“You would think a male seeking his beloved wife who had gone overboard would call in your security for help,” Trian said.

  “Yes, the coastguard for one,” Amelia stated. “Anyway, from what I read when I googled him, his parents are known for throwing their money at substantial people to get what they want. And after being denied access to the island I thought he or his family might cause some problems, so we asked you here to get your input.”

  Trian shook his head. “I am very proud to be captain of my own ship, I worked hard to get here, but for you humans, it would seem rank is not held as high as money on your planet.”

  “We need to decide what to do, because I honestly don’t see him waiting much longer.”

  Crimson sighed. “I am so sorry about all this.”

  “Hey,” Amelia said before Crimson could say anything else. “You didn’t do anything but wash up on our shores, severely beaten and unconscious. None of this is your fault.”

  “But if I’d been washed out to sea, you wouldn’t be having this problem,” Crimson replied sadly.

  Amelia glared at Crimson. “Get it into your thick head, woman, this is not your fucking fault!”

  “Okay, okay. I get ya, it’s not my fault,” Crimson said. She found angry Amelia adorable. Crimson held her lips tightly together, trying not to smile, but she knew it hadn’t worked when Amelia frowned and squinted her eyes at her. That just made Amelia look even more adorable, and Crimson bit down on her bottom lip, trying not to laugh outright, but it didn’t stop a tiny chuckle from slipping out. “Did you know you actually look kinda cute when you get angry?”

  Their small group’s attention suddenly turned to Trian when he chuckled long and deep. “She does, doesn’t she?” He smirked down at his spark. “I have often told her this, but she still tries.”

  Amelia just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “You do not really wish you had washed out to sea, do you?” Teclis asked. “We would never have found you.”

  Crimson looked up at her male. His burgundy eyes swirled with sadness. “You would never have known any better,” she said, allowing the truth to slip out.

  Teclis opened his mouth to reply, but Trian spoke first.

  “You can discuss this later. We need to decide what to do with that male. I don’t like him just sitting there on his boat. My idea of bringing him aboard and placing him in a room of our warriors and allowing them to show him how a female shouldn’t be treated, was sadly rejected. After hearing the way he treated you, Crimson, I do believe the male could use our help.”

  “As I’ve already told you, that is not an option,” Amelia stated firmly.

  “Well,” Trian said, as if exasperated. “The male needs someone to guide him in how to treat a female properly. He needs to be taught a lesson, one he might not walk away from.”

  “Would you really make him disappear?” Crimson asked worriedly. Not for Luke, she didn’t really want to know him anymore, but the thought that these aliens would kill or harm a human being just for…what, hurting a female? It was a bit drastic.

  “We could make him disappear from Earth if he was deemed a security risk,” Trian replied. “Such as if he found out a bunch of alien warriors were inhabiting an island and decided to tell everyone. But we wouldn’t kill him, Crimson. No. We would simply place him somewhere secure so he couldn’t hurt another female or inform anyone of our situation. We have already allowed one human male to be free, although he was deemed mentally insane. I do not wish for another male to start shouting about us anywhere else. Too much speculation about us would be a bad thing.”

  A male who was sitting at a console stood and joined the small group. His eyes were purple, which had once been her favorite color. But now that she had seen Teclis and Coil’s beautiful eyes, that had changed.

  When Teclis’s emotions grew, his orange eyes swirled so fast they look almost tiger-like. Whereas Coil’s burgundy ones swirled nearly black. Especially when he was about to come. Crimson’s cheeks heated as she thought about Coil’s sexy, hard, muscular body over hers and the feeling of Tec’s skin resting against her back as they both fucked her. Teclis squeezed her hand briefly, breaking Crimson’s thoughts of sex and bringing her back to the bridge and their group.

  “This is Iryano,” Teclis said, introducing the new male to Crimson. “He’s our second-in-command.”

  “Amelia has informed us that there are some groups of humans who like to deliberate over alien visitors. The last thing we need is a group of such people heading out to Mermaid Isle looking for just that.”

  Crimson sighed. “Okay.” She thought quickly over everything she had learned about Luke over the years. Which, to be honest, wasn’t much being he kept her in the dark about such things. “His family does have substantial money, although I’ve only met them once or twice. They didn’t think very highly of me and constantly made sure Luke knew that. After he returned from his Sunday visits to see his family I always expected a…” Crimson had grown to hate Sundays. Luke always came home frustrated or angry, and it was her who took the brute force of it. “Anyway, although he made frequent visits to them and seemed close, I found out the hard way that there were problems. Ones that were kept away from the public eye.”

  She paused a moment, and both of her warriors squeezed her hands, offering her their comfort. She didn’t dare look up at them, fearful of seeing their intense emotions which she could almost feel coming from them.

  “As for the island…” she continued. “I think with enough money he or his family could bring some kind of investigation to the island. But I’m not sure. It depends on how hell-bent Luke is to find me.”

  “What if we have Jikel and Sharan escort him around while our warriors wait inside the house or in the new mountain base,” Amelia suggested. “Would that appease him?”

  Crimson shrugged. “You could I suppose. But knowing he’s obsessed enough with me to dock his ship and ask if I’d been seen, I would highly doubt it.”

  Trian turned around to face the huge screen that had the image of Luke’s ship on it before pressing a button on his comm. “Jikel.”

  So much had happened and was going on, Crimson suddenly felt weary of it all and wished for a quiet five minutes to soak it all in.

  “Jikel here.” A deep male’s voice sounded around the large room through hidden speakers.

  “What of the male on the ship?” Trian asked.

  “He still remains on his vessel, sir, but he has been talking to someone the entire time. I have seen no other human on board his vessel, so I asked Sharan what she thought. She says he could be using a phone or is talking to himself and belongs in a nuthouse. When I asked what nuthouse meant, she said she would explain later. I have so many questions.” The male sighed.

  He sounded so frustrated that Crimson had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop herself from interrupting and telling him what the word meant.

  “Can you hear what he has been saying?” Trian asked.

  “No, sir. His words are rather muffled.”

  Trian looked toward Amelia. “Could he be seeking help?”

  “He could.” Amelia shrugged. “But to be honest, he could be speaking to anyone. Even to a point of covering his back.”

  “Covering his back?” Trian asked, frowning.

  Amelia shook her head, letting a small sigh out herself. “Figure of speech. I mean he could be setting a pretense in creating the disappearance of his wife. Or even some kind of alibi.”

  Trian growled and briefly turned his fast-swirling eyes onto Crimson. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he turned his attention back to the male he’d been talking to.

  “Inform the male that you and Sharan have received permission to escort him around the island, but tell him it might be advisable to sail around it himself as it would be quicker than on foot. If he chooses to walk around, then make sure all of our warriors stay out of sight. Do not allow the male anywhere near the properties or out of your sight. We’ll monitor from up here. Stay in contact, Jikel.”

  “Yes, sir. Jikel out.”

  Crimson looked at the huge screen on one of the walls that currently showed Luke’s ship on it. She has originally thought the warrior watching over the ship wore a camera, but now with Trian saying they would monitor from up here, she wasn’t so sure.

  “How are you getting that image?” Crimson asked Amelia.

  “As you can probably tell by the ship we’re standing on and everything you have seen since being aboard, the Gracians are somewhat ahead of us in the technology race.” Amelia chuckled. “Where we have just started using drones to take pictures, etcetera, they use these tiny, shielded bugs that can withstand the atmosphere of the plants that they’ve visited. They are flying all over the island right now,” she said proudly.

  “Do they pick up sound?” Crimson asked.

  “Only if we wish them to,” Trian said, turning his attention back onto Crimson. “Where are you heading with your questions?” he asked suspiciously.

  Crimson looked up at Teclis and then Coil. They weren’t going to like what she said next. Looking around the bridge at all the large alien men around her, she already knew they wouldn’t like it either. She’d grown to know these Gracians weren’t like human men at all. They were kind, caring, and loving. But most of all, they protected their women with a vengeance.

  “Being in space, I know I’m free and Luke is unable to get to me. But I will always be married to him, unable to see the sites of Earth that I wish to see. I would be virtually locked up on this ship like I was with him. I don’t want that.”

  “I—”

  “No,” Crimson said, reaching up and placing her finger on Teclis’s lips, interrupting him before he could say any more. “Please listen to me. Let me tell you my idea.”

  Her warrior’s orange eyes swirled to almost black, showing how upset he was. Silent moments passed with Teclis glaring down at her before he finally nodded.

  Crimson sighed with relief. She turned to Trian. He and the others on the bridge watched her, waiting to hear what she would suggest. She leaned against Teclis behind her; she wanted to soak in the security he gave her, hopeful it would stop her from chickening out of her idea.

  “Okay.” She smiled a little, feeling slightly sick. “We’re going to use your little bugs to get enough proof for me to not only get a divorce from Luke, but also hopefully, get enough evidence to put the bastard in jail.” Crimson could feel Teclis stiffen behind her, but she carried on. “You’re going to say you found me, and I’m going to go back with him, and your little bugs will catch everything he says and does.”

  Teclis suddenly spun her around to face him. “No!” He leaned down to get his face in front of hers. “He will beat you again.”

  Crimson winced. “That’s the idea.”

  Chapter 11

  Crimson sighed as she stared at Teclis’s horrified face. Of course he didn’t like her plan. She knew he wouldn’t.

  “I don’t relish the idea, just as much as you don’t,” she said. “But to get the evidence required for me to be free of Luke or his family, it’s necessary.”

  “No,” Coil said, pulling her into his arms. “We can protect you. If you wish to see Earth, we can show you. We will be at your side. It is against our nature to allow you to return to him and…and… I can’t even think…” He swept a hand through his long mane of hair, worry etched on his face. “We could stand with you on the dock while you inform him you don’t intend to return with him, maybe ask him for this divorce?”

  Crimson shook her head. “That won’t work with Luke. I wish it would. But the man is a stubborn, rich jerk who believes I am his property. He could cause all sorts of trouble for the people on your island, even if he knew I wasn’t there anymore. I need to do it this way.”

  “But how would you explain how you managed to get the footage of him hitting you?” Trian asked behind her.

  “Drones.” Crimson shrugged. “Between now and the time of the footage being seen, I suppose we could come up with a good story.”

  Crimson sighed again and pushed against Coil to look up at both of her warriors.

  “I know you two could keep me safe if we were to travel. But I want to be totally free, without having the fear that if I’m seen he could find out and try hunting me.”

  Crimson looked down at her hand and began twirling the gold band on her finger. She pulled at it and tugged it off. Grasping it between her forefinger and thumb, she held it up in front of Teclis and Coil.

  “I want to know I’m free to love you both. I want to feel it as well as see it. Do you understand?”

  Both warriors gazed down at her, their intense emotions swirling in their eyes for everyone to see. Coil pulled her into his arms and against his chest again. She could feel the rumble of his voice through his hard body when he spoke.

  “I understand, me unum.” He released her and picked up her now ringless finger. “I don’t like this idea at all. I want to make this male disappear, never to be seen again, so you will know you will be safe forever. But if this is what you wish, I will follow it. Although be warned, I cannot promise not to rip off his head for hurting you.”

  Crimson wrapped her arms around Coil’s waist and poured every ounce of love she felt for her warrior into the hug. Raising her head, she stared up at Teclis to see he hadn’t moved, his now black orbs staring down at her.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Amelia said, stepping forward. “We can come up with something else.”

  Crimson released Coil to face her new friend. “I need to do this. It would be easy to make him disappear, but his family would never have closure. They would keep searching, worrying and wondering where he is. I don’t know them that well, and they don’t like me, but I couldn’t do that to them. I couldn’t do that to anyone.”

  Teclis stepped between her and Amelia. He took her chin in his hand and raised it so she was looking up at him. “You are too kind-hearted, me unum. This male has given you yarns of nothing but grief and his family hasn’t cared for you. And yet, you worry about their hearts.”

  Crimson watched as a touch of orange gradually ebbed their way back into Teclis’s swirling eyes until finally she could see his eyes as she loved them.

  “Coil and I will be above the male’s ship, watching over you. I don’t agree with your plan, but for your peace of mind, I will abide by your wishes,” Teclis said. “But as soon as you have the evidence needed to gain your freedom, Coil and I will rescue you.”

  Crimson fell against Teclis, wrapping her arms around his waist as she’d done with Coil’s. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  The thought of returning to Luke, even briefly, had her feeling sick, but she had to do this. Not just for herself, but for all the women who suffered abuse at their husband’s hands. She wanted them to be strong. She wanted to send a message out into the world that money may talk, but the truth will be found out in the end.

  Getting a divorce from Luke would be easy with evidence. She would be free, safe to be with her warriors. But it wasn’t just about that for her. Not only did she want a little vengeance, to see Luke jailed, to have him locked up as he had done to her for years, she also wanted to make sure some poor other woman didn’t take her place.

  * * * *

  After they had come up with a plan about how to deal with Luke, Teclis watched Crimson lay on a medical bed. All she had on was a bra and panties. He felt sick to his stomach watching Hover slowly create a mixture of blue and green bruises over her body with his devices. The medic had explained it was all cosmetic, and Crimson wouldn’t feel any pain at all.

  It was taking everything inside of Teclis not to scoop up his little spark and lock her away in their cabin. He kept telling himself she wouldn’t want that, so there he was standing beside Coil, their hands joined to not only stop the pain from being apart but to aid each other in watching Crimson get the last few touches to her makeup. All the time he gritted his teeth hard enough that they could turn to dust.

  “There, that should be enough,” Hover said, standing back to look over his handiwork.

  Crimson sat up and gazed down her body. “Good God, it looks like I’ve gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.”

  “Ten rounds? And who is this Mike Tyson?” Teclis asked, feeling suddenly annoyed. He has no idea who Mike Tyson was but he wanted to find this male and pound him into soup.

  “Don’t worry,” Crimson said, throwing her legs over the side of the medical bed. “It’s a boxing reference, and he’s someone who participates in the sport.”

  “He beats women for sport?” Teclis all but roared, thinking the more he learned about human males the less he liked them.

  “No, silly. Men hit men in a ring. Or some women who choose to take up the sport hit each other.”

  Teclis shook his head, dismayed. He could understand the males hitting each other to some extent, because when the males of his species went through warrior training and they learned how to fight. But he couldn’t fathom why the females would do such a thing.

  Seeing Crimson shuffle forward to climb off the bed, Teclis moved to wrap his hands around her waist and aid her. He held her against him as she slid down to the floor, her softness against his hardness. Unable to stop himself, he leaned down and took her lips with his.

  She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, and he once more lifted with ease, his hands clenching her butt. Even with Hover standing right there, Crimson wrapped her legs around his waist as she slipped her tongue inside his mouth. The kiss was over before Teclis wished it to be.

  “We need to get going,” she said quietly.

  Again, Teclis nearly walked out of medical and straight back to their cabin. But as if she knew his thoughts, the look in her bright green eyes changed to ones begging him not to.