Unity

by Kim Knox

  Alena switched on the shower, and a spray of hot water filled the alcove. She focused her attention on adjusting the temperature, focused so she could ignore the hollow pain in her chest. “I don’t need a reminder that my whole family is dead, thank you, Vadim.”

  His hand cupped her shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’m sorry … Alena.” He let out a slow sigh, but a wisp of wry amusement coloured it. “This ritual is affecting me more than I thought it would.”

  A short laugh escaped her. “You have the hardest role.” She winced. “No pun intended. Sorry.”

  His laughter echoed around the tiled room. With a final brief slide of his fingers down her arm, his hand dropped away. “Yes. Thank you.” He pointed to the alcove beside her. “May I?”

  “Make it cold,” she said, stepping into the steaming water and letting it stream over her sweat-damp body. Alena lifted her face to the jets and sighed at the wash of cleanserwater breaking over her skin.

  “Ice cold,” Vadim muttered before disappearing into the alcove.

  Alena blinked away the water from her eyelashes. Water splashed over his body, and he twitched, gasping at what was obviously a freezing rush. He planted his hands on the black tiles and turned his face to the water. Her own shower was suddenly too hot … but she couldn’t look away from the sluice of water running over his tanned, muscular back, buttocks, and thighs. Tension coiled low in her pelvis, and her nipples lifted, hardened.

  Him and a bed. Alena let her gaze linger on the straining muscles in his arms. Hell, just him. Up against the wall. Hard. Fast.

  She groaned and adjusted the temperature of the shower. Cool water splashed in a rush over her skin, and she bit back a yelp. She needed the distraction. Vadim was offlimits until the rise of the second moon. Her teeth chattered, and she ran a palm over the panel. The stream of water died. Shivering, she scuttled across the room to the cache of towels and robes stored in a discreet cabinet.

  Towelled dry, she threw on a robe. Get out, get to her bed, hide. Daylight and the grind of work would take her mind off her need to screw the man in the shower.

  Vadim reached past her and grabbed a towel. Damn the man was quiet. His closeness had her skin all too aware of him again. Her mother had never given her strength-giver a second look. General Mishenka still had the bitter turn to him, a narrowness to his eyes that forty years of being spurned by his empress had cut into his face. Her sister Antonina’s father had been her mother’s knowledge-giver, years after she ascended the throne.

  Alena stared at the wet floor. She should run with her first plan, get the hell out of the room. But Vadim intended to stick with her … so it was easier to stand there and listen to him rub a towel over his cool, clean skin… She squeezed her eyes shut. This was crazy. A day. That’s all it was. Another day, and she could manacle the flight-captain to her bed, have his lithe body stretched out and at her mercy…

  She groaned and thought about walking straight back into the cold shower. No, there’d never been any mention of such an awareness of the strength-giver, the need to push him back against the wall and run hands over his clean, muscular torso.

  “Now we have to sleep together.”

  Alena choked and coughed it out. “Sleep together?” Her voice was little more than a squeak. “I can’t…” She waved down his robe. “…with you…”

  “Sleep, Alena,” he said but the sudden shine of levity in his eyes seemed … forced.

  His gaze dropped. He tugged at the belt and tightened the long black robe around his waist. “General Mishenka explained the ritual in detail.”

  And she’d forgotten it. Her prurient research had always involved the time in the little chamber … not what had to happen afterwards. It was why the empress had such a big bed, after all. “We all have to curl up together.”

  A wince pulled at his cheek. “Yes.”

  Before she realised it, her fingers had smoothed over his jaw. The contact jolted him.

  Her heart tightened. Was her touch offensive? “You’re making me feel unwanted, Vadim.”

  He pulled in a breath, and he stepped back beyond her touch. The intensity to his silver eyes had her blood pounding. His hands curled into fists. “Don’t, Alena. I’m here to prove my strength and discipline. You touch me again? I’ll have you so hard up against that wall I’ll not give a fuck that this city will die.”

  Her breath hitched, and heat melted through her body. She pulled her hands into tight fists, because she wanted nothing more than to reach out and stroke his cheek. That would be wrong. But she still found herself moving forward, stepping into his personal space. Alena felt outside of her own body, taunting him, but she had to. Her body twisted tight with a need she didn’t want to deny. “How hard?”

  “Alena…” He almost growled her name, and a flush stained his cheeks. “Stop.”

  She lifted her hand, her fingers tracing over the smooth material of his robe. The hard muscle of his pectoral jumped at her touch. The power she had over him intoxicated her. “You didn’t answer my question, Flight-Captain.”

  “This is not a part of the ritual.”

  Her hand slid lower, the glide of her fingers melting into the sound of his harsh breathing. The heat of his skin bled through the robe … and still her hand skirted lower, lower.

  Vadim grabbed her wrist, his fingers locking tight. “Don’t play this game.”

  Her other hand pressed against his abdomen. Muscles tensed, and he hissed as she teased a finger down. Through the material, her palm brushed against the solid length of his erection—

  With a growl, Vadim yanked her hand away and barrelled her back. Alena hit the tiled wall with a thump that winded her. Pinning her arms above her head, he leaned in so close his breath brushed her cheek, his hard body crushing her to the wall. His cock strained against her belly. She sucked in a short breath, the ache to have him tearing through her.

  “I had to hold you open so another man could fuck you. Have you any idea…” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth, his teeth nipping. Alena groaned and arched against him. “I’m still enough of my father’s son, enough of a Talar, to find that an …

  abomination.” His mouth hovered over hers, his hands flexing around her wrists. “I want to make you scream.”

  Alena’s heart pounded. Her breasts pushed up against Vadim’s hard chest, and with his mouth so close to hers, she couldn’t breathe. “Make…”

  His mouth covered hers in a clash of tongues and teeth. He tasted hot with a hint of alien spices that had her moaning. She wanted to run her fingers over him, discover the smooth heat of his skin, but Vadim’s hands held her firm. The strength, the power of him fed the liquid ache pooling low in her belly.

  She rolled her hips, freeing her leg so that she could hook it over his thigh. Their robes parted, and his bare skin brushed hers. Alena didn’t know which one of them groaned first. His cock, long, hard, and satin-smooth rubbed against her belly. It would be so easy, so easy for him to… She shifted until the head of his cock brushed against her clitoris. Her body bucked … and with a shower of sparks, the lights in the bathroom died.

  Chapter Five

  “What the…” Vadim staggered back, and she lost his touch in the suddenly thick blackness.

  Alena pulled her robe together with trembling fingers and closed her eyes. Panic had her heart pounding. What the hell were they doing? Playing with the life of the city for the sake of satisfying her lust? “That was us. Me.” She let out a slow breath. Sacha’s offer of knowledge had obviously failed as she was an unthinking idiot. “I’m sorry, Vadim, I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

  “We blew the lights?” The darkness couldn’t disguise his disbelief. “That is…”

  “Alena?” Sacha’s voice echoed down from the bedroom above. “Alena, where are you?”

  “Here, Sacha. We’re down here.” She pushed herself away from the wall and ran her hand along the cool tiles until her fingers found empty air. Her toe nudged against a step.


  “How bad is the power loss?”

  “We?”

  Yes, there was the inconvenience of having a very clever friend. Her hands guided her up the twisting curve of the walls until she reached the bedroom. The lamplight shone soft gold over the room, but the ceiling’s city lights were dead in their sockets. Alena winced.

  She ran to the narrow stretch of window to stare down at the city. Artificial lights shone over the twist of distant highways, lit the thin towers of the Academy of Sciences, and the glitter of the city shield still fought with the stars. Alena let her head fall against the cold pane, and her panicked heart started to slow. She’d only disrupted the power to her room. She was beyond lucky.

  “Alena?” A hint of censure coloured her friend’s voice.

  “It won’t happen again,” she murmured.

  “I can’t believe you let it happen at all.” Sacha turned her to face him. Anger had his features tight, and the hands gripping her arms bit hard. “Is fucking him worth our civilisation?”

  “It’s not like I planned…” Alena straightened. An empress didn’t whine. “No,” she said. “As I said, it won’t happen again.”

  “Until it’s meant to.” Vadim stood behind her, and her skin reacted to his presence with a rush of goose bumps.

  She twitched and tugged at the belt already cinched around her waist. Alena released her tight grip on the fabric and smoothed her palms over her hips. That reminder wasn’t helping. She had to put him out of her mind. “Vadim…”

  “Didn’t Mishenka explain how important your role was?” Sacha turned his anger on the flight-captain. “Or were you too busy listening to your testosterone?”

  The words were met with silence. Alena felt his pulse of anger, the heat of it beating through her blood. “I’m very aware of my duty,” he said.

  “We’re the last hope here. The revitalising of the city through activating Alena’s dormant genes? Stopping the Talar fleet from destroying us? Very. Important.”

  Sacha stressed the last word as if he were talking to a child. Alena ran a calming hand along his arm, wanting to distract him before Vadim planted a fist in his face. “We all know how important this is, Sacha.”

  Her friend blew out a breath. “Stupid Talar grunt,” he muttered.

  Vadim swore under his breath. “Then you should remember that your life depends on this grunt.” He paused. “It’s late. We’re all tired. How about we make things worse and go to bed?”

  Sacha snorted. “Finally want your wicked way with me, Flight-Captain Borodin?”

  Vadim stalked away, his bare feet hitting the soft tile with dull thuds. “If I had you, Sacha Ivanovich, you wouldn’t walk for a week.”

  Alena bit down on a smile and caught her friend’s amused glance.

  “Promises, promises,” Sacha said with a laugh. He slipped his hand into hers. “Come sleep with me, Alena.”

  “Sacha…”

  “What?”

  Alena watched Vadim pad out of the bedroom. “Where…?”

  “He’ll be back.” Sacha dropped his robe over a couch and dropped to the bed. The mattress dipped. He ran his fingers over the messed fur throw. “Even how we sleep is important for your whacked-out genes, Alena.”

  “I know. I fucked up.” She scrubbed at her tired face. “He’s just…”

  “Under your skin. Yes, I can see.” He grabbed the belt of her robe and tugged her towards him. Sacha looked up at her, and she ran a finger along the perfect curve of his mouth. “I envy you.”

  Alena blinked. “You envy me him?”

  He grinned. “Yes … no, not that. I envy you the overwhelming attraction.” He sighed and ran his hands over the flare of her hips and down her thighs. “You know me, I can appreciate a fine woman.” He smirked, but it faded, and his blue eyes were serious.

  “But sometimes…” A frown pulled at his mouth, and he closed his eyes. Sacha let out a slow breath. “But this is a conversation for another time.”

  “You need a challenge, Sacha,” she said, running her fingers through his damp hair.

  “For a while, it was me.” Her mouth twitched in a smile. “But we fit too well as friends.”

  Slow fingers tugged at her belt, loosening it until it fell to her sides. He reached up to push the robe from her shoulders, his palms running down her arms as the robe fell from her body. “Time to sleep.”

  Alena gave a soft laugh and ruffled his damp hair. “I want to meet the woman who gets under your skin, Sacha Ivanovich.”

  “Ready?”

  Vadim’s question caught her hand in Sacha’s hair. She untangled her fingers, ignoring the wicked gleam in her friend’s blue eyes. Alena stopped herself from sticking her tongue out. “Ready,” she said. She looked up and blinked. “Underwear?”

  A wry smile curved Vadim’s mouth, and he looked down at the tight black shorts he wore. His erection was back. “Protection,” he said.

  Laughter shook her. “Fine.”

  Sacha shuffled back onto the mattress and pushed back the sheets. Alena followed him, sliding easily into his arms. They fit, warmth washing over her at the brush of his smooth skin against hers as his hand rested on her hip. She shifted, and his cock twitched against her belly. “Sacha…”

  “What? It has a mind of its own.”

  She chuckled, but the ease faded as the mattress dipped and Vadim joined them. The rough heat of his skin pressed up against her spine, buttocks, thighs. Alena closed her eyes as his hand rested hot against her waist. Even clothed, Vadim’s erection rubbed up against her arse, and she fought the desperate need to push back against him.

  Alena took a deep, cleansing breath. The warmth and the familiar scents of the two men wove around her. Wrapped in their strength, in the twine of muscled legs and arms, she felt safe, protected for the first time in too long. “Night,” she murmured, her mouth close to Sacha’s cheek.

  “Sleep, Alena.” Vadim’s whisper against her neck tingled her skin. “Sweet dreams.”

  She let out a slow sigh, and her head fell back against the arch of Vadim’s throat, the tiredness of the day sinking through her.

  Sleep found her sooner than she thought possible.

  * * * *

  Sunlight burned hot across Alena’s face. She winced, turned from it and found the warmth of a broad, bare chest. Breathing in the scent of familiar skin, she sighed and wormed closer. A strong arm held her close, his hand idly stroking over her hip. His touch tingled through her flesh, and as her spine arched, an erection rubbed up hard against her belly.

  “Morning, Alena.” Vadim’s voice eased over her skin, and she thought she felt the press of a kiss against her hair. “Remember. Not yet.”

  She groaned, and somewhere behind her, Sacha laughed. His hand traced a slow slide down her spine, and she arched away from him, pushing hard against the flightcaptain’s hot flesh. Vadim’s hidden erection taunted her.

  She opened her eyes and let out a slow sigh. His nipple was so close to her mouth, she had only to flick out her tongue… Damn it, the need to jump Vadim Caethes hadn’t left her. Alena struggled free of his hold and dragged the covers from Sacha. She settled back into the pillows and pulled the smooth sheets over her breasts. Alena was very careful not to look at Vadim. “Is the door open?”

  Sacha didn’t met her gaze, his eyes fixed somewhere in the middle of the wide bed.

  “No.”

  Lead dropped into her stomach. Those bastard generals had destroyed them. Why had they thought that a Talar would reactivate a purely Rodin city?

  Sacha let out a slow breath, and his gaze slid back to her. “Think we’ll have to have another try.”

  “You shit!” Alena dug her elbow hard into her friend’s ribs, and he yelped. She shoved him. Sacha crashed out of the bed.

  “Not the first time you’ve thrown him out of your bed?”

  Vadim had propped himself up on his elbow, his dark hair a wild tangle, and with the slight smile lurking on his mouth, he looked so fuckable that
heat flared under Alena’s skin. Her fingers fisted the sheets. She had to get her need to have him under control. A kiss had sucked the power from the stateroom. With the Talar bombardment, her obsession with Vadim could leave the city completely undefended.

  “Is no one wondering how I am?”

  “No,” Alena muttered. “All right, we can get out of here. Sacha, don’t evade your guards today.”

  “You’re the biggest danger to me, Your Majesty.” Her friend climbed to his feet, rubbing at his backside. She glared at him, and Sacha rolled his eyes. “No. I won’t play hide-and-seek with my guards today.”

  “Good. Security has never been fully confident that they captured all Talar sympathisers.” Alena kept her focus on Sacha, too aware of the silent man lying next to her. He had demonstrated his loyalty. But still… “I’ll be seriously pissed off at you if you get yourself killed.”

  “Is this where I salute?”

  Her mouth thinned. “You know, as supreme ruler of the Rodin, I can recommend that the Academy cut your departmental budget…”

  Sacha blinked. “You wouldn’t…”

  “Try me.”

  Her friend wagged his finger at her, backing away from the bed. “I’m going to withdraw my gift of knowledge.” But amusement shone in his eyes. “You know that, don’t you?”

  “Get dressed, Sacha.”

  “Yes, Majesty.” And he disappeared from the room, the sounds of his bare feet padding against the soft tile fading.

  “He’s always like that?” Vadim asked, sitting up.

  Alena tried not to notice the slide of the pearl-grey sheet down his chest and muscled stomach. “He’s Sacha.”

  “I commanded a post on the outer colonies.” He stared at the open doorway, sunlight cutting across his sharp features. “I was transferred a week ago to the city. All of this … imperial attitude … is new to me.”

  Alena slid out of the bed and picked up her robe. Her shoulders relaxed when she slipped the soft material over her shoulders, folded the front over her body, and tightened the belt. “Transferred?”