Shana watched from her safety of the awning as the bird was thrown on his back in front of her. Sweat beaded on her forehead and it wasn’t from the heat of the night. She reached up with a trembling hand and wiped the sweat from her forehead as she watched blood spill from the mangled head. Shana looked away from the bird as she heard her name being called from a distance. She stepped out from the awning with careful steps. She looked down the street at Kai who was now running toward her. She looked away from him at the dead bird and placed a hand over her still rapid beating heart. Shana was frozen to the spot.
“Shana!” She heard Kai cry out her name as he came closer to her. Still, she couldn’t seem to look away from the bird.
“Shana,” Kai said her name from behind her as he wrapped his arms around her trembling form.
Shana cried out as she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. She heard him whispering comforting words to her that she did not really hear, since her heart was beating so loudly in her ears. She felt his lips along her temple and cheek and down her throat, but she couldn’t seem to stop crying.
“We better leave while we still can, there are others nearby,” Kai said in her ear.
“There are more of those things out there?” Shana asked in a hoarse whisper. Kai rubbed his thumb along her cheek, wiping the tears from her eyes as he nodded his head.
Shana’s spine stiffened and she took a step back from him, suddenly remembering that he was her supposed target on this mission. Kai stood there and looked puzzled for moment as he stared down at her.
“Let’s go home.” Kai spoke in a low, deep voice that had always sent chills down her spine. Shana nodded her head as he took her hand and laced their fingers together. She let him pull on her hand as she followed him down the street toward the hovercraft. She was going to have to sort out her memories and figure out what to do next, without letting Kai know that she had regained her memory.
Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched.
~ * ~
Mikla disconnected the call, her face pale when Gregor walked into the room. “What has happened?” he asked her as he walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her.
“Shana’s alive,” Mikla whispered into his chest. Letting his body heat warm her, letting her tears seep into his shirt. “She is alive,” Mikla said with a soft sigh as she lifted her head to look up into her mate’s eyes.
~ * ~
It was deep in the night as Shana lay on the bed next to Kai after a bout of intense lovemaking. Her breathing was still hard and fast and the sweat on her body was being dried by the cool air coming in through the window. She still couldn’t get the ugly night creature from her mind from the previous night, nor would she ever forget the creature’s screeches.
A Tetre, Kai had called the creature, talking to her on the way home, then again just before they had made love. He lay behind her with his arm thrown over her middle. She could still feel his heart beating wildly from behind her, but he was in a deep sleep. She slowly lifted his arm from her middle and eased herself off of the bed. Shana bent down and picked a black shirt up off the end of the bed and slipped it over her head. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Kai was still sleeping. She suddenly realized that Kai had stayed home with her all day today instead of going to the planet’s Capitol for his business meeting. She still had not told him that she had regained her memory. It pained her not to tell him. It also pained her to know that she was sent here to kill him and she didn’t know why.
After everything that she had seen here, everything that she had seen him do for this world, she still didn’t know why he needed to be assassinated. After a heartfelt sigh, Shana slowly turned and walked out of the bedroom. Answers. That is what she needed and there was only one person who could give her those answers. But not right now.
Shana eased the door open and stepped out into the cool air, shivering slightly. She wrapped her arms around herself as she gazed up at the dark sky. Kai told her about what happened during the Midnight Hour every night and what kind of creatures those Tetre’s were--carnivores.
She shivered as she remembered how close she had become to being the Tetre’s next meal. She shivered even more as she thought about what she hadn’t told Kai about her feelings.
She looked at the moons that hung above her. Shana thought that she would have missed her own world and the space travel to which she had grown accustomed. She didn’t. She felt at ease on this world, even though she hadn’t seen much since she’d been kept in this house from the first moment that she had arrived on the planet.
Her memories brought her to the last few moments on her ship. The way that the ship had malfunctioned. The fire had broken out while she was mere moments from Paradise. The ship could not detect what was wrong. But something did happen to the ship.
Sabotage seems like a good word to use here, Shana thought to herself. Her spine stiffened as she thought harder about those last few minutes on the ship. My God, it was, she told herself. “Why?” she silently asked the night.
“Why, what?” Kai asked from behind her.
Shana turned to look at him with a puzzled expression. “I was just thinking about what had happened the other night,” Shana lied as she turned away before he could read the lie on her face. She gazed up at the night and the moons once more before she turned to look at Kai.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him, feeling her warmth seep into his chilled bones when he feared that something had happened to her. She still hadn’t told him what she went through and who had taken her. He needed to know, now.
“I need to ask you something,” he said softly as he eased her away from him. He guided Shana over to a chair in the corner of the porch and helped her to sit down. Kai dropped to his knees between her opened legs and stared up at her. “I need to know what happened the day that you were taken.”
Shana’s heart constricted the way he spoke those words with such intensity. She reached out with a hand and cupped his cheek in her palm. She was about to speak when a movement in the corner of the yard near a tree caught her attention. Her spine stiffened as the figure stood out into the soft glow of the moons. She knew him.
“What is it?” Kai asked as he turned to see what had caught her attention.
The man that had stood there darted behind a tree.
“It was nothing. I thought that I saw something,” Shana rapidly replied as she got to her feet. “Let’s go inside.”
Kai got to his feet and turned to look at her with questioning eyes. He nodded his head and took her hand in his to guide her back into the house. He turned back to the tree that sat in the corner of the yard. What? Kai thought to himself as he thought that there was a movement next to the tree. He felt Shana pull on his hand, then he stepped over the threshold and closed the door. He let her lead him down the hallway and into the bedroom.
There he stood and watched her pull the black shirt over her head, standing in the moonlit bedroom. Kai’s breath caught in his throat at the sight that she made, her body washed with the glow of the moons. He tugged at the fasteners on his pants and tugged them slowly over his hips and down his muscular legs until they pooled at his feet. Kai kicked them away and they landed in the far corner of the room. The Robo cleaner came out of the wall with a slight purr and picked up the shirt and pants and faded back into the wall once more. Kai and Shana stood there looking at each other, unaware that the Robo cleaner had made its presence known.
Shana was the first to step forward and touched his chest with her fingertips. Kai shivered slightly at her touch. He let out a soft growl and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Shana stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pressed herself into his rock hard body.
His hands traveled down to Shana’s buttocks and Kai lifted her to him. His hard shaft slid across her mons. He let out a soft moan as he felt how wet she had become. With his tongue he opened he
r mouth and at the same time thrust into her. He swallowed her soft cries deep within him as he carried her over to the bed and laid her down on the soft mattress while they were still joined. He lifted his chest off her as he pulled his lips from hers. He stared down in her eyes, seeing the love that she had for him. His heart began to beat at a faster rate with the unspoken words. He pulled out of her until the only tip of him stayed within her, then plunged in hard and deep with only one lunge of his hips.
Shana watched his eyes as they suddenly darkened and swirled with emotions that she didn’t understand. She pulled her hands free from his neck, and Kai lace her fingers through his raising them over her head. He lowered his chest down to hers once more as he continued to pump into her with slow and measured movements. Shana lifted her chest and rubbed her breasts along his smooth, hard chest.
Kai couldn’t help but growl at the feel of the beaded tips along his skin, and he crushed her mouth with his and thrust his tongue deep into the moistness of her mouth. His tongue searched hers out before they tangled with each other. He eased himself out of her and she cried out heatedly. Kai tangled their legs together and flipped them over easily. He was now on his back and pulled his lips from hers. His lips traveled down her neck until they touched the tips of her breast, pulling it deep into his mouth, hearing her soft cries of desire.
Shana tossed her head back with a soft moan as Kai raked his soft fingernails down her back. Her own nails lightly grazed his chest. Shana sat back on his hips, his wet shaft under her. She rubbed herself along the length of him. Kai lifted himself off the bed and opened his eyes to stare up at her. She looked down at him with a wicked gleam in her eyes. Shana rose up onto her knees and reached underneath her taking his shaft in her hand and smoothed her thumb over his tip.
She heard his soft moan and felt him as he lifted his hips up off the bed. She smiled down at him as she moved backwards until she straddled his legs. She looked up at Kai and saw that he was watching her, knowing what she was about to do him. She smiled a teasing grin at him as she lowered her mouth over him.
Kai jerked into her mouth and tossed his head back with his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“Shana,” he cried out as he felt her lips close around him. His breathing came in hard and deep gasps as she swirled her tongue around the tip of him and gently sucked. He reached down and grabbed her head into his hands. He dared to raise his head and looked down at himself and saw that she had her eyes closed and her head rose up and down slowly. There was nothing like feeling her lips sliding over him.
“Damn,” he muttered softly as he laid his head back down onto the pillow. Sweat poured from his face as he lifted his hips into her moist mouth. He felt her take him full into her mouth. His hands fell from her head and grabbed the sheets in his fists.
She enjoyed the taste of him in her mouth. She wasn’t sure what had made her want to do this to him. She thought that maybe it was because she enjoyed it so much when he had done this to her. She slipped his shaft from her mouth, rose up on her knees and moved over him sliding his shaft back into her.
His hands let go of the sheet and held onto her hips as she rose over him and slid down, once more taking him deep into her body. Kai threw his head back, holding her in place as he pumped into her hard and fast as he grew closer to exploding.
Shana braced her hands on his shoulders as she neared her climax. “Yes!” she cried out as she closed her eyes tight, her body arching into him. When her arms could no longer hold her up, Shana collapsed on top of him. His arms wrapped around her as he continued to pound into her. He claimed her lips with his in a deep kiss as she cried out her release. He felt his deep in his soul as he poured himself into her.
~ * ~
It was near morning when Shana slipped out of the bed. She walked over to the simulator and had some clothes made for her. She quickly donned them with quiet ease, not wanting to wake Kai up from the deep slumber. She looked over her shoulder and felt a sense of déjà vu as she remembered that this was the same scene from the night that had just passed. She bent and slipped on a pair of shoes and left the bedroom on silent feet.
She made her way out the front door. Shana glanced over at the tree where she had seen the Freelancer. She hoped that he had survived the night with Tetres flying about somewhere on the planet.
“Shana,” she heard him whisper her name. She looked to the right and there he stood.
“Who are you, Freelancer?” Shana asked in a hard voice as she stood in front of the dark-haired man with a set of deep gray eyes.
“That’s not important. I am here to take you home,” he said in a hard and deep voice.
Twelve
“No,” Shana whispered as she looked up at the man who seemed so familiar to her. She couldn’t seem to place his hard, chiseled face at the moment. She watched him running his fingers through his already mussed hair. “Who sent you?” Shana demanded of him. She was afraid, she did not know why. She took a step back wondering if she really wanted to know the answer.
“Mikla sent me,” he answered softly.
Relief rushed over her. She closed her eyes for a moment and looked up at the dawning sky. “How is she?” Shana asked as she turned her green gaze to the man who stood before her.
“She is worried about you. That’s why she sent me.” His hard gaze softened for a moment. He stared at her with a knowing gaze as he looked down into her eyes. “You made a promise to her that you would be there when her time came for her to give birth,” he muttered softly.
Shana gasped out loud and took another step away from him. “How did you know?”
She looked at him, into his eyes. “You are one of The Hunted.” She stared with wide eyes, taking another step away from him.
“Aye, I am,” he said, “as a matter-of-fact.” He grinned at her.
“But how can that be? They all were eliminated over a hundred years ago.”
The Hunted was a term used by her ancestors for the ones who had clairvoyant talents. A law enforcement team was formed to eliminate the clairvoyants when they proved to be dangerous. Thus they were termed The Hunted.
“A handful of us survived. We learned to hide our talents.” He stared down into her face.
“In fact, the great Leader of ours on Earth is also a Hunted. I know this since we can sense others like us,” he said in a voice that held much disgust.
Shana’s face paled, “No,” she said in a hushed voice. “That cannot be true.”
“It is true, Shana. How do you think he wins the elections every year when the whole population of Earth cannot stand the man? How does he make his wives fall in love with him and marry him?”
Shana had thought back to the moment, before she was sent on this mission. The time to where she and Mikla had talked about President Grogan.
“The idea sickens me. How in the hell did the son of a bitch become the president anyway?”
“I can’t even stand working for him. He is such a bastard it’s a wonder he hasn’t been assassinated yet.”
“Who knows. This is his third term and he always makes good promises to The People.”
Shana turned to the Freelancer with an astonished look on her face. “I don’t believe you,” Shana said as she turned and began to walk toward the house until his next words stopped her.
“You’re in danger here on Paradise, Shana. I can sense that around you.”
She turned to look at him with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean by that?”
“When you were kidnapped by that man, the Commandant. He won’t stop until you’re off this planet. He was paid to kidnap you. And not by one person,” Freelancer said in a soft voice, his eyes softening toward the woman before him.
Blood drained from her face. Her heart began to pound in her chest. There was a sound of blood pumping through her veins as she stood there, staring at him. She heard her name being called in the distance, but she didn’t turn to see who was calling her. The Freelancer’s mouth was moving,
but she didn’t hear the words coming from him.
“Who?” Shana asked, barely getting out the one word. She jerked at the slight touch on her arm. Shana turned to see Kai at her side, glaring at the foreigner.
“You know who is part of the plan, Shana. You have failed this mission and another is on the way to take your place. And to eliminate you or to send you elsewhere-somewhere that is not a pleasant place.” The Freelancer then turned to acknowledge Kai’s presence at her side.
“Guardian.” He nodded at Kai, who had returned the nod.
“Who are you and what do you want with my mate?” Kai asked as he stepped in front of Shana.
“I know what she is to you, Guardian.” The Freelancer smiled at Kai’s stunned expression. “I came here because her friend, Mikla, sent me for her to take her home. But there is danger to her there as there is here.”
“I am aware of the danger here because of recent events that have taken place.” He turned his eyes to Shana. She stood there with a glazed look in her eyes.
“Are you all right?” Kai asked her as he placed his hands on her shoulders. She nodded her head. “I ask you again, who are you?” Kai looked back to the man who had shaken Shana to her core.
“I am a Freelancer on Earth. And I was sent here to bring Shana home. But I sense danger lurking around her,” the Freelancer said once more. He could also sense that they were destined to be mates--plus another change within Shana. Something that she was not aware of yet.
“He’s right Kai. I trust him.” Shana spoke in a hushed tone as she turned to look at Kai. “I remember everything.”
This time, it was Kai’s face that turned pale. “I...” He wasn’t sure what to say. So many emotions were warring within him. He was afraid that he was going to lose her to this stranger who called himself a Freelancer. Something inside of him told him to take her and run.
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