The Scientist's Price (Warriors Book 1) Read online

  With those words, he struck.

  From out of nowhere, Kadian produced a blade of his own. But it was only one. Even so, as the coal-skinned alien attacked, Kadian was easily able to fend him off. His sword seemed to be everywhere at once. If Olivia had known anything about swordplay, she might have been able to put names to the movements Kadian used. All she knew was he deflected each blow even as the black-skinned alien gritted his teeth with determination. The alien’s eyes hardened as he pushed against Kadian, forcing him farther and farther down the alleyway. Olivia stayed at Kadian’s back but stepped quickly to ensure she didn’t trip him up and give the alien the upper hand.

  Despite Kadian’s apparent ability, he wasn't getting any advantage against the alien. Desperately, Olivia looked around the alleyway. Behind her, bars hung from an old fire escape. Olivia stepped back and grabbed onto one that seemed particularly precarious. Despite how much it swung, it didn't come easily, but when she used it to lift herself from the ground, bearing all of her weight upon it, it finally broke free.

  Now that she had the bar, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. She couldn't use it against the alien. All she would do was put herself in danger of the alien getting hold of her, thus forcing Kadian to back off. She would never allow herself to be used as a tool against him.

  All she could do was try to get the bar to Kadian without distracting him too much.

  Stepping up behind him, she held out the bar. ‘Metal bar behind your left hand.’ Her voice was quiet but firm, and he wasn't sure he heard her until his left hand reached out behind him. She placed the bar in his hand and took another step back.

  In front of her, Kadian swept the bar out so quickly and with such violence, Olivia jumped when she heard it hit the alien.

  She watched him fall to the ground. A groan slowly emerged from his throat. Kadian hit him twice more. White pearlescent blood spattered across the black tarmac of the alley and covered the alien's black skin.

  Standing, Kadian reached out. ‘Come,’ he said.

  She ran over to him, making sure to stay on the side of Kadian that was far away from the unconscious form lying on the ground.

  Kadian reached down, stripping the coat from the alien and wrapped it around Olivia. He pulled up a hood, arranging it so that it fell over her face, cutting off most of her visibility before wrapping his arms around her. ‘We have to find a hotel. I’ll move you to my ship tonight.’

  They walked up the alley, Olivia tucked into Kadian’s side, and turned left onto the busy street, away from Falmon’s house.

  They walked through the thinning crowds. The sun was going down, the pink sky darkening to deep purple before the black would consume it all. The Myardahl didn’t need light to see by, so except for a few alien-friendly businesses, the city fell to darkness when the sun went down.

  It reminded Olivia of her first night here.

  She’d woken from sedation and been greeted by Falmon. From there, he brought her directly to his room of nightmares. Olivia felt the panic of seeing that room clutch at her once again. Falmon held her to him, his hand on her stomach, his thumb tracing the underside of her breasts. Her eyes moved over that room as he whispered the terrible things he planned to do to her. By the time he broke away, she was shaking uncontrollably.

  Olivia had stared out of the window in Falmon’s flyer, staring into the pitch-black beyond, wondering how she could get away. Wishing the Tessans would show up as a fleet for her. Praying anything, anyone would save her.

  It was all a jumble, of course—a mindless barrage of hope fuelled by fear and panic.

  They were a few streets away from the alien now. Kadian led her to the curb and hailed an autocab. The door opened, and he bundled her inside.

  ‘Hotel. At least several madith away from here. Somewhere near the port.’

  Olivia stayed quiet as the cab drove. During the journey, Kadian held her close, clutching as though he was terrified of letting her go. Olivia gripped onto him too. She couldn’t relax her hold. She’d been drowning on Myardahl for a month, and she’d just, for the first time, come up for air.

  The fact that it was Kadian who’d saved her made her first breath all the sweeter.

  The cab stopped in front of a pit of a hotel.

  Kadian paid and pulled Olivia out of the cab and into the hotel.

  He brought her to the desk and paid for a room. The alien had platinum skin and silver hair. Orange eyes in black sclera stared at her as Kadian paid.

  ‘What are you vrokking looking at?’

  ‘You don’t have to pay for the night. I take payment by the hacri.’

  Olivia felt herself go cold. But at least if he thought she was a prostitute, he didn’t think there was anything strange about him being there with someone so small.

  ‘I like to savour my treats,’ Kadian replied. He handed something to the alien. ‘For discretion.’

  ‘Of course,’ the alien said, taking whatever the bribe was.

  Olivia was pulled towards a lift. The doors closed behind them, and the lift deposited them on an upper floor a few moments later.

  He practically carried her down the hall and into their room.

  Olivia moved to pull back the hood. ‘Kadian—’

  He grabbed the hood and kept her from moving it. ‘Don’t say anything,’ he said. Pulling something from his pocket, he waved it around the room. Sweeping for spying devices, she realised.

  Surely no one would know to spy on them here.

  Kadian hissed. He walked over to a screen and pulled something out. A camera! Within a minute, he had four cameras and a listening device dropped on the bed. He bundled them up in a blanket and walked over to the window. Opening it, he stuck his head outside, then launched the devices out into the street below.

  ‘What… Why?’

  Kadian pulled down the window then crossed the room to her.

  He stopped in front of her and reached out, taking the hood and lowering it almost reverently. His eyes searched her face; his thumb reached out and caressed her cheek.

  ‘Some hotels record their clients having sex, then upload them to sites and charge others to watch them.’

  ‘Kadian—’

  Kadian’s features turned cold. He stepped back from her. ‘Stay here. Have a shower. I’ll be back in a few metri.’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  He walked around her to the door and opened it. For a moment, Olivia thought he was going to leave without speaking.

  ‘I need to scope out all of the exits. We’re not safe until we leave this planet. Should an attack come, I want to know our way out.’ Without looking at her, he stepped through, pulling the door shut behind him.

  Olivia stared at the door, her heart sinking. She’d hoped Kadian had forgiven her. But it seemed he was still as angry as he’d been the day of their surreptitious encounter.

  Every nerve in Kadian’s body was on fire.

  If he didn’t take a few metri away from Olivia, she’d see the darkest parts of him, and that was something he never wanted to inflict on her.

  His thumb twitched at his side as he walked the building; an impression of her soft skin tingled there. It made him want to strip them both and hold her against him until his whole body tingled with the same awareness.

  Memories of the cupboard taunted him, and before that, the rote in the lab when everything had changed.

  Kadian hadn’t even been aware he was playing with the bump on his head until Olivia snapped at him to stop. He remembered pressing it, the strange and satisfying flare of pain in response.

  ‘What is wrong, Olivia?’ he asked, turning from the schematics he was working on to spy her standing at a table. The surface was a screen, and Olivia was going over the plans for the engine. The model they’d fed into the computer wasn’t working correctly, and she was trying to ‘eyeball’ the problem, as she called it.

  ‘Nothing,’ she snapped. ‘I’m hot. It’s just so goddamn hot. Why is it so hot?’
>
  While Kadian was off recovering from his injury, spring had given way to summer and the temperature had risen. The lab was impossibly humid and while Kadian enjoyed it, Olivia always struggled with the heat. It was why they were so perfect for each other.

  Kadian’s eyes moved over Olivia’s short form. He could tell the issue wasn’t the heat, however. Something had been off since his return to work. Something had changed between them, and he had a feeling it had something to do with the events as Frixx-eon.

  ‘I enjoy the heat,’ he said, standing. ‘If I weren’t here this rote, I’d be on my patio sunbathing naked.’

  ‘What… Oh, Kadian!’ she moaned when he placed his hand on the back of her neck. ‘That feels so good.’ Her eyes fluttered shut, and a shot of need struck him to his core. He felt his cock harden almost instantly.

  Jerking his hand back, Kadian crossed the floor and put distance between himself and Olivia.

  ‘Kadian?’ she watched him go.

  ‘I should get on with inputting the new data for the next model,’ he said. It was when he cleared his throat that he saw realisation cross her face. Her features softened, and for a moment, he saw the desire in her eyes.

  Hope flared.

  ‘Olivia.’ he stepped towards her.

  She stepped away. Desire faded to fear, and her eyes flicked to Kadian’s forehead. ‘I—’

  He didn’t give her the chance to finish speaking. He crossed the floor and pulled her into his arms, kissing her the way he’d wanted to for so many cycles.

  For a moment, she pulled away. Kadian was going to release her, but then she was there, her lips moving over his, her tongue spearing into his mouth. Kadian was over seven fenth in height, Olivia barely over five, so he was bent at an awkward angle, and the need to touch her, to press his body up against hers, overwhelmed him. Without plan or design, he stood to his full height and pulled her into his arms the way she was on the dance floor that night. He walked over to the table where she’d been working and placed her down, his lips never leaving hers, as he stepped between her legs.

  The heat radiated from her, and with it, a new flavour on top of the floral, nutty scent. This one was musky, and it drowned Kadian’s senses until he was aware of nothing but the woman he loved in his arms.

  All sense of time and place was stolen from him, and for several long metri, they kissed, Kadian rejoicing at the opportunity to finally taste her skin, her lips, her.

  ‘Kadian,’ she whispered. Her voice filled with the same need he felt inside him.

  ‘Olivia,’ he replied. ‘Olivia, tell me I’m not alone in this,’ he begged. ‘Tell me you feel for me the way I feel for you.’

  Her eyes flicked to his forehead once more. The bump and bruise caused by having a bottle of alcohol smashed over his head.

  ‘I… I can’t,’ Olivia said. She pushed him away.

  Stunned and confused, Kadian let her.

  ‘I can’t,’ she said again, jumping from the table and grabbing her bag and coat before she ran from the room.

  Kadian had waited for her to return, but she never did. To the facility, yes, to his lab, no. The console she worked at had stayed empty. He’d tried to approach her, but every time he did, there was fear on her face, or she evaded him until eventually, he’d given up.

  But he had her now and he was never letting her go.

  Vrok, he wanted her so much! His cock was harder than amot and pulsed, demanding he go back. His damn knot was filling even as he strode down the halls, making a mental note of every emergency exit. Every window. Every fire escape staircase.

  On the roof, there was a small gap between the building they were in and a warehouse next door. Kadian hopped the gap and walked over the roof, being careful not to be seen. There were skylights there. Beneath him, he could see dim lighting. The building was empty, and there was a walking platform several fenth beneath him. If he could get Olivia here without being seen, they could use this as an escape route if needed.

  By now, his leg was radiating pain across his hip and down his calf. He turned around and made to go back to the room. When he was outside, he listened through the door and heard the sound of running water.

  His cock stiffened further, and his knot began to join the demanding beat for her wet cunt as he imagined water caressing the fine, soft lines of her body.

  ‘Vrok!’ the word came out as a hard groan.

  Moving away from the door, Kadian took the lift down to the front desk.

  ‘You’ve got a gift for her.’ The Igasin male laughed, staring at Kadian’s cock.

  ‘Aavani know how to please a male,’ Kadian lied.

  ‘Not yet, though?’ The Igasin’s voice held mockery.

  Kadian smiled. ‘Some of us like to delay pleasure.’

  The Igasin laughed again. ‘Well, you have all night,’ he conceded. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘Food. I need some delivered here. To you, not the room. I don’t want anyone watching what we’re getting up to in there.’

  ‘I figured when you took out my devices.’

  ‘Add them to the bill,’ Kadian growled, wondering how many of his client's encounters were up on porn sites for the entertainment of anyone willing to pay.

  ‘Already have. Any food in particular?’

  ‘Anything but Myardahl.’

  ‘Don’t blame you. Gritty, tasteless durv. Done. I’ll drop a call to your room when it arrives.’

  Kadian nodded and got back into the lift.

  ‘Have fun, my friend. And tell the Aavani I’ll be glad for her services when she’s done.’

  To the Igasin’s amusement, Kadian snarled as the lift doors closed. His laughter echoed even through the doors as the lift carried him upstairs to his female.

  Now all Kadian had to do was lay down his price for this rescue.

  He’d take nothing less than everything.

  The water was practically brown for a few moments as Olivia washed a month’s worth of dirt from her skin. She sighed, revelling in the feel of clean water coursing over her body.

  There was a bang. She jumped and stilled, listening for Kadian or someone else in their room. When she heard laughter coming from the suite next door, she let out a humourless laugh of her own, filled with nerves.

  They rented out rooms by the hacri here, and someone next door was getting their hacri’s worth.

  Myardahl didn’t have hair, but thankfully, this being the kind of establishment it was, it catered to aliens of all kinds, clients and prostitutes. The shampoo was cleansing, and Olivia washed her hair three times, knowing she’d regret it when her scalp dried up. Hopefully, she could get her hands on some oil of some kind for her moisture-starved hair.

  The next bang was the door to their suite.

  ‘It’s me,’ Kadian called through the door.

  Done, Olivia turned off the water.

  She stepped out and realised she had nothing to dress in. She’d been so anxious to get under the water, to get clean, she hadn’t thought about that until just now.

  There were no towels here! Before she could finish the thought, a vent of some kind opened above her. She was almost completely dry seconds later.

  Olivia looked at the clothes she’d gratefully stripped off her body. She desperately didn’t want to put them back on.

  ‘Kadian?’

  ‘Olivia?’ He was standing right outside the bathroom. She swallowed.

  ‘I… I don’t have any… clean clothes.’

  There was a singular thud on the door that made her jump, followed by a low groan.

  ‘Give me a moment, Olivia.’

  Olivia looked around the room while she waited, trying to keep her mind from Kadian.

  The bathroom was grimy; that went without saying because the whole hotel was grimy. This was a quick place to fuck and then leave behind, along with any sense of shame.

  It was decorated—she considered the term loosely—in olive greens and pale yellows. The light was also a pale
yellow, and yet it cast a strong yellow glow upon the room like it was neon. Looking in the mirror, Olivia looked jaundiced. She also looked skinny.

  Olivia was usually a few pounds north of comfort. She’d been that way her whole life. Even training in the academy hadn’t made much of an impact, making her strong rather than lean.

  But after a month of starving on the Myardahl homeworld, she’d lost all the fat. She’d lost muscle too. Her body was cannibalising itself for survival.

  Her ribs stuck out. She hated that. Her hip bones stuck out too, and her clavicle and sternum. Her cheekbones stood out over gaunt hollows in her cheeks, and her eyes looked sunken with dark circles beneath them from hunger, lack of sleep, fear and dread. She looked like an advert for a charity.

  Feed the starving in your city! Where the government fails us, we must step up and help the needy.

  Only Olivia wasn’t needy. She was from a middle-class family. Her father had worked hard to make sure Olivia and her brother Colin were never without. That had once meant a slight paunch to her stomach. Now, instead, it was concave.

  Olivia realised, for the first time in her life, she hated her body.

  There was a knock on the door. ‘Kadian, don’t come in, I’m nak… not decent.’

  There was a low growl on the other side of the door, followed by a dull thud of something hitting the bathroom door. She heard Kadian take in several ragged breaths before the door fell back in the jamb once his weight was removed from it.

  ‘I will pass the clothing through a gap.’ Kadian’s voice was husky. A slight gap appeared and Kadian’s hand passed into the bathroom, clutching something black.

  Olivia walked over and took it from him, shaking it out to reveal one of Kadian’s tops.

  ‘Have you put your clothing into the cleaning device?’

  ‘There’s a cleaning device?’ Olivia looked around, but she couldn’t see anything that might qualify.

  ‘Put the top on and I will show you.’

  Quickly, Olivia followed Kadian’s instruction. The top fell to just above her knees.