Page 11 of Chased by the Alien Mercenary (Monster Mercenary Mates #6)

Lyra

By the time we’d left the mansion far behind us—a dot of glittering lights and cold stone—I felt frozen to the bone.

My toes had gone numb despite excessive wriggling, and I was beginning to lose feeling in my hands, even though I’d tucked them beneath my armpits.

I was also nauseated from my swaying, half-upside-down position over his shoulder.

In short, I was very done with the situation and ready for it to be over.

Wasn’t he a mercenary? That’s what Keya had said.

Did he wear high-tech armor? So why hadn’t he called for help yet?

Was he stranded the way I was? So many questions, and there were not going to be any answers because he didn’t talk.

Not one word. All he did was growl and snarl.

At least it was starting to seem as though he liked me, and I supposed even this cold and the risk of losing a few toes was better than what would have been in store for me if we hadn’t escaped.

I shivered, and it wasn’t from the stiff breeze.

“Now what, buddy?” I said, not for the first time.

Darkness was beginning to fall, and some of the wildflowers were starting to glow with a strange, eerie kind of bioluminescence.

Definitely alien, and not at all like the rolling hills from The Sound of Music I’d compared them to before.

I’d been close enough to the pretty petals to know that these were plants with fangs, too—carnivorous, bug-eating.

I guessed we were lucky that it was so cold the bugs weren’t actually out right now.

I was scared to find out what they looked like.

My caveman growled in response to my question, just like he had the last time.

I was starting to expect an actual cave at some point, and beginning to worry whether he had more in mind than just cuddling for warmth.

What would I do if he tried anything? The man had ripped guys limb from limb in front of me, that didn’t exactly inspire the confidence to say no.

I sighed, curling myself more tightly into a ball against his shoulder.

If only my feet were warm, maybe I could think.

I’d never wished for shoes more than I did at that moment, but I had a feeling that gaudy mansion was the only sign of civilization in this pristine landscape.

Pulling my legs more tightly against his chest, I slid my toes against his armor.

He had felt warm in the cell, but out here, the cold seemed to cling to the tough surface.

Then, finally, it seemed my abductor got a clue.

Maybe he thought my wriggling was annoying because he suddenly grabbed hold of my foot and pinned it in place.

It was then he realized how cold my poor toes were.

He hissed and then growled furiously, the sound echoing between the mountains.

His hands abruptly shifted along my body, yanking me down into his arms in front of his chest. He was no longer hauling me around like a caveman; now he was holding me bridal style.

His eyes seemed a little wild and frantic as he patted me down one-handed and tucked the blanket more tightly around me.

He was attempting to bundle me up in it so that no skin remained exposed, and, to his clear horror, discovered that the thin blanket simply wasn’t enough.

I took pity on him when I saw that, and felt at least a little warmth unfurl in my chest. Okay—good.

He wanted to take care of me, at least; he hadn’t let me be so cold on purpose.

I patted his face with a hand. “Yeah, I’m really cold.

I’m sorry, humans appear a bit more flimsy than whatever the hell you are…

Can we try to find shelter and make a fire?

Can you make a fire for me?” This was foolhardy.

He couldn’t understand me; he didn’t speak.

There had been glimmers—hints—that he might understand some of what I wanted, but I probably had to play charades to get what I wanted.

That would involve exposing more of myself to the cold air again, and I couldn’t bear the thought.

He bared his sharp teeth, all of them pointed like fangs, none of them blunt the way mine were.

He didn’t growl; the snarl was silent, and I wasn’t sure if it was directed at me or himself.

But then he lifted his chin and sniffed at the air.

He changed directions, striding with purpose toward a rocky, barren outcrop in the distance.

In the rapidly falling darkness, I could not make out much of it, but the glowing flowers were conspicuously absent around it.

Yup, it was a cave. I was actually relieved to see it, even though it made the comparison to being hauled off by a caveman more apt.

It was a narrow opening, but when he ducked through with me, the ceiling rose beyond the narrow entrance and he could actually straighten to his full—and impressive—height.

The cave wasn’t very deep: a round bowl with a curved ceiling and a narrow opening.

One side projected further than the other, and it blocked the cutting wind.

I instantly felt less cold, but I knew that was deceptive.

I’d stopped shivering a while ago, so I was already edging toward hypothermia.

He put me down on a smooth rock, and I huddled there, clutching the blanket to me.

Okay, shelter down, now I just needed fire to survive.

I leaned forward, watching how he crouched and locked his scarlet eyes onto my moving hand.

Drawing a circle in the dirt floor, I mimed piling wood there and lighting it on fire.

“Fire, please. I’m so cold. I need heat.

” His eyes grew larger, the red glow of them wavering like dancing flames, but he didn’t move, just kept watching me.

“Damn it,” I growled under my breath. That made him twitch, and when I looked up from my circle in the dirt to his face, I was almost certain the ghost of a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.

Marked like a jawbone with teeth, that mouth didn’t have any right to look pretty and lush, but that bottom lip was full and soft-looking, anyway.

I folded my arms over my chest and hunkered down again, my stomach rumbling to remind me that, yes, I had not eaten in possibly a day.

Not much water to drink, either, and it and the cold were making it hard to think.

I felt tired, lethargic, sluggish. None of those were good signs.

“Help?” I tried again. He stared, unmoving, crouched near me and watching.

He had big, muscular thighs and wide shoulders.

The sun had gone down just enough to stroke one beam of light through the cave entrance, and it outlined every dip and valley of his impressive muscles.

Whoever had designed the armor he wore deserved a medal.

Honestly. That suit made him look divine.

He was the hottest, sexiest alien beast I’d ever met.

I might have mumbled something along those lines to him as I curled onto my side against the rock and surrendered to the exhaustion that tugged at me.

I was only barely aware of his feet as he abruptly rushed from the cave and abandoned me in the dark. Great. Now he’d left me too. Was he going to get wood for a fire, or had he decided I was more trouble than I was worth. Weak little human that I was?

Struggling with my heavy limbs, I suddenly felt too warm, and I wanted to toss the blanket away. That was bad—I knew it—so I didn’t, but damn if that wasn’t a struggle. I was slipping, and there was nothing I could do to help myself. Nothing at all but wait. Would he come back? Would he be in time?

***

Solear

“ Aramon, I need help ,” I snarled along our telepathic pathway.

My heart was pounding in my chest with fury, and with worry.

I was an idiot who’d harmed his mate. I should have known better than to assume she could handle the cool temperatures outside.

Llykhe was beautiful, but it could get very cold at night, and we were on the autumn side of the planet.

Considering the number of blankets Aramon had had to purchase for his mate, and the way he complained about her cold feet at night, I should have realized my Lyra couldn’t handle the cold the way I could.

At least the mansion was nearby. I could raid it for supplies, they probably wouldn’t expect that right after we’d escaped.

It would take me an hour at most to get there unburdened by her slight weight.

If I ran as fast as I could, I could cut that time in half.

Was that too long, given her state? Since Aramon wasn’t answering right away, I decided I had to take the risk.

There was no wood for a fire on this empty hillside, I had to get other supplies to warm her.

Every minute I wasted could be too much.

With a growl, I shoved a boulder to partially block the cave entrance.

That would keep more of the wind out and possibly deter any predators.

Not that Llykhe had many, it was a very quiet and peaceful planet, smack in the middle of Aderian territory.

A very clever hiding place for a crimelord’s vacation home.

Nobody would think to look for, or bother, Jalima in a place like this. Except us, of course.

I was barreling down the mountain at breakneck speeds, my feet digging into the grassy surface, carnivorous plants nipping at my heels.

Taking a shortcut across a narrow ravine required a few dangerous leaps, but I was certain it shaved off even more time, so it was worth the risk.

All the while, I kept trying to reach my brother, but my twin was probably asleep.

When he did answer, the mansion was already filling my vision.

“What do you need, bro?” Aramon asked without hesitation, though he was sleepy and a little groggy.

I drew in a relieved breath and tossed all caution to the wind.

Though I’d had plenty of reasons not to share yet that I’d found her—my mate—this was much more important.

Lyra needed help, and fire was impossible, so…

what did she need? How much time did she have?

The anxiety of not knowing was horrible, and it made me want to run faster and kill things.

I’d already killed plenty earlier, though, and that wasn’t going to help her one bit.

The memory of touching her tiny, cold feet and discovering just how icy they were would forever be engraved on my mind.

It was followed by the terror of not knowing what I was supposed to do next.

My only thought had been to put distance between us and the mansion so they wouldn’t be able to find us.

Lyra needed more than I knew how to give—but I was determined not to fail her.

So I shared Lyra’s existence with Aramon, asking him what he thought she needed.

At the same time, I leaped over a small protective wall and slashed my claws through the camera hanging from the edge to disable it.

Then I was over and thudding onto the back of a patrolling guard; he was silenced with the snap of his neck.

I checked his belt, taking his knife and pistol and wrenching his com unit from his wrist. Those could help, but he had little else of use on him.

I stuffed his body behind a shed, then snuck around the building to find away in and get what I needed.

My twin was a relentless tease to most crewmates, but, much to my relief, he did not crow in delight at hearing my news.

He did not ask questions or prod for more information, like an image of Lyra’s face.

He just started listing all the things I’d need to keep her safe and healthy, and I dutifully piled everything into a blanket as an improvised duffel as I raided one wing of the house.

Nobody had noticed my incursion yet, but I wasn’t going to stick around long enough for them to find me.

The last thing I needed was a fight to distract and delay me.

In and out, as fast as possible, that was the goal as I raced to follow my twin’s instructions.

I was back over the wall, supplies on my back, in less than ten minutes, but those were agonizingly long minutes, anyway.

She could be freezing, dead, dying, and I’d just abandoned her in that cave! I was a terrible mate.

Going back uphill was tougher than my race down, but I was not going to pause—not for a minute—even when my breathing came sawing in and out of my lungs in sharp, painful bursts.

Even when leaping across the ravine was twice as dangerous as before, tired, laden with heavy burdens, and in the dark.

I was not stopping for anything, because Lyra needed me.

“You can do it, Solear,” Aramon whispered in the back of my mind, filling me with confidence and warmth.

He lent strength along our bond in a way that would be considered illegal if we were on an Asrai world.

I took that strength greedily and felt immensely grateful for it.

And relieved that he kept me company all the way to the top of the hill, to the outcrop of rocks with the cave.

He did not leave me alone but offered me quiet support until I’d assured us both that Lyra still breathed.

Then my footsteps crunched on the stones scattered in front of the narrow cave opening.

I winced at the noise, so loud in the quiet night, and looked down.

It wasn’t gravel or sand that covered this area, but stone that shimmered like glass.

When I leaned down to pick up a handful, the small shards ruthlessly cut through my skin.

Horrified, I dropped the fine stuff and raced for the cave opening.

I’d already been in a rush, but now I was doubly worried, if that was even possible.

I should have checked the cave more carefully before I left Lyra in it.

I should have checked what that odd, crunchy stuff was beneath my boots.

Lyra had no shoes, if she stood on that.

.. What if it was inside the cave too? I hadn’t even checked.

Then another horrifying thought filled my mind, one that made me feel even worse: I’d trapped her.

By putting her inside a cave with the ground outside lined with that stuff, I had as good as trapped her. That was unforgivable.

When I slipped around the boulder into the cave, my supplies on my back, the question wasn’t if Lyra would be there.

No, the question was how injured and scared she would be.

The thought of her seeing me as her jailer, I could not stomach it.

“What’s wrong?” Aramon asked me, but, enraged with myself, I did not have the focus to answer.