Ranger: A Phoenix Warrior Romance (Phoenix in Flames Book 10)

by Catty Diva

  His pleasure was so great a groan was pulled out of him. “Baby, so good.” He whispered. “Faster.”

  Maple rode him faster, rocking as she moved twisting his cock and making it sensitive to her movements. A tingle ran down his back as his cock buzzed with pleasure. Nothing felt so good as having her ride him just like this. Gods above, she was driving him toward his release fast.

  Her climax exploded making her channel massage his cock pushing him over the edge until he erupted filling her with his seed. Now he felt tired as Maple rolled off him leaving her arms around him. Her slow easy breathing told him she’d fallen asleep. He followed her moments later.

  In the morning, Teresa called a meeting. That meant something was happening. Everyone filled their plates and sat down to hear more.

  “Just for your information our target is going to be picked up by one of the Moon Hunters and taken back to Oison. Bear will be leaving with her in about an hour. The others will stay with us. We weren’t given a reason why, but Razar needs her home now.” Flicker pointed out.

  “You don’t usually share this kind of information. Why now?” Ash asked.

  “You all risked your lives and did a good job. It doesn’t hurt to tell you and we thought you’d want to know.” Teresa said.

  “Now let’s get down to the trip to Earth. We are going to three cities where we will exchange one thing for another.” Flicker explained.

  “More mates for supplies?” Ash asked.

  “Something like that. We will also go down to the Ice City and expand it for them. It may be the last trip there now that Razar has other issues to see to.” Teresa told them.

  “What do we do now?” Mike asked. She was the most outspoken of the ladies.

  “For now, we train, we improve our knowledge, your team builds their relationship and strengthens any weak bonds. That’s what we need you to do and you only have two days to do it.” Flicker declared giving all the males a hard look.

  “We can do that.” Oak insisted.

  “Yeah, we can.” Elm said.

  “See that you do because troubles in the team are unacceptable.” Flicker mentioned.

  “Anything else?” Ash asked.

  “Since you asked, we will also be scanning for any unauthorized landings. The cities have little protection of their own.” Teresa explained.

  “What will we do if we find some?” Mike asked.

  “We will discourage them, but if they refuse to leave, they will be taken to prison or killed.” Flicker directed.

  Chapter 4

  Earth

  The time went quickly. At some point the target had been freed Mazlan had been removed from the ship, but none of them knew when. They were in orbit with the Ice City directly below them, but it couldn’t be seen from the sky. No, it was too deep to be seen from above. It made her wonder how a city deep in the ice could be accessed.

  What kind of doors would that city have? If they were allowed to go to the city, they would be flashed in and out. How did the locals leave their city or did they? Maybe they were locked inside unable to ever access the dangerous world beyond.

  Soon they would be doing something, regardless of what it was. She had a hard time dealing with inactivity. Her whole team was restless and in need of something to do. Going down to the city would be just the thing to ease their impatience. The ship was already scanning for trespassers of any kind.

  The word had come to them that mutants on the surface were looking for a way into the cities. It seemed most mutants were male and were looking for females. Why they hadn’t gone to the cities that all had plenty of room, she had no idea. These males had stayed out in a poisonous environment that made them sick. That wasn’t a normal choice for anyone to make, was it?

  She not seen much beyond her own home moon and Oison except for the missions she’d gone on which were mostly space stations. Now she had a chance to see Earth, Ranger’s home. It was a dream come true. If it happened because they’d not been told yet. They were on their way to the meeting which would finally tell them where and when they would get to go somewhere.

  Glancing at Ranger, she saw excitement on his face as he considered the possibility he would soon see his home. She’d never asked if he had family still on Earth. He’d never asked about her family either. That had seemed like the last step before they mated and he clearly wasn’t ready yet. Did that bother her? Yes, a little. All she knew was she was ready to join, but he withheld his agreement.

  They were the last to arrive with only two seats left at the table. They quickly sat so the meeting could go on. “Glad you could join us.” Flicker said.

  She didn’t understand the comment because they were still early even if they were last. Maybe they were so excited about the mission? It was wise not to reply, so she didn’t. Leaning back, she waited for them to be addressed.

  “We are currently over the Ice City, as most of you know. In two hours, we will be flashing into the city with supplies and a machine to expand their city. We will leave when the expansion is done. Pack light, but it is possible we might stay overnight.” Teresa explained.

  Two hours didn’t seem like much time when they were informed of it. Right now staring at each other with their go packs at their feet, minutes ticked away slowly. They had sat here for what seemed like forever and still had thirty minutes to go.

  “Tell me about Earth, Ranger.” She requested.

  “I’ve not been back in years. From the pictures I’ve seen, it went to hell fast after I left.” He admitted.

  “What was it like last time you were here?” She asked.

  “It’s funny really. Last time I was here was around five years ago. Scientists had made some big advances and they were starting to reclaim the oceans and the air. A couple years later, Razar traded them for mates and gave us seaweed that showed amazing effects on the water. He even gave us some trees that broke down pollution in the air. It seemed the planet would be saved then everything went to hell.” He mentioned.

  “Did anyone figure out why?” She asked.

  “Not really. Someone was dumping some bad stuff on Earth, but they never figured out exactly what or who was doing it. Earth Gov said it didn’t matter why anymore and they all fled the planet taking all the wealth with them.” Ranger explained.

  “It sounds like the government was involved.” She speculated.

  “Probably, but now they are far from here and beyond out justice.” He declared.

  “But not past Razar’s justice or the moon hunters.” She observed.

  “True that, Sweetheart. It’s something to whisper in the ears of the right people.” He concluded.

  After a few more minutes of silence, they stood together and headed to engineering. Half the tem was there already including Teresa and Flicker. Oak and Angel arrived last and now they were ready and it was nearly time.

  “Everyone’s here and you all have your bags. I’m glad you made it on time. Now we’ll flash down and everyone stay in place until you’re told to move.” Teresa explained.

  Moments later, they were in an icy environment with walls of ice all around. Looking up she saw smooth ice covering the ceiling. Once they were all there, Flicker led the way. The next room they entered was room temperature. Maybe it was too expensive to heat all the rooms? A small group of humans stood silently waiting on them.

  The male in the center was clearly the leader. Power rolled off him and he looked them each in the eyes briefly as he searched their group. Those cold hard eyes fell on Teresa and he acknowledged her before addressing Flicker.

  “We are honored you chose to visit us, Flicker. And you brought your team too.”

  “Thank you, Maximus.” Flicker said.

  “Just Max or aren’t we friends anymore?” He asked with a smirk.

  “Of course we’re friends. We even brought you the machine that expands your city. Our male will start immediately if you’ll send someone with him to show him what you want.” Flicker said.


  The guy that she didn’t know stepped out and followed one of Max’s guys to the area to be expanded. That explained why he’d been in the group. It was down to just the usual team. “Let me give you a tour then we’ll get you settled. John here has all your rooms ready. Just follow me.”

  Max led the way and they hit a major hallway with people making their way wherever they needed to go. “This room we are about to enter is a greenhouse, next to it is an area we raise animals.” He took them into a room that was both hot and humid. Beautiful flowers bloomed and scented the air. Small trees were covered with different kinds of fruit.

  Next they walked into another room loaded with vegetables of all kinds even some she didn’t recognize. “We tried to save every edible type of plant and even a few that weren’t. Many of the flowers have uses as herbs and other things. Slowly we are building what we need to not only supply our needs, but we are trying to have an excess of things we can trade.” Max declared.

  “If you aren’t visited from space anymore, where will you trade your items?” Flicker asked.

  “I would be surprised if we weren’t visited from space anymore at all. The visits will be less, but they won’t quit. Not as long as we have a surplus of females. If not trading in space then among the other cities. The expansion will be tubes for storage or even eventually the equivalent of boroughs and they head in the direction of the nearest cities. Once outside the city, travel can be continued with the space ships we have.” Max explained. “These are, of course, long term plans. Right now we just need to survive.”

  “It’s a good plan.” Flicker admitted.

  “Did it hurt to admit it?” Max asked.

  “No, I’ve always thought you a competent leader.” Flicker admitted.

  “What’s with it between those two?” She whispered to Teresa.

  “Friends who had a falling out. Don’t worry about it. It shouldn’t affect us.” Teresa noted.

  Hopefully not. Now they went into the livestock area. There were actually small fields of lush grass where cattle, sheep, and goats grazed. One wall was a huge aquarium filled with many types of marine life.

  “We only filled this with marine life not living here.” Max said with his hand on the aquarium wall. “The marine life in the nearby waters is still unaffected by the poisonous environment of other areas. The ice is also clean as well as any animals found nearby. We feed them any remains they find edible. It helps them grow and reproduce quickly. That gives us an additional source of food.” Max explained.

  “Very well thought out.” Flicker approved.

  “I’d like to take credit for that, but Doc, the one in charge of most of our food growing, came up with that. But I did choose her to head that department.” Max noted.

  He was a good looking male. Looking at his tall muscular form made her think of a soldier. It made her think of her soldier. Yeah, the guy was that good looking but Ranger was her male. She preferred a soldier to this leader, but she couldn’t deny this guy was impressive.

  Max was lucky in that he had a lot of females to choose from. Even with those who’d chosen to leave, there were still three women to each man here. This last load might cut that number to two. This leader had been the most generous in allowing females to leave if they so chose. Some of the other leaders wanted lots of females per male. The only other city as generous as this one was the city led by a female.

  “This is the way to the ocean. We take tons of fish every month to help feed our people.” Max explained. “We also harvest seaweed which can be frozen or dried to add to certain foods to make them stretch.”

  “Is this a gym?” Flicker asked.

  “You don’t miss anything. It’s important to keep my people fit. Those who don’t move around a lot can come here and work out.” He declared.

  “It’s nicer than most of the gyms I’ve seen. Good job, Max.” Flicker praised.

  She admitted it was a nice gym. It had all the latest bells and whistles. There was also a Jacuzzi and steam room in their own section set off from the rest. Probably because the heat. “Yes.” Max whispered near her ear. “The heat is captured and reused. You expression told me you were wondering about it.”

  “Everything looks so well thought out.” She commented.

  “Again, Doc plans out these things. She has free reign over it all.” Max explained.

  “She sounds brilliant.” Teresa replied.

  “That she is.” Max responded.

  “Will we get to meet her?” She asked.

  “I doubt it. She works all the time.” Max said. “Your tour is through. We’ll set you up in your rooms then someone will escort you to supper.”

  They dropped off each of them. She and Ranger were right before the last two, Flicker and Teresa. Once in their room, Ranger dropped on the bed. “That was a long tour.” Flicker observed.

  “An interesting one though.” She noted.

  “I prefer a ship myself. There are some advantages I suppose.”

  “It’s a beautiful place, but still as confining as a ship would be. Just in a different way.”

  “I noticed you were interested in much of what this place has to offer.” Ranger said.

  “They have made some great leaps in technology and biology.”

  “Especially in their males?”

  “Are you jealous? I’m more interested in meeting Doc than anything.” Maple observed.

  “Should I be jealous?”

  She moved to him dropping to her knees. “I’ll admit Max is attractive, but you hold my heart. You are my everything. I just wish I was yours.”

  “You are. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Are you asking me something?”

  “Yes, I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I want to join in the ways of both our people. Never do I want to be without you.” Ranger declared.

  “Yes, I want to join with you too.” Ranger pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard.

  Pulling back, he looked into her eyes. “We’d best get ready for supper.”

  “You’re right, but when we get back to our room, we’ll discuss this further.”

  Here they were, after the most important decision of their life, acting like nothing special had happened. They were just getting on with their day. No spending that time alone, they were with others acting like nothing had changed. Once they were dressed, they went into the hall where an escort was already waiting for them.

  It wasn’t far to a private dining room where most of their group already was. “Come on in.” Teresa invited. “We’ll be eating soon.”

  “I suppose we’ll be trying some of the seaweed?” Ranger asked. “I never liked those kinds of foods.

  “I think you’ll like these.” Max suggested. “We have a marvelous cook. She supervises all the cooking here.”

  “That sounds like a lot of work for one person.” She observed.

  “Like I said, she supervises. There are many cooks that work for her. Flicker says you’ll be leaving as soon as the expansion is done. That won’t take more than a day according to your expert. Let us enjoy our short time together as friends.” Max directed.

  “Of course.” Flicker said. “Let the meal begin.”

  Several people chuckled. They all sat and the table was already set. Servers entered with plates over flowing with food and they set in in the middle of the table. Wine or champagne was also brought on a set on ice to chill. Max was putting on quite the meal. Did he always do this or was it for Flicker’s benefit.

  The meal progressed well with casual conversation centering on the city Max ran. Surprisingly, she found the conversation interesting as they discussed how the ice was kept from melting along the walls where people resided. The greenhouse was particularly complicated as well as the area livestock was raised.

  “I see several of you have enjoyed the champagne. It’s made here with the grapes we grow in the greenhouse.” Max informed. He went on to explain the process and whil
e not everyone seemed to, she found it interesting. Ranger seemed to as well.

  “I used to make homemade wine.” Ranger whispered in her ear.

  “Was it any good?”

  “I thought so. In fact it was so good I thought to buy a vineyard when I retire.” He admitted.

  “Wow, you never mentioned that before.”

  “I didn’t think you’d like that plan.”

  “Now you know better. I’m onboard, but we better save a lot of money.” She pointed out.

  “No dreams of your own?” Ranger asked.

  “You are my dream. All I want is to have family with you. We’ll put in our time with the military and retire to something we love to do and raise our kids.”

  “You make me feel selfish.”

  “Why? I love you and want your happiness. All my dreams ever were before was to put in my time and find my other half. Now that you’re here, everything is alright.” She pointed out.

  “You’re too good for me, but I’m not letting you go ever.” He swore.

  “I don’t ever want you to let me go.”

  They’d missed the conversation at the table, but someone would fill them in if anything important had come up. Nothing mattered more than their relationship right now. Communication was key and she realized they’d never before discussed the future or anything important before. That would have to change now that their lives were bound.

  Tonight, they would mate in the way of her people. Next time they had leave, they would marry ion the way of his race. It was important to her to tie them together in the ways that mattered to each of them. Since he’d mentioned both, she assumed it was important to him too. Once they mated, he would gain strength and speed making it harder for anyone to bother him. Her brothers especially so she planned not to warn them about his taking on Phoenix abilities. They deserved to be surprised.