by KD Jones
He entered the holding facility where there were four holding cells lined up right next to each other. The female that attacked his mate was now clothed and sitting on a cot inside the cell. She glared at him as he approached. Two guards were there outside of the holding cell and stood at full attention when he entered.
“Commander.”
“Has anyone come by to visit this female since she was brought here?”
“No, sir.”
“Leave us,” he ordered the males to exit the holding facility. TylOR glared down at the female that dared to hurt his Elizabeth.
“Let me go!” MarjAY demanded.
“Why were you still onboard? And why in Kitana were you in my quarters?” TylOR ignored her demand. Somebody should have notified him if one of the Kiljorn females who were supposed to be returned to Kiljor was still onboard his ship. When he found out who allowed it to happen, they were going to be sorry for it.
“I was waiting on you. I thought we had something. I figured you would drop off the whorish Earth female and come back. We could renew our relationship. Maybe even mate.”
“If you ever speak of my bond mate like that again, I will rip your head from your shoulders!” he growled at her, baring his teeth. MarjAY shrunk back from him in fear. “You and I never had a relationship. We had a…fling. It was forgetful. I regret having spent any time with you at all. How did you get access to my quarters?”
“It was unlocked.” She didn’t look him in the eyes.
TylOR narrowed his eyes at her. “I locked my quarters personally before I left to go down to Kiljor. No one else has access except for Elizabeth. So someone had to have helped you break in. Who was it?”
“That Earth scum. She is sullying our genes. How can you stand to touch her? You cannot be serious about mating her,” MarjAY spoke with venom in her voice.
Something about the way she talked about Earth females and germs and sullying made him suspicious. It sounded like Purist talk. He knew other than torturing the female she was not going to answer his questions. He had someone onboard his ship that had access to his quarters and helped this female.
TylOR turned to leave, stopping just outside the holding facility. He addressed the security. “No one gets in to see this female without my permission.”
“Yes, sir.”
TylOR hit his comm link and he called his communication's officer. “Get me a secure line with StrykER.” His communication's officer answered immediately.
“Stryker is on the line for you, Commander.”
“What is it?” Stryker asked irritated.
“I have conspirators on my ship. When will you be done questioning those on AshOR’s ship?”
“I could be done in eight hours if I don’t take a break,” StrykER said.
“Are you questioning mostly males or females or both?” TylOR asked.
“All males. Why? What is going on?”
“I need to speak with AshOR first.” TylOR had a sinking feeling they may have sent a Purist rebel to Kiljor.
“Wait, I can have the communications link AshOR for a three-way communications.”
“This is Commander AshOR.”
“This is Commander TylOR. Were all the people you questioned about the bombing male?”
“Yes. I figured the females were no threat because they…are female,” AshOR answered.
“I did the same thing. I believe we have made a huge mistake,” TylOR confessed.
StrykER picked up on what he was saying. “You have a female onboard you suspect is involved in the Rebellion?”
“Yes, I need you to question her right away. I am almost positive someone is helping her onboard too.”
“We allowed all the females down to Kiljor. One or more could be involved,” AshOR stated what they were all thinking.
“I will contact Prime Leader KadEN with a list of all the females we sent down. He will probably need to question all of them just to be on the safe side and possibly have them relocated to one location and monitored.” He hated feeling this mistrustful of his own people.
“I will do what I can to get through the interrogations on this transport so I can come to you and question the female. I might be able to get more out of her,” StrykER told them.
“Very well. Contact me the moment you are done.” TylOR hung up. He then hit his comm link again. “Lieutenant, get me a secure line to Prime Leader KadEN.”
“Yes, sir.”
*****
Lizzie was bored. She had been updating the culture class material. It wasn’t difficult but there wasn’t much more for her to do. She needed to get out of their quarters for a while, maybe take a walk. It wasn’t time for lunch yet. She opened the door to find her two guards standing there looking a little bored themselves.
“Is there something we can do for you, Miss Connell?”
“I want to talk a walk and stretch my legs.”
“We can escort you anywhere you like,” Lieutenant DugER told her with a smile.
“Thanks.” She closed the door behind her securing it. She didn’t know why she bothered. If that skank could get inside, then anyone else could too. Calm, Lizzie…be calm.
“Where would you like to go?” the other lieutenant asked.
“Do you have a place where I can view the stars?”
“Of course. We have an observation room.” DugER led her to a lift to take them up to the top level of the transport.
Lizzie was taken to the end of the corridor and a door was opened. She walked inside and sucked in a breath. Three walls of the room had huge viewing screens from ceiling to floor. It was like walls made out of glass. She could see everything.
“Wow, this is gorgeous.” There was a loud sound outside in the corridor. Both of her guards ran out to investigate, leaving her alone to enjoy the gorgeous view.
“Would you like to share the Midday Meal with me?” a stranger’s voice asked from behind her.
Lizzie jumped as she turned. She didn’t see her guards yet but the person that spoke wore a lieutenant’s uniform. He was kind of skinny with black hair that was greased up over his head. He reminded her of Squiggy from Lavern and Shirley.
“Um…no. I am waiting for Commander TylOR.” Surely this guy could smell TylOR’s marking on her. Everyone else had. He didn’t even try to smell her scent.
“We could have it in my quarters.” He stepped a little closer.
Fuck, this guy is persistent. “Look, my boyfriend…mate is Commander TylOR. He would not want me to spend time with any man but him.”
“What a shame. You are lovely.”
“Thanks.” She looked behind the man and sighed with relief when she saw TylOR stride into the room.
“What is going on here?” TylOR was furious the two guards were outside detaining some drunk male while another male was alone with his mate.
Uh oh. She had enough drama for one day. “Nothing. I came to see the stars.”
The stranger nodded and left the room. TylOR wasn’t fooled. “What did he want?”
“Nothing. He just asked if I wanted to share the Midday Meal with him. I told him no and that I was waiting for you.” She left out the part about him asking her back to his quarters.”
“He approached you even though you have my scent mark?” TylOR’s voice grew loud. “Why were you left alone?” He didn’t wait for her answer. He turned and yelled for her security guards who scrambled inside with a drunk male.
“Why was my mate left alone with another male?” he demanded, making both males pale.
Lizzie groaned as she rolled her eyes. This day was the longest of her life. She couldn’t wait until they reached the wormhole.
Chapter Seventeen
Lizzie sat across the table from TylOR in the meal room. She was stuffed but he kept insisting that she eat more. It reminded her of the work the therapist wanted her to do about her body image. She needed to write in her journal later.
“TylOR, how is the investigation going?” she a
TylOR looked around the meal room. People were watching them but there was no one close enough to hear. But he didn’t want to take a chance. “I will tell you about it when we go back to our quarters.”
She looked around suddenly understanding. He didn’t want anyone else to hear. That could only mean one thing, they hadn't found the culprits yet.
“Are you done?” TylOR looked at the half-eaten muffin frowning.
“If I eat anything else I will make myself sick and throw it all back up.”
He looked alarmed. “Do not make yourself sick.”
“Then let’s go. I want to be alone with you.” She meant be alone with him so they could talk, but his sexy smile made her panties grow damp.
“Come.” He stood and took her small hand in his large one and led her out of the meal room.
“What did you do today?” he asked.
“I worked on updating learning material for the culture classes.” She noticed his hand jerk a little. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning to go on the Katieran transport. I’ll make sure the learning material is updated along with the recorded sessions. But I find that my time is going to be freed up and I won’t know what to do with myself.”
“Can you not have more culture classes on Kiljor? You can only learn so much on a transport in a month. Perhaps you could develop classes to teach on Kiljor to educate both Kiljorns and Earthlings about our differing cultures,” he suggested.
“I could do that. Would Prime Leader KadEN be okay with it?”
“I will ask him for you. I am sure that Prima Lindsey would enjoy helping you organize it.”
“Yeah, I could do that. Great idea.” TylOR preened at the compliment.
He turned toward the two guards. “You are on call, go and eat your meal and take a break. I will notify you when I need you to return.” He closed the door and locked it. He didn’t want anyone to interrupt them.
“Okay, we’re alone. Tell me what’s going on.” Lizzie sat on the edge of the bed.
“I believe that MarjAY is connected with the Purist Rebellion.”
“That traitorous skank!”
“Yes. I also believe she has others on the ship helping her. There is no way she should have been able to get into my quarters otherwise.
“What are you going to do?”
“StrykER won’t be available for another six or seven hours. He is still interrogating the suspects on AshOR’s transport. Once he is done, I will have a shuttle escort him here. I need him to question MarjAY first.”
“Did you question MarjAY before?” She noticed his face shade red. “You didn’t, did you? Why? Because you slept with her?”
“No! I did not question any of the females and neither did AshOR. We both assumed the bombing would have only been done by a male, not female.”
Lizzie snorted. “Women can be just as devious and vicious as men.”
“Yes, I realize that now.”
“Oh shit! Ya’ll just sent a whole bunch of women back to Kiljor.”
“Yes, I have notified Prime Leader KadEN. He is planning to isolate them from everyone else and question them.”
She saw a sadness come over him and she patted the spot next to her on the bed. “I’m sorry, honey. I know this is killing you knowing the enemy is some of your own people.”
“I do not know how to fight this, Elizabeth. How do I make people not hate?”
She climbed onto his lap straddling him. She took his face in her hands. “You can’t control how people think or feel. What this Purist group is doing is spreading hate. There’s no real clear-cut way to eliminate hate, you can deal with it, try to educate people in hopes of minimizing it. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
He placed his hands on her hips and moved her against him. She was wearing a skirt and a white silky blouse. He moved the hem of her skirt slowly up her hips. “There’s something that would help me,” he growled against her chin as he nibbled her skin. He scraped with his teeth then soothed the spot with his tongue and lips.
“Oh…God.” She moved, rubbing her crotch against his, riding his lap.
“Kitana! You are not wearing your underclothing.” His hands cupped her bare ass cheeks.
“Well, you said you hated me wearing them. I still have to have the bra though. My boobs are just too big to go without one.”
TylOR disagreed with too big. He reached up and cupped her through her silky shirt. “You are perfect.” He teased her nipples into hard peaks.
Lizzie licked TylOR’s neck making him growl. She reached with one of her hands between their bodies and freed him from his pants. She took him in her hand, well as much as she could. He was really large.
“I love the feel of your small hands on me,” he moaned, shifting his hips so she could reach more of him.
“I love everything about you. I just love you period,” she said it without thinking first. When she realized what she had done, she was embarrassed. He halted his movements. She removed her hand and sat up. She looked up into his face worried that he would feel pressured to say it back.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” She tried to move off his lap but his big arms wrapped around her, holding her tight against him.
“Did you mean it? Do you really have love for me?” he asked, searching her face for the truth.
She nodded. “I am completely head over heels in love with you. But if you don’t feel the same for me I…”
His lips crushed down on her mouth as he claimed her with a heated kiss. When he pulled back, she had a dazed look on her face. “I feel much love for you, my mate. I have been trying to take things slow so I do not scare you away.”
“You love me?” she asked, still not positive.
“More than life itself.”
She threw her arms around his neck and showered him with kisses. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” She was suddenly flipped onto her back on the bed as he rose over her.
“I love you, Elizabeth.” He quickly tested her entrance, finding it soaking and ready for him. He plunged deep in her and slowly made love to her. He told her he loved her over and over as he poured his seed within her. He held her close, feeling truly blessed by the Goddess KatieRI. Nothing was more precious than that moment.
*****
TylOR watched as Elizabeth slept. She was so peaceful. Her skin glowed and her reddish blond curls spread across her pillow. He smiled with pleasure seeing little signs that she was finally gaining a little weight back. He frowned when his comm link went off.
“Commander TylOR here!”
“Commander, StrykER is on a shuttle approaching the docking bay doors. He is requesting permission to board.”
Had it been six hours already? “Permission granted. Escort him to the command center and wait for me there.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Is it time for you to go back to work already?” Lizzie asked drowsily.
“Unfortunately a Commander’s job is never done. I will call for your security to return before I leave. I want you protected at all times.”
“I’ll be fine until they get here.”
“I am not leaving you unprotected with a ship full of unknown traitors.”
“Okay, okay.” She sat up and caressed his face. “I love you.”
“I love you, my beautiful mate.”
*****
TylOR walked into the command center and his eyes fell on Stryker immediately. The male stood out in a room for sure. “Thanks for coming so soon. Did you uncover anything on the Colonial transport?”
StrykER shook his head. “No. I have cleared all of the suspects on that ship. None of them were involved with the bombing.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I know. I have a gift or curse. Aftereffect of the virus the Morins tried to kill our people with years ago. In my family, the virus mutated giving us the ability to sense the truth, almost…see the truth. I get visions of what is in the person’s head as they are telling me their story. Sometimes the vision I get matches what they tell me, other times it does not.”
“Do you always get a vision?” This was the first time TylOR had ever heard of this mutation.
“Not always. In those cases, just the sound of their voice is enough though. A lie will sound bitter and painful to me. The truth does not bother me at all.”
TylOR did not know what else to say. It was not the worst mutation he had ever heard about, but if he had to hear painful lies all the time, he would probably go a little insane. “Do you need time to settle in before interrogation?”
“No, I rested in the shuttle ride over. Take me to the first person you would like me to interrogate.”
“Come then. The female, MarjAY, is your first suspect. Watch out because she is vicious.”
“It does not surprise me. My gift has showed me there are very few females I would trust. They usually have their own agenda.” StrykER sounded a little bitter.
“Well, this one will not surprise you then.”
Chapter Eighteen
MarjAY paced her small cell back and forth. This was getting ridiculous. They had nothing on her. It was that entire fat Earth bitch’s fault. She was ruining everything. She glared at the entrance of the holding facility. The two guards were standing on the outside instead of the inside like they had previously.
She had tried to flirt with them, promising them she would share sex with them if they would let her go. When they didn’t she screamed at their idiocy. They then retreated to just outside the holding facility leaving her completely alone. She hated being alone.
She turned as she heard voices outside in the corridor. She couldn’t see anything so she stepped closer to the bars. When she spotted TylOR she smirked at him.
“Did you finally come to let me go?”
“No.”
“Come on, TylOR, after all we meant to each other. You know I mean something to you.”
“You mean nothing to me.” He stepped to the side and ignored StrykER’s questioning look. “I’ll explain later.”
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