Free WarlordsBounty by Cynthia Sax Page A

My
love.
    “I’ll prepare the ship for boarding.” She forced her reply.
“Transmission ended.” The viewscreen returned to the image of the warship, the
threat looming before them, large and very, very real.
    “There’s little time.” Zeta rushed to Khan’s chair, bent
over and released his restraints. “Come with me.” She grabbed his arm, urging
him to his feet. “We have to do this quickly.”
    “Zeta.”
    “Not now. Trust me.” She ran down the corridor, the lights
flickering to life, Khan following her closely, his warm breath on her neck,
reassuring proof that he lived. He’ll continue to live. Her heart
pounded and her lungs ached. I’ll protect him.
    Zeta skidded to a stop in front of the escape pod and
accessed the panel, her fingers shaking. This has to work. The doors
slid open. “Get inside. I’ll time the pod to detach in a few minutes.” She
fumbled with the system, her fingertips clumsy. “Once I’m certain he’s on
board.”
    “Zeta, what are you doing?” Khan, the only male she had ever
cared for, stood stubbornly beside her, holding his drying cloth in place with
one big hand, his forehead wrinkled.
    “I’m saving you. I’ve seen that look on client’s faces
before, Khan. Tolui won’t give you an opportunity to escape.” She pushed on
Khan’s shoulders, his skin hot and smooth against her fingers. “He wants you
dead. You leave now.” Zeta nodded at the pod. “And I’ll hold him off.” She
extracted one of her guns.
    “No.” Khan twisted the gun from her hands, his movements
unfettered, his restraints removed. “You’re not protecting me this time.” He
pointed the weapon at her, his lips flat and his eyes hard. “You get in the
pod.” He extended the claws on his free hand, raked them over her holster, and
slung the leather over his shoulder. “Now,” he barked.
    Zeta stepped backward, confused. “You don’t understand. He
plans to kill you.”
    “And you don’t understand.” Khan shoved her deeper into the
pod. “I plan to kill him.” He slapped the control panel and the door closed,
locking her in. “Trust me, gerel .” He placed his palm on the porthole.
    “Trust you?” She hammered the door with her fists, furious
with him and terrified for him. “Release me, Khan, or when I get free, I swear
I’ll shoot those big balls of yours right off!”
    His laughter trailed behind him as he stalked down the
corridor, leaving Zeta trapped in her own escape pod.
    * * * * *
    “There’s no risk.” Khan shot the locks off the sleeping
chamber’s wall panel and it slid open, revealing his clothing neatly folded and
his weapons arranged by size. He grinned, Zeta’s feeble attempts to hinder his
escape adorable, the care she’d taken with his things more telling than any
confession of love. “As I suspected, Berke knows nothing about human females.”
    He dressed quickly, strapping his sword to his back and
slinging his long gun over one of his shoulders, conscious that it would take
mere minutes for his clever gerel to override the escape pod’s locked
door. Booms echoed down the corridor, his Chamele rival equally
impetuous, not waiting for an invitation to board Zeta’s ship.
    “And Tolui knows nothing about stealth.” Khan ran toward the
sound, his fingers tightening around one of Zeta’s small guns, savoring that
connection to her. The metallic door dented inward, pounded by bullets, the
same door Khan had easily torn off with his claws.
    “Why is Tolui using guns?” Khan wrinkled his nose in
disgust, a Chamele warrior’s natural weapons quieter and more effective.
“Has he forgotten, in his exile, how to be a Chamele? ”
    The door blasted into the corridor, metal clanging against
metal, and Khan ducked into an alcove, hiding from direct view, deeming not to
fade into the surrounding walls, his invisibility, as Zeta called it,
ineffective with other Chamele warriors. He waited, his blood pumping
through his veins, one of his fingers resting