The man paled. “I meant no insult to your woman.” The man lowered his eyes.

“Speak,” Ral sighed.

The man nodded, looking up again meeting Ral’s eyes. “They are preparing one of the large ships. There is a large planet they are going to visit for more workforces. Their plan is to house them inside the ship until they can have us dig out more area for them to move down here with us.”

Ral grinned. “When?”

The man grinned back. “They leave tomorrow morning right at first shift. It is perfect. The plan we overheard was that they will bring back a few hundred workers they are plotting to steal.”

Ral’s grin faded. He eyed the men around him. “Our time has come. This is it. Make all the arrangements and do it very quietly. Do not tell the others what is to happen. We will surprise all. You all know what to do. We will wake two hours earlier than first shift to prepare.” His gaze swung to the man. “Is everything in place?”

“Yes.”

Ral chuckled. “We are so close.”

The men were all smiling. Ariel eyed each one of them. Why they were so excited about new prisoners was beyond her. Maybe they hoped that most of the prisoners would be women. Maybe they were just lonely and wanted new faces. She held her silence until Ral returned them to their room. He shut the door.

“Undress.” Hunger burned in his eyes.

She stripped. Ral suddenly grabbed her to lift her up his body. Their eyes locked.

They were almost nose to nose.

“If I take you facing me while I’m standing will you enjoy it?”

“Yes.”

He growled softly at her. Ariel locked her legs around his hips and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ral entered her in a heartbeat. Ariel loved the feel of him stretching her. He moved, gripping her ass, and slammed her up and down on him.

Ariel threw her face into his shoulder moaning loudly. She wasn’t sure what brought on Ral’s wild streak but she was enjoying the hell out of it.

“Lord of the Moons,” she whispered after she came and Ral exploded inside her hard enough for her to feel.

Ral chuckled. “Exactly. Lord of the Moons was that good.”

He eased out of her body and lowered her to the floor. He kissed her before stepping away. “We need sleep.”

Ariel nodded and climbed into bed. She held up the blankets for Ral. “Climb on in.”

He smiled and got in. He pulled her into his body until Ariel’s face was on his chest. “I in love you, Ariel.”

She chuckled at his wording. “I’m in love with you too, Ral.”

“I’m in love with you. Better?” He rubbed her back with his fingers.

“Perfect,” she said honestly. Joy tore through her. Ral was in love with her.

5

“Wake.”

Ariel opened her eyes. “Damn you get up early. Did we sleep long? How do you know what time it is?”

“I hear. We have patrols in the hallway that call out the time. My hearing is keen.

Get dressed fast. We must hurry. We have much to do, Ariel.”

She got dressed. She saw Ral put on a shirt. She watched him. “You’re wearing a shirt today?”

“Where we are going today is colder than down in the cavern mines.”

“Okay.”

Ral grabbed the blanket from the bed. Ariel watched him dump all of his clothes piled on the floor into the blanket. Something was definitely up with Ral but he wasn’t telling her what was going on. He hefted the bag of clothes over his shoulder and shoved open the door. He reached for her hand.

“You stay by me. No matter what, you stay with me, Ariel. You are bound to me. I am bound to you. We belong together.”

“I remember. I am to not leave your sight and I will stay very close to you at all times.”

“Very correct.”

He took her to the bathroom. Four men were ordered by Ral to leave so she could have privacy. When she was done he walked in and used the bathroom. Three different men walked in. Ral pulled her closer to his body and jerked his head at her to not look.

She shot him an eye roll but kept her gaze on Ral. She didn’t want to see three men piss.

She’d give Ral privacy if she thought he’d let her out of his sight. They washed up before leaving the bathroom. Ral took her to the eating room.

“Eat fast.” He handed the plates he filled with food to Ariel. He got them mugs of water. She eyed the room. It was packed, unlike the morning before. The room was unusually quiet. Ral sat on the bench at the end of the table, spreading his thighs wide.

He inched back on the bench to make room for her to sit.

Without him needing to tell her, Ariel slid onto his lap between his thighs. They ate fast. Ral gave a nod at men around the room. She glanced up. Ral’s people were tense.

She could almost feel it in the air. She wondered what in the hell was going on. She glanced up at Ral. He looked down at her and smiled.

“Ral?”

“Trust me and ask later.”

She shut her mouth and nodded. Ral wanted them to be on the move. She left the eating area with him. He didn’t walk toward the mine though. He gripped the blanket over his shoulder, took her hand and headed toward doors marked with words she couldn’t read. The markings looked like wiggles with some scratches. The hand holding hers tightened. He paused to look down at her.

“Stay with me. If something goes wrong, we will have to run. Run with me. Swear it to me, Ariel. I won’t lose you and I will die if they take you from me because I will fight to keep you regardless of the odds.”

Fear hit her. What in the hell was going on? Ral opened up the door that led to a smaller hallway. Ral jerked her forward and they nearly ran down the hall. It ended at one of those platform elevator things with the raw rock walls. Ral stepped onto it pulling her into his arms.

“Do not touch the walls.”

“I won’t.” She shivered. “It would be like touching an electric cheese grater at the speed these things move up and down.”

“Cheese grater?”

“Never mind. I was talking to myself.”

The platform slowed. Ral sniffed the air as he jerked her forward. They ran down halls until they came to another large door. It looked like the crush door she’d walked through when Yoz had taken her to the mines. The door swished open. Ariel was a little surprised to see that one of Ral’s men stood there.

“We are ready. The rest follow.”

Ral nodded and took off without warning. His hand on Ariel’s tightened as he yanked her behind him. She ran for all she was worth across the large room to another large door. Ral paused and looked back. Ariel glanced over her shoulder to see dozens of Zorn run into the large room with more on their heels. The room was filling with Zorn.

The man who’d let them into the room finally shut the other door. There had to be well over a hundred Zorn in the room with a few other species she hadn’t seen before.

The other non Zorn looked as confused as she felt. There were only a handful of them, all of them were females.

“Let’s do this.” Ral nodded.

The doors opened. Ariel spun to see what the room they were going into was. She gasped when she eyed the largest ship she’d ever seen parked in what appeared to be open space. She saw the glass dome then. It was barely noticeable with deep space as a background.

More Zorn men were by the ship. They waved frantically at everyone. Like a stampede, the Zorn started to run. Ral gripped her hand as he jerked her closer to his body. They both ran for the large ship.

It was a space ship. She understood that. She wondered about what was about to happen. Comprehension hit her as they neared the ship. They were trying to escape.

Shock tore through her as they ran up a ramp and into the belly of the ship. It looked like a large cargo area. More of the Zorn waited inside. Ral kept moving, yanking Ariel with him, as they ran through the cargo area into a metal hallway.

“This way, Argis Ral,” a man yelled. “We are getting ready for flight.”