Viper's Defiant Mate (6 page)

“I half expected you to try to kill me again,” Bahadur muttered as he carefully lowered Tina St. Claire’s body to the floor.

“My cat is still passed out, otherwise I might have,” Viper admitted.

He pulled his legs back and rested them against the door of the cage. In seconds, the lock bent and gave to the pressure on it. He emitted a low curse as he slid out of the cramped confines.

Rising to his feet, he stretched before bending to gently touch the vein at Tina’s neck. The moment his fingers touched her warm skin, he could feel not only his reaction, but that of his cat. His hand rose to splay across her pale cheek. She really was beautiful.

Mine,
his cat hissed.
Take mate.

We have to get the documents to the male Riley told us about. She said that Tina would know how to contact him. Patience. Soon, we will take her with us and she will not be able to resist,
Viper promised.

Viper carefully lifted Tina in his arms and straightened. His eyes raked over Bahadur, who had moved to stand near the door. Pulling Tina close to his body, he looked at the Curizan with an assessing look.

“You harness the energy around you,” Viper commented. “That is why the hair on my cat stands up when we were fighting. It can sense it.”

Bahadur turned and grinned at Viper. “Did you think the Sarafin and Valdier were the only species the Goddesses favored?” He asked in a low, sarcastic tone. “How did you know what I was planning?”

Viper adjusted Tina, enjoying the feel of her soft curves in his arms. He had known that the Curizan was planning something. Their battles during the Great War, if nothing else, would have been enough of a clue. It had been the intense look on Bahadur’s face and the swirling bands of energy that had been his biggest clue that he needed to distract Tina and hide what Bahadur was doing with his body.

“You glow when you are mad,” Viper said.

Bahadur snorted and touched his chest. “You get one of those things pressed against your chest and you would glow, too,” he bit out. “What do we do now? There are a lot more humans out there from the sound of it.”

“We show that we mean them no harm and explain what we are here to do,” Viper said. “The male was not part of the mission.”

“Do you want me to kill him?” Bahadur asked with a raised eyebrow.

Viper cast an annoyed look at Bahadur. “What part of ‘we mean them no harm’ did you not understand?” He asked. “I do not know what we will do with him, but we kill him only if we cannot prevent it.”

“
Guall’s balls
,” Viper suddenly hissed when he felt a sharp pain. “What in the cat’s balls are you doing?”

Two slender fingers were embedded in his nostrils. He would have jerked his head back away from them, but Tina St. Claire was pinching the tip between two of her fingers and twisting it just enough to cause him to think twice about what else she might do.

“Boogers or brains,” she muttered in a cold, hard voice. “Your choice.”

“I don’t think I like this species after all,” Bahadur commented as he watched Viper’s face twist in pain. “They do not fight fair.”

“How did he do that?” Tina demanded, not taking her eyes off of Viper’s chin to look at Bahadur.

Viper’s nose twitched when he felt Tina pinch a little harder. He had never had anything up his nose, well, except when he was a youngling and that didn’t count. All younglings put things up their noses, especially when they are dared. He had to admit he had forgotten how very, very uncomfortable a feeling it was.

“He is a Curizan,” Viper replied. “They are a pain in the ass and sneaky. Can you please remove your fingers from my nose? I have to admit, it is a very uncomfortable feeling.”

“Good,” Tina retorted, uncaring. “What…”

Her words died as the door to the office started to open. Viper knew that he wasn’t the only one that heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. Bahadur grabbed the slender wrist and pulled Pearl into the room. His other hand moved to cover her mouth as he twisted her around.

Viper watched in resignation as Bahadur’s eyes widened a brief second before his teeth clenched and he bent forward as Pearl, in reaction to being grabbed, sank her teeth into Bahadur's hand and her knee in his groin. The loud, shuddering hiss of the Curizan’s breath drowned out the faint sound of music and voices from the other room.

“Goddess, I hate this species,” Bahadur choked out, grabbing his groin and shooting Pearl a heated look as he fell back against the wall. “You, female, are getting on my last nerve.”

“I’m surprised it’s taken this long, asswipe,” Pearl comment with a shrug before she turned to look at where Viper was holding Tina. “Put my granddaughter down.”

“I would be happy to if she would kindly remove her fingers from my nose,” Viper retorted.

“They can do strange shit, Pearl,” Tina warned.

“Honey, I kind-of figured that out when your man there turned into a big house cat,” Pearl commented dryly before she glanced down at Bahadur, who had slid down the wall and was sitting with his knees bent and his head resting on his forearms. “Something told me I needed to check on you.”

“Please,” Viper gritted out in exasperation. “Can I explain why we are here? We mean you no harm.”

“That’s not true,” Tina snapped. “I heard that guy ask if he should kill Tiny! That doesn’t sound like ‘no harm’ to me.”

Viper tried to look down, but stopped when he felt the sting in his nose. Frustration poured through him. He really was going to kill his brother when he got back. Not only for sending him on this damn mission, but for the embarrassment of having his ass kicked by not one, but two females, and for being the cause of him finding his damn mate.

Will you go lie down!
He ordered his cat.

My mate,
his cat purred.

The damn thing had decided to wake up and was pushing at him to get closer to Tina. He could feel the purr rumbling in his chest. He was surprised that Tina St. Claire hadn’t yet.

“Are you purring?” Tina’s sharp voice suddenly asked, breaking into the argument he was having with his cat.

“Yes,” he growled, looking down when she jerked her fingers from his nose in surprise. “My cat wants to rub on you.” Viper set Tina on her feet and moved a safe distance away so he could glare at her and her grandmother. “Riley did not tell me that you were as vicious as your grandmother! I should have known better than to believe her when she said I needed to be careful with you. She should have said I needed to be careful 'around' you.”

*.*.*

Tina scooted closer to her grandmother, never taking her eyes off of Viper d'Rojah. She absently wiped her fingers on her jeans, hoping she didn't really have any alien boogers under her nails. She would need to make sure she washed her hands the first chance she got. Who knew what kind of bacteria could be in it? Her gaze flickered to where the other 'alien' was still sitting on the floor of her office, his head bent.

"What is his name?" She asked, turning her gaze back to Viper. "He looks different than you."

"Bahadur. He is a Curizan," Viper replied calmly.

Tina glanced at the male still sitting with his head bowed. "Can he change into... a cat, too?" She hesitantly asked with a frown.

"No," Viper responded with a slight smile. "They control the energy around them. The Sarafin are cat-shifters and the Valdier are dragon-shifters. There are other species, but it would take a long time to explain the difference between each one."

Bahadur's head jerked up and he scowled at Viper. "You know, we don't go around boasting of our skills the way the Sarafin and Valdier do."

Tina watched as Viper grinned. "I know," he said. "It isn't as impressive."

"Yes, it is," Bahadur replied. "Who saved your ass from the cat cage a few minutes ago?"

The sound of an amused chuckle surprised Tina. Pearl was obviously enjoying the bickering between the two men. Tina rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest in annoyance just as the door started to open. Turning, she caught a glimpse of Tiny's head as he peeked in.

"Did you let them go or did they get loose?" Tiny asked, glancing back and forth between the two men and Pearl's amused face. "I don't have no more darts, Pearl. You'll have to shoot them this time for real."

Tina's mouth dropped open when Bahadur raised his hand and flicked it toward the door. Tiny had to move quickly to prevent his head from getting squashed between it and the door frame as it snapped shut. A second later, the sound of the lock clicked.

"Okay, well, if you need me, scream," Tiny's muffled voice said from the other side of the door. "Otherwise, I'm going to go back in the other room."

A moment later, the sound of Tiny's heavy footsteps signaled that he was walking away. Tina glared at Bahadur. He glared back at her.

"There will be no more shooting or using that damn electrical device on me. My ass and chest have enough damn bruises on them," he muttered, turning his heated glare on Pearl. "You and I are not finished."

Tina dropped her hands to her side, her fists clenched, as she stepped in front of her grandmother. "Don't you dare threaten my grandmother... you... you... alien ass!" She snarled in a low voice.

Bahadur rose up from the floor. "I could snap both of your necks before you knew what happened," he goaded as he towered over her.

"Bahadur," Viper said sharply. "Stand down."

"Like hell you could," Tina growled, curling her fingers into a fist, taking a step closer to where Bahadur was standing.

Tina's blood boiled when the alien glanced at her grandmother with an assessing look. "Oh, I definitely could," he said, turning back to look down at her. "How do you propose to stop me this time? You are out of your 'darts," he asked, giving her a condescending smile.

Fury poured through Tina as she stepped forward until she was just a few feet from Bahadur. She was tired, overwhelmed, and frustrated with everything that had happened and her constant fear for her sister. She didn't even stop to think about the fact that she was the least violent of the three of the St. Claire women. She didn't stop to think that this was an alien with magic-like powers. She just didn't think, she reacted to all the pent-up emotions that had been slowly simmering until the right moment.

"You really, really don't want to know," she said with a deceptively sweet smile.

"Oh, yes I do," Bahadur challenged, taking the last step toward Tina.

"Oh, shit," Pearl said, watching as Tina's right hand flew out. "Just like I taught her, too."

Pain exploded through Tina's hand and arm as her fist, complete with a set of brass knuckles, connected with Bahadur's jaw. The huge Curizan's head popped backwards at the same time as the door to the office exploded inward. The combination of the blow to his jaw and the edge of the door hitting him just right was too much, even for him. Tina watched as the huge alien's eyes crossed for a moment before he crumbled to the ground unconscious.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" A familiar voice asked. "Tiny said you had been taken hostage by some aliens and might need help.”

*.*.*

"Hold still," Viper ordered in a gruff voice, holding Tina's hand gently in his. "I want to make sure you did not break anything."

He ran the scanner over Tina's swollen hand. Three of her fingers and a good section of her right hand had deep discoloration on it. He was more than familiar with how hardness Bahadur's jaw. He had hit the Curizan more than a few times during their rounds in the training room. The scanner readings showed she had three hairline fractures to the bones. Picking up the portable regen device Bahadur had brought with him, Viper placed Tina's hand inside and pressed the activation controls.

"I need it more than she does," Bahadur complained. He winced as cold water from the melting ice slid down the back of his shirt. "That hurts!" He growled when the hand holding the ice-filled plastic bag pressed down on the lump on the back of his head.

"So, whose the big baby?" Toni Di Stefano asked as she adjusted the bag against the large knot under the short, cropped black hair.

Bahadur pulled away and stood up. He turned and glared down at the new female that had added to his humiliation. He didn't care if he could see her aura. He didn't care if his own aura mixed with hers. He was in charge of his life and his fascination with human females was finished, over. He refused to find any of them attractive or desirable or....

"I am returning to the Warship to seek medical assistance," Bahadur snapped. “I will return later.”

“Bring the documents with you,” Viper instructed. “I wanted to make sure we found Riley’s sister and grandmother first. There is a folder on the table in my cabin.”

Bahadur nodded before he winced. “Do you require anything else? Cages, stunners, Antrox neck collars?” He asked sarcastically.

Viper shot the Curizan a nasty look before he turned back to Tina. “
Jabul ta te ma
,”
Some restraints
, he muttered in the Curizan language.

A low chuckle escaped Bahadur. “
Keba mota
,”
Good choice,
Bahadur replied, touching his bruised chin. “I will return shortly.”