Chapter 27

Captain Jennifer Brooklyn sat in her cell, looking out at the array of cages and their inhabitants. There were creatures with humanoid shapes, some with additional arms or legs, some with heads that looked as large and fragile as eggs. Some were towering, some were tiny, but all were interesting to a spaceship captain who had very little experience with alien life forms.

The creatures spanned from interesting to horrific. Brook had to turn away from several of them, fear rushing in to choke her due to their appearance alone. There were ones with mountains of eyes, or things with so many tentacles she couldn’t figure out what shape the body underneath would be. It was a far cry from the familiar animal life on Earth.

Brook and her crew had been sent on a mission to locate the missing scientist, Dr. Sylvia Cohen, who hadn’t been heard from since her ship entered the atmosphere of JL-398, a planet able to support life. What Brook had discovered was that JL-398 was known as Zanthar to its inhabitants, creatures with color-changing skin and the ability to project electricity from their bodies.

The Zantharians were at war with their ancient enemy, the Hareema, a race of shapeshifting jellies. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the mission had been her reaction to the alien major. Ontarii was strong, brave, and surprisingly compassionate. Their attraction had seemed to catch them both off guard. The time they spent locked together in the bridge would forever be etched in her memory as the single most fulfilling sexual encounter of her life.

But the outcome of their coupling had not been so positive. Their joining had caused the mating frenzy to come upon Ontarii. His skin, which had changed with his moods, had become pitch black, a dark so deep it matched his midnight eyes. His moods came fast and furiously, but more importantly, his attraction to her seemed to falter. He’d gone from lustful to resentful, and Brook had no idea if she would be able to wholly reverse that trend.

Ontarii had told her that he had to mate his chosen female or die. Brook was clearly that female, as he’d started the frenzy after their encounter, but she wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep her. He’d confessed that Zantharians mated for life. As one of only a handful of spaceship captains on Earth, Brook considered her life too busy to support a long-term relationship. Especially a long distance one, like theirs was bound to be.

Still, she couldn’t deny the feelings she had for her alien lover. Brook had never felt so much for someone, like her heart wanted to explode in wanting when he looked at her with his dark eyes. At the thought of leaving him, her chest locked up and she couldn’t breathe.

Captain Jennifer Brooklyn had surrendered her heart to an alien who was destined to die, and the fact that it had happened so fast was concerning.

She peered down into the cage beneath her. Ontarii was staring up at her. He’d been staring at her for hours, ever since they’d been locked in these cages after being trapped in a Hareema vessel and brought to this prison. Apparently the Hareema knew about the Zantharian mating frenzy, and they’d designed a punishment that would be both torturous and deadly.

Unless Ontarii mated her, he would die. She wasn’t sure how long it would take, but she knew he would only last a few days. Already his face looked tighter, his eyes wilder. His moods had started shifting rapidly and intensely after the frenzy had taken hold. Brook was afraid that spending much more time in their cells might make him lose it entirely.

She’d been looking for a way out, but so far no opportunities for escape had presented themselves. The cell doors were locked tight, and the bars were too close together to squeeze through. Furthermore, her captors hadn’t shown themselves since they’d locked her away several hours ago.

Brook’s stomach rumbled for the hundredth time. She hadn't eaten in hours…actually, it was probably at least a day by then. Events had snowballed since Ontarii had boarded her ship making his demands. She smiled at the memory.

She’d thought him bossy and arrogant, too comfortable with giving orders on her ship. But as they’d searched for her crew and battled Hareema agents, she’d come to realize that he was what he was: A strong, beautiful, and caring individual who wasn’t afraid to take charge. Although she herself was no stranger to command, she found she liked having someone that she could lean on in times of trouble. Someone as strong, or stronger, than she was.

Ontarii continued to stare at her, his dark eyes full of some unnamed emotion. Could he feel about her the way she did about him? His body certainly liked hers, if his current coloring could be any indication. Their sexual encounters had been incredible, and she knew he felt it too, but a hot time in the sack wasn’t always a solid foundation upon which to build a relationship.

There were so many things that lay between them, not the least of which were the Hareema prison bars. If they did manage to escape and Ontarii somehow survived the mating frenzy, would it be possible to build a life together? They were literally worlds apart with a gulf of stars between them.

Still, staring down at him now, Brook knew that she wanted to try. It might be impossible, but if there was a chance of spending the rest of her life with the handsome Zantharian commander, she was going to take it.

Now I just have to figure out how to break us out of a Hareema prison and steal a ship, make it out of enemy territory, and back to safety either on Earth or the unknown world of Zanthar.

Piece of cake.

There was a sudden grumbling from the cell across from her. Brook’s eyes flew to the creature within the cage. It was hairy, so hairy that its features were almost indeterminate. Without warning it let out a throaty howl and leapt several feet in the air to grasp the bars on the top of its cell. It swung back and forth, grunting and howling, its cries echoing through the giant prison chamber.

The ruckus caused by the hairy creature set off a domino effect of anxiety among the other inhabitants of the prison. Soon there were shouts and calls of all types, some in what resembled words in languages she didn’t know, others resembling nothing she’d ever heard before. In seconds the whole chamber was ringing with noise.

Brook slapped her hands over her ears to block out the chaos. She expected to see Hareema agents attempting to quiet the creatures down. Instead, nothing happened. The rioting continued until the creatures expended their energy. The hairy one near her lasted the longest, but after a while he stopped howling and released his grip on the bars, falling back to the bottom of his cage and staying there.

The mood in the prison after the outburst was decidedly demoralized. She risked another glance at Ontarii. He was still staring at her, but his face was now a mask of rage. She could see his fists shaking at his sides. It scared her.

Brook laid down on the bars below her, putting her face in an opening between them and calling out to him. “Ontarii? Are you all right?”

His mouth curled up into a snarl. “All right? What about this situation do you believe is all right?”

He began to pace, even though his eyes never left hers. “We’re trapped in this prison, kept apart by these blasted bars, and I can’t do anything about it. I’m going to die here, able to see you, to hear you, to fucking smell you, but I can’t touch you.”

His eyes turned sad, and Brook’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed by cruel hands. “The worst part of it all is not that I will die. I would lay down my life a hundred times for you. It’s the fact that I don’t know what they will do to you after I’m gone.”

Brook swallowed. He has a point there.

She didn’t know what her Hareema captors might have in mind, but she was sure she wouldn’t like it. “Let’s not wait around to find out. Let’s figure a way out of this mess.”

Ontarii’s laugh was bitter. “My people have been researching the Hareema for centuries. We’ve known that the Hareema have taken prisoners, but never once has a prisoner been located after they’ve been taken. Not one has been recovered, and none have escaped.”

“So the odds are against us.” Brook gave him a cocky smile. “So what? The Hareema have never faced the team of Ontarii and Brook. They’ll rue the day they ever fucked with us.”

His smile was small and it soon faded. “I appreciate your attempt at levity, my dear, but I’m afraid I don’t share your optimism.”

Brook felt his sadness like a physical weight on her shoulders.

“We have to try,” she pleaded. “We can’t just give up.”

Ontarii continued to stare at her, saying nothing.

Brook felt a sudden overwhelming urge to cry. She hadn’t cried in years, since she’d been in flight school and was sure she’d never be good enough to be selected for an interstellar mission. But seeing the man she loved so broken filled her with such despair that she couldn’t help herself.

Her tears fell into the cell below her. She watched as one hit Ontarii’s shoulder. He peered up at her, his expression one of deep regret.

“I’m sorry, little one,” he murmured. “I never wanted this to happen.”

“I’m sorry too,” she said. “It seems so unfair. To meet you, to connect in this way I’ve never experienced, and now I have to watch you die and can’t do anything about it. I feel so helpless. So fucking frustrated and impotent.”

“Hush, baby.” One of her tears hit his cheek and he collected it with his fingertip. He examined his finger, a slight smile crossing his full lips. Then he popped the finger in his mouth.

The display moved her. It also made her cry harder.

“Ontarii,” she moaned, her voice breaking on his name.

“Jennifer, get ahold of yourself. I don’t want to see you this way. Not with the little time we have left together. I need you to be strong.”

“I’m tired of being strong,” she yelled. “I’ve been strong for so long!”

“And you’ll be strong for a little while longer. For me.”

His words were full of feeling.

She knew then that her love wasn’t one-sided. The outpouring of emotion washed over her, calming her. The tears that had been falling from her cell to his started to taper off.

Suddenly there was the sound of an alarm. It was a loud, high-pitched sound that had Brook covering her ears once again. She rose to her knees and scrambled to the side of her cell, looking out at the hubbub around her.