Nathek Etos slammed his giant reptilian foot against the door, breaking it open. He knew Grine was in there. And he sure as hell wasn't going to wait for him to finish using the whore before he arrested the sonofabitch.
The door gave way easily, giving Nathek a jump on his prey. The hunter had found his game.
The hunter was an assassin. Nathek Etos. He'd been hunting disreputable men across the galaxy after having his family torn away from him. He'd go anywhere he had to in order to find his man. Even here--at the Bordello.
Grine jumped up from his previously occupied stance and got a look at the galaxy's most illusive assassins before his head exploded with one of Nathek's silent rounds. He didn't like prolonging the task when there was no reason to. He may be an assassin, but he wasn't a murderer.
Grine was a murderer; or had been a murderer. He alone was responsible for the decimation of a galaxy cruiser carrying over five thousand families. Mothers, fathers and children seeking to make a home on a new planet. This was justice.
Grine's body fell to the ground. As was his natural modus operandi, Nathek was ready to leave after tearing a chunk of hair off the murderer's scalp as proof of his kill.
But before he managed to escape, Nathek looked up and saw who Grine had paid so heavily to pass his hour with. He never looked up before, not wanting to see the fear and accusation in the eyes of bystanders.
But this time he did. And who he saw made him stop, forgetting his mission, forgetting he could be discovered at any moment.
He saw Raineth. His wife.
She sat on the bunk, staring at him in disbelief. Was she disbelieving that he was there or shocked at being caught? Nathek didn't know.
She clutched a blanket to her nakedness, though he knew every inch of her scaly green skin. He'd worshiped it, begged it for pleasure only to be denied again and again. In the five solar years of their marriage his wife had only came to pleasure once. And it shamed Nathek to know he failed her.
Raineth had been taken from him by a slave cruiser. He was a lowly farmer then, working the fields on their swampy planet. He'd been poor and without resources. But he'd always been happy having Raineth and his children.
With no skills to rescue her and no resources to pay someone else to do it, he'd been forced to go himself, to train as an assassin, praying it would pay off and he'd find his family.
Three years ago he'd found and captured the slave cruiser that took his family away from him. He'd tortured the captain of the ship within an inch of his life. He'd finally told Nathek his wife had killed herself. And he'd believed them.
"You're not dead." He said, shocked at hearing the words come from his mouth. She didn't respond; she stared at him instead, her eyes wide with...fear.
Nathek didn't think twice before grabbing her hard, pulling her out of the small bordello room and pulling her behind him. She needed to know he wouldn't harm her. But he had to get her to safety first.
He wove through the maze of rooms. Some were occupied, voices screaming in both pain and pleasure when they passed.
He took her to the side docking bay where he'd secretly entered. Raineth stopped him from pushing her into his small transport.
"No! No, I can't go with you, Nathek."
Nathek couldn't believe she'd want to stay here, forced to do what he knew she abhorred.
"Raineth Etos, you are my wife and will do as I command. Get in!"
He couldn't be sure, but was that a flush of arousal rising to her cheeks? Nathek didn't stop to consider, pulling her once again willing body into the small ship.
When Nathek was two lightyears from the Bordello he set his ship on autopilot and turned to face Raineth. She was beautiful with her scales shining in the articifical light coming from above.
He didn't' know what to say to her. 'I"m sorry I never found you' sounded pathetic. He'd failed her and he was ashamed of himself.
Instead of speaking he offered her food and drink, turning to the lavatorial unit and pouring a small bath for her. He attended to her in silence, inspecting every inch of her light green skin. Checking every gill, every scale for possible damage.
"Your property is in sufficient health," Raineth bit out, misunderstanding the motivation of his concern.
"I haven't seen you in five solar years, Raineth. I need to believe it's you. I need to know you're safe. I thought you'd died." She must have heard the agony in his voice because her eyes immediately softened.
"Then why did you come for me?"
"I came to kill Grine." At her wide eyed confusion he explained. "After you left I was trained by Silvatore, the great assassin. I had hoped to find you...and the boys. I found the cruiser that took you. I killed every last one of them. But I was too late; or I had thought. They told me you'd taken your own life."
Raineth slid the sponge over her skin, wiping away Grine's scent. She couldn't look at him when she told him what happened to their boys. "They were sold to a rich household, to work as servants. Truthfully part of me was relieved after seeing some of the children be taken away for more horrendous futures."
