“If this is Dodge, I agree.”
Chapter Five
Dana
Our luck runs out as we head to the bay where the escape pods are kept. The one that’s been left behind has a dozen flashing error lights on its panel, and I make a noise of distress at the sight. “Well, now we know why one was left behind.”
“So we’re stranded here?” Vlad growls, his voice rumbling with displeasure. “We’re stuck waiting for them to come back? If they come back?”
“Oh, they’ll come back,” I point out as I step forward to the diagnostic panel. Error after error rolls down the horizontal screen, making me wince. “There’s too much expensive equipment here to abandon this place for long. They’ll just wait until it’s safe.”
“You mean until I starve to death?”
“Or until they find some mercenaries to come with them to act as the muscle.” I shrug, flicking through the menus on the computer screen. Now that I can get into the system, I’m able to do something about all of this. I accept all the error messages and only one remains. The sight of it cheers me up. “Actually, this one isn’t as bad as it seems. The power core—which is like a battery—is drained. I bet if we recharge it, we can use the shuttle.”
“Good. You know how?”
I nod, starting the sequence. Something deep in the station clanks and then the lights on the pod flicker. Transferring Power . . .
“It’s going right now,” I tell Vlad.
A new status appears on the screen, and I have to bite back a groan of dismay.
“What? What is it?” Vlad asks. His big hand curls around my upper arm, his touch surprisingly comforting.
I guess I didn’t hide my displeasure so well. “It’s going to take a while to charge.” I do a little math in my head and wince. “About a week, actually. That must be why no one tried to take this one.”
He blows out a breath and his hand drops from my arm. “We wait it out, then.”
“I’ll clear my busy schedule,” I tease. He doesn’t laugh along with me, just gives me a puzzled glance. “It’s a joke. Well, since we’re stuck here for a while . . . want to go snoop through everyone’s rooms? We can see who’s got the best clothes and the most comfortable bed and make ourselves at home there for the next week.”
A slow, feral grin curves his mouth, and I find myself smiling back.
Chapter Six
Vlad
Ido not understand why we would jump on their beds,” I point out as we enter another person’s quarters and Dana immediately races to climb atop the bed and starts jumping on it.
“Because we’re being naughty,” she tells me, and all the while, her short tunic flares as her bare legs go up and down, providing glimpses of curving pale thigh. “And because when they return, they’re going to hate that we did this.” She turns her back and kicks one foot in the air, showing me a very dirty sole. “I’m leaving footprints on everything. All the mesakkah are germophobes, so they’re going to piss themselves, trust me.”
“It seems childish,” I point out.
“It absolutely is,” she says, even as she jumps again. “Did I mention that my master makes me sleep in a cage at his feet? And puts bows on my head like I’m a toddler instead of a thirty-year-old woman? And starves me? He’s lucky I don’t leave a different kind of present in his bed.”
I eye her, noting that perhaps she is leaner than she should be. Her arms are thin and that hideous pale underbelly shade, but I enjoy her conversations. And her scent. I like how she tries to be fearless around me even when I can taste her nervousness in the air. She refuses to give in.
Dana’s stubborn. I like that a lot.
She thumps down onto her backside and sits on the edge of the bed, winded. “You don’t have a bed, do you? They kept you in the lab, right?”
I nod, watching her.
“Then you should sleep wherever you want. Just point out the bed you want to claim and I promise to keep my dirty feet off it.” Dana tilts her head, studying me. “Unless you have other plans.”
“Other . . . plans . . . for a bed?” Why does that intrigue me?
“That one escape capsule left,” she says, flushing. Her scent rises with her blush. “I knew it was there. I thought about escaping, but humans are picked on and enslaved on this end of the universe, and I’m a sitting duck if I try to land that thing anywhere. But seeing as we’re friends . . . ?” She swings her foot and eyes me. “Well, seeing as we’re friends, I think we could go someplace together. Fresh start and all that.”
I cross my arms over my chest, contemplating her words. It’s not a bad idea, but there are definite flaws in this plan. “Where would we go?”
“Exactly why I came and found you instead of heading for the capsule.” Dana bites her lip and shrugs. “I know they’ll come back here for you soon enough, but I’m hoping that we can get the pod charged before they return. We can be gone and untraceable before they even realize what happened.”
“We.” Interesting that she’s decided that we should work together long term instead of just going our separate ways. Not that I mind this. I like the idea of staying at her side. She’s right that she’s fragile and needs someone to look out for her. I don’t mind doing that job, but I’m going to have a problem soon.
Because she smells better by the hour, and I grow hungrier.
As if she can hear my thoughts, Dana’s stomach growls. She claps a hand to her belly, grimacing.
My fangs pulse, responding to her hunger, and my mouth waters. The urge to feed is becoming harder to ignore.
“Sorry,” she tells me. “I’m starving and the doors to the cafeteria were closed, so I couldn’t get in. I was actually worried that I’d starve to death before the scientists return, but you opened that door to the lab like it was nothing. I don’t suppose you’d do a girl a favor and open another door for me?”
“I can,” I say slowly. “But you mention food, and I must be honest with you. The lab is out of blood, and it might not be safe for you to be around me much longer. I need to feed soon.”
I watch the realization move over her. I need blood, or my hunger will just grow worse.
Right now, the only blood on the station other than my own is hers . . .
“Can you eat regular food?” Dana asks. “Have you tried? Maybe you’re not as vampiric as we thought. You look pretty normal to me. Other than the teeth and, well, the tail, and the really big muscles.” Her gaze flicks over my chest, and a new scent blooms in the air to pair with her blood scent.
It’s musky and makes my cock harden, and suddenly I’m full of wanting for more than just blood. I shift my weight on my feet, hoping she doesn’t notice the straining of my loincloth. “I haven’t tried. The scientists gave me nutritional drips in my veins.”
Dana brightens, her strange pale face creasing with a happy pink smile. She approaches me and grabs my hand. “Come on, then. You’re about to try some noodles. Aliens love noodles.”
My body does not love noodles.
We head for the cafeteria portion of the ship, and when I pry open the doors for Dana, she claps her hands in delight. I don’t go in until she adjusts the lighting. Then we turn on the food-generating machines, and Dana is in ecstasy as she fills bowl after bowl with a variety of foods, most of them the noodles she’d mentioned.
The scents turn my stomach. I try to eat, just in case my nose is betraying me, but the taste is bland, the texture worse, and it all comes back up immediately after I swallow it.
Dana offers me a glass of water as I retch over the closest trash receptacle. “Okay, so you must really be a vampire. Noodles aren’t cutting it. I’ll look for raw meat. Maybe that will help?”