Adrik (Titans #1)

Chapter 7

Ember held her breath as the giant figure stepped out from the shadows. It was the big captor, the one who appeared to be in charge. Even that knowledge couldn’t stop Ember from openly glaring at him while her heart hammered in her chest.

Holy hell!

The… guy was huge and scary as all hell. If she’d thought their faces being covered was intimidating, she was certain the real them was scarier. The male was as tall as a building and bulging with muscle. His skin was black as pitch, and white points of sharp fangs hung down on either side of his mouth. Sharp cheekbones gave him a severe look, and his reptilian-like eyes rarely blinked, but when they did, it was vertically causing the temporary disappearance of neon-green sclera. Still, even with all that, the two muscular tree-trunk-like legs he walked on and the thick arms hanging by his sides gave him more of a human appearance. He even had five fingers, and while they were tipped with sharp black claws, they were eerily similar to a human. He also had what looked like long black hair braided tightly and hung casually over one shoulder in a thick twist. The male was bare-chested, so Ember couldn’t help but notice the crisscrossing of scars marring his torso. Some scars dipped low and disappeared beneath the waistline of the black pants he wore, which were made of some material she’d never seen before. His demeanor commanded respect while his furrowed brows warned of danger, but Ember didn’t care. He’d taken something from her. Something she wanted back.

“Bring me my sisters,” she demanded but was shocked at how weak it had come out. Hell, it had sounded almost tremulous, which had her taking a moment to take stock of herself. Her hands were shaking, and sweat was dotting her forehead and nose. She felt nauseated.

Am I sick?

Concentrating so deeply on herself, she instinctively took a step back when the male advanced. When his mouth quirked at one corner in response to her reaction, it pissed her off. Instantly, Ember reclaimed the step she’d given up and then took another until her hands curled around the cell bars. She gripped them hard to keep the male from seeing the shaking in her hands.

Lowering her chin to deepen her own scowl, she snarled, “I said I want my girls back.” She knew he’d heard her but didn’t know if he understood. He appeared unfazed by her show of bravado. Hell, it was almost the opposite. He seemed intrigued rather than offended, and intrigue was a mile from intimidated.

After long tense minutes of simply glaring at one another, the male finally spoke, and when he did, chills blasted up Ember’s arms. His voice was deeper than any she’d ever heard. So much so that she swore she could feel the vibration of it rattling in her chest. Aborting her feigned fearlessness, Ember released the bars and took a step back far enough to keep her from his reach if he lunged and tried to grab her through the bars. Shaking her head, she stammered, “I-I don’t know what you’re saying.”

***

Adrik was in shock. The little human female not only failed to cower in his presence, but she appeared to be challenging him. It had his mouth going dry and his hearts racing as something molten pooled low in his belly. No one had ever stood their ground upon first seeing his true appearance. No one! Her reaction to him was surprising. He also noted how her slight stature had his protective instincts kicking in. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder height and lent to a primal need to protect the delicate female surged to the fore.

Eyes narrowing on the female he noted how she tried to hide the trembling of her hands. She was scowling at him, but the way she’d backed up told him she wasn’t as confident as she was presenting. Swallowing hard, Adrik realized how desperately he wanted to understand the delicate words that slipped from her lips. It had him growing impatient.

Glancing over his shoulder, he was disappointed to find the corridor empty. He wanted to order one of his men to take the female to med bay to have a translator implanted. Apparently, his men were still too preoccupied with the other females who’d already been implanted with the devices that would change the Titan language to one the humans would understand. It’d also send instantaneous translations of words the human females spoke to the Titans. No doubt that at this very minute, Obaida would be questioning the females on their health while Kaze would be questioning their intentions, trying to decipher if they were planted on the ship. Kaze would be determined to discover if the females posed any sort of threat. Like Kaze, Adrik, too, had a distrustful nature.

That thought had Adrik’s attention zeroing in on Ember. Against his better judgment, he closed the distance between himself and the cell. Curling a giant hand around the bars, he angled his head to study Ember. She backed as far away from him as she could, but she couldn’t go far. Lifting his head, Adrik inhaled deeply. The scent of her roiling emotions was swallowed up by a femininely sweet fragrance. By the Gods, how long had it been since he’d even smelled a female, let alone touched one?

Slowly closing his eyes, he inhaled again, drawing her scent deeper. Even her filthy state couldn’t disguise the undeniable perfume of her gender. The resulting growl that rattled its way up the back of his throat had his eyes snapping open. The type of noise he’d just made was like a cat’s purr, a sound of contentment. It was a sound Adrik had only heard other Titans make. It was a sound that had never emitted from him…until now.

Ember said something. Shaking her head and deepening her scowl, she backed more firmly into the bars behind her.

Her retreat triggered every single one of Adrik’s predatory instincts and had him barking, “Tyrate!”

The ship’s AI responded immediately. “Chief Commander?”

“Contact Obaida. Tell him the final prisoner is ready for her implant.” Tearing his gaze away from Ember, Adrik turned and stalked from the room, forcing himself not to look back as he demanded, “And have Kaze report to the bridge.”

“Yes, Chief Commander.”

The scent of Ember trailed after Adrik. It still filled his nose, and he swore he could taste her on his tongue. What a perfect diversion the human females were proving to be. It had Adrik shoving his emotions down as he shook his head hard to clear Ember’s scent. It didn’t work. It didn’t even help, but it did remind him that his crew counted on him to stay focused. And until they discovered how and why the human females were on the Zeifer ship, Adrik had no choice but to assume it was some form of trap, which either made Ember and her friends pawns or accomplices. The latter had Adrik loosing a feral growl when he realized how distracted she’d already made him. It was all too convenient. Four human females abandoned this far from Earth in a sector where Adrik and his team were known to patrol. Even more obvious was Ember’s presence. A dark female among a myriad of pale beauties. It was almost as if she’d been planted among them specifically for him. And that pissed him off. If someone thought they were going to distract him or slip one by him and his team, they were gravely mistaken. He refused to be distracted by Ember’s presence or her beauty.