3 comments/ 13064 views/ 9 favorites A Dangerous One Ch. 01 By: exoticrose The planet Adliar was a beautiful place. Tall, soaring trees filled most of the planet's land. The trees have large canopies, filled with jewel toned leaves and creatures of many species. Sparkling blue water make up the oceans, seas, and lakes. The blue sky is a clear crystalline color, with few clouds to break the rays of the golden sun. The people of Adliar were the source of the planet's true beauty, though. Men made up most of the population. Women were rarely born among the Adliats, so they were a rare and precious commodity. Women were often sold as slaves to the highest bidder. Luckily, all the Adliat women were renowned throughout the galaxies for their beauty. The Adliat women are humanoid looking, except for a few major differences. For one, they have tails. The tails of the Adliat women help them balance among the high branches of the trees. No one knows why some tails are scaled, feathered, furred, or just ordinary skin and others are different. The trait is not passed down through the matriarchal line, so there is no way to guess what a woman may have. The women also differ from the ordinary humans of Earth in their faces. They have larger eyes, that are slightly tilted in their faces, like a cats. The eyes of the Adliat women are very beautiful, and have a luminous quality. Also like cat's eyes, they have slitted pupils. Lush, black eyelashes frame these magnificent eyes like a thick line of fur. Hair, glorious colors from every part of the color wheel, flow in long locks down their smooth, supple backs. Adliat women never cut their hair short, for it is the marking of a disgraced woman. They have smooth, hairless skin, even in their pubic regions. The only hair on their bodies is on their heads, their eyebrows, their eyelashes, and sometimes their tails. Sharp, slightly elongated canines grace their mouths. They are not like a vampire's, who have long thin fangs, but like a predatory animal who has sharp thick canines for slicing meet. Height can range from four feet tall to seven feet tall. These women can have full bodies, with large breasts and buttocks, or thin bodies, like an athletes. All the women have a high degree of athleticism, from their leaping among the high branches of the trees. The muscles in their bodies have been honed to a lean perfection. Adliat women are greatly known for their beauty, and this is also a curse of theirs. They are highly prized slaves in the galaxies, but because of their rarity, very expensive. Slavers often come to Adliat to attempt to capture some of these women, but it is hard for them to maneuver their ships through the trees. The people of Adliar are behind in technological advances, so they have no defense against these slavers except for their amazing ability to leap from branch to branch among the trees. The men of Adliar live under the ground in a complex cave system. They have brutish strength, and have to kidnap the women from the tree tops to find a mate. They capture the women using nets they make from the strong sea kelp. When a female Adliat is born, they are released into the trees to live with the other women until they are either captured, or decide it is time to be mated. Male Adliat are raised by the men. I digress. Our story begins with a specific Adliat female, one who was more beautiful than any other ever born, and who had new powers she has just discovered. This is her story. ____________________ . ________________________ I sprinted along the wide branch. The screams of the other women I lived in my clan with rang out around me as they tried to evade the swooping nets of the men. I will not be captured this day! I vowed to myself. We all knew how the women who were captured lived, down there in those horrid cave systems below our beloved trees. Our trees soared hundreds of feet into the air. We should have been safe up here, in the jewel toned canopy rife with life. Yet, the men still managed to swoop in unexpected and capture us from time to time. I shook my head to shake these thoughts from my mind. The men had become more aggressive with my clan of late, doing raids every other week. Usually, raids only happened once or twice every few months. This constant battling was odd, and exhausting. The branch I was running on began to narrow. Before it could no longer support me, i leapt ten feet to the right and landed on another branch, my hardened feet soles gripping the branch with long toes. The callouses along my feet and hands were useful for gripping branches. My tail also aided me in that, the long lightly red-furred appendage attached to my spine. It was long and whiplike, with short red fur, and bushy part of red fur on the end. I used it to anchor myself to the tree limb by wrapping it around the limb. A net arced over my head, just missing its mark. The men always missed me, thankfully. My height of 5'4 was easy to confuse from a distance. Of course, this could also be a curse. The men of our planet liked short females, it made them feel superior. My bright, flame red hair streamed out behind me as I ran close to the trunk of the tree. I could reach speeds of nearly sixty mile an hour, or so my clan-mate says. She is the one who found, decoded, and read the odd Earthling books from a crashed ship. If I can just reach the trunk, I can make it to safety, I told myself as I pushed to go faster. The trunks of the trees had thick, grooved bark that acted like foot and handholds. I could climb higher in the tree to the thinner branches that couldn't support the men's weight. Then, I would be safe. A woman running just ahead of me screamed as a net wrapped itself around her lithe torso. She fell like a rock off the branch, into the waiting arms of male. The brown skinned beast sniffed her skin and gave a satisfied grunt before lumbering to the tall ladder nearby. The woman shrieked and twisted, trying to escape, but the male was too strong for her to fight off. Her silvery blue hair dragged on the ground behind them, like a river of tears that fell from her eyes. I cursed loudly as a net skimmed by foot, slowing me down a little. To be taken by the men was something feared by us all. The men were renowned for their brutality to the women they captured. Using an upright branch jutting from the one I was running on as a pole, I grabbed it with my hands and flung my body around it in a wide circle, then let go and flew to drop on the tree branch below. Running forward, I leaped into the air to land on the lumbering male's shoulders. He grunted in surprise as the force of my weight brought him to his knees. The woman looked up at me with hope as I snapped the man's neck with my hands. He slumped to the ground in heap. "Hurry," I hissed at her. "That won't keep him down for long, and he has your scent now. He can track you." She nodded. "Thank you, sister," she said quietly, clasping my arm in gratitude. I smiled at her. "Save yourself so you won't get captured again." She took off along the branch. I began my sprint again, and leaped from the branch to land on one slightly above this one. The screams were escalating around us. Women fell from the branches more quickly now. Men began to roar in anger. Confused, I looked around for the source of their anger. Silver ships zipped through the trees, smoothly maneuvering between the branches. Small guns mounted on their roofs shot small missiles through the air. When one struck a woman, she screamed and went down. A ship would fly under her, open a door on the roof, and let her fall in before resealing the hatch and flying off. I cried out in terror and began an even faster run to the trunk of the tree. The slavers were back, and this time they had a way to capture us. Being captured by a slaver was an even more terrifying prospect than being captured by an Adliat male. The slaver would take you to an auction sight, where you would be sold to the highest bidder. Women who were taken by slavers never came back. Desperation colored my mind as more of my clan-mates went down around me. These women that I am living with, going down like flies to be taken away forever. I cried out in despair as I saw each of them go down. Anger consumed me. No, not anger, something stronger. Blind rage, an all-encompassing fury. My vision became tinged with reddish gold, and fire exploded outward from me. I heard shouts of surprise, but I just kept running, barely understanding what had happened. The flames didn't harm me, but left behind a scorched path as I ran forward. More silver ships surrounded me as the slavers began to notice the brightly colored red, gold, and orange flames that surrounded me. My red fabric breast and pubic coverings still remained, strangely enough. I felt a dart hit my thigh. I kept running with no change in pace. Reaching speeds of nearly eighty miles an hour, the wind pushed my hair back in long locks of wavy reddish gold hair. Flames leapt from the locks, crackling and whispering behind me. Another dart hit my neck, right over my life's blood artery. I stumbled, as the two darts finally began to affect me. I screamed in fury, and fire spewed from my mouth and throat in a long spout of flame. It scorched the leaves above me, and they rained down in ashes around me. I fell off the branch I was on in a flaming ball fury. The fire began to sputter out as the drug made me drowsy. My mind slipped into oblivion just as the hatch of a slaver ship opened and then closed me inside. A Dangerous One Ch. 02 A poking and prodding feeling woke me up. At first, I was disoriented and confused. The room I was in was unfamiliar. My room back at home was hewn straight from the trunk, with a floor, ceiling, and walls made of the deep brown wood. The walls and the ceiling of this room was a silvery chrome, and the ground was tile. When I remembered what had happened to me, I sat up straight and hissed. The memories of running, screaming, silver slaver ships, and fire raced through my mind. I paused for a moment, and hit replay on that particular memory of fire. What had happened back there? Why had I burst into flame, and why was I not burned? Questions filled my mind. I was brought back to reality by a sharp prod in my side. Turning quickly, while simultaneously jerking myself away, I bared my teeth at the intruder. The chain that had been clamped around my ankles kept me from going very far. I reached for the dagger strapped to my thigh on instinct, and scowled when I only felt bare skin. A small woman cowered at my fierce glare and threw me a scared look. I softened when I saw her frightened face, but kept my position in defensive.v The diminutive woman as short, four feet at most. Her dark, nut-brown skin was smooth, and her black glossy eyes watched me. White hair fell to her shoulders in a straight line. Her hair was startlingly bright against her skin. In her hands, she clutched a bag. Shakily, she said something in a strange language. I gave her a confused look, and she briefly smiled before switching to my native language. "What is your name?" "Aidan," I answered hesitantly. "Where am I?" "Auction Site 43," she said. "I need to prepare you for sale. Please, do not resist my efforts, or we both will be punished." I decided I would let her prepare me, while I tried to get more information from her. There was no way I was going to be sold to the highest bidder like an animal. I needed to formulate an escape plan, and for that I needed to know the layout of the building I was in. The woman hesitantly approached me. She opened the bag she had clutched in her grip. She pulled out various tools that I did not recognize. One of them was a palate of color made of crushed powder. She pulled out a small brush with short, fine bristles and dipped it into the powder. Then, she applied the powder to my eyelids. She went back and forth from the crushed powder to my eyelids. I stopped paying attention to her efforts. "So, where exactly is Auction Site 43?" I asked innocently. "Deep space." Well, that threw wrench in my escape plan. To get out of deep space, I would need a ship. I have never driven one before, and I don't even have a basic understanding of how to drive one. Maybe, a Watcher would learn about the auction and come to bust it. Auctioning slaves is illegal in most galaxies, right? It is in my home galaxy, Andromeda, but I have no idea if I'm still in the same galaxy. 
 All I have now is my hope that a Watcher will come and save me. Watchers are the various beings who police the galaxy. Regular watchers just keep other aliens from trafficking drugs and people, and to hunt down bandits. Ultima Watchers watch over the whole universe, and keep track of the regular Watchers. Ultima Watchers were extremely powerful. The woman put away the crushed powder and brushes she had been using. She gave me a cursory look and nodded, satisfied. "You need nothing more. Your lips are already a red color, your eyelashes are long, and your skin is smooth and even. I would say you were lucky, but the more beautiful the woman, the harsher her life will be, and you are the most beautiful I have ever seen." I flinched at her words. Never had I looked in the mirror and considered myself a great beauty, although my clan-mates had insisted I was one. To be beautiful seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. On my home planet, I made you more likely to be noticed and wanted by the men. At an auction site, it seemed I would have a worse life with whomever bought me. "What about clothing?" I asked as I stood up. I had just noticed my lack of covering. My full, perky breasts stood out proudly from my chest. A slim waist tapered down from there, a smooth, flat stomach following. My hips flared out slightly to gently rounded buttocks, and then on to smooth, slim thighs and calves. "I am not supposed to dress you." My forehead crinkled in confusion. "Am I supposed to be viewed naked?" "Yes," she stated calmly. I growled low in my throat. I am not keen on being seen naked by total strangers, but I can see no other options. My body was shaking from barely restrained anger. First, I was kidnapped from my home. Then, I learn about how life is harsh for the prettier slaves. Now, I will be forced to stalk around naked in front of slavering aliens? I don't think so. Growling, I jerked the chain around my right angle. It squeaked in protest. Gritting my teeth against the slight pain of the metal pulling my skin, I yanked again. The chain broke with a loud clatter. A startled gasp drew my attention back to the woman. She had a hand over her mouth, and her eyes were wide with fright. "You must stop, or you will be punished!" She yelled. That was when I noticed a low hum in the air. A piece of the steel wall slid away to reveal a room beyond. In the room were several armed Retiloids, reptilian aliens with scaly bodies and crocodile-like heads. I gave the other chain around my left angle a mighty jerk. It broke free and I leaped away from the woman who reached for me. The Reptiloids filed into the room, eyes on my swaying breasts. One of them made a remark in a guttural language and the others began to grunt with their rough laughter. I hissed at the noise grating in my ears. They began to come toward me, and I backed away with a growl of warning. Laughing at my show of aggression, they kept coming. "If you cooperate, we will have no need to hurt you," said the largest one. "We can leave no marks on her, Thagtor, it was forbidden. She will bring a huge price and cannot be marred," said a smaller one. I paid no attention to the fact that I could now understand their harsh language and focused on escaping through the hall I could see beyond the newly revealed room. Backing up a few more steps, I ran forward and leapt over the Reptiloids in one monstrous leap. Landing hard, I sprinted across the room and into the hallway. I could hear the echoing cries of frustration and anger from the Reptiloids behind me. I didn't even think about the fact that I had no way to escape the station. I just was desperate to escape. My feet made hard slaps against the hard floor as I pushed myself to higher speeds. The hall ended abruptly at a large, cavern like room. I ran into it without a second thought. I realized my folly the moment my eyes could see what I had run into. The room I had run into was filled with cages anchored to the ground. In the cages, various creatures huddled around each other. Some cages had beings of the same species in them, and others had only one alien in them. I saw only four other Adliat, and they were all in separate cages. Aliens walked around the cages and looked into them curiously. Some haggled with the men watching the cages over a price for a slave inside. The commotion coming from the hallway made by the Reptiloids screaming and yelling drew the attention of the aliens buying or observing slaves to the hallway where I was standing, stark naked. I blushed scarlet as several aliens made appreciative noises. "Aidan! Run now!" came a scream from above. I looked up and saw a clan-mate, the silvery-blue haired Adliat woman I had saved from the Adliat male. I couldn't just leaver her hear to a terrible fate among the slavers. Gathering my leg muscles, I jumped into the air, over the heads of the watching aliens, and landed on the roof of her cage. I grabbed two of the cage bars with each of my hands and wrenched them apart into a hole big enough for her to escape through. She gaped at me for a moment as my newfound strength bent the metal, then crawled out. By this point, the surprise of the alien buyers around us had worn off, and they began to yell and head towards us. "Capture the slaves!" screamed one, a particularly ugly one with spikes all over his body. I hissed at the oncoming crowd and leapt to another Adliat's cage. I repeated the process of breaking her out, and the other Adliat female broke out managed to bend the bars with the caged one's help. Just as I was standing up, a huge explosion rocked the station. Sirens began to wail as the air filled with screams. It took me a second to understand what they were saying. "Ultima Watcher are here!" A Dangerous One Ch. 03 Varick observed the space station from his ship. Luckily, he had technology that allowed the ship to get in very close to the station without being detected. He didn't want to scare off his prey just yet. Other ships surrounded us. They all contained regular Watchers, those who watched over the galaxies. They have been wanting to bust this certain trade ring for quite awhile now. Auction Site 43, the infamous slaving outpost. For years, high price slaves had been auctioned off from this station. Watchers had had little success in pinpointing the location of the station, so Ultima Watchers had been sent in to see if they could find the Auction site. Of course, the powerful beings had located it within the week. Leaning over the control board, Varick considered the free-floating station. He and his team of Ultima Watchers had take almost a week to find it, meaning that it was probably protected by an extremely powerful being. He had been instructed to bring in the one who was shielding the station with mind powers to the Authority. The Authority were the council of beings that controlled the Ultima Watchers and the ordinary Watchers, handing out assignments and providing training and living quarters. They were the unofficial rulers of the universe. Varick steepled his fingers under his chin. Rumors had been flying recently about the slaves being sold at this certain station. If the rumors held true, then the slavers had finally managed to capture a few Adliat women. Their beauty was well known, so Varick was sure that, should the rumors be true, many aliens would be inside the station. Unfortunately, that meant that the Watchers couldn't attack the station straight on, because the death toll would be too high. The Authority didn't want to deal with the families of the rich beings within lawsuits should any of them die. Casualties were unpreventable, but they could still limit the deaths to satisfy the Authority. Sighing, Varick leaned back in his command seat and contemplated the situation. First thing he had to do was see if the rumors were true about the Adliat women being within. That would tell him if the station had many prospective slave buyers within. Varick prepared himself to use his telepathy to search the minds of the beings inside the space station. Taking deep breaths, he tentatively reached out explorative fingers from his mind. The first thing Varick could discern about the beings within the station was that the collection there was very diverse. The station held Reptiloids, reptilian like aliens; Bennadanti, tall reed-thin aliens with bulbous fish eyes; Elves, a mysterious people who had skin like moonlight; Dracons, large aliens who had dragon-like bat wings and could breathe fire; even a few Shape-shifters were there, and they have a notorious aversion to slavery. There! Right there...four Adliat women. Varick snapped back in his in surprise. He had not expected the rumors to prove true. This changed his plan of attack significantly. The Adliat women would be extremely aggressive at this point, since they must have realized they are on a slaving auction site. Adliat women, at their most aggressive, would be a problem for he and his men. They were known throughout the universe for their cunning minds and athletic capabilities. One Adliat woman had been clocked at running seventy miles per hour once. Varick quickly rethought his plan of attack. First thing he would have to do was get a feel for the Adliats, and use his mind to incapacitate them. Then, he would shoot out the engines on the station so it could not go into hyper-speed and escape. The rest was largely the same, except now they would have many more prisoners to handle. Varick sent a mental message to another Ultima Watcher that was in a different ship. 'We will need more transports. The rumors were true, for once. Four Adliat women are being held onboard the station.' Varick felt a feeling of excitement shiver across the mental connection. 'I have never seen an Adliat woman in person before', sent the other Ultima Watcher, Ezra. Varick felt the thread of sexual excitement Ezra had felt. 'You wish. If they really are as beautiful as the tales tell, none of them will go for your sorry ass.' A mote of amusement trickled across the connection. 'Varick, I am packing a serious tool down below these women will orgasm at the sight of. They would be lucky to feel the pleasure of my cock up there tight-' 'Boys!' Interrupted a distinctly irritated voice. 'Now is not the time. If either of you had been paying attention, you would have noticed something very interesting about one of those Adliats.' Varick and Ezra snapped to attention at their leader's voice. Onya had no patience for lackadaisical behavior on a mission. Slowly, Varick reached out a tendril of his mind to the Adliat women. He felt one mind, then another, then the third. The fourth reacted violently to his intrusion, gripping the tendril of his mind with her own and twisting it viciously. Varick again reared at the surprising event. It was nearly impossible to feel when an Ultima Watcher entered your mind. Their skill level in psychic powers was high enough that they could conceal their presence. The only beings they could not conceal themselves from were other beings of their level of power. Onya spoke onto the connection, 'Yeah, I felt it too. The last time an Adliat woman had that level of power, Genesha was destroyed during her loss of temper.' Varick remembered the old stories of the planet Gensha, that was rendered to thousands of pieces during an immense blast of power. He had thought it was a myth. 'The story is true?' He sent across the mental link to Onya. 'Yeah, and the one who destroyed Genesha was an Adliat woman. It seems that every time an Adliat woman has powers, the level is even higher than an Ultima Watchers.' 'What do we do with her when we capture her? We obviously can't put her to sleep like the others. She'd just resist the command,' Ezra sent. 'If we can even capture her,' Stated Onya. 'Varick, I'm gonna need you to handle this one. Maybe she'll see your pretty face and be smitten.' Ezra laughed loudly at the thought. 'Onya, it might just be the other way around! Varick has always had a weakness for a pretty face...' Varick scoffed. Ezra always took a chance to refer to his manwhorish tendencies. 'Enough jokin' around, boys. Just because I crack a quality joke doesn't mean you can.' 'Party pooper,' Ezra said, sounding very much like a petulant child. 'Damn right.' -----------------------------------------. ---------------------------------------- "Ultima Watchers are here!" The scream rent the air and seemed to gain momentum, rolling like a wave from one side of the cavernous room to the other. Aliens were whipped into a frenzy as they all simultaneously tried to get into the hallway I had entered through. Another explosion rocked the station. The lights above flickered ominously. I turned to the other women. They stood tall and surveyed the room with a calculating look on their faces; I felt a moment of pride that we could retain our composure in this situation. Taking advantage of the chaos, I began to weave my way to the other cages with the beings in them. When my clan-mates realized what I was doing, they began to help, freeing the almost-slaves one by one. More screams sounded as two explosions hit the station in quick succession. Cries of panic arose as the potential slave owners realized the port that contained their personal ships had been taken out by the missiles. I was feeling a moment of satisfaction at the knowledge that all of these aliens would be prisoners before long, when a small finger of something trickled into my mind. Frowning, I felt it with my mind. It felt alien, and tickled the inside of my skull uncomfortably. Quickly grasping it in my own mind, I shoved it out of my head forcibly. What was that? I thought to myself. I had never in my life felt anything like it. When I had gripped it with my own mind, I had felt a sense of knowing, like whatever it was had its own thought and feelings. Shaking the disturbing thought from my head, I turned my attention back to the situation at hand. Aliens were running amuck as the panic reached new levels. The slaves the other and I had freed were finding others of their own species and huddling quietly in the parts of the room that were removed from the action. I was turning to my clan-mates, when another tendril of knowing slithered into my conscious. This time, the tendril started feeling the inside of my mind in a rather sensual manner. Disgusted, I grabbed the tendril and snapped it before discarding it like trash from my head. Before I could contemplate the invasion of my mind, another stupid little finger of knowing slid in. This one wasn't as blatantly invasive as the other two, but it still tried to slip through the cracks of my mind to find my secrets. Hissing, I grabbed the little finger of knowing and wrenched it in on itself before tossing it out of my mind. I quickly threw up the strongest mental shields I could conjure. Luckily, I had been teaching myself since I was a child how to imagine the strong, fortified walls of mental protection. A story an older clan-mate had told me about people using their minds to hear the thoughts of others inspired me to do it. Now, I am extremely thankful that I had been such a paranoid little girl. A tap on my thigh interrupted me from my thoughts. I looked down at the little Scelind girl, her choppy black hair and pointed ears giving her away. She blinked big golden eyes at me and held out some fabric. I took it, and it unfolded to reveal a short square of purple silk. Smiling at her, I thanked her. She scurried off to an older pair of Scelind aliens she resembled. Her parents, I guess. Taking the length of silk, I began to wrap it around my hips, slowly crawling up my body to above my breasts. Then, I securely tucked in the last little corner of the silk into the top. The result was a short, tight purple wrap dress. It wasn't as modest as I would've liked, but it was better than being naked. I blushed, suddenly realizing I had been naked the entire time. A loud bang caught my attention. A wave of aliens rushed backwards, away from the hallway they had been trying to cram themselves into beforehand. In the hallway stood four men and one woman. The woman glared at the aliens in front of her, like one would glare at the roach in your home. She was tall, at least six feet, with short white hair and steely grey eyes. I could almost see the hatred in her eyes. The man to her left had hair so black it looked blue. He was tall, taller than her and the other men around him, at least by five inches. His skin was a light caramel, and his violet eyes looked around the room at the hordes of potential slave owners. His lush lips were curled in a sneer of disgust. The man to her right had ice blue eyes and fine blonde hair, looking a bit like a naughty angel. He held a pale, gleaming sword in his hand that immediately caught my attention. The slim, golden blade was engraved with flames, and the hilt was wrapped in a simple leather covering. A large ruby glittered in the pommel. The third man had gleaming chestnut hair and pale green eyes. He stood a little to the right of the man with blonde hair. He had an uninterested look to him, like the entire situation bored him. The fourth man was a slight, pale one with hair a violent shade of blue, tipped in black. His eyes were a glittering brown, like toffee and cream. His skin was pale alabaster, and he had a definite mischievous look to him. My eyes locked with the woman's as I looked back at her. He eyes widened slightly. Without looking away from me, she nudged the man to her left with the black hair. She said something to him, and he looked to me also. An electrical shock went through me the moment we locked eyes. His violet eyes held an intensity that kept me from looking away. Slowly, tentatively, I felt a questioning push at my shields. Scowling, but not breaking eye contact with the violet eyed man, I tightened my mental walls around my mind. Eyes wide, he said something to the woman. She shot me a look filled with surprise and frustration, then motioned to the black haired man and the blonde man. They both started toward me at a quick pace. Watching them for a few moments, I didn't notice the man approaching me from behind. The Reptiloid slid a hand around my waist and tugged hard, making me stumble. His clawed fingers dug into my side hard, as his other clawed hand covered my mouth before I could shout. Angrily, I tried to jerk myself away. The Reptiloid laughed, a deep malice-filled chuckle, and tightened his grip. "You are mine, woman," he hissed before sliding a long, scaly tongue into my ear. A red haze fell over my eyes. I smiled, recognizing it from before. Heat crawled beneath my skin, aching to escape and incinerate the Reptiloid. Suddenly, flames of red and gold burst from my skin, licking the air with furious crackles and pops. The Reptiloid released a high scream of pain. The sound hurt my ears, the pitch was so high. He stumbled back, and I turned and watched his scales shrivel up and blacken, then fall off. Shouts of alarm rang out as other beings began to notice my fired up state. The woman stared at me in obvious surprise, and the blonde and black haired men whom had been making their ways toward me stopped stock still to take in my power. Deciding to make a spectacle of it, I wriggled my fingers at the surprised men and leaped away, making my escape. A Dangerous One Ch. 04 Varick and his men moved through the halls of the space station, Auction Site 43. He and the other Ultima Watchers mowed through the men like fire in a dry forest. Ezra shouted in elation as the adrenaline flooding his system gave him an extra edge. Varick turned to him in time to see Ezra launch a palm blast at a Reptiloid. The blue arc of energy spattered against the alien, eating through his thick hide like acid. Their commander, Onya, led Varick and the others through the crowd of aliens with a quick efficiency. She wasted no time fighting, only twitching her sword lightly to each side as aliens rushed at her. The unfortunate aliens fell down around her with throats wide open, blood pouring out like a wave of red. Varick felt admiration for his commander; she had practically raised him since he was a young boy. Onya had found Varick huddled in a cold alleyway on the planet called Earth. He had cupped a small fire in his palms to keep himself warm. The moment Onya locked eyes with the young boy, she had known his potential. That was all it had taken to inspire the older woman to take the young Varick under her wing, teaching him and raising him like her own son. Varick would do anything for Onya; he felt eternal gratitude to her for rescuing him from that cold alley so many years ago. The five Ultima Watchers cut down every opposing alien in the hallway. Finally, they reached the holding area, where the soon-to-be slaves were put into cages for aliens to observe, and buy. Varick cut down an alien who got in his way with a light flick of his sword. The black blade glinted dully from the flickering overhead lights. He heard Ezra give a low whistle, and looked over. That was when Varick noticed the absolute chaos in the cavernous room before him and the others. Aliens rushed around in a frenzy, rolling back away from the door where he and the other Ultima Watchers stood. The tidal wave of alien species amazed Varick; he could see Weres and Elves clearly in the crowd. They detested slavery, so why were they here? Onya nudged his side. "Look for the Adliat woman. She's the reason there are so many slave buyers here." "She must be a real looker then," said Ezra. "I'm almost excited to find her." Onya gave the teenager a look. Ezra quailed under her scorching glare, letting his blue hair fall forward to cover his face. Varick grinned at Ezra's cowed look. The only thing that frightened the nineteen year old was Onya, and cotton candy, for some odd reason. Ezra claimed the stuff had a hidden evil in its sugary sweetness. A flash of bright color caught Varick's attention. He watched in amazement as a silvery-blue haired woman with a long feathered tail swung from the overhead lights with ease. She reminded him of an Earthling character from a movie: Tarzan, swinging from vines. Ezra ket out a wolf whistle when he saw the naked woman above him. "Geez, it should be illegal to be that hot! Now I see why Adliat women are such expensive slaves! Especially if they all look like that!" Brendyn cuffed Ezra upside the head. The stoic blonde warrior smirked at the young Ultima Watcher. "Dibs." Ezra scowled. "You can't call dibs on something like that! You saw her! That's just cruel, calling her before the rest of us get a chance." Brendyn grinned. "Maybe next time, cub." Varick rolled his eyes at his companions banter. They were lucky they all got along so well. Some Ultima Watcher groups were in a constant argument, and it made their performance less than satisfactory to the Authority. "You wish, Brendyn. Maybe she likes brunettes?" Callum grinned at the other two, his green eyes glittering mischievously. "No one would go for your pansy ass, Callum," said Varick. "Adliat women like a real man, like me." Varick chuckled at the look of outrage Callum sent him. Callum was so easy to rile up. "Cool it, boys," said Onya. "Again, you forget the mission. If you had remembered, you would have noticed her by now." "Such a drama Queen," Ezra muttered. Varick and the others all looked around the large area. It took only a moment for Brendyn to notice her. "Holy shit," he whispered. When Varick saw her, he couldn't agree with the sentiment more. Her hair was what he saw first. A riot of color, blood red and vibrant orange, gold strands here and there. It fell down her back in a waterfall of soft waves. A purple dress covered her tender bits from view, but it was tight enough to give Varick an idea of what lay beneath. Round breasts pushed against the silky fabric, a slim waist and flat tummy making her breasts look even larger. Slightly flaring hips slimmed down to beautiful creamy thighs and toned calves. Varick's eyes traveled back up her body to her face, meeting with lush pink lips that curved in a perfect Cupid's Bow. A small pert nose and graceful cheek bones came next. Then, Varick was looking straight into her eyes. The tilted orbs narrowed on him, the vibrant green capturing him. Gold diamonds glittered at him from within her irises, and long black lashes concealed those amazing eyes from view for half a second before giving them up to his perusal again. A red tail curled around her hips briefly, and he noticed its luxurious red fur. He felt envious of how it lightly touched her hips and trim waist. "Hot damn," muttered Callum. "Forget that other Adliat woman." "I've always been partial to red heads," muttered Ezra weakly. "Perfection personified," Said Brendyn solemnly. Onya rolled her eyes at the men's theatrics. "You all need to take a cold shower. I'm not washing the sticky mess out of your pant if you lose control," she said with a chuckle. "I hope she's a lesbian, just so all of you can't have her." Callum huffed, "I haven't lost control like that since I was fifteen.Even though, just looking at this woman brings me to the edge. Besides, I think we could change her mind if she favors women," Callum intoned with a wink. All Brendyn could do was make a noise in agreement. Varick looked to Onya. "You want us to capture her?" "Yeah, good hunting. She's extremely powerful." Varick stared at the Adliat woman. Slowly, he reached out a finger of his conciouss to brush hers. The woman scowled and tightened mental shields of steel around her mind, without breaking eye contact. Varick jolted in surprise that she could feel when he touched her mind-to-mind. He turned to Onya, noting her unsurprised look. "How the hell are we supposed to capture her?" Onya laughed. "It's gonna' be interesting to watch you try." Brendyn narrowed his eyes at their commander. "You don't think we are capable?" "Oh, your perfectly capable," said Onya with a chuckle, "of capturing her. If she wants to be caught, that is." "She's only about 5 feet four inches or so tall," said Callum in a calculating way. "We could overtake her if we all rushed her at once." Onya snorted. Varick looked at Onya. "You know something about her that you aren't sharing," he said. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Consider this a training excersise, boys." "What if we don't capture her?" asked Ezra. "She can't leave the ship anyway; there are no transport ships left, and I doubt she knows how to drive one anyway." "So if can't capture her, we just wait until she gets tired?" asked Callum. "Pretty much," replied Onya. "Or until we can get some other Watchers to help out." Varick sighed. "Might as well get on with it." "Brendyn, you and I will approach her head on. Ezra, you go in from the right, and Callum from the left," Varick said, making eye contact with each man as he said their name. "Maybe if we can get some elctrum threaded rope around her, she won't be able to fight us off. It dampens our power, so why not hers?" "Good thought, Varick," said Onya approvingly. Varick smiled briefly at the older woman. Her grey eyes were on the Adliat woman. Varick wondered what his commander thought of the powerful female. Did Onya think she was a threat to her power? Did she see the almost-slave as she had seen Varick, a young alien who needed a nurturing mother figure? Varick shook the distracting thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus on the mission at hand. Varick and Brendyn began pushing through the crowd. Aliens scrambled out of their way as they walked to the Adliat woman who stood above them on a large cage. She looked like a vengeful Queen reigning over her chaotic court. Her tail began to whip around her, like a cat's did before it pounced on its prey. Her green eyes narrowed to slits, and damn did she look sexy as hell all pissed off. "Uh oh," Brendyn muttered. A large Reptiloid, one of the largest Varick had ever seen, slipped a thickly muscled scaly arm around the Adliat. Her eyes snapped open, and her pupils narrowed to dangerous slits. She pushed forward to try to escape his grasp, but the Reptiloid laughed, a low chuckle that grated in Varick's ears. 'We have to help her,' Ezra spoke into his mind. 'Just watch. She has it under control,' said Onya. 'This should be a learning experience for you boys. Never, ever, manhandle a woman.' Varick started forward anyway, his need to protect the woman overriding his curiosity at what Onya meant. Her bright emerald eyes were widened in panic and anger. Her pupils both contracted to narrow diamonds, like a snake's. Varick could see the spark as it flared into life in the deep recess of her eyes, and then he watched in confusion as the gold flame flickered at her fingertips, and then roared into life. A nimbus of light and flame sprung into glorious life as the Adliat caught fire. "Holy shit, is she burning alive?" Brendyn stared at the woman in horror. She should be screaming, crying out in pain. Yet ... she wasn't. The Adliat woman wasnt even burning. She was standing ramrod straight, tail moving in quick staccoto bursts around her as she glared at the Reptiloid that was burning alive before her eyes. When she had manifested her power as flame around her, the Reptiloid had been caught by the conflagaration. 'You want us to CAPTURE HER? How the hell are we supposed to capture her when she can melt the electrum rope!' Ezra was frantic. Onya let loose a roaring laugh that surprised her men. She rarely gave full force to her amusement. 'This should knock all of you guys' self confidence down a few notches.' 'Is she a sociopath or something?' Asked Callum. 'She's just watching that Reptiloid burn.' 'Adliat women are used to a life of hardship. They are constantly hunted by the men of their own planet. So, it's not that she is sociopathic and can't feel remorse or guilt at the loss of a life, it's just that she is ruthless when it comes to her own survival,' said Onya. Varick could empathize with the beautiful woman. When he had been living on Earth as a child, he had had to steal and fight for any scrap of food he needed to survive. The Adliat woman had turned back to face Varick as the life faded from the Reptiloid. Her body shimmered with brazen power, and her own sexuality that she seemed not to know of. The woman was sex on stick, and she didnt even realize the power her beauty afforded her. She blinked her luminous eyes, and then grinned, perfect lips parting to reveal white straight teeth. Her canines were sharp, little points that bit into her full bottom lip. Lifting a slim pale hand, she wriggled her fingers teasingly and then darted away, tail whipping back and forth. Varick admired her backside for a moment, before his mind caught up to the fact that she was getting away. He and Brendyn lurched after, weaving in between the frantic aliens around them. Figures that the most gorgeous woman Varick has ever seen runs away from him. It is just his luck.