Jadrian
Page 19
We could have such a party as well if it would please you. I’m sure Aydarr would be happy to have a pretext for another gathering.
“I’ll think about it. I don’t like being the center of attention.” A spy has to work in the shadows.
But you’re not a spy any more.
As you once told me, old habits die hard. She derived rueful amusement from the realization.
He nodded to acknowledge her point. To return to the topic at hand, you could speak to the doctor or to the Alpha’s mate, to explain the ritual from a human woman’s viewpoint. Both Megan and Jill are fully mated.
Taura shook her head. “I think this is for the two of us—you and me—to figure out together.” It’s our claiming, not anyone else’s.
I like your possessiveness. Jadrian’s comment sounded like an approving purr in her head.
Taura felt a rush of heat deep inside herself. I wish we could get back to our den sooner.
He chose to speak aloud, impatience ringing in his voice. “Yeah, I’m with you on that.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Taura leaned back in her chair and stretched. The debrief from the mission was still going on after several hours. Jadrian was visibly fighting to remain alert, and she’d noticed Timtur the healer eyeing him as well. She wished Aydarr would be satisfied and adjourn the meeting so she could get her as-yet-undeclared mate home. They might have to defer the claiming activity until tomorrow, despite how fast the Badari healed, but she could wait. The Khagrish had worked him over before she arrived to serve as a diversion, and it was plain to her he wasn’t anywhere near recovered yet, no matter what he claimed.
She shoved the restorative drink Timtur had given Jadrian closer to him. He rolled his eyes but picked the container up and drank, then made a face.
She’d just about decided to ask Aydarr to excuse them and protocol be damned, when the Alpha said, “I think we’re done here for now.”
Relieved, she bounced out of her chair, ready to leave, when Aydarr added, “I’d like Mateer, Taura, Jadrian and Walt to stay.” He looked at his wife, “Jill, you too. And MARL.”
Now Timtur protested. “Jadrian needs to be allowed to rest.”
“I won’t keep them long. Actually, it’s Taura I need to speak with, but I’m assuming he won’t want to leave her here while he goes home.” Aydarr grinned.
“Absolutely not.” Jadrian confirmed Aydarr’s amused assumption. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Taura said, “But if this can be a quick conversation, then I’ll stay.”
The room emptied out as this byplay was going on. Walt moved from the edge of the chamber to take a seat directly opposite Taura and Jadrian. Jadrian rose and extended his hand over the table. “I wish to thank you for your part in my rescue, and for assisting Taura.”
“No problem.” Walt shook on it. “All water under the bridge. We’re in a new situation here now. I’m ready to move on, if you are and she is. My old orders no longer apply.”
“This is my meeting, you two, although I’m glad to see you reach a new accord,” Aydarr said but his tone was merely firm, not offended. “Before the events at the lab took priority, MARL raised an interesting question about the two of you.” He indicated Taura then Walt. “About certain implants in your brains. Jill has suggested to me the devices might be related to long range communications.”
Surprised by the topic, Taura exchanged a rapid glance with her fellow Sectors’ citizen.
“To enable sending long range, even interstellar messages,” Aydarr went on. “I need to know if this is true, and if we can use them to send a call for help to the Sectors.”
Walt acted unfazed by the pressure from the Alpha. “What I may or may not have in my brain is beyond top secret. Ordinarily, I’d die before I told you anything. But I’ll defer to Taura on this, because technically she would have been my commanding officer in the field if we’d managed to connect.” Green eyes glinting, he looked at her with a challenging attitude. “Do we talk or not?”
He was right about her status as the senior officer, since on Dardanel Three she’d been the person in charge of the operation. “I think in the current situation we owe it to our allies to share any intelligence that might help us all defeat the Khagrish, the Chimmer, and the Mawreg. Clearly, we’re caught up in a massive plot against the Sectors.” Swiveling in her chair to face the impatient Alpha, she said, “I’m guessing what MARL detected in us is an implant known as fastlink. Not everyone in the Special Forces or the agency to which I belonged is given this tech.”
“Or wants it,” Walt grimaced.
“Way above my pay grade,” Jill said in confirmation. “I saw it used on a mission or two, though. Saved our asses.”
“Although use of the device exacts a toll on the sender.” Taura felt compelled to add the negative aspects to the discussion.
“I heard it shortens your life by a year, each time you use it,” Jill said.
“To my knowledge no research has ever been done one way or the other.” Walt added his opinion. “It’s grueling for the sender, I won’t sugar coat it. You need military grade adrenaphix shots afterward, which I doubt we have here, and you’re debilitated for hours no matter what. I’m talking knocked out, off your feet.”
You’ve used this tool? Jadrian’s voice in her head was a mix of concern and admiration.
I had to make reports in an untraceable manner, so yes. It’s as bad as Walt says. I think this is what my memory about ‘messages’ was, when I’d have a flashback here. I needed to send my last report.
“If we were able to send a message, would anyone be listening for it?” Aydarr asked.
“The Sectors Command has listening buoys for this and other secret communications,” Walt said. “A fastlink transmission gets priority. A few skillful operators—maybe one percent—can transmit directly to others, especially if enabled by a ship. I’m not at that level.”
“Nor am I,” Taura said. “But we don’t know how far we are from the Sectors and what the range limitations of fastlink might be. And Walt brings up a good point which makes this entire discussion moot. We can’t transmit unaided. There’s a piece of hardware required, to take the signal from our minds, boost it and fling it out into the galaxy where it needs to go. I certainly didn’t wake up with my black box close at hand. Did you?” She checked with the soldier.
He shook his head. “It’s safe in my luggage on the ship, who knows how many lightyears away from here.”
MARL floated away from his position behind Jill’s chair and drifted down the table, dark purple and green colors chasing each other across his surface. “I can extrapolate the transmitter from what you’ve said and from the design of the implants in your brains. There are subtle differences between the units. This will be an intriguing challenge, to reverse engineer such primitive technology.”
“And then you can make it work? Transmit a message?” Taura asked with skepticism, ignoring MARL’s gibe at the level of tech.
“Without killing us?” Walt added. “The refinement’s kind of important here.”
“I will run tests until I’m sure the device works so well I’d entrust Jill herself to use it, were she enabled.” MARL reversed course and floated toward the Alpha’s wife. “That’s my highest level of care.”
“You’d better check with Gabe as well. He might have had fastlink when he was on active duty,” Walt said. “He won’t have the transmitter with him either obviously but the military leaves the implants in place when a soldier retires. It’d be a third data point for you because he probably doesn’t have the same unit either of us has.”
“A valuable input.” MARL flashed a sheet of peach pink color. “An oversight on my part not to have scanned Gabe.” He sounded grumpy at being forced to admit anything less than perfection.
“How long will this take?” Aydarr asked.
Sparkling turquoise threads moved through the other colors MARL displayed, then the alien AI said, �
Aydarr raised an eyebrow at Mateer.
“On it,” the enforcer said. “Darik’s bringing him now. And I’ll ask Megan what stims she might have on hand in the clinic that could mimic adrenaphix.”
“Good.” The Alpha sounded pleased. “I’m not asking anyone to volunteer just yet. Let’s wait for MARL’s manifestation and demonstration tomorrow.”
Jill had once told Taura the alien AI loved doing demonstrations of his tech. Taura swallowed hard. Sending messages via fastlink was one of the least favorite aspects of her previous job. What would the effects on her be if she tried it with an alien mashup of the required support equipment?
Echoing her private reservations, Jadrian said, “I wish to go on record I don’t like this idea.”
“But Aydarr’s right,” Walt said forcefully. “If there’s even a remote chance of getting a message to the Sectors, we need to try. We’re living in a fool’s paradise here if we don’t think at some point the Chimmer are going to call in a strike on this planet and root us out. I’m betting the Khagrish are keeping the situation quiet for now, in hopes they can avoid admitting to the Chimmer the existence of a rebel force of Badari and humans going around destroying labs and causing trouble. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Inevitably the Khagrish will escalate their attempts to catch us, and then we have to be prepared for the arrival of even more deadly forces.”
“The Mawreg could even get involved and destroy the planet.” Jill nodded in agreement.
Taura clenched her hands together, her stomach roiling with fear. Jadrian reached out to catch her hand with one of his and squeeze her fingers gently for reassurance.
“I know we’re on a ticking timeline,” Aydarr answered, standing tall. “Which is why I can’t afford to ignore this possibility once MARL and Jill raised it.”
“I volunteer to be the first person to test the setup,” Walt said, rising from his chair. “I’m in total agreement about the necessity, and I’m not mated, nor likely to be.” He gave Jadrian a sympathetic glance. “I understand where you’re coming from, believe me, but there’s only two of us—maybe three—on the entire planet who can send a fastlink message. I think we have to try.”
“You beat me to it,” Taura said. “I’ll volunteer as well.”
Through their bond, she had no trouble detecting Jadrian’s instinctive negative reaction to her risking herself, but he didn’t say anything out loud or directly to her.
I respect you as a warrior, he said with great deliberation. And will stand by whatever decision you make.
“All right, this meeting is adjourned. We’ll plan to get together here tomorrow night for MARL’s show,” Aydarr said. “In the meantime, I’ll craft a message in case we can send word out to the Sectors. I’ll send a draft to each of you for comments and additions prior to the meeting.”
“One thing to know—fastlink works best with brevity,” Taura said. “A clear, short message, pushed hard by the operator is most likely to go through.”
“I think we need to include the colony’s ID tag as well,” Jill said. “Doing so will enhance the creditability of our message, and I’m sure our mass disappearance has people in the Sectors terrified, not to mention the worries of the people we hope were left safely behind, like the elderly and the children.”
“I’ve duly noted both points, thank you, ladies.” Aydarr rose, putting his arm around Jill. “See the rest of you tomorrow.”
Taura and Jadrian walked hand in hand toward their cave. “I can’t wait to get you home for some pampering,” she said. “I know Timtur did his best healer magic on you, but I want to see for myself that you’re okay.”
“And you as well.” Jadrian paused to hug her close. “I was sure my heart would stop when I realized you were there, a prisoner of the Khagrish again.”
“I wasn’t going to let them have you.” Taura fought her emotions, remembering her first sight of him, bound and tortured, not even sure he was alive, except for the bond between them. I will not cry.
“Now you know what your true capabilities are,” Jadrian said, “I guess you won’t be working in the garden or the Stores. Aydarr will surely want you as part of our military team.”
“I’m not a soldier. I acquired certain skills along the way.” Excitement over the idea of playing a part in future missions combined with a touch of nerves. She wasn’t used to the idea of operating out in the open. I’ll have to adjust to the circumstances here and I’ve proven I can handle myself.
“There is a role for you, if you want it.” He sounded positive.
“Will your mate going in harm’s way bother you?” she asked. He was so protective at all times but his answer surprised her.
“Everyone who can fight must if we’re to survive. We’ll be a team, especially since we can communicate mind to mind.” Jadrian touched her forehead with his fingertips and then his own. “A rare blessing. Did you ask the goddess for the telepathic gift?”
“No, she didn’t even say specifically we had it. She mentioned she’d bind us together doubly, so perhaps that was her meaning. Will I be a member of Aydarr’s pack after we’ve claimed each other?” She was curious, especially given her history of ignoring the alpha’s orders.
“You’re only the fourth woman to become a Badari mate, so the situation is unclear,” he said. “I would assume so, however. Jill, of course, is a warrior and an unquestioned member of the pack and stands second only to Aydarr. We all swore loyalty to her, even Jamokan and his pack. Her younger sister Lily is Timtur’s mate, but even she would happily tell you she has no desire for a place in the pack hierarchy. Megan is Mateer’s mate, but being a healer she stands outside the pack structure of command.” Frowning, he said, “There are many things to be sorted out yet.”
“I’ll be happy to give Aydarr my opinion whether he asks for it or not,” Taura said. “On that or any other issue. I wasn’t a shy and retiring person in the Sectors, aside from the subterfuges required by my job as an undercover agent. I’m not changing now.”
Jadrian laughed. “I have no desire for you to alter or suppress anything about yourself. Aydarr respects strength matched with skill and knowledge. He’s strong enough to carry the load of leading such warriors in peace or war. But we would all fight to the death to protect the humans we’ve rescued, pack or not.”
“And on that note, we’re home.” Jill stared at the steep slope leading to their cave. “And darn, still no steps.”
“I like to hear you call it home. When I laid claim to the den, I only had a faint hope the goddess might grant me a mate. I’m incredibly blessed she sent you.”
“Funny, I believed she sent you to me.” Jill stood precariously on her tiptoes to kiss him, and then they trudged up the grade. “Next downtime we have, we need to get serious about terracing the hill as you’d mentioned and set regular steps into the path.”
Once they reached the top, Jadrian swung her into his arms and carried her inside the cave. “Are you hungry or thirsty?” he asked, pausing in the living area.
“Neither.”
“Fine.” He carried her into the bedroom and deposited her on their giant bed. “I think you mentioned you wanted to see if I was all in one piece?” His smile was mischievous as he backed away from the bed a step or two and toed off his boots. Next to go was his shirt, then he was unbuckling his utility pants. He stood naked before her, his cock jutting proudly, ready for her attention. Taura inhaled sharply and got off the bed, walking in a circle around him in a mock inspection, trailing her hand across his chest and then his back as she went, never breaking skin to skin contact.
“Looks perfect to me.” She grasped his manhood and stroked firmly for a moment. She grabbed a pillow, dropped it to the floor then sank to her knees, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could. She swirled her tongue over the sensitive head then the big vein underneath. Jadrian���s hips bucked under her ministrations, and he tangled his hand in her hair, urging her on but careful not to choke her as he thrust into the warmth of her mouth.
Pushed to the brink of climax, Jadrian threw back his head and groaned. He took Taura by the shoulders and gently raised her from her knees, the air cold on his cock as it slipped from her lips. “You have too many clothes on, mate-to-be.”
“I can remedy the problem easily enough.”
He caught her hand. “Let me.” Removing her shirt first, he paused to admire her beautiful, shapely breasts, before seating her on the edge of the bed to ease off her shoes. She reclined so he could slide her pants down her hips and drop them to the cave floor. “Beautiful,” he said, nearly speechless at the sight of her supple body in the subdued light, all curves and soft skin, waiting for him. She wore a tiny pair of black panties he wanted to rip off with his talons, or maybe even his fangs, but he supposed he needed to be careful so she could wear them in the future. Hooking a claw on either side of the garment, he teased himself and her by drawing it slowly from her body, kissing the delicate parts of her body the fabric had been covering.
Dropping the wisp of silky material to the floor, he bent to take a breath of her womanly scent, sweet and enticing, before running his fingers through her thatch of ebony curls, and into her silken folds. He circled her clit and took delight in watching her squirm. “You’re more than ready for me,” he said, feeling how slick and wet she was.
Taura scooted closer to the top of the bed and held out her hands to him. “Please, Jadrian? We have all night to play and touch and explore, but right now I just want you deep inside me.”
He positioned himself on the mattress and took his aching cock in hand, guiding himself carefully into her body.
Taura pulled him down for a deep kiss, and he gave in to the overriding urges and plunged deep into her welcoming embrace. She locked her legs behind his butt, urging him wordlessly not to be gentle as he moved in and out in a rhythm Taura matched easily. She clenched her inner muscles around his girth at the deepest point of each stroke, to apply erotic pressure he couldn’t resist. Giving in to the demands of his body, Jadrian pushed as deep as he could go with one thrust and came in a burst of white hot sensation like nothing he ever felt before. Taura matched him, tilting her pelvis to enhance her own pleasure and hanging onto him passionately, screaming his name as she too climaxed.
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