Warmth (Klance Warmth series Book 1 of +4)

8: Warm Temptation

Lance had lain back down on the ground after Keith left. That had  been about a full varga ago and honestly, he was getting bored. Keith  was interesting, not to mention good looking.

Lance wasn't sure  how long he'd been on the battlecruiser but he could feel the vibrations  of the ship as it picked up speed. That was interesting, but there was  still nothing to do.

Finally, he stood and began pacing. His eye  was giving him difficulty discerning depth accurately. He rolled his one  good eye and walked up to the cell door. There was an access panel by  the door, but it would be useless to try to use it because Galra  technology, like Altean technology, was genetically locked. Only Galra  could access Galra technology and only Alteans could access Altean  technology. Besides, one of the first things Lance had tried after  getting tossed in here was try to hack the panel. No luck.

Footsteps  reverberated from the hallway- footsteps Lance didn't immediately  recognize. Then the door slid open revealing Commander Sendak and  another Galra the prince didn't recognize. Keith was nowhere in sight.  Unnerved, Lance straightened his back and planted his feet. He was a  prince. His people may be all but extinct, but he was still a prince and  he would not submit to just anyone. Especially anyone so obviously  loyal to the betrayer Zarkon.

The larger of the two Galra, Sendak,  stepped into the prince's cell and glared at Lance with one bionic eye  and one mechanical eye. This was the first time Lance got a good look at  the commander, and he wasn't impressed so much as slightly disgusted.  Sendak's proportions were off due to his mechanical left shoulder and  arm. Purple energy buzzed between the metal shoulder and false arm.  Sendak was a cyborg.

Lance had nothing against cyborgs. If you  lost a limb and could or wanted to replace it with a mechanical one,  then by all means. But in this case, the prince highly doubted Sendak  had lost his arm so much as had it removed and replaced with technology.  Why anyone would willingly do that was beyond Lance.

"Enjoying your quarters?" Sendak asked.

Lance narrowed his eyes, refusing to answer.

"I  understand you were quite talkative to your keeper," Sendak continued,  as if he never expected Lance to respond in the first place. "I'm not  surprised a lower life form such as yourself would feel sympathy for a  halfbreed."

Lance kept his eyes straight forward while Sendak  approached him, circling him like a predator eyeing its prey. It caused  the prince's hackles to rise and his skin to prickle. He could feel  Sendak's eyes on him. The Galra standing in front of Lance hadn't moved  except to cross his arms and observe. This was the first time Lance  began to doubt his escape plan.

"Perhaps you could talk to me," Sendak offered. "I have a few questions which I would very much like to be answered."

Lance stayed quiet and unmoving.

"The  Emperor has requested you be brought to him alive and unharmed," the  commander continued. "However, he said nothing about existing injuries."

Lance  tensed, instinctively flinching away from the metallic gleam in the  corner of his left eye. Had his right eye not been swollen shut, he  probably would have seen the attack coming easily, but he didn't. Cold  metal clamped down on his swollen eye and pressed. Lance grunted and  ducked away from the pressure. He turned to stare at Sendak and in doing  so lost sight of the other Galra.

That was his mistake. Before  Lance could react, arms looped under his own and lifted up to rest by  his shoulders effectively rendering both of his arms useless. He  struggled to get out of the hold like he'd been taught as a child, but  the metal was back near his wounded eye and pressing hard. He bit his  lip to prevent himself from crying out in pain.