. Lindsey thought she might be the
same age as herself, though the woman was so starved it was hard to
tell for sure. Bruises covered her exposed throat, arms and legs.
Her thin dress was torn in several places and she had the sour
smell of someone who hadn’t washed in weeks.

“What happened to her?” Tara
asked.

“Stunned. Unconscious when find,” Bacoj
answered. He gently pried open the woman’s eyelids then checked her
pulse. “No fed. Injured. Someone beat her.”

As Bacoj continued to look her over,
the woman’s eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was unfocused. “What
happened?” she groaned.

Lindsey took the conversational lead.
“You were stunned by our perimeter field. You’ll be
okay.”

Vax joined them, handing Bacoj a
medical kit.

Japohn boomed impatiently, “Who harm
Matara?”

The woman blinked at the loud voice.
Her gaze traveled up and up as she looked at the giant.
“Kalquorians? As if things weren’t bad enough!” She hid her face
behind her hands.

Lindsey pulled at her hands. “It’s
okay. They’re trying to help. Who hurt you?”

“Tragooms.” She cringed for a moment as
Bacoj rubbed a nasty cut with a damp cloth that smelled antiseptic.
When she realized he was cleaning the wound, she relaxed. “That
feels much better. There must be anesthetic in it.”

“Stop pain, no infection.” He smiled at
her, and she returned it shakily. It helped he was so handsome,
Lindsey thought. She put down the twinge of jealousy.

The woman grabbed Bacoj’s wrist, her
expression drawing down in desperation. “You have to save us. The
Tragooms have the rest pinned down in our camp. There are
children!”

Bacoj scowled. At first Lindsey thought
he might be angry that he was expected to rescue a bunch of
helpless Earthers, but his muttered, “Hate Tragooms. Want all
dead,” told her different.

“How many?” Japohn asked. His dark face
was eager, and he caressed his knife handle. At least the blade was
safely sheathed.

“I don’t know. Half a dozen maybe?”
Tears flowed down her cheeks as she struggled to sit up. Lindsey
and Tara helped her. “They come in three or four times a day to
take someone away. We can’t stop them.” She clutched at Bacoj as he
rummaged in the medical kit. “Please, I’ll do anything if you’ll
help us.”

He gently pulled her hands from his
arms and pulled a metallic cylinder with a plunger on one end from
the case. Lindsey watched as he opened the other end of the tube
and dropped a purple tablet the size of a horse pill inside. The
sound of fizzing emitted from the tube before he sealed it shut
again.

“What’s that?” Lindsey
asked.

“Calm for her. Help her to speak clear,
tell information for Tragooms.”

He pressed the flat end of the tube
against the woman’s neck and depressed the plunger before she could
react. She jumped in surprise.

Vax patted her shoulder. “You feel
better moment. Medicine.”

“Oh. Okay.” She looked at Tara and
Aaron questioningly and they smiled encouragingly.

“It’s okay. The Kalquorians are very
good and will help.” Tara spoke with quiet confidence.

Lindsey whispered in Bacoj’s ear. “If
you wanted her to feel better, why didn’t you just bite
her?”

One corner of his mouth lifted. He gave
her a long look before leaning close to whisper back. “Bite enemy
to harm or lover to enjoy. No bite female but Lindsey.”

“Oh.”

Over his shoulder, Lindsey saw Vax grin
at her with a short nod. Had he heard their exchange? She glanced
up at Japohn. He too regarded her with amusement.

Super hearing to go with the rest of
their super powers. These boys just keep amazing me.

Bacoj’s words ran through her thoughts
again, and she warmed to realize the men didn’t want the intimacy
of biting another female. Only her.

“Oh,” she said again, her voice soft
with happy surprise.

Chapter Eight

Bacoj’s stomach roiled as he watched
Japohn prepare for battle. The Nobek strapped on black body armor
before attaching an assortment of knives to his belt. No percussion
blaster. Bacoj clenched his fists. Stupid, bloodthirsty
Nobek.

No, Japohn wasn’t stupid. Thick-skulled
and stubborn, but not stupid. Still, the foolhardiness of his
actions was going to leave the clan without a Nobek. Even a former
bounty hunter of Japohn’s prodigious fighting skills got unlucky
once in awhile. This might be one of those times. Especially since
the idiot was obviously planning on hand-to-hand combat.

“I don’t want you going after those
gurlucks alone.” At least Bacoj kept his voice steady. One didn’t
waver with a Nobek, especially one as willful as this
one.

Vax stood in the corner, watching them
silently. He wouldn’t speak against Japohn, though Bacoj knew he
disapproved of their clanmate’s actions. Vax had let him know soon
after they clanned Japohn it was up to Bacoj to claim his
leadership over the Nobek.

“Japohn won’t respect you unless you
stand up to him on your own. Until you do that, having me gang up
on him with you will only diminish you in his eyes.”

Bacoj knew Vax was right. But what
would happen if the young Dramok asserted his authority and Japohn
refused to listen? Worse still, what if the Nobek did accept his
leadership and things went terribly wrong? Especially in a
situation like this one, in which so many lives hung in the
balance?

“I’m going with you,” Bacoj told him,
reaching in for his own body armor, suspended among formsuits in
their shared closet.

Japohn shook his head, frowning. “You
have to stay here where I know you’re safe. I’m used to working
alone, and I can hit them before they know I’m even there.” He
patted Bacoj’s shoulder, his tone condescending enough to set the
Dramok’s teeth on edge. “It’s not the first time I’ve fought half a
dozen Tragooms.”

“It would be safer to sneak the
Earthers out. We can’t afford to lose you, Japohn. Even your
bloodlust can’t hide that from you.”

The Nobek refused to address his
concerns. “You won’t lose me. I’ll do a sweep of the perimeter to
make sure everyone here is safe before I go. I’ll leave in about
ten minutes, so be ready to receive fifteen refugees pretty
quick.”

With that, Japohn walked out of the
sleeping room, leaving Bacoj seething impotently. He heard the
Nobek mutter something to someone in the main cabin. Bacoj learned
which of the Earthers had stepped into the shuttle when Lindsey’s
voice rose in disbelief.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she
asked. There was no answer.

“You need to stand up to him before he
gets himself killed,” Vax growled.

Before Bacoj could respond, Lindsey
stormed in. “What the hell is Japohn doing?”

Bacoj ran his hands through his hair.
He was getting a headache. “Japohn being Nobek.”

Lindsey stamped her little foot in
frustration. If Bacoj hadn’t been so furious, he’d have found the
gesture of temper adorable. “He’s not taking on those Tragooms
alone. You have to stop him, Bacoj.”

Sure. While he was performing miracles,
he’d wind back time and save Earth too. “He no listen
me.”

She came close to him, her slight body
at once arousing his interest. The woman was an addictive creature.
Last night had left no doubt in his mind he wanted to clan
her.

“Make him listen to you.” Lindsey rose
up on her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips to his. In an instant
Bacoj’s arms were around her, molding her hard against his very
interested body. Fury at Japohn fed his ardor. It was never a good
idea to arouse an angry Kalquorian. Only the greatest control kept
him from ripping her clothes off and taking her with ruthless
need.

Lindsey broke the kiss with effort. Her
hands trembled against his chest and her scent wafted to his
nostrils. Her eyes lowered, her submissive instincts coming to the
fore in his demanding embrace. His manhood turned to iron in
response to her softening body. A growl leaked from deep in his
throat.

With obvious effort she asked, “Do you
have any ideas on how we can rescue the rest of those
people?”

It took a moment for his brain to
register the question. Right. He had a problem on his hands, a
problem that left no time for lovemaking no matter how desperate he
felt for her. Bacoj gently pushed Lindsey away from him, putting
space between their clamoring bodies.

“Idea. Yes. I think good
idea.”

Her chin raised and her gaze rose to
meet his. “Then stop Japohn. Don’t let him do anything
stupid.”

His little Earther was strong when sex
wasn’t involved, an equal to him. Bacoj was relieved. He admired
her spirit and didn’t want that part of her lost just because she
enjoyed handing over the reins during intimacy. It made her sensual
surrender that much sweeter.

He gave himself a mental shake.
Concentrate on the problem at hand. Stop thinking about sex, you
fool.

“Japohn hard to stop.”

“But you can do it. You’re the Dramok.
He’s supposed to listen to you, right?”

Bacoj sighed, glanced at Vax. The
Imdiko raised his eyebrows, his thoughts obvious. Go ahead, Bacoj.
Are you our Dramok or not?

Damn them both. If it was that easy,
didn’t they realize he’d do it?

Steeling his voice to appear patient
with Lindsey, Bacoj said, “Japohn know more. More
experience.”

“Would he have chosen you for a Dramok
if he didn’t believe in you?”

Her statement startled him. He’d never
considered Japohn might actually want him to take
control.

Vax grinned at Bacoj’s stunned
expression. “Lindsey correct.” In Kalquorian he said, “Japohn
pursued us. He campaigned to be our Nobek. He must have seen you as
a worthy Dramok to do so.”

Bacoj rolled the idea around in his
head. Nobeks were by nature fierce protectors of their clans, quick
to advise their Dramoks, but even quicker to carry out orders. The
members of the warrior breed were dedicated to a fault, their trust
in the clan’s leadership unshakeable.

But even if Japohn took Bacoj’s orders
to heart, there was still the matter of gross inexperience. “What
if idea bad?” Bacoj worried.

Lindsey shrugged. “Run it by all of us.
We’ll discuss it, find any weaknesses and keep Japohn from getting
his Nobek hide handed to him.”

Vax nodded in approval. “Nobek, Imdiko
and Matara advise. Dramok decide and lead.”

Bacoj felt a thrill when he heard Vax
mention Matara. His clanmate was considering Lindsey a part of
their clan already.

But to make Lindsey ours, I need to be
a real leader. She can’t be the Matara to a weak Dramok.

Bacoj drew himself up. “I am Dramok,”
he asserted, more for his own benefit than theirs. He gently pushed
Lindsey aside, her smile giving him the courage to walk out to
confront Japohn.

* * * *

Lindsey felt a rush of warmth seeing
the resolute strength on Bacoj’s dark face as he left. For heaven’s
sake, was she going to melt into a puddle of goo every time the
aliens displayed assertiveness? Just seeing the forceful
expressions the men sometimes wore was enough to make her feel
shaky inside.

I am such a freak.

She glanced at Vax and flushed to see
the calculating look he gave her despite his sweet smile. In some
ways she thought he might be as dangerous as Japohn. Not in a
physical sense, but his easygoing Imdiko nature masked a will of
steel when he was aroused sexually. Since she had a bad habit of
turning to jello in the presence of such mastery, he made her
nervous. And excited. Especially when he stared hungrily at her
body like it was one of the tasty meals he prepared.

Like he was doing now.

Swallowing hard and trying to contain
the butterflies that had been set loose in her belly, Lindsey
asked, “Should you go with Bacoj to give him some
support?”

He shook his head, his eyes keeping her
imprisoned with his stare. “I go, make Bacoj weak to
Japohn.”

“Will Japohn listen?” Good, steady
voice. No hint of the hormones rampaging through her.

But Vax moved towards her, and her
anxiety level rose along with her libido. Even though he was the
smallest of the clan, he still towered over Lindsey. He stood
before her, his mere presence making her feel small. Vulnerable.
Helpless. She looked down, unable to meet the intensity of his
purple cat’s eyes.