She would take this night and all it offered with no regrets. She felt his hand unbutton her jeans and when he tugged them down she lifted to make it easier for him to remove them. When she was naked Jayden devoured her with his eyes before looking into hers. Silently asking if this was what she wanted. In response she pulled his shirt off and her hands went to the fastening of his pants. He brushed her hands away and stripped them off without ever taking his eyes from hers.
There were no more thoughts, just the most wondrous feelings as they touched and tasted each other. A tangle of arms and legs moving in an age old dance. Giving and taking pleasure from each other. He was hard and hot and his muscles quivered when he joined his body to hers in the most intimate way. Blue felt complete. She was made for this man. To be his for this night.
She heard Jayden’s deep growl of triumph and unconsciously opened her mind to his. His pleasure became hers and hers became his. Together they flew through a storm of pleasure before slowly coming back to themselves.
When their breathing was normal and their hearts no longer threatened to explode Jayden demanded, “Again,” claiming her mouth in a crushing kiss. Desperate to have more of her.
Twice more during the night they came together. It did not matter how many times he made love to her Jayden could not get enough. She held nothing back. Giving herself to him fully and taking what she wanted. She was no meek partner despite her inexperience.
He had sex before and this was not sex. It was so much more. Not even with the woman who was to be his bond mate before she had betrayed him did he feel anything like this. He was consumed by her and now that he knew what making love with her felt like he would never get enough of her. They were just going to have to make this work. She belonged to Shillidon and he had no choice but to go back to Haldairia. They would have to find some way to do both. It would not be easy but they would do it.
He looked at the sleeping woman in his arms, yes they would make it work. All he had to do now was convince this stubborn, hard assed woman that they belonged together forever. Shalla knew, that was not going to be an easy task. He looked forward to the coming battle to win her heart.
Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin
Chapter 19
Blue woke instantly alert. There was no confusion about who’s arms held her. She remembered every kiss, every touch, every wonderful moment from the night before. There was no virginal shyness just a hope that they could do it again soon. If she had known what a great stress reliever sex was she would have tried it sooner. Well, no she wouldn’t have.
She was fairly certain that Jayden was the only man who could send her into orbit like that. No one she had ever met had even come close to making her feel the things that Jayden did. When she made to rise his arms tightened, holding her in place. His eyes were still closed but she knew he was awake.
“Time to rise and shine for another fun filled day of hiking through the rain,” she said.
“Not yet,” he said in a voice heavy with contentment.
She relaxed back in his arms. This is nice, she thought laying her head on his chest listening to his heart beat.
She was on the verge of drifting off to sleep again when Leo bounded in and over to her. He gave a shake spraying her and Jayden with water. Sputtering Blue sat up.
Laughing she grabbed him by the neck when he gave her a gentle push with his big head. She gave him a good scratching behind his ears. He squirmed his big body between her and Jayden. He laid down and rolled to his back. When the cat looked Jayden in the eye Jayden would swear there was a gleam of satisfaction in them. Leo was showing him without words that he was still the number one male in Blue’s life.
“Point taken cat,” Jayden said then rose to his feet. As much as he wanted to stay in this cozy cave with Blue, it was time to go.
Jayden made coffee and heated up the rest of the meat from last night for breakfast while Blue washed up quickly in the pool. She packed up what little they had used when Jayden took his turn washing up. Before she was ready it was time to go. She took one last look at what had become their cave and knew she would miss it. It had been a nice fantasy. Now it was back to reality.
Jayden put his arm around her and gave a squeeze and kissed the top of her head. It was a small gesture but it touched something deep inside her and she felt a crack appear in her armor. They made their way out of the tunnel back to the wet dreary world.
Several hours later they were overlooking the valley where the distress signal was coming from. There was a Dalor ship alright. Sitting right in the middle of the valley. An old rundown, falling apart, rust bucket of a ship. Looking through the magnifier on the headset she zoomed in on the ship.
“Are you sure that it’s space worthy? It doesn’t look like it could get off the ground let alone fly through space,” she said doubt evident in her voice. “Maybe the Ragillians have a ship hidden somewhere. We could take that one instead.”
“Do you see another ship?”
“Well no. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have one,” Blue insisted. Leo grumbled his agreement from his place at her side.
Jayden drew in a deep breath then said, “Look we can argue about the ship later. Right now can we just concentrate on finding the Ragillians waiting to kill us?”
“Fine. But I am not getting on that ship.”
She turned to look at the surrounding area. Even with the headset she didn’t see anyone so she opened her mind and scanned again.
Each mind she came in contact with appeared as a tiny light in her mind. Usually each individual mind had it’s own unique color but these minds were all the same. A sickly brownish yellow that felt slimy. Which was weird because minds didn’t normally have a feeling.
She counted thirty eight minds hidden in the trees and three in the ship. She felt no emotions at all. It was as if they were drones. Not a single one of those minds felt anything, at all.
“Are you sure they aren’t androids,” she asked Jayden.
“I’m sure, why?”
“Never mind. There are forty one of them. Most are hidden in the trees but three are in the ship.”
“How do you know that?” Jayden asked her.
She tapped her head in response. “Empath, remember. They may not feel anything but they still show up.”
“Right, forgot about that. Point them out to me.”
Blue started to then she had a better idea. She cocked her head, “How about I show you instead.”
“How?”
“If you open your mind to me I might be able to show you what I see. The problem is I might see things you don’t want me to and the same for you. I have only done this kind of thing with Riley so I’m not sure how it is going to work or if it even will work.” She waited for him to decide.
There were parts of himself that he would prefer to stay private but if this worked it would give him a better chance to get them both out of this alive. Forty one clones was more than he had expected. He needed all the advantages he could get. Blue felt his hesitation then his acceptance.
“I’m not going to be rooting around for your secrets. If this works I’m going to try to keep it to surface contact only so you can see what I see.”
Jayden ran his knuckles lightly down her cheek. “Princess as far as I’m concerned you can root all you want,” he said tenderly.
Blue felt her blood heat and it wasn’t from the hated title. She cleared her throat, “Right, well, umm.” She swallowed hard, “Riley and I lay on the floor.” She looked at the wet ground. “Probably not a good idea here.” Quit dithering and just do it, she told herself. Blue reached way up and placed her palms on the sides of his temple.
She concentrated on showing him the position of every Ragillian without reading anything from him. If there was one place in the universe a person should be guaranteed privacy in was in their own mind.
“I see them,” Jayden was amazed that this was working. Everywhere there was a Ragillian there was a light. He
quickly memorized where they were. Blue let her hands drop. That was surprisingly easy. It had only taken a second to make the connection and send the images to him.
She didn’t have to be careful not to go too deep. She could have if she’d wanted. She also could have ripped his mind to shreds if she chose to. She learned that little fact courtesy of the information that was dumped into her by the new improved chrystal embedded in her throat.
The connection she had initiated hadn’t broken when she dropped her hands like she had expected it too. Looking within her own mind she saw a bright shinny golden thread leading from her mind to Jayden’s.
She poked at it. The thin thread gave under the pressure but didn’t break. She twisted it and pulled on it but it stayed in place. She was so busy poking and prodding that it took a minute for Jayden’s voice to break her concentration.
“Blue what are you doing? You are giving me a headache.”
“You can feel what I’m doing?”
“I feel you doing something.”
“Hummmm,” she decided to leave the golden thread alone for now. She would figure it out later. Back to the bad guys. The ones who were going to try to keep them from that ship. As far as she was concerned they could keep the Dalor ship but they also wanted her and Jayden dead.
She and Jayden discussed and discarded several plans before settling on the simplest. He would go in one direction and she would go in another. With luck they would meet in the middle and take the ship together. Jayden wasn’t happy about separating but it was the best way.
“Besides you are forgetting my personal shield,” she told him touching the ice blue chrystal at her throat.
“It is not going to stop them from shooting you, just touching you,” Jayden said tightly.
“I will just have to shoot them first. Jayden I’m not an amateur. I’m not going to go through this again with you. You do your part and I’ll do mine.” Blue turned away.
Before she could take two steps, Jayden grabbed her right arm and swung her back around to face him.
“What now?” she demanded jerking her arm from his grasp. In answer he put his hands around her small waist and lifted her up to eye level with him. He brought his lips to hers. It was a soft, light kiss and over almost before she could blink. Back on her feet she looked at him in confusion and when she asked again, “What?” it was in a gentler tone.
“You get one bruise, one scratch. If you even break a nail, I will spank your pretty little butt,” he told her in a hoarse whisper that sent shivers down her spine.
“Same goes big guy.”
They were each more worried about the other than themselves and each felt the other’s worry through the golden thread connecting them.
“Are we still connected?” he asked her.
“Yes, I haven’t figured out how to cut the thread yet.”
“Don’t. We can use it.”
She slowly nodded her head.
Blue made her way down the mountain. Angling her descent to come up behind the first group of three Ragillians. She would have to make this as quick and quiet as she could. Once she and Jayden started eliminating them it would not be long before they caught on to the fact that the prey they were looking for had turned into the hunters.
She motioned for Leo to stay down when they came in sight. She knelt down to steady the rifle and aimed for the first man. They were more than likely wearing some type of body armor so the head was going to be her best chance of taking them down. She adjusted the power and fired. Before the first man fell to the ground the second was in her sights. Then he too fell. The third had time to bring up his gun before she shot him. “Three down,” she sent to Jayden.
She ran to the downed Ragillians. All of whom were alive, unconscious but alive. She tied and gagged them before dragging them further into the trees. This would be all over one way or the other before they woke up. But there was no sense in taking chances.
She stripped them of everything but their clothes. All three looked exactly the same. If Jayden hadn’t told her they were clones she would have thought they were Identical triplets. There was nothing threatening about them. They looked so ordinary for bad guys.
She headed for the next set. Really they were making this too easy being spread so far apart. The next two went down just as easy. She was getting closer and instead of two or three together they were spread apart. Blue took a moment to do another scan. There, twenty yards to her right. Aim, fire, run to the next. Six down, Jayden had ten down, only twenty five left.
She heard the commotion as she snuck up on the next guy. The jig was up, they knew someone was here. Make that two someones she thought when she heard the Ragillian’s com unit inform them that two or more assailants, working separately were attacking from all directions. She gave a quiet snort. Things were going to get just a little bit harder from here on out.
The Ragillian ahead of her took cover behind a tree. There was no way she could get to him unless she backtracked and came in from behind him. Blue slowly backed up and inched her way around in a wide circle. Coming up behind him she peeked around the tree she was hiding behind to see he was still looking the wrong way. The distance was too short for the rifle so she pulled the pistol aimed, fired and another Ragillian bit the dust.
She heard a rustling sound behind her and turned in time to see Leo pounce on the guy aiming at her. He made short work of tearing the guy’s throat out before sending her a reproachful look. “Thanks sweetie,” she sent to him. That was close. She didn’t think she would have been able to get off a shot before the Ragillian did. In all the years they had been together this was the first time she had been on a mission with Leo. Looking at the dead guy with his throat missing she thought he was a very efficient partner.
She motioned for Leo to go to the right while she worked her way around towards the next guy. Time was getting short. If any Ragillian ships were still in orbit the ones on the ground could call for reinforcements. Despite the numbers she and Jayden had the advantage for now.
She stopped every few minutes and scanned for the positions of the enemy and sent the information to Jayden through their connection. If they talked telepathically then anyone who was a telepath could hear what they said and there was no way to know if the Ragillians had a telepath close by. It would be easier if she could scan all the time but she couldn’t afford to have her mind split in two directions.
Two more Ragilians fell under her fire before she came to a stop when she heard movement ahead. She made a quick check with Jayden and learned he had taken out three more. Eighteen left and they were more than half way there. The men ahead were moving away from her. Heading towards the ship. She couldn’t have that.
Blue directed Leo to cut them off and watched him slink through the trees without disturbing so much as a leaf. Moving as soundlessly as she could, which was pretty quiet, just not as silent as Leo, she inched her way forward. It was the largest group yet. Five Ragillians stood several feet apart laser pistols ready to fire and on high alert. They walked with their backs towards each other leaving them free to sweep their pistols back and forth, covering all sides.
She could probably get two of them before they got her. Leo could take out one. That still left two. She took a deep breath ducked around a tree aimed and fired. Before she could get off a second shot they swept the air with laser fire. One of them said, “Hold your fire, take him alive”.
Blue ducked and rolled to the left and fired blindly. It was pure luck that it hit one of them. They charged her position. She leaped up off the ground ready to take advantage when her chrystal repelled them when they tried to grab her.
It. Didn’t. Happen. No flare of light, no throwing them back for daring to touch her. “What the heck?” she said as the first one reached for her. She spun and landed a roundhouse kick to his stomach at the same time pulling her knife. With the momentum from the spin she plunged it into the other man’s chest. They were too close to use the gun and for some reas
on they wanted her alive.
“It’s a female. Kill it.”
Scratch that, apparently they only wanted her alive when they thought she was male.
“You are a chauvinistic jerk,” Blue told him then leapt at him just as Leo came up behind the other one. When it was over there were five bodies on the ground and Blue was still on her feet. She had a cut on her arm and a bruise she could feel forming on her cheek from the last guy’s fist that she didn’t dodge in time. “Think this will heal before we meet up with Jayden?” she asked Leo. He looked at her as if that was a stupid question. “Yeah, you are right, he’s going to be mad. You don’t think he meant that whole spanking thing do you?”
“Blue answer me damn it,” Jayden shouted through their connection.
“Speak of the devil,” she told Leo. “What, I’m a little busy here.” She felt his relief and only then realized that he must have been trying to contact her for the last several minutes.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded.
“No, of course not. Are you?” She really didn’t think the cut and bruises counted.
“Nothing that will not heal. My area is cleared. What about yours?”
She did a scan. “All clear,” she told him. “The only ones left are the three in the ship.”
“How far away are you?” he asked.
“Not far. It will take us about five minutes to get to the meeting point,” she told him.
“I am a little closer. We need to hurry before they take off in the ship,” Jayden said.
“Would that be so bad? That ship will probably fall apart before we hit the atmosphere.”
Blue felt Jayden’s amusement and knew he was laughing at her. She didn’t care. She was not getting on that rust bucket he insisted on calling a space ship. She would explain that to him in a calm rational manner.
Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin
Chapter 20
Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1) Page 15