It was too much, and she tried to close her legs, but, of course, she couldn’t.
“Beck,” she groaned.
“Helper, increase speed,” he ordered.
Her groans turned into a guttural cry, and she started to sweat. “I...oh, my.... dear...heavens.”
He chuckled. “That’s what the quick start guide said you’d do. Hang on before you blast off, though. I want in there.”
The padded kneelers creaked under his weight, and his hand splayed across the upper curves of her bottom seemed to sear into her oversensitive skin as he mounted behind her. His cock took his fingers’ place while his thumb filled her in back. Then, with the tormentor buzzing away on her clit, he thrust home.
“Beck,” she cried as sensations sizzled through her. Convulsive waves gripped her, and she lost control, screaming like a madwoman as pleasure overwhelmed.
He wasn’t far behind her, moving harder and faster, until he planted deep with a rough shout and erupted hotly inside her.
AFTERWARD, WHILE THEY lay sprawled on the bed, out of breath and completely sated, Beck’s head rolled to the side and he asked, “Do you think Trask knows Lana sent this to me?”
“I hope not. That he owns, let alone uses, one of these things isn’t something I let myself consider.” She closed her eyes, trying to banish all visuals. “If he knows I do... That’s where I’m with Lana. I don’t want to think about it.”
He rolled onto his side and gently brushed several stray wisps of loose hair back from her face. “It’s no secret mates have sex, Adria. Even brothers.”
With effort, she rolled onto her side facing him. “Then Becca and her mate must have it, too.”
His head jerked, and he exclaimed, “God forbid,” with a horrified expression.
She couldn’t keep from smiling smugly. “When the tables are turned, it’s not fun to imagine, is it, mate?”
He was off the bed with her over his shoulder before she could blink.
“Beck! What are you doing?”
“We tried penetrative breaching.” His hand came down on her bare bottom with a resounding crack.” Now I aim to try out position number two for its other purpose.”
“You wouldn’t! Beck! I’m sorry for teasing.”
Instead of marching to the device which surprisingly was still standing after their thorough use, he flopped back onto the bed, rolling with her until he covered her body with his own. “I can turn the tables, too, mate. Remember that.”
She gaped up at him, taking in his handsome face with its wholly self-satisfied expression. “You’ve been hanging around Tarus too long. He’s rubbing off on you.”
He shrugged. “He’s a fine man and a capable warrior. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
With a teasing smile playing about his lips, which told her he hadn’t been the least bit angry, not really, he bent his head and kissed her deeply.
Epilogue
Terra Nova, population 74,058, three months later...
Beneath a shade tree brimming with a new growth of bright blue-and-yellow springtime leaves, Adria relaxed against Beck who had his back propped against the trunk. With her head lolling on his shoulder, she heaved a sigh, part utter contentment, the rest discomfort from the waistband of her jeans digging into her belly. After popping the button, she sighed again with relief.
She’d overindulged, plain and simple, but the fried chicken was tender and flavorful, even when served cold, and the potato salad tangy and chunky—just the way she liked it. The second piece of lemon meringue pie had been pure gluttony, even though she’d shared it with Beck, alternating bites until the tart and sweet, completely sublime confection was devoured.
“Happy?” Along with the deep rumble beneath her head, there was a drowsy undertone to his voice.
“Blissfully so.” She rolled over, cheek to his chest, arms encircling his waist and squeezing him. As always, he returned the embrace holding her tighter. “I never dreamed I could feel this way, Beck. Thank you.”
“Juna made the phenomenal pie, and Mike contributed the chicken,” he replied, sounding amused. “All I did was make potato salad, but you’re very welcome.”
She craned her neck to see him. His eyes were closed, head resting against the tree they’d spread their blanket beneath. “Don’t forget Amy’s corn-and-chickpea salsa.”
He cracked one eye and look down at her. “How could I? I had to stop myself from sticking my face in the bowl and licking it clean when we reached the bottom.”
She laughed softly at the image. “It was all delicious, and I ate far too much, but I didn’t mean thank you for the food, or even the picnic, although I am thrilled it finally happened nearly six months after the raincheck you offered.”
“It almost didn’t happen this time either. How did you and Juna both get out of clinic duty today?”
“Didn’t I tell you? Ellar arrived yesterday with two new physics-in-training and volunteered them for weekend duty immediately.”
“That’s good news. Does that mean you’ll get a weekend off now and then, Dr. Kincaid?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing that.”
“You’ve earned the title after eight years of training and acing your exams. Have I told you how proud I am of you?”
“Just about every day, almost as much as you tell me you love me.” Adria reached up and stroked his jaw then his lips before laying her hand on his cheek. “But please don’t stop, either. It still seems unreal. But I was referring to my new last name. Having Kincaid preceded by doctor makes it even better, though.”
She curled her hand around the nape of his neck, her fingers continuously drawn to the mate’s mark on his skin. Identical to hers, it had appeared the morning after their wedding. She’d been stunned, almost as much as him, but not nearly as much as Ellar and Jarlan who were still scratching their heads.
Beck smiled down at her, indulging her need to touch the blue-and-gold symbol like it was a charmed talisman. They’d long ago established that when she stroked his with her finger, he felt little tingling currents course through his body, the same as hers did when he touched it or licked it, a common occurrence because one of his favorite things to do was brush her hair aside and trace it with his lips while he took her from behind.
“We’re not at a place to continue what you’re starting,” he murmured as he dipped his head for a kiss. “Best hold that thought until we are.”
She pulled her hand away and moved it up into his thick hair, grinning when he groaned because he liked that, too. There wasn’t much he didn’t like when it came to her, though.
Beck suddenly leaned forward and flipped her onto her back in the grass then rolled them both, until she lay draped on top of him. His eyes gleaming up at her with banked passion, gave her fair warning, as did his hand that slid down her spine to the seat of her jeans his fingers splayed wide over both cheeks.
“Behave,” he growled. “Or you’ll get your second spanking from this non-spanking man when we get home.”
She hooted with laughter. “I can’t believe you just said that. You smack my behind all the time.”
“Yeah, but those are love taps for fun. I was talking about a real one for getting your man hard when he can’t do anything about it.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll be good,” she conceded as she laid her head on his chest. “I wouldn’t want to see you suffer, or for anything to spoil this perfect day. It was a great idea, Beck.”
“I thought we all deserved it after the longest, coldest, snowiest winter I’ve ever lived through.”
“One hundred fifty-four,” she stated in amazement. The number, which boggled her mind, referred to the snowfall, measured in inches, this season. She had marveled over the total since it was announced by the New Hope Sentinel, the colony’s first newspaper—electronic, of course. They had strict rules against activities that might negatively impact their new home and start them down the same slippery slope that had brought about t
he need for a colony in the first place.
She remembered the first time she’d seen the mountains dusted with snow, and how beautiful it was seeing the fluffy white flakes drifting down from the sky the first time, and the hushed sound it made when it fell at night. Now, after months of slogging through it, slipping on it, and watching it cleared to the side of the roads in piles nearly as tall as her, she was over it.
“If I don’t see another flake for as long as I live, I’ll be a happy woman.”
“You say that now, in the springtime, when the weather is pleasant, but remember the triple digit days when you could fry an egg on the sidewalk—”
“We don’t have sidewalks, except for the wooden boardwalk on the boulevard and the concrete one on Main. I don’t think wood is a good medium for heat, but—”
Two of his fingers covered her lips. “It’s an expression, darlin’.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
He chuckled, the movement jostling her a bit, but she only clung tighter.
“I don’t look forward to sweltering again, so you’re probably right. But back to my point. I didn’t mean thank you just for today, Beck. I meant for everything else. You take excellent care of me, husband.”
More so than mate, which she’d heard all her life, Adria loved calling him by the Earth term because it seemed special and perfectly suited for the man she adored and pledged her faith to, as well as vowing to love and to cherish until death. Which she hoped fervently was years and years away.
“You don’t have to thank me for doing what I enjoy.”
“I know,” she replied. “But you didn’t even blink when I invited friends to join us today.”
“I know you’re worried about Amy.”
That was an understatement. Her friend came to work every day wearing a smile that she used to charm the patients, even the sick ones, especially the children, but she wasn’t as spontaneous as she used to be. Her eyes weren’t as bright, her laugh just a tiny bit off, and she was jumpy. Other than work, she didn’t go out that Adria was aware of, not socially. She’d declined several offers to join her and Beck either at the Watering Hole for a beer after work or Wednesday night darts, or for dinner at one of the three new restaurants opened over the winter.
It amazed her construction could go on through frigid weather and driving snow, but somehow, they managed, and for that, the residents were grateful. Milton’s was no longer their only choice, which had been no choice at all.
“Besides,” Beck went on, one hand combing idly through her hair as the other stroked her back. “It’s not like we didn’t just come out of a thirteen-week hibernation period where no one wanted to stick their nose out of the house and the best way to keep warm and dry was to stay snuggled up in bed. I got my Adria time and am willing to share you a bit with your friends.” His hand fisted in the hair at the back of her head, and his eyes glinted with blue fire when he admitted, “That doesn’t mean I haven’t been lying here thinking about what I plan to do to you when it’s just you and me at home this evening.”
“I look forward to it, Beck.” She stretched, trying to reach his lips for a kiss.
Grinning, he murmured, “Let me help you out,” before hauling her up his body. Unable to help it, she slid her hand to the back of his necks which immediately set her fingers to tingling, and the other sank into his hair. His were busy, too, one curling around her nape as he held her close for his possession, while the other slid from her bottom up her side so he palmed her breast, his thumb finding the peak that had been hard for quite some time.
Not caring if any of their friends witnessed, she savored the kiss that started out soft and playful then became hungry, igniting their passions, which was always the way with them. They couldn’t seem to get enough of one another—and for that, she was grateful.
Shrill cries echoing through the small valley sent them bolting upright.
“Amy,” Adria exclaimed, her gaze searching the tree line where she’d last seen her friend. “She walked up the hill alone.”
Beck was racing toward the top before Adria even got up. She was quick to follow, the thud of running feet behind her. Juna and Mike Shaughnessy, who had gone for a stroll by the lake, must have heard Amy’s cries as well.
“What happened?” Mike called out.
She didn’t answer, because at that moment, her friend emerged from the trees. Terror stricken, as though she’d seen the devil himself, Amy came running, tripping, and scrambling toward them. Her foot must have found a rock, because she suddenly shot forward. Adria was certain she’d fall, but Beck was there and caught her before she went tumbling down the hill.
“Run,” she cried hoarsely.
“What is it?” he asked, scanning her face then the trees behind her.
“Not now! We’ve got to go,” Adria heard her insist as she arrived at her side.
“Why, Amy?” Though slightly winded from taking the hill at a run, she wasn’t nearly as out of breath as the trembling, terrorized woman. “What frightened you?”
She didn’t respond, as if she hadn’t heard her speak. If her heart was pounding as loudly as Adria’s, maybe she hadn’t. Amy was too focused on Beck, her hands fisted in his shirt as she tried to get him to move.
“We don’t have time for this,” she shrieked.
The next instant, her friend wrenched out of his arms and raced down the hill to where his solar glider was parked.
“What do you think it could be?” Adria asked him.
“I don’t know.” He turned, scanning the top of the hill in the dwindling light. “But she’s scared out of her mind.”
“I’ve never seen her anything but calm,” Juna called over her shoulder, already following the frightened woman. “Let’s get her back to town.”
Beck hesitated. “Maybe I should check it out, first.”
“For what? She didn’t say,” she exclaimed, frightened for him already.
“This is true. I wouldn’t know what to look for if I went to search.”
Together, he and Mike peered at the spot where Amy had first appeared.
“We’re losing the light,” Mike added, as he pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shone the beam at the shadowy tree line.
Feeding off Amy’s terror, she curled her fingers around Beck’s arm and tried to pull him toward the bottom of the hill. “I don’t want either of you going in there unarmed,” she whispered.
He didn’t budge, but he covered her hand with his own and squeezed.
“Maybe when she’s calmer, she can give us more to go on,” Mike suggested.
Her mate took out his own light and aimed it at the top of the hill. The forest was thick with trees and vegetation the beam couldn’t penetrate. “We’d likely need machetes in addition to weapons.”
“Please, let’s go,” Adria urged them. This time, Beck relented.
“When they reached the car, Amy was inside with Juna but no calmer. Her hands waved them forward, her cries urging them to hurry. She only stopped panicking when Beck started the vehicle and turned them on the road toward home.
Adria had joined her in the back seat, Juna on her other side as they tried to soothe her. With sobs racking her body, she curled into Adria’s arms, who rocked her as if she were a child, unsure what else to do.
Unfortunately, it didn’t ease her hysterics. As they drove along, her broken chant became clear to the women in the back.
“Not again. Please, god, not again.”
Adria looked at Juna, brows raised. The other physic nodded and mouthed, “Flashback.”
Just as she’d feared, the woman, who’d been through the same trauma as her, but hadn’t dealt with it and vowed she had no recall of the events, had a breakthrough memory, and it wasn’t pleasant.
At Juna’s urging, Beck drove straight to the clinic where she retrieved a sedative.
“I’ll stay with her tonight,” she told them after Beck carried Amy’s trembling body up to her fourth-floor apartment. “I
n the morning, I’ll call Anna Walker.”
“Who is that?”
“One of the new colonists was a trauma specialist back on Earth. Hopefully, she can help her deal with the PTSD and flashbacks.”
“I tried to get her to talk to someone weeks ago. She refused,” Adria disclosed, her worried gaze on the sleeping redhead in the bed.
“Yes, but now, with this break,” Juna stated, “she may not have a choice.”
LYING IN BECK’S ARMS that night, Adria had a hard time getting Amy’s terror-filled shrieks out of her head. When she finally drifted off to sleep, she awoke to her own screams from a nightmare.
“Shh, I’m here, and you’re safe,” he crooned as he rocked her.
“How can you be sure?” she replied, her voice still quivering from memories of the time she’d spent in the cave with Amy. “What if it was more than a flashback?”
“The Intrepid blew his ship out of the sky. You know that.”
“But what if there’s another one of those things out there?”
“The global force field became operational two days after the incident. Prior to that, surveillance was stepped up, including patrols in the sectors we suspect he used to enter the colony in the first place.”
“Suspect doesn’t mean certain. What if—”
“I’ll speak with Remus and Tarus and the base commander in the morning about searching the woods by the lake.”
“Thank you, Beck. I know this may be coming from my own experience and that I could be feeding off Amy’s fear—”
“Adria.” He stopped her with a soft brush of his lips on hers. “I’d do anything for you, darlin’, especially if it keeps you safe and eases your mind so you can sleep at night.”
THE SEARCH TURNED UP nothing.
Amy slept while it went on and didn’t wake until evening the next day, still feeling groggy. Her amnesia continued and expanded to whatever she had experienced in the woods the day before.
The commander, Remus, Tarus, and Beck all seemed convinced it was nothing more than a terrorized woman suffering from retrograde amnesia and a severe case of PTSD.
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