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

your touch, Alana,” I whispered to myself as I stared up at the gray ceiling. I’d never lost control of a male who’d been so close. And he had been close—that much I’d felt as it had pressed urgently between my thighs. So, what had happened? More importantly, why had I ached for his touch as his body had moved eagerly against mine?

I’d seduced more than my fair share of males and killed most of them. But this time, my moans in response to his touch had been real, as had been my disappointment when he’d staggered away from me. So, why did this one send sharp stabs of desire through me and make heat pool in my belly when none of the others had? The Mantis doesn’t feel desire, I reminded myself, although my words were clearly a lie..

“It doesn’t matter. He’s still your mission, and you still have to kill him.”

If he’d let me get near him again.

The Vandar were more complicated than I’d given them credit for. Especially Raas Bron. He hadn’t been swayed by my seductive words, or even my sweet-girl-gone-naughty routine when he’d insisted I explain myself. Most males would have forgotten their question—and probably even their own name.

“Bron obviously isn’t most males.” I sat up and walked to the mirror, studying my face and the bruises. At least they were fading, although my task would be a lot easier if I didn’t look like I’d gotten the worse end of a Tartillan cage match fight.

I clearly needed to reevaluate my strategy. I’d had the Raas in bed, and he’d still escaped my grasp. Now I was back in isolation, with little chance to seduce him or lead the Zagrath to the horde. Since the cargo had been destroyed, I was all but invisible to the empire. Not that they’d send a rescue party for me even if they knew where I was. That wasn’t how my job worked. If I got caught or killed, the Zagrath would never claim me. As valuable as I was to them, my anonymity was even more important.

I smacked my palm against the wall, welcoming the sharp sting. I hated failing. It was an unfamiliar sensation and one that tasted bitter in my mouth.

“If I can’t seduce Raas Bron, I need to focus on the other part of the mission,” I said as I turned and paced a tight circle from one end of the small room to the other. I’d already obtained valuable intel. At least, I thought it was valuable. And drawing the empire to the Vandar horde and bringing about the destruction of their kind was the more important part of the mission anyway. Assassinating the Raas would be pointless if the horde remained intact.

I glanced at the steel door. Was the surly guard still on the other side? I know I hadn’t been guarded earlier, but that was before I’d been caught naked on the Raas’ bed.

“Only one way to find out,” I muttered, as I took tentative steps toward the arched door. Pressing a hand to the side panel, I held my breath as the two sides of the door glided open.

That was a good sign. I wasn’t locked in. I poked my head out and swiveled it from side to side. There was no sign of the unpleasant Vandar who’d marched me back to my quarters. I released a breath. More good news.

Stepping from the room, I hesitated. The Vandar warbird remained a mystery to me. I didn’t know where I could find a communications center, or any place on the ship that would allow me to send a transmission or activate a beacon. For all I knew, there was no such place on board. It wasn’t like the Vandar were known for communications. If anything, they moved throughout space without any hint of their existence.

I clenched my hands into fists. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try. I couldn’t spend the rest of my time on board waiting alone in a tiny room. I had to at least attempt to alert the empire and relay my intel.

“Then I’ll figure out how to kill Raas Bron, if he won’t be easily seduced.”

Content with my new plan, I picked a direction and crept down the walkway. Above me, feet thudded loudly, and voices echoed as they bellowed through the shadows. For once, I was grateful for the aliens’ bulk and ferocity. There was no way one of the huge raiders with thick boots and booming voices could sneak up on me.

Every time the metal floor beneath me rumbled, I ducked down a different corridor or pressed myself flat into a darkened doorway, content to let the dimness hide me. I cautiously opened door after door, but none of them revealed anything but spartan quarters that made the room I’d been assigned look almost opulent.

After a while, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to trace my way back to my assigned room. The maze of open-weave walkways seemed never ending and unchanging—each metal door and each spiraling staircase just like the dozen before it.

Was it possible to get lost in a Vandar warbird and never be found? I would have punched something if there was anything around me that wasn’t iron and wouldn’t have broken all the bones in my hand.

“Come on, Alana,” I said under my breath. “You survived the swamps on Morrena. You can do this.”

My mind flashed back to the toxic marshes on the alien planet, and the fumes that had risen up and seared the inside of my throat. I’d been left for dead in that wasteland and managed to survive—although the acid scars on my feet had never fully gone away. If I could withstand that, this was a walk in the park.

One thing the swamps of Morrena didn’t have was a huge Raas to distract me and muddle my mind. I had to stop thinking about the gorgeous warlord, if I was going to succeed.

Never let a mark get