Cataclysm: Rystar and the LASSOs Book Three

by Jack Archer

  Enzo’s eyebrows shot up, and he glanced over to Kyran, who was lounging in his chair, arms behind his head. Kyran shrugged and tilted his head, indicating that it was up to Enzo. Enzo looked back to his tablet and sighed. “I’ll assist you as long as I can. Just show me what you have set up so far.”

  Ji’lan’s face lit up with a smile, and he crossed the room to where Enzo sat, holding out his hand. “You have a deal. Come by tomorrow, and I will set you up with Ferrah Akler, our resident network expert.”

  Enzo nodded again, shaking Ji’lan’s hand and becoming buried in his tablet once more. Ji’lan sat back down, and Kyran addressed him this time. “So, boss, we’ve heard about this Hoop over and over again, and we still don’t know what it is. Anything you can do to enlighten us on that front?”

  Ji’lan drained his glass and set it back on the table, crossing his legs and setting his hands on his knees. Tapping his foot for a moment, he lapsed into thought before speaking again.

  “The Hoop is still a mystery to even us,” he explained in a low voice. “From what we’ve been able to piece together, the Hoop is a base, or a derelict ship, or something of that sort, converted into a secret rebel base that serves as the true rebel headquarters. We receive information from the Hoop every so often, from the Tachä Chanyem, the Shadow Band.”

  “Shadow Band?” Rystar asked as the Sustri’s eyes widened.

  “We call those on the Hoop the Shadow Band, an old name for those who used secret ways of communicating when the Sustri race was young and at war,” Ji’lan explained. “We do not know who the Shadow Band are, though we suspect Balee Wylo was one of them before she was captured.”

  “The Tachä Chanyem have existed for centuries,” Kyran said, leaning forward in his chair, brows furrowed. “Do you think these are the same group of folks?”

  Ji’lan shrugged. “I have not been around so long as to make that assumption. Several Sustri members of our rebellion began referring to the coded messages from beyond the Bubble as the Tachä Chanyem reborn, but I have no stake in these matters.”

  Kyran hummed, sitting back in his chair and placing his fingers to his lips. Rystar longed to ask him about these things, to learn more about his race and subsequently about him.

  “It is getting late, however,” Ji’lan announced, standing from his chair. Everyone else took the cue to also stand up, stretching a little before taking Ji’lan’s hand in turn. Na’gya was the last and hung back for a moment as the rest of them crowded by the door.

  “Thank you for taking us in,” Na’gya said, taking Ji’lan’s hand again. “I know it must be difficult, taking in strangers, but it means a lot that you trust us. We won’t let you down.”

  “I know you will not, Wejmo of Chantakor,” Ji’lan said with a smile and held the door open for them to file through.

  The walk back to the ship seemed much longer and stranger, having been in a completely different place for a while. The stores around them carried a different weight, and when they reached the top floor, Rystar looked up and out of the ceiling’s window. She wondered about the farms and industrial cities Enzo had told them about. Were they really run by Ya’ados slaves? If they were, they had no choice but to stay here on Yimesotwa and free them.

  “What’s on your mind, darlin’?”

  Rystar sighed and turned to face Kyran, watching the rest of the crew hurry ahead to give them ample space to talk without being eavesdropped on. “Please don’t tell me we’re leaving before we help the Wings of Vengeance free this place.”

  Kyran fixed her with a soft glare, the red in his eyes more maroon in the dark light of the bubble. “Wouldn’t dream of it. This is what our entire goal is, right? Taking care of the Ya’ados and Sustri?”

  “I suppose it is,” Rystar said, tearing her eyes away from Kyran before her heart betrayed her. “I’m risking my humanity to be here with you all.”

  “Not all Terrans are bad, you know that,” Kyran said, his hand flexing as if he wanted to grab hers. “You heard Ji’lan speak highly of Balee, and she’s a Terran.”

  “She was also part of the Shadow Band,” Rystar pointed out. “I’m just… a bounty hunter.”

  “You’re more than that, Rystar,” Kyran said softly, and she glanced up at him, confused by the lack of nickname this time. He was silent a moment before clearing his throat and speaking again. “Why don’t you come by and see me tonight?”

  Rystar’s chest burned with desire, how she wanted to stay with him that evening and be with him again. But her head said otherwise and forced her to stick to her guns, whatever they were. “Kyran, I still need time. I don’t know what to think yet. I just lost my ship. I need to grieve.”

  Kyran took in a big breath and looked ahead of him, clasping his hands behind his back and cracking his neck. “You take as much time as you need.”

  Rystar stopped, and Kyran did too, turning around slightly to face her. She put a hand on her hip and used her other to press two fingers to the side of her head, scrunching her eyes shut.

  “It’s not that I don’t want to, Kyran,” she began, opening her eyes and letting her hand fall to her side. Kyran’s face lit up for a moment, and he kept silent, listening as she went on. “But, you were in love with my grandfather. I didn’t know him, but can’t you see why that’s a little weird to me?”

  “I can,” Kyran said quickly, “and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Out of all the people I could have run into and fallen for, it had to be his granddaughter. You don’t think this is weird for me, too?”

  Rystar pursed her lips, intent on being angry about that line, but stopped as she processed it. How strange would that be? To live so long, you fall for several members of a family line?

  “You said your feelings for me had nothing to do with him,” Rystar said, folding her arms across her chest. “Did you mean that?”

  “Yes,” he replied. She noticed the party far ahead, almost to the space port gates. “I thought it was because of him before I realized that you’re your own person. And while the two of you share very similar characteristics, you are also very different.”

  Rystar glanced up at him through her eyelashes as she faced the ground, almost chastising herself for being upset in the first place. “I’ll come to see you later. But just to talk.”

  “Of course,” Kyran said, smiling so wide his fangs dipped below his lip again.

  Chapter Three

  Rystar Umara: DSV Firehawk

  She almost regretted her promise to go see Kyran that evening. Everyone else had gone to bed, and she stood in the kitchen alone, eating an entire sleeve of crackers while sipping on a glass of Charlom. She wasn’t drunk, but the delightful tingle of warmth had begun to spread through her body, leaving her with not a care in the world.

  First, there was Shea. She hadn’t really spoken with him since the FDDS incident and wanted to extend an olive branch. He had been punished enough. Then there was Kyran, the bane of her existence that she refused to fall in love with, who kept pursuing her at every turn.

  Enzo took every opportunity to show her the cyber ropes even though she had determined she was worthless when it came to network and security engineering. Still, she enjoyed the moments she spent with Enzo, the way his eyes lit up when she finally understood something he was saying.

  Na’gya, his icy blue eyes boring into hers as they spoke, the way he smiled when she was near.

  Lupe, who stared at her intensely when they were cooking, or just whenever. Every moment they could, Lupe would catch Rystar with her favorite food or some other little thing they had found in a shop somewhere.

  Cobalt, still an enigma. She had no idea how to open up to the guy, who avoided her whenever he could. Rystar had started to think he didn’t like her until Cobalt shoved a fancy new pistol her way when she came back on the ship after the Gloriosum exploded. Perhaps he had a soft spot for her, too.

  Rystar was so lost in thought, she didn’t hear the elevator doors open. The voice tha
t asked for her attention made her look up, and she saw Shea standing there, albeit swaying a little bit.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, heading over to the cabinets to look around. Rystar moved out of the way when he got to the cabinet beside her legs and huffed at him.

  “Drinking my sorrows away,” she sighed, “what are you doing?”

  “About the same,” he replied, stopping his searching and hanging his head. She looked down at him and furrowed her brow. “Do you hate me, Rystar?”

  He turned his face to her, his deep brown eyes full of guilt, and Rystar most certainly did not hate him. Still mad at him, sure, but definitely not hate. “Of course I don’t.”

  Shea gazed at her for a moment longer before ripping away and continuing to search. “Well, everyone else does.”

  “You did a bad thing. What do you expect?” Rystar responded, downing the last of her drink and setting the glass on the counter. Shea stopped his rummaging again and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid, closing the cabinet and standing up. He grabbed her empty glass and popped the bottle open, pouring a generous amount of liquid before knocking it back.

  “Yeah, I know,” he said between his teeth, pouring another and knocking it back, too. Rystar grabbed the bottle from him and set it on the counter, doing the same with the glass, then taking his hands in her own.

  “Shea, stop,” she said, gazing up at him. He didn’t meet her eyes and took a deep breath. “Don’t you think I’ve made mistakes before?”

  “Not like this,” he said.

  “Who cares?” Rystar huffed, pulling him closer. “It’s not a competition. You’ve fucked up, I’ve fucked up, we’re all a huge mess just waiting to be cleaned up. Forgive yourself.” She slid a hand up his arm and to his shoulder, guiding it to cup his cheek. “I have.”

  It took him several moments, but finally, Shea swooped down to catch her lips with his. The taste was something Rystar missed, and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeper. He responded by wrapping his hands around her waist and pulling her closer to him, tilting his head to the side and diving his tongue into her mouth.

  They kissed for a while, blissfully aware that everyone on the ship was asleep, and they could do whatever they wanted to each other in this kitchen. She flipped around so that Shea was against the counter and ran her hands down his chest, pushing his jacket to the side. He took the hint and ripped it off, setting it on the counter before his hands were on her waist again, trailing up her sides.

  Down she moved until she was nearly kneeling on the floor in front of him, fingers fiddling with the button on his jeans. She opened it and pulled his zipper down, painfully slow, while Shea ran a hand through her hair.

  Pulling his jeans down to his mid-thigh, she brushed his boxers aside and grabbed his aching erection as it hit the air. She pumped with one hand while the other cupped his sack, looking up at him through her eyelashes and loving the way his fingers scratched at the back of her head like they couldn’t wait for her to be on him.

  And soon she was, she licked from the base of his shaft all the way to his tip while he made the most delicious noises at her. She squeezed and sucked his tip into her mouth, letting her tongue swirl around him and chuckling at the way he moaned and grabbed at the back of her hair.

  Soon she was pushing him in her throat as far as she could go, the Charlom pushing her along. Her hands pressed against his hips, and he groaned as he sunk his fingers into her hair further and bucked his hips up, sending him further into her mouth. Rystar moaned around him and moved her hands to cup his ass, pulling him into her more.

  But the elevator doors dinged again, and she couldn’t rip herself away in time to avoid being caught. She whipped her head up and saw Kyran sauntering around the dining table to where they were frozen, the most wicked grin plastered on his face.

  “Shame on you for not inviting me to the party…” he drawled, leaning up against the edge of the table and raising an eyebrow. “…Shea.”

  Rystar blanched and looked up at Shea, who had gone a dark shade of red. She stood up, folding her hands across her chest. “What do you mean?”

  Kyran tilted his head at the pair of them. “Well, ever since our little talk, Shea and I came to the agreement that we both wanted to pursue you, and we should make a run at it together.”

  “Together?” Rystar repeated, turning her attention to Shea. He merely stood there, staring at the ceiling and muttering curses to himself. “What talk?”

  “While you were having a little sleep when you came back on board,” Kyran started, pushing himself off the table and stepping towards them, “I had the great idea that Shea and I both would treat you to the night of your life. Looks like Shea still wants you all to himself.”

  Rystar turned to Shea, who had finally brought his head down to look at her. “Is this true?”

  Shea closed his eyes for a moment before fixing her with a pleading stare. “I didn’t know how to broach the subject. And then tonight, you just came onto me, and I didn’t know what to do, I—”

  “Easy there,” Kyran stopped him, holding out a hand to rest on his shoulder. “Sounds like a classic misunderstanding. After all, how do you broach these subjects with you delicate Terrans?”

  “What subject?” Rystar asked slowly.

  “About the three of us, sugar,” Kyran replied, stepping closer and wiping the corner of Rystar’s mouth with a thumb before sucking on it slowly. “I can’t imagine you’d be against the idea of it.”

  Rystar gulped as Kyran’s thumb came out of his mouth, slick with spit, and she shuddered, a heat growing low in her belly. She turned to Shea, eyebrow raised. “You’re okay with this?”

  Shea tapped his fingers on the counter, still fully exposed, and tilted his head at Kyran. If Rystar didn’t know any better, she’d say the look she gave him was almost seductive. “I think I’ll be more than okay with this.”

  Kyran’s fangs came out again as his smile grew ear to ear, and he flicked his hand at Shea. “Go on and sit back up on that counter so Rystar can finish what she started.”

  Shea raised his eyebrow but hiked himself up on the counter, taking Rystar’s hands and pulling her close again. He was higher now, so she didn’t have to sink to her knees to suck him into her mouth. She was bent over, and a pair of hands slid across her back to grab at her hips, and Kyran pressed himself against her ass.

  She let out a moan around Shea, and he grabbed at her hair again, pulling her down gently. Kyran’s hands snaked up her back, under her shirt, before raking his nails down her back. With Shea in her hair and Kyran groping her thighs and ass, she squirmed in ecstasy, her knees shaking with the effort of keeping her up.

  Eventually, her jeans became unbuttoned and slid down her legs all the way to her ankles, where Kyran pushed her feet apart with a boot. She was completely exposed behind him, but it only got her more excited. By the time Kyran had gripped her by the waist and sent two fingers into her core, she was ready and dripping for him.

  “God damn, princess,” Kyran breathed as he fucked her slowly, pressing his erection against her thigh. She moaned again, mouth busy at the moment, and raised her eyes to watch Shea as he followed Kyran’s every movement, mouth slightly open and chest heaving.

  Kyran stayed behind her for a while, grabbing every inch of her he could with his free hand, bending down to kiss her hips, and muttering things against her skin. His fangs would drag across her every so often, and she writhed with the sudden pain. She longed for those teeth in her neck and popped off Shea for a moment to catch her breath, pressing her forehead against Shea’s stomach and continuing to pump him with her hand.

  “I’d say she’s pretty much ready for me. What do you think, Shea?” Kyran purred from behind her, and Rystar glanced up at him, her eyes pleading for release, and Shea grinned, pushing against his lip ring with his tongue.

  “She’s been good, I’ll allow it,” he said matter-of-factly, but the breathlessness of his voice gave hi
m away. Shea was just as in pieces as she was, and Rystar beamed, sinking back down onto him again, listening to the moans above her.

  Kyran’s fingers disappeared, and she bucked back, hitting nothing but air as Kyran chuckled darkly. A pair of pants hit the floor. Warm skin pressed between her thighs. Kyran’s erection circled her clit, and she had to stop for a moment to catch her breath as he brought her to the brink of orgasm several times, even though he barely moved.

  She spread her legs as far as the jeans around her ankles would allow, and Kyran circled her a few more times. Then suddenly, she exploded, her bones catching fire with the sun outside the ship, and she gasped, Shea’s hands steadying her shoulders as her legs threatened to give out beneath her.

  Panting, she rested her forehead against Shea’s thigh as he scratched at her scalp and rubbed her neck. Kyran lined himself up behind her and steadied a hand on the small of her back, the other gripping her thigh and pushed into her core, sighing as he sheathed himself fully. Rystar nuzzled Shea’s thigh for a moment as Kyran settled, and she took him into her mouth again, using her hand to grip him by the base and pump slowly with the rhythm her mouth made.

  Kyran began to move, sliding in and out of her easily, and she bucked back against him in time with his thrusts. She planted her hands on either side of Shea’s hips and pushed him all the way to the back of her throat, making him cry out and grab the back of her head. He thrust his hips up into her mouth as Kyran picked up his pace, placing both his hands around her waist.

  Shea tensed inside her, and she swirled her tongue around him, sucking harder until she felt the familiar release. Pushing him back as far as he would go and swallowing, Shea let out a cry, and Kyran groaned behind her, quickening his pace as Shea released the tension in his muscles and Rystar came up for air, panting hard.