Last Flight of the Ark

by D. L. Jackson

  Her attraction and love for Kaleb hadn’t happened overnight, but had grown on her slowly, as if she’d awoken from a deep sleep. The closer she worked with him, the more she loved and bonded with him.

  He’d comforted her when she’d lost her sister, driven her nuts throughout the trip and the last months on the planet. He’d taken and given, heated her passion and temper. Around him, she felt both a woman and an officer.

  Though the pain of her sister’s death was horrific, she’d known, when he’d dropped to his knees before her as he’d broken the news, that she could go on, that things would be okay. He didn’t lay blame or bring up the fact that he’d been right about the hijackers. He’d simply held her and let her grieve.

  She still loved women. They brought a beauty and gentleness to sex that couldn’t be duplicated, but now she’d made a place in her life for one male. He completed their trio in a way she’d never imagined anyone could. He gave her strength when she needed it and independence to be who she was.

  A woman who loved a woman and a man.

  She walked him backward to stand under the steaming waterfall. Showers on the planet weren’t like they had been in space. They felt clean, like standing in unpolluted rain. It brought out the animal in her, a wildness that added to sex.

  He tipped his head and let the water slick his hair back. The shower soaked his uniform, but he didn’t seem to mind. He dropped his chin and leveled his gaze on her. “Most people like to take showers with their clothes off.”

  “You look great wet.” She let her gaze travel down his body. His white shirt was transparent now, plastered to his body, molding to every hard ridge. It teased her vision with all that made him male. A strong chest, rippled stomach. A trail of hair led from his belly and continued down to where she’d yanked his fly open. His boxers clung to his body, making his cock look as though it was painted with the plaid material. Every detail showed, from the top of the head where it mushroomed out to the long, thick shaft and the vein that ran down the underside. She reached out and brushed her fingers along the erection.

  He shuddered.

  “Better naked.” She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. This morning she felt aggressive. He’d let her take the lead. He understood her moods better than anyone. He knew when she wanted to play rough and when she wanted to receive. Melissa lowered her mouth to his chest and kissed her way down his belly, dropping to her knees as she went. She needed him alone this morning. She dragged her teeth along the wet material and across his erection, teasing it harder. She yanked his boxers and pants down, freeing his cock.

  Kaleb groaned and leaned back against the tile, bracing himself. It was a good thing he did. She planned to make him feel every touch, every kiss. Melissa took him in her mouth, sliding her lips down his cock while one hand gripped the shaft. He tasted salty. His essence flooded through her senses. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the taste of him, the smell of his lust, and the way the pulse of the blood in his cock thrummed against her lips.

  He slapped his hands against the tile wall. “Christ. You’re killing me.”

  Melissa slid her lips up and down, sucking him to the back of her throat, being sure to put just slight pressure on the vein on the underside of his cock as she drew away. In and out. Slow and strong until every muscle in his body locked rigid. She brought him to the brink and then eased up. Melissa released him.

  “I didn’t mean stop,” he growled.

  Melissa slid up his body and kissed him. She took her time and nibbled on his flesh. Goose bumps exploded across his skin, even under the steamy falls. Melissa brushed her lips to his. “I need you inside me.” She reached up and grabbed an overhead bar they used to hang towels and lifted off her feet. She wrapped her legs around him and yanked him to her. “Now.”

  He pressed his cock against her lips and drove in. Melissa released the bar and slipped her hands into his hair as he swung her around and pressed her against the tiled wall. She rocked her hips and he drove deeper and stopped. Kaleb rested his forehead to hers and stared into her eyes. “I love you.”

  Her heart did a roll. He didn’t need to speak it. The look in his eyes….“I love you too.”

  He began to move, in and out, following her cues. She whimpered and nipped his shoulders. “Harder.”

  Flesh pounded flesh, frantic, hard, ecstatic. A hunger burned through her, lighting a fire in her belly. He began to swell, stretching her tighter, pushing her closer and closer with each thrust. His muscles began to tense, and she heard his breath hitch. He fought his release, waiting to please her first. Jolts of lust slammed through her body at the knowledge and the world exploded around her. Her pussy clenched down on him, spasming in wave after of wave of pleasure. Each thrust increased the strength of her orgasm.

  Kaleb exploded inside her, throwing his head back and howling. Nothing was a satisfying as the sound of his pleasure as he took her. Melissa began to orgasm again, harder, more powerfully than before.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Eighteen hours later

  “Colonel Titan.”

  Kaleb rolled over in bed and grabbed the headset. “You better have a damn good reason to wake me at this hour, Frank.”

  “Sir, I can’t tell you over the com. You need to meet me at the tower, pronto.”

  He groaned. Fucking renegades again. It had to be. What was it this time? Did they set fire to one of the warehouses? With Earth Command due to arrive any day, he had patrols searching the forests to capture them. Fifteen had defected and were doing their own thing, which included bombing, pillaging, looting, and being a general pain in his ass.

  If he could catch them, they could lock them up until he dealt with Earth Command and the bigger issue of how to explain what he’d done.

  “I can assure you, I’ve got a damn good reason, but I repeat, I can’t say what over the com.”

  He sat up. If Frank was being cautious about relaying information over the com, it meant one thing: someone else could be listening. Earth Command had to be in orbit, which would put them right on schedule.

  “Roger. I’ll meet you at the tower.” He crammed his legs in his pants and stood to pull them up. He yanked the headset off and threw it against the wall.

  Melissa rose up on her elbow and propped her head in her hand. “What’s going on?”

  “Earth Command is in orbit. I can feel it.”

  “Okay, we can do this. Not a problem. Take a deep breath. We’ve been over this.” She reached for her com and found it missing. Melissa bolted to her feet, panic in her eyes. She scanned the room for her headset. Kaleb slipped it behind his back. Even though she was freaked, she tried to keep him calm. Something about it was so endearing. “I need to get a team to the docks, set up the briefing room, and contact security to—”

  “Melissa.”

  “The perimeters. Shit. Are they secure?”

  “Melissa.”

  “I have to talk to Frank.” She reached over and grabbed her shirt. “He’ll know if we can expect trouble from the renegades.”

  Kaleb snatched the shirt and tossed it to the side. “Relax. Stay here. Keep the doors locked and your weapons handy. Something’s up and Frank won’t tell me over the com.”

  “Oh, hell no. We’re in this together.” Jessica snored and rolled to her side. Melissa turned to her. “That girl could sleep through an artillery barrage.”

  “As you should be doing.”

  “You really expect me to stay here and rest? I’m going.”

  “Not this time. You’re staying. That’s an order.”

  Melissa narrowed her eyes. “And if I don’t?”

  “You are not immune to the laws. Break this order and you will receive the same punishment as any other soldier under my command. Panicking isn’t going to do anyone any good.”

  “I’m not panicking.”

  Kaleb raised a brow.

  ***

  Ahead, near the communications tower, Frank and a squad of fiv
e men waited. Frank stared at something in his hands. He lifted his head and waved, signaling him over.

  Kaleb approached, studying the group. Three of the men were Special Operations, and Frank wouldn’t have brought them along unless he was expecting trouble. Big trouble.

  “What’s so important?”

  “Besides Earth Command being in orbit?”

  “I figured that was some of it. Now tell me the real reason I’m here.”

  “We didn’t know they’d send a shuttle down without first contacting us. It appears they were surveying the city.”

  “Well, at least they got my message.”

  Frank nodded and pulled out a digital pad. He handed it to Kaleb. “One of our teams out tracking renegades came across that less than twenty minutes ago.” Kaleb stared down a picture of a shuttle. Bloody handprints covered the hull and equipment had been pulled from inside and was strewn about the ground. He studied the registration number. Was that one of his?

  “The crew?”

  “Either hostages or dead. Not sure which at this point.”

  “Shit.” He so didn’t need this.

  Frank took the pad back and typed in coordinates. “We’ve tracked them to the city, to this location.”

  Kaleb glanced toward the hanger where the shuttles were docked. “Get a shuttle prepped and powered up.”

  “Already done.” He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “You have to ask yourself something, Colonel.”

  “Yeah, what would that be?”

  “Why did Earth Command have a shuttle down here near the city without your knowledge?”

  Good question.

  ***

  Kaleb climbed on board the Earth Command shuttle, Frank following close behind. Empty. Blood everywhere. The craft reeked of violence.

  Frank dropped a jacket with Earth Command insignia on the sleeves into his hands. “Look at the tab.”

  “Yeah.” Earth Command, but it was the tab that sat above the patch that he was sure Frank referred to. Damned Pathfinders. They’d come down to set up and secure a landing zone.

  He sniffed the jacket and groaned. The jacket had belonged to a female. Not good. A few of the renegades were unmated males and would love to have a hybrid female to call their own. Good chance they’d converted her.

  Yeah, no question. Earth Command would be looking for the missing crew. A big problem, followed by a bigger one. If they were female, the renegades would certainly have bitten them and his proof that they were harmless just went to shit. Now, even if they found them, they couldn’t go back to Earth. The infection couldn’t be allowed off-world. What would he tell Earth Command? Eight months they’d kept the secret. The mutation wouldn’t have spread to the arriving crew under normal circumstances and a big part of his plan had revolved around showing the mutation could be contained. The flu had run its course and the infection could only be spread by contact with blood and saliva. Lucky him. That’s just what the bastard renegades had done. They knew it would complicate things for him and they were paying him back for keeping them separated from their families.

  “Damn it.” He hadn’t expected it to last, but it would’ve been nice not to have to explain the attack and it would have also been easier to convince Earth Command they weren’t a danger. Now, he wasn’t certain he could. “I really don’t need this.”

  “We could blow the ship and make it look like a crash,” Frank said.

  Kaleb shook his head. No. The crew would have contacted the mother ship when they landed. “We don’t need to fabricate anymore. We’re already in deep enough. It’s time to tell them the truth and take whatever consequences come.” Was there another way? No. Game over, but he could still locate the missing crew and perhaps buy them all some reprieve. “Get a team on them. We need to find and free them, pronto.”

  “I’ve already seen to it,” Frank said and eyed the exit where the rest of the team waited. “Hopefully they haven’t condemned us all.”

  ***

  Did Earth Command already know their secret? He strapped a laser on his thigh, flipping the safety off with his thumb. The more he thought about what Frank had said, the more he began to wonder. The shuttle had flown in under the radar. It was near the old city and the uniform patch on that jacket wasn’t just an Earth Command tab. What were they looking for and why were they setting up a landing zone?

  Jessica walked into the room with a rifle. Her pregnancy barely showed, but accompanying them was the last thing she needed to do while she carried his children.

  “You’re not going.”

  “Try to stop me.” Jessica twisted her hair and knotted it at the back of her neck. Pissed didn’t begin to cover her mood when she’d learned Melissa was going and the tone in her voice implied he better not push it.

  “I’m not arguing with you about this, Jessie.”

  “Good, because I wasn’t going to listen to you anyway. You need someone who can treat their wounds.”

  “That’s what the doctors are for.”

  “Are they female? These women may have other injuries that require a special touch.” She was right. Becoming a female hybrid could be confusing: the emotions, the hypersenses, and the bite that sent them into heat within hours of infection. Only a woman would understand what they were going through. There would be little he could do in that instance but upset them further.

  He sighed. “Fine. But if there’s trouble, get your ass back to the shuttle.” He wasn’t going to win this battle. He knew when to send up the white flag. He had bigger issues to deal with. Jessie had proved time and again she could take care of herself. Besides, there was no one as stubborn as Jessica, other than a pregnant Jessica.

  “Where are we going?”

  “One of our patrols has cornered the renegades in the old city.” The last place he wanted to go. The place reeked of bad energy and memories.

  Melissa came up behind him. “The shuttle is ready to go.”

  “Keep your eyes open and I want your weapons on full charge. These renegades have attacked once already.”

  Melissa flipped the safety on her weapon and held his gaze. “Don’t worry about me, sir. Just fix this. We can’t let this get off-world.” The voice of calm, Melissa never wavered. She knew what needed to be done and would back him through it all. She was the best bet at a level head for this mission and she’d keep Jessica out of trouble.

  “I’m going to do all I can.” He started for the door. What would happen if the mutation made it back to Earth? He didn’t want to even think about it.

  Jessica reached out and stopped him. “Everything will be okay.”

  Kaleb nodded and reached out to cup her face. He studied her for a moment. “Not too late to change your mind and stay here.”

  Jessica snorted.

  “Didn’t think so.” He brushed his fingers along her cheek. “Be careful. I couldn’t take losing either of you.”

  “You won’t.” Jessica swept past him and out the door. All attitude and all his. God, he loved the woman. He watched her go, his mouth watering from the way her hips swayed with each step.

  “You coming, or are you going to stare at my ass all day?”

  “Yes, dear,” he growled, following.

  ***

  “Do we have a headcount?”

  “Seven.”

  “Do we know from what sector?”

  Melissa nodded. “Frank says it’s from Alpha.”

  “Alpha? That’s my sector.” Kaleb frowned. “Who? I didn’t think we had renegades.” How could he have missed them? He’d never seen anything to indicate someone in his pack would do this.”

  “You don’t.” Frank walked up behind him. “They’re from my pack. They were patrolling in your zone. I wasn’t aware, or I wouldn’t have sent them.”

  “You’re supposed to keep track of your people and report any behavioral instability you notice.”

  “Understood, but it’s hard to keep two eyes on over two hundred. They’d been reliable, and
I had no reason to believe they’d do that. This mutation seems to make us all crazy.”

  Kaleb nodded. Frank was right about everything but the mutation making everyone crazy. The mutation made their natures as unpredictable as the weather. However, feeding the urges and needs seemed to muzzle some of the more base instincts. The mated males didn’t seem to act on primitive impulses and the nature of their inner beasts seemed to be tamed, or at least reasonable.

  He’d felt the ugly side of that beast seize control when he’d been with Melissa. All emotions had seemed amplified and he understood what they were going through. He’d be crazy, too, if he’d had to wait eight months to fulfill the compulsive desires and then have those he loved kept from him. After he’d claimed his females, the inner savage seemed satisfied with it, and calmed. Now, only when another male threatened what belonged to him did his hackles rise.

  To not have any of the needs satisfied had to be maddening and the males were giving into months of denial, satisfying it the only way they could, by taking what they wanted.

  Now that they had leverage, he was going to take it away. They weren’t going to let him without a fight. They’d die to get their families back.

  No question about it. He’d do the same thing in their position.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bolts of energy bounced off metal. Kaleb pressed flat against the wall and motioned for the rest of the group to stay back. “They’ve got a sniper in one of the buildings near the square. The acoustics around here make it impossible to tell where the shots are coming from.” He spoke softly into the com.

  Jessica moved next to him. “Then stop using your ears and use your sense of smell. He’s in the second building on the north side of the square.”

  He turned and raised a brow. So much for keeping things quiet. “You might be able to tell he’s on the north side of the square, but you can’t pinpoint which building with scent, Jess.”