N'ashtar The Alien Prince Read online

  N’Ashtar The Alien Prince

  Thoherian Barbarians

  Roxie Ray

  Contents

  The Beginning

  1. N’Ashtar

  2. Dana

  3. N’Ashtar

  4. Dana

  5. N’Ashtar

  6. Dana

  7. N’Ashtar

  8. Dana

  9. N’Ashtar

  10. Dana

  11. N’Ashtar

  12. Dana

  13. N’Ashtar

  14. Dana

  15. N’Ashtar

  16. Dana

  17. N’Ashtar

  18. Dana

  19. N’Ashtar

  20. Dana

  21. N’Ashtar

  22. Dana

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  N’Ashtar The Alien Prince

  The Beginning

  Dana

  I knew from experience it was never good to sit and mull over why you were in handcuffs. It didn’t get rid of the handcuffs, nor did it make you feel any better about them. No, instead, I needed to be thinking about escape plans. There I was, surrounded by my alien captors, and instead of trying to get away from them, my thoughts kept drifting to another alien. One a lot less appropriate.

  I’d been kidnapped by the Caterri during a raid on my friends and the aliens that had rescued us. When I hadn’t been content sitting and letting the others defend me, I’d waded into the fray and been punished for it. It had been an interesting experience so far, though. The translator attached to my ear was still there, so I could understand much of what they said, even though they acted like I was stupid.

  A Caterri yanked on the chain between my hands, making me stumble and curse. I hated them. I couldn’t get distracted. I couldn’t give myself a break from the emotional load of the situation and think of happier times. I especially couldn’t do that if the happy times were on this planet. We were stranded there, unintentionally, and the moment I could, I was going home. Hot, snarky, snake-like aliens notwithstanding.

  Yet I couldn’t help but think about one in particular…

  I sat near the fire, chewing on a piece of jerky and studying the aliens that had ‘rescued’ us. Hetta, our astrobotanist, was wrapped in a blanket next to one of them, our engineer, Erica, was still in a coma, watched over by one of the other aliens, and the nanotechnologist of our trip, Jackie, sat next to me chattering away. But I wasn’t paying attention to any of them, no matter how much I should have been. Jackie was almost certainly talking to me, whether or not I was listening.

  No, my attention was on the snarky, chauvinistic asshole who apparently was the leader of this small tribe.

  “Dana?” Jackie sounded hesitant, then reached out a hand and waved it in front of my face.

  Right. Fellow humans. Needed to focus on them first. “Sorry,” I told her. “I’m just tired.”

  Jackie gave me a skeptical look. “Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t hurt your head or something, did you?” As the nanotechnologist, Jackie was the closest we had to a medical officer, since the nanobots we’d been injected with were responsible for healing whatever happened to us.

  Not that anything was supposed to happen to us in the first place, because it wasn’t, but it wasn’t like that stopped the world from smacking us anyway.

  “No, my head’s fine.” I flexed my ankle, the most injured part of me. I was still bruised all over, but somehow I had survived without any broken bones, just an ankle sprain. Between the wrap Jackie had put on it and the week or so it’d been since the crash, I could walk without too much pain. Not that I really had anywhere to walk with great urgency, since I wasn’t allowed to go back to our ship.

  The thought made me scowl, and I glared at the N’Akron responsible. N’Ashtar was their infuriating leader, who, when we had first met, immediately asked to speak to a male.

  Let’s just say that didn’t go over well. I’d never needed a guy to speak for me before, and I sure as hell didn’t need one now. Any ‘male’ who thought that could fuck right off. Between that and him dodging my questions about Thoheria and how long their people had been there and everything else, I was pretty much completely done. Throw in his reminders that he was surprised we’d survived so long without males and I was about to space him. Too bad we didn’t have a working spaceship.

  Information was the most important currency, no matter what universe you were in, and N’Ashtar seemed uninterested in sharing any he held. Part of it could have been that I wasn’t asking the right questions, but I wasn’t the engineer. No, I was the diplomat, the daughter of a military family with a mother who had never been truly happy. If there was one thing my mother had instilled in me, it was that I didn’t need a man for anything. Even if I wanted kids, there were ways around that.

  Yeah, my mom wasn’t really a ‘glass half full’ type of person.

  I bit back a snort at the thought of them telling my parents where I was. Or where they’d lost me, rather. As far as I could tell, the Twelve hadn’t sent any signals back and we were still lost to wherever the ship had ‘exploded’. Then again, I still wasn’t the engineer, which was a good thing, because that was one job I had never wanted.

  My gaze drifted to Erica, although I became aware Jackie was still chattering in the background. She seemed to be talking about the N’Akron wearing the sash, and her tone was easy and relaxed enough that I didn’t feel the need to pay attention to the words. Jackie had said that the nanobots were taking care of Erica, that the coma was deliberate and the fact she looked like she was sleeping was a good thing, but I still wasn’t used to all the technology thrust on us and would believe it when I saw it.

  Nothing about this trip had turned out the way it was supposed to. We were supposed to be on a plush jungle planet, and instead, we were stuck on a dark, dirty, freezing ball of hell. The days were long and the cold moments longer, and that was so not in my ‘places to vacation’ list.

  I let out a frustrated grunt. I didn’t like just sitting and not doing something. As a former lawyer, although much of my day had been spent dealing with paperwork and motions and people, I still felt like I was being productive. Flashing Jackie a smile in apology, I stood and headed over to N’Ashtar, determined to get him to talk to me.

  The fact that I enjoyed sparring with him was entirely irrelevant and we didn’t need to think about it, no, we did not. No, instead I needed to focus on how he’d treated us basically like pets that were expected to sit down, shut up, and wait to be told what to do. While he’d shared his sleeping bag—what he called a ‘sack’—with me each night, it had been purely for platonic reasons. Yup. I would keep saying that until I believed it.

  I totally didn’t like how he never bent to me, how he crossed his scaly arms over his chest and looked at me with those slitted pupils as I argued with him. When I pushed him, he pushed back, not letting me off the hook for anything. It was like a verbal sword fight, and it was quickly becoming addicting.

  Even if he was a chauvinist.

  “N’Ashtar.” I spoke firmly as I drew closer, ignoring the other snake-man (R’Asha?) who chuckled and then disappeared, but not before saying something akin to ‘good luck’. Maybe it was a translator error. Still, I scowled at both of them just for good measure.

  I fought to make and maintain eye contact with N’Ashtar and eventually gave up. Since we started sleeping together, every time I met his eyes a heat had flooded my body, leaving me tingling in spots that did not need to be tingling. Nope. There was no place for arousal or lust on this planet, or in my mind. I totally didn’t pay attention when he stepped closer, feeling like a space heater but flexible.

  That was not a good thing to think, because now my brain was go
ing down a road it didn’t need to be going down.

  I cleared my throat, which earned me a strange look from N’Ashtar that I could see out of the corner of my eye. “Yes?” N’Ashtar asked politely. Or politely for him, anyway, which was condescending laced with an undercurrent of amusement which made me want to stab him.

  “How far away from Kohta are we?” I glanced back at Erica, trying to pretend I wasn’t worried about her and that what I was asking was just a standard question. Even though it wasn’t.

  I needed a plan, preferably one that I was in control of. Would it solve all our problems? No. Would it make me feel better? Yes. I know, I know. I was a selfish person. But if I didn’t look out for myself, who would?

  N’Ashtar grunted. “Why are you in a hurry to get to the most dangerous place on the planet?”

  Alarm notched up a rank in my brain, but I nonchalantly crossed my arms over my chest. “If it’s that dangerous, then why are you taking us there?”

  Instead of immediately retorting or giving me one of those disarming, cocky smiles, a grimace crossed over his scaly lips and for a moment, he looked unsettled. This time I did meet his eyes and was surprised to see genuine uncertainty there. Gone was the cocky, I’m-all-that playboy persona he exuded. In its place was someone who was a lot more…real.

  “I’m conflicted,” he admitted.

  “Because we’re women,” I said flatly.

  He shrugged. “We protect our own, and life bearers are a sacred resource for us.” He stopped looking at me now, instead gazing into the distance. “Besides.” This time, his gaze swung back to mine. “If I had some warriors escort you back to the tribe, where it was safe, would you go?”

  I opened my mouth, then closed it, refusing to feel sheepish. He had a point. “I would have opinions about such a thing,” I said primly.

  “And you would make such opinions known very loudly,” N’Ashtar agreed.

  I scowled at him. “If you’d actually listen to me, I wouldn’t have to shout.”

  He gave me a lazy smile. “I don’t mind listening to you shout, as long as it is my name on your lips.”

  My mouth dropped open, and the cockiness had returned to his demeanor. Had he seriously just said that? I didn’t even know his people did innuendos.

  Which was probably me being a jerk, because really, had I actually had time to think about how aliens propositioned each other while trying to save my fellow humans from being stuck on this backwards planet? No. No, I had not.

  “Did you seriously just say that?” I managed. It had been so easy to assume anything I felt was one-sided, even when he pulled me close at night, his larger body wrapping around mine and providing more heat than a blanket ever could. I just ignored the fact that it made me heat between my thighs, made my pulse pound in a way that wasn’t appropriate. I’d also assumed he hadn’t noticed.

  If what he said was true, if he meant it, it sounded like I was wrong at least on the latter count. Maybe both of them.

  Whatever it was about him, he short-circuited my logical diplomatic brain and turned on human-Dana, who was always two steps short of shoving a whole foot down her throat.

  “Did you know, back in the village, any female would kill for my attentions?” N’Ashtar’s drawl was lazy, his eyes half-lidded and sleepy but with an alertness that told me he was paying attention. “I’m one of the best hunters, I’m the war chief, and I’m the future leader of the tribe. One day, I’ll be the leader of the entire N’Akron people.” There was a pause. “Maybe you would like to consider that and be more polite in how you address me.”

  “Good for you,” I retorted, ignoring the sting of jealousy at the thought of him flirting with another woman. I didn’t care. I did not care. I’d repeat that enough that I meant it, too. “I was chosen from all of my people to be the diplomat who helped establish relations with more advanced aliens, which also comes with its own reputation and prestige, so maybe you should be more polite to me, show-off.”

  “So you’re a courier, then?” N’Ashtar cocked his head to the side, entirely unimpressed. I didn’t smack him, but it was a close thing. As most women did, I absolutely hated when someone mocked me for what I did or insinuated that I wasn’t good enough for it. God knew I’d gotten enough of that when I was rising up the ranks, first as a lawyer and then as a diplomat. No thank you. While I knew I hadn’t left it entirely behind, as the head of the crew, I’d been someone. I’d been important, and if people were going to mock me, they would do it behind my back and not to my face.

  Really, that was all I cared about.

  “I help facilitate information and make compromises,” I said primly, trying not to show him he was getting under my skin. He totally was, and I hated that about him. Whatever it was about him that got to me, it did its job and it did it quickly.

  N’Ashtar hissed in that low, amused way of his. “You are clearly well experienced in compromise and relationships, given how yielding you are to my people.”

  My cheeks flushed, my scowl deepening as embarrassment set in. He wasn’t exactly wrong. I wasn’t very good at compromise, not when it sacrificed something my people needed. I definitely wasn’t going to compromise to some aliens who didn’t know a spaceship from a building. “You know what? You can just—”

  The words died in my throat when his hand circled my wrist, gripping me tightly. It burned in the best way, flaring the heat that had long lain dormant inside me. I swallowed thickly despite the lump in my throat, trying to pretend I wasn’t affected and failing horribly. It got even worse when he pulled me back against him, wrapping me in his arms as he nuzzled my neck.

  I tried to push him away, even though it didn’t get me very far. His breath was hot and heavy in a delicious sort of way, and what I could feel of his body was rock hard with not an ounce of fat left on him. The primal part of my brain urged me to lean in, let him hold me, need me, take me. But the logical part of me, thankfully, took control.

  It took me a second to figure out how, but I kneed him in the crotch. Not that it did much, because there was no yelping or clutching of cock. Instead, he just pulled back, giving me a perplexed look. “Is something wrong?” His eyes slitted. “Is that part of the mating ritual where you are from?”

  “I was aiming for your cock,” I retorted, aware he was still holding me too tightly for me to get away. The worst thing was, I didn’t feel trapped. I felt like I could have leaned against him forever, delighting in the warmth and security of his arms. If there had ever been a hell no, it was to that. “Apparently you don’t have one.”

  N’Ashtar chuckled, a smile brightening his face but with hints of his normal smirking underneath it. “I have one,” he assured me. “With a bit more nuzzling, you could make its acquaintance.”

  For a second, I was tempted. I wanted to let him touch me more, wanted to feel between his legs to figure out if he had junk and where it was. From the way he spoke, he was obviously familiar with the term, even if it was translated. But I couldn’t. That was not allowed, not right now. No way in the seven hells.

  “I don’t want you touching me,” I told him tartly. This time, when I tried to pry his hands off me, he let me, leaving me to storm my way back to the campfire and the other women. I didn’t look back, didn’t think about him, the way he’d held me, nuzzled me so sweetly. I didn’t.

  No matter how much I wanted to.

  1

  N’Ashtar

  Why, yes, I had just run from all of my duties and responsibilities the moment there was news of Dana. How could I not? I knew any time that passed was time that meant the Caterri were farther away with her, moments where she was not in my arms. It was unacceptable. I may not have entirely understood or accepted what I felt for the fiery human, but she definitely deserved more than the Caterri could give her.

  If something happened to her before I could rescue her, I didn’t think I could forgive myself. She was my responsibility, as were all the humans. The only reason I could escape is becau
se I knew O’Rrin, R’Asha, V’Annor, and the others would guard the humans with their lives. As females, they were precious to our tribe. We had so few life bearers. Yet even among the women, Dana was special.

  Not that I would ever tell her such a thing. As it was, I didn’t think she would forgive me for leaving her alone for so long with the enemy, like she didn’t matter. Had she known O’Rrin was badly injured and it was critical to his safety? Or had she thought none of us had cared enough to come after her? I didn’t like either thought. Or either mental image. Dana cowering under the oppressive thumb of the Caterri, forced to do whatever they wished. Dana being beaten for refusing to cower to them. Dana, Dana, Dana.

  My mind was so full of her that I missed the first time my name was called. And the second, and probably the third. It wasn’t until R’Asha was almost on top of me that I heard him. As elegant as I was and as used to running in the dirt-sand as I was, I still nearly tripped over my own feet.

  R’Asha slowed next to me, amusement clear in his slitted pupils and the light-gold glow. “Distracted?”

  “What do you wish?” I grumbled. I was fairly certain I knew why he’d come after me, but one didn’t simply ignore the religious leader of the tribe. That he was my friend on top of things merely complicated all of it. R’Asha could have made my life difficult if he went back and told everyone I had shunned him instead of listening to what he had to say.

  “I’ve been sent by the chief to retrieve you from your folly,” R’Asha said easily, although we both were now standing and not moving, simply measuring each other. “There are a few unmated females in the tribe, and as the future chief, you were destined for one to bear your littles and continue the tribe lineage. Why are you risking more for some creature?”