Rebel Mate

by Grace Goodwin

  Inside was a small clear crystal.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  Ivy reached for it, and Zenos waited, her much smaller fingers lifting the pea size crystal from a lined bed of some kind. “Data.”

  Isaak frowned. “What’s on it? What could Bertok possibly send to Cerberus?”

  Zenos crossed his arms and all traces of the teddy bear were long gone. In the corner, the Cerberus male had begun to move his legs. He was coming around, and I really didn’t want to be here when he woke up. “Can we go? That Cerberus guy is moving.”

  Isaak rested a hand on my shoulder. “No one will harm you, gara. You have my word.”

  Ivy glanced back over her shoulder, watched the moaning, groaning alien try to roll over, and turned back to face me. “Zara is right. We should get out of here. Even if he didn’t already alert Cerberus to your presence here, he will now.”

  Zenos agreed. “We will take this data crystal back to Rogue 5 and find out what information it contains.”

  Ivy looked at Isaak. “What about you? They’ll have every bounty hunter and scavenger out here looking for you. It won’t be safe. Won’t matter where you go.”

  Isaak looked at me, our gazes locking and the look in his eyes dark. Intense. Impossible to read. “Zara and I will transport to my home on Trion. Bertok will not be expecting us. Zara has only been away from his side for two days. On Trion, that will be less than an hour. He will not even be looking. We will go to my home and wait to hear from you. Zara will be safe there.”

  “Uhm-hmmm.” Ivy made the odd noise, and I tore my gaze from Isaak to look at her. She winked at me. “Not yours, Isaak. You sure about that?”

  “Ivy!” I protested. No, Isaak was not mine. And he didn’t want to be mine. End of story.

  She lifted her hands, stepped forward and gave me a hug. I squeezed back. Hard. “Welcome to space, Zara.”

  “Thanks.”

  She took Zenos’ hand like they were young lovers out for a Sunday stroll, walked out of the canteen while the Cerberus male was still incoherent. Isaak’s hand was in mine seconds later. “Let’s go, Zara. It’s time for me to go home.”

  10

  Isaak

  * * *

  It had been four years since I’d been in this house. Mansion. Four years for me but just over one month for my family. Too soon to expect anything to have changed. The thick marble of the place still gleamed like a beacon. Built to withstand the blistering desert sun and constant heat, it was built with thick stone quarried from the region’s vast mines. It held in the coolness while large windows in every room offered views. While I liked things simple and kept furnishings to a minimum, it lacked for nothing. Just like any household that was part of High Councilor Henrick’s family. While nothing had changed, not a piece of furniture moved, it looked different. I was different. I’d had a staff, a full contingency of servants befitting a rich son of a High Councilor, but when I’d left, I’d paid them handsomely and relocated them to work a cousin’s estate. Since there wasn’t a layer of dust on every surface, it seemed someone had defied my orders and remained behind. Perhaps it was my mother’s doing, maintaining a constant vigil that I might someday return.

  Well, that time had come. All because of the female beside me.

  While that was true, it was also because of Bertok. He was up to something. Something bad. So bad that he’d murdered an innocent man for his bride, sold her to a known trader in the outer reaches to pass on to the leader of the most ruthless legion on Rogue 5. He’d received credit for Zara, but there was more. He could have earned that from selling her to anyone. No, Bertok and Cerberus had made a deal, and it all had to do with that necklace I’d ridiculously thought was a human decoration, just like her navel ring.

  While I’d left so long ago, I was still bitter. Still angry at my family. Yet Trion was my home, and I couldn’t let Bertok live knowing what he’d done to Zara. What he intended to do with Cerberus. I didn’t need to have the details of their plan to assume it was very, very bad. Cerberus’ depths of evil had yet to be plumbed… and I knew more stories than most because of Zenos and Ivy.

  Based on Zenos’ drive to learn the truth about the other legion’s leader, he, too, was rightfully concerned.

  I dropped my bag on the tile floor by the entry, looked to Zara. I was exhausted. I didn’t transport often, preferring to travel by my ship. That wasn’t possible coming to Trion, and I’d forgotten how it sucked the energy from my body.

  We’d come from Zenith directly here. It wasn’t the time for sightseeing. The transport center was large, and I hoped my return was not noticed by anyone familiar to me. I would have to visit my parents eventually, but by the way Zara was swaying on her feet, I didn’t want it to happen right away. I wasn’t ready to deal with them on top of everything else.

  I wondered how she saw the place. It was vast. Elegant. Larger than any bachelor could ever want or need. Fark, even larger than any Trion family could ever use. This being my home, it was representative of me or at least of the life I’d left behind. I didn’t usually care what others thought of me. Hell, I’d left the planet for just such a reason. I cared what Zara thought, though.

  “You’re rich,” she said finally.

  “My family is,” I replied, clarifying the difference.

  “If you have all this, why are you selling Hive tech for your cannon thing? Just write a check or something.”

  I sighed. Zara had said she’d grown up poor, and I was sure such opulence was new to her, just as much as being on a new planet.

  “It’s family money that built this place. Not mine. My parents’ home is larger still. My dead brother, Malik’s, equally so. I haven’t touched a credit of it since I left. Come on, let’s get some rest.” I took her elbow to guide her toward the stairs and the second floor that housed the seven bedrooms.

  She shrugged out of my hold. “We’re on Trion. We need to find Bertok.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Gara, I’m exhausted. I’m not sure how you’re still standing. You’ve barely slept since you came from Earth and have transported three times. An Atlan beast would be struggling to stay conscious. Leave your titan stick by the door, and we’ll sleep.”

  “I have motivation,” she replied, her jaw clenched, her pale eyes fierce as she looked up at me.

  “Remember we talked about the way time is different on Trion? The planet is so distant in the sector that it’s been—” I paused and did some loose math in my head. “—about two hours here on Trion since Bertok returned from The Dome.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Two hours?”

  It had been three days since we’d been beneath The Dome, so it was hard to even fathom the bend in time. It was even harder to fathom how my life had changed since then.

  “Bertok is not expecting us, and I’m sure he’s sleeping off his own transport. While it would be a good time to attack, we don’t know all the details. Yet. There’s nothing for us to do now but rest and wait for Zenos and Ivy to investigate. Remember, while we sleep, days will pass for them.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Daylight savings time is one thing, but this? I don’t think I’ll ever understand this… time change.” She rubbed her eyes. “Rest sounds good. A shower sounds better.”

  Nodding, I led her into my bed chamber and through to the bathing room. Everything was as pristine as when I’d left it. The deep stone tub, the windows that surrounded it to make the user feel decadent soaking in a pool of water surrounded by the barrenness of the desert landscape. While we were close to the city, wealth afforded untarnished views. I didn’t remember the room to be so large although anything was expansive after the tiniest of bathing rooms on my ship.

  It was this… this excess that I’d abandoned. But now I was back.

  With a human. No, with a Trion bride.

  Even though I’d seen every inch of Zara, I retreated, allowing her some privacy.

  “Um, I have no idea how to use that.” She pointed a
t the shower tube when I turned back to face her. “And the tub is like a swimming pool. I’m so tired I might drown.”

  She was small and fierce, but I continued to forget she had yet to settle anywhere in space. She’d moved from Trion to The Dome to Transport Station Zenith and then back to Trion. The entire time, she’d been in danger. She still was, until we heard otherwise from Zenos.

  I took my time and showed her how the bathing tube worked, steam immediately beginning to fill the room. I pointed out the other features she might need then left. It was my job to see to her needs were met, even the most basic ones.

  I used a second bathing room—fark, I had enough of them—to wash the travels from my own body. I thought of Zara naked and wet, using my scented soap over her pale skin. My cock stirred to life, it seemed a constant thing whenever I thought of the female. She’d responded so beautifully, albeit prickly, to my commands on the ship. I’d begun to master her body. Her mind was another challenge entirely. One I ultimately planned to win. She just didn’t know it yet.

  By the time I returned to my chamber, naked and beyond exhausted, Zara was in my bed, asleep. I climbed in behind her and tugged her close. Pulling the fresh sheets up and over us, I called out. “Blinds close.”

  Yes, someone had been maintaining the property, for the house responded by immediately completing my simple command. The room quickly darkened, and I slept, knowing this peace was short lived. Bertok had to be dealt with—Cerberus was Zenos’ problem—and then there were my parents. I could handle ion fire and even rogue asteroids, but I wasn’t sure I could survive seeing the pain in my mother’s eyes.

  I awoke to Zara’s face looming over me. Sleeping deeply, I hadn’t felt her shift in my arms or rise up to her elbow. I blinked, took in her refreshed face, the curious gaze, even in the dim lighting. I had no idea what time it was or how long we’d slept, but I felt better. Perhaps it was the naked body pressed against mine. My cock certainly rose because of that.

  “Blinds open,” I called.

  Zara looked about as the room brightened, the strong Trion sun cutting through the room’s windows.

  “Being rich has its perks,” she murmured.

  “You are fixated upon wealth,” I replied drily.

  “Says the guy who’s got voice activated curtains.” She pushed her hair back.

  It had been wet when she’d fallen asleep, and now it was a wild tangle. I itched to touch the wild strands, so I did.

  “I told you I grew up poor. My entire apartment could fit in that bathtub of yours.”

  “This house is part of my family’s wealth. Not mine. I haven’t earned it.”

  “You were born into it. What’s wrong with that? It’s not like you stole it from people.”

  I frowned then shook my head. “No, my family is not bad.”

  “Then why walk away from them? I mean, you said you were gone four years. That’s a long time.”

  My family dynamics weren't simple. Even if I explained everything to Zara, she still might not understand, just as my parents still didn’t. We were from different planets, different cultures, even if she’d been matched to Trion. She found my wealth interesting. No, she found how I turned my back on it intriguing. Perhaps even insulting, to have access to such lavish things and not take advantage. And for reasons I could not explain, I needed her to understand.

  “Remember, it was four years for me, but it’s only been about a month to them.” I sighed. “I did not come into this world alone. I had a twin brother. Malik. He was born first and became my father’s heir.”

  I paused, expecting Zara to interrupt with questions, but for once, she remained silent. Patient. Waited for me to find the words I needed.

  “Malik was beautiful. He had our mother’s dark skin and wild curls. He laughed at everything. He loved people. Everyone. He could sit for hours studying history or reading ancient texts. He had our law books memorized by age fifteen and Coalition Fleet regulations at seventeen. He understood politics, alliances, knew how to read people. He always seemed to know what to say to gain their trust.”

  Zara’s hand slid up onto my chest to rest over my heart, and I wrapped my hand around hers, taking the small comfort as memories of my brother bubbled up like a raw wound, and the pain I’d spent the past four years running from exploded within me like a desert storm, the grains of sand rubbing me raw from the inside out.

  “You loved him,” she said. “A lot.”

  “Yes. Everyone in the region loved him. He had two dozen mating offers by the time we were twelve.”

  She lifted her pale gaze to mine, whispered, “So what happened?”

  “I did. I find history, politics and law to be an absolute bore. I could not sit still for lessons and constantly found myself in trouble. As often as my father praised Malik, he took me to task.” I paused, remembering one instance that buried the pain and made me laugh. “When we were eleven, I convinced Malik that we needed to capture and tame our own wild mounts. So, we packed a pair of reins and snuck out under the double moons to stalk the hairy beasts.”

  “And?”

  “And we found them, all right. Right next to a den of—well, you won’t know what they are—but their defense is a pungent spray that soaks the skin and hair.”

  “Like a skunk?”

  “I do not know a skunk, but one of the wild mounts kicked me because while they are big and fierce, they fear the smelly vermin. I flew into the nearby nest, and the smaller creatures sprayed me from head to toe.”

  “Oh, no.” Her eyes were alight with laughter, and I knew she grasped the concept of the creatures at least.

  “Malik had to practically carry me home since we were stupid enough to forget a ReGen wand. I had three broken ribs, a broken arm from the kick, and I reeked of this, as you say, skunk-like spray. We both had to bathe. We tried everything but could not get the scent from my hair. So Malik shaved my head then shaved his own to match. He sneaked down to the medic’s office and brought a ReGen wand to heal my broken bones, and then we both lied to our parents, saying we saw the bald head of one of the guards and decided we liked the look.”

  Zara was chuckling now. “They believed you?”

  The happiness died in my heart as the memory came to its inevitable conclusion. “They pretended to. But that night, when Malik was out with one of his tutors and I was alone, my father came to me, as he did many times, and berated me for being a bad influence on my brother. Because of me, Malik risked his life unnecessarily, stole from the doctor, lied to his parents, and looked like a fool with his head shaved.”

  She frowned. “That’s terrible. You were just boys having fun. That’s what kids do.”

  “Not when you are the son of a High Councilor.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I was angry. At myself. At my brother. Because my father was right. It happened over and over again. I was always getting Malik into trouble. The day he died, I had convinced him to steal a desert rover with me. We were out jumping sand dunes when he lost control and the vehicle flipped, crushing him. I had a ReGen wand this time, but it wasn’t enough. He died before the medical teams could arrive.”

  “It was an accident, Isaak.”

  “It was no accident that I convinced Malik to go. He was supposed to be studying.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Twenty. It was a week before our birthday.”

  She didn’t speak, just wrapped her arms around me and rested her cheek over my heart. Her silence gave me the courage to finish.

  “I was on my knees in the desert, crying over my brother's dead body when my parents arrived.” I shuddered. I couldn’t stop my body’s reaction to the memory. “My father stood over me and told me the wrong son had died that day.”

  She gasped, her eyes wide. “Oh my God. No, Isaak. He didn't mean that! He was in pain.”

  “No, gara, he was right. Malik was better than I am, in every way.”

  “That’s bullshit. Would he have fought Ul
za for me? Would he have been able to hunt and kill Hive the way you do? How many lives have you saved? There’s no way to know. Hundreds? Thousands? Sounds like your brother was charming and a bookworm, but there’s more to life than history books. More to being a leader than making friends. Sometimes, you have to be ruthless to survive. Your brother needed you to be exactly the way you are.” She squeezed me tightly, and the pain in my chest lessened.

  “My father made it very clear that I was not wanted here, gara. I remained for some time but couldn’t take it any longer. Fled the planet. If not for you, I would not have come back.”

  “Then I’m grateful for everything. You can’t outrun pain, Isaak. And you shouldn’t carry it around like a boulder, either. Malik made the choice to go with you, to drive the vehicle, to jump the sand dune. He was with you every step of the way. You two were probably inseparable.”

  “We were twins.” That was all the explanation required.

  “Exactly. Malik needed you to help him break free. Trust me on that.” Zara’s stomach rumbled loudly, breaking into our conversation as if there was some kind of wild animal in the room with us.

  She blushed, as if that was the most scandalous thing about her body. Or, perhaps, because she did not want me to infer anything about her needs from her last comment.

  While I wanted to remain abed and fuck her back into exhaustion, Zara required food. So did I for what I wished to do to her. I also didn’t wish to speak further of my family troubles.

  I pushed back the covers, climbed from the bed. “Come, I shall feed you.” I went to a closet where I knew the customary Trion clothing I’d left behind was freshly laundered and orderly. I tugged on a pair of loose pants and was tying the string at the waist when Zara appeared in the doorway. Naked save for the rings in her nipples, the chain between them and the small bar in her navel.

  My cock tented my pants, and Zara’s eyes as she watched it happen didn’t help. I growled, randomly grabbed a shirt and tossed it at her. “Your body is a taunt, gara. However, your hunger must be satiated first.”