by Marie Harte
Rafe watched in amazement as Dreyk struggled against himself. His skin rippled. His fingers lengthened and turned into claws. His eyes shifted from black to gray with a thin pupil surrounded by alien green and gold.
“It’s okay, Dreyk. You’re good, man.” Rafe continued to murmur the words and kept still, sensing that the smallest movement might send Dreyk over the edge. Time passed while Dreyk fought himself. Slowly, steadily, the tension in the room faded, and his features returned to normal.
The door to the study banged open. Ryen stormed inside. As if nothing had happened, the remaining energy surrounding Dreyk disappeared.
18
Ryen latched onto Dreyk’s arms and pulled him close. “What the hell’s going on?” His words were rough, but his touch was not.
Rafe thought it interesting that for all Dreyk’s protests, the moment Ryen had returned he calmed. “Tell me this, Dreyk.”
Dreyk turned, wary.
“You felt wainu?”
Erin stomped into the room. “Ryen, I was right in the middle of showing you the cellar’s hidden entrances.” A look at Dreyk had her pausing. “Dreyk? Are you okay?”
Dreyk shook his head. “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat and stepped back from Ryen, who frowned. “Rafe was just telling me about a mission for Ryen. I think the time has come.”
“Answer the question,” Rafe insisted.
“Yes, Damn it.”
Ryen scowled and placed himself between Dreyk and Rafe.
“Oh, this is just great.” Erin huffed and put her hands on her hips. “Ryen and I were having a wonderful conversation, and then we come back to find a testosterone war. Everyone just back down.” She emitted a light scent into the air that relaxed Rafe in no time.
To his bemusement, one of the others covered her scent with his own. Dreyk took a step toward Ryen before he recovered himself. Ryen’s scent, apparently.
“Sorry, Erin. That won’t work. He’s mine.” Ryen sat Dreyk down next to him in a chair and covered Dreyk’s hand with his own. “Now Rafe, about this mission?”
Erin didn’t do more than smile, so she’d obviously realized the pair were a couple. “Rafe, the mission?” she prodded.
Rafe took his gaze from Dreyk’s and Ryen’s clasped hands. To Ryen, he said, “And to think I worried about your lack of control.”
Ryen frowned. “What?”
“Never mind. The mission—there’s a small burglary ring in the southern sector of Four Walls. I want you to take them down tonight. This is for Cheltam, to reinforce our presence. Not for the peacemakers.”
Dreyk gripped Ryen’s hand before sliding free. “No need to keep everything nice and legal?” He smiled. It was strained, but there all the same.
Seeing it, Ryen grinned, his attraction suddenly apparent. Rafe didn’t realize he’d been staring until Erin tugged his hair.
“Ow.”
“Just remember who you belong to.”
Rafe flushed. “Gimme a break, baby. They’re guys.”
“Doesn’t seem to matter much,” Dreyk said with a steamy look at Ryen. “Whatever went into Erin’s genetic make-up went into Ryen’s too. I can only imagine Anin is running her rescuers ragged as well.”
“You saying I’m running you ragged?” Ryen asked in a throaty voice.
Dreyk coughed. “Rafe, how about you give us some details on this mission?”
Rafe quickly did, glad to change the subject. By the time he’d finished, he was more than ready to see to his wife’s less than subtle hints to leave. If she ran her fingers over his scalp and down his neck one more time...
She did.
“Meeting adjourned.” He stood and hoisted the naughty woman over his shoulder. She knew how much he liked being petted that way. Since she normally followed that caress with a journey down his body, he expected she knew the reaming she was in for.
Her throaty chuckled told him so.
“I expect a full report tomorrow.” He slapped her ass and headed for the bedroom.
Dreyk stared at the doorway and watched it slide closed. Before he could move, Ryen was on him. He knelt between Dreyk’s thighs and growled at Dreyk to be still. Ryen had Dreyk’s trousers open, his cock freed, and surrounded by his hot, wet mouth in less than a minute.
Dreyk swallowed a moan and did his best to focus. “Fuck, Ryen. What’s this about?”
Ryen lifted his head. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t stand him being in here with you while I was with Erin.” He stared at Dreyk’s thick cock. “I have to taste you right now.”
Desperate to feel Ryen as well, Dreyk helped ease his boots and trousers off, sat back in the chair, and spread his legs wide.
Ryen immediately found his balls and massaged them.
“Yes,” Dreyk hissed as Ryen took him deep into his throat. “That’s it, Ryen. Suck it down.”
Ryen sucked and licked, paying attention to Dreyk’s wet slit. He continued to fondle Dreyk’s balls with one hand. With the other, he shoved a finger up Dreyk’s ass. Then he added a second finger, stretching him.
“More,” Dreyk pleaded, oblivious of his duty to master Ryen. He could only respond to his feelings. The emotions that threatened, once again, to run free. Possession, domination, a need to claim. Except with Ryen, his body’s need to change forms was smothered under waves of passion.
Ryen used his teeth on the underside of Dreyk’s shaft. “That’s it. Give over.” Ryen licked up and down Dreyk’s cock. “Come in my mouth,” he urged and sucked harder. Then he rammed his fingers in Dreyk’s hole.
“Ryen,” Dreyk groaned, gripped his hair, and came so hard he saw stars.
As soon as Dreyk spent, Ryen stood on shaky legs. He was so huge against his trousers that Dreyk knew it wouldn’t take much to send him over.
Blinking up at his lover with a lazy smile of thanks, Dreyk ordered, “Put your cock in my mouth.”
Ryen hastily removed his trousers and standing, straddled Dreyk’s thighs. Dreyk scooted forward, still seated, and opened his mouth. At he closed his lips around Ryen, the large male sighed his need.
Dreyk licked him up and down, sucking his crown as he toyed with the soft head, nibbling, and tonguing his slit in time with Ryen’s breathy groans. His desperate thrusts and tight balls suggested he neared the edge. Wanting Ryen to lose control, Dreyk moved suddenly to engulf Ryen’s entire shaft, taking him to the back of his throat as he raked with his teeth.
On a yell, Ryen released, his orgasm more than a normal man might be able to handle. Dreyk swallowed every drop, addicted to Ryen’s scent and taste.
Trembling in the aftermath, Ryen stroked Dreyk’s hair. Choosing to join Ryen in wainu, Dreyk sensed Ryen’s feelings.
Ryen continued to run his fingers through Dreyk’s hair, marveling at its softness, which so contrasted with the rough warrior sucking him dry. The warrior he couldn’t help but love—
Understanding more than he wanted to, Dreyk tore himself away from the blissful plane. His mate loved him. Such acceptance, such incredible caring for the male Ryen thought was Dreyk. The dam Dreyk barely managed to keep in place broke. That need he’d locked deep inside him for hundreds of years threatened to cause all sorts of chaos if he couldn’t control it.
“Stars, Dreyk,” Ryen said when he could collect himself enough to speak “That was—”
“Just what I needed. Thanks,” Dreyk said gruffly. He stood and dressed in silence, ignoring Ryen’s confusion. Dreyk usually added some type of affectionate hugging or touching after sex. But this time, he couldn’t, not if he wanted to remain separate from the male eroding his self control.
His palms itched, and his eyesight suddenly went thermal. He saw heat signatures instead of color, scaring him.
Not again. Destruction, chaos...
“Now what?” Ryen asked, his voice flat.
“Now we get you ready for tonight,” Dreyk managed. And I work on not turning into a hellish Creation needing to be put down. Why the hell is this happening
to me? Why won’t it go away?
Ryen said nothing.
“What?”
“Why won’t you look at me?”
Dreyk made the mistake of turning toward his mate.
Ryen gaped. “What the hell happened to your eyes?” He didn’t step back, as he should have. Instead he leaned closer. “You look just like—”
“Stay back.” Dreyk had a sudden urge to bite Ryen hard. Excitement and hunger feeding each other, wanting appeasement. Fuck.
“It’s okay, Dreyk. I think I know what’s wrong with you.”
“Shit. I have to go.” Because the notion of bending Ryen over and fucking him until he couldn’t walk felt like the right thing to do. To bite him until he tasted blood, then mingle the blood with Ryen’s seed. The thought thrilled him past his control.
The thermal image of Ryen faded, replaced by bands of carnal hunger that caused Ryen to stand out in the bland room. Color flared, scent intensified, and Dreyk’s arousal caused him to double over. If Ryen took another step closer he’d hurt him oh so good.
He had to leave.
“Dreyk?”
“I’ll call you when I can. Focus on tonight, it’s important.” Fangs pierced his gums. “Let Rafe know you need a ride home.” Dreyk teleported away before he’d finished his sentence. Not knowing where to go, he sent himself to the fringes of the Eron Forest, where the wild land met dangerous jungle. There, away from everyone, Dreyk succumbed to his body’s demands. He tore off his clothes and screamed in anger and pain at his loss.
Ryen was gone, and the loneliness ripped Dreyk from reality.
Animal needs raged, and without thinking about it, Dreyk shapeshifted and bounded after prey. Blood, meat, and bone. A feast to quell the gnawing hunger. After that, he would claim his mate the right way. He howled as he ran, scaring the wildlife into the shadows.
19
Ryen sat with Rafe and Erin, wondering what to do. He wanted to go after Dreyk but had no idea where to look. The drun had taken off like a shot, fear and desire radiating from him in waves of extremes. Still caught in wainu, Ryen had felt his lover’s lingering emotions, the greatest of which had been terror for Ryen.
“Dreyk’s going through a rough patch,” Rafe said. An understatement. “He’s had moments before, but nothing like this. I’m not sure what set him off.” But the look he gave Ryen suggested he knew more than he was saying.
“I don’t know where to look.” Pissed that Dreyk had left, Ryen smashed his hand through Rafe’s table. “Oh shit. I’m sorry.” Ryen stood. “I should go.”
“No,” Rafe and Erin said at the same time.
“It’s okay. I’m not going to decimate the population of Tekar. I’m going back to Dreyk’s.” To my home. He needed to work out a few things.
“I’ll take you,” Erin offered before Rafe could say anything. She kissed Rafe’s cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”
In the rover, she mimicked Dreyk’s voice and altered her forefinger’s print to access the drive feature of the vehicle.
“I could have done that,” Ryen said.
“So you lifted Dreyk’s prints already?”
“No. Just his voice. How do you have it?”
“I stole his rover once. It’s a funny story I’ll tell you later. Ryen, what’s going on with you and Dreyk?” she asked as she maneuvered the vehicle towards Dreyk’s dwelling.
“I don’t know.”
“You had sex with him.”
“Yeah, I know. I was there.”
“A man,” Erin reiterated. “I thought you liked women.”
“I do.” And he did. But thoughts of Glaia didn’t turn him on. Even a good-looking guy like Rafe did nothing for Ryen. He didn’t want anyone else but his lover, his master. “There’s just something about Dreyk.”
“Yeah, I felt it too before I met Rafe. Dreyk made me uncomfortable.”
He gets me uncomfortably hard, Ryen wanted to say. Instead, he asked, “Are you happy?”
“Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
“Because of Rafe?”
“Because I’m free to love Rafe or whoever I want to love. I chose Rafe. Or rather, he chose me when we mated.”
“So you didn’t want him at first?”
“I desired him, yes. But I wasn’t sure about the rest. Love is such a foreign emotion for us. Trusting another...it doesn’t come easy. And Rafe’s Xema. I didn’t know about our own Xema heritage, not with so much other crap inside us. But when a Xema takes another Xema, it’s for keeps. I’ll never want another with Rafe around.”
Ryen had a thought. “I’m Xema too, aren’t I?”
“Yeah. So’s Anin. That and a half dozen other aggressive species account for your bossiness.”
He couldn’t help grinning. “I’m no more bossy than Dreyk.” My part-Ebrellion lover. And isn’t that a kick? Bad enough to be a Creation the System feared. The Ebrellions were even worse, technologically advanced warriors the System had little defense against. No wonder Ryen hadn’t been able to stop himself from falling in love.
Yeah. That’s why you want Dreyk. Because he’s a shapeshifting, teleporting alien who fucks you into a stupor. That’s it.
“What aren’t you saying?” Erin persisted. “You love Dreyk, don’t you? I can see it on your face when you look at him.”
“So you’re an expert on love?”
“Why can’t you admit you love him?”
“Why can’t he?” Ryen retorted. “I know I’m a hothead, but I’m learning to settle down and think before ripping a guy’s head off.” Erin snorted. “Dreyk makes me feel something other than pain and duty. I’m not sure he feels the same. That wainu is one thing. I’d hoped he felt something more, especially the way he looks at me sometimes. What?”
“Did you say wainu?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. That’s a Xema love thing for sure.” Erin laughed as they pulled up to Dreyk’s house.
Ryen didn’t want to talk about this with his sister, but he wanted so badly to understand Dreyk he’d do anything he could to learn more. “What do you mean?”
Erin turned to face him. “Wainu is that blissful place you share with that special person after sex. But it only occurs between a Xema and his or her potential mate.”
Dreyk had mentioned the same. Hell, he and Dreyk had shared wainu a number of times. “Does it let you feel what the other person feels? Do you share a deep connection as if you’re one person?”
Erin narrowed her eyes. “You do after you’ve been mated.”
Ryen stilled. “Mated how?”
“In the regular way, I suppose.” Erin flushed. “Anin is much better than I am at talking about sex.” She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “Okay, when a Xema male mates, he has to achieve climax in his lover’s body. He’ll mark his mate three times. Then you feel this intense connection, even when the wainu’s not there.”
“Son of a bitch.” Ryen was stunned. Dreyk had marked him, mated with him, and he hadn’t known. For a moment, he saw red. Lies, deceit, hidden agendas... Then he recalled Dreyk’s passion, the well of love Ryen felt from the male every time they fucked before holding each other afterwards.
“Ryen?”
“The mating. It can’t be faked, can it? Does the bond lead to emotional ties or just physical ones?”
“I don’t know. Rafe might. What I do know is that Dreyk had a special interest in you from the first. He wouldn’t let me see you until he thought it was best for you. According to Rafe, his best buddy is falling for some idiot who probably won’t appreciate what he’s got.”
Ryen tried to absorb it all. He tamped his exhilaration at thoughts of being tied to Dreyk. The male had lied to him, after all. Then again, Dreyk wasn’t himself, not since he’d encountered the Ebrellions.
“Thanks, Erin,” Ryen said. “I’ll think about what you’ve said.”
She kissed him on the forehead and patted his cheek. “Go easy on Dreyk. He’s having a hard time.
Don’t tell Rafe, but I overheard most of their conversation while the cook was boring you. Dreyk’s got something bottled up inside him that he’s afraid to let go. I think his feelings for you are getting in the way of his control, and he’s frightened of hurting you. Then again, I could be mistaken. Maybe it’s all just about sex,” she teased.
Ryen muttered under his breath about nosey females, though he couldn’t fault her for telling him what she had. He understood so much more now. Thanks to Dreyk, he’d filled that lonely void inside him with love, a connection to another. His mate.
He left the rover and waved good-bye to his sister, grinning like a moron. But he lost that smile worrying about what Dreyk was doing at this moment.
Upon entering the dwelling, he came to a halt.
Four men stood in the center of the room while another two suddenly appeared and caged him on either side. They blinked, inner lids closing sideways before the outer ones did, and he noted the reptilian pupils. Ebrellions.
20
Reacting on instinct, Ryen sent the two next to him into the wall. He drew his pistol on three of the remaining aliens charging him, but it was the fourth Ryen kept his eyes on. That was the same fucker who’d come back with Dreyk and the female days ago.
“Wait,” the familiar Ebrellion commanded, and the others froze. “We mean no harm,” he rasped, his hands held high. “I would like to converse with the other one.” Meaning Dreyk.
“Well so would I,” Ryen snarled and clenched a fist. He braced for the next attack, realizing that Dreyk hadn’t fallen into enemy hands if said enemy was looking for him.
“You’re not like the others in this star system.” The leader cocked his head, as if in thought. “Yet you’re not like us, either.”
“But my friend is, right?”
“Correct.” The Ebrellion nodded. “I hadn’t meant to leave him so soon after finding him, but I had to return to my ship. Rebel scum needed tending.” The alien smiled, showcasing sharp white teeth. “Your friend,” he paused. “I scent him on you. Mated, yet not?”