by Alyse Anders
Within seconds, everything calmed, and all Beth could hear was her own rapid breathing and the pounding of her heart.
“Let her go!” Eagan’s voice came from behind the rock closest to them. “I’ll kill you if anything happens to her.” Hate and rage dripped from his words and for a moment Beth thought he might explode out from cover to make a grab for her.
“I will as soon as I can ensure everyone is going to cease fire.” Aidric’s hold on her was tight enough to keep her still but loose enough Beth could pull away if she wanted. “Is Rykal with you?”
“I’m here.” There was less anger in Rykal’s voice, but just as much suspicion. “This isn’t the best way to start negotiations.”
“I do believe it was the two of you who opened fire first.” Aidric turned slightly to face his men. “It is just the two of you, correct? Lena and Carys?”
“Yes. We weren’t about to risk any other humans being taken. They’re back on the Kraken.” Rykal flexed his grip on the butt of his blaster. “Darrick is waiting in a second shuttle ready to join the fight if needed.”
“It won’t be. Let’s take this inside where we can talk.” Aidric took a step backward, bringing Beth with him. “Unless you’d like to continue your firefight?”
Eagan stepped out from behind the rocks first, his gaze locked on Beth. “If she gets hurt, I’ll kill every single one of you.”
The guards all raised their weapons and locked them on him, but no one made a move to stop his approach. Rykal stepped out as well, his blaster trained on Aidric. “As long as everyone remains calm, we’ll all walk away from this alive.”
Eagan’s gaze met hers and she was shocked to see a wildness to him that hadn’t been there before. She wanted to go wrap her arms around him and never let him go. Aidric was right, she might not have understood the reason why she’d left Earth, but now that she was here it was clear. She was meant to be with Eagan. They shared a bond that went beyond reason and logic and was growing in strength with each passing moment.
“You better be careful,” she whispered to Aidric as they continued their slow retreat. “He’s barely keeping himself together.”
“I can tell.” Aidric continued their painful backward journey until she heard the whoosh of the door to the building slide open. “Everyone else stay here. Do nothing unless you hear from me.”
Eagan followed them in, his gaze locked onto Beth’s the entire time. She tried to project feelings of calm and confidence, hoping it would help reassure him that everything would turn out okay. The moment the doors closed behind them, Aidric released his hold on Beth and she bolted for Eagan’s arms.
“Thank the gods.” He pressed his face to the side of her neck and breathed in deep. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get angry at you. I’m so sorry.”
He tilted her chin up, kissing her softly on the lips. “I should have realized you weren’t ready, that everything was still too new, and you hadn’t adjusted.”
“While I appreciate the two of you have things that you need to discuss,” Aidric said, “we have a pressing matter we need to address.”
Eagan’s body tensed, before Beth patted his chest. “I know you’re angry, but you need to listen to him.”
Rykal leaned back against the wall, his chin lowered, and his gaze locked on the commander. “I was surprised to hear your voice when we landed. You haven’t been to the planet’s surface in many decades.”
Beth looked back over at Aidric, who didn’t look that old to her. “Decades?”
Aidric ignored her. “The high council wants to kill the humans to keep the Fallen in their place.”
“Not going to happen.” Eagan tightened his grip on her. “We’ll destroy them if they try.”
“I don’t think they truly understand the connection between you and the humans.” Aidric sat down on the nearest seat, his hand folded neatly in his lap. “There were twenty-eight humans on that ship.”
“We’re aware.” Eagan finally released his hold on Beth, sensing that there was something important Aidric was trying to tell him and sat down in the chair opposite the commander. “Why’s that important?”
“When the humans first arrived, we became aware of their connection with the Fallen. But I’d assumed that it could be potentially with any of the Fallen. That it was a random selection of cyborgs.” Aidric took his time, as though he was trying to take careful measure of his words. “When I began the cyborg program, there was a flaw in the matrix. Rykal, you were the first successful one to accept the implanted matrix. There were twenty-seven others before I realized that there was a flaw in your code and was able to create a workaround.”
Beth turned in Eagan’s arms. “That can’t be a coincidence.”
“No, I don’t believe it is.” Aidric looked between Eagan and Rykal. “Each of you who had the initial flaw have all made your way into leadership roles within the Fallen. You’re either leading one of the cities, or in charge of the prison, or other key positions. I’ve checked.”
“You think the women are somehow drawn to us because of the flaw in our code? From across the galaxy?” Eagan snorted. “That’s a stretch.”
“Perhaps.” Aidric pulled out the device he’d used to scan Beth’s head earlier and handed it to Rykal. “Lena, Carys and Beth all have the same brain wave pattern. Without knowing normal human physiology, I can’t tell you if this is normal with their race or not, but I don’t think so. Somehow, they’ve all developed the same link and that link matches the glitch in your systems.”
Eagan frowned down at the device before handing it over to Rykal, who scanned the readings. “When did you take these?”
“Shortly before you arrived.”
Beth hated feeling out of her depth. “Does it matter how this happened? There is obviously a link between us, and there are twenty-five more who are connected to other cyborgs.”
“Does the high council know specifically about the twenty-eight?” Rykal handed the device back to Aidric. “Are they fearful of what we’ll do if we all bond with our mates?”
“They do not. Them believing that the humans are connected to specific Fallen rather than random would place a target on all twenty-eight of you.” Aidric got to his feet. “I do have a plan to keep them ignorant of that fact.”
Rykal cocked his head to the side. “How?”
“I plan to tell them that we’ve just spent this time negotiating. You pointed out that the humans would be nothing more than a resource drain on Grus Prime and offer little in the way of skills that would benefit us. And without knowing if they’d ever find a mate, we’d have to continue to care for them. But you as the appointed leader of the Fallen have graciously agreed to give them shelter. In return and due to the appearance of the Sholle scout ship, you’ve agreed to send reconnaissance teams out to find out what the Sholle are up to.”
Rykal cocked an eyebrow. “I have?”
“You have.” Aidric slipped the scanner back into his pocket. “I’ll return to the high council with news of the negotiations.”
Eagan shook his head. “I find it hard to believe they would accept these…negotiations. Even if we do actively put out reconnaissance teams.”
“It will be hard for them to argue with the humans and their ship is already off the station and hidden from our scanners.” Aidric smoothed down his tunic and Beth was amazed to see his expression shift to something mask-like. “Have your first scout team ready to leave within the day. While you did an excellent job at hiding the Kraken and destroying the Sholle ships, I can’t believe we escaped harm that easily.” With a nod to each of them, Aidric left.
Beth didn’t know what to say, as she turned back to Eagan and smiled. “So, we’re all okay now?”
“We will need to finalize a few details, but yes.” He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her hard.
“Before the two of you get too far into consummating your relationship, we need to get back to the Krak
en and let the others know.” Rykal stood. “We might be okay in the short term, but I have a feeling things might get far more complicated in the near future.”
They waited for the Grus to leave before returning to the shuttle Eagan and Rykal had arrived on. Beth didn’t want to be too far from his side, even though she knew there was nothing that would keep them apart any longer – not even her own fears.
Resting her hand on his shoulder once he took the co-pilot’s seat, she leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Once this is sorted, will you take me back to your home?”
A shiver passed through his body. “Yes, love. I’ll take you home.”
Home.
It had been a long while since that idea brought Beth joy, but now, she couldn’t wait to go there. Go home with Eagan.
Chapter Ten
Rarely had Eagan ever thought about the state of the small building he’d called his house since the war with the Sholle had been won. But standing there with Beth by his side, the cool winds of Zarlan’s latest storm whipping around them, he couldn’t help but think it was a poor excuse for a home. Beth deserved a large building, with flora around it to give it life. She should have bright colors across every surface, more than the gray and brown walls he had.
“It’s perfect.” Beth smiled as she looked around the front. “There aren’t a lot of houses in this part of the city.”
“Despite the number of Fallen across the planet, we’re still a fraction of the population of Grus who used to live here. We’re stretched out, taking as much space as we want.” There were other, larger houses that he’d show her in the coming days. If she’d rather have one of those then Eagan would move them immediately. “We best go inside before the rain starts.”
The air had a stale smell to it, indicative of how long it had been since Eagan had last been here. The furniture was spartan and what was there was basic. One chair, a single bed, a table where he’d eat, or fix any created plans for problems that no longer existed. He could only stand and watch as Beth moved around the space, occasionally stopping to touch something or adjust something else.
“We’ll need to add another chair.” She looked over at him and grinned. “And maybe some pictures. Do you have artwork here?”
“Some of us do, but it was never much of a concern of mine.” He crossed the distance between them and ran his hand through her hair. “But I’ll find whatever you want and bring it here. Anything that will make you feel more comfortable.”
Her face flushed as he felt her embarrassment wash over her. “Thank you.”
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. This is your home now as well and I want you to be happy.”
“Okay.” Beth rolled her eyes as she smiled. “I’m never going to get used to you knowing how I feel.”
“You will in time. Sooner or later it will become second nature to both of us.” He tugged on her hair until her neck was stretched back and she could look nowhere but his eyes. “Right now, I can tell that the idea of being here scares you as much as it arouses you. Knowing that the bed we will share from now on is just over there waiting for us to fall into. Waiting for me to strip you naked so I can taste every bit of your body.”
Her feelings of embarrassment became entangled with her growing arousal. “While I think that’s a fantastic idea, I have no idea how we’re both going to sleep comfortably on that bed.”
It wasn’t exactly the largest of spaces and while she wasn’t a large person, together they wouldn’t have much room to move. Thankfully, that was something he could easily remedy. Moving along the side of the bed, he pressed a few buttons on the console. The bed was made of a bio matter that was easily manipulated by the computer and within a few moments, it doubled in size, giving them plenty of room. “I’ll fetch you additional blankets if you get cold.”
Beth let out a small surprised gasp and he had to smile at the look of wonder on her face. “The bed grew.”
“You don’t have such technology on your planet?”
“We sleep on foam. It, ahh, doesn’t do that.” Beth walked over to the mattress and pressed her hand against it. “Wow, that’s soft.”
“If you prefer a different firmness, I can make adjustments.”
Her face flushed as she flicked her gaze up at him. “I’d have to give it a proper test to make that determination.”
Eagan was shocked at how quickly his arousal spiked at such a simple phrase. “I would be more than ready to assist you with such an evaluation.”
All the nervousness, the fear and trepidation in her, was instantly gone. All Eagan could sense from her was joy and excitement at the idea of being with him. The rush of arousal was now tinged with pride.
She wanted him.
She chose him.
Eagan rose to his full height and slowly made his way around the bed to where Beth now stood waiting for him. Her brown hair was a messy halo around her head, her clothes were rumpled and ill fitting, and to him she was absolutely perfect. He cupped her face with his hands, caressed the soft skin just below her brown eyes with his thumbs, before leaning down and capturing her mouth with his.
She sighed into his mouth, pressing her body against his, and it was the sweetest feeling. Beth had traveled across the galaxy to get to him; she’d given up everything to be here. For the rest of their lives, Eagan would make sure that she was treated like the precious gem she was.
Without breaking their kiss, Eagan moved his hands from her face and slowly removed each piece of her clothing. He didn’t need to see her to know what he was doing, he’d long ago burned everything about her into a permanent place on his matrix. He knew that if he scraped his thumbs along the side of her breasts when he slid her shirt down her arms, she’d gasp and giggle.
Like this.
And when he’d tug at her pants, letting his fingers tease the small dip of her hip when he pushed the fabric to the floor, her legs would begin to tremble.
Like that.
And finally, when he pulled away from her and pushed her down to the bed so she could spread out, the remaining few articles of clothing all that stood between them, Eagan knew in a matter of moments her cries of pleasure would fill their home. The bruise on her shoulder was still there, a blemish on her otherwise perfect skin; a mark that gave him pride as much as it aroused.
His cock was painfully hard, and his skin itched to be set free from his fabric prison. Beth’s gaze traveled down his body as he made quick work of stripping down. He stood still for a moment while she looked him over, a small smile turning her lips. “You’re so big. Everything about you. Big and hard and strong. I like that.”
If Eagan had the ability to feel vanity, that sentiment would have inflated his ego. “I know something you’ll like more.”
There was no more waiting, no more flirting; Eagan dropped to his knees on the bed and grabbed the undergarments that hid her pussy from him. She was already wet from desire and he could smell her arousal as he flung the thin piece of material somewhere behind him. Finally, he freed her breasts, leaving no barriers between them.
“I want to taste you.”
Beth groaned and squirmed beneath him. “Yes.”
There was a part of Eagan who wanted to rush through everything, needing to claim her once again, leaving no doubt that she was his. But he pushed against that urge and instead gently leaned down and sucked her nipple into his mouth. She gasped as he began to flick the sensitive skin with his tongue, teasing and tormenting it until he could feel her arousal through their connection. Only when he didn’t think she could handle it any longer did he switch to her other breast and repeat the process. The whole time he sucked and nipped at her, he was also thrusting his hard cock against the soft skin of her inner thigh; a tease and a promise all in one.
Beth wasn’t a passive recipient to his ministrations. Her hands roamed across his back, her fingers threaded through his hair, flexing and tugging at him, pushing and pulling as she tried to direct where she wanted him to go.
She opened her thighs wide, wrapping them around his waist, grinding her pussy against his body as she sought to increase contact against her clit. By the time he lifted his head from her breast, he could feel her desperation.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “If you don’t do something soon, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Eagan couldn’t help but smile.
He moved down, licking and kissing as he went. He paused to press his nose into the damp curls of hair between her legs and breathe in deep the scent of her. There was nothing else like it in the universe. When he licked a long, slow swipe up her pussy, the taste of her was as good as he remembered. He darted his tongue across her clit once, then twice, before he pressed a finger inside her the way he had back at the ship.
Beth groaned long and low as she thrust up against his mouth. Unlike the frantic need that had consumed him earlier, this time Eagan was able to relax and enjoy the feeling on her around him. The softness of her hidden flesh was addictive to him; he flicked his tongue across the sensitive nub of her clit, sensing her arousal rising steeply with each caress.
His cock was now pressed against the bed and it took the total of his discipline to keep from rubbing against it, seeking out his own release. No, when he came it was going to be deep inside Beth’s body so he could feel that connection with her. Warm pleasure surged inside him as his desires for her grew. He latched onto her clit and sucked with renewed intensity, fucking her with his had the way he planned to fuck her with his cock soon enough.
“Shit, Eagan.” Beth thrashed beneath him as her juices coated his mouth and chin. He was about to force her over the edge into bliss when he stopped. He pulled back which earned him a glare that would have killed a Sholle where it stood. “What? No. Don’t stop.”
“I want to feel you come on my cock.”
“Noooo.” She let out a soft little cry. “I’m so close.”
“I promise you I will make your body sing.”
“I’m trusting you to do that.” Her bottom lip was stuck out in a pout that told him she was less than convinced with his plan.