She lay in his arms, hot, sweaty and utterly satisfied. Taura stroked her hand over his back and butt. “I love you, my Badari warrior. What are those instincts of yours telling you we need to do to claim each other? Because I’m never letting you go.”
He raised himself on his elbows and smoothed her hair away from her face, kissing her gently. Then he allowed his fangs to extend ever so slightly. “I have to mark you, with these. I’ll be as gentle as possible. But we must change positions.”
She just nodded so he pulled her to a sitting position for a hug before rolling her on her stomach and then raising her onto all fours. He was already hardening, as he anticipated what was going to happen next between them. He loomed over her, positioned to take her from behind, again guiding himself inside with great care because she was so tiny compared to him, and he never wanted to hurt her in any way.
Taura moaned with pleasure, and he reached to stroke her clit again as he moved inside her body. He could feel her channel was still swollen and sensitive from the first encounter of a few minutes ago, and the way she applied pressure to him as he moved heightened his arousal to an unbearable peak. She was breathing in time with his strokes now and encouraging him with soft sounds of pleasure. As he climaxed this time, he grazed the back of her shoulder with the tips of his fangs and claimed his mate while they were both in the throes of the passion.
Afterward, they curled up together. He licked the bite mark gently a few times to seal the small wound and she said, “You were right – it didn’t hurt. Maybe a pinprick, but no more than that.”
Full of pride at being one of the few mated Badari, and extremely happy, he kissed her. He couldn’t help but wonder when she’d claim him, and how, but he felt a curious reluctance to bring it up. He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind about her side of the ritual. After all, as a human, she had no instincts guiding her, the way his ancestral memory and heritage impelled him. He worried she was finding the whole concept distasteful now. Humans didn’t customarily bite each other after growing out of childhood, as he understood it.
“Race you to the pool.” She rolled out of the other side of the bed and headed to the small mineral hot springs pool to be found in an adjacent chamber.
He sprinted after her, sliding into the water and submerging for a few breaths, reveling in the fizzy bubbling as the minerals cleansed his skin and hair. The sensation was revitalizing.
When he surfaced, Taura was seated on the rock ledge across the small pond. She held her arms out to him, and he swam the few strokes required to reach her then stood.
“Your turn to be properly claimed now.” She scooted to the edge of the shelf until their bodies touched, then ran her hands up his naked chest, intertwining her fingers behind his head and locked her legs around his waist.
Startled, he adjusted to hold her.
Jadrian’s long, thick cock nudged her folds, and Taura shifted her hips to make it easier for him to enter, settling herself down onto the pleasure enhancing ridges of his arousal and riding the waves of pleasure. She alternated between squeezing him with her internal muscles and allowing him to push further toward her core. The previous two orgasms in the bed had been stupendous, the best she’d ever experienced in her life. The act of being claimed by her mate carried her to a high she’d never attained before, ever, and she wanted to make her claiming of him equally enjoyable.
He was asking for a kiss so she raised her face to his and allowed his tongue to explore her mouth as they moved together in the warm, gently bubbling water. Holding her easily with one arm, he massaged her breast with the other, toying with the nipple, not inflicting pain but sending shivers through her.
With no prompting from her, Jadrian transferred his attention to her clit, reaching between then and teasing the sensitive nub with his long fingers.
“Fast learner,” she said, breaking off the kiss.
“I want to know everything about you and will enjoy the learning process.”
Taura could feel the rising tension in both of them as their mutual climax approached. As she crested and hot jets of his seed released deep inside her body, she sank her teeth into the soft spot where his neck met his shoulders. She did her best to mete out a suitable mate mark without actually breaking his skin. He held her so tightly she couldn’t breathe for a few heartbeats, but she didn’t care. They were one person in that instant, united mentally and physically, the pleasure and possession travelling along their mental link and through their bodies.
Jadrian staggered, uncharacteristically losing his balance, and she licked his skin before she raised her head. Placing her hands on his cheeks, she stared deep into the golden glow of his eyes. “Mine,” she said. “Now and forever.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Taura was a bit sore and feeling well loved when they reconvened with the others in Aydarr’s conference room the next evening. As she took her seat next to Jadrian she felt a fresh rush of pride over her warrior mate and their bond. He nudged her knee with his own under the table and sent a warm wave of affection through the mate link.
I won’t make it through this meeting if you keep doing that. Reprimanding him gently through their private communication channel, she sat primly in her seat, hands folded like a schoolgirl.
Grinning, Jadrian lounged in his chair like a satisfied cat.
Gabe walked in and took a seat, projecting an air of dissatisfaction and downright grumpiness. “I swore I was done with fastlink bullshit after I retired.”
“Nobody ever really retires, you know that.” Walt sat beside his fellow soldier. “Command can yank you back any time.”
“So, you do have the implant?” Taura asked.
With an abrupt bark of laughter Gabe said, “Seeing as how we’ve already busted operational security and explained this to our allies, yeah, I’ll admit I can fastlink.”
“I take full responsibility,” she said. “If we’re ever lucky enough to get a chance to report to Command.”
Aydarr rapped his knuckles on the table and silence fell in the room. “MARL believes he’s recreated the transmitter, or a working facsimile. I’ll let him speak to the accomplishment.”
The shiny AI floated away from his position behind Jill and moved to the center of the table, where he hovered. Sheets of various colors slid over his surface. “It wasn’t difficult. Human technology presents few challenges. There was the element of taking thought from your heads and projecting the signal which offered an intriguing puzzle. My creator’s people had no such gifts.”
“Most humans don’t either,” Taura said. “The Sectors have allies known as the Mellureans who can do these things, and they undoubtedly advised on the development of the fastlink protocol.”
“Ah, thank you for the explanation.” MARL went all green for a few seconds before lavender and peach dotted his sheets of color. “I’m ready to embark on the experiment as soon as Jill requests it.”
“Where’s the transmitter unit?” Walt asked. “I’d like to see it, since I volunteered to be the guinea pig.”
“I determined the best solution was to house the transmitting apparatus within myself.” MARL’s tone was matter of fact.
Taura remembered how Jadrian had once complained about their reliance on an alien device they didn’t really understand. She could relate to his reluctance now. “May we see the message?”
Aydarr activated a display, and the draft message hung in the air. She read the text rapidly and then read it again more slowly. The communique began with their three operator codes, then the colony’s code, followed by a terse summary of the situation they were facing, including the fact the senders were working with local allies and asking for help.
“Scans fine to me,” she said. “It may be too long, depending on the power for the transmitter and the sender’s own resilience, but you did a good job of frontloading the most critical data.”
“Can they reply to us?” asked Megan, who was a new member of the group today.
“Maybe a little better than that,” Walt said, “Since there are buoys and other listening devices set up all through the Sectors and along the borders to find transmissions on fastlink. I notice we don’t supply any co-ordinates. Will the military be able to trace the signal?”
“I’m embedding the star field information in the underlying transmission,” MARL said. “Your Sectors authorities will have to do their best with what I can send. No one can tell me where this planet lies in relation to your Sectors.”
“MARL’s a top notch astrogator,” Jill said. “He showed me amazing charts when we first met, but I’m not trained to read them.”
“Yeah, even I couldn’t figure out where the Sectors border was from here,” Gabe said. “So if we point our message in one direction the odds of it ever reaching anyone who cares are pretty nil.”
“I plan to sweep the skies and transmit in a 360 degree circle.” MARL paused and orange threads ran through his colors. “There is an issue.”
“Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?” Taura asked.
“In order for the plan to work as designed, I need all three of you to link and transmit as one unit.”
She absorbed this comment, assessing how she felt about the idea. Fastlink was normally a solitary coms activity. She’d liked the fact in the original plan there’d been three chances at succeeding—Walt, Gabe and herself. Now achieving a positive outcome was reduced to a one time throw of the dice. She wished MARL had been more collaborative in his design process, or she’d been more forceful. But her mind had been on other priorities involving Jadrian and herself and the claiming ritual.
“I can’t order anyone to participate,” Aydarr said. “Volunteers only. We can clear the room and leave you three to discuss the plan in privacy.” He rose from his chair. “We’ll be waiting outside for your decision.”
Taura checked with the two other humans, and was pleased to see Walt and Gabe nodding agreement to her, even though their faces were grim. She addressed the Alpha. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re willing to give it our best shot. We took an oath to the Sectors and to its people when we entered our various branches of the service, and the threat level here on this planet is dangerously high, given the direct Chimmer involvement and the nature of the experiments going on. What’s the next step?”
Pointing at the door, the Alpha said, “We go outside and get this done.”
“From what I was told, this technology is made to function best outdoors, so I replicated that condition,” MARL said.
“We’re going to set up in the adjacent clearing,” Aydarr said. “We’ve got medical supplies waiting, and Megan will monitor, as will Timtur.”
The room cleared. Jadrian and Taura lingered. Gabe, the last one out the door, gave them a look, shrugged and closed the portal behind him.
“You understand why I have to do this?” she asked, going into Jadrian’s open arms.
“I mated a warrior and must accept the risks as you do.” His answer was calm and their mental bond held rock steady. “I’ll be there the entire time.”
“If MARL’s as good as he says he is, this should be simple.” Taura didn’t believe a word of what she was saying, but she wanted to encourage Jadrian. “Maybe even better than using the original fastlink.”
“You wanted to send messages since the day I rescued you,” he said with an attempt at a smile. “Tonight you get your wish.”
She rested her head on his chest, listening to the powerful heartbeat and calming the nervous spasms in her gut. Always in tune with her mood, Jadrian fell silent and held her close, rubbing one hand in a soothing massage across her back.
All too soon there was a knock, and Timtur stuck his head into the room. “Aydarr says he’s ready to begin the transmission attempt now.”
Taura and Jadrian followed him from the room and along a path into the meadow. Taura smelled the night blooming flowers and took a deep breath as she passed between two grim-faced Badari soldiers, holding pulse rifles at the ready. Taura craned her neck and saw the area was surrounded by pack warriors. Aydarr wanted no interruptions or spying eyes tonight.
The Alpha and the others clustered close to MARL, who’d gone all silver as he floated three feet off the ground.
Does lack of the colors mean he’s extra serious? She was encouraged to see the AI had apparently gone into a highly focused mode. “What do you want us to do?” Taura asked as she joined the group.
“The three of you need to stand in a circle around me, join hands, and when I bring up the transmission field, begin to send the message, as you would have done with your own transmitter. All others need to move out of range.” MARL spun lazily end over end as if the planet’s gravity had no effect on him.
Like a children’s game only this is deadly serious. Repressing the whimsical thought, Taura kissed Jadrian one more time then walked to join Walt and Gabe. As instructed, the three Sectors personnel linked hands, with Taura standing between Gabe and Walt while MARL floated in the center. The AI stopped tumbling, and his surface became coated with a sparkling purple hue, the edges of which seemed to lift and float off the metallic structure to spread like a pool of water until it had enveloped all three of them.
So far, so much like fastlink itself. Only less painful, less pull on the core of her own strength. Taura closed her eyes, tried to blank out her awareness of her surroundings and to concentrate on sending the message. As far as she could tell, she might be in the fastlink matrix—some of the sensations were the same, but not all. Her focus narrowed to the words and numbers she was supposed to be transmitting. She began to feel like she herself was floating in the stars, arrowing in one direction then another, without reason or rhyme as MARL reoriented himself to scan the sky. She heard whispers—Walt and Gabe perhaps? The underlying hum of the galaxy itself was a compelling vibration through her, a celestial form of music that captured her attention and made her giddy. Oh, this was so much better than fastlink, so much more fun.
Jadrian stood next to Aydarr and watched the three humans standing in MARL’s colorful faux star field. “Are they transmitting?” he asked. “This has been going on for a long time, an hour at least.” Inaction ate at him, especially while his mate was in the thrall of this strange device. The longer the fastlink session went on, the more unhappy he became.
“Shhh,” Jill said, “Don’t interrupt him or them. We have to hope it’s working. I think MARL would have told us if it wasn’t.”
“If he knew.” Aydarr’s voice was tight. “This is as new for him as it is for us.”
Gabe sagged and fell to the ground, where he rolled onto his back and lay unmoving, arms flung wide. He remained inside the purple field of color. The suddenness with which the human collapsed startled Jadrian and his adrenaline spiked at the extreme reaction on Gabe’s part. Unease prickled along his spine.
“MARL, can you retract the transmission matrix? Or can we safely pull him out of it?” Jill asked, placing herself between the rest of the group and the glowing energy field where the humans and MARL were located so no one could rush to bring Gabe to safety. “I don’t want anyone else hurt. It may be dangerous to step into the transmission field. We simply don’t know.”
“I will attempt to pull away from Gabe.” MARL’s voice sounded a bit strained, and Jadrian saw the entire purple area flicker before the color and shape stabilized again.
Walt dropped Taura’s hand and staggered a few steps, falling onto the grass well outside the transmission area. “I can’t do any more,” he said in a threadbare voice unlike his usual confident baritone. “Either the signal got through or it didn’t, but I can’t make my brain send one more symbol.” His eyes rolled back in his head, and he passed out.
Anger laced with fear for Taura raged through Jadrian. “End this experiment and release my mate,” he said, claws and talons deploying. “She’s done enough.”
As if they’d ignored his protest, Mateer and Aydarr pulled Gabe from his proximity to MARL as the colored light moved a few inches above his supine body. “He’s still breathing,” the alpha said, “But not too steadily.” He raised his gaze to Jadrian, his face reflecting his concern. “I agree that Taura has more than done her part. We shouldn’t risk her further.”
“This technology takes a terrible toll on the body but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to arbitrarily pull Taura out of the fastlink field.” Megan kept talking as she injected Walt with two different substances then knelt beside Gabe. “Walt ‘s vitals indicate he’s in better shape, but not by much. I need them taken to the clinic stat.”
In response to a quick signal along the Badari telepathic link, soldiers rushed in with litters and got the two unconscious humans loaded up and on their way.
“I have to go,” Megan said. “I’ll get them stabilized and come right back. If you decide to break her link, I suggest waiting for me to return but if you won’t or can’t delay, then Timtur knows what to do as the first step when Taura comes out.”
The Badari healer showed Jadrian three injects stacked neatly in his medicine pouch as the doctor rushed off in the direction the litters had been taken.
Upset, annoyed his concerns weren’t being taken seriously enough, Jadrian checked on Taura, who was standing in the purple light alone now, arms raised toward the sky, eyes closed and a big smile on her face. “We need to shut this down and get her into treatment.” He wheeled to face his Alpha’s wife. “Aydarr agreed she’s done enough, tell MARL to shut the field off.”
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