23. Andi

23

ANDI

" Q uiet! I think I heard someone coming!" Andi hissed softly. She and Thrax ducked quickly around a corner and waited until the four armed guards passed by. As soon as they turned down another corridor, she and her partner got moving again.

"Remind me again why we didn't bring our blasters," Thrax growled. He had been in favor of knocking one of the guards out and stealing his weapons so they could at least be armed. But Andi had objected—it only took one guard to raise the alarm, she'd pointed out. It was better to keep to the shadows and slip into the milking room unnoticed. Hopefully they could sneak out the back way and nobody would even know they were gone until morning.

Thrax had eventually agreed and the two of them were now making their way to the milking room—which was finally in sight. Andi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it wasn't guarded. Thank goodness! If things went well, they would be out of here in under ten minutes—twenty minutes tops.

She just wished they were wearing more decent clothing to make their escape in, but there really wasn't any, since the feasting clothes they had worn here had been taken for cleaning. So she was still wearing the dark blue sleep dress which showed her breasts and Thrax was in his gray sleep trousers—which still had an embarrassing wet spot on the front.

Andi cringed when she thought of that—what had she been thinking, rubbing against her partner like a cat in heat that way?

You weren't thinking—that's the problem! whispered a little voice in her head. And if you're not damn careful you're going to screw up the best friendship you've ever had.

But did she only want to be friends? She couldn't forget Thrax's touch on her skin…his mouth on her nipples and pussy. Not to mention the way he had given her an instant and intense whole-body orgasm the moment he sank his fangs into her neck. The physical connection between them was undeniable…which was something she hadn't even suspected before this mission.

Then again, it felt like a lot had come out on this mission—for instance, she'd never dreamed that her huge, stoic partner might be fantasizing about her. Of course she also hadn't known about the awful trauma Thrax had gone through when he was just a teen. There was a lot they needed to talk about when they got out of here.

"Nobody's coming—let's get in there," Thrax muttered, breaking her train of thought.

Andi nodded and followed her partner through the silver door which whooshed silently open to admit them and then slid closed just as quietly.

Inside, the milking area was lit only by a dim red glow coming from the ceiling. The males who were strapped to the wall all seemed to be sleeping—even the tentacles hanging out of the tank full of murky water at the far end were barely twitching.

Andi and Thrax went at once to Commander Kier. He was sleeping uneasily—maybe only dozing—and when Thrax tapped him on the shoulder he started violently.

"What…who…?"

" Shhh , Brother—be quiet!" Thrax hissed in his ear. He pulled off Kier's blindfold so the big warrior could see them. "I'm Special Agent Thrax of the Warrior Location Agency and this is Special Agent Andi, my partner—we're from the Mother Ship and we've here to rescue you," he told Kier.

"Thank the Goddess!" the big warrior whispered fervently. "This place is the lowest level of the Seven Hells!"

"I can see why you would feel that way," Andi said. She had already started working on the straps that held Kier's ankles in place while Thrax was working on the ones around his wrists and waist.

"What's the plan?" Kier asked anxiously. "Do you have a ship waiting?"

"We're going out the back door and stealing a ship," Thrax told him. "Then we're flying back to the Southern Continent which is where our long-range shuttle is docked. From there it's straight back to the Mother Ship."

"We'll be home by breakfast time. Er, First Meal time," Andi corrected herself.

Kier's pale blue eyes widened.

"Does that mean it's night time outside?"

Thrax nodded.

"Easier to get out now than in the middle of the day," he pointed out.

"Yes, but…do you know if any of the moons are out?" Kier asked. "I have Wulvan Kindred in my DNA. I can usually hold the Beast inside me back but I'm so weak right now…"

"You'll just have to do your best," Thrax told him. "We'll get you from the building to the ship as fast as possible. All right?"

"All right." A look of grim determination came over Kier's face. "I'll keep it together somehow. I'll do anything to get away from here!"

"Then come on," Andi whispered. They had finished unstrapping him by now. Of course the big warrior was completely naked and they had no clothes to offer him, but Kier didn't seem to care. He stepped away from the wall, nearly stumbling in his haste to get free of the machinery which had milked him so cruelly for so long.

They headed for the door but then Kier stopped.

"Wait—my fellow prisoners…" He looked around the room at the males who were mostly still sleeping. "We can't leave them here," he said to Thrax. "It's cruel."

Thrax frowned.

"Fine, but they have to steal their own ships. I don't think we can fit them all in one."

"I'm sure they can manage—we talk sometimes and I know at least two of them are pilots," Kier assured him. "Please—let's let them go."

"Someone needs to be getting the ship," Andi protested. "I want to let them go too, but we need to be ready to fly as soon as we get out of here."

"I'll go," Kier offered. "I know the locking mechanisms on their ships backwards and forwards. I can steal one and get it primed for flight."

"What about your Beast coming out in the moonlight?" Thrax asked.

"I can control it." Kier straightened up to his full height—which had to be nearly eight feet tall, Andi thought. "I feel stronger now."

"All right then, you prep the ship and we'll follow as soon as we've freed everyone else," Thrax told him. He looked at Andi. "All right with you?"

Andi nodded.

"Fine—as long as we hurry! We need to get out of here."

"I'll go for the ship right now," Kier promised. He headed for the metal door at the back of the round room and slipped silently through it into the night.

"All right," Thrax muttered to Andi. "Now let's make this quick. I'll start at that end and you take this end."

"Got it." Andi nodded and was about to head for the nearest prisoner when a brilliant light snapped on, nearly blinding her.

"Well, well," a familiar voice said. "And what have we here?"