Alien Skin Market by Lizzy Bequin
CHAPTER 33: MAUREEN
After a little while, Maureen’s pulse leveled out and her breathing steadied. Before she knew it, the pitch darkness of her room and the low steady hum of the engines gently lulled her back to semi-sleep. Between her restless dreams, her frolic with Vaul, and the rude awakening that had come after, Maureen had not gotten sufficient sack time, and she was feeling exhausted. She still had an impulse to get up and see what was happening, but she ignored it, allowing herself to sink deeper into half-consciousness.
She just needed to chill. Whatever the problem was, her three guys had it under control.
Maureen smiled sleepily in the darkness. Her guys. That had a nice ring to it. She still knew it was unwise to let herself get too attached to them, but in her semi-conscious state, she couldn’t help indulging her feelings a little bit.
She wiggled under the restraints of the harness until she felt comfortable, then she relaxed completely and surrendered herself to the darkness.
The door shot open.
Light from the outer corridor flooded the room. Maureen tried to raise a hand to shield her eyes against the sudden brightness, but her arm was caught in the harness. She squinted instead, and saw a Raksha silhouette standing in the rectangle of light. When she spoke, her voice was soft and groggy.
“Vaul? Did you fix the problem?”
There was no answer, just a low warning growl that chilled Maureen’s blood. Her vision adjusted to the light, and she realized the shape in the doorway couldn’t be Vaul. It wasn’t big enough.
Tristn then? Or Jrayk?
No, the shape wasn’t quite right for either of them. The muscles were leaner and more sinuous, the hair too long, the orange eyes too narrow.
But the real giveaway was the smell.
Even though she had only been living among them for a short time, Maureen had discovered she could distinguish the different scents of her three Raksha males. She had noticed this last night during dinner. Though she had not had a chance to test it, she believed she could probably tell the three of them apart in a pitch black room based solely on sense of smell.
And she was certain the Raksha standing in the door was not part of the ship’s crew.
But his odor was vaguely familiar.
Maureen opened her mouth to scream, but the dark shape rushed forward and clamped a hand over her mouth before she could push any sound out of her fear-tightened lungs.
Now that her attacker was nearer, his scent grew stronger. In invaded Maureen’s nose. She tasted it in the back of her throat. A frightening, predatory odor that turned her innards to ice inside her belly.
Maureen recognized him now, and her urge to scream grew even greater. Her chest and neck strained as she desperately tried to call for help, but all the came out was a muffled, nasal moan.
“Quiet, female.”
The Raksha’s voice was soft and deadly. The earpiece still lodged in Maureen’s ear translated it for her benefit.
His other hand moved over her chest, and Maureen saw the glint of his extracted claws. Her skin crawled at the sight of those deadly sharp points so close to her skin.
The hand ripped downward in a slashing motion, shredding the mesh of the harness but leaving Maureen’s flesh unscathed.
After that, she was yanked from the bed and held against the Raksha’s powerful chest. She was still naked, but he was clothed from the neck down in some kind of form fitting body suit, and Maureen was grateful for that thin layer of fabric separating her skin from his.
Another surge of adrenaline flooded through her, transforming her fear into rage. With flailing fists and kicking legs, she tried to defend herself, but it was like fighting a statue. Her blows caused more pain to herself than to the Raksha.
“Stop it,” he hissed. “Mistress will be displeased if you damage your skin.”
Maureen didn’t know what that was all about, but she didn’t like the sound of it.
She was pulled into the corridor. She grabbed for the door frame, but her strength was no match for the Raksha. He wrenched her away and carried her toward the back of the ship, her feet inches above the floor.
Maureen saw the closed door of the cockpit. Jrayk, Vaul, Tristn, and Rawn were all on the other side of the metal panel, so close and yet so very far away. She tried to scream again, but still the Raksha’s hand stifled the sound. Maureen’s heart sank.
Before they reached the engine room at the back of the ship, the Raksha stopped, and Maureen realized where he was taking her.
The escape pod.
With his elbow, the Raksha worked the button that opened the door to the pod. Beyond the door was something that looked like a glass bubble containing a pair of padded seats with harnesses. Beyond the glass, clouds were rushing past. They weren’t in space anymore.
The Raksha forced Maureen inside and closed the door behind them.
The moment his hand left her mouth, Maureen screamed with every ounce of air in her lungs, but she feared the sound of her voice wouldn’t penetrate through the heavy, sealed door.
Even if the others heard her, it made no difference. In the space of two seconds, the long-haired Raksha had shoved her down into one of the seats and strapped her in. Then he yanked a red hand lever next to the door.
The escape pod detached from the ship and tumbled toward the alien world below.