eyes at me as if her injury had been part of some master plan of mine.
I folded my arms across my chest. “I could easily leave you here. You can meet the natives on your own and see how they welcome a female in a Vandar ship.”
“You wouldn’t,” she said.
I cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Okay, you can carry me,” she said, as if she were bestowing a great honor on me.
I lifted her easily, being careful not to jostle her injured leg. She readjusted her vest, which seemed to constantly flap open, and I kept my eyes up so as not to be tempted by a glimpse of her creamy skin.
All I wanted was to get us both off the planet and away from reach of the empire so I could return her to her sad freighter and never set eyes on her again. I didn’t care if it meant returning to my brother’s sector or tracking down the ship again. I was going to undo the mistake I’d made and send Tara on her way. If I was really feeling vindictive, I’d sneak her onto my brother’s ship. Let the great Raas Kratos deal with this hellcat.
“What so funny?” she asked, as I tramped through the thick undergrowth.
I hadn’t known I’d been laughing but I guessed the idea of my older brother juggling two human females had amused me. I only had one, and so far she’d tried to kill me and was the reason the empire had been able to track my horde and launch an attack. I couldn’t imagine what she could do with more time or an accomplice.
“Nothing,” I answered gruffly, glancing down and then away again when I saw that her kilt had ridden up so that most of her thighs were exposed. I remembered all too well the sheer sliver of black fabric covering her sex, and just the thought of it made my cock swell.
Tvek. Not only was I walking through an alien forest while carrying a female, I now had to do it with an aching cock. I shifted my grip on her, keeping my gaze focused on the trees ahead. Too bad my body hadn’t gotten the message that Tara was nothing but trouble.
Chapter Thirteen
Tara
If there was any way I could have walked, I would have. Being carried by the bossy Vandar as he tramped through the thick forest was not my idea of a good time, even though he was careful about not bumping my ankle or jostling me too much.
I’d never been in an actual forest, and I was startled by how many strange sounds there were. After years spent on a spaceship, the chirps and caws were unusual to my ears. The swampy air made sweat trickle down my face, though I’d gotten used to the pungent scent, and my clothes had wilted in the humidity, the kilt no longer holding sharp creases.
I helped the Raas push the wide, fan-shaped leaves aside before we passed through them, but filmy tendrils of diaphanous greenery draped down from overhead and brushed my head. I swatted at both them and the occasional flying creature that buzzed near my ears.
“How do you do it?” I finally asked, my throat thick from thirst.
“Do what?” He glanced down at me then quickly up again before a green-blue frond smacked him in the face.
“Walk around in leather? Aren’t you burning up?”
He gave me a curious look. “It is warmer than on my warbird, but I am not burning, as you suggest.”
Black spots danced in front of my eyes, and I let my head rest on the firm plane of his chest. “You really are a superhuman wraith.”
“Wraith?”
I cursed myself for letting that slip, although I was too tired and thirsty to care as much as I should have. “Just what people whisper about the Vandar raiders. That you’re like ghosts appearing out of the blackness, bringing terror with you, and vanishing just as quickly. Only something unnatural could walk through this and not be gasping.”
“We are not wraiths. We are fighting for freedom.”
I twitched one shoulder as I let my eyes close. “To those you attack, you’re a nightmare.”
He was quiet for a few beats, the only sounds the crunching of leaves beneath his feet and the distant hoot of some creature. “If we are enough of a nightmare to the Zagrath, maybe they will cease their illegal actions.”
I stifled a laugh. “Because life is fair like that.”
Before he could respond, the Raas stopped and