by Rena Marks
“You’re…Zee?” she asked stupidly.
“Of course. Imagine my surprise to wake up—much like you just did—to find I had been mated.”
She winced. That was probably not the wisest move. She couldn’t imagine being woken from her slumber and told something so personal had been done to her. “I’m sorry. We can undo it…”
“Bit off more than you could chew, baby?”
What the hell did that mean?
She shook her head, wondering if she was half imagining all this.
“Come on. We’ve wasted enough time.”
He grabbed her by the wrist, half dragging her behind him. When he opened the outer door, the next room showed a bloody torso propped against the wall.
No head.
Geez.
She gasped, realizing from the size of the belly it was the doctor with Crested Ute, the one who’d told her either she or Everly would die.
Looks like he was wrong.
“Don’t look,” Zee said, misunderstanding her gasp. What did he think, she was some withering flower? Apparently no one told him her background.
Dithering fool. She thought she liked him better when he couldn’t speak. When he was sweet and growly and trying his hardest to care for her. Gain a brain and that went out the window.
Out of the laboratory led to another dead body. His chest cavity was torn open, his organs ripped from his body, the red seeping blood drenching a mockery of the pristine white lab coat.
“Shield your eyes,” Zee growled.
She fought against the inappropriate laughter that threatened to bark from her mouth. Shield her eyes? He really did think she was some Victorian princess.
But then she sobered. He was comparing her to Everly. Everly, her sweet, sweet twin who couldn’t harden despite spending seven years in prison.
Everly.
The one he fought for and lost.
The one he loved.
Angela was second best and she knew it. Not that she blamed her sister. Everly couldn’t help but be anything but sweet. Angela didn’t blame anyone except for fate, perhaps. Fate always gave Everly the light and Angela the darkness. But for some reason, this one time, it mattered.
Two more bodies littered the ground in the next room before they heard the unmistakable sound of doors opening.
“What the fuck?” Someone yelled.
Shift change. They’d waited too long. But yet, there weren’t as many of the lab-coats around as there had been. What was going on with the sudden quiet?
Zee shoved her behind him.
The person rounded the corner and raised his laser to shoot. With a growl that reminded her of the old Zee, he attacked, the laser flying through the air. Then he was fending off the man’s blows easily enough.
From his belt, the Crested Ute employee pulled a penlight, shining the purple beam on her. “Move and she dies.”
Faster than a rattlesnake, Zee’s arm shot out, knocking the penlight from his hand. He grabbed the man by the upper arm, spinning him around until he was in front of him. One hand was across the man’s forehead, the other on his chin as if he were about to break his neck.
But then he paused.
He looked at Angela, again assuming she’d be as terrorized as Everly might.
“Look away,” he commanded. “I must kill him. This man is evil. A kidnapper. A killer. He doesn’t deserve to live and will send others after us…”
Before he could finish, Angela struck out with her entire body, using her ulna to crush the man’s windpipe, leaving him choking in Zee’s arms as if he’d just hung himself. Zee dropped him to the ground with a thunk, where he struggled for breath for long minutes before his body jerked and phased out.
Angela raised cold eyes to him. “Quit fooling around. We don’t have all day. You want another shift to arrive and see us out personally?”
To see the huge Xeno Sapien speechless was well worth it. But she wanted to make it very clear.
She was not Everly and she never would be.
* * * * *
Zealish was stunned speechless. After Angela’s amazing skill at taking out the guard, his mind worked a mile a minute. Could he really be so lucky as to have a mate who would not be squeamish with his tendencies toward violence?
To watch her skill revved up his libido, left a boundless amount of sexual charge at her display of power. He wanted nothing more than to throw her down on a bed, toss her up against a wall, and pound into her until she was mindless with pleasure.
But he’d promised Everly he’d return her sister unscathed. And from the way he was feeling, there was no way Angela would be able to walk her way into Xenia on her own. Not without stiffness lingering between her thighs.
They slunk into the darkness of night, his eyes turning on to light the way. He had dark lenses to fit over his face should he need to block the glow, courtesy of Pax. But right now, there was no one in sight.
“I forgot how strong that glow was,” Angela whispered. “Sometimes at night if you woke up, you lit the whole cave.”
“Den,” he corrected.
“Excuse me?”
“Even back then, it was a den. For me and my mate.”
“We weren’t mates,” she argued.
He turned to give her a shit-eating grin, the glow of his eyes angled toward her before turning back to the path. As the area ahead gained a few street lights, he snapped his lenses over the bridge of his nose.
“This way,” he instructed, his tone brooking no argument. And because she didn’t talk back, he knew she was tiring. The drugs were still filtering from her system. He was surprised she’d gone on this long, but that just attested to her strength.
She stumbled slightly, catching herself before his hand shot out to steady her. She gave a faint protest when he stopped to scoop her into his arms.
“Shh,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Relax. I’ll take care of you.”
And just like that, she was out.
She weighed almost nothing in his arms. He carried her to the safe house they’d procured and slipped in the back way. The second floor was safest, where a large window to a bedroom enabled them to jump if there was trouble. However, the stairway was blocked off and that would trick any intruders into believing the only place to hide out was the main floor and basement. By the time they discovered the stairway, he and Angela would be long gone.
He headed toward the kitchen, which was conveniently set in the center of the house. In the kitchen, they’d built a trapdoor into the ceiling with a temporary set of stairs attached. Once he brought them both up the stairs, he raised the stairs and closed the door. They had access to the entire top floor; however, all rooms were sealed off except for the master suite and a seating area.
He slid her into the bed and then used his wrist device to add a security system to the perimeter of the house. It also unscrambled their radio waves so they could communicate with Xenia, but since they were safely hidden from drones, it was okay. The security would be monitored by a Xeno Sapien in the city and he’d be warned telepathically if there were any breaches.
Now all that was left to do was wait out a few days until Angela was healthy enough to walk into the front gates of Xenia on her own accord.
The first thing he did was remove every stitch of clothing between him and his mate. She never stirred, obviously her system was still running amok with drugs. It would be a good time to snatch a few hours sleep—besides cop a good feel.
Nothing felt as perfect as Angela’s bare skin against his.
But would she ever feel the same way toward him? Would she be able to ignore his looks? He was definitely not one of the prettier Xeno Sapiens like Thane.
But he would die to protect his mate. He would keep her happy. He would give her immeasurable pleasure. She just needed to give him a chance to prove himself.
Chapter Nine
T he sun shining brightly through the windows woke Everly.
Not only was h
er pussy cupped by a large, warm hand, she was intensely swollen and needy in that hypersensitive, girly spot. So turned on. There was nothing she wanted more than to thrust her sex into the hand and have him rub.
A large body was wrapped around her and it felt so…right. It had been so long since she’d been held by Zee. Even with the less human version of him, who had been scary as hell, there’d been a connection between them.
Angela caught her thoughts. What the fuck was she thinking? There wasn’t a connection between them. He saw Everly. He wanted Everly. And Angela would have to do when he couldn’t have Everly. Because who was a better substitute than her twin?
The only “connection” she felt was the surge of adrenaline flooding her system from the recent escape. She’d always gotten turned on with dangerous situations—and her hand would usually suffice. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear she had much privacy here. Not with the over-cuddly Zee.
His cuddles and inappropriate touches she remembered well.
“Good morning,” he rumbled against her hair. “So glad you’re safe. I love waking up next to you.”
Damn if she didn’t also. She’d gotten used to being with him every day. And when he’d been hospitalized in his coma, she spent countless hours with him so Everly could have newlywed time with Thane. Or, at least, that’s what she told herself.
“Your hand is in a very inappropriate spot,” she whispered.
“Is it?” His voice was casual. “Let me make you come.”
Holy mother.
Lust slammed into her body, vanquishing the leftover tendrils of foggy recollections from the day before. She was suddenly bright and alert and controlled by hormones. Her pussy throbbed with need from the heat of his palm.
“Angela,” he whispered in his deep, sex-inducing voice.
“I’m thinking,” she admitted.
“Don’t think too hard,” he said. “It’s not that difficult. It’s just us. Just you and me in this room. No one else. Nothing to ponder about.”
So tempting.
“It means nothing if we do this. Nothing changes between us,” she warned.
“Of course not,” he agreed. “I just want to give you relief. I can feel your body strumming with tension from here.”
God, was that offer tempting. So tempting. But she had to know what came next.
“What about you?”
“Don’t worry about me. My pleasure comes from taking care of my mate. Even if it’s only on paper right now.”
In a normal world, she’d find that ridiculous. However, she’d spent enough time with Zee to know he truly felt that way.
Still so tempting.
But she couldn’t. Could she?
“I’d love nothing more than to watch your body explode from my caresses. To know it’s me whose touch you crave. Even if you tell yourself it’s just adrenaline, I’ll tell myself differently. From this angle, looking over your shoulder, I can see the hard ridges of your nipples. How they’re rosy from blush and pebbled as if eager for my touch. I’d love to feel your clit throbbing with ecstasy. I’d love to feel how wet you are inside, anticipating my touch.”
She was breathing harder now and there was no way to even mask it. But he was breathing just as hard, as turned on as she was.
“You never have to worry about me, Angela. But it would bring me immeasurable pleasure to help you reach your peak.”
It was selfish. She knew that. Maybe she’d give him a hand job after she was satisfied. Where she wouldn’t lose control and jump on the huge cock she knew he had. Because full out sex—that was a definite no. There was no way she’d live out her life as Everly the Second. No, they could quench a bit of the need between them and hopefully it would be out of their systems by the time they got back to Xenia.
“You promise nothing changes? You don’t start insisting I’m your full-time mate?”
“You are my mate,” he reminded, kissing her neck and bringing a scatter of goose bumps over her flesh. “But I know what you mean. I promise. As soon as you’re satisfied, we go back to being friends. For now.”
That was as good as she was going to get. She had a feeling it was a sense of male pride at this point. But he’d have to understand once they returned to Xenia, he was better off to annul their farce and be free for another Xeno Sapien female to come along. One he was able to choose with a clear mind.
“Tell me what you like,” she demanded.
“With you? There’s nothing I wouldn’t do, my sweet angel. I’d lick you from head to toe and everywhere in between.”
“No. I mean what you would want done to you.”
“Me?”
She could tell from the surprise in his voice that it wasn’t something he’d ever considered. And two could play at the dirty-talk game. She could get him as riled as he’d gotten her. “Do you like to have your cock sucked?”
His swift intake of breath was satisfying.
“Do you like the head explored with my tongue? Is the little hole sensitive? Should it be licked or sucked? Both? Shall I caress your balls? Would they be heavy in my hand?” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Would they tremble with my touch?”
With a growl, his finger pressed squarely onto her clit. The sensations were mind blowing. Heat blossomed, spreading to her labia, sensitizing them as they grew thicker. He parted her folds to dip into the slickness. It caught easily, spreading over her clit like melted butter.
“So wet,” he muttered. “I’d give anything for this to coat my cock. To ease my way into your snug cunt.”
She’d ignore that comment, because it just wasn’t going to happen.
He began circling her clit and she started to rock her hips up to meet his hot hand. She became aware of his cock like a steel rod against her back. She couldn’t see it, but the sheer size of feeling it prod her so insistently had her moaning. What would that magnificent, thick cock feel like deep inside her?
Maybe just once…
No.
But then his finger gathered more hot, slick juice. “One second,” he gritted. “I have to taste you.” Before she knew it, his hand left her pussy and he licked his fingers, sucking on each one as if he couldn’t get enough.
Then his fingers, wet from his mouth, came back down to her clit. They felt different—hotter. A different kind of wet. Terribly naughty knowing it was from his mouth.
“Delicious,” he muttered, and began working her pussy again.
They found a rhythm together, rocking, thrusting, rubbing. He even rocked in time with her, like a Lamaze partner, his breaths in tune with hers, his cock dangerously close to the crack of her ass.
“Over you go,” he said, and amped up his game. His hand moved twice as fast, and her clit exploded. Her body jerked, her legs stiffening, her toes curling. She sobbed, she outright sobbed, damn it, biting into the heel of one hand while the other hand clutched desperately over his hand on her sex, stilling his touch, but desperately holding him to her like she’d never want his hand removed.
The long, matching groan he gave could only mean one thing. Sure enough, there was sticky warmth between them, spreading on the top of her ass and her lower back.
No need to jack him off.
He was pressing small, leisurely kisses to the back of her shoulder, the spot hyper-sensitive. She gave an involuntary shiver. His lips shouldn’t bring that much sensitivity to the spot. Was she a bit tender there? Had he bitten her? Something she didn’t feel in the heat of the moment?
Before she could reach back and feel the spot, he said, “Let’s shower, beautiful. I’m hungry. The kitchen is stocked, but I’m a sandwich kind of guy. Unless you can cook?” he sounded hopeful.
She laughed quietly, grateful that he was acting normal after what they’d just shared. Hell, the smell of their lust was still in the air.
“I cook,” she said.
“Perfect mate,” he said, pulling her out of bed. She caught the huge grin on his face. He’d said it on purpose. Just tossed
the word mate in there to rile her up.
She scowled, which made him grin wider. But she knew what he was doing. Getting her heat up so she wouldn’t feel awkward over the moment they just shared. Because surely someone’s jizz in the middle of your back should be weird, right? Unfortunately, it didn’t feel weird. It was just Zee and she felt just as comfortable with this version as she did with the creature in the electrical pen.
She could barely walk with his huge body wrapped around her, nudging her forward to the small bathroom down the hall. She caught a glimpse of them in the mirror.
Damn if they didn’t look so right together.
She let that thought jump right out of her head as he turned on the faucet. Only on Earth-Ground was water still available as a choice for bathing, and truth was, she preferred it that way. There was nothing like the old-fashioned feeling of getting your skin wet.
When the water was warm, he helped her into the shower, but squished in right behind her.
“Can’t you wait and get your own turn in after me?” she complained, though she didn’t really mean it. “It’s a tight fit with you here.”
“Nope,” he said with a grin. “My cum is smeared into your back. The responsible thing for me to do would be wash it off.”
She tried not to let him see the smile that smirked at her lips.
Truth was, she kind of liked the way he massaged her tenderly, soaping her skin. She decided to take advantage of their closeness, because all of it would end as soon as they were back inside Xenia and he went back to pining after Everly. She turned in his arms, pressed her face to his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck while he washed her like they really were lovers. Mates.
After they dried off and dressed, they crawled down the hidden stairs to the kitchen. He looked out the windows, explaining they were one-way reflective, as she began making them some breakfast. He sat at the counter and she handed him some mushrooms and spinach to chop for the omelet while she stirred the eggs and grated the cheese.
“How did you feel when you woke?” he asked. “I couldn’t neutralize the drugs in your system because it has to be done within a certain time frame after waking. And you took too long to wake fully. A lazy mate, you are.”