by Kate Rudolph
“Can you tell me my future?” Deke asked. “Just a hint.”
“She already told us she couldn’t control it.” Brax shoved his twin lightly. “She’s Shayn’s denya, not a circus performer. Do you think that the Detyen you saw was one of the warriors we want to meet on Earth?”
The sudden shift confused Naomi for a second. “Warriors? Earth?” What did her home planet have to do with this? She vaguely remembered Shayn saying something about Earth before Morgyn’s goons had captured her, but it had fallen by the wayside in her desire to escape.
“We’re going to Earth, didn’t Shayn tell you?” Brax demanded, sending his brother a hard look. “A bunch of Detyens just showed up there. They fought off some alien threat and have been welcomed. We think...” He swallowed and trailed off, losing a bit of vigor. “You still want to go to Earth, don’t you?” The question was addressed to his older brother.
Shayn took a deep breath and Naomi could feel his eyes heavy on her. She knew that if she said she didn’t want to go, he’d tell his brother no. And from the hint of fear lurking in Brax’s question, he suspected it too.
Naomi hadn’t been to Earth since she was a small child, her parents having moved off planet several years before they died. She had a vague memory of blue skies, but sometimes that felt like nothing more than a dream. But there was nothing keeping her from returning, and she had nowhere else she wanted to go. If Brax and Deke wanted to go there and meet up with these warriors and get answers about their people, she wasn’t going to be the one to stop them.
She laced her fingers with Shayn’s. “Earth,” she said, nodding. “Sounds fun.”
Brax visibly relaxed, and the tension that had suddenly risen in the room released. It would be awhile before Shayn’s brothers were completely comfortable with her, before they believed that she wasn’t going to change everything about their lives. But she was ready, and she was excited to see what came next.
Honora Station. Earth. It was a long way from the facility on Oscavia, and she was ready to see the sights.
HIS ARRIVAL AT HONORA Station this time around was much calmer. There was no panicked rush to get on the fastest flight back to Oscavia. And his brothers didn’t have to hold him back from making hasty decisions, not that they’d actually been able to stop him. This time when he arrived back he saw his home, and as he walked hand in hand with his mate towards his quarters he realized that he was going to miss it.
Well, some of it. Brax and Deke surged ahead of them when they made it to the corridor that held their room, and when he and Naomi entered he was reminded just how tiny the space that they lived in was. The lack of privacy had been a minor annoyance before, but now that he had a mate the constant presence of his brothers might just drive him mad.
“We won’t be here for long,” he promised his denya as he placed the bag of belongings they’d bought on the ship in the small storage space beside where his bed pulled down. “Or we could see about renting a temporary room. I know that it’s cramped in here.”
Naomi smiled and stepped close to him, not difficult to do in the small room. She cupped his cheek and kissed him sweetly. “We’ll be fine, Shayn.” Something in his brothers’ room crashed to the floor, and muffled voices hissed at each other. “Though,” she continued, “I might take you up on the temporary room offer. If only for... privacy.” She trailed her fingers down his chest and Shayn groaned, his cock twitching.
But now was not the place.
“Can I show you my home?” he asked. “The station, I mean. The quarters here aren’t much to see.”
“If you’re there, there’s plenty to see.” Her brown eyes glinted in the light and Shayn really wished his brothers weren’t sitting behind a thin door only a couple meters away. “But show me the station. I actually think my parents might have brought me here when I was eight or nine, but I’m not sure.”
Honora Station was a common way point for travelers in the Milky Way, especially those going to or from the Oscavian Empire. As far as Shayn knew, things hadn’t changed much in the last fifteen years, but now Naomi could see the station with an adult’s eyes and he wondered what she would think.
They left his room behind without letting his brothers know. They would figure it out eventually, and after days on a ship all cooped up together—and with more time to come in even closer quarters—he and his denya could use a little time on their own.
“Anything coming back yet?” He tapped his forehead, the sign that had come to refer to her psychic powers.
Naomi’s fingers tightened around his. “My instincts are returning to normal. And I’ve had some... flashes. Nothing concrete. Nothing about me or us. I think it’s all coming back.”
“That’s good.” Shayn didn’t need his mate to be able to divine the things to come, but she’d lived with her power for so long that it was now a part of her and she’d miss it if it was gone. He wanted his mate to want for nothing. “No inklings of whether or not Morgyn’s coming?”
His denya shivered and he pulled her close, letting go of her hand to wrap his arm around her. “No,” she said. “Nothing. Do you think they’re coming? Sola Corp put a lot of money into developing me.”
“We’re a long way from the Oscavian Empire,” was Shayn’s response. “And Earth is farther still. I think as long as we steer clear of the Empire, we’re going to be okay. And if they try to come for you, we’ll know to be ready. I’m not letting them take you back. You’re mine.”
She bit her lip and quickly glanced up at him and then away. “I should not love the sound of that. You sound like a barbarian.”
“If I were a barbarian I’d take you right here just to show everyone that you were mine.” He put a bit of growl in his voice, just a bit of threat, but his eyes were crinkled up, smiling at the game.
Naomi’s eyebrows shot up. “If you’re going to say something like that, be prepared to prove it.” She stepped in close, using her body to press him back towards the wall.
Shayn could have resisted, but why would he? He dipped his head down and captured his mate’s lips, pulling her as close as he could manage and plundering her mouth with the promise of more.
Naomi stiffened in his arms and gasped, but it wasn’t the sound of pleasure he’d come to expect. He opened his eyes and found Brax’s hand on her arm, an annoyed look on his brother’s face. “How many times am I going to catch you two?” he asked.
Naomi’s face had lost some color and she looked at Brax for a moment before tearing her gaze away. She met Shayn’s eyes and gave him a smile, but shadows still clung to her eyes. But if she didn’t want to deal with it yet, he could wait.
“It was one time, brother,” Shayn said, “and if you’d stayed away like you said you would, you wouldn’t have seen anything.”
Brax just rolled his eyes. “I checked the flight schedules. It’s two weeks before anything is leaving for Earth. Is that enough time for you to sort everything out? There’s another transport in a month.”
“Two weeks is fine,” Naomi answered before Shayn. “No need to linger.”
Had she seen something? Either way, Shayn wasn’t going to stay on Honora longer than necessary. “Two weeks,” he confirmed. “I’m ready to see our new home.”
Brax looked at Naomi for a long moment, but she wouldn’t look at him. Finally he shrugged and walked away.
“Is everything alright?” Shayn asked. Was his mate in pain? In danger? Was there anything he could do to help her?
“I realize that I don’t know him very well, but I think Brax hasn’t been feeling too great lately. Maybe you should spend some time with him before we leave.” She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest, no longer trying to seduce him, but taking comfort.
“Any particular reason?”
“I just think you should.” And when his psychic told him to do something, he was going to listen.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
SHAYN FOUND BRAX AT his favorite hide out, a small canteen th
ree floors below their quarters that was just out of the way enough that it wasn’t teeming with tourists. Brax sat at a corner table nursing a pale green drink and looking down at his table as if it could give him the answers he was searching for. Shayn pulled up a chair and placed an order for a drink of his own on the tablet built into the side of the table.
“I’m surprised you could tear yourself away from your new denya,” he said, taking a big swig of the drink.
So he was sulking. Of his two brothers, Deke was the one more likely to face his emotions head on while Brax liked to sink into himself and hide away until he could bury everything once again. It had led to a few meltdowns in the past, and Shayn knew it was best to try and pull the man out of his funks when he got this way.
“I’m not going to forget about you or Deke just because I’m with Naomi now.” And he hadn’t expected that he’d need to explain this. Brax was a man, not a boy; then again, it had only been the three of them for so long that adding another person probably felt like a monumental and potentially disastrous change. Their mother had refused to leave their home world with them because she had a new husband, so perhaps Brax feared that Naomi would divide Shayn’s loyalties in the same way.
“Great,” Brax sulked. He didn’t say anything else to Shayn, but he didn’t tell him to go either, so Shayn stayed. His drink appeared after a few minutes and they nursed their beverages quietly until Brax felt like talking again. “You went to Oscavia to find out if we’re all going to have to pay the denya price, instead you found your denya. Doesn’t that answer the question? If we can find our mates, doesn’t that mean we’ll die if we don’t?”
Shayn had asked those same questions, and he still didn’t have answers. He wished his brothers didn’t have to live with this fear, that he could tell them with certainty what would happen to them. He wished he could find them mates so they would know the same happiness that he did. But he had no definite answers to offer. “I don’t know what it means for you,” he answered honestly, trying not to wince at the dispirited look in his brother’s eyes. “But I don’t think that my finding a mate is a guarantee that you and Deke will pay the denya price. My mate is human. We’ve heard of other humans finding mates among the Detyens. Humans have no built in expiration date, but they can still sense the bond. Perhaps Oscavians can as well, even if I’ve never heard of one becoming a denya to a Detyen. When we get to Earth we will find this Detyen Legion and hopefully they can give us answers.”
“Ah, yes, the saviors of the Detyen race.” Brax drank again. “What exactly have they been doing for the last hundred years while we’ve all been left to flounder on far flung worlds? If there was some huge legion of warriors, why didn’t they try and find other Detyens?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can ask them that as well.” A part of Shayn thought it was too good to be true, and that this alleged legion would turn out to be nothing more than a handful of half-trained boys selling stories of a glorified past. But even that would be better than what he and his brothers had now.
“I should feel nothing but happiness for you.” Brax slammed his half empty glass down and the liquid sloshed, nearly jumping out and onto the table. His eyes blazed blue as he met Shayn’s gaze. “You’ve found your denya. Father told you stories about that, about how it’s one of the most wondrous things any Detyen can hope to experience. And instead of joy, I’m stuck here wondering how it’s all going to go wrong.”
Would Shayn feel the same if their roles were reversed? There was no way to be certain, and it didn’t matter. Was this why Naomi had wanted him to come? Could she feel the conflict swirling inside Brax? Or was it something else? Something worse? Whatever battles lay ahead for his brother, Shayn would be there to face them with him, head on.
“It’s new, and I’m sure you’ll adjust to it,” Shayn assured him. “And perhaps we’ll find you a denya on Earth, or answers about the denya price. Things are changing, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”
“What if I do find my denya and they don’t want to stay with the family? What if they’re from some far flung planet and need me there? Your denya agreed to stay, but she could have just as easily said she wanted to go somewhere else. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have followed her.” He glared at the table, his mouth set in a scowl.
“If something like that comes to pass, we’ll figure it out.” But Shayn’s stomach sank at the thought. When the issue of going to Earth had come up, he’d had a moment’s fear that Naomi wouldn’t want it, one she’d quelled almost immediately. But a different woman, a different mate, might not have made that same choice. And if his brothers found their mates, they might all be split up, their family divided once more. “We shouldn’t borrow trouble now,” he said, sounding more sure than he felt. “We’re together and we’re going to remain that way for a long time.”
Brax finished his drink and stood. “If you say so. Now, if you don’t mind, I need some time to think.” He took off, leaving Shayn alone. And Shayn had to hope his brother would be alright. Things were changing quickly, and not all changes ended up being for the best.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IT HAD BEEN OVER A week since the vision hit and Naomi was still trying to put it out of her mind. Every time she thought she was successful, she’d see a flash of red skies and smell the scent of burned flesh and know it wasn’t going away any time soon. Shayn knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. If what she saw was true, Brax didn’t need her interference. And if she interfered, it might deprive him of everything.
She couldn’t risk it. Sometimes the hardest part about having her powers was knowing she couldn’t do anything. Events would play out as they would, and if she tried to act she could screw everything up. Sometimes things needed to be screwed up, like the visions she’d had that led her to escape Sola Corp’s clutches. But some things she couldn’t touch.
Brax was a smart and capable man, and she could feel the steely determination that lived within him. He was untested in many ways, and so, so young, but he could rise to the challenge. If it ever came to pass.
“Please tell me what’s on your mind,” her mate asked, throwing himself across the bed and lying on a pile of clothing they were supposed to be packing for the upcoming move. He reached for her arm and tried to tug her down beside him, but Naomi resisted; she didn’t want to wrinkle everything or fold it all again.
“It’s nothing,” she said. And so far it was, so she only felt a little guilty at the potential untruth. “I told you that some visions take longer to get over than others. This one is just sticking around for a while.”
“And you won’t tell me what it’s about.” It wasn’t a question. They’d been over this before.
“If I told you the details of every vision you’d be bored to tears. Sometimes they’re no more interesting than what a person I pass is going to have for dinner.”
“And sometimes they tell you the outcome of a war,” he shot back, tugging a little harder until Naomi relented and fell down beside him, pushing the clothes out of her way. “No matter what, I want to know what’s on your mind.”
“You’re telling me that you’ll tell me every thought that flits through that brain of yours?” She knew the more she resisted the more Shayn would latch on, but teasing him was too fun.
He grinned and his eyes flashed blue. “I’m definitely thinking of something.” He ran a hand up her side and made her shiver. His fingers worked at the clasp of her top and had it opened before she even realized what he was doing. “I can always torture the information out of you.”
Naomi laughed. “You’re greatly misinformed on the definition of torture.”
He leaned down and captured her nipple between his lips, tugging on it just up to the point of pain and letting go when she moaned. “Am I?”
Just like that, she was ready for more. She’d never known she could be so hooked on sex, or on Shayn, but she couldn’t get enough of her mate. And given the tight
quarters of the last week, they’d had to get inventive, take risks, and use their time carefully to even begin to slake the hunger that flared up between them whenever they touched.
Shayn paid attention to her other nipple, making her writhe under him while his fingers splayed out against her stomach, holding her down against the bed. When she arched up into him and laced her fingers through his hair, he pulled back. “Are you ready to give up the information now?”
“I’ve been trained to withstand torture,” she panted back. She was already wet and aching for him to fill her up. She pressed in close to him, needing the contact, needing more. Her whole body was heavy with want and Shayn was the only one who could give her what she needed.
“You look ready to break,” he shot back, his fingers ghosting over her nipples and then diving down into her pants to find her core hot and ready for him. “So wet,” he said, “and all mine.” He pulled his fingers out and licked them, his eyes somehow going even more blue as he tasted her.
“I can take more,” she goaded him. She’d already forgotten what she was supposed to be holding back, too intent on what her mate was doing to her.
“Can you?” Shayn asked. He loomed over her, their lips only centimeters apart. She wanted to arch up and taste him, but the way he was holding her down made it so he was in control. He was just far enough away that she couldn’t manage to steal a kiss. “Your body is already begging for more.”
“Yes,” she moaned out. “More.”
He kissed his way down her neck, nipping at it and leaving marks that would be with her for days. “All you have to do is give me what I want.”