Authors: Lee-Ann Wallace
Tags: #Erotic Romance, #Science Fiction, #Adult
Table of Contents
Kidnapped by the compelling captain of the universe’s most wanted space pirates, Tarnee finds herself at the mercy of a man who can become anything she wants.
Tarnee is determined to finish her studies and restart the search for her missing parents, but her life is thrown into chaos when a silver-eyed stranger kidnaps her. Held captive by the captain of a pirate ship, Tarnee finds herself drawn to him despite her need to get home.
Tor’Arr has been searching the universe for his one and only, the woman who will complete him, and knows when their eyes clash across a busy space station that he has found her. He will allow nothing to stand in the way of claiming her as his, not even his crew.
Thrust into a dangerous world where she must rely on Tor’Arr to keep her safe, Tarnee must decide if she’s prepared to give up her dreams to be with a man who can be anything she desires.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Silver’s Captive
Copyright © 2016 Lee-Ann Wallace
ISBN: 978-1-4874-0562-5
Cover art by Latrisha Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books Inc or
Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc
Look for us online at:
www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com
Silver’s Captive
Fallen Star Book One
By
Lee-Ann Wallace
Dedication
Andrew, this one’s for you.
Chapter One
“Hottie at ten o’clock,” Angela said as I walked up to the waitress station.
The restaurant where I worked was already busy. Residents of the space station were stopping in for a meal on their way home from their shifts or others were looking for a bite to eat before heading to one of the entertainment venues.
I turned to look across the crowded expanse of the restaurant, amused by her description, to see a man sitting in my section looking back at me.
“Oh, space dust,” I hissed, as I whipped around.
The man was the same person I’d seen that afternoon as I’d walked my small cousin home from the education centre. He was a man who had stood apart from all the other people in the crowded promenade of the station. Our gazes had met, a fleeting glance causing my breath to catch in my throat, before his eyes had sought mine—silver eyes, a hot blatant stare that had sent my heart racing and my knees weakening. I’d felt trapped by that stare, held captive by it until my cousin had dragged me away.
“What? He’s gorgeous. You should be happy that he’s in your section. Maybe you’ll get lucky for once, Tarnee.”
“Yeah, right.” I wrapped a clean apron around my waist and tied it off.
“Well, he has a menu, but hasn’t placed his order yet. Table ten’s almost ready to leave and table five seems to be eating their way through the whole menu. I’m off, and tomorrow, I want to hear all about Mr. Hottie.” She handed over the small data pad for our section and untied her apron.
“Nothing’s going to happen, Angela. Nothing ever happens,” I told her as she stared back at me expectantly.
“That’s because you don’t let it. One of these days you’re going to shock me half to death and actually accept one of the invitations you get.”
With that parting comment, she turned and walked away, leaving me with no choice but to head to the table getting ready to take the order from the stranger with the silver eyes.
I wound my way through the tables and diners, the soft lighting of the restaurant reflecting the cherry timber panelling of the walls and floor, giving everything a warm glow. Small glass candleholders with their flickering flames bathed the customer’s faces in wavering golden light. The conversation of the patrons was a steady hum in my ears as I approached the man in my section, the scents of dozens of different meals competing with each other for dominance.
A holo menu sat on the table in front of the stranger, but no drink. I didn’t think Angela would have forgotten to ask if he wanted one, which left me confused.
I looked down at him and said, “Hi, my name is Tarnee, I’m taking over from Angela and I’ll be looking after you tonight. Are you ready to order, or would you like more time? Would you like to order a drink while you look over the menu?”
His silver eyes stared into mine, holding me captive with his penetrating gaze. My uniform suddenly felt too tight, too warm under his gaze. The long sleeve blouse and fitted pants clung to my curvy form.
“I do not require anything at this time,” he replied, his deep voice sending prickles racing across my skin.
He had a strange accent. I’d never heard English spoken quite that way before.
Confused, I stared down at him. I couldn’t look away from his silver eyes. Something about them held me in thrall—a connection that I couldn’t break.
“Then, why are you here?” I clenched the data pad tighter. “There are other people waiting for a table.”
“To see you,” were the only words he said.
My stomach tensed at his words. A few patrons had asked me out in the time I’d worked at the restaurant, and once, a visiting prince had wanted me to go home with him. I’d refused all of their advances.
This man in front of me seemed like he came from a civilised species. We had plenty of the rough types come to the station. Armed to the teeth, they usually only stayed a short while before leaving for more exciting stations. We were predominantly a science station—the home to groups of explorers and people intent on studying the surrounding planets and their ecologies.
“Why did you want to see me?” I expected him to say he wanted to ask me out on a date, or that he’d proposition me in some way.
“I have to leave in a short time, and I wanted to ask you if you would come with me. We have a connection. You can’t deny it.”
No, I couldn’t deny it. I’d felt it the first time our eyes had crossed paths that afternoon, and I felt it now, yet there was more at stake than some kind of connection with a man.
If
he was a man. I needed to do something, and I couldn’t do that if I left with him. There was something I’d been working towards that was important to me, and I was going to see it to the end. I wasn’t going to give up when I was so close to my goal.
“I can’t go with you.”
“That’s a pity,” he replied before he stood up.
He towered over me. I wasn’t particularly tall for a woman, but he made me feel petite and delicate, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. My focus latched onto the broad expanse of a muscular chest before I looked up past a corded throat, over his strong chin and full lips that had a sensual tilt to them to catch his eye.
A commotion at the front of the restaurant drew my attention. Station security were outside, weapons held at the ready, their black uniforms trimmed with bright blue, setting them apart from the brightly coloured clothing of the occupants of the station.
“Time to go,” the silver-eyed stranger beside me said.
He yanked the data pad out of my hand and threw it on the table. Before I could say, “Hey,” he bent over and put his shoulder to my stomach. I was up over his shoulder, my hair hanging down blocking my view before I knew what was happening.
He rushed with long strides through the restaurant towards the entry and the security waiting outside.
“What are you doing?” I demanded over the noise of the restaurant, pushing on his back.
“Leaving,” he shot back, his deep voice resonating through me.
Well, that was obvious, but what did he think he was doing throwing me over his shoulder like some kind of barbarian?
I wiggled on his shoulder trying to get free.
He bumped me up and down, all the air whooshing out of my lungs when I landed back down on him. The hard muscle of his shoulder dug painfully into my stomach.
The restaurant had slowly gone silent around us, people stopping their conversations to stare at us. We reached the front of the shop and station security.
“Put the woman down!” somebody close by had called out.
“I don’t think so,” the silver-eyed stranger replied before he crouched down and launched himself up.
I watched the stunned faces of the security pass by before the landing on the other side of them jarred all the air out of me again. The hard impact pulled a cry from my lips.
“Sorry, Tarnee,” the stranger said.
My name sounded strange with his accent. Then we were moving. He ran so fast the station blurred past me, the security left behind, not being able to keep up.
The further away we ran from the security personnel, the more my alarm grew, until my heart was racing in my chest.
He was kidnapping me! Holy hell, he was really going to take me off the station.
“Stop!” somebody ahead of us yelled out.
The man carrying me said something harsh, a single word that vibrated up from his chest, but he didn’t stop.
The blast of weapon’s fire echoed through the corridor seconds before a deep, masculine voice barked, “Don’t shoot, he still has the woman!”
Pain hit me in the leg, the electrical impulse jerking all my muscles, drawing a sharp shriek from me. I slumped against the stranger, unable to move, my body having shut down.
“
Gratck,
” the man holding me growled, the sound so harsh involuntary shivers raced down my spine.
I’d never been hit by an impulse weapon before and I’d never been on the wrong side of security. The pain was astonishing, spreading out from the impact site in my leg, jolting every muscle in my body. Tears ran freely from my eyes at the pain—tears I couldn’t stop.
The man carrying me unceremoniously dumped me on the floor of the wide hall, my body slumping in a heap. I watched with blurry eyes, unable to wipe the tears from them as he fought the security personnel with swift fluid movements. Their bodies were flung around, slamming up against the sides of the corridor. All too soon, they were lying in unconscious heaps in the corridor and he was back, picking me up and carrying me through an open portal into a shuttle.
He set me down on a seat and started the vessel, talking to the on-board computer in a language I didn’t understand, a language the interpreter chip in my ear didn’t recognise. The jolt of docking clamps releasing sent fear spiralling through me. I was in disbelief that he was taking me away from everything I knew, from the only family I had left.
I watched him when he was in my field of vision, then heard him move about the small shuttle until he appeared right in front of me, causing my heart to thump wildly in my chest.
“This will help with the pain, Tarnee. I’m sorry you were hit.”
He pushed my long hair away from my neck and pressed something cold against my skin. A small bite of pain would have had me wincing, but my muscles still weren’t working.
My vision started to blur, darkness creeping in. I whimpered in fear. I didn’t want to be unconscious and at this man’s mercy.
“Relax, Tarnee, I’ll take good care of you.”
Chapter Two
I awoke feeling out of sorts and disorientated. My body ached, and the back of my leg throbbed dully. I sat up and looked around.
The room I was in was someone’s private quarters. The bed I was on was large and soft. The covers under my hands felt opulent and expensive with a beautiful pattern that swirled with blues and purples. I had a matching soft purple throw bunched at my hips.