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

by Catty Diva

  She looked at her nearly untouched plate and decided to eat so she didn’t seem rude. Flicker and Max seemed to be carrying most of the conversation as they discussed the inner workings of the city. Normally something she would be most interested in. Instead she was excited her and Ranger had a future. They now had a real plan.

  It wasn’t long before the meal was done and dessert and drinks were served. “So which of the foods did you find unpalatable?” Max asked.

  “Why? Did they have seaweed in them?” Flicker asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Which foods?”

  “All of them.” Max said with a chuckle.

  “It’s not fair to feed people things they don’t want to eat.” Flicker insisted.

  “All our foods down here have it added to stretch our resources. No exceptions.” Max explained.

  “I must say I could not taste any off flavors.” Teresa injected.

  “I told you my cook is talented. She uses spices to make our food flavorful.” Max admitted.

  “You’re right. She’s very talented. Her dishes are as good as those served on our ship. Our cook is good as well.” Teresa added.

  “Is your cook human?” He asked.

  “Completely. Those on my crew are chosen for talent and ability regardless of race.” Teresa said.

  “You’re human or you were before you mated my friend.” Max observed.

  “Yes. You are again correct.” Teresa agreed.

  Ranger shot her a look. Questions would be forthcoming as soon as they were in their room. She’d go over it all even the things she’d already told him just to be certain he understood. This was the most important night of their lives.

  “Ah, that I had met you first.” Max said and winked. Flicker scowled at him.

  “That would have made no difference. Flicker is my other half.” Teresa assured. Her mate smiled at her. Flicker was now calm.

  “This has been a lovely evening, but I have a meeting with my supervisors before I can rest. Please let my people escort you back to your rooms.” Those escorts stepped up, one to each couple or single. “Rest well.”

  She had to admit she was glad to be going back to their room. An evening with Ranger was all she wished for. Her heart was lit with love and her body on fire for only him. That was the way of it between true mates.

  Once they arrived at their room, Ranger closed the door. “Now we talk.” He insisted.

  “Of course. I told you we were not just called Phoenix but truly we are the same as legendary Phoenix.” She suggested.

  “What will happen when we mate?”

  “I’ll bite you and inject my mating venom. You’ll have some changes, it’s different in every mate. You may get faster, stronger, or your senses may get better. None of the changes are bad. You’ll also live longer, much longer.”

  “How much longer are we talking about?” Ranger asked.

  “Hundreds of years if you don’t get killed by an accident.”

  “Hundreds of years? That’s incredible.”

  “Are you ready? I want us to join so much.” She admitted.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “No, it’s just sex.”

  “The bite, does it hurt?” Ranger asked her.

  “Nothing you can’t handle. It’s just a pinch, you’ll be okay.”

  “I’m ready, let’s do it.” He opened his arms and she jumped into them.

  “We need to get naked.”

  They stepped back to undress. Naked, they just stared at each other for a moment. This was something they would always remember. Their bodies rubbed against each other and she felt the heat. His mouth dropped to hers giving her a searing claiming kiss. He moved to the bed as he kissed her until he fell with her under him. Holding his weight off her with his arms, he looked into her eyes with heat flaring in his.

  She arched up against him with need radiating off her. Inside she felt the heat of her bird burning with desire and the need to claim her mate. Control was barely there as she felt her temperature rise. Hopefully her venom wouldn’t be too strong. Ranger was tough and he could take it.

  “Baby, let’s move to the middle of the bed. You can get on top since I don’t know what you need to do.” Ranger said.

  “Yes. Let’s move now.” Ranger laid in the middle of the bed and she moved on top of him.

  “I love the view.” She admitted as she looked down at her lover and soon to be mate.

  “Come on and make love to me, Sweetheart.” He urged.

  “Yes. We’ll mate right now.” She raised up and grabbed his hard cock to aim it at her entrance. As she slid down, it filled her completely.

  Her moan was long and drawn out. “Oh, by the gods. You feel so damn good.” Ranger whispered.

  “Yes! You feel so damn good. I want you so damn much.” She said with a growl.

  Her body began to ride his. She moved faster and faster rotating and hitting every spot she needed to hit. Ranger was close, she could tell as she waited for the perfect moment to bite him. Her gums itched, her fangs dropped, she could feel a drop of her venom hitting her mouth. The sweet taste filled her mouth and made it tingle. Soon, she would be biting her mate’s neck and claiming him forever.

  “So close Baby.” Ranger murmured.

  She was close too and he hit her hot spot as he moved up to sink into her completely. “Gods! I’m coming.” She screamed.

  Her channel squeezed him making him holler as his orgasm hit too. Those of hers fangs struck quickly injecting her venom into him and making his release hit again. Releasing her venom caused her to orgasm again. It also caused her to feel faint. She collapsed on top of him and was asleep in moments.

  When she woke up, she was still on top of Ranger with his arms around her. As she looked down at Ranger, his eyes opened looking up at her. “Hello, Beautiful. How are you?”

  “I’m okay. More importantly, how are you? You’ve been injected with venom. Is it having an effect on you?” She asked. He reached up to his neck feeling for the wound but didn’t find one. “That’s already healed. The wound seals right away.”

  “I feel energized.” He admitted. “I’m ready to get up and do something.”

  “Really? I think that’s unusual.” She admitted. “I don’t really know a lot about it.”

  “Why is that?” Ranger asked.

  “Everyone goes through this differently.” She advised.

  “We need to get up and go to breakfast.” Ranger suggested.

  They both got up and hurried to the shower. Naked in the shower made it impossible for them to stop before they had shower sex. It was amazing as they both climaxed together. They rushed to get dry and dressed. Now they went to breakfast even though there wasn’t an escort. Everyone was already there so their escort must have tired of waiting on them.

  “Hey you two. Sit and eat before we check out the new tunnels. We’ll be leaving after lunch.” Teresa informed.

  Both of them ate quickly so they would catch up with the others who were already eating. “Everyone done?” Flicker asked.

  “Yes.” They all chorused.

  “Follow me.” Max directed.

  Teresa and Flicker followed first with the rest of them forming a line of two by two. She and Ranger were side by side and holding hands. They went to the end of the hall where a double door was closed. Max opened it and fixed it to where it stayed open. Now they could see down and endless hallway. It was wide, wider than the average hallway.

  As they walked down the hall, it seemed almost endless. “This goes toward the closest city and is wide enough to use for storage or even to set up rooms for additional people to stay if necessary.”

  She had to admit the hallway was wide. It was amazing how much they’d cut out of the ice in such a short time. Now they went to the other side to look at that hallway. That was just as wide and as long as the other side. It made the ice city huge. It was truly amazing to see such a place.

  “What will you do if the tempe
rature rises?” She asked.

  “I’ve been told by the scientists that if the temperature rises, it will be because the Earth has healed. If that happens, we will move back out into the world. Eventually, we all hope to. I just think it will be our descendants that get that pleasure.” Max admitted.

  “How can they know?” She asked.

  “I’m not a scientist. This place is colder even than it ever was before. It’ll take some major event to warm it up. Even the other parts of the world have cooled some because the pollution has blocked the sun. That makes sense really. Doesn’t it?” Max explained.

  She just nodded. There were so many more things to consider. Maybe it was best if she just let it go. It was a waste of their time to worry about all that. This would take a major event to change their environment so severely. By the time the tour was done, it was lunchtime.

  Meeting some of the scientists would have been exciting, but it wasn’t to be. Lunch was laid out on the table for all of them and the table was set with plates and glasses. They all sat around the table and the food smelled delicious.

  “More seaweed?” Flicker asked.

  “Of course. I told you it’s a rule. Every meal has to have seaweed so we can stretch our resources.” Max explained.

  “Fine. It all smells good.” Flicker admitted. Now everyone began to put food on their plates. When their plates were full, they all began to eat. She had to admit the food was good.

  “Ranger, you look different.” Teresa pointed out looking at Maple knowingly.

  “I got a good night’s sleep last night. You glow with good health yourself.” He responded.

  “Yes, well, I do feel good. It’s partly from being in love.” Teresa suggested. They all knew she was expecting, but her and Flicker hadn’t announced it yet. Why, no one knew. It was an open secret known by all that were close to them.

  Once lunch was done, it was time to get ready to go. This wasn’t the only place they would visit, or so she hoped. Bags packed, they headed to the hall to meet up with their group. Some were there, others were still coming to join them. Once the whole group was together, Max led them to the room they had entered the city in.

  They lined up and after Flicker said his goodbyes, they were flashed up. Apparently, part of their cargo had been unloaded while mates had been brought up. Half the empty rooms were now full. The others would come from New York. Once they checked out all the cargo flashed up, they would go down to New York.

  That city was covered with a dome even though a large part of it was underground. The underground had been effective against Earth Gov which they had fought for many years. This underground portion was now a greenhouse and set up to raise livestock. A huge aquarium was also down there which was used to raise marine animals and plants.

  New York also had a distillery which made many kinds of alcohol. This was what they planned to use for trade among Earth cities. The Ice city had massive amounts of fish. Each city specialized in something based on what their citizens could make easily. She’d not researched the others because she didn’t think they would get to visit any of the others.

  Checking the inventory of the items traded by Ice City was easy since most of the trade was mates which had already been checked in. They reported to Flicker and now they were ready to go. New York was a wild bunch with many seasoned soldiers. Several were real heroes and their leader was gung ho about defense. Their city had the best protection of any.

  It was an honor to see these places and meet the people who were continuing the human race. They met in engineering where they were flashed down instantly. When they arrived they were in New York’s famous subway tunnels. The look was completely different from the way they’d been in the past.

  There were lights that helped the plants grow and a glow everywhere. When they were taken away from where they’d arrived, they walked past the animals roaming in broad open areas. It was incredible to see what they’d managed to do. They rode up in an elevator hitting the next floor. This section was divided into bedrooms and they all were shown where they would stay. Then they were taken to the new leader of New York City.

  “Hello, everyone. My name is Rinehart. I’m the leader of this city. I hope you got a good look at the lower floor. I’m going to tour you around the upper levels including the top one. The dome has an energy shield and it makes the city invisible. If anyone touches it, they are repelled by energy.” He explained.

  Chapter 5

  New York

  The shield was impressive and he noticed Maple was particularly interested in it. He knew she had a scientific mind, so much more so than he did. It was obvious her mind was titillated with what she was seeing. New York was the largest city on Earth now. The subways had filled with people long before the point that the Earth could no longer heal itself.

  Once the dome was in place, many people headed to it in order to survive. Those who didn’t, either died or mutated in to what most would consider monsters. Many no longer looked human of those that remained outside the dome. Mutations were often severe. When New Yorkers headed outside the dome scavenging items, they were attacked and had to kill the mutants or be killed or if female captured.

  Of course those captured were never seen again, at least not in recognizable form. The stories were sad, but scavenging never stopped because of the lure of all the items still out there just waiting for them. He could understand being driven by need, but reason should always prevail.

  Now that he had his mate, he didn’t plan to take any crazy chances. Well, he didn’t. Maybe he’d taken some in the past and paid dearly for them but not anymore. Now his life was all about Maple and the future he had with her. He followed Rinehart as he led them to the area most people lived. They put their bags in their room then continued down the hall to a huge meeting room.

  “We’ll eat lunch then I’ll show you a short film about how this new city developed.” Rinehart explained. “There are two and half million people in this city. It is by far the largest of the twelve known cities left on Earth.”

  “Twelve? We didn’t know there were twelve.” Flicker said.

  “Two aren’t registered and two are illegal cities. They developed independently without any assistance or any rule following. The newly developed Earth Gov has rules on protected cities. They followed none of them. Everyone is concerned that they can avoid mutations.” Rinehart explained.

  “Can you tell us about them?” Flicker asked.

  “No, they asked not to be identified.” He admitted.

  “You realize they could get needed help?” Teresa asked.

  “They are unwilling to give up their females.” Rinehart said.

  “They could still get help.” Flicker suggested.

  “If they wanted it. I’ll pass on the information to them.” He agreed.

  “Thanks. Maybe we can help them.” Teresa replied.

  “I doubt they will ask for your help even if they need it. We’ve been doing some trading with them that might help them get by, for now.” Rinehart explained.

  “How?” Teresa asked.

  “They have several working spaceships they use to travel in. One of them has a large storage area. Not as big as your ship, but at least as big as a semi-truck.” He offered.

  “Those ships have to be rare since the rich fled with most of them.” Flicker suggested.

  “Only one on the planet I know of.” Rinehart confirmed. “Right now let’s continue the tour.”

  They followed as he showed them the residential areas. Next was the common areas like kitchen, dining, area, and living rooms.

  “This is very nice.” Teresa complimented.

  “Nicer than many of them had before.” Rinehart admitted.

  It was true the housing and shared areas were nice. This leader seemed to be doing a good job with the largest group on Earth. There was even a large park with playground equipment and picnic benches. He remembered something similar from his childhood but not as nice. This made him resp
ect the man. Life wasn’t just about the essentials, but also the extras that made it worth living.

  The food looked and smelled good as they were all seated in the dining area. “Buy any seafood lately?” Flicker asked.

  “What?” Rinehart asked. “Oh, you mean from the Ice? They don’t sell much of it and the price isn’t right. My cooks don’t know what to do with it.”

  “What’s you biggest produce?” Teresa asked.

  “Our alcohol is in heavy demand. We make many different kinds and everyone wants some. This is nothing like the homemade wine many people are familiar with, it’s like what is served at bars, smooth and tasty. Some is even high dollar booze.” Rinehart explained.

  “That’s amazing. Could we see some of the kinds they make?” Teresa asked.

  “I was planning to take you anyway. My girls wanted you to see their work.” He admitted.

  “I’ll be happy to see that after lunch.” Teresa agreed.

  They ate pasta. There were several different types they had a choice of. Also salad, bread, and several vegetable fixed as sides. This meal was good and hearty. They were all full when they were done.

  “Let’s finish the tour. First will be our winery. Here we make several types of wine from various fruit. It’s not just grapes, but berries of different kinds and even tree fruits. One of our most in demand wines is gooseberry, it’s also the rarest. They are hard for us to grow. If you’d like, you can each taste one kind.” Rinehart offered.

  “I’ll try the gooseberry wine.” Teresa selected. Everyone else picked some kind of wine and glasses were poured.

  “This shit is great.” One of the guys he didn’t know well said. Flicker shot the guy a look of disapproval.

  The others all murmured their enjoyment of the wine. They moved on to the harder liquors with no offer of a sample. These were the ones that made them the most in payment or trade. It was wise not to open the bags for free samples. All of them and the wines were in cartons with inserted plastic bags. It made them lighter to carry and the containers easier to make.

  “You’ve got an exceptional setup here.” Teresa praised.