Ranger Knox (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 1)

by Meg Ripley

  The last thing she was aware of was being toppled onto the ground. She knew that she had fallen from a height, but she couldn’t make sense of how far. She felt hands slip around her shoulders and carry her away, but there was also a curious singing coming from somewhere far above her---before she slipped out of consciousness, she wondered if they were what humans called angels, singing to her from the gates of heaven.

  “So, she awoke on her own?” a female voice spoke softly.

  “Yes. I healed her after the crash and found that the trauma had jostled her empathy board awake. Then we were attacked.”

  “Why are you not hurt?”

  “She shielded me both times—during the crash, and from the Bezoar. She took it down herself.”

  The owner of the first voice gasped. “So it’s true---she took down an Octo-Bezoar herself?”

  “All by herself.”

  Caden realized she was lying on a soft surface in an immaculately clean room. She opened her eyes, and after a moment, two shapes swam into view. Umi was talking to a short, curvy alien with brilliant violet skin and piercing lime-green eyes. The figure wore a deep blue robe that covered her from neck to toe. Caden thought it was a woman.

  The female Hyppo smiled at Umi. “And you two are bonded now, I see? Does that mean you’re keeping her?”

  Caden’s heart pounded and she closed her eyes part-way. What?

  “That’s up to her, of course,” Umi said, his voice bashful. “I didn’t know they were sending her with me to be in my detail, and she didn’t either.”

  “Well, Earth only recently decided to lend us help,” the female Hyppo said. “Most of the cypeople probably don’t know they’re being reassigned to us.”

  “Most of them don’t know something is wrong on our planet at all,” Umi said, and his tone was dripping with misery. “They’re coming into the situation totally blind. What if none of them can really help us? What if we’re only sending them to their deaths?”

  “Umi!” The female Hyppo’s tone was one of admonishment. “You know better than to doubt our predictions. The High Council is infallible.”

  “The High Council is all,” Umi said, but his words sounded empty and automatic, utterly without feeling. “The High Council says we’re all helping each other. I feel like we’re all missing something.” Caden hadn’t heard him sound so bitter before this. It bothered her.

  “That may be,” the female Hyppo allowed. “But I think that’s a matter for another day. Our soils need to be replenished. Our people are starving. Our very suns are freezing over. We must do something.” The Hyppo turned her head and smiled, and Caden’s eyes snapped shut, but it was too late. “And I think your cyborg is awake.”

  Caden opened her eyes as Umi twisted around to peer through the doorway and into the stark white room. His face lit up as he smiled, and he slipped into the small room and closed the door as Caden sat up.

  “Are you ok?” he asked, kneeling before her on the bed. His cerulean eyes were peering into hers, and he took both of her strong, slim hands in his. “You saved me, Caden.”

  “How did we get here?” She felt no pain as she sat on the foamy mattress, and her hair was unbound around her shoulders. She let the sheets fall to her waist as she reached forward to press Umi’s shining face between her palms, and a current of something she couldn’t quite name passed between them. Her body was naked, but she was healed from the injuries she knew she should have died from. She slipped her thumb over the fullness of Umi’s mouth, and he shivered, smiling as she gazed at him in silent wonder. “How did you save me?”

  “I ran,” he said softly. “When you ripped out one of its neural sacs, the fluid got all over you and starting eating through your skeletal frame.” His eyes were dark with fear as he spoke, and Caden realized she could hear the quick pounding of his hearts. “I ran. You were screaming, and…I thought I was dying, Caden.” He laughed, and the sound was bittersweet---like the windchimes she used to see on Earth outside some houses when she was leaving a patrol to go back to the hub. It made her sad without quite knowing why. “I was healing you while I ran.”

  Caden gasped. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Umi’s eyes burned into hers. “Neither did I.”

  The silence stretched between them, and Caden’s mind burned with questions-- she wanted to ask why he tried so hard, why he kept running for what must have been two or three hours while carrying something twice as heavy as he was, how he was even standing up and conscious, even though it surely couldn’t have been more than half a day since the meeting had passed. The words were there in her mind, but like earlier, she found herself answering them as soon as they had been formed—and the answers were all the same. It was the same reason he had found himself unable to deal with the idea of leaving her dying body behind if something went wrong, the same reason that she squared up in front of a beast that very nearly killed her—the same reason she found herself unable to look or pull away from him now. She could hear the thudding of his twin hearts, and it was far faster than it should have been; she began to wonder why, and again the answer came immediately, and was the same as the others. She felt her lips curl upward slowly, and saw Umi’s beautiful face light up in response. They—and their energies-- were entwined, like two separate particles spinning thousands of micrometers apart in space but still inexplicably bonded together in rhythm. They had been, ever since their energies mingled and Umi healed her body; it was the reason for the warm, gently tingling feeling wrapping around her heart, her sudden clarity in the face of death. She let herself feel it before she opened her mouth to speak.

  “I love you,” Caden whispered. Umi was silent, and she was afraid she was wrong, and was ready to recoil in shame; then he surged forward and kissed her, pushing her back onto the bed with his powerful body as he tore away the sheet from her naked flesh. He knelt back, and Caden could feel the weight of his gaze taking in her small, tight breasts, the curve of her stomach, her strong, slim thighs and the shock of dark hair between them. She saw his eyes brighten until they were almost white, and her pussy clenched with desire when she saw his cock rise from his curly green pubic hair, thick and long, as his kilt dropped away.

  “I love you, too,” Umi said, and his voice was rough with desire. Caden spread her legs wide, and her hand moved to pass over her vulva automatically, relishing how sensitive she was now that each of her nerve endings and circuits were buzzing with activity. Her lips were already slick with her juices, and her hips were moving slowly, almost imperceptibly, against the weight of her hand. Her other hand was pulling on her nipple, twisting the nub until it puckered and grew erect.

  Umi lowered his mouth to her breast as he pressed the head of his member on her hot, wet opening. He sucked her nipple between his lips, teasing it with his teeth until Caden cried out in pleasure, pressing her hips upward in an attempt to pull him inside. He left her nipple and kissed the soft skin of her neck, raising his eyes to meet her gaze before he slowly pushed himself into Caden’s wet pussy.

  It was like a door opening inside her--- she could feel the force of his love, his passion, his unbelievable need to stay inside her as long as he possibly could, and the desire to make it last forever. Every inch of her velvety walls was being massaged by Umi’s steely member, and she wrapped her legs around his strong hips, gasping as he pulsed deep inside her soaking pussy. She gazed at his gorgeous features as he slowly drew his cock out and rushed back inside, marveling at the exquisiteness of his expression, even in the throes of passion. His eyes were glowing softly, moving across her features and lowering to take in the bounce of her perky breasts as he thrust between her legs. His strokes intensified, and Caden felt the first stirrings of euphoria start to build in her core. She wanted to stay like this, being pounded by his beautiful, powerful body until she couldn’t move or speak from the mind-blowing pleasure.

  “Umi,” she moaned deliriously as his cock moved faster more forcefully inside her. Every stroke brou
ght another streak of incredible pleasure ripping through her body, and she tried to focus on meeting his passionate strokes with the motion of her hungry hips. He kissed her lips roughly, burying himself as deep inside her as his body would allow. Caden shrieked in pleasure, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders as he thrust against her hips frantically. Her body was starting to tighten around him, and his moans were growing higher and more frenzied. One of his hands fisted in her silky red hair, and Caden looked down at his lean body as he propelled himself between her slick walls, pounding against her g-spot so hard that the air was sapped from her lungs. His mouth opened, and a low moan poured over her body like molasses, triggering an orgasm so violent she felt her nails rake down Umi’s muscular back before she could stop herself.

  “Caden!” Her name left Umi’s lips as a passionate cry, and she felt her walls clench around his thickness as his cock twitched and spasmed, emptying inside her. He kept thrusting against her, and his weight rubbed against her swollen clit, provoking another slow wave of ecstasy that tightened the muscles in her thighs and inner core. She bucked against him weakly as he kissed her again, and he moaned with satisfaction. Then he pulled back and slid off of her, and, to her dismay, found his kilt to dress again.

  It seemed wrong to jump back into action after having such an incredible first time together, but Caden realized she still hadn’t been debriefed. She pulled the white sheet around her, watching Umi’s muscled ass disappear behind his green garment. Something had changed between them; they were both smiling and meeting each other’s eye far more easily than before. It’s the bond, she thought suddenly. It didn’t seem like that profound a change, but it was there—in the he looked at her, the way she wanted to be constantly touching him, and the jab of pain in her heart when she thought about when she might need to leave him again. This is love, she thought, and it surprised her; Caden had assumed love would be a weakness. A sort of Kryptonite, she liked to think. But it had enabled her to take down a monster she never thought she could take down while clear-headed. Love had done that, and it made her happier than she’d ever been; who needed to be fearless when love could teach you to use it as a weapon?

  “What’s next?” Caden mused aloud.

  “Well, now that you’re awake, we need to go meet with the High Council.” He smiled when she didn’t react, and Caden blushed. “I take it you overheard us speaking. Lia will be there, and she’ll explain it better than I can.”

  “Is something wrong?” Caden felt fear trickle into her bloodstream, remembering that she was millions of miles from homes. “What am I here to do?”

  Umi looked embarrassed. “Well, you’re here to protect me while I help my planet try to stop its impending doom.” He laughed. “You look surprised now. I’m just kidding. Kind of.”

  “Umi, be serious!” Caden stood, and was satisfied to see that he was very distracted by her naked body. “Eyes up here.”

  His light brown skin took on a bluish tint, and Caden realized he was blushing. “Sorry. I’m trying to think of an easy way to explain it before you have to get dressed to meet them.” He paused, and his eyes closed again as he accessed his memory banks. They opened again a moment later, and he smiled excitedly.

  “Superman’s planet was destroyed by natural forces? It imploded because of internal forces, and he never knew his home planet because of it.”

  Caden nodded slowly. “This isn’t making me feel better, Umi.”

  “It’s not like this yet,” Umi said. “There’s at least a handful of ways to stop it. One of those ways involves going down into the crust of our planet where only machines can go, in order to destabilize a pocket of energy that is threatening life.” He hesitated. “But the machines get too hot for us to pilot, and remotes stop working at a certain distance.” He gazed at her, apparently unwilling to go on.

  Caden frowned, wondering what it was that he wasn’t saying. Then the answer came a moment later. “You need us to go down for you,” she said slowly. “You need cyborgs to pilot the machines.”

  Umi nodded. “But I won’t make you, or anyone else, do anything you don’t want to. I won’t make anyone do anything until they’re informed.”

  “I’ll help,” Caden said quietly.

  “What?” Umi’s voice was laden with panic. “Caden, it’s dangerous. We don’t even know how dangerous. A cyborg has never done this, not on this planet.”

  Caden smiled impishly at Umi. “You mean I get boldly go where no cyborg has gone before?”

  Umi blinked his lovely blue-green eyes. “That’s not from comics.”

  “Star Trek had comics, too,” Caden insisted. “That’s not the point. I want to do this.” Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she took hold of Umi’s hands as she spoke. “I’m awake now. I can do this. For the first time ever---even though I was created for a specific task—I feel like I have real purpose.” She pulled him toward her and kissed him gently, and she felt him soften against her lips. When she pulled back, he was smiling, too. “Let me do this for you,” Caden said. “Let me help. I’ll do whatever the council agrees is best in the end. What do you say?”

  Umi seemed to battle with his emotions for a moment, and his eyes closed again. When the opened, they were clear and decisive. He smiled, and Caden’s hear skipped a beat. “My hero,” he said, and leaned forward to pull her into his arms.

  THE END

  Desired By The Sacred Alien

  Liora has always been fascinated by extraterrestrials and their link with human society. An Egyptologist, she believes that much of the culture, technology, and architecture she studies about ancient Egypt actually came from sources not of this planet.

  Though her colleagues think her ideas are ridiculous, she pursues them steadfastly, especially now that she’s discovered new hieroglyphics that don’t match anything from the keys she knows. One in particular holds her attention and she finds herself thinking about it constantly.

  When she discovers a false wall inside a pyramid and is suddenly surrounded by these new, strange symbols, she is teleported from the world she knows via a portal to a spectacular new world that she has always longed for.

  Moments later, she finds herself face to face with an impossibly gorgeous alien named Amasis. He soon explains to her that he has in fact been waiting for her arrival and reveals an ancient connection between Earth and his world. Their attraction to one another escalates, but just before they can fully quench their thirst for one another, Liora is accidentally teleported back to Earth.

  Can she find her way back to Amasis? Will they overcome thousands of years of strained ties between their species to find each other again?

  "Do you ever stop?"

  Ethan stepped through the canvas flap to the tent and slid a plate of food onto the table in front of Liora. She barely glanced up, continuing to scrutinize the pages of notes spread across the surface of the rickety card table and compare them to a book open on her lap even as she reached forward to rip off a chunk of the flat bread and fold it into her mouth.

  After a few chews, she looked up at Ethan with an intense expression that belied the exhaustion behind her eyes. She swallowed the bite of bread and reached for her canteen.

  "I can't," she replied, taking a long sip and setting the canteen aside again. "I am positive I'm onto something. I just have to figure out what it is."

  "What you are onto is the beginning of delirium," Ethan said, trying to scoop the notes up into a stack but she stopped him by slamming her hand flat onto the papers.

  "I know I'm right, Ethan. Just look. Look at these sketches I made of the new hieroglyphics we found in the pyramid," she held one of the pages of notes out to him, "Now look at the key from what we know about the language from the time that particular pyramid was built. There are at least six distinct hieroglyphs that aren't in the key and that haven't shown up anywhere else."

  "That doesn't mean anything, Liora."

  "Of course it does," she said, dropping the page back dow
n to the table and turning back to the book in her lap.

  Ethan sat down in the chair beside her, careful to tuck his gangly body sideways so that his knees didn't hit the side of the table and send all of her work onto the tarp beneath them. He reached up and moved the camping lantern she was using for light a bit further away from him and rested a hand on the table.

  "Liora, you're an Egyptologist. You've been studying the culture for years. That means you know that we didn't just suddenly stumble on a completed key that was like 'Hey, this is our complete written language from the time'. It took extensive studying and investigation to piece together the language and we're still finding ways that it evolved. Just because you found a few hieroglyphs that don't fit into our current understanding of the language doesn't mean that it confirms your theories."