by Emma Castle
“That’s it?” she asked. He quickly spun her around and lifted her up onto the hood of the car so he could tug her jumpsuit down to her ankles. “I expected something more…kinky.”
“That’s only the beginning, or so I hear,” he growled as he tried not to tear the suit. He was getting distracted and starting to realize he was letting on more than he should about the clubs.
“What else do they do?” She spread her legs wide as he stepped between her thighs.
He gripped her hips and jerked her farther down the hood so her hips were level with his and right at the edge of the car. Then he unzipped his jeans and pulled out his cock, stroking it with one hand as he gazed down at her. She was so fucking perfect, his sweet little Harper. So damn tempting with her full breasts and her curvy hips and that slit that was all wet for him. He rubbed against her, teasing her.
“Ks like to sink their teeth into a woman, drink her blood.”
“So it’s true,” she said, though it seemed like she was only half listening. “Like a vampire.”
“Not really. It’s more like a drug, for both of them. They can get addicted to it. Crave it. Do anything to get it. And a K male is dominant—he won’t let his woman escape him. He’ll tie her down, handcuff her wrists, keep her in just the position he wants.”
As he spoke, he gripped Harper’s wrists in one of his hands and pinned them to the car hood just above her head. She gave a half-hearted attempt to break free, and when she couldn’t, the sweet scent of her sensual hunger filled the air around them, drugging him almost as much as her blood.
“And then take her…like this.” He thrust his cock inside her.
“Oh God, Seth,” she whimpered as he sank into her, giving her time to adjust. They’d made love all week—frantic, slow, rough, tender—and each time he’d tried to be careful when he first entered her.
“Don’t go slow,” she panted. “Want…fast.”
He drew in a breath, marveling at how perfect this human female was. He gave her what she wanted and slammed home, balls-deep inside her. She hissed as he withdrew, and he rammed in again. He possessed her hard and fast as they mated in a frenzy. His mind and body hummed with thoughts of how it would feel to taste her again, but he resisted the urge. He had to be careful. He couldn’t send her into an overload, not in the middle of the day like he had that very first time.
Despite his best intentions, he sank his teeth into her shoulder, holding her still, but he didn’t break the skin. He just pounded into her over and over. Even when he felt her body tense and she cried out as she climaxed, he didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Part of him knew this might be the last time, that this might be his final taste of her lips, the smell of her skin and the warmth of her channel wrapped around his shaft.
Harper moaned, going limp beneath him, and he felt that primal thrill he always got knowing he’d fucked her into languid ecstasy. Their gazes met as he continued to jackknife his hips against her body.
“Seth…I think…I think I’m falling in love with you,” she whispered.
The words obliterated all rational thought from him. He emptied himself into her, their bodies still fused, heat singeing where they touched as he tried to catch his breath and process what she’d said.
Her lashes fanned down, and she turned her face away. “Don’t say anything. I just…I wanted to tell you. I don’t expect anything. It simply felt right to say it.” She bit her bottom lip, so shy and vulnerable at this moment that it made him ache.
Lowering his head, he stole her lips in a tender kiss different from the lovemaking they’d just shared. He told her in his own way that he might be falling in love with her too, that she could have been his charl in another life, been the companion of his heart forever, if only he didn’t have to break hers.
After a moment they disentangled themselves, and Harper got dressed. She wrinkled her nose as she heard the auto shop front door open.
“Damn. Ruby’s back. I’d better go clean up. Since I’m done for the day and Alan and Jeff can finish the rest, do you want to…hang out before your shift tonight?”
Sef gave her that bad-boy grin he knew made her wet for him. “You bet. I’ll let Ruby know, and then we’ll spend the afternoon together.”
The smile she gave him made him feel like a damned god. If only…if only he felt he deserved it.
10
The afternoon sun soaked into Harper’s skin as she lay in the bed of Mason’s pickup truck. She’d borrowed it for the afternoon and was enjoying just lying in the back with a thick picnic blanket beneath her and Seth by her side.
“Do you ever think about what things would be like if the Ks hadn’t come?” she asked him.
He lay flat on his back, her head resting against one of his biceps. “Sometimes,” he answered, but didn’t elaborate. “You?”
“Yeah, a lot.” She closed her eyes, letting the sunshine turn the backs of her eyelids gold.
“Because of your parents?”
“Not just them. Sometimes I wish I lived in a big city near a K Center. I’d like to see their technology up close. Just to get a sense of things, you know?”
“You really are curious about them, aren’t you?” Seth’s laugh was gentle rather than mocking. After their explosive sex in the shop, she’d realized he knew more about the Ks than he’d let on before. He must have learned about them during his travels, or maybe he was just spreading rumors he’d heard as if they were gospel truth.
“I can’t help but be curious.”
“Curiosity is good. The most creative people in the world are full of curiosity.”
“I’m not creative,” she said.
“Sure you are.”
She shrugged. “Even if I am, I can’t be creative enough when I—”
“When what?”
“When…I get the headaches.” She couldn’t believe she was going to admit this to him. “I have dyslexia.” She waited for the questions, or for him to withdraw from her.
“A tough condition. It must cause you a lot of difficulty.”
Here we go, she thought. He’s going to finally see me for my useless self and walk away.
“You’re an incredible woman. I can’t imagine how strong you must be to handle the headaches and the trouble reading and writing. It makes me proud to know you, proud to be with you.”
Oh God, she hadn’t expected him to say that.
“You mean it?” She hated how needy she sounded. Xander had always pitied her, as if staying with her had been a sacrifice on his part.
Seth leaned over her, kissing her slow and sweet in a way that made her heart shiver with secret longing for things she shouldn’t want, like a life with him. “I mean it, Queenie. You’re fucking amazing.”
She sighed as she looked toward the horizon. The sun was starting to drop.
“We should head back,” Seth said, disappointment heavy in his tone.
“Yeah, you’ve got the late shift at the bar.” She would probably spend all night in the bar finding excuses to help him because she couldn’t get enough of this man. She was officially addicted to Seth. They packed up the blanket and headed back into town.
Mason met them outside the auto shop. He’d figured out this past week, along with Liam, that she was seeing Seth, but they’d taken it fairly well.
“You kids have a nice day out?” Mason teased her.
Harper tossed him back his truck keys. “Yes, as a matter of fact, we did.”
Seth smiled and waved her on inside. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
It was clear Mason wanted to talk to him and that she wasn’t supposed to stick around. So she rushed upstairs to freshen up. But as she thought back to Seth’s face, she’d seen something in his eyes that left her worried. He seemed…distant now that they were back at the shop. Distant and regretful. It had been just a flash in his eyes, but she hadn’t missed it, and that scared her. It felt…like goodbye.
“So…,” Mason drawled as they watched Harper lea
ve.
“So…,” Sef echoed carefully.
“You and Harper, huh?”
“Yeah.” He was careful not to say too much. He knew Liam and Mason were aware of his romantic relationship with their little sister, and the last thing he wanted was to upset them.
“She dated this real dick named Xander a few years back. Did she tell you?” Mason asked as they headed to the bar.
“No, she didn’t.” The fact that she hadn’t told him about this other man bothered him. Did she still have feelings for him? Did she still want to be with him? Unlikely, given how Mason had just described him.
“Well, he was a grade A douchebag, man. Grade A. Cheated on her the night of their anniversary.” Mason snorted at the memory. “He was a pretty boy, like you.”
“I’m not a pretty boy,” Sef replied, bristling a little. Mason and Liam were attractive as well, and he was attempted to call Mason the insult right back.
“Pretty, handsome, whatever. You got looks, and you know it. Point is, she’s not going to get her heart broken again. Now, I can see this shit is serious already. So if you read the signals wrong, if you thought this was casual and were still planning to leave at some point, you need to leave tonight. Or else you stick around until she decides to end things. You get what I’m saying?”
Sef didn’t speak for a moment, considering what Mason was really saying. Finally he nodded, and lied right to his face. “I’m sticking around.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. Liam and I think you’re an okay guy. Don’t make us regret thinking that.”
Sef just nodded again as they entered the bar to start their shift for the evening. It was going to be a long night, and then he had to wait for the resistance meeting, and after that…well, he refused to think about what tomorrow would bring.
When the bar closed up for the night, Sef headed to Harper’s apartment to join her in bed for a few hours. He curled up around her, and she sighed his name in a dreamy way before falling back to sleep. He lay there, holding her, watching the digital clock on her nightstand tick down the hours.
At a quarter to four, he left her and headed back to his apartment, quickly setting up his surveillance net and scanning the day’s footage for anything of importance. Arus had left a message to inform him that the team was in place, waiting for his signal.
He could see Liam and Mason now, ushering people inside the bar toward the storeroom. Mitch was among them.
As soon as the meeting started, Sef transferred the visuals to a small handheld device. Then he crept down to the garage and waited in the hall that connected to the bar.
“Okay, everyone, settle down. I know we all voted yesterday via text message to help Mitch.” Liam caught the attention of those gathered. “Mitch met with the K sympathizer, and we’ve set a date for three days from now. I know that’s not a lot of time, but we can’t afford to wait.”
“Right,” Mitch cut in. “My connection said that he can only get us the bombs tomorrow, and we have to use them within a few days or else someone will notice them missing from the armory.”
“And you’re sure we won’t hurt anyone?” Liam said. “We only agreed to this based on that promise.”
“Yes,” Mitch sighed. “No one gets hurt. Jesus, for fuck’s sake, you know the plan. Nobody will be near the explosions. Let’s just do this, okay?”
Sef tensed, muscles rigid with apprehension. Tonight was the night. They had to capture the rebels before they got ahold of any Krinar weapons.
He tapped the hidden comm piece in his ear. “Team one, stand by. Wait for my signal.”
“Confirmed,” one of the guardians replied.
“All right. Since we’re all so concerned, let’s go over the plan, then,” Mason said. “Point one: Where’s the safest place to put the bombs?” He pointed toward a layout of the Kansas City K Center on a large piece of paper that he’d spread out on a table. Mitch and Liam and the other rebels leaned over it to get a better look. “Now, this is what we believe will provide the best exposure once the dust settles. We’ve looked over traffic patterns to know when it’s not in use, so this is where the first batch will go…”
It was all Sef needed. He spoke quickly. “Engage. Subdue at all costs, but do not kill. Stunners only. I will meet you inside once we have everyone secured.”
“Yes, Commander,” one of the guardians replied.
Sef shut down the screen and tucked it into his pocket. Then he slipped into Harper’s office to wait until it was all over.
The sound of an explosion coming from the bar woke Harper with a jolt. Fire sirens blared, and she winced, covering her ears.
What the hell? Was it a gas explosion? One of the cars in the shop?
She grabbed her keys and hurried into the garage. It was dark and quiet, which meant whatever had happened had to be in the bar.
Harper threw open the door to the bar, and flashes of blue light burst across her vision. Tall men in white uniforms were aiming small objects that looked like laser pointers at the men and women trying to escape. Her brothers dove behind the bar, grabbing their shotguns, which Harper knew they kept loaded with rock salt rather than bullets. They didn’t like hurting people, but now they were desperately trying to return fire on the men in white.
But these weren’t men. They were Ks. The Krinar were here, shooting at her brothers. Their resistance cell must have been discovered.
Oh God, oh God, oh God…
They were going to get themselves killed!
“Mason, Liam!” She tried to step into the bar area, but someone grabbed her and pulled her back into the hall. A hand covered her mouth.
“Hush. It’s not safe. Stay here.” Seth’s comforting voice made her relax, but only a little. Tears stung her eyes as she saw Liam trying to shelter one of the women, and a blue bolt struck his chest. He crumpled to the floor. The woman tried to pull him back behind the bar, but she was hit too and went down. Mason roared, opening fire on the Ks before he was clipped in the shoulder by blue light and fell.
Harper watched the nightmare unfold in slow motion, until finally everything was quiet and horribly still. Her head was still swimming as Seth gently released her.
“Stay put,” he growled. “It’s not safe.” She nodded numbly as he walked into the bar. It took a moment for what he was doing to sink in. She tried to warn him to come back, but the words turned to ash upon her tongue as he stepped up to one of the Krinar and shook his hand.
“No…” Seth had sold her brothers out to the Krinar. He had betrayed them and gotten them killed.
A fissure cracked deep within her fragile heart. The pain was so great that she couldn’t breathe. She sank to her knees, leaning against the wall for support.
The Krinar agents began placing metal cuffs on the bodies and carrying them outside. When a Krinar male went to grab Mason, she lunged out of the hall, screaming at the alien to let her brother go. She skidded to a stop as Seth moved to block her from the Krinar, who were now aiming their weapons at her.
“Commander?” one of the Krinar asked.
Commander? She glanced around with dawning horror as she realized that he hadn’t just betrayed them to the Krinar—he was one of them.
“Stand down. She is mine. She is not a resistance fighter,” Seth announced.
One of the Krinar spoke quickly to Seth in their own language, and he replied in the Krinar tongue. She heard the word charl and shivered. She’d heard that word before. It meant slave. There had been rumors for years about charls being sex slaves for the Krinar.
“You’re one of them,” she said, her tone full of venom. He had used her—used her, betrayed her, and killed her family.
“I am,” Seth confirmed.
“You killed my brothers!” A black fury rose up within her on sulfurous wings, clawing its way out of her as she screamed in rage and pain. She was going to kill him. She balled her fist and swung, but she was no match for Seth. He caught her fist mid-swing without even trying.
&n
bsp; “Stop it, you little fool. They aren’t dead,” Seth snapped, catching her by the waist and lifting her up. She kicked and thrashed, her slippers flying off. She tried to sink her teeth into his arm, but she couldn’t bend far enough to reach him. One of the Krinar males spoke up.
“Are you sure she’s yours, Commander?”
“Yes.” Seth suddenly jabbed a small device into her arm, but she didn’t get a good look at it.
“What did you do to me? What did you…” Everything turned fuzzy. She slumped in his arms as her legs gave out, but she was still conscious.
“Calm down, Harper. Breathe. Your brothers are alive. We only stunned them. Nod if you understand.” Harper managed a weak nod. “Good. Your brothers are being detained for anti-K and terrorist activities. They will be questioned, and their memories will be erased. They—”
She shook her head. “No, please, Seth,” she begged. “Don’t take them from me. I’ll do anything. I…”
He stared at her a moment longer. “Anything?”
“Yes. Anything.” She struggled to keep her eyes open, but everything was going dark.
“Promise to be mine forever. And I will guarantee their safety and their memories.”
Be his? Belong to the man who had lied to her, used her, and broken her heart? Forever? But she had to say yes. Mason and Liam were the only family she had left, and she loved them. She would do anything for them. Even sell her soul to a Krinar bastard.
“Yes,” she said.
“Put those two on a separate transport vehicle.” Seth spoke to the Krinar agents who were lifting up Liam and Mason’s limp bodies. “Take them to the Kansas City Center, and I will see to them.” Seth looked down at her and gave a soft triumphant smile.
“I will make you a very happy charl, I promise.” He kissed her, but all she could feel were her tears and the fissure in her heart tearing even wider as she finally slipped into unconsciousness in the arms of her enemy.