Wray

  “Nicely done, Veron.” Wray smiled at his longtime friend and Captain.

  “Thank you, sire.”

  Wray followed his men as they exited the shuttle. The stench hit him first. He had forgotten how bad Ganglians smelled. In the open air, they were barely tolerable; in an enclosed ship, they were overwhelming.

  The blast from a stunner had everyone ducking in shock. The Ganglians were resisting? Ganglians never resisted. Especially not the Tornians, for Tornians were the most-feared warriors in all the known universes and for good reason. Not only did their size intimidate as most were seven feet of solid muscle, but so did their reputation. They were known for being deadly and brutal when it came to battle.

  “Something isn’t right, Veron.” Wray said.

  “I agree. You need to return to the Searcher, Majesty.” Veron nodded to two of the warriors with them.

  “No.” Wray told him angrily, he knew Veron was just doing his job, protecting his Emperor, but he wouldn’t scurry away at the first sign of trouble. He was Emperor Wray Vasteri, and he scurried for no one.

  “Emperor.”

  “Enough, Captain! Let’s find out what they are hiding.”

  Sighing heavily, Veron nodded. “Yes, majesty, just stay close. Grim will have my head if anything happens to you.”

  Wray smiled at Veron’s reference to his brother. Since he was correct. Grim would have Veron’s head if Wray were to die. Grim had absolutely no desire to become Emperor. All he wanted was to be left alone on Luda so he could train his warriors.

  The battle wasn’t long or brutal, disappointing all. The Ganglians shot and ran, shot and ran until those that remained were cornered in the command center of the ship. Once inside, they found only five remaining Ganglians, including one wearing the Captain’s collar.

  “What did you find?” Wray demanded of Veron.

  “There are slaves in the cargo hold sire, all Zaludian males.” Veron informed him.

  “Slavery is illegal, Ganglian.” Wray’s eyes were hard as he looked at the smaller male.

  “You have no authority here, Tornian.” The Captain hissed. “This is Kaliszian space. You will die for this insult.”

  “I will not die, Ganglian scum. I am Emperor Wray Vasteri, and you have passed through my space with slaves. If you had carried females, it would be punishable by death. Instead, your cargo will be freed. Your ship will be taken and you will pay for your crimes by mining for the Kaliszian.” Wray leaned down, grasping the Captain by the throat, lifting him off his feet. “Tell me Ganglian, why did you resist? Why did so many choose to die?”

  “None chose to die.” The Captain hissed at him, frantically clawing at Wray's hand. “You murdered them, Tornian scum. It will be known that you attacked for no reason.” A muffled thud had the Captain releasing a high-pitched squeal, the hairy creature's equivalent of paling.

  Wray’s eyes narrowed at the reaction and dropped the male, his eyes scanning the area. They were in the command center of the Ganglian ship. It contained only control, communications and navigation consoles. Where could that sound have come from?

  “You will leave my ship!” The Ganglian Captain started to demand, without turning Wray’s fist struck him in the throat, silencing him. Advancing closer to the communications console, he heard it again, but fainter this time. Leaning down, he tore off the unsecured cover of an access hatch and roared.

  Every male in the room jumped at the sound of the Emperor’s rage, for he was the controlled one of House Vasteri, to hear it unleashed was something rarely heard.

  “Sire.” Veron quickly moved to his side.

  “Get a Healer! Get him now!” Wray ordered as he carefully eased out what he had found.

  Wray carefully laid the tiny female on the deck, his eyes quickly assessing her injuries. She was battered and bruised, her coverings nonexistent. It was obvious she had been abused, the heavy bruising and shredded skin on her thighs a testament to it.

  His eyes flew to the Ganglian Captain, who shrunk away, seeing his death. Rising, Wray drew his sword.

  “You did this! To a female!” Before the Captain could even squeak, Wray’s sword split his belly open. “Suffer and die!” Wray commanded moving to the next Ganglian. A weak moan stopped him, drawing his attention back to the female. “Finish this.” He commanded Veron.

  Returning to the female, Wray dropped to his knees, carefully brushing aside the thick, dull hair that covered her face to reveal the pain filled emerald eyes. He was surprised when instead of shrinking from his touch, she lifted torn and bloody fingers to his cheek and whispered something he couldn’t understand. It was then that the full horror of what had happened to her sunk in. Not only had she been abused, she had been denied the learning program. She hadn’t even understood her captors. The light in the eyes that held his began to fade, and her hand fell away, leaving a bloody smear in its place.

  "Bring the portable repair unit! Now! And an educator!" He ordered.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Kim looked up at the handsome creature growling above her. "Warrior." She whispered, reaching up to touch him. So this was what Warrior would have looked like if he had been human; strong, powerful, commanding. His long, thick, hair pulled away from an angular face. God had let him keep the beautiful dark gray eyes, she'd loved and the massive muscles that had protected her, covering them all in beautiful bronze skin. Feeling the last of her strength ebbing away, she let her hand fall. At least she wasn't alone. Warrior was with her.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Wray roared when the female closed her eyes. "Run the repair unit!" He ordered.

  "Sire, we don't know what species she is. It could kill her."

  "It won't matter for she will die without it."

  Wray waited several tense-filled minutes as the unit scanned her. This unit was meant for battle. It quickly healed the most life threatening wounds a warrior received until he could get to a deep repair unit. It was never meant for one so small. If it refused to treat her…. The unit ran up and down her body several times before it activated and began to concentrate on her lower half, revealing where the most serious of her injuries were.

  "Sire." Veron knelt beside him holding out the educator. "It is programmed with language only.

  "It will be enough for now." Taking the device, Wray carefully placed it over the female’s eyes then activated it. With it only having language, it wouldn’t take long. "Get into their navigational system, Veron. I want to know where she came from."

  "Yes, sire." With one last look at the little female, Veron rose.

  Seeing a shiver run through her small frame, Wray realized that the coolness of her touch was not normal for her. Ganglians with their thick fur kept their ships cool. It didn't bother Tornians for their bodies could compensate; apparently, hers could not. Shifting, Wray removed his shirt, giving her what warmth he could while concealing her body from the curious gazes of his warriors.

  After several more minutes of the unit moving up and down the female, it shuts off, signaling it had done all it could. Any more healing would have to be done on the Searcher. Removing the educator, Wray carefully lifted the unconscious female in his arms worried he would hurt her. Instead, she pressed closer to his bare skin, instinctively seeking his warmth. Looking down at her, Wray felt something in him shift.

  Tornian females didn’t seek comfort from a male; they didn’t press against them. Not unless it was during Joinings and even then it was only to seek their own relief. For this one to do so, even unknowingly, brought out every protective instinct in Wray.

  “Sire. They’ve erased their navigation history.” Veron’s comment pulled Wray’s gaze from the female.

  “What?” Wray asked.

  “They initiated a purge of their navigation history as soon as we boarded.” Veron told him.

  “Can you stop it?”

  “Already done, sire, but most of it is gone.”

  “Why would they do that?” Wray asked, frown
ing. “What else are they hiding?”

  “I will have a complete scan done of all their systems, have the males in the hold interviewed to see what they know." Veron paused. "They also sent out a transmission to another Ganglian ship once they realized they had been detected.”

  They both knew this was extremely unusual behavior for Ganglians. They didn’t come to each other’s aid, not unless they were paid in advance and even then, it was no guarantee. The slightest breath caressing his chest reminded him that he had something more important to see too.

  “Find out what is going on, Veron. I’m taking her back to the Searcher.”

  “Yes, sire.” Veron watched his Emperor carry the small female away. He doubted she would survive; only the strongest could when exposed to the Ganglians, and she did not appear strong. Dismissing her, he turned back to his assigned task.

  Buttoning up his shirt, Wray’s fingers paused when they brushed the curve of a soft, full breast. Tornian female’s breasts weren’t this soft or large, these would fill his hands, would be giving. Wray shook his head... He should not be having these thoughts. Not about one that had been so severely abused. It was likely she would never recover from the abuse, never allow a male to touch her again. Quickly he finished his task and secured her in her seat.

  “Go.” He ordered the pilot.

  Taking his seat Wray found his eyes returning to the female. Already the black and blue of her abuse was fading, leaving behind a grayish brown color that made him wonder if it were her natural color. Tornians came in many colors, each a designation of their lineage. Wray himself was a deep bronze, representing House Vasteri. He and his brother Grim and Wray’s first male offspring, Tora, were the only ones left to represent their House. His youngest, Van, had died nearly five years ago in a transport accident. He was to be Tora’s second, the future King of Luda, just as his brother Grim was Wray’s. Van would have been the one male Tora could always depend on. Now Tora would have no one, for after the death of his Empress Adana, Wray had decided not to take a new female.

  Many females had approached him after Adana’s death, for to be Empress was to be the most powerful female in the Empire. Even Risa, not even eighteen, had approached him. He had refused them all, something only an Emperor could do for no male refused a female’s offer to Join, for he needed the offspring she would provide him.

  It had been the Tornian way for centuries now. A male attracted a female by what he could provide her. In return, she provided him with offspring, preferably female, for that increased the male’s position and status. Male offspring only maintained it, for they had enough males. Once she had done this, she would look for another male, taking all that she had been given, leaving behind her offspring.

  It was the way of all Tornian females, all except for the Empress, for she would solely be the Emperor’s, providing offspring to only him, securing the Imperial line. Adana had given Wray two fit and worthy males and upon her death, he had felt others deserved the chance of continuing their bloodlines. Now he wondered if he had done the right thing.

  Since he’d made that decision, Grim had been deemed ‘unfit’ by the Assembly after an attack by a group of warriors, and while none of them had survived, Grim had been gravely injured, leaving scars across his face and body. Because of that, no Tornian female would Join with him, believing he would be unable to protect her. Stupid females. His brother was the strongest, fiercest warrior in the entire Empire. No female under his protection would ever be harmed. Still, without one willing to give him offspring, Grim could not maintain his position, and there was nothing Wray could do about it.

  Then Van had died...

  Wray was jerked from his dark thoughts when the shuttle suddenly lurched sideways, its lights flickering as impact alarms sounded. “What is happening!” He demanded storming into the cockpit.

  “An unknown ship is firing upon us, Majesty!” The warrior frantically worked the damaged controls, trying to stabilize the shuttle. “The Searcher is returning fire, but...” His words were cut off as the shuttle took another hit, throwing Wray out of the cockpit.

  Struggling to regain his footing Wray’s eyes immediately searched for the female and found her still unconscious and safely secured in her seat. Grabbing the overhead supports, Wray muscled his way back into the cockpit. Inside, he found the warrior dead and the shuttle falling helplessly towards a small planet.

  Sliding into the second pilot seat Wray tried to regain control of the shuttle, but nearly every control had been destroyed. With the planet looming large before him, he did the only thing left for him to do. Pointing the nose of the shuttle towards the planet, he prayed to the Goddess that he could slow it down enough to land without killing them.

  Chapter Two

  Wray leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. It had been two long days since they had crashed on Pontus, an old mining planet in the Kaliszian Empire and the female had yet to wake.

  He had barely gotten them out of the shuttle before it exploded. His original plan had been to stay close to the wreckage making it easier for Veron to retrieve them, but a storm had been brewing on the horizon and he had barely made it to this cave before it hit.

  At first, he had been at a loss as to how to care for the female, never having done it before. If Adana had needed care, she went to the Healer, not to him. Quickly realizing he had to do something or she would perish, he had lifted her into his lap and carefully wrapped his arms around her, sharing his warmth. She had immediately responded to his touch by burrowing in closer, just as she had on the Ganglian ship.

  When morning had dawned, the storm still raged and the female was still unconscious. Knowing he needed to get nourishment into her, he’d opened the survival pack he’d managed to grab upon leaving the shuttle and had been shocked to discover it contained only two liquid nutrition packets. There should have been five along with a portable repair unit. He assumed the unit was missing because they had used it on the Ganglian ship; the bags were another story. They should have been there, they were meant to sustain a severely wounded Warrior until help arrived.

  Knowing he could do nothing about it, he had slowly tried to feed her the first packet but instead of swallowing, the fluid had flowed out of her mouth. He growled, his frustration and she’d responded by swallowing. He quickly discovered that the more he talked to her the more she would allow him to care for her.

  So Wray talked... and talked... until he was nearly hoarse. He told her about the infection that had changed his world. About how they were searching all the known Universes for compatible females. He told her how enraged he was at what the Ganglians had done to her. Told her that if she had been his, it never would have happened, she would have been protected, cherished.

  Wray was amazed at the sense of freedom he found in telling her these things, things he had told no other living creature, not even Grim. It mattered not that she wouldn’t remember what he said, it only mattered that he told her. He told her about the guilt he’d always felt knowing that every Tornian female wanted to Join with him, all because of a chance of birth when there were others, like his brother, that were just as worthy. He told her how it ate at him that he hadn’t been able to give his brother the justice he deserved after his attack. How he might actually have to strip him of his title if no female gave him offspring.

  He admitted to her that it had been the real reason he had refused to take another Empress. He had hoped one would choose Grim instead. He told her how he feared he would be unable to save his people. They were dying faster than anyone truly knew and he worried what would happen when they found out. Would they sacrifice their honor for survival, as the Ganglians had? Through it all, she had remained silent, her only response was snuggling closer to him as the temperatures dropped.

  When Wray had given her all the water the pack contained he’d been forced to wrap her in the thin survival blanket and laid her on the hard ground, to retrieve more. Following the luciferins clinging to the walls,
he went deeper into the cave, using their light to find the water that had to be there to support them. He was amazed when he found not one, but two pools, one with steam gently rising from it and one that ran clear and cool. It explained the multitude of luciferins that flourished here.

  When he returned, he found that despite the survival blanket, she was curled up in a ball, shivering and crying. Wray swept her up into his arms and she immediately calmed.

  It was then that he discovered her true color. Her tears had left white paths running down her face. Wray immediately carried her back to the pool of heated water and cleansed her.

  What the water revealed had shocked him. Her skin was as pale as the petals of the Moonflower and so fragile looking that he feared his touch would damage her. His hand had trembled when he carefully rubbed the pool’s fine sand on her skin, removing the dirt and grime from her soft, full breasts, where he lingered longer than he should have, but they had been so soft. They filled his hand as nothing ever had, her dusty nipples tightening at his touch begging him to suckle. His head had actually lowered before he managed to stop himself a hair's breath away from tasting the tempting morsel. Forcing himself away, he continued to cleanse her.

  Her waist… his hands easily spanned it, his fingers touching she was so tiny. Her thighs, healed by the repair unit, were long and firm but still soft and giving. Adana’s had been longer, but much firmer, there was no doubt which he found more appealing. He wondered what it would feel like to settle between them, to embed himself inside her. Would she be soft and giving inside too?

  He forced himself not to linger when he cleansed her female’s nub, not allowing himself to pinch or rub it. He wanted to just see if it would swell with need. She moved in his arms then, as if his mere touch excited her, which was impossible, no female was aroused merely by a male’s touch.