"The harbinger is coming," Ashley told Felicia, who was crouching down with her under their massive console table. "That is what that guy said, wasn't it?"

"I think so, yes," Felicia whispered, her voice shaking so badly Ashley could hardly make out the words.

The guns were almost empty. Their little play at freedom was soon going to reach its inevitable conclusion.

Ashley had silently hoped that would be it. The warriors outside the guard room door would break in, take them along and they could begin the task of trying not to be noticed by anyone important.

Now it had all gone downhill so fast it made her dizzy.

"Is it just me or did he sound afraid?" Ashley asked, knowing she shouldn't terrify Felicia further. "Gods, his own men are afraid of him...We are so fucked."

"Literally," Felicia whispered back, a morbid smile on her lips.

Ashley chuckled, glad for that small miracle at least. It seemed that the hopelessness of their situation had finally caught up with Felicia, or again, anyway. Despite how it sounded, that was a good thing. After knowing they'd already hit the bottom of the well of misery, there was nowhere to go but up. Now all they had to do was find a way not to draw the commander's attention too much.

The Nayanors were notorious for being protective of the captured females. It didn't make being imprisoned and forced into makeshift relationships any better, of course. The fact stayed, however, that the Nayanors considered themselves guardians of their fated mates. Courtesy of having so few females. There hadn't been a girl born on their home world in decades, if rumor had it.

So the fate of the kidnapped women came down to how powerful their mate happened to be. There were a few stories, very few, of clever and lucky women who'd managed to escape the Nayanors. That was the source of most rumors and almost everything the Union knew about the strange race whose home world they couldn't locate – an absurdity with all the technology they possessed.

Every last one of the women had escaped from lesser warriors, foot soldiers. Always on the journey to wherever the home world was, never once after they'd already gotten there. Incredible skill and luck had to come together to pull off even that feat, but Ashley wasn't burying hope yet.

All she had to hope for was a common warrior. The officers never let their mates escape. And harbingers... Ashley shuddered.

"Perhaps we should just give up," she told Felicia as the door they'd been guarding for the past ten minutes was eerily quiet. "If someone claims us before the harbinger gets here, we might stand a chance. Gods, I don't even know if it works like that. Fated mates... I wonder if it's really true."

"Are you suggesting we offer ourselves to one of those monsters?" Felicia asked, her blue eyes wide with disbelief. "I won't volunteer for slavery. I won't pick my own rapist!"

"They don't rape," Ashley reminded her quickly, counting down the seconds.

How long did the harbinger need to reach them? They had to act fast.

"How do we know that?" Felicia asked angrily. "The women who've escaped might have just had the more polite ones. It's what they want us for after all, right? Babies. I don't know how long it's been since your last biology class, but do you remember where babies come from?"

"Funny," Ashley said bitterly. "Those who managed to escape all said the warriors didn't force themselves upon them. They can be patient if they need to be. Maybe they coerce us or something? I don't know, but we will very soon. So is it better to choose the man who claims us or let some lunatic prove me wrong about being forced?"

Felicia didn't reply.

Ashley was about to make her last argument, but it was too late. There was a shuffling in the corridor behind the door and then a Nayanor warrior stepped into the room.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. All the others had had the common sense to wait in cover, but that one waltzed in like he ate plasma shots for breakfast.

Perhaps he does. Who knows what the harbingers do?

"I warn you," Ashley told the heavy dark green boots that stopped in the middle of the room when she spoke. "I have you in my sights and I'm not that bad of a shot. If you don't want a gaping hole in your stomach, I suggest you let us go!"

Laughter answered her.

It was low and dark and somehow, impossibly, the sexiest thing she'd ever heard in her life. The sound washed over her, feeling like the caress of a strong, powerful hand. Ashley shuddered despite herself and the Arctic cold had nothing to do with the reason why.

"Go ahead," the harbinger dared her. "Take your best shot, female."

"Maybe I won't," Ashley replied. "Maybe I'll keep you where you are until the army gets here and then you might actually have to answer for your crimes."

The laughter again. Ashley had already felt her body react the first time, she'd just badly wanted to ignore and deny it. Now she was sure. She was definitely getting turned on like a light by the man she could only previously muster hate for.

I'm better than this. Just because it's been a while since I dated someone doesn't mean I have to start mewling for the first warlord who comes a-knocking on my door.

"If you want to wrap the female soldiers with the reinforcements up like gifts for me, be my guest," the harbinger said.

"No!" Ashley said at once.

She hadn't considered that.

Damn it.

The gun was in her hand, but she wasn't taking the clear shot. At point-blank range, she couldn't miss, could she? Only what would happen to her and Felicia then? And the rest of the women?

She could no longer hear screaming from the station, not from outside or from the monitors. It had to mean everyone was either dead or captured. She and Felicia were the last ones there.

"Enough playing now, female," the harbinger said, coming closer.

Instinctively, Ashley fired. As soon as she pulled the trigger, she knew she'd messed up.

I shot a Nayanor harbinger. Felicia and I will be the first women ever killed by these bastards.

The smoke of the blast was clearing. Ashley saw a gaping black hole in the wall and some rather surprised-looking Nayanors in the corridor. She couldn't help but notice that for monsters, they were definitely not the worst-looking ones. With big bodies and chiseled features, the Nayanors were actually pretty much the definition of hot.

It's a pity they're rotten to the core.

It was rather worrying, however, that she couldn't see the harbinger. He should have been a pile of armor and charred flesh on the floor, yet there was nothing.

Then Felicia disappeared from her side, screeching as she was pulled from their cover.

Ashley didn't waste a second. Somehow, the harbinger had moved out of the way of a shot taken five feet from him. She scrambled out from the table's cover and turned as fast as she could, the gun still in her hands.

She froze to the spot.

Not just because the harbinger was holding Felicia in his strong, unwavering grip.

Also because the sight of the Nayanor had kicked a heavy blow to her sense and reason, leaving nothing but his vision in their place.

Ashley could feel her feet trembling ever so slightly as she stared at the most gorgeous man alive. In all his seven-foot-five glory, the harbinger was a brute of a man, yet his sharp dark hazel eyes looked straight ahead into Ashley's heart. She simply couldn't tear her eyes away from him. There was a hidden nobility about the warlord, his features strong and sharp and his posture regal.

She could very well believe that man ruled worlds. He certainly looked the part.

And if she wasn't mistaken, there was a definite glint of desire in his eyes as he looked at her with wonderment.

"You should put that away, female, before you get hurt," he said. "I can just as well dodge your shot with your friend in my grasp and still catch you."

Ashley hated how little she minded the idea of being caught by him.

He's a harbinger, she reminded herself with not a small amount of disappointment in her dignity. For gods' sake, get it together! He's a hunter, the man who killed and enslaved my station! This is not the moment to get lost in his eyes.

Easier said than done, of course. Ashley couldn't deny there was a dark power about the warlord, drawing her in like she somehow gravitated to his presence. It was easy to understand why. Being in the same room as him, Ashley could see why he made the savage warriors follow him.

"Just because I know I'll lose doesn't mean I won't fight until I no longer can," she told him, hating how her voice shook a little and not just from fear.

The attraction was burning in her veins and she desperately needed something to remind herself she was in the presence of a killer.

The Nayanor smiled.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, his deep voice making Ashley shiver.

She hoped he hadn't noticed that, but the day hadn't been kind to her so far.

"We haven't been introduced," she said. "What with you destroying my station and murdering my friends."

"Allow me to correct that, then," the harbinger said, his dark eyes keeping her fixed in her place like her feet were nailed to the ground. "I am Zar Kohora. I like your spirit, female, but this is over for you. You can choose the easy way or the hard way to do this but in a minute, I will have tasted those pretty pink lips of yours."

The flash of warmth that shot through Ashley wasn't anger for damn sure, although it quickly followed, directed straight at herself. She couldn't possibly look forward to kissing the most feared hunter of all the Nayanor fleets. Zar Kohora had spilled so much blood it could have flooded an entire metropolis.

"I know who you are," Ashley said quietly, making sure no trace of desire slipped into her voice.

"Do you?" Zar asked, looking rather amused. "You don't seem very afraid."

Trying to ignore how smiling made the harbinger look incredibly sexy, Ashley replied:

"You must excuse my manners for not greeting you with the proper amount of horrified screaming."

The way Zar's lips spread into a wide smirk told her that hadn't been the cleverest of responses. She'd broken her own rule. Didn't she plan on not drawing the attention of any high-ranking Nayanor?

Then Zar moved so fast Ashley only saw a blur of him. He let go of Felicia and jumped over their makeshift cover with a leap that made her believe he could fly or at least float through air. As the other warriors caught Felicia and pulled her out of the room, Ashley found herself in Zar's impossibly strong grip.

She had only a second to look up into his dark eyes burning with desire before he claimed her lips with passion that left her knees weak. Ashley tried to fight the harbinger and herself both, ultimately losing to both as she couldn't prevent herself from enjoying the kiss.

It was impossible to.

Being kissed by Zar made Ashley feel like she was on fire, from head to toe. The lips on hers were demanding and firm, yet he didn't hurt her. Instead, butterflies beat their wings in her chest as she had to catch herself from responding to the kiss, melting into the soft touch of Zar's lips on hers. When he slipped a tongue into her mouth, Ashley moaned before she could stop herself.

With a chuckle, Zar pulled back, still holding her in his arms.

"What's your name, female?" he asked.

"Ashley," she replied, knowing there was no benefit in trying to play it hard.

Gaining Zar's trust was the only way she could ever hope to see home again, even if she couldn't have landed a more difficult task if she tried.

"Ashley," Zar repeated and the sound of her name on his tongue gave her goosebumps. "You are mine now."

Not for long, Ashley thought as the warlord led her away from the lost station.

She went along obediently, hoping the warlord hadn't noticed the tiny gun she'd hidden in the folds of her coat.