by S. E. Smith
Mak remained back at the palace at Tansy’s side as she was still unconscious and Borj was overseeing everything at the palace while Teriff was gone. Borj refused to let his pregnant mate out of his sight. Hannah sat by Tansy’s side, keeping watch over her sister during the short periods of time Mak disappeared to take care of business. None of them talked about Mak’s demand for Right of Justice against the men who had harmed Tansy. The healers had healed the man named Craig that Teriff brought back. Mak had dealt justice out this morning to him in the arena. Now, his middle son searched for the man named Drew who had betrayed Tansy and killed her first mate. These were just a few of the reasons Teriff did not want his precious daughter anywhere near a world where men were responsible for so much pain.
“You think human males are such savages but what the hell do you call locking your own daughter up in a prison? What about those men who attacked it? What the hell do you think they would have done to Terra if they had gotten their hands on her?” Cosmos fired back. “I’ll see you in hell before I let you put her in another place like that.”
“I…,” Teriff began before Tresa spoke up in a stern voice.
“Teriff, sit down,” she ordered.
Teriff looked down in shocked surprise at the tight expression on his mate’s face. He sat down more out of surprise at her speaking to him in such a tone than because she ordered him to sit. He drew in a deep breath and looked at the faces around the table. Tresa, Tilly, Terra, and Tink all looked at him with a stubborn expression that did not bode well for him. Even Angus had a look of disappointment on his face as he stared back at him. Teriff flushed before looking at his oldest son’s face. J’kar looked like he was torn between wanting to support the need to take Terra back and the knowledge that if he did, Tink would not be happy. From the grimace on J’kar’s face, Tink must have shared her opinion with her mate.
“Tresa,” Teriff began, turning to look at his lovely mate.
“No! You listen,” Tresa interrupted him before taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Cosmos is Terra’s mate,” she began gently. “He has proven that he can protect her. He is right. You should never have sent Terra to the Isle of the Chosen but I am glad that you did,” she paused when she heard the other women gasp. Tresa shook her head as she glanced from her mate’s stunned face to those of the others sitting around the table.
“If he had not sent her there, the other women would still be there. The fortress was needed long ago but not now. It took an incident like this to prove that women should not be taken from their clans and housed like they were animals. The time has passed when it was necessary to treat us like we are property. Terra has the right to accept the mate the Gods have given her. The mating rite is complete. She and Cosmos are bound. There will be no more talk of taking her away,” Tresa said firmly looking back into the eyes of her mate. “Would you deny her what you and our sons have?”
Teriff swallowed down the protest as he listened to his mate’s words. With a sigh of resignation, he shook his head. “No, I would not deny her,” he admitted reluctantly before turning to glare at Cosmos who had sunk down into his chair as well. “You better keep her safe – and happy!”
Cosmos nodded in relief as he gripped Terra’s hand tightly between both of his. “I promise I will keep her safe, do everything I can to make her happy, and love her with every fiber of my being,” he vowed.
“One more thing,” Teriff said gruffly looking at Tilly instead of Cosmos this time.
“What?” Tilly asked startled as the heated silver gaze turned on her. “What did I do?”
“Besides stir up every male Prime warrior over the age of mating, hack into our computer system, and stick your nose in Baade business?” Teriff asked with a wry grin.
“Yes, well besides all of that,” Tilly said with a blush.
“Could you please ask RITA2 to turn on the hot water and release the locking mechanisms on the doors. It is becoming as you would say ‘a pain in my ass’.”
Tilly’s delighted laughter filled the air. “RITA?” Tilly called out.
A loud sigh echoed throughout the room. “I’m on it. Does this mean we can’t call him Dumbass anymore?”
“Yes, dear,” Tilly chuckled.
“I’ll talk to my sis and let her know things are cool now. Oh, Cosmos, Avery is on her way in. I’ll let her tell you what she has found,” RITA informed them. “I’m off to work on the hologram program. RITA2 promised to introduce me to a system called FRED. He sounds awesome.”
“I’ve heard that name before,” J’kar murmured with a frown trying to remember where it was. His eyes grew wide when he did. “Oh, Gods, no!”
“What’s the matter?” Angus asked looking at J’kar as the huge warrior paled slightly.
J’kar looked at his father then Tilly and Angus in horror as Tink burst out laughing. “FRED is the name RITA2 gave the computer aboard my warship.”
Avery walked into the room to discover a table full of laughter. She shook her head wondering what the hell was going on. She had to wait almost five minutes before anyone even noticed that she was standing in the doorway watching them. The moment they saw her, they burst into laughter again.
It is going to be a long day at this rate, Avery thought with a disgusted shake of her head.
Chapter 12
“From what I’ve been able to find out so far it looks like your big friend was hit at least three times. The last bullet took him down. If you look at the surveillance footage I was able to get, it looks like two of Avilov’s men took him. I swear they were going to erase his ass but if you look here…,” Avery paused the video she had on display in the living room. “This one realized he wasn’t from the local star system.”
Avery used the pointer on the remote to point out where the taller of the two men stopped the shorter one from putting a bullet in Merrick’s brain. The man kneeled down next to Merrick, lifting his lip. The way the man fell back spoke volumes. The man stood and spoke to the shorter man who made a call. Five minutes later, a van pulled up and they watched as several men jumped out and loaded Merrick into the back. A few minutes later the van disappeared.
“Were you able to get a license number on the van?” Cosmos asked as he stood next to the couch.
Avery shook her head. “Not yet. There are a lot of surveillance cameras in Washington, D. C. I was able to get a fix on the two men who shot him and one other. They are on Avilov’s payroll. I’m working on tracking them now. Avilov is a paranoid son-of-a-bitch and so are most of the men who work for him,” Avery explained. “I should have more in a couple of days. I have Rose and Trudy on it. They are sifting through the information with RITA’s help but like I said, there is a hell of a lot of video to go through. I think you can bet your latest invention that Avilov is aware that he is dealing with more than he was expecting by now.”
“What do you plan to do?” Teriff asked as he leaned back against the wall staring at the stilled picture as the warrior lay bleeding on the ground.
Avery’s eyebrow rose as she calmly looked at the huge Prime leader. “I’m going to find him and contain the situation. That’s what I do. I have never failed and I have a bonus riding on not failing this time,” she answered with a mysterious grin that sent a shiver down Teriff’s spine.
Cosmos thought it best not to mention that the bonus was a visit to a certain Prime warrior who made the mistake of catching the interest of a very dangerous and very determined human female. Cosmos cleared his throat as his mind worked on the avenues available to them in order to find both Merrick and Avilov. Not for the first time, he had a moment of regret at not thinking through the Gateway he had invented.
Do you regret meeting me? Terra asked, refusing to look at Cosmos. Do you regret my brother saving the life of your friend? She added, trying to shut him out by focusing on the screen as Avery continued to answer her father’s questions.
Never, Cosmos responded turning to look down at Terra. His heart melted when she refus
ed to look at him. Terra, look at me.
Terra reluctantly turned to stare up at Cosmos. Her jaw was set in determination as she refused to let him see how badly he hurt her with that thought. She would not grovel to any man, including Cosmos.
Cosmos knelt in front of Terra, taking her hands gently in his own. He held her gaze willing her to open her mind fully to him. In took several long moments before she opened to him again.
I love you. I have no regrets about it. I just regret that things have turned out this way. If I had been more prepared perhaps I could have saved the men who died. Perhaps I could have saved Merrick from being taken, Cosmos said tenderly. But if it meant never meeting you, I would not change a thing. You are my world now. Never doubt that. I love you more than life itself.
Together we are stronger, Terra said raising her hand to tenderly touch his cheek. There will always be ‘perhaps’ in life. It is the Gods who place the obstacles in front of us. It is how we deal with those obstacles that lead our path in life.
Cosmos pressed a hot kiss into her palm. I stopped believing in God a long time ago, he admitted.
Then just believe that we are stronger as one and perhaps things worked out the way they were supposed to, she replied lightly.
Kismet? Cosmos responded.
Kiss me, Terra responded with a nod.
Cosmos chuckled knowing she did not realize the definition of the word he said, instead misinterpreting it. With pleasure, he replied brushing a kiss over her lips.
“What do you think, Cosmos?” Avery asked dryly. “I think it is time to confront the Runt. She must be on to Avilov. Did you know that she was at the warehouse the other night? She is damn lucky she wasn’t killed. I’ve had my eye on her since she was eleven and hacked into CRI sniffing to see if you were legit.”
Cosmos leaned back on his heels and stood up, turning to look at Avery who was watching him with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know she was there the other night. We need to see if she saw anything as well. Other than that, I think asking her to join our corporation would be an excellent idea. The Runt is one of the best hackers in the world according to RITA who has blocked her from hacking into CRI at least a dozen different times. I think she will enjoy the challenge of bringing Avilov’s kingdom down. She must know something otherwise she wouldn’t have been at the warehouse. Just make sure she has adequate protection. She will become a target the minute things start closing down. Hell, she’s only fifteen and even the government has been trying to find her for the past four years.”
Avery shook her head amazed that Cosmos could follow the conversation. She knew damn well something else was going on from the look on his face as he knelt in front of the alien woman who had caught his fancy. It was like he was talking with her but his mouth never moved.
“She might try to run again. It took me eight months to find her this last time. She is going to shit a brick when she finds out we have known about her since she hacked into your corporation. Things have been hard for her since that no-good father of hers died. I love the fact that we are going to get her out of that shithole that she has been hiding in. Did you know that she has been homeless and living in an abandoned building along the Navy Yard in D.C. since her dad died two months ago? I’ve tried to help her out but she is a skittish little thing.”
Cosmos frowned at Avery. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I would have done something.”
“Not with this one,” Avery said dryly. “She makes a thoroughbred look like a pack pony. She’s fast, distrustful, and can disappear down the rabbit’s hole in the blink of an eye. I am going to have to take a team in to capture her as it is and I guarantee she won’t come without a fight.”
“This girl was at the warehouse the other night?” Teriff asked with sudden interest. “Where was she? Are you sure she was outside the warehouse where we found Tansy?”
“I’m sure. We’ve had an agent on her since we found her again two months ago. Bert is one of our older team members. He is less threatening and was standing on a corner down the road from where Knapp took Tansy. He said he saw her heading toward the warehouse earlier. She disappeared for a little while but reappeared shortly after the fireworks began. He said he saw her running away from it. Someone was chasing her but she knows those warehouses like the back of her hand and was able to slip away. The only way he can keep track of her is when she brings him a meal once a day from the local food bank or he catches a glimpse of her as she sneaks around. He, Walker and Briggs take shifts. She steers clear of the other two but took a shine to Bert,” Avery explained. “Why?”
Teriff looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. “Just curious if the human might have seen something,” he responded lightly before he turned to slip his hand into Tresa’s slender one. “We must return to our world. Tilly, are you and Angus staying or returning?”
“Returning,” Angus said immediately. “We need to make sure Tansy will recover. We only came here because I was concerned when you said you were going to challenge Cosmos. I didn’t want my wife getting in the middle of your fight and I guarantee you, she would have.”
“You’re damn right I would have,” Tilly snorted.
“I would have been right beside you, Tilly,” Tresa chuckled as she squeezed her mate’s hand.
“Me too,” Terra added.
J’kar turned and covered Tink’s mouth with his hand when she opened her mouth to add her support. “Gods, then Tink would have been there too,” J’kar said before he hissed loudly and jerked his hand away from the set of teeth that had bit him.
Tink licked her lips. “You’re damn right I would have. Like mother, like daughter, right, mom?” She asked with a huge smile.
J’kar groaned as he felt his cock respond to his tiny mate’s bite. “Let’s go home. I have a better idea of what you can do with that mouth of yours than bite me.”
Tink flushed and looked wide-eyed at him. “You shouldn’t say things like that in front of our parents!” She hissed out under her breath.
“I think that is an excellent idea,” Teriff added with a grin as he jerked Tresa against his hard body. “Since I can’t kill Cosmos, I need to work off my aggression in the bedroom.”
“TMI, Teriff,” Cosmos said dryly turning to Avery. “Do what you have to. I trust your judgment.”
Avery nodded before she shook her head. “Damn, I think there might be something in the water. I’ve never seen a hornier bunch of people in my life. I’m out of here since I have to wait before I can do anything about it.”
Cosmos rolled his eyes as Terra giggled and stood to press her body against his. “TMI, Avery. TMI.”
*.*.*
“Are you alright?” Terra asked later that evening as they lay together in Cosmos’ big bed. “What did my father say to you before he left?”
Cosmos pulled Terra closer to his body. He never realized how much he missed having the place to himself until all the others left. Well, with the exception of Terra. He loved the feel of her in his arms. He loved it even more when he was buried deep inside her.
“I can hear your thoughts,” Terra said amused as she saw his eyes darken. “Now tell me what father said.”
Cosmos grimaced as his mind swept back to his conversation with Teriff, or he should say, Teriff’s list of threats against him. The Prime leader had taken him to the side to have a brief ‘talk’ before he left. The talk consisted of all the ways he was going to rip Cosmos apart while keeping him alive if anything happened to his daughter. The fact that he was accenting his points with a very sharp blade in his hand didn’t help. Tresa had finally rolled her eyes and guided her mate away, talking quietly to him in an effort to calm his reluctance to leave Terra behind. Cosmos remembered flushing when he saw Teriff jerk to a stop and turn to stare at Terra’s stomach before he raised dazed eyes up to meet his. Cosmos’ stomach flipped as he turned to look at Terra who was smiling at her mother with one of those secret smiles only women seemed to understand.
Cosmos took a deep breath before he shook his head to dismiss that thought. He supposed it was possible that Terra could be pregnant. They hadn’t used any type of protection but there was no way to tell if she was after just one day – was there? His stomach rolled at the thought of what it would mean to have a baby. Hell, there was so much going on and they had just gotten together. It would be crazy to throw a baby into the mix with everything else going on – wouldn’t it?
“I’m not,” Terra said quietly. “Your seed has not taken root in my womb. A Prime woman knows when she is with child from all the research I have done and the information I have obtained from the few females who have conceived. It might not even be possible for us to have a child,” she whispered sadly.
“What do you mean – it might not be possible? As far as I know I don’t have any problems with, you know – that. Do you know if you have any problems? I mean, it doesn’t matter to me. I mean, it does but it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I love you, Terra. Whether we have kids or not won’t change that,” Cosmos said leaning up on one elbow to look down at her. He tenderly brushed her hair back from her face. “I promised your father that I would protect you and do everything in my power to make you happy. I also promised him I would never place you in danger. If it is dangerous for you to have a child then I’ll make sure we don’t have any. It is you that is important.”