Downing the fiery alcohol laced with a healing potion his irritating cousins brought him, Jaro blinked back the sweat and blood as he tried to filter their babble.
“Good job on the fight,” Xarn said, slapping him on the back, right over a nicely developing bruise.
Biting back the wince, he took another shot of booze, waiting for the medicine to kick in.
“But couldn’t you have won a little less spectacularly?” Brax complained, throwing up his hands. “The Lxroakian’s eighteen wives and six of his sons were in the crowd. And they’re not too happy you bested the ugly fellow.”
“Well excuse me for not laying down to die.”
“That’s not what we meant,” Brax hurried to say. “However, did you have to jab out his eye using his own claw?”
“And emasculate it until it was shrieking like a virgin in a brothel?” Xarn grinned as he said it, the bloodthirsty wretch.
A shrug of indifference lifted Jaro’s shoulders. “He and his family should count themselves lucky I didn’t kill him. I was feeling benevolent today.”
“Yeah, well, you’d better feel that big ‘B’ word in space because rumor is they’re on their way to pay you a visit.”
“Really?” Jaro arched a brow. “I’m not weaponless anymore. I’d like to see them try.” The galaxy’s scourge never went about unarmed, although it played havoc on metal detectors. Not that he cared. Those who stood in his way didn’t do so for long.
“Oh, they’re not out to kill you,” Xarn replied, a smirk tilting his lips. “They intend to marry you to the ugly brute’s eldest daughter. They were so impressed with your skills that they’ve decided to make you her husband.”
The swallowed alcohol went down the wrong way and Jaro straightened in his seat, sputtering as his eyes watered. “What?” he bellowed. “No frukxing way! Tell them I said thanks, but no.”
“And dishonor them?” Brax tsked him like a naughty child and shook his head. “Sorry, dear cousin, but we like our body parts intact. Your best bet lies in eluding capture.”
“Fine. I intended to leave in the next galactic cycle anyway. Although, I would have liked to have enjoyed the fruits of my labors.” Jaro grumbled more out of habit than anything else. Truthfully, his sore body would enjoy a bit of respite that he wouldn’t have gotten if he entertained the females waiting for him.
“Don’t worry, cousin, we’ll enjoy your fruits for you. After all, never let it be said we don’t do our part to maintain the family honor.”
Jaro tried to growl, but truly, the idiotic pair were comical when they weren’t trying to get him killed. Much as he wanted to slit their throats half the time, he couldn’t deny they entertained him, and if push came to shove, they’d have his back in a nanosecond.
“My ship should already be fueled and stocked to go, so unless you’ve got any more bad news for me, I shall take my leave.”
Brax shook his head. “Not dressed like that, you aren’t. Did I mention they have troops everywhere?”
“Not outside my door, they don’t.” Tired of his spaceship cabin, Jaro had anonymously rented a set of rooms during his stay. He’d quite enjoyed the luxury of liquid showers as opposed to the laser cleansing found on board his craft.
“Not anymore.” Xarn whistled innocently while Brax laughed.
“What did you idiots do now?” Jaro asked, refraining from sighing.
“Who, us?” Xarn asked with wide-eyed innocence.
“Well, we didn’t think the half dozen soldiers they sent to fetch you was sporting. A male of your reputation and stature deserved at least twice as many. So we took care of the puny advance guard.”
Jaro did sigh at this point and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Great. Let’s piss them off even more. You do know I never leave by the front door, right?”
“Of course, but did we mention your usual escape route might be compromised?”
“And why is that?”
Xarn pretended interest in the ceiling while Brax shot him a glare. “Someone accidentally divulged it while in the throes of coitus, but don’t worry, we have a backup plan.”
“Does it involve killing things? Because I’m really in the mood to shed some blood right now,” Jaro growled.
“And start a war?” Brax replied. “You know how your brother hates that.”
Tren, Jaro’s brother, once the greatest mercenary in the galaxy, now a cutthroat politician on the galactic council. If he started trouble, his older sibling would probably sign the order to execute Jaro himself, and smile while doing it.
“Fine, no killing things then. What’s your plan?” he asked with a sigh.
The matching grins did not reassure him at all.
* * * *
At first, Aylia almost missed him. The intriguing male warrior had chosen his disguise well. If it hadn’t been for the bumbling purple idiots following him, trying to appear discreet while doing anything but, she might have. One look at his outfit, and she blessed the stars she’d caught his masquerade.
Dressed like a whorehouse assassin, a special breed that no one messed with, he’d shed his trousers for a skimpy loincloth that cupped his impressive man parts. His skin appeared gray instead of his natural purple-mauve color. A knotted rope made a dark line across his chest and she could just see the gleam of silver daggers tucked under his arm, and she’d wager he carried a sword down strapped to his back.
Crisscrossing one of his arms, more rope decorated him, the winding pattern bringing attention to his bulging bicep. According to the computer databanks she’d studied, the special twining he sported required just a flick to come undone and serve as a whip. The elegance of the design delighted the fighter in her.
He also wore knee-high black boots, the gleam of the hilts tucked into them winking as he walked. The crowning touch to his ensemble, though, was the emerald cape. It covered his head, leaving only his eyes visible, piercing orbs that swept over her cloaked figure and dismissed her. The silken material flowed in his wake as he stalked through the crowd, every inch the warrior, and someone the aliens dove out of their way to avoid. In this quadrant, sex ruled, and those who meted out the pleasure controlled everything. When they sent one of their enforcers out, unmatched assassins, or so the records said, only the stupid stood in their way.
And apparently the Lxroakian’s suffered from a lack of mental faculty, along with ugliness, because they crowded the spaceport docking bay and began braying as they pushed and shoved their way in the direction of a male who would father her first child.
Completely unacceptable.
Getting involved seemed like the only option when the dozens of brutes closed in on him, the shrill screaming of a female sounding over the din, and making Aylia’s lips tighten in displeasure.
“Don’t hurt him. He needs to be able to perform after the wedding ceremony.”
Sorry, but this male is mine, Aylia thought with a growl. Sweeping through the gawking crowd, she made it to the rear of the ranks of the gargantuan aliens. Sliding her blade from her sheathe with only the slightest whisper, she danced among them.
Pantariste had taught her many tactics for battle. In this case, the strategy she fell upon was inelegantly known as, “how to defeat a much larger enemy who also outnumbers you.” Personally, Aylia thought they should have renamed it to “frukxed.” Despite the name of the situation, she had a solution. Without warning, she incapacitated the towering guards. Winding through them, her body weaving and spinning, her sharp blade sliced through the tendons of their legs, right at the joint, collapsing the giant brutes. It wasn’t her usual permanent solution of death, however, given the current situation, it served the purpose.
As she bobbed among the aliens, their bellows transitioning from challenge to surprised pain, she caught glimpses of her target, his silver hued blades flashing and his emerald cape rippling as he dispensed violence. The bright flashes of light came from his companions, purple-colored fellows like himself who calmly fired at the encroaching horde. Not exactly the brightest defense maneuver in a docking bay where one stray shot could depressurize the whole area, but she couldn’t do much about it other than rid the area of attackers so they’d stop shooting.
Oddly, the more soldiers that went down, the more determined the rest seemed. The loud-mouthed female, watching from the safety of a hover platform, just about foamed at the mouth in her screaming excitement. Annoyed at the blatant lust shown at her chosen prey, Aylia whipped out her lead weights and twirled the string attached to them. Letting them fly, she allowed herself a grim smile of satisfaction when the noisy alien female received them in the face and fell back off her pedestal of prominence. One annoying distraction taken care of, she dove back into the fray.
At one point in the battle, which diminished as newcomers hesitated, wading through the sea of blood, Aylia came face to face with her target. Well, eye to eye given that they both wore headdresses to cover their identity. His glacial eyes, reflecting the green hue of his cape, scrutinized her for a moment, a heart stopping nanosecond that made everything else fade to nothing, before he whirled away, displaying a taut pair of buttocks that flexed as he ran.
It proved a good thing the fight was pretty much done as she gawked after him like a foolish girl dazed by her first glimpse of battle. Unable to tear her gaze away, she tracked him as he raced away from her and up the docking tunnel leading to his ship.
The future father of her babe safe, Aylia disappeared into the chaos and shadows, seeking her own small vessel. It wouldn’t do to lose him now. Besides, their departure from this stinking cesspit of a city suited her just fine. Out in space, she could chase her quarry down without fear of interference, and even better, keep him to herself for as long as it took to accomplish the deed.
And her teacher had made sure she’d brought along plenty of rope to keep him tied up for the duration. Despite her inexperience, the burgeoning desire in her body and her curiosity made Aylia hope that the mating process would take a good, long while.
*****
Jaro left his cousins behind to finish up the battle. Why not? After all, they’d caused it. Knowing the lucky pair, they’d find a way to come out profitably ahead of this fiasco. Jaro, on the other hand, would need to lay low while the repercussions of the mini war conducted in the spaceport died down. A shame really. He’d spotted one interesting-looking female while he broke off his unintentional engagement to the alien Lxroakian princess. Despite a cloak, which hid her form and face from view, he’d caught flashes of her toned legs as she used them to lash out, causing damage. And her eyes… His brief glimpse of them almost made him forget the danger around him as an urge to reveal her features overcame him. He wondered why she aided him, but given the number of assailants thrown at him, didn’t worry about it long. Although, if she hoped to earn a favor from him, she’d find herself sorely disappointed.
As the battle wound down, self-preservation kicked in and he fled while the chaos ebbed and before a new wave arrived. He didn’t waste time once aboard, barking out orders to his computer. “Seal the portals and disengage from the docking station.”
“Launch sequence started,” replied a sensual female voice. “Destination?”
“Anywhere I have no frukxing enemies or bounties on my head,” he grumbled as he flopped into his command chair.
“Scanning.”
Jaro drummed his fingers as he waited for the computer’s reply. The jolt of takeoff happened along with acceleration before his AI unit returned with an answer.
“Negative.”
He frowned. “Negative what?”
“There are currently no known parts of the galaxy where there are no bounties in effect.”
“Figures,” he muttered. As scourge of the galaxy, a name acquired due to the delicate missions he’d embarked upon for various governments and individuals, he’d gained quite the reputation which proved both beneficial and detrimental. On the one hand, his high priced services were always in demand; on the other, no one wanted him in their sector for fear he’d come looking for them.
“Destination?” His computer prompted him, and for the first time, probably ever, Jaro felt chagrin that he didn’t have a place he could call his own, a refuge to escape the galaxy and its bloody games.
Much as it pained him, Jaro needed to lay low for a bit. Truth told, he could use a respite from the constant fighting and defending of his life. Unfortunately, there was only once place he knew where he might accomplish it.
His lips curled in distaste as he gave the order. “Computer, take me to my brother.” He relayed the coordinates out loud since he’d never bothered to store them into his ship’s memory. They’d only recently reunited after all.
Despite their mutual dislike of each other, he knew Tren wouldn’t turn him away. He’d taunt Jaro mercilessly, he and that human barbarian he’d taken for a mate, but at least, within his brother’s home, he could regroup and decide where he wanted to go next—and what to he wanted to do.
Funny, a few planetary cycles ago, he’d scoffed at his brother for retiring as an assassin because he’d grown weary of the constant drama. Now, Jaro found himself envious. In the arms of a weak, pale-skinned human, his brother found contentment and even stranger, joy. Jaro didn’t quite understand it, or how it worked, but he couldn’t deny the few times he’d seen his older sibling, he’d appeared…happy. What a novel concept for blood thirsty warriors like themselves who lived for the thrill of adventure, the scent of blood and the taste of death. Yet, Tren gave it up, without a qualm or regret, for Megan. Could he find that kind happiness as well?
Not that Jaro would give any female a chance to noose him. He knew firsthand how duplicitous they were. Females only ever wanted something from males, be it money, fame, or vengeance against their foes, and once they got it, they showed their true colors before moving onto their next conquest. It was why Jaro never allowed females to get that close to him, not anymore, not since Shinja, that two-timing whore.
In his life, females served only one purpose—pleasuring him. He’d bed them, once, maybe even twice, but then, he moved on. It wasn’t as if he needed to content himself with the attention of one female, not when he had dozens in every port looking to climb atop his rod.
No, unlike his brother, Jaro would never settle down with a female and pop out little screaming aliens. Instead, he’d—
“Commander, we seem to have a spacecraft following. Orders?”
Train of thought broken by the threat of danger, he snapped to attention. “Bring it up on the viewscreen.” The panoramic view of the star cluttered galaxy disappeared, replaced by that of a sleek vessel. “Origin of the craft?” he asked not recognizing its style or markings.
“A Zonian explorer ship. One life form aboard.”
And far from home. Their race tended to not travel far from their solar system. “Am I currently wanted by the Zonians for anything?” He hoped not. That fierce tribe of females, while they rarely left their home world, were renown for their fighting skills—and the fact that males, not of their species, tended to not survive the mating dance they indulged in after battle.
“Negative, commander. Ship appears to be veering off.”
“Any other signs of pursuit?”
“No.”
“Good. I’m going to sleep now. Wake me if anything changes.”
Heading to his quarters, Jaro stripped out of the assassin head cloak and the tiny bottoms that left little to the imagination. He placed it in the ship’s cleansing unit, though, along with the bloody arm whip. A warrior and assassin never knew when a disguise like that might come in handy, either for subterfuge—or in the bedroom. Nude, he used the ship’s laser shower unit to disintegrate the gray dye from his skin. Back to his purple color, he dressed in some loose shorts. Using the smaller computer unit in his room, he did a system and galactic perimeter check. Everything seemed calm and vessel free, which meant he could get some rest.
Dropping off into sleep, the jarring sound of the ship’s alarm woke him only a short time later. He’d no sooner sat up when a shockwave rocked the ship. Everything went silent and black as the energy pulse temporarily threw his computer offline.
Ah frukx. I should have known my escape was too easy.