by Marie Harte
He waved his gun in her direction. “I tried being nice. I tried being patient. And instead, you wasted yourself with a Talson. As if those pricks didn’t have enough already.” His handsome face scrunched with jealousy, and his features blurred into a menacing mask. “But you know what? That makes it all the sweeter. Because I’m going to fuck what a Talson considers his.”
He crossed to her and slapped her across the face. Damn, she really had to start anticipating his violence better. Then Trotter nuzzled the gun into her belly, and cold fear hit her. The notion that he might harm her child before she could fight back was uppermost in her mind.
“Take off your clothes, whore.” He unzipped his trousers and stroked himself. “If you please me, I’ll let you have some of this.” He panted as he touched himself, running the muzzle of his gun over her breasts and up her throat. “Swallow my cum, or swallow a bullet. Your choice.”
She glared at Trotter, seeing the evil within him that was so foreign to the man she’d come to love. Romy Talson would never harm a woman and would never hurt so many the way Jonah Trotter had. She stared at the hardening flesh in Trotter’s hands and prayed for it to wither and fall off so he couldn’t hurt anyone else.
As she thought it, his erection began to fade.
“Take off your clothes,” he said in another attempt at persuasion.
Like all the other times before, his words had little effect. “No. In fact, I think you should put down that gun before you shoot yourself.” She gave him her own push and watched with satisfaction as the gun wavered in his hands before he steadied it. But the sign of uncertainty told her what she needed to know.
Trotter’s reign had finally come to an end. Now she needed to close the chapter for good.
* * * * *
“I know this is supposed to be a surprise, but where is everyone?” Rhenec Talson ’Or Fal said to his son, Z, as they touched down at Port Chase’s docks in the Talson shipyard. “I sense several Otra beyond those buildings, but no one here, where the loading and offloading should be happening.”
“Shit. Roarke and Romy were right. Trotter’s off. I can feel the negative vibes in the air.” Z swore again, his giant frame and dark frown enough to send their ship’s officers heading in another direction. “Dad, I think—”
“Wait. Look down there, son. There are some police officers over there carrying… By the stars, that’s Romy!”
Rhenec didn’t wait. He jumped out of the ship before the stairwell emerged, and landed some thirty feet down. He heard Z cursing behind him but could only focus on his younger son, groaning, bloody and beaten as he was carried by half a dozen humans. The closer Rhenec drew, the louder Romy groaned.
Stay back, Dad.
Rhenec froze too far away to be of any help. Romy?
I’m really angry and not myself just now. Just keep out of my range.
What? Rhenec waited behind a cluster of containers while Z joined him. They watched in astonishment as a nearby building burst into flames. Lightning fell around the policemen, two of whom were struck by the bolts and began to seize.
Z grinned in delight. That little shit. I didn’t know he could do that too.
Too? Rhenec murmured, equally appreciative of his younger son’s vast power. Apparently my boys are keeping secrets from dear old Dad.
Z squirmed.
Good to know he still intimidated his young.
Ah, I’m not really keeping anything from you, exactly. Z never could come up with a decent excuse on the fly. It’s just, well…
Romy cut in. Chastise him later, Dad. I’m a little busy now, so could you do me a favor and find my iriu? Trotter’s got her.
Rhenec didn’t feel any fear or worry from his youngest, just firm conviction that Romy’s iriu needed to be found.
No shit? Zaret laughed out loud. You’re married? Who’s your eda?
Romy grinned through a split lip. Before one of the policemen punched him.
Only Z kept Rhenec from attacking the lot of them.
I am. Romy sent two of the rogue officers flying through the air into the water some fifty feet away, leaving two left to deal with. And I’m saying that if you don’t want Trotter dead, you’ll want to find him before I do.
A strange glint in Romy’s eyes told Rhenec his son had those two well in hand. Come on, Z. Let’s find that dickhead, Jonah. I’m looking forward to having some words with him. Rhenec pulled Zaret with him toward what looked like an empty warehouse on the far side of the lot. But inside they found several people.
A gunshot sounded from above them, and a man tied to a chair groaned and rolled his neck. “Sean?” he said groggily, blinking eyes that turned a deep, shining gray.
Rhenec noted two other Otra lying some distance away. One bleeding from his belly while the other looked after him. And a dead man lay at the feet of the Otra in the chair.
“Oh fuck. Sean.” Glaring up at Rhenec and Z with murder in his eyes, the Otra growled, “I’m going to fucking rip the both of you into pieces.” It was then Rhenec recognized him as Killer Drake, a boxer of some renown.
Rhenec smelled burning rope, a telling sign Drake would soon be free.
Zaret held up his hands in peace. “Buddy, we’re friends. We just got here. I’m Zaret Talson, and this is Rhenec, my father. We came to clean up the mess Trotter’s made.” Dad, find Trotter and Romy’s wife, and hurry. I’ve got these guys.
Rhenec took the stairs three at a time, glad he kept in good enough shape that he’d be able to tear Jonah limb from limb as soon as he found him. What he saw when he burst through the door at the top of the stairs left him dumbfounded.
Two identical women stood on either side of the room. They both held guns. Jonah Trotter lay on the floor cupping his crotch, trying to stop the blood flowing freely.
Rhenec stepped farther into the room and stopped. One of these creatures, these beautiful Otra, had to be his son’s iriu. His new daughter. Pride and pleasure combined as he focused on her—on them.
Seeing him, they cocked their heads but didn’t lower their guns. To his amazement, the one closest to him vanished.
“I know you, don’t I? Who are you?” the woman asked from the opposite corner. She stood tall and straight, her voice even. Rhenec didn’t know what to think.
Trotter glanced at him and groaned, closing his eyes. “Fuck me.”
“You’re damn straight.” Rhenec wanted nothing more than to kill the piece of trash lying on the floor. To think this man had once held his trust… He turned back to the female. “I’m Rhenec Talson ’Or Fal. Your new father-in-law by Earth custom, yes?”
That ruffled her composure. “Oh.” She cleared her throat and pulled at the collar of her shirt, then gifted him with the sweetest of smiles, her eyes a crystalline gray and shining with power. “I’m Tara Dra—Talson, I guess. I’m new at being an iriu.”
Rhenec beamed. Looking at her with his psychei had him taking a second look. She glowed with Romy’s energy, and something more precious as well. “And new at being a mother. Congratulations.” He blinked rapidly to clear his suddenly blurring vision. Hot damn. Two new additions to the family, and both vibrating with love for his son.
“A mother?” Trotter cursed. “You were never worthy of me, you whore.”
Romy appeared right next to Tara. After looking her up and down, he returned his attention to Trotter. “Nice work, veyou.”
Hell. His son could teleport as well? What next? “Romy—”
“It’s okay, Dad. I know what I’m doing.”
Lighting struck Trotter several times from out of nowhere. Like a mini storm in the center of a small room. Rhenec’s hair stood on end while Trotter spasmed in what appeared to be painful jolts.
When he’d finally calmed, Romy lifted a hand and motioned to the overlarge window overlooking the warehouse. Trotter flew through the glass shrieking in fear, but Rhenec didn’t hear a thud of impact.
“I’m not going to heal him,” his son’s iriu said.
“I left him hovering over the floor just as he pissed himself.” Who knew his son could look that dangerous when he smiled?
Tara gasped as she took a good look at Romy’s face. “Oh, sweetie.” She kissed him over the myriad bruises and welts on his cheeks, which faded with every caress.
Romy threw an arm around her shoulder. “She’s a healer.” He cupped her belly tenderly. “My healer.”
Rhenec could only stare, seeing his son at peace as he hadn’t been in a very long time. “It would seem so.”
“With her I’m one.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Z said from the doorway. “You made my life and Val’s a living hell about finding a mate. Now you have your own.” Zaret whistled. “What a looker.”
Romy chuckled and hugged Tara tight before she pulled away. “Mannie.”
Z nodded. “If you’re talking about the bruiser downstairs, he’s fine. Nearly took my head off for stepping too close, but he’s good. Can’t say the same about the guy at his feet though. Not a good scene.”
Rhenec saw a look pass between Romy and Tara before they vanished.
“Holy shit. Where’d they go?” Z stared in astonishment.
Rhenec moved to the window. Down below them, he spotted Tara tending to her brother, who continued to try to wake his deceased friend on the ground. The other two men had vanished. “Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, the ability to call lightning, persuasion, and now teleportation? All that and a mate. I think your brother’s been holding out on us, Z.” Rhenec felt a sense of completion. His sons had found women to love, lives to lead. All was right with the world.
“That little jerk.” Z chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Come on, Dad, let’s go help them. As powerful as Romy might think he is, his iriu has a giant of a brother who’s apparently been kept in the dark about their mating. I think Romy’s going to need all the help he can get.”
Chapter Nine
Tara sat with Romy across from his family on Werfal 7 as they enjoyed the evening meal. For the past several weeks, she and Romy had spent time trying to clean up the mess Trotter had left in Port Chase. The authorities had been through the warehouse from top to bottom, and every individual linked to Trotter and his illegal smuggling and drug dealing had been arrested. Min and Daket Yal, curiously enough, had vanished. Romy couldn’t see them in any of his visions, and she knew he was dying to know what had happened to the pair.
But after so much time working to make things right, they’d agreed to return to his homeworld. Tara loved being back. Her brief introduction to his family after the Trotter incident hadn’t given her nearly enough time with the loving Otra. And now she was back and enjoying her stay.
The trip through space had been exciting as well as aggravating, dealing with her stubborn brother who refused to let her go alone. Even two months after the incident with Trotter, Mannie continued to frown at Romy, as if not fully convinced he’d been as innocent in Trotter’s wrongdoings as he’d said. She worried for her brother. Since Sean’s death, he’d been withdrawn and sad. She had a feeling he and Sean had been much more than friends.
Adri, Z’s wife, smiled at Romy as she stopped one of her children from climbing all over him. “Well, I for one am glad you’re back. Tessa and Gaela have been dying for their Uncle Romy.”
Romy grinned, and to Tara’s relief, Mannie eased his frown at the sight of the twin girls full of smiles for their uncle. Then they turned their attention on him and stared hard.
“See, girls?” Tara smiled, excited at the thought of a baby. “That’s my big brother. He may look mean, but he’s really a teddy bear inside.”
“Sure, that’s why they call him Killer Drake,” Romy muttered, earning an elbow to the stomach.
The girls nodded, Romy now ignored in favor of the large stranger looking uncomfortable under their twin stares.
“Pitty,” Tessa said, her lips pursed. Pretty.
“Mine,” Gaela said with a nod, and the family burst out laughing. Even Mannie crooked a grin and didn’t jump when the toddlers settled in his lap clutching his large arms.
“Oh hell, Mannie, you might as well admit your sister’s locked into this family.” Romy sighed. “Apparently, now you are as well.”
Mannie glanced from the girls to Romy. “I suppose. But I still don’t like it that my sister didn’t have a proper wedding. I promised her that when she was little.”
Tara blushed when all eyes centered on her. Rhenec and his wife Shea, Z and Adri, Roarke and Jamie. Val and his wife Rowe were due in a few hours. To have come from so few, just her and Mannie, to such a huge, loving family made Tara want to cry.
She sniffed and smiled, and Romy hugged her, patting her belly again.
“I don’t need a wedding to tell me I married the man of my dreams,” she said with love in her heart.
Mannie’s eyes softened. “As long as he treats you right, I won’t have to keep him in line.”
“Don’t worry, Mannie.” Rhenec chuckled. “Any woman that can split in two and take Jonah Trotter out of the picture needs little help from the rest of us.” Rhenec had taken great pride in regaling everyone with what Tara had done to Trotter.
She still couldn’t believe how easy it had been to duplicate herself. Using Romy’s guidance, she’d made herself a copy. And with his help, she’d pushed him into shooting himself between the legs. With any luck, he’d never procreate or sexually assault anyone again, not from a life sentence in the worst prison imaginable.
“Yeah. Anyone can see Tara is in charge. She has my little brother wrapped around her finger,” Z added with a chuckle.
“Oh?” Romy raised his brows. “And you don’t do whatever Adri tells you to?”
“That’s different. She, ah…” Zaret floundered, and Tara laughed at such a giant of a man kowtowing to his wife.
“Exactly.” Shea grinned, her humanity bubbling around her, her aura pulsing with affection for her family. “But Mannie mentioned a wedding, and that’s what we’ll have. With Tara’s input, of course, we can whip one into shape in a few weeks. That’s the soonest we can get to it, I’m afraid. So you’re going to have to stick around, Mannie.”
“I guess I could swing that.” Mannie’s aura grew bleak, even though he tried to hide it behind a smile. “I’ve officially retired from the fight circuit. I’m looking into some security work offplanet. Might as well start looking here.”
Rhenec brightened. “Hell, why didn’t you say so? I know of at least four different companies who are hiring. Not to mention we could use you on board.”
Shea and Adri exchanged glances. Shea smiled. “And maybe we can introduce you to some of our friends.”
She’s matchmaking. Should we tell Mannie? Romy sent Tara.
No way. After Sean, he won’t commit to anyone or anything. I don’t know what to do for him.
Give him time. He’ll find his way. I like him, but don’t tell him that. It’ll ruin our relationship, Romy teased.
Very funny, iriu. She looked at her brother with concern.
“What?” he asked as he tickled Gaela and Tessa.
“I’m just glad you’re here.” To Romy, she sent, Fine. But if he doesn’t shake out of this depression soon, I’m interfering.
Romy answered. We all will. My family has already adopted him. Her mate cleared his throat. “If I could say a few words? I just wanted to thank my family for so much. For driving me crazy and out of this house with talk of wives and babies.” Shea, Jamie and Adri grinned. “Thanks to Roarke for dropping me near Port Chase and for not ratting me out to Dad for my odd behavior.”
Roarke grinned, and Rhenec frowned at him.
“We’ll talk later,” Rhenec growled.
“And to Jonah Trotter,” Romy continued. “For giving me the excuse to find my iriu, and my son as well. Without that fu—ah, idiot,” he corrected, staring at the children around the table. “Tara and I might never have come together.”
Rhenec cleared his throat. “And to
thank you for saving Talson Shipping from a huge mistake, I’m giving you what you asked for. Control over Port Chase.”
Everyone began talking at once, and Tara felt so happy she wanted to burst.
She and Romy had discussed the future, and she loved their decision to fix what was broken. With his help, she could finally clean up the run-down part of town as she’d wanted. The place would be home again, but this time, one she lovingly wanted to keep.
Mannie smiled. “I’m glad for you, sis. You deserve every happiness. You always did.”
She leaned closer to her brother and whispered, “You’ll always be my family, Mannie. I love you.” Pleased to have caused a sheen in his eyes that hinted at silver before reverting to black, she added, “Someday you’ll be happy again too. I promise.”
He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. She had a feeling he’d find his future soon enough. Just as she’d found hers.
* * * * *
Later that night, Romy and Tara lay in bed, their bodies intertwined.
“I take it your family likes me?”
Romy chuckled and buried himself deeper into her. “They love you. And I think Mannie’s warming up to me.”
“A little,” she breathed when he began to move.
“You’re my everything, you know that? My perfect match.”
Tara groaned, her blood humming with pleasure. “And you’re mine. But you talk too much when you should be working.”
He grinned and withdrew. After rolling them over, he lay on his back and pulled her over him. She eased over his cock and loved the fullness. And then he shimmered, and another Romy leaned over her from behind.
“Working, hmm?” the Romy behind her said. “We haven’t tried everything yet, iriu.” He sent her an image of himself entering her ass while the rest of him fucked her pussy. “Good thing we have lube.”
“Only with you, Romy. But I’m telling you right now,” she panted. “I’m not saying obey in my wedding vows.”
Both of Romy chuckled. “You have no need. I understand the art of compromise, veyou. The woman is always right.” And as they took her to bliss, they said again, “Always.”