by Rena Marks
Jason had a vein that pulsed in his forehead. Lily looked scared, and her mind sent tendrils of thought to his, which he blocked. He couldn’t let her see his rage and confusion.
“It doesn’t matter,” Robyn soothed, the nurturing side that he loved so much coming out. She caught their eyes to let them know they could discuss this further in privacy, but for now it was important to calm Lily’s fear. “So they have her DNA. They have no records of who she is or who to compare her with. It’s okay, Lily. It’s just like someone knowing your name. No big deal.”
“Let’s get you home, kiddo.” Jason bumped Lily’s shoulder with his.
“I thought you said you’d protect me,” Lily grumbled at him.
“Hey, you’re alive, aren’t you?”
“So far I’ve been bled and scarred tragically.”
“How about if I buy you a twinkly little diamond for that huge scar?”
“It probably needs to be a big diamond so people can see it from a distance,” she said earnestly. “It’ll distract from my ears.”
“I’ve already forgotten about them,” he said.
“Did you? Did you really, Jason?”
“I did,” he assured her, glancing around as he led her from the store to the parking lot.
Steele kept a sharp eye out also as he led Robyn from the building with his palm splayed across the small of her back. His sense of smell was greater than hers. He watched her constantly as she slept, as she showered, as she ate, as she tended to others daily. Would she realize her body ever so slowly changed?
He wasn’t sure yet how to break it to her. But it needed to be soon.
Chapter Three
Amanda and Renegade were seated in the conference room with Beast. Amanda watched Robyn steadily as they approached, her and Steele hand in hand. In fact, Steele hadn’t let go of her hand since they left the excursion, and he seemed quieter than usual. Amanda’s knowing eye caught everything. With all that Robyn and Amanda had been through together, including the fact they were the only two humans in the world who nearly died but were saved with Xeno Sapien hormones, they’d formed a friendship that was a bond similar to that of siblings. Now that bond meant Amanda could feel something not quite right.
“Oh, good. You’re back. How did it go?” she asked.
“Besides the fact that the power was cut off and the store went into lockdown? And while it was dark, the piercing needle disappeared? And that Steele was able to see who did it?”
“What? Who?”
Robyn looked at Steele.
“A slimmer Director Meade. At first, I wasn’t sure it was him. The face was there, but the belly wasn’t.” Steele’s voice was dry. “What doesn’t make sense is how fast he was in and out.”
“I was pondering it on the ride back,” Robyn said. “It may have been a hologram that, using his DNA, solidified long enough to grab the piercer, and then dematerialized again. There’s no way he could have lost that much weight in two weeks, proving he used a holographic avatar to break through. One part of his body would have become the real Dr. Meade—in this case, the hand he used to grab the piercer. The holographic technology for disrupting real time is available but not perfect, and I’m surprised they were willing to try it. You could lose a body part if the hologram soundwaves are interrupted before you pull out of real time.”
“No.” Amanda’s eyes were round. “He was physically there? He could have harmed Lily.”
“There wasn’t a chance, not with Jason next to her. The creepy part is knowing he had been watching and measuring to know exactly when to beam the holographic image in close enough to solidify his hand, grab the piercer, and disassemble, all in the dark. Remember, he had no vision since it was only his hand in our world. Meade’s objective was to take the piercer, which contained her DNA. For what purpose, we have no idea. If he was smart, he would have replaced it with another and we would have had no inkling as to what happened other than a power failure.”
“In the meantime, we keep Lily in Xenia from now on.”
Robyn nodded. “Jason’s settling her down. She can’t wait to show all the other teens her nose piercing.”
“I’ll take her around later,” Beast growled.
“Maybe I’ll just check her out. Make sure she’s okay. Give her the DNA lesson about herself. Beast and Sunny are the last two left. Can you finish up?” Amanda asked.
“Of course.”
As soon as Amanda and Renegade left, Beast got down to business. “I already know how handsome I am and where I come from. I remember the interaction we had before my death in which you explained to me my strengths and not to let on how much I knew. How to keep secrets,” he winked at Robyn. “So let’s use this time to go over a different problem I have.”
“You have a problem?” Robyn sat down opposite him in the chair Amanda vacated. Steele sat next to her.
“My coloring is a sleek ebony with streaks of rich, golden glitter...” he began.
Steele snorted. “Poet much?”
Beast ignored him. “My golden hair matches my skin streaks for a striking foil of light splendor against dark beauty...”
“Dreadlocks are so last century,” Steele said.
“Anyway, I look rather handsome when pictured next to Sunny, whose entire skin tone is gold and matches mine...”
“Who wouldn’t look handsome standing next to a beautiful woman?”
Beast continued to ignore Steele’s comments. “So I would like to know how to make her understand I am not just her friend. I would like more.”
“What makes you think she doesn’t understand?” Robyn asked.
“She talks about how comfortable she is with me. How much fun it is to be with me.”
Steele reached out and smacked Beast upside the head. “Idiot. Have I ever told you I’m comfortable with you?”
“Ouch! No...”
“Has Renegade or Pax ever said it’s so much fun to be with you?”
“No...”
“Then that’s a woman telling you she’s ready for more.”
“Do you think? I mean, you’re not exactly experienced enough to know what women want. You’ve only loved Robyn, and that was because she took pity on you.”
Robyn giggled and placed a hand on each one’s knee. “Here’s what’s up. Touch her softly. When you walk into rooms, politely place a hand on the small of her back. Make sure you open doors for her. Then, one night while you’re showing her the stars or the moonlight, stare into her eyes. Slowly lower your mouth to hers, pausing before you touch as if you’re giving her the option to say no...”
“I don’t want her to say no!”
Steele threw his hands up. “No kidding. But you want her to think she’s making the decision.”
Robyn narrowed her eyes at him. What the—?
He clammed up.
“She won’t say no at that point. You’re too handsome, remember? No, she’ll take a hitched breath and part her lips...”
“Is that when I kiss her?” Beast interrupted.
Steele snorted.
Robyn continued. “Yes. But it has to be soft. Dreamy. Magical.”
“What happens afterward?”
“You pull away and look into her eyes. You explain to her that you’ve felt this way since you first met her.”
“I did! But I was afraid to hurt her with the aggressive tendencies they’d just put into us.”
“Tell her that. Ask her if she’d like to be yours. That you’ll always be gentle with her.”
“Tell her she’s a delicate flower,” Steele said.
Horrified, Robyn raised her eyebrow. That advice sucked.
Beast didn’t seem to notice. “I’m sure she would like to be mine. Surely she’s noticed how good we look together.”
“Um...don’t mention that part. Even I know that much.” Steele’s voice was dry.
A streak of gold flitted past the doorway, and Beast shot up out of his chair. “Sunny!” he called out, blasting from t
he room.
“Gently!” Robyn screeched after him.
“She’s a flower!” Steele yelled.
But Beast was already gone.
“Not sure how well that’s gonna go,” she said.
“Not well at all.”
Robyn narrowed her eyes. “Explain to me the phrase of how you want her to think she’s making the decision.”
Steele got quite serious. He pulled her from her chair to settle on his lap. “For instance, right now I fill you with my hormones, which calms the undiluted Xeno Sapien chemical Quinteah you had injected into your blood to give you super-strength in order to save us. Remember I told you Quinteah acts as a sort of birth control for us? It allows us to shut down certain aspects of our abilities?”
“Yes?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her forehead onto his.
“Remember how we’re all diverse, depending on which DNA we were created with? How Eclipse has that weird overdeveloped sense of smell?”
“Yes. What does that have to do with—”
“Patience, my love. I don’t want to spring something on you. I’ve been waiting and wondering how to tell you.”
“How to tell me what?” Robyn narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what the man was talking about.
“I want you to think you had a choice in the matter. Back to Eclipse...he can smell. Sometimes he doesn’t even know what the smells are. Like hormones.”
“Hormones?”
“Yes, hormones. Who would think they have a scent? But if there is, Eclipse can sniff it out.”
“So he can scent the Quinteah in my blood?”
“Yes. Or when a female is ovulating. Or when she’s pregnant with another entity.”
“He...he can?”
“Yes, my love.”
“Which am I?” The Quinteah, or the ovulation? Surely not the third option.
“Well, it’s your decision, naturally...”
“Steele!”
His large hand covered her abdomen. “He’s been sniffing you a lot lately, making sure.”
“It was weird,” she agreed.
“You’re the first one of us to breed, Robyn.”
“I’m going to be a mother?” The words escaped her lips without her thinking. She was completely dazed, but it was a happy feeling that filled her. A bubbly, euphoric high.
At the same time, she worried. This was an unprecedented event. She sure the hell didn’t want to be the first to venture into it. But what was done was done. And she was sure not going to be a mother like the one she had. A mother who played favorites and had her own agenda.
Steele nodded sagely. “I suspected a few days ago. Your body is already changing. Your skin is softer, glowing. Your hair seems darker. Your lips are fuller.” His sexy voice dropped to a whisper. “Your nipples. Rosier.”
She leaned down, kissing his lips before she teased. “I hope she has five fingers.”
“It will be faster to type with.” He kissed her back. “But you know my four fingers are longer.”
“Oh, I know.” She shuddered and smiled at the same time, her eyelids growing hooded.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you want me to show you how good they feel?”
She shivered. “Please, please do.”
Right then and there, he slid them up her skirt, his touch light on her knee, skimming higher, pausing on her inner thigh. “See? Right here is where I let you make another decision. The one to stop me.”
“I’m not deciding that,” she said.
“Why not, Robyn, my love?” he teased. “You need to be the strong one.”
Her breath caught as his fingers danced higher, and anticipation made her core wet.
“I’ve had your strength. You’re definitely the strong one.” She whispered against his lips.
“I could never be strong enough to resist you.” He locked his lips to hers. “Not back then—in captivity—and not now.”
He opened her mouth with his as his finger danced higher, skimming the lacy edge of her panties. Warm, wet delight skittered through her belly, wishing he would just touch her.
But instead of sliding underneath the fabric, his fingers roved over her slit, feeling the curves of her sensitive lips through the thin, sheer cloth.
Her breath hitched.
“Feel good?” His voice rumbled in his throat.
“Oh, God,” she said. “You have no idea.” What would it be like bare-back? To have his skin against hers without the panties in the way?
“Where would our room be?”
“We have a suite of rooms. It’s off to the west side of this building. Amanda and Renegade are on the left side. We wanted to be near the heart of all the action.”
“In hindsight, not the best idea for privacy for new couples.”
“Then there’s that,” she agreed.
Steele picked her up, carrying her out into the hall. He saw one of his kind pause, smile, and avert his gaze, disappearing so as not to make Robyn uncomfortable.
Clear the halls, Rent said, warning the others away.
“Which way?” Steele rumbled to Robyn. She nibbled on his ear as she whispered the directions to their suite.
Once inside, he barely glanced around as he headed straight for the bedroom. Carefully he spread her on the bed and took the edges of her simple white T-shirt in his hand.
“You have lots of these white things, don’t you?”
Steele didn’t wait for Robyn’s answer. Instead, he reached out and ripped the cotton of her shirt down the center like tissue. The shredded pieces fell separately to her sides and for an endless time he stared, caressing her breasts with his eyes as if the pink lace cups of her bra were wrapping paper covering a precious gift. Carefully, he unhooked the front piece between her breasts that held her bra together. Aside from a thick, low sound that he made, he didn’t seem to have any intention of touching her.
Robyn decided to touch herself, to encourage him to go faster. Cupping her breasts in her palms, she rubbed her nipples with her thumbs. “Take one in your mouth.”
For a minute, he couldn’t seem to respond. She titillated him further, arching her back and pinching her aching nipples. “Let me see you, too, Steele. Please. Take your shirt off.”
Without speaking, he immediately reached back, gripping the neck of his T-shirt and dragging it over his head, exposing taut muscles in his neck, biceps, and shoulders. The tiny indentations of skin between the muscles appeared darker than the top, stretched skin. More of a gray than silver there.
A thin, sexy sheen of sweat covered his thick, mouthwatering muscle—but Steele wasn’t lean. Just big and solid. Her fingers twitched, wanting to leave her own breasts to feel the muscles along his abs.
“Now your pants,” she whispered though it seemed more like begging.
Her breath hitched when he reached down to squeeze the bulge of his erection through the material of his gray khakis as if he couldn’t help himself. A sexy groan followed his touch. His hands were huge but the thick ridge he cupped overflowed his large grip. It drove her crazy to watch—to know what was covered by the pressed cotton of his khakis.
With a rough groan, he stopped stroking his big cock and gripped her thighs again. “The truth is, I’d probably come the second you look at me. The way I used to come back in the lab—as soon as you left my room. I’d imagine you late at night, touching me. And I’d rather hold off on those thoughts because I’m not even close to being done with you.”
Robyn drew in a shaky breath. An unexpected pang struck her heart, piercing the delicate balance of disbelief she carried that she finally could be with Steele out in the open. That there was no more sneaking around in his lab room.
His dark, mysterious eyes narrowed and every trace of humor vanished from his face. His fingers tightened on her thighs as he pushed her farther onto the bed. Immediately he came down over her. His mouth came down to hers, and his kisses were edgy and urgent now as he felt the need to chase away her fea
rs with raw, emotional feeling.
Robyn desperately kissed him back, her hands roaming all over his beautiful, glistening skin. He felt hot against her, flesh to flesh, the muscular ridges an abrasive tease to her aching nipples. His hand slid between her thighs to hook a finger in the band of her panties, but did nothing else but feel the smooth skin there.
It was sheer torture, the touch of his hand so close to her but not getting to the spot that quivered and ached for his touch.
Steel braced his weight on his left elbow, his right hand slipping higher between her thighs. Both groaned when his long fingers slid through her slick wetness.
He tore his mouth from hers and he stared into her eyes, searching for something in the depths as his fingers delved deeper, slicking through her swollen folds before returning to circle her clit.
Robyn panted, her hips pinned by his weight, but waiting desperately for more. One of his hands lowered down her stomach and fisted her skirt to tug it higher over her hips. She shifted her ass, helping him bunch the material around her waist to get it out of the way.
Then his hand returned to cover the mound of her pussy possessively.
“Steele!” His name left her lips with a gasping sigh when his broad finger pushed inside the tight grip of her pussy. Immediately her inner muscles clenched around him, welcoming the intrusion.
Groaning, he lowered his head. Hot kisses pressed to her throat, as she was bombarded with sensation. Lower, his hot mouth moved over her breasts. His finger stroking through the tight grip to feel her sensitive inner walls. His thumb slipping over her clit. His tongue flicking the taut peak of her nipple. The rumble of his groan. His skin warm and sweaty against hers. The pulse throbbing in his throat, the hot breath heating her skin.
He sucked her nipple to a throbbing point. Robyn arched her back automatically, wanting her entire breast to feel as good. Her fingers roved over his heavy shoulders. Through his hair. Her feet rubbed against the back of his thighs, up over his ass before linking around his waist again.