Choosing Riley: Sarafin Warriors Book 1 Read online

  “No,” all five men said stubbornly.

  “I will go,” Bob said softly. “They do not look under my skin to see if I have my collar on. I am also the least likely to be considered a threat next to Fred.”

  Vox’s mouth straightened into a tight line of frustration. Riley was right. They would need to reactivate his collar and that was still no guarantee they would let him go with her. He had noticed the extra security surrounding them. Bob was the least threatening next to Fred. He stood up, growling out in frustration and anger. Closing his eyes and drawing in a deep breath, he turned to see Riley struggling to sit up.

  He immediately knelt down next to her, sliding his arm around her and snarling silently at Fred who was trying to help her. He felt a moment of intense joy when she relaxed back against him before it was dashed again back down to the bottom of the mines when she turned her pain-filled eyes up to glare at him in reproach. He tried to look remorseful but something told him she wasn’t buying it.

  “Stop snarling and growling,” Riley snapped as pain racked her. “That’s what got me in the position I’m in now!”

  “Riley, you need to learn not to come up on me when I’m disciplining my crew,” Vox tried to explain as he gently held her in his arms.

  “I will most certainly come up on your hairy ass if you try biting one of my mates again,” Riley snapped. “Only next time, I’m going to get one of those stunning rods so I can shove it up your stubborn backside, you moron! You. Do. Not. Ever. Sink your teeth into Tor, Lodar, Fred, or Bob again, do you understand me mister?” Riley demanded stubbornly thrusting her quivering chin out. “Do you?”

  Vox stared down into her big blue eyes and felt like he was a drowning cat. He would promise her the moons, the star systems, and Tor’s pelt for a rug if she asked. His head lowered on its own as he fell into the beautiful blue oceans of her soul.

  “I promise,” he whispered. “As long as he promises to never imagine drinking milk from your beautiful big breasts again. That is my fantasy.”

  Riley’s eyes widen before she reacted out of pure frustration. She threw up her good arm and popped Vox right on the end of his beautifully shaped nose as hard as she could. It wasn’t until she was connecting that it dawned on her that was probably not the best decision she could have made considering he was holding her up in the air and she already had a broken wrist. Thankfully, Lodar was standing close enough to catch her as Vox howled in pain and rage. Riley’s scream of pain mixed with Vox’s as her arm was jostled in the exchange. The sound was enough to draw the attention of the guards as their door opened just as Lodar tripped over poor Fred who was trying to get out from under everyone’s feet. Lodar hit the floor with a wailing Riley while blood poured from Vox’s nose.

  157 looked down at the sobbing female who was being held in the arms of one of her Sarafin mates before jerking to the other Sarafin warrior. The Sarafin King had blood pouring down his face while the third Sarafin warrior was sitting to the side wiping blood from his throat. 157 finally looked down at the small Tiliquan who was rubbing one of his injured feet. The only one not injured was the huge Gelatian.

  “I do not even want to know what is going on,” 157 muttered shaking his head.

  Lodar tucked his head so the Antrox guards couldn’t see his collar wasn’t glowing. “Our mate broke her wrist. She needs medical care,” he said, rising with Riley in his arms.

  Bob moved forward quickly, putting his larger body between the warriors and the guards. He reached out and scooped Riley into his arms and turned. Moving closer to 157 and the guards, he crowded them forcing them back toward the door.

  “I will carry our mate to medical,” Bob said quietly. “The others are in no shape to do so.”

  157 tried to look around the massive figure in front of him but finally decided it wasn’t worth the effort. He was tired of being called down here. He would be glad when the final payment of credits was received and he could dispose of the males once and for all. By tomorrow, he would be a very wealthy Antrox. He had contacted the trader who dealt in supplying sex slaves for the pleasure houses on the nearby Spaceport. He had been promised a large sum of credits and immediate pickup. By this time tomorrow, the males would be dead and the female gone.

  157 turned to the two guards standing behind him. “Take her to medical and make sure she is completely healed. If necessary, keep her there the rest of the evening,” he ordered.

  Bob ignored the three low growls that escaped the men behind him. “I will remain with our mate and make sure she is safe. She will be returned safely,” he spoke loudly enough to be heard by everyone.

  “I…. I need my things,” Riley cried softly. “I…. I can’t leave my things. They are all I have left.”

  “I will bring them to you, Riley,” Fred promised. “I won’t forget.”

  Riley looked over Bob’s head and smiled a watery smile at her little friend. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  “Riley,” Vox started forward, still holding his nose which had finally stopped bleeding.

  Riley’s eyes watered and she shook her head gently. “Go,” she whispered quietly looking at him with sorrow in her eyes. “It is better this way,” she murmured before she laid her head tiredly on Bob’s shoulder. “Please take me to medical. I hurt.”

  Vox watched as the small group left the room, the door sealing behind them. A dark emptiness filled him and his cat as both of them felt the loss of their mate. Vox’s low, animalistic roar echoed through the level as he and his cat called for their mate to return to them.

  “We will not leave without her,” Tor said quietly coming up behind his friend and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

  Vox turned dark, burning eyes on Tor and Lodar. “You bet your cat we won’t,” he vowed.

  Chapter 7

  Riley felt much better several hours later. Bob had carried her up through the mines to a special lift that moved through the center of it. Riley vaguely saw the door to the control room as they passed it heading to the medical unit. The only reason she recognized it was because several Antrox guards were leaving the room and they had to wait along the side of the corridor since Bob was too big to move past them at the same time.

  The medical unit was a very small, depressing looking room with only one bed in it. The healer was a dark red, leathery looking man with little tufts of white hair hanging about his head in all different directions. Riley wasn’t so sure she wanted some guy that looked that weird working on her but she was in too much pain to complain when Bob gently laid her down on the small, single wide bed.

  The healer insisted that Riley stay the night telling her and Bob that Antrox 157 wanted to make sure she was completely healed before he was allowed to release her. Riley didn’t think it was really necessary but decided it was probably for the best after everything that had happened. After the old, red leathery skinned man put her arm in that strange looking machine it felt almost as good as new. Bob had been a darling through it all, especially since Riley didn’t handle being hurt very well. The huge Gelatian had refused to leave her alone. He had held her good hand in one of his and talked quietly to her the whole time in an effort to take her mind off of what was happening. Fred, true to his word, had appeared a little over an hour later with all of her things. Her large, pink suitcase and her oversized purse had been hooked together and Riley couldn’t suppress the giggle that escaped her as she watched the small Tiliquan struggle to roll it into the medical unit.

  “Vox wants to know how you are feeling,” Fred muttered under his breath as he sat down wearily on her suitcase. “This is very heavy, Riley. What do you have in it?”

  Riley chuckled again as she watched both of Fred’s heads droop tiredly. “A little bit of everything. I don’t have much as I tend to move around a lot but what I do have, I cherish. It is mostly clothes and shoes but I also have a few mementos that I didn’t want anything to happen to. You never know when you might need something so I try to be ready for just a
bout anything that can happen.”

  “Vox will be very upset that I took your things. I had to sneak it out when he and the other two went to meet with Titus and Banu. The good thing is you are closer to the shuttle bay here. It will not be as far or as hard for you to get there tomorrow,” Fred said quietly.

  Riley lowered her head so Fred couldn’t see her eyes. The incident earlier made her even more aware of the differences between her and those around her. She bit her lower lip and winced. Lip biting was becoming a very bad habit she had picked up just since she arrived on this huge chunk of rock. If she wasn’t careful, she wouldn’t have any lips left by the time she got home.

  No, it is better for everyone if I just find my way back home with the next trader or whoever is heading that way, Riley thought in resolve. The last thing I need is some huge cat sticking his claws or teeth into me.

  “Fred, I’m really tired. Why don’t you and Bob go on back down,” Riley said looking at her little friend with big, sad eyes. “You probably still have things that need to be taken care of before tomorrow, anyway.”

  Bob moved forward with a frown, at least she thought the crease between his eyes was a frown. “I will stay and guard you, Lady Riley,” he insisted.

  Riley rose and tenderly touched the huge, green gelatinous figure. “No,” she said with a determined shake of her head. “I will be fine here. The healer said I needed to stay the night and rest. I wouldn’t be able to sleep well if you stayed as I would be too worried about you. The room is too small for the two of us anyway. Go back to our rooms, the others may need you.”

  Bob looked down at Fred then back at Riley for a moment. “Do not go anywhere!” He said sternly. “I will get the guards to return me first thing in the morning.”

  Riley gave Bob a weak smile and rose on her tiptoes to give him a light kiss. The huge green figure shook as she brushed his soft, slick cheek and he turned a slightly deeper shade of green. Riley looked at him funny before she turned to look at Fred who was staring up at her intently with both sets of eyes narrowed in suspicion.

  “You are not going to try anything, are you Riley?” Fred asked quietly as she knelt down in front of him.

  Riley ran her hands over both of his heads before leaning her forehead against his right one. “Now what makes you think I would try to do anything?” Riley teased lightly before she gave him a kiss on both sets of cheeks. “You be safe for me, Fred. I think you are one of the most wonderful mates a girl could ever have.”

  Fred turned a wide assortment of colors before he finally settled on a light shade of red. A huge grin curved both sets of lips as he stared at her with more than a slight case of hero worship. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly for just a minute before he took a hurried step back.

  “Don’t tell Vox I hugged you,” he whispered anxiously. “He might decide to take a bite out of me!”

  Riley’s light peal of laughter echoed through the room. “I won’t, I promise. Besides, if he does I promised him a stick up his butt!” She added with a wink.

  “Kitty on a stick,” Bob pondered for a moment before his deep, melodious laugh echoed with Riley and Fred. “Now that I would like to see.”

  *.*.*

  Vox laid on his side staring at the empty bed across from him. His cat was clawing at him to go find their mate. He could feel its damn claws slicing through his gut as if it was having fun mincing him into tiny bits.

  Will you give me a break! He hissed at it in aggravation. I can’t think with you raking my insides like it was a scratching post.

  Want my mate, his cat replied with a low snarl. You should protect better!

  May I remind you that you were the one who got all prissy when Tor mentioned drinking Riley’s milk! Vox said defensively refusing to admit his own part in the desire to tear his chief engineer and close friend apart.

  Mmmm, milk, his cat purred lapping its long tongue out over its sharp teeth. I bet it is warm and sweet and tasty. I would drink and drink and drink all day at our mate’s milk.

  Guall’s balls! Vox groaned out loud as he felt his own balls draw up to the point they were throbbing at the idea of lapping sweet, warm milk from Riley’s huge breasts.

  His cock was so hard he couldn’t even sit up with the way it was pressing down the inside of his leg without extreme discomfort. There was no way he was going to make it without getting some relief. The images his cat created was enough to make him come in his own damn pants! That was something he had never even come close to imagining, much less it becoming a real possibility.

  “Vox, are you alright?” Lodar’s quiet voice sounded in the dark. “You don’t sound good.”

  “I’m fine!” Vox bit out in annoyance. “I need to relieve myself.”

  Vox rolled up onto his knees on his hard bed and stiffly got to his feet. This would be beyond embarrassing if his men knew he was having hot dreams of Riley on all fours, her big breasts hanging down over his face, full with the milk from his child.

  Will you fucking have mercy on me? Vox begged as he stumbled to the door and out into the silent corridor.

  Warm, sweet, yes.... his cat hummed in pleasure.

  Vox cursed as he felt the first spurt of come leaking out of his cock, wetting the front of his black pants. Turning into the wall, he quickly undid the ties on the front of his pants until he could pull his cock free. He gripped it in his right hand tightly while he leaned his forehead against his left one that was pressed against the wall. He bit down on his forearm as he stroked the hard flesh of his cock. He only had to pump it three times before his whole body tensed as his orgasm hit him like a vicious blow. His body shuddered as he spent himself all over the wall. His loud pants mocking his loss of self-control. He leaned his head against his arm and drew in a shuddering breath. He tensed, turning slightly away from the door when it opened behind him and Tor walked out followed by Lodar.

  “Leave me be,” Vox gritted out hoarsely, not turning around.

  “I, uh, I….,” Lodar began before he stopped and drew in a deep breath.

  “Oh hell,” Tor muttered darkly. “You might as well kill us. Our cats are dreaming of drinking milk and it isn’t from some damn bowl! I need to go relieve myself before I explode,” he grunted out moving rapidly down the corridor.

  “Sorry Vox,” Lodar said slapping Vox on the shoulder. “Your mate…. The image is just….” His words died out as he disappeared down the corridor as well.

  Vox groaned out loud, letting his head drop back so he could stare up at the ceiling. He could feel his cock growing hard again as he pictured what Tor and Lodar were thinking about. If it was the last damn thing he ever did in all his long lives, he was going to get his mate with cubs and he was going to enjoy the damn milk with them. The thought of Riley rounded with his cubs sent him into another climax.

  *.*.*

  Early the next morning, Riley was thinking very unkind thoughts about the healer when he came in to check on her. It was the first time since she had been abducted that she had been able to sleep in and Mr. Spooky Madman decides he needs to check her arm out. He wanted to check out a little more but decided against it when Riley kicked him in the balls. She was so not in the mood to be playing doctor and patient with someone that creeped her out. When short, squat and red leather decided he wanted to do some touchy-feely to her breasts she had sent him to his knees.

  “Yes sir,” Riley said with a grin as the creepy old man wobbled out of the room. “Reflexes are in perfectly good working condition,” she muttered as she hopped down off the bed. “Now time to do a little exploring. You never know if Dr. Dreadula might have something in here that could come in handy for when the boys decided to escape.”

  Riley thoroughly searched the small room. There was a medicine cabinet that wasn’t even locked on the far wall that she decided might come in handy. She pulled it open and looked at a wide selection of small injection guns and tiny glass bottles. She tilted her head but she couldn’t
read what the vials said. She pulled all of them out and placed them in her handbag with a shrug.

  You never knew when you might need something, she thought as she continued searching.

  She sat down at the battered desk the man used and opened the top drawer. There was a strange looking device that looked like some kind of fancy scanning wand and a laser pistol like the one the trader had been wearing when he shot her ass when she tried to run. Her eyes lit up when she saw it. Being a fully qualified bail bondsman, she was required to carry a concealed weapons permit. It was true that she wasn’t much of a fighter but she was one hell of a shot! All those years playing the first shooter games at the bar her dear Grandma Pearl worked at paid off big time at the shooting range.

  Riley pulled the bottom draw open and discovered a slim disk. She pulled it out and slid it into the slot on the desk for viewing video. It was a video of some sort. Her eyes widened when she saw Vox. They narrowed into deadly slits when she saw two nude women walking up to him and beginning to undress him. With a hiss, she quickly ejected the disk. She stood up and raised her arm to throw the damn thing against the wall but had second thoughts when she thought of where else she would like to shove it.

  Right down his arrogant, lying, deceitful throat and I hope he chokes on it as it goes down, Riley thought viciously.

  The video silenced the little voice that kept saying maybe she should go with him. Maybe she would be the heroine in this movie and not the supporting character that gets knocked off. Maybe there was a happily ever after out there for her in the shape of a big sexy cat.

  Maybe my ass, Riley thought bitterly. The only thing out there for you girlfriend is heartache if you begin to think things might be different here than back home. Guys are the same wherever the hell you go. They only wanted one thing and it wasn’t a ring on my finger but one through my nose.

  Riley slid the disk into the zippered pocket of her purse. Maybe they had intergalactic email, or better yet, Intergalatictube. She would post the damn thing on it and let him be the star of his own porn movie. One thing was for sure, she didn’t want any part of his….