Adrik (Titans #1)

Chapter 14

Unease slowly filled Ember, forcing her to place a hand over her abdomen to stifle the sick feeling that suddenly twisted her insides. Asking again, she demanded, “Whose room is this?”

Tearing his attention from the boots Ember had been pointing at that were nestled under an empty desk, Adrik straightened to his full height and crossed thick arms over his broad chest. “Mine,” he answered simply, then turned to leave.

“Wait!” Ember’s first instinct was to shoot up off the bed, but she had learned her lesson earlier. So, remaining where she was on the ultra-soft fur that covered the largest bed she’d ever seen, she asked, “My sisters, when can I see them?”

Adrik didn’t turn to face her, he just angled his head to the side and huffed, “When I say you can.”

His words pissed her off almost as much as his just walking out and leaving her in an unknown place with no direction as to what he expected of her. Cheeks stinging with anger, Ember glared at the closed door after Adrik exited the room. She glared for long moments and tried to process everything before finally tearing her eyes away to scan the room again. It was huge and plain. There were no pictures, no personal effects of Adrik’s, just a series of stainless-steel doors that she had no clue how to open. She knew they were doors because they looked exactly like the ones Adrik had just exited. She assumed they would be motion-activated too, but she was too exhausted to snoop. She was too tired to do anything, and that included dragging her carcass off the bed and trying to escape or attempt to rescue her sisters. Right now, the only thing she could concentrate on was the dull thudding in the front of her skull, which grew more intense with each passing moment. Reclining back on the bed, Ember couldn’t help but snuggle deep into the thick fur blanket. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d rested on something so soft and inviting. She intended to just rest her eyes for a minute while collecting her thoughts and working on a plan of action. That didn’t happen. The moment she relaxed into the fur-covered bed, a warm, masculine scent enveloped her and had her feeling comfortable enough to fully relax until exhaustion claimed her.

***

Adrik rolled his head on his shoulders, attempting to alleviate some of the tension that kept him rigid throughout his shift. Regardless of how hard he’d tried, he’d spent the last few hours thinking of Ember and the other three women. Mostly Ember though. The only thing that had brought him any relief from the memory of her touch on his chest and the sweet scent of her delicate perfume was when Kaze had come to relieve him and had regaled Adrik with tales of Vashti, or the Dragoness, as Kaze called her, attacking him in his quarters. It was laughable because Adrik knew that no Titan would ever strike a female, which meant that Kaze’s little Dragoness had free reign to pummel Adrik’s second-in-command as she saw fit, and apparently, she had seen fit, judging by the neon-green blood leaking from Kaze’s lip.

“She hit me. Hard !”

Adrik barked a laugh that had Kaze’s frown slipping as he began laughing too.

Lifting a massive hand, Kaze rubbed his jaw, “I’m certain she hits harder than Obaida.”

Adrik was still smiling. “Obaida pulls his punches because, as the Medicus, he doesn’t like having to repair that which he damages.”

Kaze snorted. “Well, that Dragoness doesn’t pull her punches, and honestly, having her climbing all over me with her tiny little body was…”

Without blinking, Adrik answered for him. “Arousing?” Adrik knew he’d hit the mark when Kaze shot him a dark look and swallowed hard. Yeah, he wasn’t the only one being affected by the females. And while the delicate diversion would normally be welcomed, Adrik had his team to worry about.

“Don’t get distracted. Don’t be lured in. We still don’t know their intentions. Yes, they are female, but they are human females. We know that they are created deceptively weak-looking, but their history has shown that they hold the true power of their species. Not only do they create life, just as our females do, they also have the wiles and beauty to convince males to do anything they ask. Human men have gone to war over their females. Their men have done great and terrible things in their name as well. Women of Earth are like the Sirens of Srakia. They’ll call you to your end if you permit it.”

“They can’t be that bad,” Kaze countered. “Many Titans have paired with human females.”

“You’re right. They aren’t all bad. We just have to determine which category Ember and her sisters fall into. Until we know, I want you on your toes. Assume the worst, brother, it’ll prepare us best.”

With that warning, Adrik left Kaze at the helm of the ship and made his way down the corridor, the sound of his booted feet a steady cadence that matched the beating of his hearts as he closed the distance between himself and his quarters. Trying hard to remember the directive he’d just given Kaze, Adrik stopped short of the doors to his rooms to steel himself against the delicate female that waited inside his chamber.

“Don’t get distracted,” he self-admonished. “Don’t lose your head. Be the fucking leader your men deserve”

Instead of striding into his quarters like he owned the place, Adrik stalled. Lips thinning into a grim line, he glared at the doors and cursed himself for bringing Ember here to begin with. Now that his shift was over, he was exhausted, and thanks to him settling Ember in his bed, he had no place to sleep.

What was I thinking?

Glancing over his shoulder, he considered returning to the bridge but knew Kaze would know why he was avoiding his own quarters. He also wasn’t ready to tell his crew about their new orders. During his time alone on the bridge, Adrik had contacted Cesca Sol and had spoken with their Premier. He’d been instructed to return to Cesca Sol with the human females, and Adrik knew why. The females would be interrogated, and if they proved to be spies or decoys or any other type of nefarious distraction, they’d all be put to death. That thought didn’t sit well with Adrik, and the alternative was less appealing. If the Premier’s agents found the females to be no threat, they would be auctioned off to the highest bidders seeking human mates. Human females had become fetishized on Cesa Sol, and while the practice of auctioning off females wasn’t new, the inclusion of human females was. It was a hard thing to watch, too, because human females didn’t understand the process and raged against it, often carried away by their new mates kicking and screaming. The entire thing repulsed Adrik, but he was powerless to halt the process. Still, the thought of Ember being hauled off by a Titan she didn’t know raised inexplicably murderous feelings.

Sucking in a deep breath, Adrik huffed it out and then approached the doors. They whooshed open, and then he stepped into his quarters, fully prepared to be unmoved by Ember’s presence.