Viper (Naga Brides Book 1) Read online

  “Not if we get to Shelby first. Not if we sneak onto the transport ship and send a comm to The Dreadnaut. They don’t know what’s happening down here.”

  Daisy stops. “They don’t know?”

  “No.” I can see the spark of hope that ignites in her at my words. It buoys my own hope. “We just have to make it there. That’s all we have to do.”

  “Okay.”

  Peter and Collins turn our way, and I shut my mouth. They grab Daisy and me, forcing us over to where the aliens await.

  We’ve been stripped of everything but the clothes on our backs—Peter didn’t allow us to pack, or bring our com-ware. Our knives were smuggled to us by Shelby this morning, slipped into the shower units we were allowed to use one last time before being forced into the skiff.

  The big one with the cowl holds a metal box in his hands. He scowls when his gaze roves over me, but he hesitates when he sees Daisy. His eyes harden, and his hold on the box strains. “You,” he hisses.

  Daisy cowers.

  “Where isss the third female?” the male suddenly barks, jerking his head up. His cowl flutters.

  Collins stiffens. “She is not for you.”

  “We were promised three females,” another male says, the deep blue and black scaled one with a burst of bright orange coloring over his face. “Give us the third or we take our secrets to the grave.”

  “She is not for you,” Collins snaps. “She is pregnant with my child, and we’re soon to be married.”

  The blue one coils his tail. “Do you think I care? We still want her. She is oursss.”

  The red male comes forward. “The third female can remain with you. We will take these two.”

  I don’t want to look at him. I don’t. I try hard not to, but my eyes slide to him anyway. Our gazes meet, and my limbs lock up tight.

  Sharp, exotic features fill my vision, thick arching brows and lean muscles covered in ridges and scales. Not several yards from where I’m standing, waiting for him to come forward and chain me, I’m transfixed. I couldn’t run if I wanted to. And I want to.

  I want to run far, far away.

  He’s beautiful, a deadly beauty meant for one thing: to lure idiotic prey like me.

  Standing beside the other two, he’s the tallest. His tail lifting him high off the ground. He may not be packed with muscles like the male with a cowl, but he’s built. I don’t think my little knife is going to help me.

  “Just two?” the blue one balks. “Two to fight over? Do you know how many of us are waiting in the trees? Three was not enough! It will be a bloodbath!”

  “Enough, Vagan!” the yellow and black one says. “We will not take a gestating female from her mate. The females are not to come to any harm, and that goes for the one out of our reach.” He glares at the men. “For now.”

  Collins shakes despite his best attempts to hide it.

  Vagan snarls but doesn’t argue further.

  “So we still have a deal?” Peter asks.

  I hate him.

  “We have a deal.”

  “Hand over the box, and we’ll leave you to it.”

  I hate Peter even more—if that’s possible. I want to wring my hands around his neck and squeeze.

  The black and brown alien thrusts the box at Peter. “Take it then and leave.”

  In a blur, the next few minutes rush by. Daisy loses it when Peter and Collins enter the skiff, refusing to listen to her pleas. I stand stunned, fearful to move, wanting more than anything to grab my knife and fight. It’s not until the skiff takes off and a tense silence returns that I acknowledge the three very big, very scary males staring at Daisy and me.

  Their eyes feast on our flesh. Their stances are rigid and ready.

  My chest constricts, and I turn my head away.

  I shuffle to Daisy’s side and help her stand, grabbing onto her tightly, locking my fingers.

  “We need to be brave,” I whisper, clutching her. “It’s up to us now.”

  It’s up to me. I outrank Daisy by a lot. She’ll look to me for guidance.

  I swallow my fear and stare back at the males.

  “W-What now?” I ask, squeezing Daisy’s hand.

  “Now,” the red one smiles wickedly, addressing me, and only me, “we hunt.”

  Four

  Soft Flesh

  Gemma

  I drag Daisy behind me, rushing through the forest. The trees are thick, the bushes so full my clothes tear, caught and ripping on branches at every turn. My skin opens up as sharp twigs abrade my flesh.

  I don’t know if we’ve been running for hours or minutes.

  I don’t see the forest or anything in it. I see him. His intense, serpentine eyes and sharp lips. I see the blue male’s hard, bright orange cock, too long to fit in any human female without terrible discomfort. It was in that moment that I knew Daisy and I were to be nothing but slaves, or worse to this strange species. They don’t want to eat us, or experiment on us... They want to use us.

  A twig slices my cheek and I flinch, stumbling over my feet. Daisy catches me, and we surge forward.

  Fuck reasoning with them.

  Another large branch slaps me in the face, and I fall back stunned. Daisy tugs on my arm and forces me to keep going. “Don’t stop! We can’t stop!”

  I love her more than anything at that moment. Shaking the pain away, I rush after her. I’d kill for her.

  I hear hissing behind me.

  “Daisy,” I gasp. “They’re catching up!”

  “Don’t stop!” she cries.

  The hissing grows louder, and with it, the clash of males fighting. Their animalistic roars fill me with fear.

  Spotting a ledge up ahead, we head straight for it. Daisy hits it hard, letting me go and pulling herself atop first. I catch her foot and push her the rest of the way up. When it’s my turn, I jump and haul my body up, thinking Daisy will grab my hand and help me. But when she doesn’t, I claw the rest of the way over the rocks.

  Rising to my feet, I search for her, but she’s nowhere to be found.

  “Daisy?” I gasp between breaths.

  No answer.

  “Daisy!” I shout.

  A shrill scream answers ahead of me.

  “Daisy,” I whisper, yanking my knife out from under the lip of my pants, where it’s strapped to my leg. “Daisy!” I scream, hoping she’ll answer me. “I’m coming!”

  She doesn’t scream again. I call her name a dozen more times… but nothing. I don’t stop shouting, even when I know she must be gone. I eye my surroundings wildly, hoping for signs of passage or tracks. A few minutes pass, my mania gaining momentum.

  She’s been caught.

  And calling for her will bring the aliens down on me.

  “Fuck,” I breathe, coming to a stop. I try to stabilize, resting my hand on the trunk of a nearby tree wrenching my eyes shut. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I’ve lost her.

  Hitting the tree several times with my fists, I calm a fraction.

  I can’t stay here.

  Looking around, there’s forest on every side. I don’t know what to do without Daisy. We never even had the chance to discuss what to do if we got separated. I can’t even see the sky. I have no idea where I am or what direction I should run.

  Tears bud in my eyes.

  I won’t be a broodmare.

  I won’t.

  Shaking, I lift my knife and point it at my chest. I tremble, gripping the knife’s shaft with sweaty palms.

  I press the tip into me and grit my teeth. My hand shakes. “Do it,” I whisper. “You can do it.”

  Something hits my hand, and the knife goes flying.

  My eyes snap up to find the red male before me. “You will not leave me so soon, female,” he growls. “Not now that you’re finally mine.”

  I stagger backward.

  His words are thick, accented, primal, but clearly in the common tongue. I fall back, hitting the tree behind me. I curl my hands protectively over my chest as the male slides my wa
y. He’s holding a spear in one hand. I vaguely remember seeing it on the cliff.

  One long red tail dances behind him. A tentacle covered in ruby scales. I think I see blood splattered across them but I can’t be sure.

  “I’m not yours. I’ll never be yours,” I rasp between breaths.

  His brow cocks. “Oh, but you are. You just didn’t know it until you met me.”

  He reaches for me. Covetous eyes lean closer.

  I push as far back into the tree trunk as I can go. “I haven’t met you.”

  “Consider this that time. We’ve now met.”

  His hand is about to be on me, and I turn my head to the side. Will it be cold or warm? Will it hurt? Will he rip my clothes off and take me? Or will he touch me softly?

  I don’t get the chance to find out. My vision blurs, and I’m yanked off the ground.

  Air rushes over my skin. A roar explodes in my ears, below me. Gasping, I find it’s not one hand on me, but two. They grip me tightly under my armpits, and I’m flying through the air.

  Not the air, but… bouncing through the canopy of the trees.

  The red male is nothing but a spec on the forest floor as I’m jerked from one large branch to the next. Sparks of light shoot at us, coming from the end of his weapon. My belly curls and I taste bile.

  “Azsote!” His terrible shout shakes the leaves. “You will die!” he screams. “I will see your blood seep into the dirt and your body rot! I will see the maggots feast on your entrails!”

  My breath wooshes from my mouth. Leaves rush past me in a blur. It takes a stunned second, but now I’m struggling in this new male’s grip.

  “Stop,” the one holding me orders, slinging from one tree to the next. “Or you will fall!”

  I struggle harder, and when the male shuffles me under the crook of his arm, I kick and scream, clawing his scales wherever I can reach. I don’t care if I hurt him. I want him to let go of me.

  He grunts and curses things I don’t understand, trying to get me to stop. I’d rather fall than have my choices taken away from me, but the blur and the jerking, the pinching of my flesh weaken my attack. I flinch, hair blowing in my eyes.

  “Female, you will fall!” He pulls me forward, twists me around until I’m face to face with a bright green male with black eyes. He squeezes me against his chest, and I draw back to pummel him with my fists.

  “Let me go!” I shout.

  “You are sssafe with me! I won’t hurt you.”

  I don’t want to hear it. “Then let me go!”

  “Never.”

  “Azsote!” I hear the boom of the red male’s furor. A voice filled with so much rage; it goes straight to the marrow of my bones. I finally still.

  The green male stiffens as well, lips twisting into a snarl. There are small, shiny scales on the sides of his face, and they move with the wrinkling of his skin. I focus on them to stop my sudden dizziness.

  I open my mouth to scream, and he spins me around and covers my lips. “Quiet,” he demands. “Or he will hear you.”

  My nostrils flare.

  Good.

  Let the red one come and start a fight. It’ll give me another chance to run for it.

  I cock my head and bite the green male’s hand as hard as I can. Blood gushes into my mouth as my teeth pierce his flesh. He shouts and jerks away.

  I scream at the top of my lungs.

  The male jerks me hard as I thrash. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he yells.

  “You already have!”

  A day ago, I was a respected member of the military. I was at the top of my field: Communications Director on the bridge of The Dreadnaut. A coveted position I worked hard to earn. I’d spent years working as a lackey, slowly rising in the ranks, taking classes, taking every training offered to expand my resume.

  It was hard, grueling work. I sacrificed relationships, leaving my family to improve my chances of being bridge crew.

  I earned my spot at the top and I intend to keep it.

  It’s mine.

  I hadn’t sacrificed my youth just to be used as a human sacrifice for Peter. I’m not just some piece of meat to be handed off.

  I buck wildly. I see a flash of red coming straight for us through the trees, and it’s enough for him to loosen his grip.

  “No!” he shouts. But it’s too late, I’m slipping down his sleek, scaled body. His hands grab the cloth of my shirt, ripping it as I continue to fall. “Vruksha! Catch her,” he bellows. “Now!”

  The air breezes over my skin as I’m freed from his grip. Yes! I wrench my eyes closed for the painful impact I know is coming. Whether it’s branches or the hard ground, it’ll hurt like hell—if it doesn’t kill me.

  Two large arms clamp under me, startling my whole body. They wrap around me protectively, holding me close into a steely chest of rippling muscle. I feel it under my cheek as I’m pressed into it.

  It frightens me.

  I still wait for an impact that’s been denied me.

  “You have tried to take her and have lost. Leave now or die,” the male holding me says. “She fell, almost died in your grasp, within minutes of you having her. You do not deserve a female.”

  A hiss fills my ears.

  “Ssshe is a fighter.”

  “All females are until they’re nested.”

  Another hiss. “And you think you deserve that honor for catching her?”

  “I have caught her twice and will catch her a third time if you try to take her again. Let us battle and be done with it!”

  I pry open my eyes. The red male holds me close as the green one, Azsote, the red one calls him, is several yards away. His eyes meet mine. I can’t help but shy away from the fury—the anguish—in them.

  I don’t think I can escape him again. I see it. He won’t make the mistake of letting me fall a second time.

  “Do not be afraid of me,” Azsote says, softening his demeanor. Maybe he sees my terror.

  The red male clutches me closer. “Do not speak to her! Leave now or die.”

  Azsote juts his chin. “Why not let her decide?”

  My eyes widen. Choice? Will they give me a choice? There’s hope in that. That means they can be reasoned with.

  “No.”

  “Let me choose!” I gasp, finally unlocking my joints to jerk in his arms. “Please?”

  He tenses and looks down at me. There’s doubt—and something else—is in his gaze.

  They’re smart, these aliens. Smarter than they have any right to be. They look like us, kind of. They speak the common tongue, even though they have a thick accent. What else can they do? What do they know?

  A plan forms in my mind. I’ll go with one, learn what I can, find the alien technology, and steal it. I’ll bring it back to the facility and save Daisy in the process. And when I’m back with my people, I’ll contact The Dreadnaut and tell them about Peter’s and Collins’ treachery.

  Some of my fear vanishes as the plan becomes clear. I just need to keep my legs closed in the process. I just need to survive until I have the chance to see it through.

  “Let me choose,” I whisper again as the black eyes of the red male bore into me. He has scales on his face like the other, but he also has ridges on the sides of his jaw. Those ridges run down his shoulders too.

  “You are mine,” he warns. “You’ve been mine since you walked off your ship.”

  He remembers.

  “Let her choose, Vruksha, and no blood will need to be spread. If she chooses you, I will leave you be, and if she chooses me…you slither away and take your chance with winning the other human female.”

  His name is Vruksha.

  “Her name is Daisy,” I say, still thinking of my plan.

  “Daisy,” Azsote corrects. “What a strange name.”

  He doesn’t ask me for mine.

  A branch snaps in the distance, followed by several others. A rustle of leaves, a scattering of stones. The males straighten. Tension fills the space.

  Othe
rs are coming.

  Azsote’s voice lowers, hurried. “More are coming, Vruksha. We can fight, allow them to gain on us, and battle the others. Or we can let her choose and be gone before they arrive.”

  The red male—Vruksha, I now know for sure—continues to watch me. Hard. I wiggle in his hold because it’s all I can do. I no longer have a knife to plunge into his heart. His dark eyes slide from my face and over my body, lingering on my ripped shirt. I reach over and pull it taut to hide my skin.

  I don’t like his eyes on me. I don’t want to know what’s happening behind them.

  “Fine,” he says. “Choose me, like you know you should.”

  “Let me down first,” I urge.

  “No.”

  “Let her down,” Azsote rumbles.

  “Never,” Vruksha growls.

  The rustling of leaves grows nearer.

  “We don’t have much time!”

  More males don’t sound ideal to me. The two I’m already facing are enough to contend with. I squirm even more, hoping for an escape, but Vruksha’s grip is incredibly strong.

  “She’s going to choose me, so why would I release her?” he snarls.

  Fuck him. “I choose Azsote,” I announce, finding my voice surprisingly level for my circumstance.

  Vruksha’s fingers wrench on my skin. His lips pull back to reveal two curved fangs.

  “Give her to me,” Azsote says, smiling, inching closer to us.

  Vruksha doesn’t look away from me. Is that betrayal etched in his features? My gut churns. I strain away from him.

  Azsote is the better choice. He’s more willing to compromise. He’ll be easier to manipulate, I think this despite the sinking feeling in my belly. I’m good at judging people… people, not half-human, half-snake aliens.

  “Azsote, is it?” Vruksha says, his voice so low it gives me pause. “He is who you want?”

  I flinch.

  “I want to go home,” I manage. “I don’t want any of you.”

  “She’s made her choice! Hand her over and leave,” Azsote snaps.

  Vruksha tears his eyes from mine. His muscles bulge.

  Azsote, noticing, bares his fangs in response. Their stances shift, tails sweeping forward with sharp tips. Vruksha hauls his spear in front of me, shielding me in, loosening his grip on me as he does so.