Something to claim as mine forever. Earthlings may age faster and live shorter lives than Luvks. But that mattered little. Theone was mine.
"You're staring at me,” she smiled and traced a finger along my upper lip.
I kissed the soft pad of her finger. “What would you have me do otherwise?"
Her smile split into a wicked grin. “Do you really have to ask?"
Not by the gleam in her eyes. I squeezed her stiff ribcage and rolled us over until she draped my chest.
She squirmed and giggled against me. “Feeling frisky?” She planted a kiss on my chin.
Oh yes. But there were things that must be said. I waited for her to calm down.
"Oh no. You're too quiet,” she groaned.
The dread in her voice only made me burst out laughing. Before her face twisted into a scold, I rolled her shoulders back into the mattress and sank between her thighs. “You, Theone Kember, made me burst out laughing.” So happy that words escape me. Or I fear speaking will detract from the moments we share together."
Her eyes stretched with her budding smile. “Wrank—"
"I will say what I mean to say.” And smiling would only encourage her to insert her thoughts. So, I forced a stoic mask and leaned down until our noses almost touched.
Her warm breath came in choppy clips.
She was thinking. Perhaps not about what I would say. Maybe more about coupling. Not bad thoughts. Just untimely because I would declare her significance to me. “You have made me happier than all Luvk warriors, Theo.” I pressed a kiss to her soft lips then pulled back to watch her eyes rim with tears. “I will treasure every moment we share together. You and I, our bonding is a gift from the Gods."
Her body trembled beneath mine.
But she didn't speak. Just watched me.
Hopefully joy fueled her pooling tears. Not pain. I gently placed a palm against the side of her beautifully carved face and marveled at the harsh contrast of bright stripes on my skin compared to the pale pure white swath of her cheek. She was everything any Lord dreamed of possessing. But I won her heart. Me? How? I would cherish her. Always. I rubbed my thumb across the velvet of her cheek. “I love you, Theone."
Her mouth flinched into a grin. “I love you too."
Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes.
"I'm sorry,” she whispered. “It isn't painful. Not at all. But I never thought I'd have a chance to have a family. Not where I came from.” She glanced beyond my shoulder. “Not the way I lived back on my home world."
She never spoke of those days. I tilted her face until her gaze flicked back to mine. “You do not have to speak of those things.” Not when the past was behind us. “Now, we have each other."
She nodded and thrust her hands into my hair. “Yes. And I expect to have lots of younglings."
"It is not the number of younglings a man brings to life, Theone, but—"
"The time spent with them,” she finished the rest of the words with me. “But,” she added, “You're not sharing a mate with a half a dozen or more males, Wrank. So, prepare yourself for fatherhood because I intend on keeping you extremely busy making and raising younglings."
She didn't have to declare such things. I knew all along that Theone would be my partner in and out of bed. My bed. The future would be anything but dull with her by my side.
Maybe I was insatiable. Or I just had such a freaking drought in the sex department since going AWOL from planet Earth that I needed to refuel with my big Tiger? But we'd danced every type of dance the bedroom allowed inside my personal quarters before Luvk's sun tickled sunlight through the cracks around the window's curtains. And the only thing that could possibly make life better would be a big juicy ribeye. Scratch that, a big juicy ribeye with a loaded baked potato.
Wrank would have to do.
Wrank slept, his warmth wrapped around my body like I was his supportive body pillow. And I didn't want to move. Didn't want to lose the moment. So, I'd been on crazy missions back on Earth. I'd survived them all. And now I was going to have a were-assassin mate in outer space. No problem. We'd deal with the blood exchange after he woke up and took care of my needs. Again! Gods know I have a lot of needs this morning. Sleep wasn't one of them. I slid a palm up the bare pliant skin of his back and wriggled my fingers into his soft warm hair.
He groaned, shoving his nose into my jugular, smacking his lips. “I hear your heartsong, little one."
Well, I was average height for females in the United States. But he could call me little one if he wanted. Especially the way he ran a thumb up and down the curve of one of my breasts.
"It's playing a song for you,” I chuckled.
"I heard that sweet melody ages ago."
A red light flickered on the small table beside the only other piece of furniture in my room, the chair.
My communicator. Like I could get one morning free of duty. What's wrong with this picture? Even janitors get a day off. I shoved out from beneath my big blanket of muscles and pushed the red button. “Captain Kemble."
"Report to The Savior in ten minutes,” Goro ordered. “We depart in twelve. The Savior has the coordinates."
I dropped the communicator. “Shit,” I snarled and whirled.
Wrank laid propped upon one elbow, his gorgeous body bared to me atop the blankets. Bulging muscle everywhere didn't detract from his lean body. Especially where his fondness for me jutted from his groin's black nest of curls at full mast on display.
"I've got to go, Wrank.” I grabbed my soft cool leather pants, thrusting my feet into them. “I'm so sorry. I have to go. Orders."
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
I think he enjoyed the view. “I promise we'll finish this as soon as I return.” I yanked my leather shirt over my head and shifted the weight of my damned annoying breasts into a comfortable position.
His eyes twinkled with some wayward sunlight. “Yes, we will."
Gods, why hadn't we just exchanged blood sometime during the night? My hunger strike obviously kept me gorging at the feast. I threw myself at his chest, planted a hard kiss on his slanted mouth, and retreated to grab my backpack.
One foot in boot. Yank. Other foot. “I'll miss you.” I shot him an enormous smile.
"I'll be waiting."
"You better be,” I warned as I hurled my body through the doorway.
Something could be said for a second or third wind. I'd slept very little with all my big Tiger's delectable skin at my fingertips. Like who could stop touching his amazing body? A body that reacted to every second of contact. Alas, my third wind must have fueled my legs enough to deposit me in the pilot's seat on The Savior before my ten minutes had expired. I went to work on the settings preparing for departure.
"Welcome, Captain Kemble. I have the commander's coordinates. Shall I prepare for liftoff?” the computer's female voice politely asked.
"Yes, computer."
Goro's footfalls hid behind the engine's whir. But he was there. I could feel him watching me. No problem. He was expected this time.
Goro nodded at me and stepped aside allowing my view of a figure cloaked in a black cape hanging down to his black leather boots concealing his calves. Male, by the width of his shoulders and the large calves housing those knee-high boots. All black. Mercenary material.
Okay, serious mission.
"Are we ready for departure?” Goro asked, settling into the equivalent of a navigator's seat, the other one at The Savior's command console.
I turned back to the computer screen, buttons, and switches. “Forty-two seconds.” The same number as Wrank's age. If the mission will only last that long.
Goro nodded at the image of death behind me.
I could have asked who the stranger was. I could have just looked like an idiot making demands of my senior officer. But I didn't. I just wanted to get back to Wrank. Back to business.
The Savior lifted off, shifting the metal plating beneath our feet toward deep space.
&n
bsp; "Now that we're under way, Captain Kemble, I'd like you to meet M'yote. You'll be working with him on this mission,” Goro announced.
Oh? I shot a look over my shoulder and saw a bit of blue skin peeking out of the man's hood. “M'yote.” I nodded.
"Theone.” He reciprocated the nod. His hood slipped a bit, allowing light to hit some of his finely-carved facial features. Lips lined with a dark color, almost black. A long well-defined nose. White light tried to glint in his shadow-filled dark eyes.
Eyes that could pierce my soul. He knew my name. What else had Goro told him? I slid a questioning gaze to my commander's serious mask.
"M'yote is taking you to meet your mate."
* * * *
[Back to Table of Contents]
Cybernetics... “a way of thinking.” ~Ernst von Glaserfeld
* * * *
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Two
This wasn't happening. I was trapped in some alien-abduction nightmare I couldn't wake up from, blindfolded, trying to grasp at some semblance of balance on the edge of Goro's fucking plank. His ship was anything but The Savior. It was more like the sacrificial altar.
"Captain?” Goro's voice sounded strangely distant.
Something shook my shoulders.
"Theone!” Goro's voice elevated. “Theone, what have you done?"
The console's lights flickered where I stared.
No. No. I'm mated to Wrank.
"Theone, look at me."
Somehow, I met Goro's fiery-orange Xquine gaze.
"You mated with Wrank, didn't you?"
Almost. Not completely. Did I have to fess up to any of it? Hell, I wanted to be Wrank's mate. “All but the blood bond."
Goro's straight-lipped smile shrank into a knot. He sighed. “By holiest of suns, Theone, you almost made this mission impossible."
Me? Marshal dogma was all about mating and fighting evil as a sacred were-mate couple. “Sir?"
The viewport showed the lighter atmosphere darkening with each second we edged farther from Luvk. From Wrank. Into space.
"Listen to me, captain. You're going to a compound housing political prisoners from the Blood Wars. Some have lived there longer than you can imagine given their unique biologies."
I didn't want to know anymore. But, shit, this was my job. I met Goro's stern gaze and hard demanding features.
"M'yote's brother must be freed,” Goro continued. “You and M'yote will break into the compound and retrieve his brother. Do you understand?"
Nothing like a little mission impossible. “Yes, sir."
M'yote shoved the hood off his head, eyeing me with fluorescent blue eyes that could shift the powers that be on worlds, as far as I knew. Eyes that no woman could gaze into without losing her heart. Thank goodness Wrank clutched mine back on Luvk.
"My brother is the rightful king of my home world, Theone,” M'yote said. “There is much unrest now that the Blood Wars have ended. We need our king to end the bickering over who should lead the population. He can reunite Prall's clans."
So I'm taking care of political fallout? “Alright. But why must I mate with him?” I flicked my gaze to Goro. “You may have kept me strapped to this tin can the past year, but I've picked up more than enough structure from the Marshal Order to know better. It's forbidden for a Marshal to take a ruler as a blood mate, sir."
Goro nodded. “In most cases, that is true. Sometimes we must make an exception."
Shit. Why did the exception facet always land on my friggin’ plate?
Goro blinked at me with the patience of a father. “But not this time. You won't create the blood bond with King Solvun. As you said, it is forbidden."
Well, then what was all this crap about meeting my mate? “I'm confused, sir."
Goro leaned slightly toward me, locking his gaze upon me like I needed to be anchored to something before he spoke. “You'll create the blood bond with M'yote."
Something large and solid crammed into my throat.
The strange blue alien with the mesmerizing eyes?
"M'yote is second in line to rule his home world. He will be your Marshal mate."
My mouth moved. A lot. But nothing came out.
"I don't know what's passed between you and Wrank, Theone. But I've worked a year to prepare you for this mission, captain. You are the only female Marshal cadet capable of surviving a mission into the prison. I must insist you do this for the greater good of two planets. You must cooperate."
Two planets? What about two fucking hearts? Wrank and I volunteered for duty. That had to negate this damned mission crap.
"Commander,” M'yote said softly, “we can postpone this mission. Find another candidate. Perhaps the captain doesn't care for multiple mates?"
Multiple mates? Uh. Hadn't really thought about having more than one... Goro couldn't be serious.
Goro's eyes pinched into squares, studying me. “There comes a time when we all are called to act for the greater good of the weak. This is your call, Theone. Remember, everything's interconnected."
I had no choice.
In joining The Order of the Marshals, I agreed to whatever was required of me to serve as a were-assassin. But Wrank had won my heart. How could the were-bond form when one party wasn't willing? Surely, Goro understood that much. “Yes, sir. I can play your political pawn. I've done it for years on Earth. Which is probably why you think I'm the only person suited for this duty. But my blood bond goes to Wrank. You owe me that much, sir. For my sacrifice."
"You have plenty of time to discuss any issues you have with M'yote.” Goro gathered his black boots beneath his massive muscled form and turned to the contemplative blue male. “Thank you for teaching the other Marshal to channel her elemental powers. We had no idea her psychic abilities were so advanced."
So that's how Goro justified mating me off to M'yote!
M'yote bowed respectfully. “With every hundreds of thousands of defeats from challenge, the universe offers one sparkling star to brighten the darkness of life for those of us trapped in this insanity of existing.” M'yote met Goro's gaze.
Shit. They both espoused the same deep crap nobody really wanted to hear. And I'm supposed to mate with the blue guy? Joy. I'll hear that garbage until the day I die.
"Helping the cadet take control of her future for the greater good is the least I could do in return for your assistance, Goro,” M'yote continued. “Chaos threatens to destroy the last vestiges of life on my home world.” M'yote slid his blue gaze to meet mine, studying me with something vaguely reminiscent of understanding, just for a moment, then flicked it back to Goro.
Hell. Was I just supposed to jump up and yell that I'd help? Buckle. Do what they wanted?
"Why don't we step into the galley while Theone tends to the Savior?” Goro asked.
Yes. Go. Leave me to the skirt the fucking sharks beneath the plank. Dammit, Wrank. I won't betray you.
The spacecraft's metal hull quivered with anxiety in an eerie quasi-harmony only M'yote's body could detect as he plucked the fingers of one black glove from his hand inside his small temporary private quarters en route to the prison. The negligible amount of time in flight didn't work against my home world, Prall, he thought. The two days journey to attempt to free the king was but another two days of imprisonment. Seconds. Breaths in Prall's history. And to Solvun or I? What were two days in an immortal's lifetime? So I slowly, wallowing in deep thought, one at a time, pinched the softest leather of another fingertip and tugged.
The sensitive iridescent blue skin beneath the pliant leather didn't cause my current sensory overload. No. The source of my burgeoning headache came from another source. The captain. I felt the female's awkward stress even through the metal floor. Stemming from her duress for her lost lover. As mine would, given I experienced the loss of something as holy as my mate.
Theone's apprehension I could respect because there were no females born to Prall males since the !Dakos seeded our planet with the micro
be that attacked X-chromosomes unfortunate enough not to co-exist with the protective Y-chromosome Prall males owned. But I could empathize with her angst. Prall males considered mating the most hallowed experience in life after the microbe. Simply because mating was the most difficult aspect of life to attain now. Prall warriors were forced off-world to recruit mates—ironically the very same reason the !Dakos came and destroyed what we wouldn't relinquish.
Why had the !Dakos attacked so ruthlessly? Apparently, if we wouldn't hand over our females, the !Dakos had no intention of allowing us the luxury of having females. But what could rational beings expect from a culture so mechanically augmented, so butchered in hopes of preserving itself, that it chose to annihilate other cultures unwilling to cooperate?
Yet, none of us could recall thoughts of life before only 284 warriors returned to Prall to find their people gone. First the !Dakos planted the microbe. Females took ill, dying as if a plague swept across the planet. Then, in the panicked weeks that followed with men desperately attempting to save their wives and daughters, the !Dakos began blasting cities where hospitals flooded the streets with the dying like a river overflowing to claim the surrounding land. The results were beyond the level of catastrophic flood. Beyond rational thought.
And so the war began.
Prall's handful of warriors returned to nothing but destruction.
Vindictive. Remorseless. Merciless death and annihilation. For what? The right to breed? The right to have a mate and all that entails in the experience of life?
What could a being that chose to alter itself to the level of mere machine possibly want in mating? Not one !Dakos warrior hosted a biological brain for eight hundred years. They were emotionless. Machines.
A chill prickled down my arms.
Feral Series IV: Feral Fallout Page 3