by Rena Marks
She tightened her muscles around him, making them both shudder.
Slowly she rocked her hips back and forth. His hands dug into her hips, helping her to grind on him. He tossed his head back, the thick, corded muscles in his neck pronounced. She traced them with her tongue and felt herself gush.
“So sexy,” he muttered, and she knew he referred to the instant wetness that coated them both.
“Faster,” he gasped, as if he was losing control. She could give him that. She ground herself harder, feeling her clit as it was pinched by his thumb and forefinger. He was rougher in the throes of his own climax and suddenly a gush of wetness splashed inside her.
“Everly!” he groaned, clamping down on her neck.
It didn’t matter that she hadn’t come. Hell, he’d given her enough with his tongue. And it was so sexy watching him.
He licked her neck, soothing the sting he’d given during his orgasm.
“Lean back, and let me play with your clit,” he begged. “I want to watch you come for me. I want to see your face this time. I want to know I’m the one that brings you so much pleasure.”
She nodded, and his fingers delved through her folds. Pleasure was definitely what she was feeling right now. Sitting on his cock, she still felt impossibly full, even more so. It felt like he could move his penis inside her. She held perfectly still, and then she knew. Something inside her was definitely stroking—rubbing—dangerously close to that special spot, her G-spot, even as his fingers stroked her clit on the outside. It was like he was synchronizing the inner stroking with the outer stroking.
That feeling, combined with his slick fingers manipulating her ultra-sensitive clit, caught her breath. A chain-link of explosions hit, first from her clit and then from deep inside her womb.
He groaned, leaning into her neck as she kept cumming and cumming, gasping and moaning as she fought to stay quiet. It felt like his fingers had slipped into her alongside his cock, though with as full as she was, she knew that was impossible. But yet, it felt like a curled finger was rubbing her spot, making her orgasm go on and on. Her entire lower body contracted impossibly tight, over and over in waves.
He groaned again, shuddering as if he was so turned on by her orgasm he couldn’t help himself. He tossed his head back. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, riding the never-ending waves of her release as the crickets chirped around them.
Chapter Seven
Thane hurried to the conference center where everyone waited. Inside the room, already seated, were Steele, Pax, Renegade, Beast, Blaze, and the head of their security, Jason.
He sat on the end of the table across from Steele, Pax, and Renegade, next to Beast and Blaze.
Steele got straight to the point. “We’ve determined that Everly is your mate based on one of our experiments. The pill that is slipped into her lunch daily? It’s made with your DNA. Her body wouldn’t absorb it so readily if she didn’t crave your pheromones. There’s no doubt that she’s yours.”
Pax cleared his throat. “That and the fact that you control electricity. Your DNA boost in the pill enables her to pull electricity from the air and shock any males who touch her. Yet you were with her all night and there wasn’t a shock between you.”
“And Zee?”
“We still haven’t determined why he believes she’s his.”
There was more to the story than they’d told him. What sort of testing had they done between Everly and Zee? He carefully looked around the room. Something wasn’t right. Their faces were too closed off, the neural connections that enabled Xeno Sapiens to interact telepathically carefully silent. Neutral.
That silence was how he knew.
“Was a similar pill made for her from his pheromones?” Because he couldn’t imagine they tested her on his only.
There was a pause while Steele looked down at the table, slightly guilty. Thane clenched his fists and leaned in for the answer. On either side of him, Beast and Blaze tensed for a fight.
“Yes.”
Thane about leapt over the table to get at him. Next to him, Blaze and Beast laid a hand on his biceps, holding him.
“And her reaction?” he snarled. He had to know. He had to know if somehow, some way, Zee was correct. If Everly’s body craved him as much as she did Thane. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if so. He wasn’t like Jett and Brax, who shared. She’d repeatedly said she wasn’t interested in Zee. But if her body was…would he be able to stand by and watch as she grew more and more captivated with him to where she eventually wanted the thrill of another in her bed?
Renegade had the audacity to grin. “She was ill for a week after taking that pill.”
Steele acknowledged with a nod. “We had a hard time getting her to take any other ‘gifts’ from us. It was only when she was nearly accosted—”
“Accosted?!” he roared.
This time not even the hands placed on his arms could keep him from leaping up from his chair.
“Nothing happened,” Steele said, holding up his hands to placate him. “But it changed her mind into trying the original pill again—the one with your DNA that had worked previously. Not that she knew the difference between the two. She just agreed to have the tried and true method.”
“I trusted you, as my brothers”—he let his gaze drop around the room, studying each and every face present—“to tell me of her struggles. This is the first time I hear about her being attacked? Not to let me think everything was as fine for her as it was for me.”
“Wait a minute,” Jason said. “You trusted us as your brothers to keep her safe. She is perfectly safe. Steele and Pax developed a weapon to keep her untouched without lifting a finger. Naturally she isn’t fine just as you aren’t. It’s obvious the two of you are miserable without each other. We’re trying to figure out a way to make the two of you happy without killing Zealish in the process. No one wants to keep you and Everly separated.”
“I can’t stand not being there for her.”
“Let us help you,” Blaze said, removing his hand from his arm. “We’re taking extra shifts just to keep near her area. To keep an eye on her.”
“Thank you.”
“I know this is hard,” Beast rumbled. “I couldn’t stand to be without Sunny. But we’ll get this figured out.”
Thane studied him intently. This was his angle. Despite having the strength—and temper—to eat people, Beast was a softie at heart.
He opened a private telepathic link to him.
Please just get me a few hours with her. I could hide out for a few days after decontamination at your place.
Beast’s cabin was in the polar opposite direction of Zee’s electrified pen.
We’ll discuss it.
“—in the meantime,” Steele was saying, “Zealish has burrowed into the side of a mountain, using his days to create a primitive den. Robyn has agreed to sedate him for a longer period of time while the rest of us go in to inspect it. We’ll make sure it’s safe and isn’t in danger of collapse. We’ll see what the purpose of it is. Is he hiding away a portion of his food? Creating a place to sleep? Preparing for hibernation, or even a cocoon? What is this sudden need for shelter? We had erected a tent in his pen which he shuns. He shredded it within an hour.”
“Is he preparing for death?” He had to know. If Zee was this bad, he couldn’t possibly risk a few stolen hours with Everly. And yet, shame hit him hard at knowing that if Zee’s death was inevitable, he wished for the end to come quickly. Not all for Zee’s sake, but so he could selfishly move on with his life.
“We thought of that,” Steele said. “We wondered if he prepares his own tomb. We’ll see what we can find out tomorrow.”
Tomorrow would be the perfect day to sneak over the wall to make sure Everly was okay.
* * * * *
He had to wait until dark. He never realized what a curse his green skin was, but it marked his presence as other. That and the fact that he was taller than most humans.
He to
ssed another pebble at Beast’s window. Even from where he stood, he heard the small plink as the rock bounced to the porch.
The front door opened and the huge Xeno Sapien angled out, blinking his eyes to activate his night vision enough to see beyond the trees.
Thane stepped out.
“Dude, that only works in human movies. Sunny wants to know why you didn’t just knock,” Beast yelled.
Thane scowled and then yelled loudly. “It’s safer if you don’t know, Sunny!”
“I know,” she called out. “Have fun, boys.” She kissed Beast and pushed him out the front door, closing it behind him.
“Sunny’s fixing dessert,” Beast grumbled. “Let’s get your scrawny ass over that wall so I can get back to my mate and my chocolate sundae.”
“It’s not like I don’t appreciate you tossing me over the wall and such,” Thane said. “But you could stand to skip a dessert or two.”
“Bite me.”
With one look between them, they sharpened their other skills and raced one another to the wall—Beast in a hurry to get back home and Thane in a hurry to get to Everly. He pulled the electricity from the air, allowing it to fill his body, to fuel him as he ran, even as he left sparks on the ground.
They stopped where the grove of trees ended, hiding them from patrol.
“You know we can’t keep this up forever,” Beast said, looking out for the guard who made patrol on top of the wall. “Oh, good, it’s a human,” he said, distractedly. “He may not notice when we come up behind him. Their senses are so muted.”
“I know,” Thane said. “I’m just taking a couple stolen nights here and there with Everly until I have to stop. As long as I can avoid Zee.”
“What then?” Beast asked shrewdly.
“We’ll figure something else out. Maybe Robyn will be on to something with her latest experiment on Zee’s sense of smell.”
“Hmmph.” Beast said. “Sunny and I have morning patrol.” He winced. “Along with Tempest. I swear that woman is wherever Sunny is. Why, sometimes Sunny and I are making love—”
“Get back to the subject.”
“Oh, yeah. So one of the three of us will be able to haul you up at the first light.”
“So now four of us know about my excursions?”
“Yeah, but we’re all trustworthy. Well, except for Tempest. But no one talks to her anyway, so who’s she gonna tell?”
They quieted as the human patrolled the fence, and when he moved a distance further away, they ran toward the wall as silently as they could.
“Get over quick before the electricity reactivates for this section and kicks my ass,” Beast said with a huff. “Sunny’s not gonna like it if I’m fried.” He squatted and clasped his hands together. Thane took a running leap and kicked off from his cupped hands.
Beast swung upward, giving him a toss up to the top of the wall. Thane’s hands barely caught the edge. He scrambled to twist over, keeping low on his belly in case the human turned and saw him.
Without standing, he rolled off the other side and hoped the thump of his landing was soft enough that the guard wouldn’t hear.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though. He moved from the electric barrier of the wall before it would kick on and headed toward the tent areas.
Chapter Eight
He didn’t want to scare her, but it was obvious Everly was already inside her tent, and he wondered how he could get to her. The sides were zipped, and the opening at the top was opened to allow air to circulate. He waited behind a tree, pondering what to do. He couldn’t call out. Someone might hear. He couldn’t come out, one of the others still milling about would recognize a green Xeno Sapien. Not like he could blend like the rest of them could.
So he waited. Within an hour, the people wandering about began to slow down, heading into their own tents. His heart ached for her, all alone and trying to keep from everyone else. It wasn’t this way when he met her. She was with all the children all the time. But now, she avoided others as much as possible.
More and more solar lanterns dimmed, and he finally had the opportunity he’d been waiting for. He slithered to the front of her tent and unzipped.
“Who’s there?” she squeaked.
“Shh.”
She must have recognized his voice because she didn’t say a word as he slipped in and zipped the door shut. He could see her outline because the top of the tent opened for air, allowing a bit of light to filter through. He reached her side and crawled onto the open sleeping bag with her, pulling her onto his chest.
“I missed you,” he murmured.
“I missed you, too. What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“Spending time with you.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Why weren’t you out visiting with the others?”
She shrugged. “There’s too much risk of a man touching me and getting shocked within an inch of his life.”
“The females don’t get shocked.”
“No, but I sense some resentment there because I’ve gotten to visit Xenia. If only they knew it wasn’t quite the accomplishment everyone thinks.”
He could sense her grin.
“I don’t know how you all sleep out here with the noises and the lights.”
“You get used to it. This way, I get to stare at the sky and dream. Though if the wind kicks up, I’ll have to close the tent in case of rain.”
“This is not comfortable for you.”
“I know,” she said, rubbing her small hand on his abdomen as if she couldn’t help herself. As if she craved touching him. “And I was going to talk to you about that. As much as I hate it, it’s time for me to move on.”
“Move on? Where?”
“I don’t know. But people are curious here. The cameras have filmed me. Others in the community are starting to resent me. I need to go before they figure out my past and keep me from the children. It would break my heart to see the children scared of me because of something their parent said.”
“Don’t leave yet. Robyn is testing her theories on Zee. If you can just hold on, maybe we can get him sane enough that you can hide out in Xenia. With me. Then you can still come out here to visit without worrying that someone dislikes you enough to uncover your past.”
There was enough silent seconds after his statement for him to worry.
“Everly? Would you like that?”
“Thane, I’d love to be with you. But not at the expense of Zee’s health. Your friends would start to rail against you just like these people resent me for getting different treatment. They’d want to know why you allow me to be there when he has nowhere else he can go.”
“If you head out into the world, I can’t follow. And I can’t protect you.”
“I know. I haven’t had protection in a very long time. I’ll figure it out. Maybe one day I can make my way back here to visit you.”
The chances of that were rare. Her application to work within the walls of Xenia had already been rejected due to her felony.
“One of our guys can camouflage his skin. He snuck out of Xenia once. I wish I had that power. I’d follow you anywhere, Everly.”
“He did? How did that go?”
“Not well,” he admitted. “He ended up getting shot accidentally since he couldn’t be seen.”
She sucked in a huge breath of air.
“He’s perfectly all right now. The cops brought him back to Xenia.”
She started to softly giggle, her body wriggling against his in the darkness. “You said…just…you want his camouflage ability…but then you admit he was shot?”
“Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound like such a great idea,” he whispered, holding her close through her laughter.
“There are no laws keeping us bound to Xenia,” he said.
“Thane, the walls of Xenia keep you safe. The world would attack a lone Xeno Sapien on the outside.”
“Then I’ll volunteer to work the outside every available minute of
my time. I’ll make sure no one threatens you or is afraid of you. I’ll make sure they talk to you and like you. Just like before.”
She snuggled her head onto his chest without saying a word.
“Tell me a story,” she said finally.
“What kind of story?”
“If I was allowed to enter Xenia, what would it be like for us?”
“I’d insist you share my quarters with me, for one.”
“It doesn’t bother you?” she asked.
“Does what bother me?”
“That I’ve killed? He was my father.”
“No, Everly. I’ve killed, too. Why would I judge you?”
“You’ve killed?”
“Yes. Back during one of the times when we’d first been created. Before we were killed and our memories wiped. We were taught to fight each other until near death, and then when the scientists wanted to study us further, they brought homeless and kidnapped humans in for us to battle. For us to…slaughter. I’m no different than you.”
“I just don’t know what else to do. I spent seven years locked away.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I love spending time with the children. That’s why I obtained a teaching degree. But I can never use it. Not with a felony.”
“You don’t have to conform to what others want or demand. You do what makes you happy. If being among children does that, you can be among them without teaching in a school.”
She gave a dry, humorless laugh. “But how will I live without a paycheck?”
“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Together. I promise you all my friends are trying to fix this. Steele and Pax came up with the pill that gives males a shock if they approach you, right? I know it’s not a perfect fix and has caused some new problems, but I think it shows they have your safety at heart.”
“I know, honey. I’m not complaining. They’ve done more than they should for me.”
“They’re all frantically working on a solution. No one has given up. Even now, Robyn is working to figure out what’s going on with Zee so we can all live compatibly.”