Surrender (Intergalactic Loyalties 3) Read online

  Surrender (Intergalactic Loyalties 3)

  Jessica Coulter Smith

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  Copyright ©2014 Jessica Coulter Smith

  BIN: 07125-02295

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  Changeling Press LLC

  315 N. Centre St.

  Martinsburg, WV 25404

  www.ChangelingPress.com

  Editor: Crystal Esau

  Cover Artist: Bryan Keller

  * D P G R O U P . O R G *

  Adult Sexual Content

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  Surrender (Intergalactic Loyalties 3)

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Jessica Coulter Smith

  Surrender (Intergalactic Loyalties 3)

  Jessica Coulter Smith

  Determined to return to Earth, Meghan is surprised when Zayne claims her heart.

  Kidnapped by pirates, all Meghan wants is to return to Earth and her brother, the only family she has left. Unbeknownst to Meghan, her kidnapping was not a matter of chance. The pirates were sent after her. But before they can sell her, or worse, she is rescued by more pirates and taken to the alien world of Tarnan, where she is told she must choose a warrior mate. Determined to return home at any cost, Meghan refuses every advance made to her.

  Zayne, an inventor of weapons, isn’t sure what to make of the Earth female. She isn’t anything like the ones that have been brought to their world before. She’s prickly and rude, and sometimes downright hostile. When he beseeches the Prime to allow her to return home, he, instead, ends up with her in his home, as his assistant.

  As time passes, the two grow closer. When Meghan receives devastating news, it’s Zayne who is there for her, comforting her. She begins to see the alien-hybrid in a new light and allows herself to open her heart to the possibility of a mate.

  But the road to their union is a bumpy one, and both are left wondering if they will ever be allowed to be together as more than friends.

  Chapter One

  Meghan watched the large Kilgar warrior warily. He’d been posted in the lower level of the ship to guard her and the other females on board. There was a loud boom and the ship rocked. The guard leapt from his reclining position and rushed out the door. Meghan looked at the others. Terror shone brightly in their eyes and she had to admit to feeling a frisson of fear herself.

  Minutes ticked by and two large warriors entered the lower chamber. They looked different from the brightly red-skinned Kilgars. She wasn’t sure if she could trust them though. To have defeated such nasty pirates, they had to be lethal. Were they here to free them? Or had she and the other females merely traded one master for another?

  The smaller of the two warriors made his way down the line of cells, his face looking fiercer and fiercer the closer he came to her cage. He and the other warrior began opening the cell doors. The women rushed out of their cells into the warriors’ arms, but the smaller one set them aside and told them to follow his friend.

  When the warrior paused in front of her cell, she tried to make herself small. So far, they hadn’t lashed out at the females, hadn’t spoken harshly to them, but that didn’t mean they were kind.

  “You’re safe,” the warrior assured her. “Can you understand me?”

  She nodded. “I was implanted with a translator shortly after I was picked up.”

  Her cell door clanged open and the warrior held out his hand to her. “Come,” he commanded.

  She rose to her feet and paused a moment. Meghan didn’t think it was a trap, but she could never be too careful.

  “Come,” he commanded again. ““My name is Sol and I mean you no harm. My crew has defeated the pirates who held you captive. You’re protected now. No one will harm you.”

  “I can go home?”

  He hesitated. “We know of your Earth, but it isn’t safe for us to travel there. Your planet doesn’t yet know that other life-forms exist. Until Earth is ready for such a revelation, we must keep our distance.”

  “That isn’t true! The Slorgovs and Vishtus have made themselves known to us. We were in a battle with them not long ago. The Slorgovs attacked our planet six months ago and the Vishtus came to our rescue. We were unprepared for battle among the stars.”

  Sol tapped his fingers against his leg. “Be that as it may --”

  “Ransom me! My brother works for NASA’s new elite team. I know they’ll pay to get me back.”

  “I don’t think you understand. While you aren’t a slave, you aren’t precisely free to do as you please either. My home planet, Tarnan, has few women. While none of us will force you, it is my intention to take you there where you may find a mate amongst my people.”

  Her lips thinned. “And if I refuse?”

  “I didn’t realize you were given a choice,” Sol said with a raised eyebrow. “Come, let’s get you cleaned up and figure out sleeping arrangements.”

  “I won’t whore myself out.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  She stepped closer to the door, pausing to look him in the eye. There was a bit of impatience in his gaze, but she didn’t see anger or disgust. Lifting her chin, she sailed past him and paused at the outer door. The warrior chuckled and grasped her hand, leading her out of the bowels of the ship to board his own vessel.

  When Meghan stepped foot onto the new spacecraft, she noticed that all of the warriors on board were different. Were they pirates, just like the males who had held her captive for the past week?

  “I’ll have to put you in my quarters until we can figure out something more permanent for you,” he told her as he began leading the way.

  “Your quarters? Why can’t I go with the other women?”

  “Because there are five of you and only four beds. And they are small beds. Sharing one isn’t an option so, unless you plan to choose a mate immediately, I’ll have to think of a way to remedy the situation. Until then, you may get cleaned up and rest a while in my quarters.”

  Meghan frowned. “Won’t your mate mind?”

  He cast her a glance. “I don’t have one.”

  She halted in her tracks. “So you expect me to go to your quarters, someone who has just told me he isn’t mated, and strip naked?”

  “Well, do you know of another way to get clean?” he asked,
his eyebrows lifted.

  When they reached the captain’s quarters, he ushered her inside. The room was rather spacious, considering they were onboard a spacecraft.

  “I’ll get you something clean to wear and then you can wash yourself. I’m sure it’s been a while,” he said.

  Her eyebrows arched. “Are you trying to say I stink?”

  “Do you want the truth?”

  She made a growling sound then stomped off into the bathing chamber. The door slid shut behind her and she turned to face the cleaning unit. It didn’t look like anything she’d used on Earth. She’d been offered a shower on board the pirate ship, as they’d stripped her down and watched her bathe herself, but she didn’t remember much of that time. She’d been too terrified they had other things in mind for her.

  After a bit of playing around, she figured out how to get the shower going and stepped under the spray. Megan pressed another button and it added soap to the water, washing her from head to toe with little effort on her part. When she finished cleaning and rinsing herself, she stepped out and looked around for a towel. There was a button on the far wall and she pressed it. A towel shot out of a slit in the wall and she used it to quickly dry herself, then wrapped it around her body.

  Cautiously, she peered into the other room. The warrior was gone. Megan breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into the room. There was a set of clothing laid out on the bed and she fingered the stretchy material. Not an ideal outfit for someone her size, but it was better than being naked.

  Megan dressed quickly then played with the buttons near the door until she figured out how to get the blasted thing open. She ventured out into the ship and went exploring, always on her guard in case things weren’t as safe as she hoped. With any luck, she could convince the pirates to return her home.

  Warriors of every shape and size paused to look at her as she walked past, but no one tried to stop her. When she reached the heart of the ship, she saw a group of women gathered around the tables, more women than had been in the holding cells with her. Had Sol and his crew rescued them as well? Or had he taken them captive?

  “Hello,” Meghan said.

  The women stopped talking and gazed at her in curiosity. A violet woman nodded to her. Meghan took that to mean it was all right to sit with them. She claimed a spot at the end of the table and listened as the women talked amongst themselves. She was surprised to learn that Sol and his crew had rescued most of these women from slavers and auction houses. Not that he’d had altruistic reasons behind it, not if what he’d said about her choosing a mate from his planet was true. He was simply gathering women to replenish his world. She supposed she couldn’t blame him, but it wasn’t what she wanted.

  “You’re lucky,” one of the women said. “The captain has shown you favor.”

  “Favor?”

  “He shares his quarters with you,” the woman responded.

  So that meant Sol was, indeed, the captain. “I think you misunderstood,” Meghan said. “He’s simply sharing his space with me because there aren’t enough beds in the rooms you’re sharing.”

  The violet female smiled. “And yet he chose you to share his quarters with and no one else. I think he likes you. Perhaps he wants to claim you for himself.”

  The thought unsettled Meghan. The last thing she wanted was to become the captain’s plaything. She would never willingly choose a mate; not on this ship nor on his world. There was only one thing she wanted and that was to return to Earth and her brother. She figured he had to be frantic by now, with no way to search the galaxy for her. Was she even still in the same galaxy? Home had never been so far away before. Her heart ached with unshed tears as she thought about her home world. A place she might very well never see again.

  Chapter Two

  Nearly fifteen moon cycles later, they arrived at Tarnan. Sol was permitted to land long enough to unload cargo; he just wasn’t permitted to linger. His planet tolerated him because of the women and goods he brought, but he doubted he would ever be welcome to live there again. It saddened him, but he enjoyed his life in space. There was always a bit of excitement to be found.

  The nine women were gathered and ushered off the ship by Sol and Bynt. They met with the Prime, handing the women over. He’d never learned the sassy Earth woman’s name, but she cast him a scathing look as he handed her off. If looks could kill, his flesh would be stripped from his bones. Sol didn’t envy the man who chose her, for he doubted that she would ever choose someone.

  “Thank you, Sol,” the Prime said. “The previous women you brought us have already settled in with their mates, so the boarding houses are empty. I’m sure these will choose someone before long.”

  “I’ll try to bring more as soon as possible, but I’m running out of funds to purchase them. The Earth women are especially pricey.”

  The Prime handed him a pouch, a rather heavy one.

  “There should be enough marks in there to purchase a few more women. It won’t be enough, but maybe it will help offset your costs.” The Prime smiled. “We appreciate the service you do us.”

  Yeah, he just bet they did. He’d made three trips with women so far, at least eight women each time. It wasn’t nearly enough to repopulate his planet, but it was a start. There were thousands of warriors seeking a mate, so Sol had his work cut out for him. He could spend the rest of his life gathering women and it probably still wouldn’t be enough.

  “I’ll have my men unload the supplies I’ve brought; then we’ll be on our way,” Sol said. Bynt had already turned and was walking back toward the ship. Sol bid the Prime farewell and joined his shipmate.

  He knew the women would be well taken care of. If he thought for one moment they would be mistreated, he never would have left them. One of these days he’d claim a mate for himself, but that day had not yet come. It would be nice to have a warm body to sleep with at night, a soft woman to satisfy his urges, but his life was too unstable for that kind of commitment. One day, he’d settle on another planet, one he could make his permanent home. Then he would take a mate and settle down, leaving the space travel to his warriors.

  * * *

  Meghan scowled at the retreating back of the space pirate who had refused to let her go home. Now she found herself on this strange world, faced with more aliens she didn’t know, and didn’t care to know. The one standing at the front of their group seemed to be in charge in some capacity. Maybe he could be made to see reason and return her to her people. She just knew her brother would pay for her return, if it was a ransom they were after. Surely she’d be worth more in cold, hard cash than as some broodmare.

  She started toward the alien, but froze when a large group of males approached them. The sheer size of them was intimidating and she wondered if everyone on this planet was so huge. The captain of the ship she’d been on had been tiny in comparison to these three. Not sure what to expect, she hung back.

  The males smiled broadly and welcomed them to Tarnan. After introducing themselves, they offered to escort the women to the boarding house, where they would remain until they chose a mate. She hoped they didn’t mind a permanent resident at the boarding house, but it would be a cold day in hell before she shacked up with some alien. She supposed they looked human enough, but still… she wanted to go home and she wouldn’t rest until her plea was heard.

  When they reached the boarding houses, the four women who had been picked up first claimed the house they stood in front of. Meghan saw a similar place a little ways off and wondered if that was where she would be staying. She sure as hell hoped they had enough beds this time. No way was she sleeping on the floor! And she’d be damned if she’d go to some male’s bed just to have a soft place to sleep. It had been bad enough sleeping in the captain’s quarters, even if he wasn’t present when she was in there. Just knowing they shared the same pillow was a bit too intimate for her.

  At the second home, they were ushered inside. It was a little different from what she was used to, but it seemed com
fortable enough. She supposed the important things were that they would be out of the elements and they had a place of their own. Of course, if the looks two of the women were giving the males were any indication, there would be more beds available soon enough. It seemed they had no problem whoring themselves out to the first guy who came along.

  Meghan selected a room, one with a single bed. Two of the rooms had three beds, but she wasn’t about to share if she didn’t have to. She didn’t know these women well enough for that, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to get to know them. They seemed weak and she despised weakness. Even when she’d been captured by the pirates, she hadn’t shed a tear. She’d been terrified, but she’d locked that fear down deep inside and put on a brave front. Her father had taught her that she could survive anything if she put her mind to it. Unfortunately, both of her parents were gone now. Her heart ached whenever she thought of their loss. Her brother, Trent, was all she had left in the world.

  Meghan wondered what they were supposed to do about clothing. They’d left the ship with the clothes on their backs and nothing else. Surely they wouldn’t be expected to wear the same thing day after day. She despised the clothes she’d been given, but it was better than being naked, or covered in filth, as she’d been when the Tarnan had found her.

  As if her thoughts had been heard, a male appeared in the doorway of her room, holding a small bundle of clothing. Unfortunately, it was much the same as what she had on, but she would make do. At least she would have clean clothing to wear. She accepted the items and set them down on the bed before turning her back on the warrior. If he was hoping she would be grateful enough to sleep with him, he’d better think again. Moving into the small bathroom, she noted there was a brush and tooth-cleaning instrument, similar to the toothbrushes on Earth, set out on the counter. They both appeared new. She didn’t see any towels and wondered how she would dry herself. With a shrug, she decided she’d figure it out later.