by Ivy Barrett
Sean materialized behind the dark-haired man. A sizzling blast from a pulse pistol streaked past his head as he rammed his shoulder into the trainer’s side. Lorelle’s gaze darted to the female trainer who was rushing across the floor, gun in hand.
Having incapacitated the blond, Mal Ton dove for the woman as she adjusted her aim and fired again. Mal Ton struck her wrist with his forearm, sending the shot into the floor. She spit out a curse and turned on Mal Ton. They struggled a moment longer before he snatched the weapon out of her hand.
“On your stomach, hands behind your head,” he shouted.
Sean was still grappling with the last of Max’s men. Lorelle took a step toward them then caught sight of Fane coming out of one of the adjoining rooms. He sprinted toward Sean, more than ready to help.
She didn’t stop to ponder how he’d gotten in. With Max’s people more or less subdued, she turned toward the door. A blond woman peeked out, her gaze huge and watchful. Lorelle recognized her from the transport but couldn’t remember her name. Was Brianna in there too? Lorelle’s pulse raced and her mouth went dry as she hurried toward the door. The blonde recoiled and Lorelle held up both hands.
“I’m not going to hurt you. We’ve come to get you out of here.” The blonde drew back her hand and the door started to close. Lorelle lunged forward and caught the door an instant before it shut. She pushed inward but remained in the doorway. The blonde stood in the corner with her arms wrapped around a dark-haired woman. “Brianna?”
Both women looked up, but Lorelle’s heart fell as she saw the other woman’s face.
“You were on… I remember you from the ship,” the brunette said.
“My name is Lorelle. Do you know where they took my sister?” They both shook their heads and tears stung Lorelle’s eyes. You’re being a selfish bitch! These women were just as worthy of rescue as Brianna. She shook off her disappointment and tossed her cloak to the blonde. “Wrap that around you both for now. We’ll find something for you to wear.”
“Why are you handcuffed?” the blonde asked.
Lorelle glanced at her hands and smiled. “It’s a long story.”
Chapter Ten
Lorelle stood beside Donna as Fane spoke with the bedraggled blonde. An occasional flicker of mutant light told her he was scanning her mind as well as asking her questions. The brunette’s name was Kylie, but Lorelle knew little else about the woman. Donna hovered over her like a protective mother, agreeing to tell them anything they wanted to know if they left Kylie alone.
“We were given injections yesterday,” Donna told Fane. “Most of our symptoms subsided within a few hours.”
“Most, not all?”
She shrugged, fiddling with her sleeve. Mal Ton had found simple, adjustable garments stacked in one of the smaller training rooms. “Kylie still has headaches and I’m having really strange dreams. What are you going to do with them?” She pointed toward the cell from which she’d been released.
“We haven’t decided yet.”
Donna looked at Lorelle and managed to smile. “I’m sorry about your sister. I hope she’s all right.”
“So do I.”
“Did you only see the leader on the night your ship crashed?” Fane persisted.
“Yeah, but I saw him clearly. I bet I can pick him out of a lineup or whatever.”
“I have a pretty good idea who he is, but I’d be thankful if you confirmed his identity for me.”
Fane made it sound like one more moderately important detail. Lorelle knew he’d been attempting to confirm Max’s identity for weeks.
“He’s hard to describe. There’s nothing remarkable about his appearance.”
“If you form a clear image of him in your mind, I’ll be able to see it.”
“You can read minds?” Donna’s gaze filled with suspicion then darted to Lorelle.
“It’s all right,” she assured. “He’s one of the good guys.”
Fane didn’t even need to touch her. Donna formed the image and he muttered a string of Protarian curses that made Lorelle smile.
“What’s wrong?” Mal Ton slipped his arm around Lorelle’s waist as he reached the small group.
“Donna just confirmed Max’s identity,” Lorelle told him.
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“We were right,” Fane rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. “Max is Howyn’s pet mutant.”
“That can’t surprise you. I know you’ve had specters following him ever since he returned to Protaria.”
Fane looked pointedly at Donna then changed the subject. “Ostan should look them over and Andrea will want blood samples before we turn them loose.”
“Turn us loose?” Donna sounded painfully hopeful. “Are you able to take us back to Earth?”
“Perhaps,” Mal Ton said, “if that’s still where you want to go once you understand the situation.”
Fane told Sean to take the women out to the shuttle. Mal Ton squeezed her side, assuring her the directives had only been meant for Donna and Kylie.
“Do we just leave the trainers here for someone to find?” She wasn’t sure why they were still loitering in the main room of the Autumn Den.
“According to the female trainer, Max is about half an hour out.”
“Max is on his way here?” Fane crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.
“That’s what the female said and a gun was pressed to her head at the time.” Mutant intensity glimmered in Mal Ton’s gaze. “She seemed sincere to me.”
“I’d like nothing better than to drag him back to headquarters in restraints, but we both know it’s impossible.”
“Why is it impossible?” Lorelle pushed Mal Ton’s hand off her hip and faced him. “He knows where Brianna is. I say we hang around and beat it out of him.”
“It’s not that simple. He—”
As if to prove Mal Ton’s point, a dark-haired man in a business suit flashed into view. He didn’t materialize like a specter. One moment there were three people standing in the common room and the next there were four.
“Well, this is awkward.” The stranger flicked a piece of lint off his sleeve, obviously unimpressed by either Mal Ton or Fane.
Mal Ton pivoted on the balls of his feet and pushed Lorelle behind him. “Where are the other females, Keller? This has gone on long enough.”
“Isn’t this Max?” Lorelle moved to the side so she could see the new arrival.
“This is Max,” Mal Ton muttered. “He’s also Daniel Keller, Chancellor Howyn’s pet mutant.”
Anger surged through Lorelle and she came out from behind Mal Ton. He reached for her upper arm, but she jerked away. “Where the fuck is my sister?”
“I don’t know.” Max punctuated the statement with a smug smile and Lorelle snapped. She flew at him, but Mal Ton brought her up short. He encircled her waist with one arm and her chest with the other, trapping her hands against her sides.
“Let me go!” She kicked out with furious intent, but Max remained just out of reach. Slamming the back of her head into Mal Ton’s chest, she shouted, “Where is she? Where is Brianna?”
“I really don’t know.” He looked around the room, his concerned stare belying his calm expression. “Did you kill my guards?”
“Senseless murder is your game, not ours,” Fane snapped.
Why are we just standing here? Lorelle trembled with impotent rage.
Sweetheart, he can teleport off-world. If you get close enough to touch him, he’ll take you with him. That’s what he did to Andrea. This isn’t the time or the place for a confrontation.
“You’ve lost the advantage of anonymity.” Fane moved toward Max, drawing his attention away from Lorelle. “And you no longer have the chancellor’s support. Whatever shall you do?”
Fane’s jibe must have struck a nerve. Max’s face flushed and his nostrils flared. “Don’t even pretend this is over. I might have lost this round, but the fight has
just begun.” He flashed out of sight as suddenly as he’d flashed in.
Lorelle jerked against Mal Ton’s restraining hands until he let her go. “He blithely tells you he knows nothing, so you just let him go?” She looked around for something to smash, anything. There had to be a way to relieve her seething frustration.
“We didn’t let him do anything,” Fane defended. “We just kept you from becoming his next victim. I lost two of my best men when we rescued Andrea. We will deal with Max, but he was not this mission’s objective.”
Her hands trembled as she finger-combed her hair back from her face. They weren’t afraid to fight. She’d seen them in action. “Do you believe him? How could he not know where Brianna is?”
“His mental shields are almost as powerful as mine,” Mal Ton caught her hand and pulled her back into a light embrace. “When he said he didn’t know where she was I sensed a spike of anger that nearly drove me backward.”
“Then someone stole them out from under him?”
“My bet’s on Howyn,” Fane said. “Howyn knows more about the virus than anyone. He’ll give Brianna the counteragent and—”
“Don’t patronize me! Howyn’s the one who kidnapped us in the first place. She’s still in real danger.”
“I was just trying to find a glimmer of light in the situation.” Fane’s charming smile failed to penetrate her aggravation.
“I appreciate the effort, but I’d rather have your anger and determination.”
“They never waver.” Mal Ton drew her attention away from Fane. “We will take down Howyn and Max because we won’t stop trying until we do.”
Fane started for the door with Mal Ton and Lorelle a step behind. “Today wasn’t a complete loss. Two more humans are safe and not only is Max unmasked, he’s obviously in trouble. There is no way he can take on Howyn and the Underground.”
“Someone needs to tell Max. That was one smug son of a bitch.” She accepted the outcome with a heavy sigh. “Retreat and fight another day?”
“This isn’t a retreat,” Fane objected. “Our mission was to rescue the women being held here and our mission was a success.”
* * *
“If you don’t stop sulking, I’ll have no choice but to spank you.” Mal Ton wrapped his arms around Lorelle’s waist and pressed against her back. She’d barely said a word as they returned to the Underground. “Things aren’t happening as fast as you’d like, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
“I know, but Brianna’s my sister. I can’t help worrying about her.”
He turned her to face him and met her troubled gaze. “We’ll get her back.”
“Because we won’t stop trying until we do?”
“Exactly.” Her lips beckoned, but he wouldn’t kiss her while her mood was still so volatile. “With Max on the run we can focus our efforts on Howyn.”
“Why do you consider Max on the run? Long-range teleportation is a pretty daunting ability.”
“Without Howyn’s support Max can’t win against Fane. We’ll find a way to either control or contain him, but it will take planning and patience.”
“It sounded like you and Fane have been suspicious of him for quite a while. Why haven’t you moved against him before?”
“Daniel Keller was Howyn’s puppet. He did nothing without the chancellor’s permission. We saw a greater benefit in going after the man behind the mask. We suspected Keller might be Max, but we couldn’t prove it until today.”
“I still don’t understand why Max shot down our ship. What was he hoping to gain?”
“A bargaining position with a much stronger opponent.”
“Do you mean Howyn or Fane?”
“Howyn wanted your group badly enough to kidnap you. Max wants control of the Underground. We think Max intended to offer you and the other captives to Howyn in exchange for support as Max moved against Fane.”
“And Howyn wants to incorporate our longevity into his superbeings?”
“That’s Andrea’s theory and it makes sense.”
Lorelle nodded and moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder. “Howyn’s ambition should buy us some time. He obviously wanted us alive or he would have killed us back on Earth. Bodies are a whole lot easier to transport than hostages.”
“That’s the spirit.” His hands swept up and down her back as she sorted through her thoughts.
“Has Andrea figured out how I triggered bonding fever?”
“She’s working on it.”
With a soft chuckle, she raised her head. “It will just take time?”
He smiled and pushed his hands into her hair. “Not your favorite answer?”
“You’ve had centuries to learn patience. I’m just getting started.”
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve become too patient. Your enthusiasm is wonderful.”
“We balance each other?”
“In more ways than you realize.” He brushed his thumb across her lips and savored the tingling heat cascading through his body.
“If everything else is beyond our control, I guess we have no choice but to finish all the things Amadi made us start.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.” His mouth covered hers as his hands framed her face. Her lips parted and her mind opened. Longing washed over him in tantalizing waves. She wanted him, needed him, as badly as he needed her.
Their tongues slid against each other as their bodies aligned. He held her tight and she pressed even closer.
“I want you naked—now.” Need filled her tone, not command, so he happily obliged.
Pulling his shirt over his head, he tossed it aside. He tugged off his boots while she attacked the fastenings at the front of his pants. Her eagerness thrilled him, speeding his pulse and hardening his cock.
She tugged off his boots and pushed down his pants before he could manage the task himself. He lifted his legs free, standing before her naked, tense with anticipation. He guided her hand to his erection. Her fingers curved around him and the smoldering embers of desire burst into consuming flames.
“Just the sight of you makes me ache all over,” she whispered.
“I know the feeling. Or I will as soon as we get you out of these.”
With the same frantic urgency, they rid her of her clothing. He reached for her breast, but she slipped to her knees with a siren’s smile. “I’m pretty sure this is where we left off.”
“I know I brag about my control, but I’m not sure I can take this tonight.”
“Then don’t resist. Revel in the pleasure.” Her gaze liquefied with the last suggestion and she bent toward his cock.
Mal Ton clenched his fists as her agile tongue played over his engorged flesh. Desire pulsed across their private link, her excitement mingling with his. She kissed the very tip almost reverently then lifted him so she could reach the underside.
Each brush of her tongue drove his arousal higher. “Lorelle, I can’t…”
“I know.” Her warm breath teased his damp skin and he shivered. “I want to watch you and feel you and taste you. Please come in my mouth.”
He trembled, amazed at how easily she shattered his defenses. Unclenching his hands, he framed her face and pushed into her mouth. She met his gaze, her hands busy between his legs. Her fingers explored, touching and rolling, cupping and caressing until he feared for his sanity.
She moved her legs apart, never ceasing the sweet rhythm of her mouth. One of her hands descended with obvious purpose and he groaned. He wasn’t sure why watching her touch herself sent his senses soaring, but it was undeniably arousing.
Her fingers moved in and out of her pussy for only a moment. He caught a glimpse of her arousal shining on her skin then felt her fingertips circling his anus. She didn’t mean to… With slow, firm pressure, she breached the tight collar of muscle and slid inside him. His cock bucked against her tongue and his balls tingled.
“You little devil.” Through sheer for
ce of will he fought back his release and enjoyed the bold slide of her slippery finger. Her tongue swirled around the tip of his cock at the beginning of each stroke. Firm and warm, her lips moved up and down the length of his shaft, her finger echoing the rhythm.
Come for me, love. I need you to let go.
Her softly coaxing voice was more than he could withstand. Pleasure surged through him and swept into her. He pushed to the back of her mouth and released his seed down her throat. Shudder after heated shudder assailed his composure. He dropped his head back on his shoulders and moaned.
* * *
Lorelle watched Mal Ton come, thrilled by his momentary vulnerability as much as the sensations blasting across their link. His warrior’s body trembled and pleasure contorted his features as he abandoned himself entirely.
He recovered by degrees. She caressed his legs and squeezed his ass, knowing he would soon deprive her of the pleasure. With a final shiver, he pulled out of her mouth and sighed.
“That was rather foolish.” His brow arched as he pulled her to her feet. “Now my control is restored and you are at my mercy.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
Undeterred by the taste of his own passion, he kissed her long and hard. “Do you mean that?” He pulled back just far enough to look into her eyes.
“I don’t understand what half of this means, but I know I’ve never felt like this before. I think I’m falling in love with you.” He kissed her again, his mouth hungry and demanding.
I never thought… I never dared to dream this could happen to me.
She wasn’t sure if he was uncomfortable saying it out loud or if he wasn’t willing to stop kissing her long enough to speak. He hadn’t actually said he loved her too, but his emotions were there in her mind.
Of course I love you. Never doubt it.
Joy bubbled up within her. It didn’t matter that the last phrase had sounded a bit too commanding. He was her bonded mate, her lover, her protector, and—her master. Knowing the security and affection awaiting her within the role, she was no longer afraid.