Aster Hathaway has a talent for tracking, and being tracked. With a link to her favourite Relay bound by blood, she can always be found. Aster is on assignment to find an abduction arena and rescue the Alliance personnel within. By using herself as bait she only needs to survive the attentions of two tiger shifters in rut. What could possibly go wrong?
More From Terran Times Tales
Aster was hauled to one of the guarded rooms. Her handler led her to the wall and attached her to it via manacles and cuffs set into the stone.
"The boys are out fighting, we will have them returned to you as soon as they are finished." He chuckled. "I hope for your sake that they shift before they take you."
She didn't try to lunge for him. She simply waited until he left and started exploring with her gaze. The trackers would be on her trail already. She had left a blazing path through the stars, her mind still linked to one of the relays when they put her to sleep. It would only take days to launch a rescue, so she only had to hold on until then.
There were two beds, a bathroom, an occasional table between the beds and a small rug. It was sparse but comfortable.
Her limbs ached from the discomfort of being pressed against the cold stone, but she forgot all of it when the door opened and two guards with exposed weapons prodded two large white tigers into the room.
She suddenly remembered what she was dealing with. "Oh hell. Kalordans. Damn it. Nice kitties."
Blood spattered the white and black hides of the beasts. They walked up to her and started sniffing her from ankles to neck.
When one of them placed a paw on the wall next to her head and licked her neck, she shuddered. The wild scent of beast was overlaid on a male musk that shook her. When the other beast mimicked his companion, she writhed as they combined to create a perfect, seductive scent.
That was fast. The dry voice in her mind was not her own.
What was fast?
You falling for the Kalordans. You know what your reaction to them means, don't you?
No, what?
You are screwed. Laughter faded from her mind and she scowled at the animals who were licking her.
Tal's sense of humour was suspect at the best of times, but her position as relay was giving them an opportunity that the Alliance never had before. Aster and Natalia were the only blood relations that the Alliance had taken as Volunteers from Terra. Their lifelong connection gave them an undetectable link and made them a horribly effective team.
Aster shivered as one of the tigers used his teeth to tug away the wrap she was wearing, bringing her mind back to the matter at hand. The air was warm, but their noses were cold.
"You know, guys, this would not be nearly as creepy if you were bipedal."
The large cats communicated silently, tails lashing. One shifted into a man who dwarfed her as he moved to stand in front of her. "We apologize. You smell…wonderful." He bent his head and sniffed her neck and shoulders before he straightened.
Dark blond hair slithered over his shoulders, hiding the piercing blue of his eyes. She took in the strong jaw line with a long, thin scar marking the left side, the wide flare of a nose and arched brows shades darker than his hair. She deliberately did not let her gaze dip below the wide, muscled expanse of his chest.
"What are your names?"
He tilted his head curiously. "You are very calm for a captured woman strapped to a wall."
"I am in shock. Will probably wake screaming tomorrow. Your names?" The other tiger had resumed sniffing her, but was now localizing his concentration between her thighs. The rough purr that started tested her concentration. The vibrations were stroking flesh still sensitive from the SRT.
The man laughed, "I am Vhol Drkar. My companion is Rassiv Mordn. They promised us a woman similar to the one that was recently brought to our home world, but I never thought they would capture a Terran. For that I am sorry."
