Would they never get a break? Xarn, sated and happy, recovered from his shock first, jumped to his feet and planted his naked body in front of Louisa. He trusted Brax would use his diversion to clothe Louisa, or at least cover the interesting parts belonging to them.
Jaro came into view, his previous query already announcing his presence. He shook his head at them. “Only the pair of you would crash land on a Zonian training planet and find a human dumb enough to succumb to your advances. Have you completely lost your minds? You better hope the tribe females don’t see you’ve seduced her or they will hunt you down.”
Straightening, Xarn scowled. “What makes you think she didn’t attack us and force us to do decadent things like Aylia did with you?”
Jaro snorted, then full out laughed, a mirth cut short when a toned leg slipped around his and yanked it back, sending the warrior down. Or almost. Jaro recovered before hitting the ground and shot an irritated look at his mate’s back as she sauntered into the clearing. Dress in a low hipped skirt, leather tunic that stopped just above the hole in her rounded stomach, his cousin’s wife, as always, knew how to make her presence known. Amusement danced in Aylia’s green eyes as she looked him up and down. Xarn resisted an urge to cover his limp and dangling cock even as Jaro shot venomous daggers at him with his eyes.
“Impressive,” she purred. “It must run in the family.”
Xarn wanted to groan as his cousin’s gaze narrowed dangerously.
“Cover it before you lose it,” growled Jaro.
“Cover what?” said another familiar voice. Xarn resisted an urge to run, not easy given his mother strolled next into the clearing. “Xarn, why are you naked in the forest? Did you lose your clothing in the crash?”
His hands did drop at this point to cross in front of his shriveled prick while behind him he could hear Louisa asking in a loud whisper, “Who are these people?”
Brax muttered, “Family.”
His mother, her hearing as keen as when he was a youngling knee-deep in mischief, grinned, revealing teeth more pointed than his own. She had them filed regularly when she went to get her hair trimmed at the beauticians. “Xarn, who is the pale morsel you’re trying to hide? And is that Brax flashing his buttocks at me?”
Xarn sighed and looked to the sky, mouthing, “Murphy, you bastard, I am going to kill you.”
Stepping around him, his pants around his hips, Brax pasted a weak grin on his face as his hands busily fastened the opening in his breeches. “Muna, how nice of you to come in our time of need. And Aylia, it’s always a pleasure, but did you have to bring the grumpy one?”
“Which one do you mean?” she sassed.
Oh please don’t tell me she brought… Xarn groaned as he saw the next person arrive.
“By all the moons around the Juyin planet. What cursed place did you bring us to, Aunt?” Tren stomped into the clearing making the reunion almost complete. As Xarn hopped into his pants, using Brax as a shield, he wondered where Megan and her new squalling baby were.
He cursed and said, “You brought both the grumpy cousins. Lucky us.”
His mother beamed, never a reassuring sight. “Well, when the beacon went off, I knew right away you needed help, so I called them and they were most eager to aid me in rescuing you. We even used that brand new warp generator to get here more quickly.”
“Which will cost me a fortune to get refueled,” Tren grumbled.
Well that explained how they got here so rapidly. But interrupted from his pleasure, Xarn found it hard to be grateful. He pinned his annoyance on his mother. “You couldn’t have brought our fathers instead?” They would have spared him and Brax the embarrassment and just beat some sense into them for having gotten ambushed in the first place.
Tren grinned, a wicked smile that sent more than one alien being running with urine running down their many legs. “I left your fathers with my mate and son.”
“More like ran away as soon as they stepped foot in the door and tasked them with protecting the pair,” Jaro replied with a snort.
“Megan is going to murder you when you return,” Aylia said with a shake of her head. “You should have escaped with her instead of leaving her with that noise machine known as your progeny.”
“You should have,” Xarn’s mother added. “Frej and Korz would have handled the infant. They were quite adept with Xarn, and Ginta’s babe, Brax. As a matter of fact, they are so good at the task of fathering, I’ll bet you they’ll probably have the youngling holding its first sword by the time you return.”
“Not if Megan has anything to say about it,” Tren mumbled. “Enough about my noisy successor and my sure demise at the hands of my mate. We are here to rescue the idiots. Although, from what, I’m not sure. They appear uninjured and their Zonian female seems done with them.”
Xarn growled. “She’s not Zonian. And nobody’s done with each other yet.”
“Really? Then why is she slipping away?” Jaro pointed to a spot behind them, and Xarn turned, along with Brax, to see Louisa just entering the shadowy edge of the jungle.
“Ah frukx. She’s still mad.”
“Mad? Why is she mad? And who is she? As the matriarch of our family, I demand answers. And Brax, if your mother were here, I’m sure she’d be demanding some too” Xarn’s mother stated imperiously. “Actually, forget that. I’ll talk to the barbarian myself.”
They both shouted, “No!” but before they could get in the way of his determined mother, Jaro and Tren caught them in a hug from behind.
“Not so quick, cousins.” Aylia came to stand in front of him, arms crossed and tapping a foot. She fixed them with a glare. “Just how did you get your hands on a human? Hmmm?”
“Well see, we were given this job—”
“More like forced actually. So we escaped and killed a pirate crew and we found her along with some little females—”
“Louisa’s students, and we had to take them with us because the ship was blowing up, only we both wanted her—”
“But she wanted nothing to do with us, so the halflings gave us advice to get her, only it didn’t really work because she wouldn’t choose so—”
Aylia held up a hand. “Stop. So you weren’t the original kidnappers?”
They shook their heads.
“And what are your intentions?” Aylia twirled her dagger as she asked.
“Mate.” Their answers echoed and she raised a brow.
“Both of you?”
Again, they nodded.
“Has she agreed?”
“We didn’t quite get around to asking yet,” Brax sheepishly replied.
“And yet, I thought I saw some teeth marks indicating you’ve both claimed her?”
They looked at their feet, the sky, anywhere but the glaring warrior.
“You mean to tell me, you marked her, without permission? And how do you think she’s going to take the news that she’s now wedded to the pair of you?”
“We would have found out if you’d waited just a few more frukxn’ units,” Xarn grumbled.
“Well, you can ask her after we get off the planet, if she doesn’t kill you first,” she replied sheathing her dagger and snapping her fingers. The arms around his chest loosened and Xarn whirled to growl at Tren who growled back. “We should probably go find your mother before she completely terrifies the female. She makes even Pak look mild. I quite like her and hope my daughter is as fierce.”
“That’s because you didn’t grow up with her,” Xarn mumbled recalling only too well his mother’s inventive punishments. Poor Brax, he usually shared them as they tended to get in trouble together. It sucked having what amounted to a pair of overbearing, strict mothers growing up.
But he still bore great affection for her, which was why he’d have to try and not kill her if she scared Louisa away. Speaking of whom, he jogged into the jungle after them, his pace picking up when he heard shouts.
A concussion rocked the ground beneath his feet and he exchanged startled glances with his companions before they ran in the direction his mother and Louisa took.
They arrived too late. Xarn cursed as he stared up at the receding end of a surface pod, its launching thrusters the sound they’d heard a moment before.
“Louisa!” he bellowed, shaking his fist in the air while Brax gnashed his teeth in anger.
“Those bastards stole our aunt,” Jaro said, his tone holding a note of disbelief. “Do they not know who we are?”
“They will once we kill them and get her back,” Tren growled.
“Aren’t you just the sweetest nephew, worried about me,” said the welcome voice of his mother. “Unlike some other ungrateful beings I know.”
“I would have rescued you too,” Xarn stated, trying not to fidget under her gaze.
She grinned. “Of course you would have, and meted death to those who dared kidnap me. However, it wasn’t I but the barbarian who was snatched, so what are you standing around here for. Go get your human from the nasty green alien who took her. That is if you still want her.”
“Oh we want her all right.”
“And someone is going to pay for taking her.”
“In blood,” Brax added as he fondled his sword.
Aylia whooped. “About time. I was beginning to think your rescue mission was going to be a completely wasted chance for violence.”
“Violence? Not for you. You’re pregnant,” Jaro reminded.
“Not dead, so unless you want to lose a body part, don’t get in my way.”
Jaro grinned. “Don’t make me get the restraints out.”
“Please do. I’ll be using those on you later. First, time to kill something.”
And pity the idiot who stood in their way when five of the galaxies most renown and deadly mercenaries came after them.