Rise

by May Sage

  “Do you like it?”

  She started, surprised to hear that the deep, familiar voice quite so close, when he’d been at least twenty meters away last time she’d glanced.

  Calden generally pissed her off because – well, because. Today, though, it had been different. He’d made her squirm.

  Instead of pretending to ignore her presence, he’d looked at her. A lot.

  “Sure. It’s beautiful. I wouldn’t want to wander around until I know what can eat me, though.”

  “Quite wise,” Calden replied.

  She turned towards him, astonished that he’d given her the time of the day, when he’d probably said less than a handful of words to her in their entire acquaintance, and unsure how to take him, now he seemed so light and relaxed.

  Obviously, being on his own turf suited him.

  It didn’t suit her. She would give a lot to have the cold ass back to normal.

  “Most animals allowed in the perimeter aren’t particularly dangerous, but be careful. They might want to take a bite anyway. I’m sure you’re tasty.”

  Lena, who always had something to say – particularly something snarky, or smart – stared with her mouth opened, like a carp. Oh, and there might have been a bit of drool on her chin.

  Ok, what the fuck was that and how could she ensure he never, ever did it again?

  Flirting. He was flirting. And just like that, her treacherous legs had practically melted, becoming as useful as tentacles.

  Fuck. That.

  That was not going down well with her.

  She’d been good until then. She hadn’t asked any questions, although Jaycn had suggested, hinted, and probed at some sort of thing between Calden and her. Hell, she hadn’t even asked Chip what he meant.

  Because it didn’t matter. Whether or not there was some sort of mystical alien voodoo at play was irrelevant: he’d quite obviously chosen not to act on it.

  And if she knew one thing, it was that: a man wasn’t defined by his parentage, his wealth, his words or his genetic make-up. The only thing that mattered to her was his actions, and he’d acted like she’d been an unwanted piece of chewing gum under his heavy black boots. She hadn’t been good enough. For eight years.

  So no weak knees. No racing hearts. And sure as fuck, no eating her out.

  She forced herself to step away and turned back towards the two males who’d never failed her, taking one of their hands in each of hers.

  “You’ll have to take me out, then. Show me around.”

  “Uncle Jaycn, can we take Lena to the playground? Can we, can we?”

  “Yes, youngling, but your mama needs some medical attention first. She can’t breathe outside just yet.”

  That was a new one on her.

  Really, did you think you would all of the sudden adapt to an alien planet?

  Chip had obviously spent way too much time plugged into her, if it started being sarcastic.

  Ten

  Good night

  Jaycn

  “How come I can breathe now, then?” Lena asked him.

  “The palace has been infused with an appropriate cocktail of gas to make it viable for you, temporarily; that’s why every window is up at the minute. All of us have been through various adaptation processes, so we’re quite indifferent to what air we breathe.”

  Jaycn led her to her room, where the medical team had already been called.

  The decorations had dramatically changed since the last time he had entered it.

  While Calden hadn’t spelt it out, that particular bedroom had always been Lena’s. It was adjacent to Alek’s, opposite Calden’s, and no one, not even Jaycn, had ever been invited to stay there.

  Before, it had been rather bland – white walls, plain furniture. Now, the theme was red and gold, reminding him of Lena’s own space, back on Earth.

  Damn, Calden worked fast.

  “That’s going to hurt, isn’t it?”

  Jaycn grimaced. Yeah, yeah it would. At least, if she accepted what was needed.

  “It depends. If you just want to adapt to our atmosphere, the surgery will be rather painless. You recall Alek’s birth?”

  She nodded. She’d been under some gas which had made her laugh all the way through it, and Alek had been removed from her surgically. She didn’t even have a scar to boast about it, afterwards.

  “It will be similar. You might feel some soreness around your lungs, but that’s about it. However, our team is ready to proceed with other changes, if you wish.”

  Why the hell was he doing the talking again? He turned to the doorframe, against which Calden was leaning and by some sort of miracle, his cousin took the clue.

  “We’d like to offer a rejuvenation process to you. Every Klint goes through it, when we reach a form the medical personnel considers ideal. It will give you a considerable advantage during the Trials. Any wound will heal much quicker. Beyond that, it’s designed to keep you as you are now.”

  Lena caught on immediately.

  “You want to make me immortal. Am I going to sparkle, too?”

  Everyone frowned, exchanging glances. They might have enquired at the wrong time – she was too tired to make that decision right now – but she shook her head.

  “Nevermind. Human reference. What’s the catch?”

  “The process has been used for a considerable amount of time, there are…”

  “No side effects save for a damn lot of pain, some soreness and the possibility of me rejecting the process altogether, which would be likely to kill me,” she finished for Calden.

  In a typical Lena fashion, she’d summarised any of their ridiculously thick handbook on the process in a few words.

  Jaycn almost forgot how effortless it was for her to get the information she needed from her microchip. When he used it, he stared dumbly into space while the computer loaded the database; even Calden generally needed a second.

  Lena didn’t have that issue.

  “I asked what the catch was. The condition, the price. No human has been offered that process before, not even the breeders established here.”

  Calden crossed the room in a few steps, and was standing right next to her, completely invading her personal space.

  Jaycn expected her to dropkick him, or at least, knee his nuts. Never in a million years would he have guessed Lena Smith could lose the whole Badass Mojo and turn into a puddle, but she went and did just that.

  “No other human has given birth to my child, Elena,” Calden told her in a tone which was half threatening, half a caress, drawing out her name so long it seemed to have five syllables rather than three.

  Everyone in the room averted their eyes, feeling like they were intruding.

  “This won’t make you immortal. You’ll still die if your vital organs are damaged beyond repair. However, yes, providing you don’t do anything foolish, you’ll live as long as you wish to. Like your son. Like me.”

  Jaycn threw up a little in his mouth when she nodded, her gaze never leaving Calden.

  It was a good thing that he saw it with his own eyes, too.

  Now, he knew without a single doubt that he had to give up any kind of notion of ever stealing the girl.

  Lena

  Lena spent the first day of her interstellar adventure screaming in agony as aliens cut her up and injected her with weird stuff. She hadn’t been given any anesthetic or any of their happy gas, because apparently, they doubled the infinitely tiny chance of her body rejecting the change.

  Jaycn had taken Alek out of the room, and was keeping him occupied elsewhere but Calden had been pacing around her bed during the entire process.

  When it stopped, she was drained, nauseous, sore and cold.

  Recalling Chip’s advice, she tried getting the heating system going, but someone, probably Calden, had beaten her to it – it was already as warm as it could get.

  What was it with aliens and heating? Was the imperial galactic palace trying to save money by skimping on fuel or somethin
g?

  It wasn’t nearly as bitter as it had been in the ship; her experience in the Anterra was like parading in a bikini in Alaska, outdoors, in the middle of winter.

  Right now, she could bear it, but the cold made it impossible to sleep or stand still, although the medical guys had made it clear that she was supposed to rest.

  It was pretty damn annoying that whatever the hell they’d done to her hadn’t miraculously made her impervious to the temperature.

  She’d been shivering in her covers for what felt like at least one decade when Calden rose from the minimal floating plank where he’d been sitting and got in her bed, next to her.

  The appropriate reaction to that was a “hell no, get out of here,” seasoned with a side dish of yelling and kicking, but damn, that guy was hot.

  Well, like that too, but right now she was chiefly referring to the fact that his temperature approached one gazillion degrees. As far as she was concerned, it totally justified why she attached herself to him like an octopus, thrusting her arms and legs around him.

  Fuck that felt nice.

  Her hands burned at the sudden source of warmth, but she needed more. Before she knew what she was doing, she’d shoved her arms under his shirt, to be in direct contact with the portable radiator that his skin was.

  She might have whimpered a little. So judge her. She was not letting go.

  “Calden?” she said, reasoning that conversation might distract them both and hopefully, make things less awkward.

  “Mhh?”

  His voice was raspier than usual.

  “I heard you punished those men who took me to the cold room in the Anterra.”

  “Yes. I did.”

  Oh boy, he’d put the Emperor hat back on.

  “Well, that’s stupid. I could have gone for help, you know – I didn’t. It’s not their fault.”

  He made no answer to that.

  After a while, when her body had stopped shivering, she knew it was time to let go, but her hands just wouldn’t unhook from his damn shoulders.

  “Stop fidgeting,” a sleepy voice commanded right against her neck.

  She was kinda fidgety, wasn’t she? But she just couldn’t help it. Her hands had refused to leave his back, but otherwise, she was attempting to keep her distances, which meant that her position was rather unnatural. She turned again, trying to find a comfortable angle.

  “Elena,” he said, more abrupt this time. “Go to sleep.”

  “I’m trying!”

  After a little while, she moved again and he actually growled, before pushing her on her back, and holding his massive frame above hers.

  For some strange reason, she never moved her hands from his shoulders.

  He pushed his crotch against her, making her feel a warm, hard, and pretty damn massive bulge.

  Holy damn shit, that was big. Could it even fit inside her?

  Probably, at the very least partially, which should be enough for the purpose.

  Thanks, Chip. That made her feel better.

  Not.

  “I am trying very hard to keep this under control, Elena Snow. You will help me by staying still. Or you will help me take care of it.”

  The room was dark, but her eyes had adapted enough for her to see him.

  Most Klints were tall and muscular; he was both, to the extreme, so she should have been frightened. Not turned on.

  Stupid, stupid brain of hers.

  Calden sighed, and fell back on the bed, taking the other side, this time.

  “Let’s give it a try like this. Don’t move.”

  He pulled her against him, spooning her from behind – every hard inch of him against her back, his warm breath on her neck and somehow, she promptly fell in a peaceful, deep, dreamless sleep.

  Eleven

  Contract

  Calden

  He wasn’t sure what he was doing; he wasn’t the kind of male who went back on his word.

  Yet, there he was, at the crowded, popular bar he never frequented.

  Everyone had been at least half pissed when he made it in, which suited him just fine – he wasn’t even recognized by most of the present company. Some stood up and saluted, others didn’t.

  He found those he had been looking for there, just as Jaycn had suggested they might be.

  The largest amongst them, Serran, was also the youngest – he wasn’t even forty, but he’d earned his place as an imperial guard with sweat and blood. Then, there was the slim, short, and smart one, Keis, who came from an obscure planet. He’d risen to his position against the odds, and was respected for it. Hoss was a distant relative of Jaycn’s, someone who’d been given his place – but retaining it for fifty years had been all on him.

  The three males got up from their seat as one, and held their heads down when they took him in.

  “At ease, guards.”

  Calden sat, signaling to the bartender before turning towards Serran.

  “I’ve heard you’ve never been beaten?”

  The giant grinned.

  “Not as yet, sir.”

  “We need to spar someday.”

  It had been a while since anyone had actually made him try.

  “I’m here at Lena’s request. I owe you all an apology. She and I have issues. Any other Elite would have called on you; she didn’t, and that’s more to do with me than anything else. I shouldn’t have suspended any of you.”

  The men visibly relaxed around him.

  “To be fair, I thought you were going to murder us, when I saw her,” Hoss replied.

  Calden didn’t need to recall that sight. Ever. He’d truly believed he’d lose her – or parts of her, at least. A toe or two, minimum.

  “Is it true what they say? Is she your half?”

  He had to admire Keis for his boldness; no one had dared asking about it straight out like that.

  “Yes. I believe she is.”

  “Shit,” Hoss cursed, envy obvious on his features. “How is that even possible?”

  That was possible because every single female who had a bloodtest had been tested against his genetic make up for five years straight.

  Calden knew better than to take the fact that he had found his mate for a work of fate, or a cosmic coincidence. The reason why he, the Emperor, had a hundred percent match, was because they’d looked for it.

  When breeders registered, they were matched against available Klint males; the three to ten best options were introduced, and the human ultimately chose whichever they pleased.

  Lena hadn’t been a breeder. If he’d relied on that system, he wouldn’t have heard of her.

  Calden felt a bit guilty about that, but giving everyone the same courtesy wasn’t feasible. For one, they didn’t have the resources – their server would overload, if they attempted to work on thousands of constant searches. Secondly, what if the mates weren’t breeders? Going after women who hadn’t chosen to pursue that path was exactly the kind of thing that kindled Dissenters.

  All of that being said, Calden thought it possible to run a few tests every now and then. It would be the male’s responsibility to convince his mate to come with him, if she wasn’t obliging.

  He liked that idea. They could find Jaycn’s mate – and others, too. It would become a form of reward for service rendered, or for loyalty.

  “I got lucky, I guess,” he lied, paying for a round of drinks and downing his glass in three gulps.

  He was on his feet before the bartender had sorted out the change.

  “I expect you back at work the day after tomorrow. The last five days will be recorded as paid leave. Hoss, Keis, you can return to your posts. Serran, I want you to guard Lena.”

  That man was the best – after Jaycn, perhaps – and he needed the best protecting his mate.

  “Sir?”

  “Yes, soldier. That was a promotion. Welcome to the Elite.”

  He went back to his room, first; it was pristine, as usual, but mainly because he didn’t spend more than half an ho
ur there every day, now. He changed, before crossing the corridor, heading to Alek’s room’s.

  The light above his child’s door dimed down when he pushed the command to open it, and the boy made a pretty bad impression of snoring; Calden saw the corner of a reader under the covers, giving him an insight into what Alek was up to right now.

  He smiled all the way to the bedroom next door.

  Lena was in her bathing pool, which she’d probably set as warm as possible.

  “How was your day?” she asked without turning around.

  “Uneventful. Yours?”

  “Jaycn and Alek took me to the… do you call it fauna park? Anyway, your zoo. It was fun.”

  Months – hell, days – back, he would have been jealous. But Jaycn wasn’t the one sleeping next to her.

  She knew he could provide her with the same amount of warmth – she could even get Alek to warm her nights.

  But she let him in her bed, instead.

  He hadn’t yet made any advances, because in two days, she would be passing the Trials. She needed rest, and what he’d planned to do to her wasn’t restful.

  Soon.

  “Did they show you the fish?”

  “Fish imply something small, and rather unthreatening, Calden. What they showed me were more like aquatic dinosaurs.”

  He grinned, handing her a fluffy sheet as she was rising underneath the water. She wrapped it around her breast and came out, not saying a word about the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes, fucking her with his eyes.

  “I’m happy you like it here,” he told her. “Magneo isn’t my favorite planet, but as it’s the center of the imperial council, we will spend the majority of our time here.”

  “If I win the Trials,” she amended.

  He chuckled.

  “Regardless of whether you win the Trials or not.”

  Her expression betrayed the questions she wasn’t asking, so he knelt down, attempting to yet again hold his hand before her wild beast’s nose.