Kidnappping Casey Read online

  The woman laughed. She finally turned her attention on Argernon. She shook her head, taking in what she could see of him behind Casey. “It is a good thing you males are not shy.” She made a soft sound with her throat. “Get dressed, please. I do not want to see so much of you.” She spun. “Food is prepared. Hurry to come eat. Your bound is with offspring and needs much food to fatten her up. She is so small that we need to make her bigger so she has an easier time birthing a big, healthy Zorn baby.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Argernon chuckled. “She likes you.”

  Casey turned in his arms. “What is going to happen to Bara?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “I hate when you say that. Give it to me straight.”

  He hesitated. “She will be treated for mental instability, and sent to where she won’t harm anyone again. If she refuses treatment and punishment, then she will be sent to a med house.”

  Casey paled. “Oh. That’s one of those places they send women to help sick males with sex, isn’t it?”

  “She tried to kill you.” Argernon’s features hardened, rage burning in his furious look. “If she had been male, I would have killed her with my bare hands for coming after you. It is my right. Even if security arrived, if she were male, I could kill her in front of them for coming after my bound. She is lucky she is female. Death isn’t an option for her. She did this, so do not think about what she has done to her own life. She will be given options of what happens to her. She must pay for her crime.”

  “How is your head? I wish you’d go see Ahhu.”

  He shook his head. “I am fine.” A grin curved his lips. “I am proud of you. You fought well.”

  “I fought dirty. I was scared she was going to kick my ass and kill both of us.”

  He laughed. “You were fierce. You struck without pause and you took down your adversary.” His grin died. “Now do not ever do it again. I will strive to protect you better so you never have to defend yourself. You will remember that you are small and carrying my offspring.”

  Her hand went to her stomach. “I don’t plan on any more fights. I didn’t plan on that one.”

  He nodded. “Where did you learn to fight? Is that common on Earth? Do they train all humans to be warriors?”

  She laughed. “No. I was raised with a lot of boy family members. They liked to pick on me so I learned to fight dirty to get even.”

  Rage crossed Argernon’s features. “Tell me who they are and I will go to Earth to punish every male who has harmed you.”

  She stared up at him. She was dazed when she realized he meant it. He wanted to go to Earth to kick some ass for her benefit. She smiled, reaching up to cup his face.

  “You are so damn sweet.”

  He frowned. “I am not sweet. I want to harm all males who caused you to learn how to fight to defend yourself. I will schedule transportation to Earth to make them suffer.”

  She tried hard not to laugh. “Picking on is, well, no one hurt me. They teased me and they pissed me off, but they didn’t harm me.”

  He growled. “I don’t want to hear about men teasing you. I want to kill men who touched you.”

  She had to fight back another laugh. “It wasn’t sexual. Teasing is making a joke at someone else’s expense that they don’t find funny.”

  He his body relaxed. “I understand. So there are no men on Earth I should go do harm to?”

  “Just my ex-boyfriend and he definitely is not worth it. He’s the guy who sent those two men to arrest me. He’s not worth the time or the trip to Earth.” She leaned against Argernon, smiling up at him. “Besides, I don’t want to go on another damn ship ever again.”

  “Food!” Gava bellowed from the other side of the house.

  Argernon chuckled. “Did I mention she is like a mother? She sounds like one.”

  “You did. I am starving.”

  He released her to dress quickly in a pair of pants. He put a shirt on this time too. “Come, beautiful.”

  She loved it when he called her that. She wasn’t beautiful, no one had ever called her that before, but he looked like he meant it every time he said it. Maybe to Zorn men she was. It was a nice feeling. Gava was waiting for them in a dining room. They sat down to a heavily filled table of food. Halfway through the meal, a buzz sounded.

  “What was that?” Casey looked around the room for the source of the sound.

  Argernon stood up. “Someone is at the front door. I will get it.”

  Casey watched him walk away hoping that it wasn’t going to be another pissed off ex-house helper. One visit from Bara was more than enough. In seconds, Ariel and her husband walked into the dining room. Ariel looked angry, and so did her large husband, who was glaring at Argernon.

  “Are you all right? I woke up and realized you hadn’t come to the house. We went to the medical building but they told us you left last night so we tracked you down here.” Ariel shot Argernon a dirty look. “Someone bribed the guards to bring you here instead of to my house. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Argernon?”

  He grinned as he sat back down. “I am guilty. I made them bring my bound home to me.”

  “It’s all right,” Casey said softly.

  Ariel’s eyebrows shot up as she hugged her rounded stomach. “Really? You both made up?”

  Ral chuckled. “I told you that it would be fine.”

  Ariel shot her husband a flirty look. “If he’s anything like you, she didn’t stand a chance.” Ariel sat down, glancing at Gava. “May I? I’m always hungry. I swear this baby eats three times what I do so I go around in a constant state of starvation. If it wasn’t for the workouts I get I’d be as big as this house.”

  A smiling Gava made a heaping plate to set it in front of Ariel. “Zorn offspring are like that to women. It must be a boy.” Gava shot both men a grin. “Their appetites in all things are extreme and they can’t get enough from a woman who holds them in their bodies.”

  Casey almost choked on her food. Ariel chuckled while shooting her a look. “Get used to it. They are blunt like that. It’s a common thread to joke about what horndogs Zorn men are.”

  Argernon frowned. “What is a horndog?”

  “You.” Ariel pointed to her husband. “Him. It means you can’t get enough sex, and you always want it.”

  Argernon grinned as his eyes went to Casey. “I am definitely a horndog then.”

  Ral chuckled as he took a seat next to his wife, stealing a piece of fruit from her plate. She winked at him, obviously amused. Love shone in the way she looked at him and it was clear that he was just as crazy about her.

  Casey eyed the couple. They were starkly contrasted. Ariel was small where her husband was big. Ariel was pale in coloring where her husband was deeply tan. They were happy together, and very much in love. She caught the way they looked at each other. Her gaze went to Argernon. He was watching her silently.

  “What are you thinking?” His voice was soft.

  She shook her head. “It’s nothing worth sharing.”

  “I always find myself wanting to know what you are thinking.” He frowned.

  Ral chuckled. “Get used to it. Your life has changed, Brother.” He grinned at his wife before turning his attention on Casey. “We aren’t used to this kind of relationship with women. Zorn women are quiet and they keep to themselves. Women socialize with other women. Most socialization happens between males and females in the bedroom. Even there not much conversation is exchanged. Human women interact with us on all levels. You speak to us and keep our interest.” His gaze went back to Ariel. “I want to spend all my time with my Ariel. She engages me in every way all the time.”

  Ariel grinned. She winked at Casey. “In all ways. I’m almost terrified when I think of how many kids we’re going to end up with. Birth control doesn’t work with them. Their semen, I’ve been told, gets around every form of birth control they try.”

  “What about condoms?”

  Arie