He wanted to—wowsers. As my face flushed and warmth spread through to my core, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response.
Drakes, Drakes, Drakes, they are asshole Drakes, Jaz…I chanted to myself, desperate to keep my head in the game.
The one on the other end had dark hair that shimmered crimson, a leaner frame, a formidable scowl that radiated menace, and, apparently, wasn’t interested in eating my luscious nether regions.
“Will you two quit?” Mr. Menace snarled in Drakonian. I thought that was what he said, but the next bit was harder… “Her ass, no matter how attractive, cannot get us out of this mess.”
Pretty sure that was what he said. Yani confirmed it when she came up beside me and replied in English, “You might be surprised.” Then she shot me a glance. “We need the command security lock placed on the main door.”
Lock. Right. Focus, Jaz.I wrenched myself away to run to the doorway, where I tapped at the keypad, overriding the code the Drakes’ used. When I hurried back, Yani had matched gazes with Mr. Golden-Movie-Hero.
Clearly she wasn’t worried about being mesmerized. Maybe Drolgoks were immune…
“We need to escape, and we will free you in exchange for youtaking out the Taziers,” she said. “Do we have your word that you will help us?”
Oh, yes. Of course. Theplan. What was wrong with me? All I could think of was getting those shackles off them. The veins stood out and every impressive muscle in the golden Drake’s arms quivered with strain, but his gaze moved from Yani, to me. His nostrils flared as if he were drinking in my scent.
Then he answered. “If you free us, we will help you.”
Relief swept through me. They were only words, but I believed him.
Mr. Redhead-Tatted-Action-Man’s eyes gleamed a vivid blue. “Apparently, her tasty asscanget us out of this mess.”
The dark-haired one snorted rather derisively. “We are still hanging here,” he pointed out in Drakonian. Or something like that.
“We need the ladders along the back wall,” Yani told me as she moved to the cage gate and raised the cutter to the lock.
It didn’t take long before the gate swung open. By then I’d retrieved a small stepladder and a longer version as well. I handed the bigger one to Yani.
Which was when the door to the storage bay beeped as someone tried, and failed, to gain access.
7
Zyair
“Hurry,” the little female told the Drolgok as they both moved into the cage.
As she drew close, I inhaled a sweet and powerful scent rife with hormones, and a nearly overwhelming pulse of pure lust swept through me.
Several powerful Drakonian curses zipped through my head and culminated in a single word.
Ripe.
She was ready to bemated. What was a viable female doing on this ship? My shock only enhanced my body’s reaction. Something, that frankly, in my current state, could not be disguised.
Senaik must have brought her, intending to mate her on this trip. It was the only possible explanation. Her eyes—almost violet in the overhead lights—dropped low before they jerked back upward. Her face flushed an even deeper shade of red.
Gods, she was beautiful. So tiny, but with feminine curves and, as Xandros had pointed out, a luscious ass.
I refused to use the word tasty. That led me down a road from which I may never return…
“Concentrate on the main issue,” Rhodes hissed at me in Drakonian. “They will be phasering that door once they know it is not just jammed. It will not hold for long.”
Rhodes. The Iceman, and my conscience. How could he be so close to her, and not be bewitched? If I was not chained, I would be hard pressed not to pull her into me…
Or maybe just hard.
Shaftz. I was that already. Years of abstinence had come back to bite me. As another waft of her scent passed over me, I almost panted like an animal.
