Favored by Felix

by Shelley Munro

  The general stood at his office window and peered out at the lights of the cityscape. His hands were clasped behind his back and he stood military straight.

  A tap sounded on his door. “General.”

  “I told you not to interrupt me.”

  “Sir, I have located Captain Seonaid.”

  Elation filled the general and he turned to face his aide. “Where?”

  “She’s still at Middlemarch Resort, sir.”

  “But her tracker… How is this possible? I thought you located the tracker on Dalcon before it moved away toward an unknown destination?”

  “Yes sir, but my contact says she’s at the resort.”

  The general frowned, envisioning potential problems if he sent a team to extract her and she wasn’t there. “This contact is reliable?”

  “He’s an ex-employee of the resort. I saw him in person, and showed him a photo of Captain Seonaid. He confirmed she is staying at the resort.”

  “Good. Good. That is excellent.” He turned back to stare at the lights of the city. Beyond the cityscape, the darkness of the mountainous region loomed, inhospitable and full of danger. The unknown…much like the surprisingly unpredictable actions of Captain Seonaid.

  What to do?

  He tapped his fingers against his thigh, sucked in a deep breath and let it ease back out. “Order the black ops team to move. We’ll extract her from the resort and take her to the medical facility. Tell them to move tomorrow night.”

  “Sir, do you—”

  “Tomorrow night. And I expect to be kept up to date on the progress of the extraction.”

  * * * * *

  “We’re going for a walk,” Felix said to his mother and siblings.

  “You just want to kiss and grope Casey in the dark,” Scarlett said and waggled her eyebrows at Casey. “I bet he’s icky at kissing. Actually I don’t want to think about my brother kissing. Blah.”

  “Change the subject then,” Felix said and pinched Scarlett’s arm. “Casey doesn’t have any complaints.”

  Scarlett wrinkled her nose and danced out of reach. “It’s not fair that you can talk about sex when there’s no hope of anyone for me.”

  “You’re too young,” Anna said.

  “Ma, I’m twenty,” Scarlett said. “You married Dad when you were eighteen.”

  Casey grinned at Scarlett’s plaintive tone even as she enjoyed the dynamics between the different family members.

  “I don’t believe I mentioned sex,” Felix said. “I asked Casey to take a walk with me.”

  “The implication was there,” Sly said, taking Scarlett’s side.

  “I have to vote with Sly and Scarlett,” Joe agreed.

  “We’re not appreciated here,” Felix said, and held out his hand to her, one green eye closing in a wink. “Let’s go and make out in the dark.”

  “Anytime,” she said.

  She was laughing as she laced her fingers with Felix’s and followed him out of his mother’s suite. She liked the Mitchell family and enjoyed their teasing and the way they made her feel part of the group.

  Aunt Elsa liked them a lot too, and her last words before she left to settle her business affairs for her move to the resort were, “He’s a keeper. I’m so happy for you.”

  As for her own feelings, Felix had worn away her reservations, and it was easy to see how her life would go with him. They’d be happy. Oh, they might disagree sometimes, but she considered that healthy, and she thought with a delicate shiver, making up would be a pleasure. “Are we really going for a walk?”

  “I thought we’d check the fence, just in case there’s more than one person trying to hack holes in the perimeter. I also want to see if there are any zylon on the other side of the fence. The population is less than it used to be, but we need to keep it that way for the safety of the guests.”

  “The resort looks pretty at night with all the colored lights. How are the new guests shaping up? Are they behaving?”

  “Everything seems to be going well.” Felix steered her into the shadows and drew her close. “I don’t want to talk about guests.”

  His kiss was easy and the tenderness with which he kissed started a slow burn in her pussy.

  “Hmm, more,” she whispered when he lifted his head. She wrapped her hands around his neck and drew him down for another seductive taste.

  He brushed her cheek in the casual yet affectionate way she’d come to enjoy. “This isn’t getting the fence checked.”

  “I thought the silent alarm was enough?”

  “I didn’t say anything to the others, but I got the sense someone was watching earlier in the day.”

  “From the other side of the fence? Not the chief or one of his men?” He was confiding in her, sharing his concerns, and it knocked yet another flimsy barrier away.

  Scurvy sky pirates, where was her mind?

  The truth was, Felix, aided by his boisterous siblings, had charmed her, shown more love than she’d ever received. Heck, all of them had seduced her to their way of thinking what family should be.

  “I think they would’ve come to say hello since they know me now.”

  “I agree. Was anyone working outside the fence today? Could Laurence have returned?” she asked.

  “Laurence has no guts. He’ll be on Dalcon where he was sent, having his normal pity party.”

  “Harsh.”

  “But true. The man has always been a sniveling idiot.”

  They walked hand in hand, the gravel path crunching beneath their boots. Somewhere a night bird cried out and invisible insects hummed in chorus.

  As they rounded a corner in the path, the night noises Casey had become used to suddenly ceased.

  “You’re right,” she murmured, putting her mouth next to his ear so the sound didn’t carry. “Someone or something is out there.” She kept ambling, every sense hyper-alert.

  “I can’t scent anything,” Felix said after a while.

  They followed the circular path until they arrived back at the main part of the resort. Feminine laughter floated on the air, the occasional male voice.

  “Business as usual here,” he said.

  A burst of fear struck her right in the heart. “What if the general has sent a squad for me?”

  “That would be illegal. You’re not military any longer and your tracker is gone.” Felix turned her to face him. “If that happens, we’ll deal with it. You’re not going anywhere. You’re my captive.”

  Casey let out a scoffing sound. “It’s a hard life but someone has to do it.”

  “Not someone. You.”

  “Me,” she agreed, and realized she’d never hesitated.

  As they neared Felix’s suite, a frisson of awareness hit her. She kept walking but felt the weight of a stare pressing against her flesh. She shuddered and prayed it was an overactive imagination. But she didn’t think so.

  Only when they were inside their suite did she start to relax.

  “I think you’re right,” she said. “Something was out there.”

  “You felt it too,” Felix said.

  She nodded. “What are we going to do?”

  “Nothing right now. The alarm is on and functioning. While you’re getting ready for bed, I’ll let my brothers know something is off. Tomorrow we’ll check it out.”

  “In cat form?”

  “Yes.”

  Casey twisted his plan in her mind and finally nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

  “If there’s anything untoward, we’ll know and can make plans.”

  Casey wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick kiss. “You’re good at this stuff.”

  “Thanks, sweetheart.”

  * * * * *

  The fence alarm woke them in the early hours of the morning.

  Casey dressed and snatched up her weapon. “I’m coming with you.”

  Felix gave a curt nod. “Stay close.”

  They slipped from their suite, Felix still in human form. His brothers had already s
hifted and stalked along the path in front of them.

  A single form, dressed in black, flitted across the path. Felix’s brothers prowled through the shadows after him. The gravel crunched up ahead.

  “Shoot to wound,” Felix whispered against her ear. “We want to question them.”

  Casey kept close to Felix and tried to emulate his silent footfalls. Not easy on a gravel path.

  A shout rang out to their right. A feral snarl.

  “Retreat,” a low voice said. “I repeat. Retreat!”

  A familiar voice.

  Casey tugged on Felix’s arm. “That’s one of my brothers.”

  Another menacing snarl carried on the air. A panicked scream. The sound of running feet.

  Casey ran behind Felix, no longer worried about noise.

  “Here’s the hole,” Felix said in a grim voice. “They’ve gotten away.”

  A fierce growl sounded behind them, and Casey turned. One of Felix’s brothers dragged an unconscious man by the arm. Two other cats trotted behind. The big cat dropped the man on the path under a light.

  Felix knelt and pulled off the man’s headwear. “Recognize him?”

  “My brother William,” Casey said in a grim tone. She stalked over and poked him with her boot. “You can wake up now, Lieutenant.”

  “Captain,” he murmured, warily eyeing the silent cats that surrounded him.

  “Casey,” she said in a firm voice. “What the phrull are you doing here?”

  “The general wants to see you,” William said.

  “He couldn’t use a communicator like a normal person?” Felix demanded.

  “Who are you?”

  “Casey’s fiancé.”

  Surprise suffused Casey. They hadn’t discussed marriage yet, but it warmed her through to learn Felix’s intentions. Sometimes she got the feeling he was moving slower than he wanted, but he was proceeding with caution so he didn’t scare her away.

  “The general won’t give up,” William said.

  Felix grabbed William and hoisted him to his feet with easy strength. Casey almost laughed at the shocked expression on her brother’s face.

  “I want you to give the general a message. You tell him Casey is no longer in the military. And you tell the asshole from me that Casey has no intention of entering the medical facility to undergo the procedure to change sexes. And finally, you tell him if he doesn’t back the hell off and leave Casey alone, we’ll break the story in a public manner that will embarrass the general and humiliate the military. Have you got all that?”

  “He wants you to become a man?” William asked, his horrified gaze on Casey.

  “Yes.” A tight knot formed in her throat and she couldn’t force out another word. Felix took one look and went to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders.

  “Why would he do that?” William demanded.

  “You’ll have to ask him that,” Felix snapped. “You make sure he realizes Casey is out of his reach. Got it?”

  William nodded. “I understand. You can call off your trained cats now.”

  Felix snapped his fingers and his brothers backed away and went to sit beside Casey.

  William brushed himself off and limped toward the hole in the fence.

  Typical, Casey thought.

  But upon reaching the fence, William turned, his gaze going straight to Casey. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were the one we were meant to extract. I was assigned to hold our perimeter, someone else was tasked to obtain the target. The general… I’m sorry,” he repeated, then he was gone, his black uniform blending with the darkness.

  * * * * *

  “Where is she?” the general barked into his communicator. “I want to see her before she goes into the medical facility. Have Captain Seonaid escorted to my office.”

  “Ah, sir,” the soldier in charge of extraction said. “We don’t have Captain Seonaid. The mission failed.”

  “What?” The general’s bark took on an edge of bite. A snarly quality that warned his subordinates to tread warily. “You’re telling me our best black ops team failed on a mission?”

  “They seemed to know we were coming, sir. They were prepared, and they have large black cats patrolling the resort.”

  “Did you have weapons?” The vein at his temple started pulsing and the general pressed a finger against it. Stupid imbeciles. How could they mess up such a simple mission? One puny woman to extract and they messed it up.

  “The cats attacked Lieutenant Seonaid, sir. He barely managed to get away.”

  “Let me talk to him.” Gods, his one weak daughter constantly managed to outshine her brothers.

  “He’s not here, sir. He’s having his arm treated.”

  The vein pulsed a fraction harder and for a moment, the general thought it might pop. His brain felt the same way—too big for his skull to contain. It pulsed and ached. “Have the lieutenant contact me on my direct personal line. Immediately,” he added, lest the squadron leader have any doubts as to the depths of their failure. He cut communications and leaped from his chair, the urge for movement a compulsion.

  He paced back and forth.

  He’d get his way. There was a reason he’d risen to the rank of general. Because he was smart. He saw the overall picture rather than single components. He deserved this promotion, and if his stupid bitch of a daughter phrulled it up for him, heads would roll. He’d stomp her into the ground, and then he’d obliterate the people who were sheltering her. Earth phrull-ups!

  A tap sounded on his door, halting him midstride. “Enter,” he snapped.

  “Sir, I thought you should read this.” His aide cautiously extended his arm, the paper he held rustling when he failed to control his nerves.

  Idiots. He was surrounded by namby-pamby phrullin’ idiots.

  He snatched the paper, scanned the headlines and tossed it away in disgust. “It’s a gossip sheet. Why should I waste time looking at this rubbish?”

  His aide gave an audible swallow and looked as if he might faint. He swallowed again. “There’s a paragraph in the gossip pages,” he said.

  “Spit it out, man.”

  “It’s about your daughter,” the aide said in a rush. Now he seemed desperate to get his words out.

  And run, no doubt.

  “Give me a précis.”

  His aide darted a glance in his direction. His face was pale and beads of sweat had formed on his pasty forehead. “An anonymous source is quoted as saying that you’re forcing your daughter to have a sex change with nanotechnology. They’re saying you’ve never acted like a father to her and that you have no use for the female sex.”

  Holy phrullin’ gods.

  A sliver of panic struck him in the middle of the chest. He lifted his hand, rubbed the spot and continued to glare at his aide. “What else?”

  “That’s all, sir, but other media outlets are picking up the story. I’ve had two reporters contact this office for a statement.”

  “If anyone else contacts you, tell them this is a mess of vicious lies, and you have no idea where the story has come from. You tell them this office denies the allegations and we will stringently defend our honor. Do you understand?”

  His aide gulped. “Yes sir.” He backed from the office, and he could feel the man’s relief as the distance between them lengthened. The door shut behind him with an audible click.

  Where the phrull was his son? He needed a situation report stat before this entire phrulled-up situation spiraled out of his control.

  He could imagine his competition, smirking and rubbing his hands together. Phrull, he wouldn’t put it past the man to spread the rumors.

  These people lacked vision. Females shouldn’t be in the military. They weren’t mentally strong enough. Any fool could see that. The idiots who kept recommending his daughter for promotion were morons. He’d quashed the last two reports citing actions above and beyond the call of duty. She didn’t deserve promotion. She was a female.

  Inferior, and good for one th
ing.

  He was doing his best for her, trying to improve her, and look what thanks he received. She was attempting to drag his name through the gutters of Dalcon and beyond. He’d sacrificed too much, worked too hard to let her win this battle. His father, his grandfather and various male relations had all excelled, taking after their proud forebears with their military prowess. He could do nothing less than follow in their illustrious footsteps and set a precedent for his sons.

  His three sons.

  This promotion belonged to him, and nothing, nothing would get in his way.

  His large-screen communicator buzzed. He snatched the control off the corner of his desk. “General Seonaid.”

  “General. Lieutenant Seonaid reporting.” His son stood at attention, his brown eyes staring straight ahead, his expression full of the necessary respect. His uniform fit him like a glove—the perfect physical specimen. It was a pity his sister had received the larger portion of brains.

  “What happened? Why don’t you have Captain Seonaid?” he demanded, getting straight to the point.

  “They were ready for us. They knew we were coming.”

  The general felt the vein at his temple pulse again, the urge to pace to dispel the tension residing in the pit of his gut. He forced it back, not wanting his son to witness his unease. “How did they know? You’re black ops. You go in prepared. Didn’t you reconnoiter beforehand?”

  “The resort has a fence around it, but we saw nothing that would make us expect the ability to repel an attack.”

  Gods, phrullin’ excuses. “I want Captain Seonaid.”

  A brief hesitation. “Sir, she told me you intend to force her to endure nanotechnology.”

  “I gave orders to have her sent to the medical facility. I didn’t tell you to interrogate her for the reason behind the order.” He wanted to rub his temple, to coax the pulsing vein to remain still, but instead he remained at attention, his features impassive. “You will go back tonight. You will deliver Captain Seonaid to the medical facility and contact me the minute you arrive. Keep her under control until I arrive to speak with her.”

  Lieutenant Seonaid lifted his chin, the only indication he didn’t agree with the order. “Casey isn’t a member of military personnel any longer. She completed her term of service and resigned. We have no right to detain her. Sir.”