by Susan Hayes
“Beacon?” Her brows almost vanished into her hair.
“Direction and distance only. In case you got lost again,” he explained.
She mulled that over for a few seconds, but her eyes were sparkling with laughter the whole time. “As my official protector, I suppose that’s acceptable.”
“Protector and mate,” he reminded her.
“Yeah. I like the sound of that.” She settled deeper into his arms. “Let’s go home. I need food, a shower, and you.” She winked at him. “Not necessarily in that order.”
He didn’t bother to say goodbye to anyone. He just turned and made for the hover-bikes and transports parked near the trees.
“Take mine. Red. On the left.” Edge sent him via internal link.
“Thanks.”
It was time to take Maggie home.
She spent the short ride back to Haven snuggled against Striker’s chest as he wove the hover-bike through the trees at dizzying speeds. She barely saw the bridge as they flew over it, and before long they were outside Striker’s home. No—she corrected herself—their home.
This day had been one major upheaval after another. Decisions and consequences lined up like a ruthless parade that had nearly cost her everything. Yet, somehow, she’d made it out the other side, and so had everyone she cared about. She still had Striker, Jade, and Haven. There was still work to do and a lot of trust to rebuild, but she was getting a second chance. It was more than she expected. Hell, it was more than she deserved.
“You okay?” Striker helped her off the bike.
“More than. Just thinking about how much I have to be grateful for right now. You saved me more than once today. First from those merc assholes, and then from the council.” She gripped his hand tightly enough he stopped walking and looked down at her with concern.
“What is it?”
“If what you did… what you said. If claiming me as your mate was just to protect me from the council, I need to know that. Are you sure this is what you want? That I’m what you want?”
His lips curled back in a silent snarl that made her want to dance for joy. If he was annoyed, he’d meant every word he’d said.
She threw herself into his arms with a wild whoop of happiness. “You do want me!”
“As if there was any doubt.” He lifted her high in the air and then brought her in close for a kiss. “I love you. I told you that already. Why would you have any doubts?”
“Because I’m not used to having things go well for me. Plus, I don’t have perfect recall and playback abilities. So I’m going to need you to remind me that you love me, okay.”
“Humans…” he sighed. “So many flaws.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “But you love me anyway.”
“Yes, brat. I do.” His next kiss didn’t stop until she was pressed up against the outer wall of his house. His lips were hard and demanding, his tongue dancing with hers as he ground the hard ridge of his cock against the seam of her pussy.
“Love you. Need you,” she whispered as tendrils of fire raced through her blood and sent her heart racing.
“Soon.” He had one arm outstretched and it took her a dazed moment to realize he was blindly feeling his way to the mailbox.
“Mail? Now?”
“Special delivery,” he told her as he pulled something out.
“No way. Already?”
“Drones are wonderful things.” He held up a slender box. “Ready?”
“Oh yes. For that. For you. For everything to come.”
“Me too.”
They moved inside, kissing and touching, hands flying as they tore at each other’s clothes. She needed to feel him skin to skin with her. They made their way to the shower, leaving a trail of bloodstained clothes behind them. She’d send them to recycling later. They might still be useful, but she never wanted to wear anything from this day ever again. For once, she’d be a little wasteful.
Somewhere ahead of them she heard the shower start. Striker must have tapped into the house system. “Extra steam?” she asked.
“Just the way you like it.”
She was surprised and pleased to note he wasn’t using the system’s speakers to talk to her. In fact, he’d been talking to her directly all day.
So much had changed, and somehow, it was all for the better. Feeling like she’d won the galaxy’s richest lottery, she bounded into the shower and spun beneath the cascade of hot water, laughing and almost drunk on joy and need.
Striker followed her in, watching her with bemusement as she capered and danced.
“Happy?”
The water streaming down washed away the tears that fell as she turned and nodded. “So happy I don’t know what to do with myself. This is all…” She spun around again, sending water flying in all directions.
“I have everything I ever wished for. Do you have any idea how amazing that is?”
He laughed and caught hold of her as she spun, dragging her into his arms. “I might have some idea, yes.”
She slid her hands up Striker’s broad chest to his shoulders and drew him down so she could kiss him. Fragrant steam swirled around them, the caress of the water blending with the touch of his hands as his mouth found hers.
Passion was tempered with tenderness, the passion between them building slowly as they took turns scrubbing every trace of the day’s events from each other’s bodies. They mirrored each other’s actions, sliding soapy hands over their head and then shoulders. When he reached her breasts, she arched herself into his hands and moaned, her fingers teasing his nipples until he growled her name.
It might have been a warning, but she took it as a challenge. She loved hearing him growl at her. She smoothed her hand down the hard ridges of his stomach, laughing softly as he flexed for her.
“Any lower and you know what’s going to happen,” he warned her with just enough rumble in his voice to tell her he wanted her to keep going.
“We go from getting clean to getting down and dirty?”
“Very, very dirty.” He caught her chin in his hand before tipping her head so she was looking at him. Then he moved his hand so he shielded her face from the falling water. “I will take you here and now. Up against that wall.”
A bolt of pure lust slammed through her at his words and she lowered her hand until her fingertips brushed over the head of his cock. “The tile will be cold,” she murmured. “Maybe we should take this to the bed—”
She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before he had her off the ground and pressed to the wall. She let go of his cock and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do you want something from me?”
“Brat, you know what I want.”
She kicked her feet gently, letting her toes bump against his calves. “I’m not sure…”
Striker didn’t say a word. He just rocked his hips against her, the thick head of his cock barely brushing against the lips of her pussy.
“Oh!” She raised her legs and draped them around his hips. “Does my big, badass cyborg want to fuck me?”
“Always,” he murmured. “But right now, I also want to make love to my mate.”
His words made her tremble and tears of joy welled up in her eyes yet again. “I want that, too. I want you, Striker. Always.”
His next kiss was tender and sweet, but it was also intense. Every part of him was focused on her, and she basked in the feeling. It was like her first day here, standing under the light of a new sun and feeling like anything was possible.
He savored her, tasting and teasing with a single-mindedness that left her quivering and half out of her mind with need. She bucked her hips and his cock slipped a little deeper into her folds. It was good, but it wasn’t enough.
“You know what I want…” he whispered.
He wanted her surrender, and she was happy to give it to him. “I’m yours, Striker. All of me. I love you.” She grinned. “Now, fuck me already.”
“Brat!” He punctuated his statement by lifting her a little
higher and rolling his hips so he slid into place at her entrance. Her toes curled as he eased himself inside her, his mouth finding hers again as they came together.
This wasn’t fucking. She knew that the moment he kissed her. This was something she’d never experienced before. Every moment of pleasure was heightened by her emotions, the two of them moving as one with bodies and hearts intertwining. This was intimacy at its purest, lifting her up to heights she’d never imagined. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t afraid of falling. Not when she had Striker around to catch her.
Every thrust of his hips pushed her closer to orgasm, his thick cock stroking her inner walls as he buried himself to the hilt inside her again and again.
The sounds of their lovemaking echoed off the tiled walls. The slap of wet flesh, his broken groans of need blending with her soft cries of pleasure until it felt like they were standing at the heart of their own personal storm.
She flexed her body around his, milking his cock as he drove himself into her. He groaned so she did it again, the action pushing them both to the edge of their control. His fingers tightened their hold on her hips and his thrusts sped up as he spoke her name over and over again.
Her orgasm hit like a comet strike, shattering her into a thousand pieces of perfect, shimmering bliss. Her senses were still reeling as Striker came hard, driving into her one last time before emptying himself inside her.
She slumped against him, letting him hold her up as the water poured over them. She had everything she’d ever dreamed of and more. Free air, fresh water, wide open spaces, and the love and protection of the most amazing man on any world.
She was home.
Epilogue
Striker tried to pay attention to what was being said at the meeting, but it was no easy feat with Maggie’s hand on his thigh. She kept moving her fingers in slow circles that were a lot more interesting than anything the council members had to say. He was recording it and would play it back later. Not that most of it pertained to him, anyway. He was only here because Phaedra had reviewed the data files Maggie carried and was ready to tell the council what she’d found.
Phaedra finished her security report. “The defense grid is now fully functional again, and with Jade’s help we’ve identified the weak parts of the code and strengthened them. We’re also adding proximity sensors to every satellite. Anything getting close enough to make a connection will trigger an alert here in Haven.”
Maggie’s fingers stilled at the mention of her friend. Three days later, Jade was still in the medical bay, recovering from her ordeal. Her injuries were more extensive than he’d realized. The removal of her implants was done so brutally it had permanently damaged her nerves and muscles. Some were being regrown, and others would be replaced with neural implants. There was nothing they could do to replace the cybernetic implants she’d lost. Her body had endured too much trauma.
He couldn’t imagine the pain she’d experienced or what it would be like to lose a part of himself that way. Maggie was worried about her friend, but Striker believed once she was done mourning the loss of her old self, Jade would find a way to move forward. She was too strong to do anything else.
“If there are no questions about the grid, I think it’s time we moved on to the next issue,” Phaedra said, still standing.
“Please. I want to know what was in that file that was so fraxxing important they were willing to take down our entire network to get it back,” Edge stated, his eyes locked on Maggie and his tone as cold as the vacuum of space.
Maggie leaned a little closer to Striker, her fingers tightening on his thigh.
“Cool your boosters. You’re scaring Maggie.” He sent the reminder to Edge via a private channel.
“Sorry. Just pissed.”
“Be pissed. Just don’t glare at my mate at the same time.”
He covered Maggie’s hand with his. Tomorrow they’d both see Vixi for a checkup. Once Maggie had a clean bill of health, they’d be making an appointment for her to have the translation matrix and internal comms installed. She’d be able to speak to any cyborg in the colony once that was done, as well as the two of them having a private channel.
Phaedra tossed something from her tablet to the holographic display in the middle of the table and a short list of words appeared.
“What’s that?”
“A list of names.” Phaedra gestured, and the words increased in size until they were easily read from anywhere in the room. “I’m on that list,” Maggie said softly.
“Everyone who came here with you from Earth is on this list. Jade showed me what she did to increase the chances that she and Maggie would be chosen in the lottery. What Jade didn’t know was that we were already running certain algorithms to ensure that only the most likely candidates were under serious consideration. The pool she was trying to increase was actually smaller than she knew. Which is why I’m happy to announce that I did a little digging and determined that both Jade and Maggie won their places fairly. Their original entry was selected in both cases.”
“That seems unlikely,” Braxon muttered.
“Are you doubting my word, beloved?” Phaedra smiled sweetly at her mahoyen.
“Never. If you say it is so, that’s how it is,” Braxon relented with a hint of a smile.
Everyone else nodded in agreement. Striker didn’t believe for one moment that Phaedra was telling the truth, but he was grateful for the lie. It was another way to make sure no one questioned Maggie’s citizenship.
“That’s the good news. Now, for the bad. Jade wasn’t the only one trying to manipulate the outcome. I found another subprogram buried in the software. It was so subtle I almost missed it. Worse, the moment I started poking at it, the damned thing tore itself apart and vanished before I got a decent look at it.”
“Self-destructing code?” River asked. “That sounds like…”
“The Gray Men. Yeah. That’s what I was thinking, too. I have a few images I was able to capture before it was gone. I’ve sent them to a friend. If anyone can figure out who created the code, he can.”
The room fell silent. The Gray Men were a shadowy organization with a long history of causing problems for the cyborgs. They’d been responsible for creating them in the first place, and Reamus Station had been one of their research bases.
“Why would they care about a list of human colonists? None of the corporations gave a damn about us before. Why now?” Maggie asked.
“I can think of a few reasons. The most obvious one being they want to know what’s going on here.” Phaedra looked around the room, her normally sunny face grim. “I think we have to assume they were trying to plant a spy.”
“Who?” Edge demanded. The question was echoed all around the room by the others.
“I don’t know. The code destroyed itself before I could figure that out. I don’t even know if they were successful.”
“We have to assume they were,” Tyran said, his voice carrying all the weight of his royal training.
“Which means we have seven human colonists we need to keep an eye on,” Phaedra agreed.
“You mean eight,” River said.
“Seven. One of the colonists has officially requested to be taken back to Earth. On paper, Kara Farrow appeared to be everything we were looking for, but it’s come to our attention that now we need to change our selection criteria to ensure future applicants demonstrate a strong ability to adapt to new circumstances.” Phaedra winked at Maggie. “This life isn’t for everyone.”
“So that’s it? We think we might have a spy, but we can’t be sure?”
“For now, yes. We can’t send everyone else back just because one of them might be an agent for the Grays. We knew this was a risk when we started discussing this plan. Nothing has changed,” Denz said.
“One thing has. Whatever happens, we’ll be keeping a closer eye on all our applicants from Earth. If they tried once, they’ll try again. It might be Torex Mining, too. Or some other faction we haven’
t considered. According to the one surviving member of the mercenaries who attacked Maggie, they did a lot of work for various corporations, including Torex. Nothing on the ship’s computers could confirm that, though.”
“And the ship?” River asked.
“Is now the property of the colony. Legal savage. All the paperwork has been signed as of an hour ago,” Denz said.
“And the prisoner?” Maggie asked. “I know he was part of the crew, but I never laid eyes on him, and Jade said he tried to sneak her extra food when he could. I don’t think he’s a bad person.”
“Cameron Allen wasn’t a member of the mercenary team. He ran the galley and cleaned up after the other crew for the most part, and it wasn’t a voluntary position. The kid was included as chattel for a debt some Jeskyran owed the merc captain. We checked his story and confirmed the details. He was an indentured servant on a twenty-year contract,” Denz explained.
“How? I thought slavery was illegal?” River asked.
“Slavery is. Indentured service isn’t. That gray area allows unscrupulous assholes to take control of beings’ lives and claim it’s legal.” Denz scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. “If the council is in agreement, I’d like to suggest we offer Cameron Allen a place here in Haven and give him a chance to earn his citizenship, just like the other colonists.”
A buzz ensued around the room, and not all of it was positive.
“Not today. He’s still being debriefed and will remain under house arrest until we’re sure he’s not a threat. I mean eventually. It’s not like we have a jail here, anyway. Where would we hold him? And on what grounds? We’ve only got a basic legal system in place right now. If you want to start trying people for crimes, we’re going to need to write up a criminal code first.”
“Let’s table that for today,” Edge said. “I for one do not want to spend the next three hours talking about a legal system.”
“Agreed,” Tyran said amid a murmur of relief.
“Back to the spy issue for a moment,” Phaedra said. “For now, I think we should agree not to discuss it with anyone outside this room. If the others knew, they’d never accept the new arrivals and everything we’re working toward would fall apart. None of us want that.” With that, Phaedra sat down, leaving everyone to talk quietly for a few minutes.