Chapter 1
Peyton
My forehead thumped against the cold glass to the rhythm of the ship’s engines. Staring out, stars and clusters of bright lights zoomed by. We had been traveling on Tahk’s battleship going on two weeks now. Not that I could tell time from their strange symbols and the lack of a sun or moon. But Yilt had said it was the fourteenth sunring―days― of travel. We would be on Home World in two more days. It felt much longer than fourteen. Though that could have been because Dahk days were longer than humans, but I thought it was more the monotony of space travel. I had explored the ship from top to bottom. Inside and out. I hung around Vivian when the loneliness got to be too much, and when she was too stressed or sad herself to entertain me, I bugged Colt. The old man had been having a hard time on the ship. Flying wasn’t good for him, he’d said. Plus, he didn’t have his gun club or his gas station. The man was used to being busy. Here, there wasn’t anything for us to do.
It was driving us all insane. Hector and Ford were still unconscious. At this point, Gryo had his eyes on them all the time. Constantly checking his instruments. And he froze them. I shivered. That was a strange thing to witness. Hector had been dying when we left Earth, but during the trip, he actually had died. Gryo managed to bring him back, but he was freezing his and Ford’s injuries to try and keep them alive long enough to get to the healing vats on Home World. Their bodies were covered in little patches of ice. Like popsicles.
Viv was barely hanging on. She was spiraling down into despair. She cried fitfully at night in the bed we shared, only to wake up and hold vigil at Hector’s side until one of us convinced her to sleep again, usually Yilt. I tried to distract her with my own woes, but it was getting harder and harder to pull her from Hector’s side. She was thin to the point of being frail. Her hair limp, and her face drawn in devastation. I could sometimes get her to come with me to annoy Colt, but lately, she was preoccupied with worry when she left him. Even away from Hector, she was still right beside him.
Most of my time was spent with my chickens, Noodle, and Frederick. They were the only pieces of home I had left. My pottery wheel was destroyed in the crash, along with all my clothes and other belongings. I had to wear overly large tunics, and pants rolled up so far it was uncomfortable. Or long gowns of the female Dahk, that were so tight I thought I’d bust open like a can of hammered biscuits if I so much as moved.
Those girls were damn skinny. I wouldn’t have thought so with all their muscles, but my rolls proved me wrong. My stomach pinched in the silver gown I wore now, just the idea of eating anything would rip it. My ass was straining the fabric so much the seams were widening. And don’t even get me started on my boobs. Hoo-boy, those suckers were smashed down.
Not that the Dahk minded. Those guys were a bunch of horny teenagers when they got a look at Viv and me. Whatever reservations they had of our human physical characteristics were long gone after the first few days. With so many females on board, we got tastier and tastier to them. Vagina was vagina after all.
Not that a single one of them would make a move with Commander asshole around. But when he wasn’t looking? There was a ton of eye fucking going on. It made me nervous to go anywhere on my own.
So, I mostly stayed in the hull with my animal friends. Feeding them and talking to them. They were excellent listeners, especially Frederick. Not Noodle, though. He was livid with me. He didn’t have a proper pen for his girls. Jilly was distressed all the time. And the Dahk were going in the pen they fashioned out of old crates all day and night for the eggs. Who knew chicken eggs would be such a huge hit with them? All this combined with the fact that Noodle hadn’t seen the sun for so long―my rooster was murderous at the sight of me. I had pecks all up and down my arms and had to stay well away from Jilly, or I worried he would peck me to death.
I sighed and turned from the window to sit on the edge of the bed. Viv and I shared a room now. It was small and plain. Not a single personal item lying around. It felt cold and sterile. I itched to leave, but Tahk was out and about, preparing for our arrival. I didn’t want to see him any more than he wanted to see me.
Things were very tense between us. His anger with me nearly rivaled my own. I was so pissed at him. He took me from my home. Not even caring what it would do to me. He just snatched me away, like it was totally normal to kidnap a girl from the only planet she’d ever known. And him, well every time I glared at him, every time I shoved his hands from reaching for me, every time I denied his closeness, his anger grew and grew until he could barely stand the sight of me.
We hadn’t come close to each other in days. When one of us saw the other, we turned and ran the other way. And speaking? I hadn’t spoken a word to him since the day we left. I let my silence speak for itself.
Yilt said Tahk was hurting from being denied, that a mate could feel physical pain from the loss after too long. He talked about consequences and mating rages, and blah blah blah. I usually tuned him out after that.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew a mating rage was no joke. I survived one after all. But, I also knew it wasn’t as bad as the first one for him. More like little tremors compared to a giant quake. Or that’s how I looked at it. I had no real proof he wasn’t going to go all psycho and mount me.
And frankly, I had my damn reasons for screwing him the first time. Those reasons were gone now. He made sure of that. I couldn’t just get over my anger and let him slake his lust. How was that fair? There would be no saving Earth as a reward this time. No going home. All my hopes hung on Fihk now, and he wasn’t here for me to manipulate with my body. Not that I would.
I had loved Tahk. I really had. I couldn’t just turn those feelings off, but he sure did enough damage taking me from earth to have me questioning every single moment of falling for him. But I couldn’t turn to another. Dahk were still aliens to me, but Tahk had been different. He had been mine. No other Dahk would do. I wanted him all those weeks ago, nobody else. I would be a spinster from now on. That sounded much better than dealing with arrogant, know-it-all, you-will-do-as-I-say Commanders. He could take his edicts and shove it.
He wasn’t the Tahk I knew anymore. He hadn’t been the loving, protective, Tahk I fell in love with since his King died.
So, if he suffered the mating rage? Why should I care? It might have been selfish of me, but my pride was wounded, dammit. My feelings were hurt. I was scared and depressed, and I didn’t know what else to do with all those bottled up emotions as we hurtled through never-ending black space.
Besides, he had Filiya to take care of him, I thought hotly. The damn female was all over him lately. And I never saw him turn her away. If anything, he let her pet all over him while he watched me with angry eyes. He could stare all day. I would not give him the reaction he wanted. This girl was not jealous. No siree bob. Nope.
She could have him.
I gnashed my teeth together and stormed to the door. I would not hide in here a second longer. If Tahk didn’t want to see me, fine, let him go hide. He brought me here. He could damn well deal with me.
I slammed my hand down on the panel that opened the door and stormed out of the room, my hair flying, and the skirts of my long dress tangling around my bare feet. Yup. No shoes. My others were too far gone to save, and the Dahk had mammoth clawed clown-feet. They didn’t even know what shoes were.
Yilt was adorably confused the day Vivian tried to ask for them. He watched her keenly as she showed off our torn sneakers, observing all the details of them avidly, and then rushed to find replacements. Unfortunately, the best he could do was little sacks of cloth he shoved hard boards inside. His stitching was horrendous, but we patted him on the back for effort, then giggled ourselves silly when he left with a proud tilt of his chin. That was days ago, and my feet were raw from the cold floors ever since. Viv did try to wear the shoes, but she tripped more than they helped her, so we ditched them.
Yilt was crestfallen and had been trying to fix them ever since.
At least he tried. More than I could say for some butthurt aliens.
The sweet shoemaker found me in the hallway as I stomped to the great hall. “How are you this eve, Pehytohn?”
“Fine,” I growled and walked around him.
“You do not look it.” He rushed up and tilted his head in question.
I stopped and sighed. Yilt was just too innocent looking to be mean to. “I’m going stir crazy.” I tossed my frizzy hair over my shoulder. Oh, what I would do for a brush. And conditioner. Deodorant. I was using a damn blade to shave. It was like a massacre of legs and pits every time I showered.
“Ah,” he clapped his beefy hands together loudly, and I jumped. “Entertainment then. Come with me.” He clasped my hand and tugged me down the hall.
“Where are we going?”
He winked and sped up.
We rounded a corner I knew to be close to the hull and came to a side door that had Dahk symbols carved into it. I had been here already. It was a huge room that looked like a mini arena. It held about a hundred bodies on a balcony that wrapped around a deep dip in the floor. There were stands of weapons and targets and a bunch of other things I had no idea how to use. No one was in there the last time I had seen it, which was not the case now. The balcony was packed full. And down below in the pit were four Dahk. Three of which I didn’t know. But I knew the other.
Tahk stood in the center, the other three circling him. He was bare-chested and sweaty. His muscles heaving as he fought off various attacks. Every dip and curve of his muscular perfection was on blatant display.
I stiffened and scowled at Yilt. He flushed sheepishly but pushed me through the crowd. Dahk grumbled and growled but moved to make room for me close to the railing.
My breath caught as I got closer to him. He really was magnificent. He moved so fluidly. His muscles bulging and releasing in time with his graceful movements. His skin-tight leather pants molded to his backside perfectly. Displaying all its glory. I swallowed hard.
Tahk suddenly lunged and flipped over an opponent landing with a dramatic flair, his wings spreading wide. His nostrils flared, and his head shot up. His silver eyes narrowed, pinning me to the floor, then flushed hot with hunger. My nipples tightened.
Oh man, maybe humans could have a mating rage too.