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Darcy winced as Nikol took her wrist in a tight grip. He made his way through the contorting bodies on the floor. She wanted to ask him what was wrong and why he’d demanded she participate in such a perverse event but his dark expression warned against speaking.
Whatever he read on the comm on his right wrist had him cursing. He slammed a palm onto the closed door and it swung open. In the hall, he spun Darcy around and got in her face. “This was the worst time for you to disobey me, Darcy?!”
Her heart jumped in her chest from his accusation. “Me! What are you talking about?”
He paced away from her then returned and smacked his hand on the wall above her head. Darcy cringed back but lifted her chin and glared.
“You never do what you’re supposed to, even for your own safety,” he snarled low.
“I didn’t do anything. You’re the one who was in a public orgy surrounded by perverts.”
His expression hardened and a vein pulsed on his forehead between his horns. Brown eyes promised retribution. “I have to see to an issue, but you have created a problem I didn’t need, Earth woman.”
Darcy tsked. “It’s always Earth woman with you when I refuse to fall in line.”
His free hand balled into a fist and his chest rose in a deep inhale. Darcy froze, for the first time fearful of his reaction. She held her breath and timed her heartbeat which felt seconds from exploding.
Nikol dropped his head and exhaled. He leaned close and his right horn grazed her cheek. She couldn’t tell if the contact was accidental or not. His lips touched the tip of her ear as he whispered, “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Darcy shivered. She didn’t know what to infer from his tone. His hands came to her waist and he moved her from the wall. With one arm around her hip, he snapped an order into his comm, “Tseju, come return the Earth woman to my kitse.”
Nerves still jumping and feeling as if she’d missed out on some important note, Darcy asked, “What’s wrong, Nikol?”
Gaze constantly shifting up and down the hall, he spared her a glance. “Dain spotted something wrong at the transport station. I need to head out and see for myself.”
Transport station! Darcy needed to get to a transport station to leave this world. She ignored the ping the thought of leaving him caused. “Aren’t there a lot of those? How will you know where to go?”
“There is one main hub not far from here. There are smaller ones in the capital city.”
He never spoke that freely. The door to the left of them bumped then opened. Nikol dropped his arm from her waist and put distance between them. Cold air replaced the warmth of his skin on her bare torso. The Marenian male who staggered out grinned and leered at Darcy. His shirt was torn at the shoulder and his pants were undone. “Is she available?”
Nikol’s eyes darkened. “No.”
“Unfortunate,” the man drawled and swayed past them down the hall.
Nikol took her by the elbow and moved her further away from the room with all its sexual proclivities. Darcy folded her arms over her breasts, the bracelet on her wrist clinking and catching Nikol’s gaze. He stared for a while and then reached up to finger the colored stones on the band. “She would have liked you.”
There was so much remorse in the muttered statement, Darcy’s heart cried out. He had to be referring to his mother. She still had no reason for why he’d entrusted her with such an intimate gift. “Are you okay?”
The comm on his wrist vibrated again and he dropped her hand with a curse. “I have to go.” He turned the dial of the face and tapped the screen. “Tseju, where are you?”
“Five minutes out.”
The ceiling shook above them and the whole building rocked. Lights flickered above them then went out, casting them in darkness. Screams sounded from the room they’d left, then the lights came back on with a purring hum. Nikol was already yelling into his comm. “Dain, I need a report!”
“Go,” Darcy said.
His lips pressed tight. “It isn’t safe. I need to make sure you get back to my wing of the house.”
“You need to figure out what’s going on. Tseju said five minutes.” Darcy pushed at his arm, worry for his friend coloring her decision. “Be with Dain. Find out what’s going on.”
Indecision clouded his gaze. Then Nikol cupped her chin and slammed his mouth into hers. The kiss was rough and quick. He pulled back and she gasped, her fingers touching her tender lips. “Be in my bed when I return. Remember your promise.”
Darcy could only nod as he turned and headed down the hall at a jog. The door behind her was flung open. People streamed out in a panic.
“There was a bomb!”
“There was an attack at the transport station!”
The shouts around her were all the same. An explosion of some sort at the transport station and Nikol was going there. Darcy cupped her elbows and stood far back from the half-dressed people racing out of the room. She wouldn’t easily forget the things she’d seen inside.
“I’ve sent one of my top forces to investigate,” a dark voice growled from the doorway. “Nikol commed he’s on his way there. Make sure they assist my son in any manner necessary.”
Darcy turned slightly to confirm it was Lothar while remaining hidden by a group huddling near the door. He was shirtless but at least he’d managed to button his pants. The rest of him looked exactly like someone who’d just walked out of an orgy. There were red scratches on his chest and his hair was a disheveled tangle about his horns.
“Well, well, well.”
Darcy jerked to the right and her lungs stalled. Brax. Terror from her first day arriving here came back tenfold. She wheezed and grabbed her throat as she stepped away from him.
Brax matched her step with one of his own, eyeing her scantily clad figure in appreciation. “What are you doing out here?”
“I-I-I...” She couldn’t get a word out and glanced around quickly, searching for Tseju.
“I-I-I...,” Brax mocked and dragged one finger down her chest, catching on her nipple. “Did Lothar bring you to the bacchul?”
Wrenching away from his perverse touch, Darcy shook her head, voice locked and unable to speak.
“Of course he did,” Brax continued with a dangerous smile. “He always enjoys sharing his new tutanis to see if they break easily.”
“N-not his!” she finally gasped out, moving back again only to hit the wall. There was nowhere else to go.
Brax smirked, knowing he’d closed her off from escape. “If not his, then that means you’re available.”
He groped her breasts and squeezed cruelly. Darcy arched and twisted but his weight fell into her immobilizing her against the wall. Her heart pounded in her chest and she wanted to scream for Nikol but he wasn’t here. Over Brax’s shoulder, she caught a midnight stare. Lothar was watching her like an insect he wanted to understand. Watching and not helping.
Darcy didn’t care if she would be corrected. She shifted her knee and rammed it up, making contact with a solid thigh that barely moved Brax. His other hand shoved her shellam to the side and he palmed her groin. His fingers forcibly poked and prodded for a way to penetrate her but she clamped her thighs tight about his wrist and bit his face.
Brax roared and the flash in his gaze was full of rage. Darcy slammed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the fist coming this time. His weight was suddenly removed. She drew a choking breath and opened her eyes. Tseju was at her side, pulling her beneath the protective shelter of his arm.
“I will see the tutanis back to her kitse, Brax,” Tseju said calmly to the Marenian on the floor.
Growling, Brax lurched up and lunged for Darcy, his eyes gleaming with hate. Tseju spun her to the other side and kicked Brax on the back of his knee. The leg buckled and Brax went down. He was back up quickly but Tseju grabbed Darcy’s wrist and shoved her behind him. “You do not have permission to touch.”
Brax looked at Darcy. “Your day is coming.”
Darcy bit back a cry as Tseju guided her away. Relief had her shaking and stumbling as she went with him Tseju. All the while, Lothar’s questioning gaze followed her in a way that made her skin crawl after what she’d witness him do.
***
“What happened here, Dain?” Nikol asked as he looked around at the devastation mainly contained to the gated section of the transport station.
“Explosives.”
Nikol sent him a look and Dain grinned. “Not ours. Not your father’s either. I think we can blame this one on someone with a score to settle against Lothar. The other stations have conducted searches and no bombs were discovered.”
“My ship?” Nikol’s gaze landed on the sleek black vessel he’d be leaving in tomorrow.
“No damage. I checked it over myself. Far enough away from the blast zone that nothing touched it.”
Nikol pointed toward a burning wreckage. “Lothar’s, I presume?”
“As most of the ships stored here are his, yes.” Dain smirked then lowered his voice to add. “This means he’ll be forced to take the SL3 if he has to leave the planet.”
A smaller craft with fewer weapons onboard.
Nikol leaned back on his heels. “While this plays into our favor I still want to know who’s responsible for this.”
“Already on it.” Dain tapped on his data pad and held the screen aloft for Nikol to view.
He arched a brow. “Are you certain?”
Dain shrugged. “We won’t know until we confront them when we meet.”
Letting the plan form in his mind, Nikol agreed. “I trust you to see to it.”
His comm vibrated with an incoming message. Nikol started to ignore it, thinking Lothar wanted an update. His guards were already swarming over the facility. When he glanced down, he saw Tseju’s ID.
“Nikol here.”
“There has been an incident.”
Nikol’s heart iced over. An incident with Tseju could only mean one thing.
Darcy.