Pursued: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Romance (Raider Warlords of the Vandar Book 4) by Tana Stone (ebook reader txt) 📗

stormed through me as all rational thought abandoned me, replaced by a haze of wanting. I ran one hand down the length of her body, tugging her leg up so it hooked around my waist and feeling the slickness between her thighs. It would take a mere flick to move aside the leather strips of my battle kilt and bury my cock inside her.

Take her. You are Raas.

The insistent words in my head made me falter. I was Raas, but I was not Kratos. I did not want a female to warm my bed, or distract me from building my own legacy. Not when I had barely begun. I reared up and dislodged her leg from my waist, staggering back and taking a shuddering breath.

Alana sat up, her eyes half-lidded and her legs slightly splayed. “What’s wrong, Raas?”

“This,” I said as I spun and took uneven steps to the door. “This can never happen again.”

I jammed my hand against the panel to open the door and stumbled out, grateful when the door slid closed, even though the guard’s expression was startled.

I straightened and raked a hand through my hair, my skin tingling from her touch. “Return the female to her quarters and make sure she remains there.”

Chapter Ten

General Hardin stared at the imperial tactical officer who’d brought him the news. “What do you mean, the ship was destroyed?”

The officer kept his chin high and his eyes averted. “The trackers in the ship’s cargo stopped transmitting, so we sent a ship to investigate. All that remains where the freighter last transmitted is debris from a major explosion.”

Hardin leaned his hands against his desk, fighting the urge to scream. “We’re sure it’s her ship?”

“We’ve brought the debris back to analyze, General, but it appears to be the freighter she flew off Rellaren.”

The general straightened and walked from behind his desk to the glass overlooking space. He ran a hand over his short hair, glad he could not see the gray hair that was overtaking his temples. “Any signs of the Mantis being part of the explosion?”

The officer cleared his throat behind him. “None that we have detected, General. It seems she was taken off the ship before it was destroyed.” He hesitated. “Or she left.”

Hardin flinched. “I suppose we have no indication of Vandar presence?”

“Once we search the debris, we might come up with some data on the ship’s final moments, but so far we have no way to know who destroyed the freighter.”

The general fisted his hands by his sides. “It was the Vandar. It had to be.”

“I thought the Vandar were supposed to take the cargo, sir. I thought they were raiders who always stripped ships bare.”

That detail bothered Hardin, as well. The Vandar should have taken the cargo. It was what they did, especially since the freighter was imperial. He shook his head to dismiss the concern. As long as they took Mantis, the plan was still in play.

“It doesn’t matter.” He spun around. “She will not fail. She’s never failed.”

The officer drew in a long breath before speaking. “It has already been several rotations, and we have heard nothing from her. How long do you wish to wait before we consider that she might have been unmasked as a spy and executed by the Vandar?”

Hardin bit back a retort. The officer was only doing his job—and he was right. They could not assume that the Vandar had fallen for the trap. After all, they’d blown up the freighter when all indications were that they would take the cargo instead.

“It has not been long enough to give her up as dead.” He pivoted back to the view of space. “But our plan hinges on her alerting us to the horde and killing the Raas. If she has been rendered unable to do that…”

“We would be back to the beginning,” the officer finished his sentence for him.

Hardin focused on a distant point of light, flickering brighter than the others. “Not if we send in someone to assist her.”

“Assist her? I thought the Mantis only worked alone.”

“She is part of the empire. She will do what is required.” The general tore his gaze from the star and strode back to stand behind his desk. “If we have heard nothing from Mantis, either she has been killed, or she is unable to complete her mission.” He did not mention the other possibility—that she had intentionally failed—because that was impossible.

“Should I alert the other operative that his skills will be required after all?”

General Hardin gave a single, sharp nod. “Send him in after her. It will be impossible for two assassins to fail.” He leaned forward and braced his arms wide on his desk, giving his tactical officer a menacing grin. “I will have the Vandar warlord’s head one way, or another.”

When the officer left, he curled his hands into hard balls. And if Mantis had betrayed the empire, he would have her head as well.

Chapter Eleven

Alana

“I’m coming,” I snapped, as the Vandar guard prodded me down the walkway. I tugged at the fabric clinging uncomfortably to my wet skin and let out a huff. I’d barely had time to throw on my clothes after the Raas had left and the guard had stormed in, ordering me to get dressed and come with him. There had been no time to towel off, even if I’d been able to locate a towel.

When we reached the quarters to which I’d been assigned, the guard opened the door for me and stood back for me to enter, not meeting my gaze. I stepped in, and the steel doors slid together, leaving me right back where I’d started—alone in the small room with no way to complete my mission.

I flopped onto the narrow bed. What had gone wrong? I’d had the Raas right where I’d wanted him—between my legs and delirious with desire. Then he’d stopped for no apparent reason, and run away like he’d been told I had a Pernithian bubble rash.

“You’re losing