Page 11 of A Mate for Vasek (Tallean Mercenaries #11)

Vasek

By the time he tossed the first worthless male aside, the rest had already realized what was happening and were ready to fight. There were only a few of them, plus Morad, but Vasek was outnumbered, so he hadn’t had any qualms about attacking first to even out the numbers.

The one with the cut across his cheek who had tried to touch Dawn threw a punch at him.

But in bloodlust, Vasek’s reaction time was unrivaled, and he was nimble too.

He evaded and kicked out his clawed and heavily booted feet, catching the male in the stomach.

The angle was wrong, and the slash of his talons wasn’t quite large enough to eviscerate him like the first male, but the guy crumbled to the ground, holding his belly.

Although two of them had been taken out of the equation, it was still three versus one. Vasek needed to remove one more opponent if he wanted a chance to win.

The group had stopped right in the path of a tentacle tree, called that because its long hanging vines were coated with a thick sticky substance that caught their prey before they dissolved them with their digestive juices.

They were related to carnivorous grass, except their tentacles were a lot stronger.

He moved to stand in front of the tree, staying just out of its reach.

One of the idiots fell for it, charging at him.

A slight miscalculation meant the male managed to grab hold of Vasek, pulling him along within reach of the carnivorous tree.

Before Vasek could wrench himself away, the until-now immobile and seemingly lifeless tentacles started to move.

Grabbing him, the sticky goo latching onto his shirt.

He thought fast, ripping the shirt off and letting the tree have the top.

A part of the tentacle had touched his skin, however, and Vasek braced as he threw himself away from the tree as hard as he could.

There was a feeling of skin tearing and Vasek gritted his teeth. Losing some skin was a much better fate than being slowly digested alive.

Morad and the other remaining male rounded on him now that he was outside of the tree’s reach. Two on one was a much better deal.

Morad, realizing that he no longer had the upper hand, fled. And so did the other male. Vasek followed him for a few steps before he remembered why he was really here.

Dawn!

He looked around for her, but she was gone.

He heard her, though. She was running back toward their shuttle.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the need to hunt her down, throw her on the ground, and claim her, he followed.

These irrational thoughts were why Vasek had spent so much of his life trying not to go into bloodlust. But like his father and his brother, he was prone to it.

This rampaging, illogical beast wasn’t what he wanted to be.

This was a part of him he’d tried very hard to tamp down. He was supposed to save lives, not end them. But he’d always struggled with the innate desire for violence that all Talleans had. Bloodlust made it harder.

Vasek caught up to Dawn easily. The look she sent behind her back at him told him all he needed to know: she was running from him, but he would catch her, and once he did, she’d be his.

He plucked her from the trail, her arms and legs still flailing.

She wore his top, but it had been ripped during her escape.

He finished the job, tearing it from her to expose her to him.

She was utter perfection, and he couldn’t believe his luck that he’d have such beauty to celebrate his victory with.

Her body wiggled deliciously against his and his cock hardened almost painfully. He rolled his hips, rubbing his burgeoning length against her, which only made her squirm in his arms even more.

Something at the back of his brain screamed for him to stop, that something was wrong.

He couldn’t smell any danger, so he listened instead.

There was the sound of creatures moving in the woods around them, big ones.

Bright feathers flashed in between the trees.

Carrion birds, scary-looking but mostly harmless, were more interested in the mess he’d left behind than in him and his delectable prize.

This was when he realized Dawn was still shaking like a leaf in his arms. Didn’t she know that the danger was over? He had her now, and he’d protect her. He put her on the ground and she scrambled away from him, and he realized it was him she was afraid of.

In fact, Dawn was absolutely terrified of him.

He recalled the first time he’d seen that look on her face. Bakum had been holding her by the hair, and the sight had Vasek’s fangs descending. Was that what she was scared of?

On the outer planets, unaffected by the Goddess’s teachings, some females found males who went into bloodlust sexy.

But some Tallean females found going into bloodlust impolite and uncouth, especially those from the more religious parts of the inner planets.

The Goddess’s favored were a sub-species of Talleans who were smaller, more delicately built, and had lost the ability to go into the altered state meant to enhance their senses when fighting.

The Favored were the Talleans’ ruling class and didn’t need to fight when they had common, lower-caste Talleans to fight for them.

But Dawn was human, and humans didn’t have an altered state that helped them fight or hunt. Also, it wasn’t disgust that radiated from her, like it would from a Favored witnessing bloodlust, but fear.

Vasek wanted to tell her that he would not harm her, but the only words that came from his distorted cheeks were unintelligible. Dawn took another step back from him, almost stepping right into the very plants that had given her that rash on her thigh.

Vasek swooped her up onto his arms again and strode toward their shuttle, which was a bit difficult since his cock was still hard and in the way.

He was glad he’d managed to stop himself. Not only had Dawn been completely terrified of him when he was in bloodlust, but he also didn’t want to trigger a mate bond. Though satisfying his lust for her once might not cause that to happen.

But also, the wilderness was no place to celebrate his victory. The rash that was healing on her leg was a reminder of just how delicate she was. Not weak, though. No weak-minded soul would ever find the courage to brave the wilds alone, even in New Rhea.

And what was she doing out here on her own anyway?

She surely wasn’t attempting to rendezvous with these thugs.

Where was she planning to go? Logically, her best bet was to stay with Vasek.

Until now, he’d demanded nothing from her, and even his actions now were only because he’d been acting on instincts alone, something he swore to himself would not happen again. He had better control than this.

The more Vasek thought about it, the more upset he got at the fact that she’d tried to run off when he’d shown her nothing but kindness. From what he’d heard, she’d known the group was after her. And she also knew there were dangers in the wild, yet she’d still chanced it. But for what?

Humans were known for their intelligence.

It was what made them different from the Fietes.

The Fietes were the most common subjugated species in the Dominion because they were obedient and none too smart.

Humans, on the other hand, were wily, intelligent, and hard to control.

And while their brains were wired for logic, sometimes emotions overrode their more logical side, like his own species.

Hate, love, and hope were the eternal enemies of reason.

Was that what was happening here? Was there someone Dawn was trying to get back to? A male, perhaps. Another slave? Maybe someone else? A friend or acquaintance of Kotch? The thought of her with another male had Vasek tamping down a growl.

Dawn

They were back at the shuttle, and the big Tallean male was wiping her down from head to toe with a thick wet wipe.

He wasn’t being gentle about it either, and something about the way he was doing it made her feel like a bad kid who’d been caught stealing from the corner store and was about to get an ass-whooping.

His top had been slashed open, and she was staring at his big, muscular chest. It was better than seeing the scary, stern look on his face.

“What in Stars’ name were you trying to do?” he demanded. The words were a bit distorted by his cheeks and fangs, but she understood them. But even if she couldn’t, she could read the anger on his face.

He jerked her chin up to look at him.

Vasek’s fangs were mostly retracted now, but his cheek creases were still partially extended, and there was blood on his face. Dawn squeezed her eyes shut again at the memory of him tearing one of his enemies’ throats out.

“Were you trying to get yourself killed?” He’d grabbed a new wipe to clean her face.

Dawn flinched at the sting, and when he went over the scrapes on her cheekbone from the bark, he softened his touch. She wondered if Vasek would be upset that the scrapes would scar and lower her value. Kotch would’ve been.

She couldn’t believe she’d actually hoped Vasek would come and rescue her from Morad. How silly she’d been! She’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the flames. He caught her trying to escape. He was rightfully angry.

She had just witnessed what an angry Vasek was capable of. He’d ripped those guys apart with nothing but his fangs and claws. Even with their blasters drawn, they hadn’t stood a chance. Morad had run like a coward.

If you’d asked her which one she’d prefer this morning, she would’ve said Vasek, hands down. But now she wasn’t sure. He’d come after her, tearing the clothes from her body when he was still in bloodlust.

She knew that after the enhanced state some Talleans called bloodlust, they often craved sexual release. The wires between violence and sex were slightly crossed in Talleans, and the first often led to the second. Dawn had known some females who were turned on by it, but she wasn’t one of them.

It scared her. A lot. And now Vasek scared her.

“What is so important that you’d brave the wilds and those thugs on your own?”

He sounded more normal now, and Dawn dared another peek. The fangs were normal again, which meant they were barely peeking out, and his cheek creases were folded. Done with cleaning her, he was now wiping himself off with another one of those disposable wipes.

Dawn couldn’t tell him the truth. What if she did and Vasek alerted the depot or the authorities of their escape plan? She’d never give up her fellow humans. If they failed because of her, she’d never ever forgive herself.

She clamped her mouth shut, knowing that it was going to earn her some horrible punishment.

“Is it for a male? A lover?” The question ended on a low growl.

Vasek thought she was trying to get back to a lover? That was unexpected.

“Answer me.”

Dawn just stared at him, open-mouthed, and at a complete loss for words. She was flabbergasted that he thought she was escaping because she had a lover back at the port. Eventually, she found her voice. “No, no lover.”

He leaned in close and sniffed her. “You are not lying.”

So Vasek had a nose sensitive enough to detect lies.

That was good to know. Some Talleans could, some couldn’t, but all of them could outsmell a human any day of the week.

Kotch couldn’t really, but he claimed he could.

Dawn had known the truth. Kotch relied on other clues in conjunction with his nose, and half the time he was guessing.

Morad, on the other hand, was pretty darn good at it, which was probably why he’d believed her back at the clearing. Was Vasek as good as him?

“Then where were you going? I don’t believe you are stupid enough to try to survive in the wilds with no food, water, or weapon.”

Should she pretend that was what she’d been about to do? She was a decent liar, but somehow, she doubted it would work. So she kept quiet. The more she talked, the bigger a hole she’d be digging. She was fucked enough already.

“Tell me. I promise I will not be angry.” Vasek held her firmly by the shoulder and gave her a light shake. Not the violent way Bakum had done, but softer, like he really needed to get through to her.

But promise or not, Dawn knew she couldn’t say a word. This hadn’t been just her chance to go home, but for others as well. Others like her. She would not jeopardize their mission.

Vasek moved and she braced herself, expecting a blow that never came.

Instead, Vasek just let out a low growl and stomped away.

“Don’t bother trying to escape or stealing my shuttle. It won’t work. Once I return, we are leaving New Rhea.” The door to the shuttle closed behind him, and Dawn was left alone, still completely naked.

Shit! Leaving New Rhea? That meant she wouldn’t have a chance to try again, though she highly doubted Vasek would give her such a chance in the future.

She was going to miss her one and only chance to get back to Earth for a very, very long time.

What if she never found anyone else willing to take the chance?

What if she never saw home again? Had she seen the sun and moon of her childhood for the last time already?

Ever since learning of this plan to steal the depot’s ship and make the big trek home, it had been all she lived for.

Every time she wanted to give up she thought of that, and it kept her going.

She didn’t even have anyone left to go back to, but just the thought of returning to see the places she once knew was enough.

“I just want to sit on a bench in Central Park and watch the fucking squirrels. It’s not that big an ask!” she screamed into the empty shuttle.

But now she’d never make it back on time. She would miss her chance.

Refusing to give up the thin, barely-there thread of hope that had been nourishing her soul, she went to the shuttle’s door and tried to open it. It did not budge. Next, she tried the navigational screen, but it too refused to react to her. It was like she didn’t exist.

Angry, she slammed her hand down on it.

Oww! That freaking hurt!

The screen stared back at her, unchanged and undamaged, and it only made her even angrier.

She wanted to hit something, break something.

But there was nothing. Try as she might, she couldn’t open any of the cabinets, and the chairs were magnetized to the floor.

In the end, the only thing she could find to take her anger out on was the singular pillow.

Dawn hadn’t allowed herself to cry for years, refusing to show any weakness. But here, faced with the loss of hope and completely alone, the tears streamed down her face.