Kinn Read online

  Could it have been instinct? Even exhausted and hurt, had the little human had enough strength of will to try and protect her small stash of food?

  “The apples are yours. No more spoons for you, though. Sleep, little human. When you wake, I have questions for you.”

  2

  “You’re an asshole. You know that. Right?” Serena demanded a few weeks later. She’d healed from her initial injury, but despite the fact her scent was still not that of an omega, Kinn refused to release her to the beta population.

  She glared up at the tall blond healer, currently working on an injured warrior. He was ignoring her. Again. She huffed under her breath, handing him the next instrument he would ask for before he’d asked for it.

  He was an asshole. An alien asshole. A sexy alien asshole, but there was no way on what remained of the Earth she would ever tell him that. He’d only get ideas. She would have said he’d get a big head, but he already had that. If she had to hear about him being the premier healer in the clan one more time…

  He made a low, rumbling noise that might have been his way of saying thank you. Or maybe he had a hairball. Did the Tolath get those? Probably not. Still, the idea amused her enough she filed it away as a future potential insult.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, knowing that would annoy him, too. She’d learned early on that what little gentleness he had vanished the moment another alien asshole stepped foot in the healing hall. So she went out of her way to make it seem like he was kinder than he was actually being. It drove him to distraction, and she delighted in it.

  Small delights were all she really had right now. Oh, there was plenty of food, warm blankets, and a safe place to sleep, but she was still a prisoner—one who was running out of time. If she didn’t get away from the arrogant asshole alien soon, he’d learn one of the humans’ last secrets.

  She couldn’t let that happen.

  He closed up the wound on the semi-conscious warrior on the table in front of them. Since she’d arrived, she’d seen the aliens in all kinds of conditions and with a wide range of injuries. Kinn treated all who came through the door unless he considered that the injury was either self-inflicted or one without honor. He’d refused to treat two L’crav warriors yesterday. Even though she didn’t like the idea of any being in pain, she didn’t like any of the L’crav either. They watched her with angry, dark eyes, and seemed totally separate from Kinn and his friends.

  As far as she could work out, they were newer and from a different family or original area of space. Hard to tell. Kinn wasn’t a talker unless it was about her or her family and friends. He worked at her as relentlessly as an interrogator, trying to make her slip up and give him some information… any information.

  She hadn’t. For one, too many people relied on her keeping quiet for their survival, and two, her sister was probably even more stubborn than Kinn.

  She missed Max. They’d survived by sticking by each other no matter what, and now she was a prisoner and no one had any idea where she was or even if she was still breathing.

  None of the betas she’d seen had been willing to even make eye contact with her. They did their jobs and moved on in silence. It was fucking creepy because she knew it was an act. The only one who’d reacted to her at all was the Mother Superior, but so far they hadn’t had a chance to do more than flash a brief signal acknowledging each other.

  Maybe she’d be able to get word to Max. Maybe not. Things inside Zabor T’ah, the Tolathian citadel, were in flux right now. The transfer of power hadn’t been smooth. There was tension between the L’crav and the H’thor, too. She’d managed to gather that much from the snippets of conversations she’d overheard as warriors waited for one of their number to be patched up after yet another fight. That’s all these aliens seemed to do. Fight, fuck, and talk to each other about how good they were at both. It was infuriating and ridiculous at the same time. At least she hadn’t had to put up with Kinn boasting about his sexual prowess. She might have had to beat him to death with a pillow.

  Perhaps because of her preoccupation, she didn’t think to check their patient as she moved around cleaning up. She was usually wary of the big alien warriors, but she’d thought this one, about the size of a small building with a gash like a crater in the back of his head, was out for the count. Kinn wouldn’t have left her alone with one of them otherwise, and right now he was locking up the surgical kit where she couldn’t get to it… in his office.

  Then, the supposedly out cold alien clamped a hard hand around her wrist, dragging her toward him.

  “Mine.”

  “No!” she yelled, turning it into a one-word battle cry. She locked her hands together and used her arms like a club, bashing any part of him she could reach. Fear and fury came together, fueled by weeks of good food and decent rest.

  She’d been a fighter her whole life, but she’d always been held back by the realities of life in the desolate wastelands. Now? She was stronger than ever, and no one was going to try and claim her. No. One.

  A roar shook the walls of the hall and something huge and snarling hurtled past her, breaking the warrior’s grip on her waist.

  She staggered backward, tripped over the wounded warrior’s discarded bag, and fell to the floor hard enough to rattle her teeth. She didn’t feel any pain, though. All she was aware of was the massive form of an alien in full beast mode as he threw the other warrior around like a meat puppet with its strings cut.

  Her eyes widened. It was…

  That was Kinn.

  She scuttled backward as he marched to the door, tore it open and threw the other alien through it. She was still scuttling backward when he turned around and stalked toward her, still fully shifted. His handsome features had transformed into the face of the beast. He was even bigger, massive now, with armor plates covering every inch of skin.

  A whimper escaped her as her back hit the wall and she tried to make herself as small as possible. Invisible. She needed to be invisible. When an alpha shifted to beast form like this, women like her died.

  He tore away the tattered remains of his shirt with one clawed hand, his all-black eyes locked on her. Prey. That was the biggest damned predator she’d ever seen, and he saw her as prey.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  She drew up her legs and wrapped her arms around them, crouching down to make herself as small as she could.

  He kept coming, his lips turned up in a silent snarl that showed his fangs. With the shirt gone and his plating active, she could see the dark markings that decorated his chest. The swirling lines were strangely attractive… No. She gave herself a mental shake. That was a really bad idea. That was a beast, not a man. Not attractive at all.

  “Serena.” Her name on his lips was little more than a growl.

  “Mhhmm?” She didn’t move. Didn’t make more than that one small sound.

  Kinn inhaled deeply, his massive chest rising as his nostrils flared. “Your scent…”

  Double shit. If the patch failed now? She would die in the next few seconds, and it wouldn’t be an easy death. If only she had her mercy. She’d even reached for it before she remembered that the small but lethal blade no longer hung around her neck. It was with the rest of her things, now locked in Kinn’s office.

  She didn’t look that way, her gaze locked on to the monster looming over her. He’d crouched now, still watching. His black eyes riveted to her. He took another breath, his massive chest expanding, and growled again. When he reached out, a clawed hand reaching for her face, her nerve broke.

  With a full-throated cry she threw herself to the side, scuttling away under the treatment beds as she raced toward the door to his office. If she could just reach her mercy or some of the other surgical tools in there…

  Yes! Kinn hadn’t locked the door when he’d come tearing out to beat on the other alien asshole. If only she could get there in time.

  She scampered and scrambled across the floor, adrenaline dumping into her system by the bucketful
. Kinn bellowed and moved faster, so she started throwing anything she could get hold of onto the floor behind her in an attempt to slow him down.

  She got to the door and ran through it. No time to lock it. She kept moving, looking for her bag or anything she could use. All she needed was a few more seconds. They all knew how to do this quickly and cleanly—the final escape when the beasts left you no other choice.

  It wasn’t how she wanted it to end but she was out of options.

  She only needed a few seconds, but she didn’t get them. Kinn barreled through the door just as her fingers closed over a scalpel. Before she could lift it from the tray, his massive hand wrapped around her wrist in an iron grip. Her small cry was pure fear as he yanked her around. The scalpel fell from her nerveless fingers to clatter against the floor. A second later her back hit the wall hard enough to knock the breath from her, and she was pinned in place by Kinn’s massive body.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she turned her head to the side, expecting those huge fangs to tear into the side of her throat any second.

  This was it. She could have fought, but what was the point? She knew she couldn’t win. Damn it. She’d been stupid. She shouldn’t have trusted Kinn or gotten comfortable. Why hadn’t she tried harder to escape?

  Hot breath fanned over the side of her neck. “Serena.”

  She kept her eyes closed. What was taking so long? If this was the end, why the hell wasn’t he getting on with it?

  Lips brushed her skin, stopping over the pulse point fluttering on the side of her throat. “Don’t ever run from me.”

  She jumped a little at the contact. How were his lips so soft? She’d seen the monster he’d become. He was all armor plate and fangs. Wait… fangs. He shouldn’t be able to talk.

  His lips brushed over her skin again, right over the pulse. Soft. Like a caress. “Open your eyes.”

  She daren’t move, not even enough to shake her head. “No,” she breathed. “I’m dead. There’s no way I’m not dead.”

  “I would never…” Kinn stopped, growled in frustration, and then started again, sounding more certain this time. More like his old self. “I’m a healer. I’m not going to kill the main subject of my research project.”

  “You’re a beast. Beasts kill all the time. It’s what you do!”

  “Open. Your. Eyes. Now.”

  “Bite me.” She had no idea what was going on with her mouth. Inside all she wanted to do was scream, but somehow the sarcasm just kept flowing.

  “Interesting proposal. If I claimed you as an omega, what would happen?”

  That made her open her eyes, but she didn’t look at him. “I’d die. That’s what happens to omegas. Right? Or maybe I’d just fade away like the others I’ve seen. But since I’m not a fucking omega, odds are good I’d just die.”

  “I think I should try.” His voice was low and intimate, rough around the edges in a way she’d never heard before. It affected her on levels she didn’t want to admit to, heat pooling in her lower body and making her want to press her thighs together.

  Nononono, that wasn’t happening. She almost whimpered again, trying to slam her thighs together, but his thigh was there stopping her. She wouldn’t… couldn’t get aroused. It would burn through her blockers quicker than anything, and, with the amount of time she’d already been here, she knew she was already dancing on the edge of their time limit.

  “Yessss,” he rumbled, his lips sliding up the soft skin of her throat, tasting her. Scenting her? “Your scent is changing, becoming fuller.”

  “That’s testosterone and ego you’re smelling.” She turned her head enough that she could see him now. He wasn’t the beast anymore. He was Kinn again. Still huge and scary and not at all sexy, but the armor was gone, the markings faded. As she watched, the last of the darkness drained from his eyes, leaving them their usual deep blue.

  She went to shove him away, but her hands met a solid wall of hard, bare chest and she realized how close they were. How intimate. And how very little clothing he was wearing.

  “Off. Get off me! And that’s the last time I help you with a damned patient. I’m done with this whole Stockholm Syndrome scenario. Done!” Anger was easier than fear, and it gave her something else to focus on besides how good he looked and how much she wanted to run her hands all over his toned body.

  The shoving didn’t happen. She tried—she really did—but the instant her hands contacted his chest, they stopped. Then her fingers spread out, fingertips brushing against his skin. He watched her, his gaze intent on hers, and his eyes flared dark but not with his beast. Instead, the darkness had nothing to do with the fact he was an alien and everything to do with the fact he was a man and she was a woman.

  Hands without claws cupped her cheeks, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. His touch was gentle, and the tiny spark of need she’d been trying to smother since the day she’d been dragged in this hall suddenly flared to life.

  Heat swirled in her belly, her clit ached, and she leaned forward the slightest bit, drawn to him by some force she didn’t understand and really didn’t want to exist. But god damn, it felt so good to be touched.

  She shuddered and bit back a moan as he moved in closer, pushing her back into the wall, his big body grinding against hers.

  “Why?” he asked. “What are you?”

  3

  She wouldn’t look at him. Kinn rumbled with displeasure in the back of his throat, but not too loudly. He didn’t like the scent of her fear. It was sharp and acrid in the back of his nose and it displeased him.

  “Stop being scared,” he ordered her. “I will not harm you.”

  “I’ll stop being scared when you stop being an asshole. Just because you are lord of the medical hall doesn’t mean you are the boss of me.”

  “I have told you repeatedly that I am not lord of anything. I have no royal blood. And I am not being an asshole. Must you be so difficult all the time?”

  He hadn’t meant to say that last bit out loud. He didn’t owe this strange, slightly defective female an explanation for his actions. She owed him answers.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. If I’m such a pain in the ass you should probably just let me go. Easier for both of us that way.”

  His next word came out as a raw snarl. “Never.”

  He ignored the depth of feeling at her suggestion or the surge of… something at the idea of her leaving. It was just because he didn’t want to lose the only source of data he had. Well, that wasn’t precisely true. He now had access to two omegas—those belonging to his fellow warriors—but he didn’t have access often. Both omegas had very possessive and protective alphas and neither liked any other male near their females for too long. In fact, Rath had taken his female out of the citadel for something he called a honeymoon—a human word no doubt.

  No, this female, this not-beta, was his best lead on what the xarth was wrong with the omegas on this planet. They weren’t normal. Defective in fact. And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

  But first, he needed to be sure she was unhurt. N’tor had treated her roughly. That should not have happened. Not in his hall. He’d failed to protect her… and that awareness chafed his pride. “You will get on the bed and let me examine you.”

  “The hell I will. I’m fine. Where I’m from betas get knocked around all the time. That was nothing.”

  “You are not there now. You are in my healing hall. Get on the bed.”

  “For someone with no royal blood, you sure like ordering people around, Your Highness.”

  Frustration made it easier to think past the strange effect this female had on him. Her scent was… good. Too good. Not exactly omega, but enticing all the same. More so now than ever. He needed to know why.

  “Get. On. The. Bed,” he growled, biting back his words so he didn’t snarl at her. He wanted to. Surely that would put her in her place… but somehow he couldn’t.

  Finally she looked at him, her little pointed chin lifted in challenge. “Kinda har
d to do when you’re squashing me, you big bloody oaf!”

  That gave him pause. She was right. He still had her crowded up against a wall, her delicate body pressing against his. How had he failed to notice that? Perhaps her defect was contagious?

  He stepped back, smoothing a hand through his hair and taking a breath to center himself again. He’d been distracted by the change in her scent. That was all. “Now you are free, will you let me examine you?”

  She ducked to one side and jogged away from him, favoring one leg. “Now I’m going to my cell like a good little prisoner.”

  His control cracked and then shattered. “Serena!” He snarled her name and went after her. She yelled and ran faster, but it wasn’t nearly fast enough. He had her in his arms in two strides, pulling her in close to his chest as she kicked and struggled.

  “Oi, asshole! What part of no don’t you understand? I’m fine. Now let me go!”

  “I am the healer here, not you.” He carried her to the nearest examination table and set her down gently on it, activating the restraints the moment he released her.

  A forcefield snapped in place over the bed and then constricted slowly until she was forced to lie back whether she wished to or not.

  “Really? Now you’re tying me to the bed? Is this a kink or a control thing?”

  He snarled at that. “This is just a medical restraint, but carry on and I’ll be more than happy to tie you to my bed.”

  She gasped in outrage, and he pretended not to hear her, concentrating instead on the readouts. Nothing appeared to be seriously amiss but he wasn’t happy. He needed to touch her, to feel that she was uninjured, and nothing was better than real touch for a healer to work out that a patient was in fact, unhurt.

  “You were limping a moment ago. Is your foot injured?”

  She glowered up at him in stormy silence.