by S. E. Smith
“Yes,” Trig replied with a gruff laugh. “Razor came close to killing Sword, Race, and Cannon, but they made it out in one piece. What about Kelman? We searched for him after Razor and the others killed the Drethulan. The fight ring is shut down and Razor ordered a cleansing of the Spaceport. Additional troops are being sent in to clean up the area. It has been neglected for too long. I guess kidnapping a High Chancellor of the Alliance woke the others up to what could happen to them, not to mention the alliance between our worlds, if they didn’t agree. Razor was ready to blow the entire Spaceport up.”
“What stopped him?” Dagger asked, rubbing absently at his wrist as he remembered what it felt like to be chained there.
“Kali,” Trig retorted with a sigh. “She pointed out that there were a lot of merchants that lived there and were trying to make a legal living. Razor left Sword to oversee the cleanup.”
“Kelman may still be alive. I don’t know if he was on any of the attack ships that were destroyed,” Dagger replied. “My gut is telling me that he is still alive. Tell Razor I want a bounty on Kelman’s head.”
“Already done,” Trig replied. “The problem is, everyone capable of carrying it out either works for Kelman or is too afraid to try.”
Dagger’s face twisted in disgust. “Tell Hunter that I will return with Jordan to Rathon shortly. I… I need time,” he said, casting a glance at Jordan. “I need time with my Amate.”
The silence this time was different, lighter. “I’m happy for you, brother,” Trig replied. “I will inform Hunter. Is there anything you need? If Kelman is out there, do you think it safe to stay away? I can provide coverage if you need time, from a safe distance.”
“No,” Dagger responded in a quiet voice. “We will be safe where I am going. He would not be so reckless or stupid to go where we are heading.”
“Safe travels, brother,” Trig finally replied. “Keep in contact, though.”
“I will,” Dagger said. “Out.”
Dagger programmed the auto-pilot and rose from his seat. Reaching out his hand, he waited. Jordan’s soft palm slid across his and he pulled her up and into his arms. Only then, did he feel the tension dissolve from his body. A rush of emotion swamped him when he thought of the danger she had been in once again.
“I want you,” he muttered. “I just… want you.”
Jordan understood what he was saying without really saying it. Her heart swelled when he looked down at her. The mixture of emotion told her that he was fighting the demons inside him once again. The demon that made him feel out of control and vulnerable. His fear that he might still wake up and find that this had all been a dream.
Pulling out of his arms, she clasped his hand in hers and pulled him toward the doorway. They walked in silence, both lost in their thoughts.
*.*.*
Rathon: Two years ago.
Jordan knew she was blushing, but she couldn’t help it nor did she care. A transport was lowering itself in the front courtyard of Jesse and Hunter’s house and she immediately recognized one of the figures in it. Dagger.
They had only been on Rathon a few weeks, but he came by every day. Today, he was going to show her around. She watched as Taylor ran out to the transport. As usual, her little sister was doing everything she could to drive Saber crazy.
“I think that is my new mission in life,” Taylor had commented earlier this morning when she came out wearing a pair of tight short-shorts and a halter top. “The big lug needs someone to stir the ice in his veins and see that life is full of wonderful things… like me.”
Taylor had recently turned sixteen and was beginning to really blossom. Personally, Jordan didn’t think it was ice running through Saber’s veins, but bubbling lava at Taylor’s constant teasing. Taylor’s loud squeal made Jordan chuckle under her breath and push away from the window. Saber had noticed Taylor’s outfit and had scooped her little sister up into his arms. They were currently making a beeline for the front door.
“You will change into something appropriate,” Saber snarled as he carried Taylor through the door.
“I am wearing something appropriate,” Taylor snapped back, glaring up at Saber’s stony face. “It’s called shorts and a halter top. The girls wore them back home all the time.”
“I don’t remember seeing any of the women wearing them,” Dagger said with a frown. “I’m sure I would have remembered if they did.”
“Maybe only the children did,” Saber snapped, lowering Taylor to her feet inside the door. “Not a grown female. You will change before any other males see you like this.”
Jordan knew there was about to be a battle of wills from the way Taylor tossed her head back and folded her arms across her chest. She reminded Jordan of their grandmother when she was arguing with their dad. Her dad never won when her grandma was in a mood.
“Well, since you think I’m only a ‘child’, then I guess it’s okay to wear it,” Taylor pointed out cheekily. “Hi, Dagger.”
“Greetings, Taylor,” Dagger said with a grin. “Is…”
Jordan flushed again when Dagger’s voice faded when he saw her. She smiled shyly at him and stepped farther into the foyer. Casting a gaze at Taylor, she knew her younger sister was silently begging her to support her.
“It’s true, Saber,” Jordan remarked in a quiet voice. “Women of all ages wear shorts and tops like that. I had several of each before….”
Jordan bit her lip and lowered her head. It was still difficult for her to talk about what happened after the Trivators landed on Earth. She started when she felt a gentle hand slid over her cheek. Blinking, she realized that Saber and Taylor were still arguing, but that they had walked into the other room.
“I am afraid I would have to agree with Saber,” Dagger said in a low voice.
Jordan blinked in confusion. “About… About what?” She asked in a slightly breathless voice that made her cringe. “What would you agree with Saber about?” She repeated in a stronger voice.
“I would not want any other males to see you dressed in such clothing,” he chuckled. “I would not mind, though, seeing you in it for myself.”
“Oh,” Jordan whispered, blushing like crazy.
Note to self, she thought as she stared up at him. I need to get Hunter’s mom to help me make several sets of shorts and halter tops.
“Are you ready?” Dagger asked, sliding his hand around to the small of her back.
“Ready for what?” A dark voice asked from behind them.
Jordan turned slightly into Dagger when she heard Hunter’s voice. Jesse was walking up to stand beside him. She looked at her older sister with pleading eyes. Just like Taylor needed her support, she needed Jesse’s right now.
“I promised to show Jordan around,” Dagger replied.
Jordan returned her new brother-in-law’s searching gaze. She had discovered that on Rathon the rules were slightly different than on Earth. Each female was protected by their family. In their case, since they did not have any males to protect them, Hunter assumed the role when he claimed Jesse. That role included denying any warrior that might approach him and who showed an interest in her or Taylor.
“I think that is a wonderful idea,” Jesse said with a grin. “She hasn’t been out very much.”
Hunter turned and frowned down at Jesse. “Jesse,” he started to argue before he released a sigh of resignation. He glanced over at Dagger with a look of warning in his eyes. “I hold you responsible if anything should happen to her. She is still too young, Dagger. It is my right, as well as my responsibility, to make sure she is protected.”
Dagger bowed his head in acknowledgement of the warning in Hunter’s voice. “I will protect her with my life, Hunter, you need not worry,” he promised. “Jesse.”
“Have fun,” Jesse called, elbowing Hunter when he growled under his breath. “Take your time.”
“Jesse!” Hunter’s exasperated voice echoed behind them as Dagger closed the door.
Jordan chuckled and bo
wed her head to cover her rosy cheeks. “Well, that was embarrassing,” she murmured. “I thought dad was bad. He could take lessons from Hunter.”
Dagger chuckled as he opened the door to the transport and helped her onto the seat. “He has a right to be protective. I would be even more so if you were under my care,” he said, closing the door and walking around to the other side.
“Where are we going?” Jordan asked in excitement as the transport lifted off the ground.
“I will show you where my home is,” he replied. “Then, I will show you some of the areas to the north of the city. It is very beautiful.”
“I’d like that,” Jordan said, staring at Dagger. “I’d like that very much.”
Dagger glanced back at her and smiled. “Hunter has a right to be worried, Jordan,” he murmured before focusing on where he was going. “It is just as well you did not greet me in an outfit like your sister did.”
“Why?” Jordan asked, unable to stop her curiosity.
“Because if you had…,” he replied in a voice that betrayed the heat building inside him. “… the only place you would be seeing today is the inside of my home.”
“Oh,” she whispered, a slow, satisfied smile curving her lips. “I would like that.”
His grunt and muttered curse pulled a bigger grin from her. She folded her hands in her lap, amazed at the scenery far below, but even more amazed that a man like Dagger wanted her. Pleasure burst through her, pouring hope into her young heart.
Perhaps this world would not be so bad after all, she thought, nodding absent-mindedly to the different landmarks that he was pointing out.
*.*.*
The rest of the afternoon flew by, and much to her chagrin, Dagger was turning the transport toward Jesse and Hunter’s home. Jordan sighed as she looked down at the soft glow of lights far below them. Her head turned and she smiled at Dagger when he reached out and cupped her hand in his.
“What is wrong?” He asked, glancing at her.
Jordan shook her head and looked back out of the window. How did she tell him that she didn’t want the day to end? That she had never had such a wonderful time and wished it could last forever?
“Nothing,” she whispered.
A slight squeeze of her hand told her that he heard the lie in her voice. A soft chuckle escaped when she remembered that Trivators could ‘smell’ a lie. Releasing a deep breath, she turned to look back at him again.
“I don’t want today to end,” she said in a quiet voice. “I really enjoyed it, being with you.”
Dagger glanced at her face before turning back to look out the front windshield. She reluctantly released his hand when she realized that they were landing. Biting her bottom lip, she wished she had just kept her mouth shut. Tears burned her eyes that he would think she was seeing more into the day than he meant for her to.
The moment the transport landed, she reached for the door. She paused when she felt Dagger’s warm hand on her arm. Turning to look at him, she raised her chin.
“Thank you for a wonderful day,” she said politely.
“Jordan,” Dagger whispered in a husky voice.
Her eyes widened when he reached up and turned her toward him. He stared into her eyes for several long seconds before a low curse escaped him. Her lips parted when he bent his head, meeting him half way.
Pleasure, joy, and relief coursed through her. Her hands slid over his shoulders and her fingers tangled in his hair as she returned his heated kiss with one of her own. She wanted him to know what he was doing to her. She needed him to know that the feelings she felt were not that of a young girl, but of a woman.
Dagger reluctantly pulled back, his eyes flickering over her shoulder at where Hunter stood silhouetted in the front door. His eyes shifted to her with regret. Fear coursed through her at the look of resignation in them.
“Saber and I leave tomorrow morning on a mission,” he told her in a grave voice filled with frustration. I am not sure when I will return. I promise when I do, we will not be parted again.”
*.*.*
Jordan jerked back to the present and turned when she felt Dagger’s hands sliding down over her shoulders. Brushing a kiss along his jaw, she reached up to undo the fastenings on the shirt he was wearing. When she was finished, she slid her hands back up to push it off his shoulders.
“What were you thinking about?” He asked in a husky voice.
“When you took me for a tour of the mountains not long after we arrived on Rathon,” she murmured, tracing the scars on his shoulder with her finger. “Do you remember Saber’s reaction to Taylor’s outfit?”
A low chuckle escaped Dagger. “Yes, I remember,” he replied, bending and pressing his lips to the smooth skin of her shoulder. “The entire day, I kept thinking of what you would look like in such an outfit. I also remember the kiss before I left. I did not sleep well for many nights after that.”
“I shouldn’t say this, but I’m glad,” she moaned when his hands followed her shirt down to her waist and he drew her closer to his body. The feel of her breasts against his hard chest sent a shaft of need through her. “I want you, Dagger. I love you so much.”
“Show me,” he said.
Jordan pulled back and quickly kicked off her boots and stripped out of the trousers she was wearing. She kicked them to the side, her hands going to still Dagger’s when he started to follow her.
“Let me,” she whispered. “I want to do this.”
Dagger trembled when she slid her hand between the waistband of his trousers and his skin. She smiled as she unfastened them and slowly pulled them down his legs, stopping when they reached his boots. Rising, she gently pushed him back onto the bed. She bent and removed each of his boots before pulling his trousers the rest of the way off and tossing them to the side.
Jordan drew in a sharp breath when she saw just how much he wanted her. Sliding her hands up his thighs, she marveled at the strength she felt in them. Her eyes strayed to a long, thin scar that ran half the length of his left thigh. Bending, she ran her lips along it.
“You are so beautiful,” she whispered, meaning it.
He was. He was like Michelangelo’s David in the flesh. Her fingers traced the lines, exploring and memorizing him the way he had memorized her. His strength was not only in the flesh, but in the mind as well. To survive the wounds he had received and to continue fighting for as long as he had, told of a man with an inner strength found in few.
She gently cupped his heavy sack, rolling it tenderly between her hands before she moved slightly higher. Each step of her exploration she did first with her hands, second with her eyes, and third with her lips. The muscular body under her stiffened in surprise before a loud hiss exploded from him when she lifted his throbbing cock in her hand and touched her tongue to the tip of it.
Dagger’s head jerked down and he stared at her in shock. A soft, husky breath of air danced over the head of it when she chuckled at his wide-eyed amazement. Lowering her head, she kept her eyes locked with his as she took the tip of his cock into her mouth.
“Jordan,” he choked out in a husky, rough voice when she pulled back and blew on it.
“Relax,” she whispered, teasing the bulbous head with her tongue. “Feel.”
*.*.*
Dagger gave a jerky nod. He didn’t know what else to do or say. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he could do anything else, much less say anything. What Jordan was doing to him was incredibly erotic and had stunned him to the point he was afraid to say anything that might make her stop.
The females of his species had sharp teeth; teeth made for cutting and tearing. That was not something a warrior wanted wrapped around his cock. Another shudder wracked his body and he wondered if it was possible to go crazy from the pleasure that was coursing through him.
She was stroking his length, up and down, over and over with her sweet lips until he was gripping the sheets and counting backwards in an effort not to explode down her delicate throat. His legs fell apart
even farther when she wiggled closer to him.
Dagger laid back and stared up at the ceiling. Watching his cock disappear down her throat, her swollen lips sucking on him… A loud curse shot through him because he knew that he was about to come.
Sitting up, he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her up his body. She started to protest, but the look on his face must have given her ample warning that he was at his limit. She opened her legs to him when he aligned her over his cock and slid down over him like a sheath fitting a prized dagger.
“Oh,” she hissed as he pushed upward, stretching and filling her.
“Now,” he demanded. “Ride me, now.”
Jordan cried out when he cupped her breasts and his fingers wrapped around her nipples, pinching the taut peaks until they were rosy and swollen. He demanded she move faster and faster. She rose upward, moving as if she were riding a great beast.
“Come for me, Jordan,” he ordered in a hoarse voice. “Come for me.”
Jordan threw her head back, clamping down around him and shuddering as her body dissolved around his. He could feel her fisting his cock, pulling his own orgasm from him as her vaginal walls pulsed and squeezed him in a dance that the beast inside him recognized. She was his, in every way, forever.
“I love you, my beautiful warrior,” he whispered as she went limp in his arms. “My hope, my Jordan.”
Dagger stared up at the ceiling knowing that each and every word he spoke came from his heart. She had captured it as surely as she had rescued him from the cage and chains that had made him a prisoner. She had set him free.
Chapter 18
Jordan gazed around her in delight at the sparkling water early the next morning. She curled her toes in the pink sand and lifted her head to the gentle breeze that teased her with its warm breaths. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun off the water, she watched as several fishermen on long flat boards paddled by, cheerfully waving to her. Grinning, she waved back.