Creature Worlds: Solar Slick (12 page)

Clay gestured to a man at the door I hadn’t noticed was standing there. “Bring it in,” he said. He drilled me with a glare. “Don’t get any ideas about shrinking down with it and sneaking away. I have no qualms about stomping on you both.”

The man appeared a moment later holding a bundle in a blanket. I put out my arms and he came over and passed it to me. Ignoring Clay, I peeled back the blanket and peered at the egg intently. It was still green. When I lay my hand upon the shell I could feel the beating of its heart. I replaced the blanket and held the egg tight against my chest.

“See, the little guy’s fine,” Clay said. “Now, here’s what we’re gonna do…” He regaled me with his grand scheme, but I wasn’t listening. Instead, another voice was sounding in my head. Tigg’s. Strong and determined, telling me we would get through this. I vowed he would be right. No matter what foul deeds I had to commit in order to secure my child’s safety, they would be carried out. It was all that mattered to me. However, I wouldn’t agree to any of Clay’s plans unless my child was delivered to his father. I’d be his slave, his thief, his whore, I promised, as long as the baby was returned. But Clay didn’t want to give up the egg.

“Without it, you have nothing to lose,” he argued.

“Taking away Tigg’s child is bad enough,” I said. “Take away his child and his mate, and
he’s
got nothing to lose.” I’d let that thought sink in a while. Clay had heard Tigg’s promise in Malenea. There would be no peace. Not for Clay. “He will hunt you down forever,” I warned, and then added, “Unless I tell him to leave you alone.”

“And you think you could convince him?” He sounded doubtful.

“I dunno. I can be very convincing for the sake of my child. I do know if I don’t try he will not stop coming for you.”

Clay looked unsure. I swooped in while he was vulnerable.

“Come on, what do you need a kid for? Soon it’ll hatch and since it can only survive on jineg bugs, found deep in Treox’s jungles, you’ll spend all your time on that hot, bug-infested planet with Lizords hunting you down.”

“I know about the jineg bugs,” he assured me.

Another thought came to mind. “Aren’t you afraid to be on Earth? Now that the king has the cure, I’d have thought you would have high-tailed it out of here.” Despite waking up in an enclosed room, I instinctively knew I was on Earth. I guess I owed that to my spidery-senses.

“He’s not gonna get far with only one vial.”

“Ventillian scientists could be replicating batches of it as we speak,” I warned.

“You and I both know he’s missing the main ingredient,” Clay said.

I gasped. “You knew?”

“You don’t think I’d reveal all my secrets to him do you?”

I smiled ruefully. “I was wondering why you were so quick to sell out your own planet.”

“So, if I agree to give the egg to Tigg, you can deliver a message along with it to back off,” Clay said, returning to the immediate problem.

“It won’t work unless I talk to Tigg face to face. He’ll never believe a note.” It was true.

Clay shook his head. “If he sees you, he won’t let you go.”

“He will,” I insisted. “We’ll meet on Treox, out in the open. Just send a message telling him to come alone.”

“And I’m to just trust that he will?”

“Yes.” Although he’d probably have a camouflaged army of Lizords waiting in the brush to take Clay down.

Clay looked at the egg in my arms. “I really would like to unload that thing.”

I wrapped my arms tighter around my child. I wasn’t about to delude myself with ideas that Clay harbored any sentimentality. He was a dangerous man. If my egg got in the way of his plans, he’d do away with it—one way or another. The only reason he even entertained my plan was to keep me compliant.

“But we won’t meet on Treox,” Clay informed me. He must have read my mind about the Lizords.

“Whatever, then Tigg can come here, he has a ship.” I just wanted my baby safe.

Clay stood up. “I’m gonna work out the details of the switch with my guys,” he said nodding in the direction of the other room. “Benny will deliver the message to Tigg. He’ll be at your place?”

I guessed Benny was the dolt who’d brought me here. After I got through with Clay, he was next in line for getting his ass kicked. “Yeah, he’ll be there. If not, leave him a note. That is, if Benny can write.”

Clay didn’t find me amusing. He left the room and shut the door. Not wasting a moment, I put the egg on the bed and pushed the blanket up around it, making a little nest. I tiptoed over to the door and transformed into a spider. It was easy to slip under the door and stalk across the floor undetected. I wouldn’t, however, take the chance with my egg. Even if we did manage to escape I didn’t know how I’d get back to Treox in time to warn Tigg. Clay’s goons would get there before me and no doubt kill him. No. I had to stay where I was and see this thing through. There were only two other men in the apartment besides Clay. In this form I was all eyes and ears. It wasn’t hard to listen to their plan and then sneak back into the bedroom. When Clay cracked the door open and peeped his head in, I was holding the egg on the bed as though I’d been there all along. When I saw him I couldn’t help but warn him. “If Benny kills Tigg, Tigg’s brothers will be your new worst enemies.”

He nodded in understanding, but refrained from commenting.

Clay was crafty. Despite wanting to double cross us, he didn’t have much choice. I knew that grated on him. If given the chance, he’d no doubt kill Tigg and our child at the first opportunity. But right now he needed them safe in order to have my obedience. But I had a plan as well. Once Tigg and the egg were safely away, all hell was gonna break lose.

Chapter 20

We decided to meet at my parents’ house. It was out in the middle of nowhere and would be the perfect place to hand over the egg. Plus, Tigg knew where it was. Benny had delivered Clay’s message—leaving a note in my apartment since Tigg wasn’t there. We arrived before the meeting was scheduled to take place. It was late afternoon. I’d spent a sleepless night at Clay’s apartment, all the while tossing and turning, worried about the next day. Now, I sat inside my old house on the lumpy couch facing the window and couldn’t help but smile as I remembered the last time I’d been on it. Clay and his two goons paced around inside, distracting my pleasant musings, waiting for Tigg’s craft to arrive.

Right on schedule, we heard the unmistakable sound of the little ship. From my vantage point I could see Tigg park practically on the front lawn in a haphazard landing and soon he dashed out the exit. In the yard he stood staring at the house.

“Minka?” he yelled.

Clay and the other two pulled out their weapons and pointed them at me. “Don’t try anything stupid,” Clay warned as he gestured for me to go to the door.

I rose, holding my egg in my arms, and started to walk. Benny opened the door, and when I got to it I answered, “Tigg. I’m here.” He was a sight for sore eyes. I could tell by the way he stood clenching his fists and by the grim line of his lips that he was furious.

“Outside,” Clay hissed at me.

We left the house and soon came up to stand in a row before Tigg. He faced Clay armed with only his anger.

“It’s not enough that you steal my child, now you dare to steal my mate?”

“Shut up,” Clay sneered at him. “If you can’t keep them safe you have no right to them.”

“Don’t be such a dick,” I said to Clay.

“Are you all right, Minka?” Tigg asked. “The baby?”

“I’m fine, we’re fine,” I assured him.

Clay grew agitated. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. I’ll give you the egg, and Minka stays with me.”

“What? The note didn’t sssay anything about Minka ssstaying,” Tigg hissed.

Before Clay could spout off, I attempted to sooth Tigg. “Please, take the baby. Clay agreed to give it up in exchange for me.”

“No!”

“Tigg, please. You have to take the baby, it’s all that matters,” I pleaded.

“Leave you…here…with him?”

I passed the egg into his arms and backed up before he could make a grab for me. “Please, go. Don’t look for me. I’m staying with Clay.” I knew I was hurting him—and it broke my heart—but I had no choice.

He looked hard at me and then nodded his head. “Very well.” In a few quick strides he was back to the entrance of the craft. “Farewell,” he said, and then he was gone. He disappeared up into the ship and the door slipped shut behind him. A couple minutes later it lifted off and zoomed away. Just like that.

I knew my mouth was hanging open. Clay saw the dazed look on my face and began to laugh. “Holy shit! That was easier than I thought. He didn’t take too much persuasion at all, did he?”

“No. He didn’t,” I agreed. Things had gone brilliantly, just the way I’d hoped. So why then was I so annoyed? Really though, what had I expected? The baby was safe, Tigg was safe—I, however, was screwed—but that was okay.

Clay reached out and patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Have I got plans for you.”

Benny and the other goon began to walk toward the house. I could see they were disappointed there hadn’t been more action. Clay offered me his arm and I turned away. He shrugged and began to walk, catching up to his cohorts.

In the next instant, a laser beam shot swirled out. Benny dropped dead, a big hole in the middle of his skull. All eyes turned to the side of the house where, to our disbelief, Tigg stood. His feet were braced far apart, his arms held out in front of him, gripping a weapon.

“Minka, down!” he shouted.

I immediately turned into a spider and scampered away.

Another shot swirled out, this one hitting the other goon square in the chest. Now only Clay was left. He recovered quickly from his shock and immediately began to fire swirl after swirl from his own weapon in Tigg’s direction.

I scurried up the trunk of a tree so I could get a better view. Tigg had ducked behind the house taking cover.

“Where the fuck did you come from?” Clay screamed, looking at his two dead cronies.

Tigg swung around the side of the house and began to fire at Clay. Clay rushed to take cover behind the tree I was hiding in. I scaled up into the higher branches keeping a safe distance from the blasts. I knew each weapon had only twenty beams of laser shots in it. It didn’t take long for both men to run out of ammo. Tigg must have been counting Clay’s shots because as soon as I heard Clay swear and throw his gun down, Tigg was stalking across the yard with his huge knife clasped in his grip.

Clay had a knife of his own strapped to his hip, which he removed as he stepped from the cover of the tree.

Things were about to get messy.

The two men met and engaged in battle. Clay was good, but he was no match for Tigg. As they fought, I wondered what had happened. I’d seen Tigg take the baby and leave. The ship was nowhere in sight. So, how the hell did he get around the back of the house so fast?

“I warned you I would hunt you down,” Tigg said.

“I just saw you leave. How the hell are you here?” Clay demanded.

Tigg grinned. His cobra teeth were large and terrifying. “That was not me. It was my brother Teneg you gave the baby to.”

Teneg? Tigg’s brother? His twin brother? Holy crap. So that’s why he’d left me so easily. My tiny spider heart soared with relief.

I shut all my eyes when Tigg ended Clay’s life. Tigg held him in his arms for a moment as Clay’s life slipped away. Tigg lowered him slowly to the ground. I hurried out of the tree and switched back into a woman. Tigg looked at me and stepped over Clay’s body to take me into his arms.

“Minka, my love,” he whispered.

I held him tight and was glad his giant form hid Clay’s body from my sight. Despite all my bravado and declaration of wanting Clay dead, in the end, I was glad it hadn’t been me to do it.

“It’s over?” I asked, afraid it had all been a dream and I’d wake up back in Clay’s apartment.

“He will never harm you or our child again,” Tigg assured me.

“I thought…” my voice cracked when I remembered how just a few minutes ago, I thought Tigg and my child were gone from my life forever.

“Teneg will return very soon. Then we will all go home.”

“I thought he was you. I thought I’d never see either of you again.” Damn my cracking voice and despicable tears.

“I will never leave you, my love. We will be a family.”

And standing there, with three dead men at my feet, I believed him.

Chapter 21

“I’m worried about Teneg. That last bit of excitement seems to have stirred up a restlessness in him.”

I didn’t want to discuss Teneg at this moment. Perhaps in an hour or two, after I’d become reacquainted with Tigg’s huge cocks. It’d been months since I’d enjoyed them both at the same time, and I wanted him inside me—now. Tigg was poised between my open legs, lifting his head every few moments to talk about this brother. “Can’t you worry about him later? It’s been so long.”

Tigg smiled indulgently and lowered his head. His tongue resumed its whip-like assault on my pussy making me sigh in contentment. A strong webbed finger slipped inside me causing my head to writhe from side to side. Another soon joined it and I couldn’t help but beg, “Please!”

Tigg lifted his head again while his fingers continued to stroke with abandon. “He said he’s setting off to Vergent soon. I wonder what matters concern him there?”

“I…can’t…imagine.”

“There’s a woman on that planet he’s set to meet, he’s told me little about her.” A third finger joined the pair inside me now.

“Tigg! You’re teasing me.”

“Ha! This from the woman who just minutes ago was sucking both my cocks deep into her throat.” He was being ridiculous of course; I hadn’t sucked
both
—only one at a time.

“Don’t you want to fuck me?” I demanded.

“Of course I do, my love,” he assured me.

It’d been two weeks since the fiasco with Clay and now we were situated deep in Treox’s jungles awaiting my little egg to hatch. Tigg had built a comfortable shelter nestled among large, protective, ancient trees close to his brothers’ homes, but not too close. Finally, I’d felt secure my body had healed enough to handle Tigg’s vigorous love making, and I fully intended to take advantage of our precious privacy.