Pursued: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (Raider Warlords of the Vandar Book 4) by Tana Stone (world best books to read .TXT) 📕

I again? I peered through the dimly lit room, the only light emanating from the blue flames in the wall fireplace.

“That’s right,” I mumbled to myself. “The Raas’ quarters.”

There was no sound, save the crackling of the fire and the constant hum of the ship’s engines. The Raas must have slept somewhere else because as I sat up, I realized I was alone in the huge bed. The slippery sheet fell to my waist, and I pulled it back up as I glanced down. Alone in bed, and very naked.

Swinging my feet over the side of the bed, I rubbed my head. When had I undressed, and where were my clothes?

My eyes caught on the arched doorway leading to the bathing pools, and my stomach clenched. The bathing pools. My last memory was sitting in the fragrant water and talking to Raas Bron. Words floated through my mind as I tried desperately to recall what I’d told him.

He’d been asking me questions about myself and my past. I cringed as I remembered telling him that I was born on Faaral. So much for my cover story of being a miner escaping the empire.

“Fuck.” I stood so quickly my head swam, but I ignored the pain and the surge of nausea as my gaze locked on the heavy, iron door. If the Raas knew I wasn’t who I claimed to be, I needed to get the hell off his ship. He might have left me alone for now, but I doubted I would be afforded my freedom for much longer.

I wrapped the sheet around me and walked across the room as quickly as I could, a train of fabric swishing behind me like a tail. I couldn’t even worry about the mission that I’d clearly have to abandon. Now my only goal was to get off the Vandar ship alive. I’d have to worry about the repercussions once there was no chance I’d be tortured to death by the raiders or put out an airlock. The Vandar did not have a reputation for mercy, and I’d heard rumors they didn’t even have a brig because they never took anyone alive, or waited to mete out punishment.

When I reached the door, I slapped my hand on the panel to one side. The round metal door didn’t part like it normally did. I pressed harder, but it didn’t budge.

“No no no no no no,” I whispered, as I let the sheet fall and tried to wedge my fingers at the seam of the door and pull the two sides apart.

Nothing happened. They were locked. I leaned my palms against the door and heaved in a breath. I wouldn’t be escaping from the Vandar, after all. Was the Raas’ menacing battle chief on his way now to take me? Would there be any kind of trial or would they kill me immediately?

Bile churned in my gut, and I squeezed my eyes tight. How had I been so stupid? I knew better than to reveal information about myself. I thought back to talking with the Raas. But it had felt so right to answer his questions. Actually, it had seemed like an impossibility not to answer them.

Regret joined my growing sense of dread. Would I see Raas Bron before I was executed? Even though he was the reason I’d failed to fulfill my mission, I wished I could see him again.

“Don’t be stupid, Alana,” I said, lifting my head and trying to gather my courage. “He wouldn’t want to see you.”

“I hope you aren’t talking about me.”

The voice came out of the darkness, causing me to spin and scramble for the sheet puddled on the floor. “What the hell?!”

I squinted toward the glass wall, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. The figure sitting at the long table stood, and the Raas walked slowly toward me.

Even though I was standing at the door, I instinctively took a step back as the massive warrior advanced on me, and I bumped against the cold metal. “How long have you been there? Were you watching me sleep?”

“I was waiting for you to wake.”

I’d been thoroughly trained in hand-to-hand combat, but even I wasn’t brash enough to attack the huge alien while wearing nothing but a sheet and nursing some kind of weird hangover. Not that I wanted to attack the Raas. As bizarre as it seemed, the sight of him provoked a fluttering of my pulse and throbbing between my legs, instead of murderous instincts.

When he was towering over me, I forced myself to meet his serious gaze. “So, you can tell me my fate?”

He inclined his head slightly. “You could say that.”

My heart pounded so hard I put a hand to my chest. I’d been trained for everything, but the reality of death still sent fear clawing at my throat. “Can you do it quick? I don’t know what the Vandar usually do to prisoners, but I’d rather not be tortured before you kill me.”

“Kill you?” Bron closed his hand over mine. “You think I was waiting for you to wake so I could kill you?” He shook his head. “If I wanted you dead, you would not have lived through the night.”

“Oh.” That was comforting, I guess. Maybe I hadn’t told the Raas the truth about me. Maybe I’d dreamt it all, and my cover was still intact. “Are we still en route to Ludvok?”

He tightened his hand around mine, pulling it toward him. “I do not think it would be fair to the citizens of that planet to drop off a Zagrath spy and assassin, do you?”

I attempted to jerk my hand away, but he held firm. Then he grabbed my other wrist, causing me to lose my grip on the sheet entirely. It cascaded to a heap at my feet, leaving me naked and struggling to get away from him.

“There is no point in fighting me, female.” His voice was so calm it startled me into stopping my flailing. “I told you I have no