His Feisty Human

by Ivy Barrett

  Reluctantly donning his wet shirt, Mal Ton strode back into the hideout. Fane had to be mistaken. Soul bondings didn’t happen spontaneously. The great hall was mostly deserted, the fires banked for the night.

  The other humans had been given rooms on the main level of the complex. He strode down the short corridor and heard the hushed timbre of female voices. Long before he could understand their words, he recognized Lorelle’s voice. The sound sent tingles down his spine and caused her image to flare to life within his mind. This couldn’t be happening. The last thing he needed in his life was a reluctant mate.

  * * *

  “Where have you been?” Karla rose from her cot and gave Lorelle a firm hug. “When you didn’t return last night, we didn’t know what to think.”

  “I’m fine,” Lorelle told her. “My condition was farther advanced than yours so I required…”

  “I understand. We’ve all agreed it’s better to put everything behind us. The doctor said we’ll recover and that’s all that matters.”

  “When can we go home?” one of the others asked.

  Home? They still didn’t understand the full scope of the crisis. None of them could ever go home again. She cleared her throat and chose her words carefully. “I’m not sure Earth is the safest place for us anymore.”

  “How can you say that?” Karla slipped her hands into the pockets of her simple pants. They had all been given utilitarian clothes with adjustable waists and short sleeves. The outfits looked very much like medical scrubs.

  “Haven’t you wondered why Andrea never told us about the genetic anomaly?” Lorelle asked.

  “I’m sure you have it all figured out.”

  She wasn’t sure why Karla sounded so hostile, but the others were waiting silently for her explanation. “Can you think of a race more fixated on youth than humans? Every government and medical institution on the planet will be scrambling to get their hands on us now.”

  “But they don’t know about us,” Karla argued.

  “Yes, they do. Three weeks before we were kidnapped I applied for an upgraded security clearance. A complete DNA profile was part of that process. According to the Vestaburg Alliance, governments are required to report medical findings with global ramifications to the steering committee.”

  Karla snorted. “As if North America has ever adhered to that condition.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Lorelle insisted. “Even if it’s just one government, our lives will never be the same.”

  “So we should stay here? How will these—mutants keep us safe?”

  The others remained silent as Karla grew more aggressive.

  “Their situation is not that different from ours. They’re trying to prevent exploitation and—”

  “My God, was he that good? One night in his bed and you’re ready to join his war?” Karla’s bitter jibe made the others snicker.

  “This has nothing to do with Mal Ton.”

  “Well, unlike you, I want to be as far away from this godforsaken place as I can get. One war might be just as good as another for a professional soldier, but I have a life back on Earth. We were lured here under false pretenses. I intend to go home.”

  Lorelle didn’t argue. She wasn’t even sure the mutants had the ability to take them back to Earth, so the debate was a waste of time.

  “How long will they keep us here?” Karla’s mood was still prickly.

  “Sean is going to take you to a safe house tomorrow,” Mal Ton said from the doorway.

  “And how long do we have to stay there?” Karla grumbled.

  “You’re no longer prisoners. We’ll do everything in our power to keep you safe and provide you with options. But Lorelle is right. Returning to Earth would be dangerous.”

  She shot Lorelle a resentful look then changed the subject. “How did you guys learn our language so fast? Sean hardly even has an accent.”

  “I learned Earthish for my last mission to your home world. Sean has his own ways of acquiring new skills.”

  “You’ve been to Earth?” Karla latched onto that fact with obvious interest. “When? Why?”

  “The Protarians were going to kidnap Andrea Raynier, so I sabotaged their mission and took her to Stilox instead.”

  Karla tensed, her expression openly hostile. “Were you in any way responsible for our kidnapping?”

  “No. As Andrea said, the Protarians took you from Earth and Max shot down your ship before we learned what was happening.”

  A long pause followed and Lorelle gave in to her need to look at Mal Ton. He’d stayed near the doorway as he patiently answered Karla’s questions. His tall form nearly eclipsed the threshold and his skin had an odd, moist sheen. He looked as if he’d just stepped out of a shower fully dressed.

  “Lorelle, may I speak with you?” he asked.

  “Didn’t you two speak enough last night?”

  Lorelle ignored the whispered taunt and moved across the room. She followed Mal Ton down the hallway and out into the massive common room. With smoldering firelight and stone floors the chamber made her feel as if she had stepped back in time.

  “There’s electricity in the clinic. Why is the rest of the building so primitive?”

  “Anyone that peeks in through a window sees an abandoned hotel that’s been taken over by refugees. It’s crucial that we blend in with the rest of Old Towne.”

  “No one notices the spaceships?”

  “Shuttles and transports aren’t as uncommon as you’d think. We’re in the heart of Sanctum, Protaria’s capital city.”

  “If this is going to be a lengthy conversation, can we go outside? The last thing I want right now is to see the inside of any room.”

  “It’s raining.”

  Reaching over with a soft smile, she pulled his damp shirt away from his arm. “That didn’t stop you.”

  His form-fitting outfit left little to the imagination. Even so, her gaze gravitated toward the fastenings. He looked so much better wearing nothing at all. The doctor insisted she was free from the effects of the virus, yet one look at Mal Ton was all it took to set her senses on fire again. She wanted to peel away his clothes and let her fingers explore every centimeter of his muscular body.

  He held out his hand with the hint of a smile. She placed her fingers on his and braced herself for the electric awareness she felt each time they touched. Heat sank into her flesh and her nipples gathered against the clean shirt the doctor had given her. Mal Ton’s thumb brushed across her palm and made her shiver.

  “Are you sure you want to go outside?”

  She heard the challenge in his tone and understood the inference. If she’d rather go back to his bedroom, he was agreeable. Damn it. She’d never been this easy before.

  “I need to see the sky.”

  They exited through the back door and hurried down an alley. Darkness had long since fallen, adding an eerie quality to the ramshackle setting. They passed boarded-up shops and vacant lots. Derelict vehicles from a variety of eras littered the street, making it obvious the area hadn’t supported ground traffic in a very long time.

  “Why was the chancellor after Andrea in the first place? This world is more technologically advanced than Earth. Or most of it is, anyway.”

  “Building ships and transcribing DNA are two very different things. The Protarians have been trying to engineer a superbeing for longer than I can remember. The chancellor likely investigated Andrea to see if she could offer a fresh perspective and found out she’d stumbled onto something far more valuable.”

  “Like arresting the aging process?”

  “Exactly.”

  They entered a small park through an arch in the perimeter wall. Lorelle looked around in amazement. Indigenous plants had overtaken the flowerbeds and the footpath was all but lost in the untended grass. Trees had been planted at regular intervals. Their branches arched and entwined, creating a leafy canopy for the forgotten haven. It must have been stunnin
g during its heyday.

  “According to our information, the ship left Earth with twenty human females.” Mal Ton’s deep voice drew her attention away from their surroundings and back to his handsome face.

  She nodded. “Most of the women agreed to participate in an off-world research project. It was supposed to last two years and they were each going to be generously compensated for their participation. It was only when the final three were dragged aboard the ship in restraints that the others realized the entire thing was a setup.”

  “You were one of the final three?”

  Again she nodded. “The research coordinator contacted me repeatedly, but I had no desire to leave Earth. I didn’t suspect she was an alien, or at least working with aliens. I’m still not sure which.”

  “Why didn’t you believe her?” he asked. “She managed to convince the others that the project was real.”

  She thought for a moment then shrugged. “It was nothing specific. She just felt off, not quite sincere.”

  “When and how were you kidnapped?”

  She picked her way along the barely visible path, too anxious to stand still. The breeze felt wonderful against her flushed face, but tension gripped her stomach as unwanted memories rolled through her mind. “I was on a top-secret mission, recon in a two-person shuttle. Armed soldiers just appeared inside the shuttle. One killed my partner. The other incapacitated me. I was stunned, unable to move, but I was aware. They dragged me out of the pilot’s seat and arranged a body there instead. The body—at least I pray to God it was only a body—was dressed in a uniform identical to mine. One of the guards realized I was still semi-lucid, so he pulsed me again. That’s when I realized my government must have been involved. The Protarians couldn’t have made me disappear without the help of someone on the inside.”

  “Everyone on Earth thinks you’re dead?”

  “Likely. That’s what makes the most sense. They probably torched the shuttle so they could show images to my family.” She shuddered, wending her way along a section of hedgerow so overgrown Mal Ton had to walk behind her. “We were halfway to Protaria before I regained consciousness. The others figured out Andrea was the only thing we all had in common and that’s about as far as we got when the ship exploded.”

  As she neared the end of the hedgerow, moonlight revealed a fallen tree blocking the path. The trunk reached her hips and branches stabbed into the hedge. Her pulse leapt and her eyes narrowed. He’d known this was here! He’d stalked her so skillfully she hadn’t realized she was being hunted.

  Turning around, she found Mal Ton half a step away. He grinned, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight. If they made love again she’d have no justification for her brazen behavior. The realization did nothing to ease her restlessness. She wanted Mal Ton with far more than a physical ache.

  “Not a very hospitable welcome to our star system.” His deep voice caressed her then he moved closer, crowding her and surrounding her without actually touching.

  She refused to be intimidated by his tactics. Leaning against the tree, she peered into his eyes. “How did you get drawn into this war?”

  He shook his head and pivoted to the side, leaning against the tree beside her. “The way you phrased that reveals how little you know about the current situation. This war has been going on for three hundred years.”

  “Three hundred years?” She tried to wrap her mind around the magnitude.

  “Andrea used that same derisive tone and it made me curious enough to research Earth’s history. Yours is not a peaceful people. Various factions on your planet have been at war off and on for thousands of years.”

  She laid her hand on his arm, resisting the urge to stroke him. “I didn’t mean to insult you. I belong to Earth’s largest military. I can’t criticize you for something I’m actively involved in myself. It’s just surprising that there have been no periods of peace in three hundred years.”

  “Decades have gone by with no overt hostilities, but the issues remain. Does that mean one war ended and a new one began, or is it all one drawn-out conflict?”

  “How long have you been fighting?”

  “My entire life. I volunteered as a youth and never looked back.”

  An odd catch in his tone made her ask, “How old are you?”

  He shot her a sidelong glance and smiled. “Older than I look.”

  “Older and stronger?” She returned his smile. “What other secrets are you hiding?”

  He caught her chin lightly between his thumb and forefinger. “We have this all backward. According to Earth’s customs, couples are supposed to spend time together and get to know each other before they become lovers.”

  “According to Earth’s customs? Are things so very different here?”

  “It’s more the situation than the planet. Couples tend to take a more direct approach in times of crisis regardless of their location.”

  “Are we a couple?” She tried to avert her gaze, but he wouldn’t let her. “You saved my life and I returned the favor. The score is even. We can simply walk away.”

  “I don’t want to walk away.”

  Ignoring the heat rolling through her abdomen, she focused on the logical disadvantages to pursuing a relationship with this aggressive stranger. “We hardly know each other. Our time together has been shaped by outside forces. Without the virus and the danger, we might not even like each other.”

  “Are you still attracted to me? Because you’re all I can think about. As for knowing each other, we just took the fast track. Most couples flirt and tease, revealing their true selves gradually over time. Our spirits melded. I understand you better than any human ever could. Your intelligence means more to you than your beauty. You’re proud of your accomplishments, yet frustrated by your isolation. Many people consider you their friend while few actually know you as well as they think they do. And you’re far more tenderhearted than you will ever admit.”

  She pushed his hand away from her face, not trusting herself to resist his touch. “Unfortunately I’m not empathic. I felt you in my mind. I know there’s still some sort of link between us, but I don’t know you any better now than I did two days ago.”

  That wasn’t exactly true. He’d saved her life at great risk to his own and Fane’s loyalty spoke volumes about Mal Ton’s character. She’d stumbled upon a bona fide hero. Still, strategy was her life. Rushing in blindly wasn’t only foolish, it was dangerous. She had to slow him down and do a better job of resisting their attraction. There was more at stake than her feelings.

  “I don’t want you to leave.” The longing in his statement sent tingles down her spine.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I want to help you find the other survivors.”

  A rare smile parted his lips and his eyes gleamed in the moonlight. “Your insight would be greatly appreciated.”

  He obviously thought she was using the rescue mission as an excuse, and to some degree she was. This was having little effect on their smoldering desire.

  Think. Focus. Now try again.

  “I know my sister survived the crash, but I have no idea where they took her.” Guilt strengthened her resolve and she stepped away from the fallen log, putting some distance between them. “I won’t rest until I know she’s safe.”

  His large hand closed around her upper arm, halting her retreat. “Your sister was on the transport?”

  Concern for Brianna had tormented her ever since they left Earth. “I was one of Doctor Raynier’s first human trials. When the treatment worked on me, I told Andrea about Brianna. Andrea had successfully transcribed women with a variety of fertility issues and she was ready to take on a new condition. Brianna had just been diagnosed with MS.”

  “What is MS?” His fingers loosened, lingering against her arm in a subtle caress.

  “Multiple sclerosis. It degenerates the central nervous system, gradually robbing a person of everything from sensation to mobility to sight and hearing.” She st
ill didn’t turn around. Thoughts of Brianna made it impossible for Lorelle to control her expressions. “Medications can slow the progress, but many are still trapped within a malfunctioning body until they die. It’s not a diagnosis anyone wants to hear. Doctor Raynier agreed to test Brianna and see if she would qualify for the program.”

  “Brianna’s DNA was transcribed twice, like yours?”

  “She was number twenty. After Brianna, no one was transcribed more than once. We had no idea the significance of that at the time, of course.”

  He didn’t reply immediately and Lorelle crossed her arms over her chest. Brianna hadn’t exhibited any symptoms before the crash, but she was one of the last to be brought onboard. Lorelle couldn’t help wondering where Brianna was and how she was being treated.

  “You can’t blame yourself for Brianna’s situation. If you hadn’t gotten her into the program, she would be suffering from a terminal illness.”

  “Instead she’s on an alien world, likely infected with a ruthlessly engineered virus that will turn her into a sex-crazed animal.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m not sure which is worse.”

  He pulled her toward him and turned her around. “We’ll find her and the other survivors because we won’t stop trying until we do.”

  “I wish I could draw. I’m almost sure I saw their leader.”

  “You saw Max?” His fingers tightened against her upper arms. “Why didn’t you say something before? Max is a phantom. He’s commanding this rebellion from the shadows. Everyone knows his name, but we haven’t been able to find anyone who has actually seen him.”

  “I didn’t realize he was giving orders until I spontaneously learned Protarian. Do you have any idea how that happened by the way?”

  “I have a language interface. It’s possible you absorbed a cluster of my nanites and they downloaded Protarian into your brain.”

  “Wonderful. Can they download anything but random languages?”

  “I don’t think so. None of my nanites are harmful.” He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and caressed her jaw with his thumb. “What did Max say and what does he look like? This could be really important.”