Their Defiant Human

by Ivy Barrett

  She touched his face, enjoying the simple intimacy of being held. “I want to believe that. I’ve wanted to believe a lot of things since I left for a certain hospital dedication.” She shook her head. “That seems like a lifetime ago.”

  He kissed her then, a slow, tender kiss that soothed and aroused at the same time. She raised her leg to his hip, needing to be closer, wanting more of him. He pushed between her legs, sliding against but not into her. Heat curled up through her core, an unmistakable reminder that the night was still young.

  His mouth remained on hers while his hand slipped between their bodies, stroking her breasts and belly, awakening her nipples with patience and care. He stroked her skin and kissed her mouth, giving her all the time she needed before they moved on.

  She reveled in his tenderness and savored each caress. It had been so long since anyone put her needs above their own. He selflessly gave and gave, and she absorbed the affection like a sponge.

  Her nipples hardened beneath his fingertips. His shaft expanded, spreading her feminine folds. He was more than ready to take her and still he focused entirely on her. Her core fluttered, releasing a fresh rush of cream. She reached down between them and guided him to her entrance. He sank into her slowly, allowing her to feel every millimeter of his hard flesh. Panting into his open mouth, she tightened her inner muscles and welcomed him home. She was ready, more than ready to be claimed.

  He suddenly jerked his mouth away and growled. “I can’t wait.” The harsh whisper was all the warning she got. He swept her beneath him and stretched her arms above her head. She pulled her legs up high against his sides as he pounded into her. They’d waited too long for any more gentleness. Their need demanded intensity. Her inner muscles rippled around him as she exploded in a sudden orgasm. He bent to her nipples, prolonging the spasms with firm suction. As soon as her thighs relaxed, he started moving again.

  On and on he went. Why was he still holding off his release? He had more than earned it. He thrust harder and faster. She gasped and panted as his hips slammed into hers. Grasping the backs of her knees, he bent her legs higher, rolling her ass up off the blanket. She left her arms above her head as if he still held them, needing to submit.

  His fingers dug into her flesh and his shaft stretched her inner muscles, massively erect. He threw back his head and roared as his seed finally released. The hot spurts triggered another wave of pleasure and she shuddered right along with him.

  “This is… going to… kill me.” He collapsed over her then rolled to his side, taking her with him.

  He kissed her and kissed her until her pulse raced with concern. She knew he came. She’d felt it happen. So why was he still—frantic? “Are you okay?” she whispered against his lips when he finally paused to breathe.

  “I was so afraid I was going to hurt you.” He clutched her to his chest and released his pent-up breath. “I didn’t hurt you. Did I?”

  “Not even close.” After nipping his bottom lip, she went on in a sexy whisper, “I guess ass-fucking isn’t my only perversion. I like it rough too.”

  Chapter Nine

  A perimeter alarm sounded and Daniel Keller said, “Excuse me, sir.”

  Chancellor Howyn offered a curt nod and turned back to the report displayed on his holopad.

  Keller crossed his spacious living room and activated the external security grid. Two figures were creeping through the trees toward the walkway that led to his front door. He armed the pulse cannon mounted on the central turret but hesitated. Why would criminals come to his front door?

  “Chancellor, you should probably call your pilot. I’ve got a security breach.”

  “No one knows I’m here. Blast them and let’s get back to business.”

  Only their ‘unofficial’ business was conducted from Keller’s home. Even then a full security contingent was a panic signal away at all times. Keller zoomed in on the figures. The smaller one looked up to say something to her companion and moonlight revealed her face.

  “Unbelievable.”

  Hearing Keller’s muttered word, Chancellor Howyn stood and approached the surveillance station. “What’s going on?”

  “It looks like Nehalem Bryson is coming back for… Holy shit, that’s Adoha.” The Stilox pain in the ass was dressed in the uniform of Bryson’s private guards but Keller knew that swagger and the arrogant tilt of his head.

  “How can you tell? He looks like any other Bryson guard.”

  “Trust me, that’s Adoha.” They’d nearly reached his front door.

  “What are they doing here?”

  “I’d guess they’re about to kidnap me. I’m no good to them dead.”

  The chancellor chuckled. “Ever calm and collected.” He slapped Keller on the back. “That’s what I like best about you, son. You remind me of me. What do you want to do?”

  “If you don’t mind, stay out of sight until they snatch me then dispatch the Fury to tail us. If they can slip inside the Stilox dome that would be helpful; if not, make sure they stay within range.”

  “Why let them take you at all? We can capture Adoha right now.”

  “Adoha has his uses. We need the human. The team said they’re ready for her. Why not let the commander give me an armed escort?”

  “I like the way you think.” He slipped a nondescript ring off his middle finger and handed it to Keller. “Just in case.”

  Keller accepted the microtransmitter with a nod. It was too big for his finger but fit well on his thumb. Now the Fury could track him from a greater distance.

  No sooner had the chancellor reached the top of the sweeping staircase then the doorbell chimed. Keller paused. No need to seem too eager. After an acceptable delay, he sent an interactive audio-video signal to the small panel beside the door. “We have to stop meeting like this. People will start talking.”

  Nehalem stood alone on the front porch, a hooded cloak casting her face into shadow. “Do you have no control over your people at all? That damn vid is everywhere?”

  “So your natural reaction is to sneak away to my private residence—which is also under surveillance—and bitch about it? You came to me, Nehalem, all four times. Are you going to pretend you didn’t get exactly what you wanted—each and every time?”

  “Open the door. I’m not going to have this conversation over a transmitter.”

  “What do we have to talk about? I’ve seen little benefit from our conversations thus far. I don’t need another mistress.”

  She let her cloak gap strategically. Damn, she had fabulous tits. “Let me come in and we can talk about that too.”

  “Did you enjoy putting on a show for your husband? Was that why you really came to my office? Did he bend you over his desk and fuck you hard and fast? Did he spank your naughty little bottom?”

  Her lips pursed in a practiced pout and Keller had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing. The expression would make any man picture those soft red lips circling his cock. She was a practiced tease. One of the best he’d ever seen.

  “Maybe I was hoping to make him just a little jealous.” She licked her lips and looked up through her eyelashes. “Would you like to spank my bottom? I’ve been very naughty.”

  “Not nearly naughty enough for the sorts of punishments I enjoy, I’d wager.”

  Her delicate brows arched in silent challenge. “I think you’d be surprised.”

  “I’ll let you in, but you’re not leaving until I’m finished with you and that could take a very long time.”

  “Bryson suggested I go into seclusion until the ‘scandal’ blows itself out.”

  “Are you alone? How did you get here?”

  “I had my pilot drop me off. She’s been with me for years and I can trust her implicitly.”

  “You were that sure I’d let you in?”

  “No. I can always call her back.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s a good place to start. Take off your audiocom and smash it under your heel.” He
quickly scanned the grid as she obeyed. Where the hell had Adoha gone?

  “Now what?”

  “Take off your shoes, stockings, and undergarments then lift up your skirt.”

  “This would be a lot more fun if you’d let me in first.”

  “There will be plenty of time for fun once you prove to me that you’ll obey my commands. Besides, I want to make sure you’re not concealing any weapons beneath that shiny skirt.”

  She was the only blip on the external grid. How was this possible? He was stalling as much as anything. He intended to let them capture him, but he wanted some control over the situation.

  Something solid nudged the base of his skull and Keller froze. “Deactivate your security grid and open the door.”

  He reached toward the alarm, knowing it would seem suspicious if he didn’t at least try. Adoha shoved him to the side and dropped the grid himself.

  “How did you get in here?” He didn’t have to force shock into his tone. “Did Bryson send you? Is this about that little slut? She won’t take no for an answer. I tried to get rid of her. Didn’t you hear me? I tried.”

  * * *

  Mal Ton slammed the back of his gloved fist into Keller’s mouth. “Not another word.” After verifying that all alarm systems had been powered down, he tossed wrist cuffs to Keller. “Put them on—now.”

  The Protarian fool opened his mouth and Mal Ton raised his hand again. With a frustrated hiss, Keller turned his attention to the cuffs. He fastened one side and placed the other around the opposite wrist. Mal Ton reached over and tightened both until they clicked firmly into place. He motioned toward the door with his pulse rifle.

  “Move.”

  Nehalem stood to one side of the door as they exited. She glared at Keller, obviously having heard his cowardly slur. “Is this what you meant by naughty? Are we going to your playground?”

  Mal Ton booted his pampered ass. “Shut the hell up.”

  They reached the ship in silence. Vi Pone lowered the scramble shield long enough for them to board. Mal Ton held his rifle on Keller while Nehalem secured him to one of the four seats. She sat facing their prisoner and strapped in.

  Mal Ton pulled off his helmet and took his place beside Nehalem. “Let’s go,” he said and Vi Pone engaged the vertical thrusters. Resting the rifle across his knees, Mal Ton kept his hands in firing position.

  “What are you doing with these animals?” Keller asked Nehalem.

  “That’s an interesting question,” she sneered. “I guess this ‘little slut’ just can’t take no for an answer. So don’t tell me no. Were you aware that my blood contains a retrovirus that causes similar symptoms to the crisis mutations but is far less dangerous?”

  His eyes rounded and his shocked expression was brilliant but Mal Ton felt mild amusement, not the emotion Keller was trying so hard to convey. “We don’t have time for your bullshit so I’ll tell you a secret few have lived to pass on. I’m empathic. You can’t lie to me.”

  Keller’s dark green gaze clashed with Mal Ton’s. “We needed to find Fane. She was the out-of-favor wife of a high-ranking puppet. We knew they would jump at the chance to ‘recruit’ her.”

  “So you made me a mutant?” Nehalem snapped her jaw closed and took a deep breath. “And all the information I passed to you from Fane went right to the chancellor’s ear.”

  “We allowed you success on a limited basis to perpetuate the misconception that you were controlling me.”

  Mal Ton chuckled. Every word Keller spoke rang absolutely true. “This all sounds a bit familiar. Why did you let me have Andrea?”

  Keller looked at him as if he had sprouted another head. “Both Bryson and the chancellor are old men. If you couldn’t tame her, no one could.”

  “And you injected her with some sort of—stimulant to ensure my success.”

  “I didn’t inject her with anything.”

  Again his words rang true but the faintest ripple of smug pleasure warned Mal Ton of a hidden meaning. “Who injected her and what was she injected with?”

  “To my knowledge you are the only person who injected her with anything.”

  Mal Ton clenched his jaw. The bastard was enjoying this. He twisted each sentence, dancing around the facts while still speaking the truth. Generally he could gain more information from open-ended questions, but yes and no answers might serve him better in this case.

  “Was Andrea given something to stimulate her libido?”

  “She was given to the best fuck on Stilox. Why would her libido need to be stimulated artificially?” He looked at Nehalem and smiled. “Did you need stimulants when Adoha fucked you?”

  Mal Ton discharged a pulse strong enough to shove Keeler into unconsciousness.

  “Hey!” Vi Pone protested. “It’s a little hard to fly this thing blind.” The energy dissipated and the control panel flickered back to life.

  “He’s not going to tell us anything.” Nehalem sounded discouraged.

  “Let him be as cagey as he likes. He’s not accomplishing anything. His blood will tell us all we need to know.”

  * * *

  “What is really going on with the test subjects?” Roark asked. “You know a whole hell of a lot more than you’re letting on.”

  Andrea popped a miniature sandwich into her mouth before his statement registered. Her chewing slowed and she washed down the bite with a gulp of wine. “What makes you say that?” They hadn’t bothered to dress but she’d wrapped one of the blankets around her like a toga. He sat across from her with a pillow resting in his lap, looking disheveled and utterly eatable.

  “You want the whole list? What happened to these women when you transcribed their DNA? You know why the Protarians brought them here, don’t you?”

  “I… have a pretty good idea.”

  “So enlighten me.”

  She took another sip of wine and blew out a shaky breath. How should she begin? “You’ve not only seen me naked, you’ve analyzed my DNA. How old would you say I am?”

  The utter confusion in his expression was comical. “Are we still talking about the same thing?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right. Many females are sensitive about such things but I would place you in your early thirties.”

  “I started working at Medicort when I was twenty-two and I’ve been with the company for the past thirty-one years.”

  “You’re fifty-three, approximately halfway through the human lifespan?” Skepticism took over his confusion as she knew it would.

  “My teenage years were the worst of my life. I lost my mother and found out I would never have children of my own within the span of a few months. I wasn’t sure I would recover from the double blow to my psyche so I dedicated my life to the study of genetic reconstruction. I couldn’t bring my mother back but I was damn sure not giving up my future without a fight.”

  “You perfected RENA by testing it on yourself?”

  “RENA was far from perfect when I used it to regenerate my reproductive system, but it gave me hope and determination to keep trying. By the time I had stabilized the compound and perfected the procedure, I was even able to undo the residual damage I’d done to my own coding.”

  “Your DNA has been transcribed twice?”

  “Yes. The same is true of every woman on that list.”

  “What does this have to do with your age?”

  “I used RENA for the second time when I was thirty-one and my telomere has remained exactly the same length since that day.”

  “You haven’t aged a day in twenty-two years?”

  “It was an unintentional side effect and once I realized how it had happened I allowed no repeat procedures.”

  “So how many humans are running around back on Earth with completely stable telomeres?”

  “I would have to see a list of those who didn’t survive the crash, but I suspect they were all on that ship. My primary focus in the early days was female infertility. That’s why they’re all women.”
r />   “How would the Protarians have found out about this?”

  “I have no idea. How did they turn me into a sex-crazed lunatic? The point is, if they somehow combine the benefits of your triploid physiology with a stable telomere they might well create an immortal being.”

  “We have to find those test subjects.”

  “My sentiments exactly.”

  * * *

  Andrea looked up from the scanner as Mal Ton walked into the lab.

  “I have a present for you,” he said with that knee-melting smile.

  She much preferred Roark. Last night had solidified her choice, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the unmitigated sexuality that was Mal Ton. “I’m not sure I want a present from you.”

  “You’ll want this one.” He crooked his finger.

  “I’ll be right back. I hope,” she told Roark with a playful wink.

  “Grab an extractor,” Mal Ton said, and motioned toward the shelves behind her.

  That gained Roark’s attention. “What’s going on?”

  “Can she work an extractor?”

  “I’m sure she can, but—”

  “He’s chained to the fucking wall. Give it a rest.” Mal Ton grabbed an extractor out of the wire bin and hurried her out the doorway. “I’ll have her home by midnight, Daddy!” The door slid shut before Roark could reply.

  “You’re rather feisty.” She hurried her steps to match his long-legged stride.

  “Protarians do that to me.” He handed her the extractor and she tucked it into the pocket of her lab coat. “If this prick doesn’t give me some straight answers soon, you won’t need the extractor. All you’ll have to do is hold a vial under his nose.”

  They turned a corner and then another. Andrea had never been in this part of the complex. It looked older and smelled faintly of mildew. “Who are we talking about?”

  Mal Ton’s boot heels rang against the cracked floor tiles. “Daniel Keller, personal lap dog of Chancellor Howyn.”