by Ravyn Wilde
He scooted up the bed and the next time she slapped him with the pillow he grabbed it out of her hands and clutched it to his chest. “What the hell... Oh.” He stopped when he got a good look at her.
Makayla turned her murderous, bright, neon-green eyes on him. Her hands were on her hips and she looked ready to pick up something heavier to hit him with. Her neon orange hair stood on end, with the long locks in the back brushing down to her ass.
Her skin gleamed a soft silver. She was magnificent.
He didn’t make the mistake of telling her that.
And he was shocked when he noticed her hair and eye color didn’t match. His didn’t either. It was rare for a Guardian or Keeper to have eyes and hair that were different colors. It often signified different powers.
His eyes skimmed down her body and he noticed the hair over her woman’s mound was also bright, shocking orange. He licked his lips and she dove on him to pummel him with her fists. It still didn’t hurt.
And she was naked, rubbing her wonderfully tall and muscular Keeper’s body over his. He couldn’t stop the excited moan that came from his mouth.
He rolled her onto her back and covered her with his body. Pushing his cock inside her before she could protest. He put his lips against hers and whispered, “This body is more sensitive. Everything we do will be magnified.” He moved to suckle the silver temptation of her neck.
MAKAYLA GASPED AS A lightning bolt of lust shot from her neck to her breast and then exploded deep within her body. Purring low in her throat, she leaned toward him, her hands going up to wrap tightly around his neck and pull him to her.
“Falcon!” she cried out. Her entire being was on overload, demanding that he fuck her. Fill her. She trembled as his mouth found hers and their tongues tangled. She forgot all about the shock of her new body and sighed as he clasped his strong hands around her thighs and pulled her legs around his waist.
Opening her to his touch.
He pulled out of her and pushed back, sinking deep within her slippery heat in one strong thrust. He started moving, pounding hard, then harder. Moving fast.
God, it felt good. “Yes!” she screamed as she pulled her mouth from his and concentrated on the feel of his cock sliding, plunging and pumping over-and-over again into her demanding sex. “Yes!” she cried again as she eagerly sought his mouth and the gland that would slam them both over the edge.
This time the rush of liquid heat shot through her body like a nuclear explosion. She could feel her entire being expand and fill not only with Falcon’s body but with his soul. Their minds met and mated along with their bodies and together the world shattered around them.
Afterward, she lay there for long moments. Struggling to breathe. It was a long time before she could talk. Her mind was hazy. Happy. Her body sated. She lightly ran her hand over Falcon’s back, petting him
“Wow!” she said later when he shifted to her side. Still holding on to her, but not smashing her into the bed. It was easier for her to get oxygen into her lungs like this.
Before she could really take a moment and see how she felt, she realized she had to get a drink. She was dying of thirst and it seemed like it had been days since she had anything to drink. “I need water, I have the worst case of cottonmouth from that powder.” She really needed water. Her stomach rumbled as if to remind her she also needed food.
Falcon laughed, the deep rumble of his chest vibrating against her skin, sending an aftershock of pleasure through her body. He got up and opened a small fridge that blended into the wall and retrieved bottled water for both of them.
She gratefully took the water from him, lifted it to her lips and closed her eyes in rapture as she drank the first few gulps. Damn, that was wonderful!
He reached over to wipe a drop of water off her mouth and let his hand slide down over her neck and chest, to her breast. He rubbed his thumb over her nipple, and she hissed at him. “Don’t do that!” she snapped, batting his hand as she moved away and climbed off the bed. She stood staring down at him with her hands on her hips. “I am about sexed out.”
“This wonderful new body that you now have is very sensitive,” Falcon said. “Everything we do will get better, the sex, the merging...all of it magnifies and becomes more intense with time.”
Makayla snorted. “I don’t think it can get better. And I really don’t want to discuss this right now. I need a shower and food. So, explain how to make the shower in the bathroom work and then go away. Once I’m clean, I’ll meet you wherever there is food, a kitchen or whatever it’s called on a spaceship. Then while we eat, you can explain how in the hell I make this stop.” She swept her hand down her body.
She frowned at him. “When you first showed up at my door you looked human and you did all day yesterday too. So obviously there is some way to control this. And I need to figure it out before we find the girls. I definitely can’t look like this when I find them, or when I go home. There isn’t enough makeup in the world to cover silver skin and neon orange hair, not to mention I’ll need contacts to cover the neon green eyes.”
She looked down and mumbled, “Shit. even my pubic hair is electric orange.”
She held up her hand in front of her face. “This is just freaky. My fingers are longer. How the hell am I supposed to go home like this?”
FALCON SIGHED. THIS was going to be bad. He got off the bed and pulled Makayla over to the bathroom, quickly showing her how the air shower worked.
Then he showed her the small closet that had some of her things stored in it. He pulled out her robe and offered it to her, figuring that having something from her home would comfort her. She was going to need that comfort.
He also got himself a robe. Deciding that he didn’t want to be naked for this. Then he said, “You can never go home. Neither can the girls. Earth’s time and space have been altered as if you never existed.”
She frowned and looked at him. Cocked her head as if she didn’t understand his words. Before he could explain, her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She looked horrified, wild-eyed, and extremely pissed.
He turned around and ran for the front of the ship, slamming his cabin door behind him. She’d figure out how to get out soon enough, but for now, he figured she needed a little space to process his shocking announcement.
Chapter Seven
MAKAYLA’S EYES GLAZED over when Falcon ran out of the room and shut the door after dropping his bombshell statement.
She could never go home? The girls couldn’t go home?
What the fuck?
She went to the door, intending to chase him down and demand answers. But found he’d locked her in the room She opened her mouth to scream and started pounding on the door. She wanted out.
Wanting to chase him down and get the stupid silver man to take it all back. She could go home. She just needed to learn how to control her body as he did. She beat at the door for several minutes, shrieking at Falcon to get his ass back here and fix it.
When he didn’t show up, she was furious. Turning her attention to the rest of the room, she searched for something she could throw. But there just wasn’t anything to break. Throwing pillows and bedding around didn’t satisfy the urge she had to pulverize something. She pulled and tugged on the lamps, but they were built into the table or the bed, which was fastened to the floor.
He had no papers out that she could tear, or anything she could shred. The pillows wouldn’t rip so she could scatter feathers all over.
Since she couldn’t break anything the tears were getting closer. Makayla ran into the closet, searching for some of his clothes. She’d rip those to shreds. But the only clothing she could find was made out of a shiny material she couldn’t pull apart. She was getting frustrated.
Her complete and utter meltdown wasn’t much fun. After the girls were taken, she’d held it together. Wanting to appear sane when she reported aliens had kidnapped Kaitlyn and Lauren. She couldn’t be all weepy and emotional when she told the sheriff and t
he state police what happened. So, she kept it all in.
Now she wanted to let everything go, cry it all out and take a nap. If she was on the ranch, she’d go shoot something.
She couldn’t go home.
She went over and beat on the door again. She wanted out. Then she wanted Falcon to take it back. Makayla wanted to know what the hell was going on and she was locked in this damn room.
She yelled once more for Falcon to come back and face her and then hauled off and kicked the door. Shit. That hurt. She rubbed her leg and hopped around the room for a moment before she realized what she’d done and went absolutely still.
She kicked the door with her broken leg. The leg the doctor was sure she would need several surgeries to repair. The one the doctor warned her would cause problems for the rest of her life.
She had refused surgery until she had the girls back. Refused to even think about it. Forcing the doctor to put on a walking cast until she could deal with the reality of a leg she’d snapped in more than one place.
And Falcon had healed her.
She did a couple of martial arts kicks and then climbed on the bed and jumped down, landing with all of her weight on her injured leg. There wasn’t even a twinge. It was as good as new.
She slumped back on the bed. Shit. She remembered Falcon asking her several times if she wanted to know more about him, about being a Keeper, about what he would need to do to heal her.
And she said no.
She looked down at her shiny silver flesh and realized she should have asked more questions.
It was a little late now.
It was stupid to go into this situation blind. Not knowing or understanding anything. Like why he seemed familiar to her and why the fuck she was silver? She thought nothing mattered but to get into space to rescue Kaitlyn and Lauren.
Maybe once that was done to fix her leg.
Makayla crossed her eyes. That was true. But she had still been an idiot.
She was ex-military for God’s sake. She knew better than to go into a situation blind. She ran her hand through her hair and pulled a long neon orange strand in front of her face so she could see it. Orange was not a good look for her. She shuddered when she remembered her bright antifreeze-green eyes.
She had two choices. Get out of the damn room and drink one of the bottles of vodka she’d squirreled away on the ship. Which would make her sulk, and she could spend the day crying and feeling sorry for herself. Or she could go find Falcon and apologize.
She sighed. It was time to suck it up. She would take a shower and get dressed, then she was going to chase down that silver chicken man and get more information.
WHEN SHE GOT OUT OF the air shower the door to Falcon’s room was open. She went across the hall and put on leggings, an oversized sweatshirt and heavy socks. She was going for comfort, not sex appeal.
She eyed the bottle of vodka with longing. If she could never go home, the measly two bottles of booze she brought with her was going to need to last a long time.
She took a deep breath and went looking for Falcon. She figured she was calm enough to talk.
She found him sitting in the pilot chair on the bridge. He was slumped over in the seat and looked sad.
Good. Even if it wasn’t all his fault there was definitely a portion that fell on his shoulders.
She sat in the chair beside him without saying anything for several moments. Studying the monitors. Looking for signs of the ship that had taken her family. She saw lots of stars and not much else.
She wasn’t sure how to start this conversation.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, but can’t be sorry you are here,” Falcon said.
So, she wasn’t going to have to start. But his words confused her. “What do you mean you hurt me?” she asked.
He turned and looked at her. “I just took you. I didn’t give you time to realize it would be the last time you saw your home. I will do anything to make that up to you.”
She sucked in a breath. “Yeah, okay. That fucking hurt. That farm has been in my family for hundreds of years. Are you serious about doing anything?”
“Yes.”
She squints and looks around the bridge. “I want to learn to fly this thing.”
“Okay.”
His easy acceptance of her demand allowed her to relax a bit. She thought about losing her home. “You can’t just sell the ranch. I had all kinds of heirlooms. Kaitlyn and Lauren might need something that was left. All the reminders of our parents.”
Her voice wobbled as she fought back her emotions. “But I’m not sure it would have been any easier if I’d known. I still had to leave. I might have brought more of my family pictures or some more of the girls' stuff. But I would still be sitting here.”
He turned to her. “But the Helpers have packed all your belongings. All the things in the house and the shed, even the animals in the barn will be cared for until you move them or choose to let them go.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
He leaned in. “The reality in your dimension was shifted so that you never existed. And because your sister Kaitlyn and cousin Lauren were taken into space and because they belong to a new Guardian, they also never existed. You could walk down the street or go to your old town and no one would recognize you. Your money and assets are now part of the Guardian funds and you have access to anything you need or want. The same with the girls. But Makayla as a First Realm human no longer exists.”
“You didn’t throw away our stuff? Everything is there if we want it?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “It has all been put in storage or taken to a place where our Helpers care for the livestock or even your plants until you are ready to claim them.”
“What helpers? All of my stuff? The girls' clothes and their things?” She needed to understand what he was telling her.
He smiled and explained, “Helpers are assigned to every Guardian pair. They serve in the shadows, taking care of finding and acquiring items we need, arranging places for us to stay when we are in other realms, and they oversee many of the details of our lives, so we don’t have to. Once you committed to me, I texted our assigned Helper when we took the last load of what you wanted right now, to the ship.”
“Wait a minute. What do you mean when I committed to you?” She didn’t remember saying that.
“You committed several times. One of the times I tried to explain what everything meant, and this is what you replied.” He reached over and flipped a switch on the console.
A voice recording of an earlier conversation they had started to play, and she heard him ask her, “Are you sure you don’t want to know more about me before we go into space?”
There was a small pause before she replied, “No. No, whatever you need from me, you’ve got it if you help me find the girls.”
She sat back abruptly. Not sure how she felt. “I should have asked for more than how to fly your ship. So, what do I do with the stuff the helper packed? Where will the girls and I live?”
“This is our ship now. We can live on it as long as we need or want. You can have whatever is mine to give. There are options once we have recovered your family. We can find a place on earth if you would like. Or we can take all your things into my realm and put them in my home. Wherever you want to live, your stuff can be there. Even if one of your charges decides she wants to live on another planet, we can make that our home. It is totally up to you.”
She squinted at him thinking. She noticed that he was putting himself in every one of those scenarios and that he gave her part ownership of the spacecraft. She needed clarification on that. But first...
“What if I don’t want to live on earth, but I want bullets, and vodka, and limes. Do we get to make trips to pick up supplies no matter where we live?”
He grinned. “Bullets and booze? I think we need to spend more time getting to know one another. But, yes. We can either go to earth and get the supplies ourselves or we can send a list to the Helpers and
have them get the supplies to us. Whatever you want is doable. Even if that includes chickens so you can have fresh eggs or a cow for milk.”
She snorted. “If I have a cow flown to another planet it won’t be for milk. It will be for the meat. It’s good to know we have options.”
“There are many options. You never have to go without the things you like. Are you hungry? We still have several hours before we get close to the Jumpers. We can eat and I can answer more of your questions.”
Laughing she followed behind him. “I have a lot of questions. Like what the hell is a jumper? I assume you aren’t talking about a dress.”
He looked back at her, confusion apparent on his face. “A dress?”
“Yep. In the U.S. it’s a dress you wear over a blouse or a sweater. What is a jumper in your world?”
“Someone who has moved from one dimension or planet to another one without permission. Sometimes it happens by mistake but usually, the beings weren’t authorized to move through the gates or through space. They are running from the law or planning on doing something illegal. We call those unauthorized beings Jumpers.”
“Oh, lord. I understand the part about other planets. But other dimensions?” she asked.
Falcon led her into a small area that had a kitchen and table and chair. Interestingly enough there was also a large monitor on the wall. He motioned at the monitor and it turned on, showing stars and a planet as they were passing.
“Windows on a spaceship aren’t practical for several reasons. On newer ships like this one, they aren’t used at all. So, we have tiny pinpoint cameras surrounding the ship and can display what there is to see on any of the monitors.”
She stood for a moment and just looked at the stars and a small green planet. Anytime her brain started to meltdown and insist this was all a fantasy, she remembered seeing men with four-arms pick Kaitlyn and Lauren up and run for a spaceship.
Looking down at her silver skin she sighed. She needed to figure this out. What in the hell was she and how was she supposed to rescue the girls? She was safe, being fed, and had showered. She had a feeling her sister and cousin weren’t safe and probably were both hungry and dirty. How could she not feel guilty?