The Torid Affair by Laurann Dohner

Chapter Six

 

Maith killed the struggling human under him, his ears painfully throbbing from the loud explosion. It was possible he’d suffer hearing damage. The absolute silence disorientated him, and while he could normally see well in the dark, the sudden loss of all light blinded him temporarily.

He rose on his four legs, checking for injuries as his vision adjusted. One of the humans had shot his side but it hadn’t caused much damage. It would heal quickly.

He sniffed, regretted it instantly. The air was filled with dust.

He used his paws to check the humans on the floor nearest him, their blood and still bodies assuring him that they were no longer a threat. It was tempting to shift back to call out to Jessa to make certain she still lived, but he waited, hoping for his hearing to be restored.

The throbbing eventually ceased and he picked up the sound of light sobbing.

He slowly crept toward it on all fours, hoping it was Jessa. The human had earned his admiration. She’d been brave and had battled males, giving him the distraction he’d needed to shift forms and attack. Otherwise, they would have fired on him too fast for him to put his deadly claws to use.

He inhaled again and paused, making out a shape. The human crumpled on the floor wasn’t Jessa. This female reeked of perfume and terror. He also scented her blood. It wasn’t enough to be of concern.

Worry had him twisting his head, searching for Jessa. They had their differences, may have argued often, but he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

A soft noise to his left had him instantly moving in that direction.

Jessa crouched on her hands and knees, one arm blindly reaching out as she crawled a few inches. He rushed to her side and brushed his body against her hand to let her know he was there, since he couldn’t speak words in his shifted form. He rumbled a little, just to be certain she’d know it was him.

Her hand froze on his flank, then she stroked his hide and quickly crawled closer, pressing her body against him. She used him to straighten to her knees, then both of her hands stroked him, sliding along his back and trailing up to his head. She gently grasped his neck.

“Nod if you’re okay. I can’t see anything,” she whispered.

He gave a nod.

“Thank fuck,” she breathed. “I’m hurt but not bad. I hear one of them. The woman. That bitch tried to attack me. Are there any guards still alive?”

He nodded again. The one she’d pretended to take blood from still sat slumped in the chair. He seemed dazed and in his own world.

“One?”

He nodded, then began to shift back. They needed to talk.

Jessa jerked her hands off him and scrambled away a few feet, nearly knocking herself on her ass. He reached for her fast to keep her from falling, grabbed her wrists.

“Easy.”

“I didn’t know if it was safe to touch you while you were transforming.”

“It is. The governor and Carlton are still alive. So is the male you first drugged, and the other female. Carlton fled to another part of the bunker.”

Jessa tugged her wrists and he released her. She reached out blindly and placed both hands on his chest. “Can you see?”

“Yes.”

“Has part of the bunker collapsed? I taste some dust and dirt but I can’t see a damn thing. Is the roof going to collapse?”

Maith glanced around the structure. “It seems to be holding. There are some minor cracks in the ceiling but no large ones. It would account for the particles in the air. The support beams appear stable.”

She rapidly nodded. “Good. Have you contacted your team? Is there any word if they were able to evacuate all our people?”

“Not yet. I just got my hearing and vision back.” He paused. “I also lose the ability to hear my grouping on the ear device when I’m in battle form. My ears grow bigger and change shape. The device fell out.”

“Right.” Her hands slid up his chest to his shoulders, then she lightly ran her fingertips along the sides of his neck. He shivered a little and his rod responded. He jerked his hips back, since he’d lost all his clothing when he’d shifted to attack the guards. He didn’t want her to know that her touch aroused him. Though he couldn’t stop the low growl that escaped as she found his ears and gently examined them.

He tried to twist away, but she snarled back at him. It was a sad imitation of his vocalization, but it surprised him enough to freeze.

“I’m trying to see if your eardrums are ruptured. I don’t feel any blood though.”

“They hurt but I’m fine. We heal fast.”

“Can you find your ear device?”

“I will do that so―”

“Hello?” The woman about twenty feet across the room yelled. “Help me!”

Jessa released his very sensitive ears. “Go make sure she isn’t a threat and I’ll activate my eye so I can see. It’s going to glow a little. I didn’t want to give my location away until I knew it was safe. Is it?”

He glanced around. “The female is on the floor but no weapons are near her. You handle her. The governor is still sedated. I’ll search for Carlton and my ear device. The guard next to the governor remains in the chair. I believe he might be sleeping.”

“Okay.” Her artificial eye suddenly flared with soft blue lighting. A smile twisted her lips. “I see you. Well, with one eye.” She glanced down his body and gasped. Her head jerked up. “Um, I was checking for injures. I guess fighting excites you?”

“It does,” he lied. The battle hadn’t been the reason for his rod stiffening. He refused to admit that it had been her touch on his skin.

“Okay. I’ll check you out—I mean, for injuries…after you find some pants and take care of Carlton. I’ll handle the bitch.”

Maith rose to his feet and hauled Jessa to hers. She quickly twisted away. “Right. Deal with the assholes and find better lighting. Then I’ll treat you if you’re hurt anywhere.” She stepped away as the other female yelled again.

“Help! I think my shoulder’s broken.”

“You would deserve it,” Jessa responded, heading toward the woman. “You work for assholes and you attacked me.”

The other female turned her gaze toward Jessa, then screamed, cringing away.

“It’s my ocular implant so I can see in the dark, idiot. I’m not a floating eye coming at you.” Jessa sounded irritated. “I’m grabbing my scanner. Even though you don’t deserve treatment.”

The other female began to sob.

Jessa sighed. “Hanging out with shitheads means nothing good will ever happen to you.” She briefly stopped by the guard in the chair. She touched his face. It caused the male to open his eyes and moan.

“He’s as high as a kite and mostly paralyzed. That’s exactly how I like my bad guys.” She moved to the desk where the unconscious governor still slept and reached into her med kit, removing a medicine injector. Then she tapped on it, pressed it to the guard’s neck, and Maith heard a light hiss.

“What did you give him?” he asked.

“Heavy sedative but not enough to kill him. I need to save the two guards still breathing from the overdoses I gave them. Then we can tie them up.”

Maith listened closely, confirming what he’d heard when his ears stopped aching—only the sounds of four humans breathing, including Jessa. “It’s too late.”

She stiffened, her face a grimace as she realized the other guard was dead. “I had to pump them with a high dosage to take them down fast.” She sighed again. “Go find Carlton and, um, please contact your team once you find your ear thing.” She lifted her arm, the one holding the injector, and touched her fleet watch. “Mine is broken.”

Jessa continued toward the sobbing female. “You or the jerk who grabbed me from behind broke my fleet-issued communicator.” She bent and pressed the injector against the female’s neck. It hissed as the dosage was given, then the female slumped all the way to the floor.

Maith turned away, quickly scanning the floor between where he’d transformed and where he’d attacked the humans, finding his ear device. It had been smashed. That pissed him off, but he could still communicate with his Veslor band. He’d call his grouping once he took care of any threats. That was the current priority.

He strode in the direction that he’d last seen Carlton. No longer hidden by the wall of boxes, a security door was partially open. One of the fallen boxes had kept it from closing. Maith shoved it wide open and used a few more boxes to keep it that way. There was a long hallway with many doors, and at the end, it curved out of sight. He stopped to listen but heard nothing. Each door down that hallway was made from metal, with electric pads on the wall next to each. It meant they were likely all locked.

Carlton wasn’t within sight or hearing range as he prowled down the hall and turned, finding another long passage with even more doors, before the hall dead-ended. He realized there could be other humans hiding down here. Maith hadn’t killed the others, only to die or be captured now. Snarling, he spun, going back to the bunker to find his discarded clothing.

Jessa had dragged the female closer to the desk their patient lay on and was digging into her kit. She pulled out long, thin strips of material.

“Carlton is behind a locked metal door,” he informed her, not mentioning that other humans could be as well. “There are about two dozen of them. I don’t know which one he entered. There is too much dust in the air to track him by scent.”

She turned, her eye glowing brighter. “Let me secure them and I’ll come help you find him. Have you tried to contact your grouping?”

“I will do that now.” He located his pants. They’d been dragged through blood from one of the human’s before they’d shaken free of his body. The waistband had also been scorched by laser fire. It might be why his hip wasn’t as hurt as it could have been. The enhanced military material had taken the brunt of the laser. He removed the hacking device from his pocket and found it in pieces. He growled in annoyance.

“Do you not have a signal?”

“My pants are destroyed, and so is my hacking device.” He paused. “My ear device as well. I can still contact my grouping by sending messages.”

“I’m sorry you lost those things, but it could be worse,” Jessa muttered, turning away and crouching by the large desk.

“What are you doing?”

“I keep restraints in my bag. The desk is heavy, especially with this asshole Boyd sprawled on the top of it. I’m locking her and the guard to the legs. The desk has been secured to the floor for some reason, so that should prevent them from dumping their precious governor’s ass and lifting the desk to get free.”

“Why do you keep restraints in your kit?” Jessa often made no sense to him.

“I had to deal with combative patients a few times in med school. That’s not something you ever forget. I have restraints strong enough for humans and a few for aliens. The guard is getting the alien-strength ones.”

Maith turned away since he remained bare. Veslor communicators were created to stretch for his battle form and it remained on his wrist. He turned it on and activated the typing feature. Veslor language lit up but a red warning flashed to indicate no signal was active for audio. It didn’t matter, since he’d lost that ability already. He snorted.

“Is there a problem?”

“Audio is down for some reason.” He activated the hologram keyboard and tapped out a message, sending it. “I wouldn’t have been able to speak or hear my grouping anyway.”

Something clattered to the floor, and he spun. Jessa stared at him with her single glowing eye. Fear was easy to identify on her face. “Are you saying your grouping didn’t actually hear what was happening down here before the explosion?” Her chin jerked up to stare at the ceiling and her expression change to one of horror. “They didn’t get a warning to evacuate?”

“They did,” he assured her. “It was active until I transformed into my battle form.”

She lowered her chin and he saw tears slide from her brown eye and down her cheek. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Roth was in my ear speaking.”

“Thank goodness!”

His wrist lightly vibrated and he read the response. “My grouping knows we are alive. Fleet were evacuated from the mansion and they told the patients to flee. The mansion has been destroyed.” He paused, waiting for more information. “There are many injuries of humans near the blast zone, but no fleet.”

He typed that their situation was relatively stable and waited.

Roth responded almost immediately. “They will dig us out soon. We’re to wait. I told him we are currently in no danger.”

An odd sound came from Jessa. He jerked his head up to find her hands covering her eyes. He moved quickly, reaching for her and cupping her head from behind. “Are you injured?”

She surprised him by lunging forward, throwing herself against him. Her rapid breathing alarmed him as she trembled, turned her head to press her tearstained cheek against his skin.

“Jessa? Where are you hurt?” He glared at the two unconscious humans on the floor. They had been moved to lie on either side, and she’d secured their wrists to the legs of the large piece of furniture.

“Just hold me for a minute. Please!”

He strained to hear her voice. It was that low and muffled against his skin. He wrapped his arms around her, prepared to lift her if she collapsed. “Jessa, where are you injured? Let me scan you. I left my scanner on the desk before I transformed.”

Her hands dug into his sides. “I’m fine,” she insisted, her voice shaking. “It’s just a small panic attack. I flashed back to my childhood when you said they’d dig us out. I’ll be fine. Really. Fine…” She paused. “Though your very large dick is pressed against my stomach. Hello, lead pipe. Damn! Nothing on you Veslors is small, is it?”

He went to release her but she dug her fingernails into his skin. It didn’t hurt him. Her tiny nail claws probably couldn’t break skin if she tried.

“I’m sorry. Just give me a minute. Ignore the dick comments. A poor attempt to distract myself from the fact that I’m buried alive—again.”

“They will get us out. This is not like before. We’re not pinned under debris.” Maith wanted to comfort Jessa, holding her tighter. Her breathing slowed as he began to stroke her back. Her tiny finger claws eased over his skin, scratching him lightly.

“Are you hurt, Jessa?”

“Just some bruises. Nothing that needs treated.”

“Good.”

“Don’t tell anyone that I had a freak-out, okay? At least I kept it together until I had those assholes restrained. Carlton, the coward, will probably remain locked wherever he fled to. He won’t be able to see in the dark, and we can’t miss him coming if he finds flashlights or emergency lanterns. I know right now, most of the danger is over. It’s still important that no one learns that I panicked. The fleet will pull me off Defcon Red and force me to be evaluated at some black site.”

“What is that?” He kept stroking her back.

“Think top secret places that very few know about. Like where they did my medical procedures. It was a shuttle with an extensive Med Bay. Promise me you won’t tell!”

“I will not mention this. You have my word, Jessa.”

“Thank you.” She sniffed. “I’m good. Yeah. Okay. The roof would have come down on us already if it was going to. We’d be crushed under debris. Right. Logic. I should be more concerned about whether we have enough oxygen to last. Suffocation would suck big time after surviving that blast. At least on Mars, they have air vents all over the place. It was pumped into the collapsed sections, since they knew there were a few survivors.”

“My grouping will get us out.”

“Right. Super Veslors. You guys can do anything.” She sniffed again and rubbed her cheek against his skin. Then she pushed away, giving him her back as soon as he released her. “Thanks. Let’s forget that happened…and maybe find you something to wear.”

“I am going to see if this bunker has emergency power. Most should.”

“That would be a good idea.” She stepped to the desk, pulling out her scanner and running it over the human governor, who remained unconscious. “I really want this asshole to live since we both know he’s the one who activated the bombs. The fleet courts are going to throw away the key to his prison cell.”

“You haven’t restrained him.”

“There’s no need. Boyd will be out for hours, and with that stab wound, moving will be painful once the meds wear off. We’ll hear him if he wakes. I can’t see him as the type to suffer in silence. Also, I hope he puts up a fight. I’d love for an excuse to punch him in his big fat nose.”

Maith noticed that Jessa still spoke a little too fast. “Are you doing better?”

“Yes. I have three patients to treat. The bitch’s shoulder isn’t broken. Only a deep bruise that probably hurts really bad. She deserves it for trying to punch me. And I think I broke my wrist communicator when I had to block her fist. I’d call her something else but I don’t know her name. Nor do I care.”

“I will be back. Yell for me if any of the humans wake and give you trouble.”

Jessa turned to him, her glowing eye fixed on his face. “My implants weren’t damaged. I might be able to hack those doors. If there’s a generator or an emergency backup power system, it’s probably behind one of them. It makes no sense that they’d build this place without an independent power source.”

“I’m going to search for clothing. There are a lot of supply boxes stacked along that far wall.”

“Yes. They were probably hording all the stuff the poor people on this planet should have been receiving. What douches.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s…never mind. It’s just an insult. I’ll be right here.”

Jessa turned away and he moved across the room to the boxes. A lot of them were in human language. Maith had studied written English after the rescue on Planet Biter. The program had been slow to translate the written medical files found on that planet, so he’d been motivated to learn.

It was tempting to steal the big guard’s clothing, but that would leave the male mostly bare. He didn’t want to expose Jessa to that sight. Humans always seemed to sexualize nudity. He doubted she’d be attracted to the male, but it would take time for his grouping and the fleet to get them out of the bunker. At some point, the male would wake and possibly display a sexual interest in Jessa if he was mostly bare.

The idea made him want to snarl. It also reminded him of what the task force medics had said about Jessa when they’d come out of the bathroom together. He still planned to take it out on them in the training room later. It was a silent promise.

 

Jessa took some deep breaths and checked on all three unconscious patients. Well, two were prisoners. She refused to think about the dead bodies surrounding her in the dark. Three of whom she’d killed. Two with overdoses and one with a laser hit to the face.

“Anabel will understand,” she muttered.

“What, Jessa?”

“Just talking aloud. Don’t mind me,” she called out to Maith.

Her sister was easier to think about than what had just happened. She felt a little embarrassment for losing her cool. The logical part of her knew it was understandable. She was a survivor of a bad childhood trauma. Being buried after an explosion should never happen to the same person twice in a lifetime. It would be natural not to take that well.

She’d pulled herself together. That was the important part. So what if she’d clung to Maith like he was her lifeline? She deeply appreciated that he hadn’t laughed or mocked her. It made her rethink all her opinions of him from the months before. The time they’d spent together on Torid had shown her sides to the male that he’d carefully kept hidden.

There would also be no forgetting the feel of his velvety skin. And he’d had a hard-on, twice now. Though many men got erections while fighting. Just spikes of adrenaline. It had nothing to do with her.

“Right,” she muttered. “Just wipe it from my mind. It’s for the best if I pretend it never happened and forget it.”

“I won’t share all the details, Jessa,” Maith called out. “I gave you my word.”

“Thank you.” She bit her lip and almost laughed. The fleet wasn’t what she’d been talking about. It was the feel of his large, hard penis pushing up against her stomach…how safe he’d made her feel when he held her. She’d also enjoyed touching him. His hot textured skin was extremely tempting to explore. Maybe lick. Nibble on.

“Bad idea. Don’t go there,” she silently mouthed. “Extreme circumstances. Total memory wipe needed.”

“I found clothing.”

“Great.” Thought she didn’t really mean it. It wouldn’t be so bad if the too-attractive-for-her-own-good Veslor was stuck running around naked for a while. He had a commendable body. Some eye candy would help make up for being buried alive.

A box dropped loudly to the floor and she spun around. Maith’s fine ass was the first thing she saw. He was bent forward, pulling up pants before straightening to his full height. One glance down revealed the sweats were too short for his long legs. Not only were his ankles showing, but part of his calves.

Jessa grinned. Normally she’d say something to annoy him. It was important that he not realize she was attracted to him. He’d be merciless in shutting her down. Maith had already been very clear that he detested her. They were only working together as a team out of dire need.

That killed her amusement. She turned away.

“Jessa? Are you ready to see if you can bypass the door locks?”

“Yes.” She checked on all three of her patients again to be safe. They were still sedated and breathing. She avoided the bodies on the floor and the blood pools some of them had left behind from clashing with a Veslor.

“We need to find a place to store the corpses.” She tried for professionalism “We’re going to be stuck down here for an undetermined amount of time. You Veslors have very sensitive noses. I don’t look forward to smelling decomposition either. We should keep that in mind while we search for Carlton and a power source.”

“Agreed.” Maith moved in front of her, leading her to a long hallway. He stopped at the first door on the right and motioned to it.

She stepped beside him and activated the implant behind her artificial eye while she studied the security pad on the wall. “Easy. It’s an outdated lock and child’s play. I can even see the manufacturer’s override code, but I don’t need to punch it in. It’s got a remote option.”

“Let me go first. The male could have a weapon.”

“No problem.” Maith was faster and deadly. She mentally transmitted the signal and the bar that secured the door slid, the keypad lights turning green. “All yours.” She moved against the wall and held her breath, hoping nothing bad happened.

Maith entered the darkened room quickly. She took a slow breath, her body tense, but nothing happened until Maith stepped back into view. He shook his head. “Frozen food storage. We will not starve. The refrigeration units have power.”

“That’s good. It means there’s a backup system. The lights probably just need to be manually reset.” She walked back to the start of the wide hallway, where she’d already noticed a switch. “I’m going to give it a shot. Prepare for the lights.”

The switch was an old fashioned toggle. She flipped it down and then back up. Lights came on from above. Also too easy. Jessa had to blink her natural eye rapidly from the brightness, mentally adjusting her artificial one so it didn’t remain in night-vision mode.

Now that she could see, she noticed the hallway curved at the end. She turned to find Maith watching her. “United Earth must have saved money building this place by using really outdated tech. We need to find the air pumps and flip the breaker. Everything except refrigeration probably needs to be manually reset too.”

He inclined his head and pointed to the door nearest her.

“Right.” She walked to the pad and focused. “Same make and model. Same override code. I could unlock them all at once if you want.”

“One at a time,” he told her.

She nodded. “Ready?”

He gently bumped against her side, putting himself in front of the door. She hesitated. “Turn the hallway lights off first.” She lowered her voice. “Carlton isn’t very smart. He probably hasn’t even tried to get the lights on in these rooms yet. But if he sees you, he’ll shoot if he’s armed.”

Maith flashed fangs. “I’m fast. Unlock it and step behind the wall.”

“Okay…” She moved aside, not needing to stare at the pad to mentally send the signal. She did, and the lock bolt slid as the panel flashed green.

Maith shoved the door open and rapidly disappeared inside. No laser fire happened. He returned to her in under a minute. “There are cabinets in there, and a desk with security screens.”

She inched to the doorway and reached inside, resetting the switch. Lights flooded the room. “This is a security room setup.”

“I know.”

She glanced at him. “Those cabinets could contain hard files. We might have our proof for Commander Bills in here.” She backed up to the security pad. “I’m going to change the codes, including the manufacturer override. That way no one but us can get back in.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I don’t trust anyone on Torid who might work for the men in charge. It may not be just your grouping and fleet personnel who try to dig us out. They’re going to need help. I don’t want an ‘accidental’ fire or something to happen to those files.”

“Good decision.”

“I thought so.” She put her sole attention on the keypad. Changing the codes took only a minute. “Done. Close it and it’ll auto-lock.” She lowered her voice and growled something to him in Veslor. “That’s the word for the new code, but in English.” She also gave him the numbered code that would open all the other doors, in case he needed to do it without her.

He opened his mouth to speak.

Jessa cut him off. “No. Don’t say it. I’m not picking up any monitoring signals, but it’s best if you type the codes in Veslor to your grouping, just in case something happens to us.”

“I won’t allow that.”

Jessa forced a smile. “Okay. Then just humor me. I might be acting paranoid but I’d rather be too careful than not enough. I’m tired of these assholes getting away with shit and lying about it.”

He lifted his wrist and the hologram screen popped up. He tapped on the foreign symbols that she couldn’t read. She made a mental note to try to learn them. Her brain implant had helped her remember everything the Veslors said in their language, store it, and that’s how she’d taught herself how to speak it herself.

Once finished, Maith lowered his wrist and gave her a nod. “Done.”

She waited for him to seal the door to the security office and moved down the hall to the next room. They needed to find Carlton George.