by K. D. Jones
“Never better.” But the voice that spoke did not belong a woman, but a man.
Both Tipin and Donner looked in shocked fury as the patient slowly transfigured into Lesak. “Sorry to mess up your plans, but Talon asked me to come here in his place to lend a hand.”
Tipin and Donner tried to rush past Rage. They were stopped shortly after they passed him by huge fighters blocking their escape. There was no way that they could take all these huge men.
“We’ll take it from here, guys,” a human male said from behind the fighters. He and about ten other men dressed in IDJ uniforms secured the two men with shock collars. The human male introduced himself to Rage.
“I’m Trig Collins, Rachel’s partner.” He held out his hand to Rage.
Rage stared at the human’s hand. He reached out to shake it. “Rage.”
“I know. I’m a big fan.”
“Where the hell is Rachel?”
Chapter 18
Rachel woke feeling like she had had a dream that she had been hit by four huge trucks. But other than some tenderness and disorientation, she felt okay. She opened her eyes slowly, grateful that someone had dimmed the lights. She tried to use her arms to prop herself up into a sitting position, but there was a weight holding her down. She glanced down and found that the weight was Rage.
He had moved a chair up against the bed and laid his head and arms across her waist, trapping her right arm. She reached with her left hand and stroked his short dark hair. He popped up immediately, fully alert.
“Rachel?”
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?” He searched her face for any sign of pain.
“I’m achy, but otherwise fine. Are you okay?” He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. A beard was forming on his face where before he had only had a stubble. How long had she been out?
He looked relieved. “It’s been three days since the triple cage match. You were in really bad shape. You were unconscious most of the time. Whenever you woke up, you were in extreme pain. The healers had to induce a coma state so that you could properly heal.”
“How long have you been here at the healing facility with me?”
“Three days.”
He had stayed with her the whole time. She felt a warmth deep inside for him. She smiled at him and couldn’t help but say the words that were in her heart. “I love you.”
The fatigue and worry faded from his face instantly at her words. He lit up with joy. “I love you, my sweet little human.”
She scooted over on the bed, motioning for him to join her. He didn’t hesitate. He lay down carefully beside her, taking her in his arms. “You had me worried.”
“I’m sorry. Danger comes with the job.” She rubbed the muscular arms that were wrapped around her.
“I think you need a new job,” he grumbled.
Rachel sighed. This was why none of her relationships had worked in the past. Well, one of the main reasons why. The men either felt they needed to control her and told her what kind of job she should have, or they showed no concern for her at all and expected her to care for them on top of working full time.
“Rage, I have a job I care about. One that I have been neglecting for three days while in recovery.”
Rage had to fight down his inner beast, who wanted to steal Rachel away somewhere and keep her protected. “Give me time Rachel. I have to adjust to this and I have to learn to curb my beast’s demands to protect my mate.”
She turned to look him in the eyes. “Your beast thinks I’m your mate?”
He shook his head. “Both I and my beast within know that you are our mate.”
“Okay, we’ll try to take it one day at a time.” She wanted to make this work more than anything. Already she was dreading having to leave him to go back to IDJ headquarters. She had to help with the search for the missing women. But parting from Rage was going to tear her up. What was she going to do without him?
He bent down to kiss her soft, sweet lips. It wasn’t enough. He wanted more, so much more. He nibbled his way down her cheek to her neck. His big hands pulled down the blanket and untied the small gown she was wearing. By the time he kissed his way to her chest, she was completely naked. One hand pulled and teased a nipple while his mouth sucked the other one inside his hot mouth.
“Rage,” she moaned breathlessly. Never had a man turned her on so much and so quickly. She was a volcano just waiting to erupt.
He continued kissing down her flat stomach, taking time to swirl his tongue in and out of her bellybutton. His journey ended at the juncture of her womanhood. His beast growled at the sweet aroma of her arousal. He gave her one direct look that told her to be still. Then he pressed his mouth against her lower lips and kissed her with his lips and tongue just as he would have her mouth.
Holy shit! Rachel couldn’t see because her eyes had rolled back from the sheer exquisite pleasure. This man shouldn’t be fighting brutal, bloody GCFA matches, he should be advising other men on how to properly fuck a woman.
She was about to come, she was so close. Then his mouth was gone. “Come back here!”
He climbed up her body and practically ripped open his pants, freeing his cock. Then he was inside her. She came immediately at his invasion. He didn’t stop, he kept driving in and out. He knew he should be taking it easy on her, but he couldn’t stop himself. His beast demanded a full claiming. He could have lost her for good. He knew he would not survive that kind of loss.
His upper body pushed hers down into the mattress with no room to move. All she could do was wrap her legs and arms around him and hold on for the ride. She felt her need building up again inside of her. It was stronger than before. She scraped her nails down his back, making bloody streaks. “Pleeeeeaaaasssse.”
He ground his hips down. Plunging in and out, over and over. He didn’t completely leave her, only pulled out enough to allow him to thrust back, keeping himself fully within her tight warmth. As soon they both reached their climaxes together, he flipped her onto her stomach and began fucking her from behind. He planned to take her like that for hours, maybe days if he paced himself a little more. There was no controlling the beast. He wanted what he wanted and Rage the man wanted the exact same thing. To mark his ownership of her body and soul.
“Mine,” he growled.
The door to Rachel’s room slowly closed. Trig took a few steps back and turned to face his Chief Officer. How was he going to explain this one?
“We’ll have to wait a little while longer. She’s not ready yet.” That was an understatement. Fuck, he needed to wash his eyes for having seen something so raw and sexual. Maybe he just needed to find him a good fuck himself. He was stiff in his pants and the material was rubbing him the wrong way.
“What do you mean, she’s not ready? Is something up?”
“You could say that. She just needs a little more time to finish up … I mean to rest up.”
“I heard that Rage The Animal has been here the whole time. I hope he didn’t tire her out.”
Trig smirked, “I’m sure if he did, she wouldn’t complain about it.” He turned his head to watch the tallest female he had ever seen walk towards them. She was one of the GCFA fighters but he couldn’t recall her name. Fuck! She was hot. His dick twitched in her direction.
Zara glanced at the human men in GCFA uniforms standing outside of Rachel’s room. They were both attractive. One was older with salt and pepper hair and light brown eyes. The other younger one was taller, broader in his shoulders. He was almost as big as Rage. He had light, mocha colored skin that made her think of dark chocolate, her secret guilty pleasure. When she looked into his eyes, she almost lost her footing. The man had eyes of the most shocking blue color.
She didn’t say a word to either man as she approached Rachel’s door. Sounds were coming out of the room that gave her pause. She took a deep whiff and knew her questions for Rachel would have to wait. Rage had her preoccupied at the moment. She leaned forward and yelled through
the closed door, “I’ll be back, Rage, when you two are done fucking!” She chuckled when she heard a snarling growl from within as a response. She turned to walk away, swinging her hips back and forth. The hot human male staring at her with lust in his eyes had her wet in her panties. Damn!
Chapter 19
Rachel’s boss and her partner Trig came by to see her a couple of hours later. Her boss blushed every time he looked at her for some reason. Her partner smirked at her. She had to send Rage on a phony errand so that she could get him to leave.
“What happened with Tipin and Mr. Talis?” Rachel demanded.
“Mr. Talis is actually Donner, one of the GCFA’s board members. He was arrested and is being held at IDJ headquarters. Tipin was killed by your friend Rage,” Trig informed her.
“Is he in trouble?” Rachel asked with concern. Why didn’t Rage tell her all this? When she tried to ask him, he kept distracting her with his mouth, hands, and body. She couldn’t think at all when he was making love to her.
“No, there were enough witnesses present to claim a fair fight and Tipin pushed Rage until he had no other choice. It was a clean kill,” Trig told her.
“What about the information from the warehouse?”
“The data that you sent our IT guys produced five possible destinations that we believe were used for the women. We have several IDJ agents already deployed. We thought you might like to come with us for recovery at one of the locations.”
“Absolutely, I want to come. When do we leave?” Rachel was already sitting up.
“Easy, we leave the day after tomorrow. You will be there for observation only. Until the healers have given the all clear for active duty, you won’t be doing anything heavier than using a stapler,” her boss told her.
“Fine.” She was leaving the day after tomorrow. How was she going to handle things with Rage? He couldn’t come with her. He was too well known and would draw attention. Plus, he was a civilian and might get in the way.
When she told him this, Rage was not happy to say the least. He threw a chair and punched a hole in the wall of her room in the healing facility. “You are still needing to recover. You should not be putting yourself in another dangerous situation.”
“Rage, we talked about this. I’m an IDJ Agent. This is what I do. I need you to accept that.” She wasn’t going to cry. Special Agents didn’t cry. “Look, I will only be gone about a week. They have taken me off active duty for now so I won’t be going into a serious situation. I think this time away will help us both to look at what we want from this relationship. It will test us to see how we handle the separation.”
Rage ran a hand through his dark hair. He didn’t have a choice. If he wanted to keep Rachel, he needed to respect her and give her the room she needed to do her job.
“You promise to be careful?” He asked, opening his arms for her.
She walked into his embrace with tears in her eyes. “I promise.”
Two weeks later Rachel was anxious as she landed at the spaceport where the GCFA was holding their championships. She had spoken to Rage on the phone and by video a few times, but their last communication had been two days ago. She had been busy. Most of the time away had been taken up by her job, but the rest had been spent doing a lot of soul searching.
They had managed to find four women of the original eight that had been kidnapped. One died not long after her rescue. The rest were going through intensive psychological treatment. None of them were Lindy. She had texted Talon, letting him know that they still had not found Lindy, but he never responded. It worried her that he might be in danger, too.
She stayed to help the women adjust to life after their ordeal. It was both physically and emotionally draining. Once she was given the all clear by the healers, she had gone with her partner Trig on a short mission. She had discovered some things out about herself.
Now, she was coming back to see Rage. She had to make a decision about their relationship. She hoped he would still be open to having a relationship with her. She missed him so much.
Trig had pointed out that she was no longer the same. She was still strong and capable of doing her job. But he also pointed out that before, her job was her entire life. That was clearly no longer the case. She agreed with him. Things had changed. All she wanted was to return to Rage.
She needed to do something else now. The GCFA had approached her shortly after Donner had been arrested and her true identity was revealed. They offered her a position heading up their security. They said they wanted her because she came highly recommended from the IDJ and that the fighters knew and respected her. The offer appealed to her more and more. She would be able to travel with Rage while he did his circuits.
She wanted to be with him. Wanted to touch him and be touched by him. She worried that he had moved on or that he didn’t feel the same way for her that she felt for him. She had to know either way. She approached the training facility. Along the way she was greeted by Sersan.
“Rachel, it is so good to see you again.” Her former roommate hugged her. “Are you going to quit your law enforcement job and come fight for us full time?
Rachel laughed. “I’m not sure about that. I barely made it out the first time with all my body parts attached.”
“Well, we would welcome you back in a heartbeat.” Sersan gave her one more squeeze before letting her go.
“Have you seen Rage?” She tried her best not to sound pathetic.
Sersan gave her a knowing look. “I believe he’s training with Zara.”
Her stomach dropped. He was training with Zara. Was he back with her again? Images appeared in her head of the time he and Rachel had trained in the cage and it had turned into a sexual frenzy. Except now she was picturing him doing those things with Zara. If she could have growled she would have. But her throat was dry.
“Go on, I’m sure he’ll be excited to see you again.” Sersan pushed her in the direction of the training facility.
Rachel moved slowly. It took real effort to pick her feet up and move them forward, step by step. When her shuttle had first landed at the spaceport, her spirits were flying. She couldn’t wait to get to Rage. She had thought of all the ways she would show him how she felt about him. She planned to seduce him and give him such pleasure that he’d never want to let her go again.
Now, she dreaded seeing him. If he was back with Zara, she didn’t know what she would do. Maybe she could go back to her old job. But it no longer held the same appeal for her anymore. The whole time she was away, she was consumed with her need to be with Rage.
She stopped just inside the entranceway to the training facility, moving to the shadows to watch. She didn’t want him to see her yet. She wanted to verify whether he was with Zara first. No point in embarrassing herself if he had moved on.
She watched the two figures on the mat circling each other. They were both tall and dark haired. They made a beautiful couple. A single tear rolled down her cheek but she quickly brushed it off. She made herself keep watching.
Zara lunged at Rage. He blocked her, grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. He pulled her up against his hard chest, locking his forearm around her throat. Just like what he had done with her that first time. Except Rachel had been clueless how to break the hold. Not so for Zara.
The tall amazon easily broke the hold and dropped low enough to grab his legs, pulling them up. Rage fell on his back hard. Zara jumped on him straddling him.
Something inside Rachel broke. Instead of running away to sulk over the hurt she felt, she went forward at full speed. She tackled Zara, knocking the other woman off of Rage. She wouldn’t be surprised if her eyes were red and steam was coming off her head.
“Whoa, human, what are you doing?” Zara asked, breathless.
“You stay away from him! He’s mine!” Rachel would have pummeled the other woman, but she was lifted up off her feet by Rage. She dangled in the air as he held her to him. She struggled to get loose, but he wouldn’t let go.
Zara stood up smiling. “Don’t worry human, he never felt for me what he feels for you, and I never felt for him what you feel. He’s all yours.”
“Damn straight! And it’s RACHEL!” she yelled at the woman’s back as she walked away.
Zara chuckled, “Rachel Starberry, good to have you back.”
“It’s not Starr, it’s …” Rachel didn’t get to finish. Zara had already left the training facility.
Rachel was breathing hard, and a part of her wanted to go after Zara and hit her again. Another part of her could not believe she had just attacked the Amazon over Rage. Damn it, the man made her crazy.
“You can put me down now,” she told him, not looking back at him.
“No, I don’t think I will.” Rage squeezed her against him. His woman was in his arms and he was never going to let her go again. She felt so good, so right.
She squirmed in his arms, then stopped when she felt his arousal pressing against her ass. “Rage …”
He didn’t say anything. He picked her up higher, flipped her around and threw her across his big shoulders. He stormed out of the training facility, carrying her with him. They walked past Zen, Hammer, and Taurus on their way in.
“Rage! People are staring.” Rachel pushed at his back.
He refused to put her down. He didn’t look at the other men as he told them, “I’ll be unavailable for the next 48 hours.”
“Only 48 hours? You’re slowing down, old man,” Zen called after him, causing the other two men to snicker.
Rage didn’t put her down even when they got into the elevator. She tried to talk to him but his response was to slap her backside. It shut her up, but it also aroused her. Rage rubbed the spot that he spanked, making her even wetter.
He kept hold of her as he entered his suite. He took her to his bedroom and threw her on the bed. She tried to get up and make her way to the door but he grabbed her and threw her back down on the soft mattress.