“Computers.”
When advertisements for a degree in computer science claimed the education would take you far, they had no idea what lay ahead in space.
Paul shifted his scuffed leather boots. “And what about your New Age background? You should fit right in here with all this outer-space talk of destiny and peace.” He grinned from ear to ear.
New Age? Whatever. “My parents were mostly Native American. I learned how to keep a calm head from their teachings.” Or so I hope.
“Lucky you. I just crave jalapenos and dream of cold beer.” Paul winked. “So are you up for some tutoring? Goro asked me to assist with your understanding of neural networks over the next few days.”
“Wonderful.” Kindrist nodded.
“I agree,” Sevra said. “Destiny calls to us all to take up arms and fight this war. We dare not fall into Voldon’s narcissistic trap and feel we control anything. So, I hand over my husband to help fight the war.” Sevra turned a palm over toward Paul.
God, the alien female had to be ticked orders made leave her blood bag with me. He could get killed in a nanosecond. No husband. No blood. Goodbye universe. Or could there be something hidden within Sevra’s actions? Even suicide?
“As we all shall do in time.” Kindrist blinked solemnly.
Funny to think about the suicidal aspect of sending one’s blood-fucking spouse off to war and then witness Kindrist’s solemn reply. Both female aliens had to be chatting in their heads anyway. Neither could be trusted.
“But for now, we have other orders to contend with.” Sevra pivoted toward the door.
Was that a hint of annoyance in her fleeting expression?
Paul’s brow arched. “I’ve got to visit The Chamber. Duty calls. Later.”
The couple departed.
Adios dweeb.
Kindrist turned back to the stars beyond the window.
“What was all that about?” He tried to whisper.
In the window’s reflection revealing the opposite side of the docking bay, Kindrist watched the couple disappear through the sliding door. “Sevra is weaker than I am. She feels it and pokes at me whenever she can.”
Was that Kindrist’s true stance on the scene that just unfolded? “Weak? Her? She seemed like a bitch. A bitch in black leather wearing weapons doesn’t come off weak. You sure she’s just not jealous I’m a stud muffin and her squeeze ain’t?”
Kindrist shot him an assessing smirk that equated to a drop-dead-moron stare. “She wears a torch. A torch turns a room’s organic components to ashes in a second. There is no strength in keeping one’s enemies at a distance. There is only fear. A mercenary with a weapon that places him on an equal field with an opponent shows no fear.” She patted the knife’s butt at her knee.
True. Easy to say when you have more evolved psychic powers though. Time to see what this discussion can offer a man trapped for stud service. “Okay. Well, you can’t expect me to make accurate assessments when I don’t have much to build upon. Familiarize me with your world, Kindrist.” It couldn’t hurt to learn more and affect an escape.
A smile played with the corner of her mouth. “I prefer it when you use the name my parents called me. Come along. We’ll discuss the ship as we head back to our private quarters.” She turned and sashayed toward the door.
Her parents. His wife? His baby. Talk about bizarre epiphanies. How many times had he almost changed his life so drastically only to learn his butt was still in one piece and he could get back to work? That the world hadn’t changed. Well, not this time. He’d finally fathered a child. In wedlock! He followed his spouse’s sexy swinging bottom.
The ass that got him into this fix.
Change the subject.
Fatherhood.
Okay, maybe fathered, rather sired, a child. Maybe couldn’t sound any more significant. Just what did Goro mean by the dangerous period of pregnancy? Would any earthling even want this alien kid? Would the child be a freak? Hell, the kid wasn’t to blame. I should have listened to the warning when Kindrist mentioned the legend. He was lower than a dead slug when she had confessed his purpose was to fight and to propagate and nothing registered in his pea brain. He caught up with her as she crossed the docking-bay’s threshold and walked at her side in the white corridor where two white-garbed crewmen walked toward them.
Walked at her side like a spouse.
Or like a father.
Hell. He’d really done himself in this time. If he didn’t protect her, he was a louse of a father. Sub-human. So now he was her guardian. Just another job for a mercenary. He sighed and studied her stoic profile.
First shanghaied into never-ending woody-dom.
The crotch of his pants caught his peon.
Damned uncontrollable appendage. He repositioned it with a swift hopefully undetectable motion and studied her out of the corner of one eye.
Those marching curves never let on if she knew he watched her. And now I’m tricked into parenting.
Double duped. Could he bring himself to respect her and raise a child? Somebody had to save the kid from his father’s mistakes.
She turned her pointed nose his direction.
Those eerie unearthly yellow eyes. Talk about a fuck award. More like a reminder that a man in a foreign world had to be more careful.
His gut twisted.
I heard that, gut. Nothing else needs to be said.
“You’re staring at me, Straightarrow.”
Well, first things are first. “You need to call me Jake. We’re having a child. We should at least be on first name terms.”
She nodded once. “I wasn’t on my home world when my parents died. Parents mean as much to me as fighting this war. And now parenting.... It is an honor that you allow me to call you by your familiar name.” She bowed her head then met his gaze. “I can only hope you become more comfortable with me so that our child feels he is loved.”
How much of the future did she know? “He?”
“Or she. All is unknown.”
“What do your psychic abilities entail?”
“Telepathy. I can’t levitate, start fires, or much of anything else you associate with psychic powers. That’s the problem. Most of the universe is just telepathic. But for some reason, earth seems to produce psychics with extraordinary powers.”
Weird. Why? “Even though we’re beneath you on the evolutionary tree?”
She shot him a scowl. “Forget that. It means nothing other than none of us can read your mind. You should thank the stars you have that much freedom.”
Now that she was talking, he could jab her with the big questions. “What about our child’s psychic abilities?”
“Hopefully, it can read minds and have special powers.”
But the child might never arrive. “What about this dangerous period Goro mentioned?”
“The healers believe it’s a problem with blood types. That our blood doesn’t mix and the embryo aborts early. Others say the universe chooses to punish those working against it. As you would guess, that’s Voldon’s perspective. We believe otherwise on The Seeker.”
As far as she knew or cared to say. Sevra obviously had issues with this woman. “Have Sevra and Paul had a successful pregnancy?”
“Rarely does anyone in the fleet. There hasn’t been one yet aboard this starship.”
“Where’s Sevra from?”
“A planet close to Voldon’s home.”
His gut flipped.
Sevra wore a torch and originated from a planet close to Voldon’s home. She probably was in cahoots with the bastard. “Why don’t I like that answer?”
She slid her gaze to his. “You’re the intuitive one. You tell me.”
Did she think this a good topic to discuss openly? “We should discuss this when we’re alone.”
Kindrist’s warning was one a smart man would heed. “So, what of neural networks? If I’m to study with the boob of the century, I’d like to know what neural networks really are.”
; “Crystals.”
“Why do my thoughts veer off to energy now?”
She shot him a half-cocked smile. “Perhaps it’s because crystal energy on earth is the same as throughout the universe. Just like scientific laws.”
How did scientific laws explain psychic powers and this insane blood lust?
His groin demanded he ask with one wild lunge.
That part of his body needed to hold off on demands if only to keep me from looking like a sex addict. But something was going to have to give soon to keep me from losing my mind. And hopefully that would be Kindrist openly offering to appease the peon. Nobody was going to hold anything else over me out here in deep space. Even though earthlings looked weak in the blood lust aspect, my appearance in strength just might be the only thing saving my ass in the long run. Even with my alien wife.
Their silver door to their personal quarters suddenly punched him in the jaw.
His peon got really rowdy.
Personal time alone with Kindrist meant a struggle with desire.
Chapter Fourteen
Kindrist sat across from her husband at their personal quarters’ table where he studied a small holographic screen displaying various fortifications. He hadn’t asked for more sex. Surely he required more. Blood mates did. She’d give him anything to get back to winning his allegiance over. Just so she wouldn’t lose her mind wondering if he despised her. Blood lust was an excellent binder of wills. But it masked many issues in relationships. Like love and homesickness. Hopefully Jake didn’t miss earth. A content mate made for a happy life. But how could life ever be happy on a starship during wartime in comparison to the clean air and swaying vegetation on earth?
The familiar whisper of air blowing through the ventilation system tried to berate her for her preference of the hustle and bustle of a planet. Life aboard The Seeker was all business. So different from her childhood on Nulvitia. Maybe it was time to introduce Jake to some new music? No. Things finally progressed nicely. Her husband had stopped asking questions and focused on the information before him. At long last.
To hear a bird, a motor’s hum, or the chatter from nearby people. Earth and the memory of Nulvitia’s once-lush environment seemed so bright. So colorful. Life on a starship now felt cold. Estranged. Especially since she had a mate. And the baby was coming. Was Jake’s cooperative behavior a sign he was suddenly protective of her? Or the baby? Becoming a parent did that to honorable people. Better he chose to be a father than snarling at becoming a husband. Yet, could she ever hope of earning his love?
They had sex.
Wild sex.
And how she craved more.
Did he? How could he after telling her to get off the last time she truly needed to help herself? Who knew what he would have done if the blood libation hadn’t knocked her unconscious when she was on the verge of shape shifting. Gods, was she crazy for wondering? Curiosity often led to one’s demise. But she couldn’t help herself with him so close knowing how difficult it was for him to struggle with his weak earthling desires. She rose and skirted the table’s silver corners.
Would he fight me? Or did he have a better understanding of what a free-thinking freedom fighter suffered and sacrificed? An understanding that hinged upon sexual therapy.
His gaze met hers.
Noting in that gaze indicated he’d balk. She slid her hands across his shoulders, to where his heart drummed beneath his solid chest. “Undress.”
He thought, without blinking.
Apparently, desire wasn’t driving him.
He rose against her touch, pulled off his shirt, and yanked off his boots, turning to her.
Bless the gods, she ached between her legs. Ached for him. She fell against him, grabbing at the zipper of his pants, turning her mouth to his.
Would he take it? Kiss her? She gently pulled his stiff manhood free of his pants.
He settled back against the table, watching her lips.
Holy Devros, to have him kiss me of his own free will.
His mouth fell against hers, brushing her lips with softness. Then his fingers raked into her hair, and his tongue thrust inside her mouth.
A wave of need plowed through her.
She had to get her clothes off. She shoved out of grasp and yanked off a boot. He was there, pulling at the hem of her leather shirt. Seconds later, she was free of her clothing and rubbing her breasts against his taut nipples.
He grabbed her, whirled her around, and laid her across the table. His warm mouth landed on her nipples, pulling, nibbling, sucking.
Need shafted through her core.
She groaned, thrust her fingers into his hair, and held him right where she wanted his mouth to milk her soul.
Oh to feel this revered every moment of life. To have a mate sip from your soul.
He pulled her groin to the edge of the table and leaned his manhood against her.
Holiest sun of suns, she couldn’t take much more waiting.
He rammed his hardness inside her.
Over and over until he became the universe. Creation. And stars filled the blackness of her mind. Driving life from the void at that one point deep inside her womb where a man could make a woman dissolve into a gelatinous mass of gasping desperation on her back. She dug her fingernails into his shoulder blades and clung to him for sacred necessity because she couldn’t swallow her cries.
Climax shot a wave of exhaustion through her cells.
She dared not relax and breathe because he had yet to come.
He hovered over her, head thrown back, grunting, thrusting.
Pounding against her writing body in the most amazing manner of a needy mate. He needed her. And if that were all she would have in his life, she would gladly satiate his hunger.
His body went rigid as he throbbed inside her.
Oh what life had cheated in holding back so long from giving her a mate to satisfy. Both him and herself. She ran her palms down his back to his iron ass and tried to sketch out the contours for a sacred mental picture.
He sank to a knee on the bench. “God, I needed that,” he groaned.
Good to hear if only to know he wasn’t forced and enjoyed himself. But the feral attraction wasn’t freely entered into initially on his part. Jake’s actions indicated he remained a pawn in her game. Could he ever forgive her of that? But she had had to choose the only man she could ever love—a man whom she respected. The fact he felt some reason to work with her was what she’d have to accept in the place of love in their relationship. Mutual respect wasn’t grounds for a healthy marriage in many cultures.
A person’s thoughts pushed into Kindrist’s head. “Red Trekaar, there is a problem in The Chamber. Please take Straightarrow to assist,” Forty-three said in mindspeak.
“Darla again?” She stared at Jake where he studied a holographic display of various crystals associated with neural-network fortifications.
“Yes.”
What was Darla up to this time?
“This isn’t a matter where you need to endanger the child, Red Trekaar,” Forty Three said. “Send Straightarrow inside. Maybe he can learn why Darla is disturbed.”
Again, I’m told not to intervene? Gaining a soul mate wasn’t the triumph promised to me.
“Kindrist, are you listening?” Forty-three asked.
“Yes.” She turned to Jake. “We need to go.”
His curious dark gaze met hers. “Need? I take it you’re chatting telepathically again.”
Something teased in his voice. Something belligerent. That’s what she liked about him though. He didn’t buy into anything but his own standards. If only their standards could merge, become the same. “A problem in The Chamber.” She shoved off the table to pull on her pants.
Jake managed to zip up his fly. “Oh, a chance to listen to one of Darla’s sermons again. And to learn where Paul went. It hasn’t been that long since we chatted in the docking bay.” His voice almost entertained laughter. Or suspicion.
Was he mock
ing her or thrilled at the prospect of catching Paul behind a disturbance? He seemed so ready to attack evil on earth. Why not on The Seeker? She yanked the hem of her shirt down to her waist and led him back through the clean almost empty corridor.
The few crew members they passed weren’t hurrying to The Chamber. The problem had to be localized. She turned down the final stretch of winding passageway.
“What could Paul have done to Darla?” Jake asked.
Unknowingly instigating chaos. “Funny you ask. But Goro has had him visiting with Darla for as long as he’s been here. Paul is the only earthling she confides in after earthlings have taken the Beast Tamer. But it’s obvious her patience is thinning.”
“What then? Why does she balk so much?”
He sounded somewhat concerned. Maybe to tell him the rest would help in his understanding. She paused and turned to face his intent scrutiny. “Voldon believes Darla is his mate. She was rescued from Voldon before they consummated their relationship.”
“That’s not what you told me.”
The judgmental glint in Jake’s eyes wasn’t the reaction she wanted to see. “Voldon despises Goro. Since our ship is the one in the fleet Voldon seeks most, it is easy to deduce that the mad man’s motive is obviously that he yearns to possess his enemy’s possessions.”
“We sex-slaves-turned-stud secret weapons have possessions. Fascinating.” He turned to The Chamber’s entrance. “Let’s see what’s behind door number one.”
“I didn’t say Voldon wanted Darla’s possessions. I hope you’re paying attention.”
Jake laughed and followed her lead.
Any type of cooperation equated to cooperation. A positive reality. But couldn’t he tell that he was being sent in because he was a new recruit? Darla might respond to him because there was the chance he didn’t totally believe in The Cause? If only Darla had learned Jake was seduced. Jake would have that wild card in his favor. But he obviously didn’t realize why he was chosen to intervene. “Don’t you understand? You must be careful.” She stepped behind his swinging long black hair.
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