Chasing Violet Read online

  A roar rose from Cadoc’s chest. He was running. If the Berserker wanted a victim, he was going to have to get through him first. Pounding the ground on his bare feet, Cadoc screamed in rage. The warriors in the stand jumped to their feet waving their fists. He heard the shouts. They didn’t want Cadoc to lose, only his father did. How could his father have looked at the tiny female and wanted her dead? Fury the likes he had never known built to a fevered pitch. No man would stand for the murder of such an innocent.

  Two strides before attacking with his bare hands, Cadoc’s sword blazed to life in his fingers. He had called it, he had summoned his destiny. Yes, he was a man, and now he was a warrior. The side of the steel rested on the cuff of steel he wore. His orange burning eyes reflected back. His tousled ebony hair, hair like the tiny female, flowed back from his face with his swift pace. Cadoc leaped up and was struck back. The blow to his middle made him lose his breath but he held tight to the sword as he flew through the air. The power of Cadoc’s rage had sent the Berserker reeling as well.

  His back slammed against the steel bars of the cage. Groaning, he stayed seated. Small snuffling noises behind him made him turn for a moment. Water leaked from the female’s eyes, staining her wan cheeks. She cried, like their females cried. What an asshole, his father was an asshole. The Berserker laughed as he approached, intending to claim his prize. Cadoc rose swiftly. Anger such as he’d never known built within his chest. All his life his father taught him to protect females. She was different. No, she wasn’t his species, but she needed him. He was called to defend her in his heart. The man became the warrior he needed to be.

  Cadoc leapt into the air and brought the sword crashing down onto the Berserker’s throat. Blood spurted. The creature gazed at Cadoc in stunned surprise and pain. There was to be no killing of a boy or Berserker. The beast went down, crashing hard enough the cage bounced. The crowd went wild. Many warriors cheered Cadoc, their swords in the air. The match was a draw. The Berserker dead, the child was instantly a man. The tiny female must be sent home, it was law.

  Relief washed through Cadoc. He bent down to place his hands over the little fingers wrapped around the bars. She gazed at him and rested her cheek on his hand. She was so warm, so very tiny. Cadoc was captivated, smitten. He wished with all his heart he could keep this tiny female. But he killed the Berserker. He forfeited his claim, yet she would be safe. In his heart he knew she would live.

  “What are you, little female?” he whispered, not expecting an answer.

  “A flower.” Her language was strange, not quite translatable.

  The cage was jerked up and she was gone. Cadoc turned to glare at his father. His father did not look pleased. Neither was Cadoc. His mother’s dais floated near.

  “You did well, my son. I am so proud. The law stands. The little being will be returned. Cadoc, you are a man. I knew you could do it.”

  “Anything for you, Mother.”

  * * * *

  “Anything for you, Mother.”

  Cadoc’s voice in the quiet woke him. He rubbed a hand over his eyes as he sat up. His mother had been dead for a number of years. Yet the dream still haunted him. A blip in the room sounded.

  “What?” Cadoc demanded. He ran a hand through his tousled hair.

  “Ship off the starboard.”

  “So? We’re cloaked.”

  “We’re scanning multiple male beings on board of many species. A delegation, perhaps?”

  Cadoc rose and peered out the window. The ship was large, strange. Cadoc’s mission was to seek out new beings and make peace. The galaxies were intense with strife where he lived. This quadrant was new. Far from his planet.

  “Just males?” Cadoc asked. During his travels he was aware male species protected their females much like his species did. Except for the one time the roles were reversed and caught him completely by surprise. Females larger than their males, powerful, alphas. The idea was intriguing, yet the females were too protective of their males to allow Cadoc and his crew permission to land. It was a demand he understood and respected.

  “No, there are many females. But the females are strange.”

  “Strange how?”

  “Let me access one of the ship’s robots. Take a look.”

  A room filled with females came into view. Small females, tall females, females with strange coloring and piercings. Long legs and arms, tiny though mature. Eyes of different colors. What sort of being is this? Cadoc’s heart jumped as a certain female came into view. His memory-dream crashed to fill his chest. An older version of the tiny female in the cage filled his gaze. It couldn’t be, could it? Long dark ebony hair fell down her back. The breathtaking eyes the color of stormy skies, framed with long dark lashes that curled where her hair fell straight. Perfect bow lips and cheeks flushed pink. His fingers twitched. She was as perfect as he remembered.

  Cadoc and his father never discussed his manhood ceremony. His father was stripped of his leadership with the shame he caused that day. It sent him into a melancholy state. Cadoc never learned why the tiny female was to die. She had been taken home and was never mentioned again. No other strange females ever came to their planet. The species was banned on the guise they were too small a breed and if given a chance to reproduce, the magic of the tattoos would be lost. It was an issue even today. His father preached purity of the gene pool. What would happen to warriors if they mated with a species that tainted their tattoos? A tattoo is what made a warrior.

  Other than that, Cadoc had zero clue why something called ‘flowers’ were not permitted on his planet. They appeared harmless enough. The child in his dream was so tiny. These weren’t nearly as small. What were they?

  “Call up an audio,” Cadoc demanded.

  A voice was heard and he saw the female’s arm grasped. “Please, won’t you sit here?”

  “I might,” was her somewhat saucy reply. Her smooth, husky voice rolled over Cadoc’s skin, prickling his awareness.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Rose.”

  “A flower, how charming.”

  Cadoc almost hit the floor. A flower? The robot zoomed in directly on the female’s face. His flower. He would know those eyes anywhere. Cadoc raced to dress. His naked body stood in front of a mirror. Adorned now with a multitude of weapon tattoos, he traced them. Each lit at his touch. Though not summoned, each remained in place. All were easily accessed. He noted there were many different species aboard the ship as he continued to dress. He hoped they wouldn’t mind one more guest. That flower was his. He’d use every weapon at his disposal to cut any down who got in his way.

  “Talpin, get me on that ship,” Cadoc demanded.

  “Cadoc, if she’s a flower…”

  “Now.”

  “All right, but it’s your ass.”

  The sensation of materializing always tingled Cadoc’s belly. This time he ignored it. Dressed in thick, knee-high brown boots and tan loose pants with a black hooded cloak, he gazed from a dark corner. There were no alarms to give him away. This was normally the case. The ship would detect no weapons being brought aboard, because his weapons were tattooed to his body.

  His gaze centered on his flower. The being holding her arm had yet to release her and he detected she was becoming annoyed. Cadoc took a good look around him. All sorts of male species were ogling the many flowers in the room. He remembered the council saying this breed was banned because they were too small. Granted, his flower would stand chest high. He was easily two of her. There had to be more to what his father feared than her size.

  Cadoc would get her alone. For a second, his fingers danced over the steel bands near his wrist. These weren’t for fighting, they subdued a victim. They would mold to any size. Cadoc studied her tiny wrists. Her breasts were prominent and Cadoc wondered why. It occurred to him without the mounds of rolling flesh, each bump and curve this female had was intensely visual. Not like their females. So why was his cock suddenly straining, uncomfortably tight in his once-loo
se pants?

  The long black pupil of his eye rounded then went straight to a fine line. The ability gave him the power to emphasize on his target. The glow of orange lit his dark hood in the eerie darkness where he stood. The flower turned and appeared startled. His gaze settled and he faded back. Watching, waiting.

  Chapter Three

  Violet’s attention was caught by the cast of orange in the corner. One of the staff, apparently robotic, had orange eyes. Sneaky alien ship. Were they filming this meeting? Only recording bots had eyes that glowed. What the hell? A quick glance around the room told her that the other women were still taking their time picking their tables.

  The alien staring at her still had her arm caught in his grip. She looked over her shoulder again, trying to catch a glimpse of the hooded man-bot in the darkened corner, but he was gone.

  She sighed.

  “May I?” The deep, rumbling voice held the back of her chair to seat her. But he was in the wrong spot, one seat over to the right of the seat she was supposed to take. She turned to tell him, but stopped in her tracks.

  His eyes were stunningly beautiful. Orange, and lit by an inner glow. His pupils changed as she watched, elongating and then returning to a normal size. He was the one hidden in the shadows earlier.

  Suddenly struck speechless, she nodded mutely, allowing him to seat her. The alien who had held her arm was forced to let go as Tiger-Eyes stepped between them. When she sat, he pushed her chair in for her, and retrieved the napkin from the table, straightening it onto her lap like a waiter.

  “Thank you,” she murmured. Her heart raced, and it was ridiculous. He was paid staff, paid a pretty penny, if truth be told, for robotic help simply doing his job. Even if part of his job was to film them. Perhaps the cruise was preparing memory books for them.

  He lowered his large body into the chair next to her, and the alien she was supposed to sit with hissed his displeasure.

  “Rose, wouldn’t you rather sit near me?” Now that he had her attention, the alien who’d gripped her arm seemed to hiss around a rather snakelike tongue. Eww, how had she not noticed that?

  She laughed nervously. “There will be many more nights of dinners, I’m sure,” she hedged. She glanced around the room. There were four to six men to each table, to where one woman sat. From across the way, her friend Amber waved at her. She was sitting at a table with the octopus guys.

  “Who’s that?” Snake-alien hissed.

  “My friend Am—Dahlia.” She corrected, then winced. Was that her real name, instead of the fake? Good grief, which was which? She rambled on hurriedly. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I caught your name?”

  She was talking to sexy Tiger-Eyes next to her, but the first alien answered.

  “Draconisssss.” The last syllable was long and drawn out on his strangely forked tongue.

  “Well, as you all know, I’m…Rose.”

  One by one, the men went round the table stating their names. When it came to the hooded guy next to her left, his voice was deep.

  “Cadoc.” It rolled off his tongue with a sexy little accent.

  Cadoc. A niggling sense of something hit her, but as soon as it hit, it was gone. Strange.

  Robot servers came to the tables, depositing plates in front of them.

  “It looks delicious,” Violet exclaimed, reaching for her silverware. To her surprise, it was snatched up by Tiger-Eyes.

  He began to cut her meat.

  Cut her meat.

  She was speechless for a minute. Oh, wait. He was simply a robot. A server. Just like he’d held her chair and gotten her napkin spread into her lap. She relaxed again. But the guy on her right seemed to pick up on the crazy idea. He reached for the salt shaker, offering to shake it over her food.

  “No, no.” She held her hand out, waving the salt shaker away.

  From across the table, a horned alien smiled, as if not to be outdone. “May I pour your water?”

  “P-please,” she said.

  Next to her, Cadoc growled under his breath.

  The water-pouring horned alien smiled triumphantly around the table. While he poured, she glanced around the rest of the room. None of the other girls had their dinner-mates jumping to cut their meat and salt their food. Instead, the robots were pouring the water. Strange. Her table was definitely off.

  Cadoc somehow managed to scoot his chair right up against hers, his long, muscular leg pressing against her. A strange thrill shot through her when his leg flexed against her, making her acutely aware of exactly how far this game of paid attention went.

  Never had she felt naughtier. Tiger-Eyes was extremely attractive, large, attentive. Hard, yummy, masculine. He’d be the perfect guy…if he were real. But no, he had to be a robot. No one had eyes that glowed like that. Glowing eyes were reserved for camera lenses manufactured into robots.

  Oh, well. Maybe a few robots were interspersed with the staff in case the women wanted a pleasure-night with no strings attached. Perhaps he turned off automatically after sex. That would be handy.

  So she laughed, and flirted with him all through dinner. She leaned up against Cadoc, and watched his eyes glow. Watched his pupils elongate as he fixed on her, almost as if he could see through her.

  This was fun, being pampered and courted by all the men at the table. She didn’t miss Joshua one bit. Just as she didn’t miss the amounts of credits he spent. Her credits.

  Most everyone was done eating, and talking amongst themselves at the dinner tables. Speaking of the different planets they came from, and where they’d like to visit. Soft music began to pipe from the speakers.

  “Dance with me?” Cadoc rumbled, his leg again pressing against hers.

  Next to him, Draconis stood, his chair clattering behind him. A bot scurried to pick it up. Draconis opened his mouth, clearly about to argue.

  “I’d love to,” she murmured, slipping her hand in Cadoc’s and shutting that shit down.

  Then the horned demon next to her opened his mouth to argue, but she simply reached out and patted his head, letting her fingers trail over his horns. They were oddly soft-skinned, though they jutted like steel from the top of his head. They were pointed, but not sharp.

  Strange, now that she thought about it. They had an odd curved shape. Since he didn’t seem to mind, she continued to caress, then patted his head. His breath caught in his throat, and he sunk lower in his chair, as if he’d pass out from her touch. The rest of the table grew perfectly still. There, she’d calmed them all.

  The horned demon moaned, leaning back in his chair. Odd creature. She happened to glance down, noticing a stain spread across his lap. The poor man must have spilled his drink there, in his crotch of all places. But he was happy now, not even noticing his dirty pants. In fact, they all seemed strangely stunned, so it was a good moment to make a getaway with Cadoc. She tugged on his hand, and—while he seemed as bemused as the rest of the men—he led her to the dance floor.

  She diverted his attention easily when she pressed up against him. Boy, they’d really programmed this robot perfectly. He was sexy as hell, put together finer than any human she’d ever seen, and still kept waiting on her hand and foot. She wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been celibate for so long, but he really just did it for her. She’d be inviting this sex-bot to her room tonight, she’d have her wicked way with him. Hell, maybe she’d use his services for the remainder of the trip.

  For now, she let Cadoc lead her to the middle of the floor, where he pulled her close. A few of her other friends were leading aliens out to join them in dance, surrounding them. Normally she’d insist on a bit of dancing space between them, but hell. He was hard and luscious, and not a real man anyway. So she wrapped her slender arms around his waist and pressed her ear to his massive chest. Together they swayed to the music. His chin dropped comfortably to the top of her head.

  “You’re so tiny,” he muttered. “A female in need of protecting.”

  Her lip curled. She hadn’t needed protect
ion since the age of three. No, her entire life she concentrated on the latest fighting techniques. She was a black belt, a master swordsman, a kick-boxer. While she couldn’t remember it, she’d been told she had been kidnapped and ransomed back at that tender age, and her parents always lived looking over their shoulders. So they’d paid for whatever lessons struck her fancy.

  “I’m five-six. It’s not tiny.”

  His hands tightened on the small of her back, the warmth emanating from his spread palms. It sent a tingle of desire through her, and she snuggled closer. God, he was delicious.

  “I’m a foot taller than you,” he whispered. The warmth of his breath nudged her hair.

  “Was that you I noticed earlier? Out slinking behind the potted plants?”

  Potted plants was an understatement. The massive ferns and trunks easily stretched twelve feet, from floor to ceiling. The side of the room resembled a mini-forest.

  “Yes. I wanted a better look at you.”

  Damn, his programming was perfect. Thank you, Jilly, for finishing that questionnaire for me so the staff would know exactly how to woo me, she thought. The computer personality obviously did a fine job.

  “That’s so romantic,” she sighed, and snuggled against him. A hardness pressed against her belly. Hoo-haa. He was well-programmed in every way.

  “Hey girl!” a voice rang out. She lifted her head to see one of the girls cozying up to her partner as they danced.

  “Hi, Marigold,” Violet called.

  She could swear Cadoc’s arms tightened around her. So she turned her attention back to him, and decided to play the role.

  “Cadoc?” she whispered.

  “Yes, my sweetness?”

  “Would you be appalled if I asked you to stay with me tonight?”

  He appeared shocked. “Of course not. You are female and revered. I will do whatever you wish.”

  Hmm. On one hand, she could understand the programming wanting to give her what she wished. But that isn’t exactly what she was asking.