Chapter Three

Lord Dominiko of the Confederacy of the Pton

I stared down at the beautiful young man in front of me and he glared right back, his eyes flashing and his full lips pulling back in a snarl to reveal small, sharp, and very white incisor teeth like the little savage he was. It was downright intoxicating.

“Do you understand me, boy?” I asked him, making my voice sharp, because I was feeling a bit amused and oddly restless with his body still so close. I wanted to show him who was in charge. My hands tingled with the feel of him, and I wanted to keep exploring him. I shook him a little as he hesitated and the answer finally spilled out of him.

“I understand,” he said, using that sarcastic tone that made my hands itch to throttle him till he passed out and then wake him up to kiss him senseless again.

“Listen to me, princeling. Stop your lies and start to cooperate if you know what’s good for you.”

I actually thought I had intimidated him for a second. Then he opened that damn smart mouth of his again.

“If I know what’s good for me? Should I tell you what I know ? I know that you should be prepared for a fight if you grope me again, and I know my grandfather will be sending his men after us. You should be very afraid of that. They’ll fix you!” He growled at me then, showing me his pretty teeth again. It was outrageous and I didn’t know whether to laugh at him or show him my own.

“Well, I’m suitably terrified. Listen to me, little boy. I imagine you’re used to getting your own way about things, but all that stops now. Do you understand? You take orders from me from this point on. How old are you anyway?”

“Old enough.”

I laughed out loud at his outrageousness, and he made a scoffing sound that almost made me smile. Almost. I noticed that he had his two first fingers crossed on each hand.

“What is that sign you’re making? Are you putting a curse on me?”

“No. I’m just crossing my fingers.”

“Why?”

“It’s a kind of a wish—that everything will turn out all right.”

I didn’t like it that he sounded like a little boy—one that I had frightened.

“I told you I won’t hurt you. Everything will turn out just fine.”

I decided to let go of him anyway, while I still could, stepping back and folding my arms across my chest. It was that or pick him up and bite him, and I really didn’t want to do that. At least not yet. I wasn’t totally ruling it out though.

“You are now a hostage of the Confederacy of the Pton, and you’re my bounty.”

He snorted at the word “hostage.” I leaned in farther toward him. “I’ve been teasing you but there’s no use in any more subterfuge.”

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

Once again, I forced down the almost overpowering urge to give him a good lesson on how to show proper respect to his betters. I had feelings inside me that were still stirring, still looking for a good place on his neck to give him a bite. Maybe I’d take just a little taste.

I sniffed the side of his throat, filling my nostrils with his scent. A perfect spot, though his long hair might hide it. Not showy enough. Perhaps in front, just under his jawline... When I showed him to his family on screen, they would be sure to see it.

I stroked a hand over it, imagining the taste of his sweet blood in my mouth.

“Just how do you think I’m being deceitful?” I purred to him, my lips close to his jaw.

“Why do you think I am?” he replied, and I pulled away, staring down at the impertinent little shit.

“Gods, you’re infuriating. Stop answering my questions with one of your own.”

I was dangerously close to losing control. It was his scent, I think, sweet yet oddly exotic. I knew his blood would be delicious.

“Let me tell you something,” the little boy said, daring me provocatively. If he knew how close I was to biting him, he might not be so bold.

If he’s not already coming after you, then Colonel Tariq of the Imperial Tygerian Forces will soon be here. He’s probably already hot on your trail. That’s his mate in there. His pregnant mate. And if you think I’m being difficult, wait until you meet him. He’s an Imperial soldier. Tell me you know who they are.”

“We’re familiar with the Tygerians and their soldiers. You think we should be afraid of this ‘Imperial’ then?”

“I think you should be petrified.”

“Oh? Tell me more.”

He opened his pretty mouth to do so but thought better of it and clamped it shut again. “I can give you my name, rank and serial number. Nothing more.”

“Really? But we’ve already ascertained you’re a princeling and you don’t have any of those things. Besides, you were just about to terrify me with stories of these Tygerian Imperials. Do go on.”

He folded his arms across his chest and stared at me. I was still standing so close he felt he needed to put a hand on my chest to push me away. He actually applied pressure. Not that he could have made me move. The look on his face was so insolent I was half expecting him to stomp his little foot and refuse to say anything more, but it was too much for him.

“I’ll tell you this much,” he said, unable to shut his little mouth, “the colonel won’t stop coming. He’ll pursue you to the gates of hell and beyond if he has to.”

“So dramatic. The gates of hell? Which hell would that be? One of the four Tygerian ones? Or would it be the one we Pton are most familiar with? No, probably not.”

“You think you’re so smart, but he’ll show you. On the other hand, if you stop now and let us go, he might relent and let you live. You could leave here and crawl back into your hole.”

“My hole? But I’d much rather crawl into yours.”

He gasped and his eyes got wide and scared, and for just a moment, the impertinence slipped, and he looked very young and very shocked. I instantly regretted the crude words, and I had to turn away so he wouldn’t see it. I had become too jaded with the men and women of the dula . This boy was nothing like them and neither was the other one. We’d heard about the pampered and sheltered children of the Tygerian royalty. I’d do well to remember it. I wondered again just how old this boy was.

“Please let us go,” he said, his voice betraying him with its trembling.

I quelled the urge to take him in my arms and comfort him only with great difficulty, replacing it with irritation and anger instead.

“Tell me how exactly you think I can ‘let you go?’ We’re in space and in the middle of nowhere.”

“Just stop and let the colonel catch up to you then. He can’t be far behind, and he’ll make a deal with you. I know he will. Or- or put us in a shuttle and let us travel to him. I’m a very good pilot.”

“No.”

His mouth fell open. “What do you mean no ?”

“It’s generally considered to be a negative response.”

“You know what I mean! You can’t just dismiss this out of hand.”

“I believe I can. And I just did.”

“Then-then just let Prince Rakkur go and keep only me!”

“Stop talking. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do. Rakkur is going to have a baby. This isn’t good for his health.”

“I said, no.”

“But please just listen. I’m King Davos’s grandson. He’d pay well to get me back, if that’s what you’re after. If you won’t let us both go, then let Rakkur leave. Rakkur would just be a lot of trouble if you keep him here.”

“Whereas you’d be no trouble at all.”

He flushed, but still faced me defiantly. “I’ll be better if you’ll agree. I promise. I’d be a good bounty for you. I’d do whatever you say. I’ll let you do whatever you want to me. Just keep me and let him go.”

I didn’t like to admit that his words were working. “Do you have any idea what you’re offering?”

“Yes, I think so. Please, sir.”

I stepped away from him and shook my head. “No. Listen to me—I’ll take your offer under advisement, but you need to go back inside your cell now. Guard, escort this young ‘princeling’ back. And bring me the other one.”

“No!” Jago shouted and began struggling against both me and the guard like a wild thing, his long, silky hair flying around his face. I started to reach for him so he wouldn’t hurt himself, but before I could, he suddenly went limp and sagged to the ground in a crouch. His hand slipped under his robe, and he bent over from the waist so that the long curtain of his hair concealed what he was doing. When his hand came back up, he was holding a wicked looking dagger, and he brandished it at us with lightning speed before leaping forward and plunging it in the shoulder of the guard standing beside me, snarling and cursing.

How many blasted daggers did this boy have on him?

I quickly disarmed him, trying not to hurt him too much and then gave him to a guard behind me. “Hold him! Good gods, didn’t it occur to anyone to strip him and see if he’d concealed anymore knives?”

I turned back to the guard he’d stabbed, who was now sliding down the wall, leaving a wide streak of blood in his wake. Blood was spurting out of his wound, which was deep but not life-threatening, so I tore off a large strip of his shirt and pressed it against his shoulder.

“Take him to the infirmary,” I told another one of the guards and then turned back toward the others before they hurt Jago. The way he was resisting it wouldn’t be long if he kept this up. They had him stripped completely down to his porcelain-like skin, which angered me more than I could say, and one of the guards was getting overly zealous and choking him by leaning his whole weight on the hand that was holding him down by his little throat. Jago had one hand over his groin trying to shield it from view, and the entire situation infuriated me.

I shoved the soldier off him, perhaps using a bit too much force as he smashed into the wall. I was feeling oddly possessive and pushed down the urge to kill the man for laying hands on the boy—though I suppose maybe I’d told them to in the first place. I helped Jago sit up, putting a protective arm around him to prevent the others from touching him. As it was, he’d be covered in bruises by morning. I’d like to put a few on his little backside myself.

“Get back!” I snarled at the soldiers and reached for his robe. “Here,” I said, thrusting it back in his hands. “Be sensible. Put this back on and stop all this fighting. There’s nothing you can do to prevent us from doing whatever we want, so stop it.”

Those intensely amber eyes snapped at me again as he jerked his robe back on and glared at all of us like he wanted to gut us. Which I’m sure he did.

“I won’t separate you from your friend in there if you stop all this foolishness right now. Otherwise, I’ll take you into a separate cell and throw you inside as naked as you were a moment ago.”

“No,” he gasped, pulling at my hand and looking at me imploringly. “Please don’t do that! I’m sorry.”

“I won’t, as long as you behave yourself.” I disengaged my hand and glanced back over to the guards, who were muttering among themselves. “Go get the other one,” I snapped at them. Turning back to Jago, I leaned in and spoke urgently against his little ear.

“Calm down. You’re not doing yourself any favors, you know. I realize this is upsetting for you, but you can’t fight your way out of here, and there’s no place for you to go if you could. You’ll only hurt yourself and get your friend hurt too.”

He muttered something I couldn’t understand.

“What’s that?”

“I said that he’s not just my friend, he’s my uncle.”

“Your what?”

“My uncle. Though we’re almost the same age.” When I still looked at him blankly, he made an annoyed face. “My uncle …my father’s youngest brother.”

“Oh. Your dashall. All right. That’s all the more reason to stay calm and not upset him. He’s going to have a child, you said?”

“Yes. Very soon now. You really need to let him go with Colonel Tariq. He’s been ill.”

“I’ll think about it.” I nodded at one of the guards. “Take the prince back inside and bring me the other one.” I looked down into Jago’s beautiful little upset face. “Do not hit him anymore no matter how annoying he is.”

He was furious as the guards dragged him back inside, but at least he didn’t resist. The very pretty yellow-haired one came out, passing him on the way and touching his hand. He gasped when he saw Jago’s bruises. His dashall, huh? Then why was there so much touching between them? It was entirely unnecessary, in my opinion.

“Tell me your name,” I said when he came out in the corridor.

“I am Prince Rakkur, son of King Davos and the Royal Consort Blake.” He said the words proudly, and he had reason. Davos was the leader of the entire Axis and rumored to be wealthy, powerful and quite fierce.

“Why do you look human?”

“You know about humans?”

“We do.”

“I resemble my bearer, the Consort Blake. He’s a human.”

“A male bearer? Like you? Are all of you able to bear children?”

“No. There are procedures that have to be done—drugs that have to be injected. It’s a whole process. Some use female surrogates to produce children, but Tygerian males prefer this method.”

“I see. And I believe Jago said your husband is Tygerian. He mentioned several times that he is a member of the Imperial Guard.”

“Yes, he is a Colonel in the Imperials. He’ll be coming for me soon.”

“So Jago has informed me. Repeatedly and quite loudly.”

“You should listen to him. My husband will never stop coming after me.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard all about it. How old is that boy Jago?”

“He’s twenty, I think. Almost twenty-one years. Why do you want to know?”

“He seems younger. And he’s most annoying.”

“That’s no reason to hit him. I saw those bruises on his face.”

“Yes, they’re regrettable. He attacked a guard. Two guards now, I believe.”

“He’s young and excitable. Don’t keep hurting him, please. I told you that my husband will never stop coming after me, and I promise you, it will go hard for you if you hurt either one of us again.”

It was at that precise moment, with extraordinary timing, that one of my lieutenants appeared at the end of the corridor again and came rushing toward me.

“Your Excellency, please excuse the interruption, but a ship has just uncloaked off our port side. It’s Tygerian.”

Behind me, I heard Prince Rakkur gasp. I ignored him and addressed my lieutenant.

“And what is it doing?”

“Doing?” he replied in a puzzled tone. “Uh…nothing so far.”

“I’ll come to the bridge, Lieutenant, but I’m sure our captain is executing the proper maneuvers to handle the situation. Calm down.” The ship lurched suddenly below our feet, and I felt a small hand clutch my elbow. I looked down to see Prince Rakkur steadying himself, and despite the fact that none of my men would ever dare touch me without my express permission, I decided to be lenient and consider Rakkur’s condition. This time.

“There, you see. The captain is taking measures even now to evade the Tygerians.”

“Yes, Your Excellency, but the alien ship keeps asking to open a channel between us. They want to talk. What should I tell them?”

“Tell them? The captain has his orders, but if they insist, you can tell them I’ll be there soon. And Lieutenant, again, calm yourself. We have their prince aboard. Two of their princes, for that matter. They’re not going to be so foolish as to attack us.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.” He turned to scurry off, and I returned my attention back to Rakkur.

“How much does your husband value you, Prince Rakkur?”

“H-how much? He values me greatly, of course. We’re newly wed.”

“And your parents?”

“Yes, of course they ‘value’ me.”

“You’ll bring a good bounty then. What about the pretty Jago? He can be rather annoying, but maybe no one cares as much about him?”

Rakkur flushed a dark pink color and glared up at me. “Yes, of course they do. The family values him highly. His parents and our grandparents and the entire family will do whatever it takes to get him back. Whatever you ask.”

I nodded, thinking over what he said and waved a hand in his direction as I spoke to the guards. “Take this man back inside to join the other one. I suppose it’s time I meet these terrifying Imperials I’ve heard so much about.”

The guards in the corridor scrambled to do my bidding. Rakkur began to squawk about how “I’d see for myself how fierce the Imperials are,” and how his husband would “fix” me and all my men, too, and how we should immediately surrender and let them go…and on and on and on, until the door mercifully closed behind him. They’d both mentioned the “fixing.” I wondered what all that might entail.

I sighed. Both of these little beauties were already proving to be an awful lot of trouble. I wasn’t sure the bounty for either of them would be anywhere near enough.