Beno strode forward, his anger flashing like flame up his back and into the base of his skull. “You have no right to threaten a member of the Imperial family. Your words are treason, and as his bond mate, I would be within my rights to kill you here and now.”
She tossed her head. “And yet you only talk about it.” Rika laughed in his face. “This is what happens when a male is trusted with decisions. He’ll bluster and rage, but he’ll do nothing in the end.”
Beno wanted to shoot her in the face, but he knew that his gentle bond mate would not approve. He ground his teeth. “Get back in your shuttle and go back to Itzela. Don’t come back.”
The woman laughed. “Oh, I’ll be back. I’ll be returning for the prince’s response to our demands.”
“Why would a prince respond to anything a soldier demands?” he scoffed.
“These orders come from Queen Apfira. He will bow to her.”
Beno spat, “Never. She will bow to him.”
Rika laughed again. “I’ll be seeing you, Commander.” She put her hand on the side of the shuttle, and the engine started up again. “Perhaps when next we meet, you’ll be more than talk.”
“I can guarantee it.”
One of the human soldiers, frustrated by his inability to understand what the two Ylians had been saying and unable to bear it any longer, raised his rifle and barked in Russian, “What do you want?”
Commander Rika looked at him disdainfully. “Go away, little man,” she replied, speaking the man’s tongue flawlessly, courtesy of the translation unit on her ear. “This doesn’t concern you.”
The soldier squared his stance. “Get back on your ship and leave. This is a restricted area.”
Beno shook his head and told the man in Russian, “Stand down.”
“You’ve been warned,” Rika told Beno. “We’ll be back.”
He set his jaw. “I’ll look forward to it.”
She went into the shuttle and the hatch closed behind her. With a soft hum, the vessel rose from the ground, its propulsors springing to life, and then it shot back into the sky and disappeared.
The soldier turned to Beno. “What was that about?”
He sighed. “They’re making demands and threatening to return in force. Tell your commander that we may be under attack soon.”
The man’s eyes widened, but Beno didn’t take the time to consider his response. He turned and stalked back to the apartment.
Chapter Seven
Sera was pacing in the living room when Beno returned. She hurried to him as soon as he closed the door.
“What was that all about?”
He stopped and stared. “Your eyes -”
“I know.” She shook her head. “But we can talk about that later. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He put his hands on her arms and kissed her forehead. “That was Itzela coming to demand that we return the males to their custody.”
From where he sat on the couch, Theyn said, “Well, that’s not going to happen.”
“No kidding.” Sera crossed her arms. “I assume that the demand came with an ‘or else’ clause?”
Beno smirked. “Oh, of course.”
“Well, if they come back, Theyn can just blast them with fire or something.” She gave their blond mate a loving smile.
He looked sheepishly at Beno and Sera, then admitted, “I don’t know if I can. I don’t even know how I did it the first time. It’s not something that I’ve ever done before, and I think it only happened because I lost my temper.”
Beno suggested, ‘Well, maybe you need to get mad when they come back.’
‘Maybe I do.’
She sat on the couch beside Theyn, and Beno sat on their bond mate’s other side. She was concerned. “Do you really think they’re going to attack?”
“No,” Theyn answered. “They’ll probably try something much sneakier and subtler. Itzela is not prepared to start a war with the entire planet, which is what would happen if they attacked us. They also don’t want to risk destroying the camouflage generator, because then the Taluans will find Earth, and that would be a disaster for everyone concerned.”
Sera put her arm around Theyn’s shoulders and leaned into him. “If they come back, our first priority has to be protecting Kira.”
Beno looked insulted that she’d even felt the need to mention such a thing. “Of course it is.”
“The last thing any of us wants is to put our daughter in danger,” their bond mate reassured her. “Kira is the most precious part of our lives.”
“I’m glad we agree.” She yawned. “Listen, it’s late, and I’m tired. Let’s go back to bed.”
Theyn kissed her gently and stood, holding his hand out to her. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, where he put his arm around her waist. She leaned into him. The blond Ylian turned to their bond mate. “Beno?”
“Right behind you.”
They lay down together, curling up like three interlocking pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. In a way, Sera felt that’s what they were. She had never felt complete until these two men had come into her life, and now that they were here she couldn’t imagine living without them. Through the three-way bond that Beno’s telepathy had forged and their united loving had solidified, they were closer than she’d ever believed different individuals could be. Yet here they were, as close to her heart as her own blood, a part of her she could never do without.
Theyn kissed her shoulder as he settled down on his side, facing her. ‘What are you thinking?’
She smiled, and Beno rolled toward her, too. She always slept between them, safe in their arms. ‘I was thinking how happy you’ve both made me.’
Her blond bond mate put his fingertips on her face and gently turned her to meet his kiss. His lips were soft, gentle and undemanding, but she knew the passion that burned within him. She relinquished herself to the kiss, and a rush of wordless emotion and love filled her, originating in Theyn’s heart. On her other side, Beno put his arm around her waist and pressed his lips to the skin on her shoulder.
Theyn’s voice was warm in her mind as he told her, ‘Oh, my darling… it is so mutual.’
*
Itan opened his apartment door after the first knock, and he was only marginally surprised to see Nima standing there. He stepped aside and let her come in.
“We have to convince them to come to Bruthes,” she told him. “We’ve got you and the others out of the Men’s Quarters. Now we have to get them to the Resistance.”
He sat on the white couch and wearily ran a hand over his hair. “They won’t want to go.”
“Of course they will. He’s from the Imperial bloodline, and his bond mate is a soldier. They’ll want to liberate their people.” She sat down on the chair across from him, her glowing green eyes boring into his. “They won’t deny us this chance at freedom.”
“I don’t know.” He slouched against the back of the couch. “I guess all we can do is ask.”
She went to him and took his chin in her hand gently. “Husband,” she said, “you’ve played your role very well up until this point. I need you to continue. You need to support me in this. You need to push them, use whatever leverage you can find. Help me. Help the Resistance.”
He looked up at her. “You know that I want freedom for our people more than anything. And you also know that I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do. I’m just trying to prepare you for the eventuality that they say no.”
Nima released him. “They won’t. I know it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am.”
He sighed. He was not convinced.
*
Kira woke early for her morning feeding, and Theyn climbed out of bed to bring her to Sera to be nursed. They lay together in a happy pile, the men snuggling their baby while she ate. Sera hummed to her, and Kira’s blue eyes stared up at her. It was a moment that was too beautiful to last.
Beno was just taking Kira to burp her when an insiste
nt knocking at the front door broke into their domestic bliss. Theyn pulled on a robe to cover his nakedness and went to see who was bothering them.
Nima stood there, her green Ylian eyes bright in the dimness of the early morning. “Can I come in?”
He stepped aside. “Of course.”
She bustled into their living quarters, a mass of energy and nerves. “So, we got the Men’s Quarters cleaned out. Any idea what Lady Tayne was up to?”
Theyn motioned for her to sit down. She remained standing. He sat down, himself. “We’re still working on it. It’s a little obscure.”
“How much longer do you think it will take?”
He frowned. “Why are you so anxious?”
Nima took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “I just want to know if you’ll be willing to come with me to Bruthes next.”
“Bruthes?” Beno asked, coming out of the bedroom in a robe of his own. Sera was behind him, carrying their child. “We’re not going to Bruthes.”
Nima’s jaw set. “The Resistance needs you. You don’t understand what a powerful motivating factor you’ll be - the first full Ylian males most of us have ever seen. You’re the single biggest hope that we have.”
Theyn told her gently, “We can’t remake the species by ourselves. Whatever hope we might bring is illusory.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Even if you’re just a symbol of what Ylia used to be, that’s hope enough. Your Highness, if you come to Bruthes, if the people see you and know that you’re alive and with a bond mate, then they’ll believe that they can overcome the lot in life that the Bruthesans and Taluans have cast for them. They’ll remember the glory that our people once were, and they’ll strive to regain it.”
Beno crossed his arms, standing behind Theyn. “That glory is gone.”
“No!” Nima nearly shouted. She took a sharp breath and hesitated, calming herself. “It can’t be. We can’t just give up and accept life as livestock and slaves.”
“What are they supposed to do?” Sera asked, straightening after putting Kira in her playpen. “Are they supposed to go and lead your rebellion? How are they supposed to do that? They’re only two guys. They can’t overthrow a whole planet.”
Nima glared at her, too angry to notice the change in Sera’s eyes. “You don’t know that.”
Theyn sighed. “How many people are in your Resistance?”
“Almost six hundred.”
She spoke the number proudly, but Theyn shook his head. “How many Taluans are on the planet? How many Bruthesans would take up arms to defeat us?”
Nima reacted to his words as if he’d thrown ice water in her face. She blinked, then admitted quietly, “I...I don’t know.”
“What sort of weaponry does the Resistance have at its disposal, and how does it stack up against the stockpiles of the enemy?”
She stared at the prince, clearly surprised and dismayed. “I don’t know that either.”
“All right. Last question, then. If we were to go to Bruthes and join the Resistance, what would be the first move? Would we gather all of your people and attack the Bruthesan capital? Would we take their High Council hostage? Or would we try to find and eliminate the Taluan leadership on the planet? Any idea?”
Nima shook her head and looked away from him. Theyn pressed on. He knew he was haranguing her, and he was sorry to do it, but he wanted her to rise above her wild imaginings.
“And if that first action succeeds, whatever it is, and we manage to achieve our objective, do you know for certain that the Ylians in the colony will rise up to follow us? Or will they close their doors and hide to stay clear of any association with us while the Bruthesans surround us and cut us down?”
A tear slid down her cheek, and Nima angrily brushed it away.
“I could go,” Beno said softly, his voice little more than a whisper.
Theyn and Sera both turned to look at him in surprise. Sera asked, “What did you say?”
Beno looked into Theyn’s eyes, and he could feel their connection opening up. He waited for Beno to say something, but instead he spoke aloud. “I said, I could go. I could do some recon, get some of those answers for you.”
Nima’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward. Theyn stood and shook his head.
“No. It’s a fool’s risk, and…” He sighed, hating what he was about to say. “And I forbid it.”
Beno looked surprised, and he opened his mouth, then shut it again. The connection between their minds closed off with a snap. Theyn sighed. As the pair lead, and as a member of the royal family, he outranked Beno in every way that mattered, but he rarely exercised the privilege. Now he had pulled rank, and it was unfamiliar and uncomfortable to them both.
Sera broke the silence. “You forbid it,” she echoed, her tone sharp.
“Yes.”
“Well, aren’t we just the little king of everything?”
Beno looked away. “It’s his right.”
Their female bond mate looked skeptical and disapproving, and it made Theyn sad. “I’m sorry,” he said, apologizing to everyone but to Beno most of all.
His dark partner spoke, his eyes still turned away. “No, it’s the correct thing to say. As your bond mate and partner, and as your bodyguard, it would be dereliction of duty to leave your side that way. Also, as we know, being separated is not tenable. We both would suffer from the distance.”
Sera’s brows knit over her newly-luminous eyes. “I don’t understand.”
‘I told you the day we met that Ylians are symbiotic,’ Beno said, mind to mind. ‘As bond mates, we literally can’t survive unless we’re together, or at least within a certain geographic proximity. Our physical systems are that enmeshed. That’s the reason we can merge - we’re already partially turning into one person.’
Theyn had never heard the explanation stated that way before, and in simple words, it seemed such a hollow version of the profound nature of their bond. He could see Sera struggling to understand.
She spoke aloud. “You also said that Ylian males who can’t bond go crazy and die. There’s a lot of unbonded Ylian guys around.”
Nima said, “Hybrids.”
“What?”
“Hybrids. They’re all hybrids.” She sighed. “Your bond mates are the only full-blooded Ylian males that we have left.”
Sera looked shocked. “But we saw them in the Men’s Quarters when we escaped.”
The other woman faced her grimly. “They were destroyed. The only full-blooded Ylian men in existence on Earth are His Highness and the Commander.”
She gaped at her. “What about on Bruthes?”
“No. The virus that destroyed their ability to merge destroyed their ability to bond. They all died off long ago.”
Theyn sighed. “I’m sorry, Nima. We just can’t go to Bruthes to join your Resistance. We don’t know enough about the situation, and we’re far too few in number to do anything but die heroic deaths. Now that we have a baby to raise, we’re not leaving her behind.” He looked into her eyes, hoping that the disappointment he saw there would fade. “I hope you understand.”
The Ylian woman turned away. “I’ll have to.” She walked toward the door, then paused and looked back over her shoulder. “I never thought I’d see an Imperial Ylian turn his back on his own people.”
“Save your guilt trips,” Sera said. “He’s got good reasons, rational reasons, for saying no.”
Nima looked at Sera and snorted, but she wisely held her tongue as she left the room.
Chapter Eight
Kira cooed and gurgled in her crib. Beno, recovering his composure after Theyn’s rebuke, walked to Sera and gently took her face in his hands.
“These eyes of yours,” he said softly. “They weren’t like that last night.”
“I know.”
She smiled as he traced one fingertip over her brow, light as a feather. For a big man, he could be astoundingly gentle.
Theyn asked, “I wonder how it happened?”
“It’s probably related to me getting osteoderms,” she said. “I don’t really understand it. I was hoping our xenologist might be able to come up with some suggestions.”
Beno kissed her forehead, then stepped back. He shook his head. “Your Ylian bloodline must be very strong.”
“Imperial,” Theyn said quietly.
They both looked at their blond mate, and Beno agreed. “Yes. Imperial. Hence the blue eyes.” He looked back at Sera. “Remember when we met, when you had such a strong, visceral and Ylian reaction to being stunned?”
She smiled and nodded toward Kira. “How can I forget?”
Both men chuckled. Somehow it sounded as if they were singing in harmony, and Sera wondered what Ylian music was like, and if they ever sang. She pulled her mind out of that pleasant consideration and looked back at Beno, who was smiling at her, looking affectionate and teasing at the same time.
“What?” she asked.
“We used to sing, sometimes,” he said.
“It’s rude to peek in my thoughts.”
“I’ve been inside you every other way,” he shrugged. “I didn’t see the harm.”
Theyn laughed out loud, and Sera smirked. “Fine. But I still think you’re a brat.”
“You’re not wrong,” the blond Ylian said, smiling. “But Beno, you have a theory?”
“Yes. It seems to me that your Ylian traits were just barely beneath the surface to have been so strongly activated by the stun. I suppose it’s possible - just a little unlikely - that biochemical traces from Kira passed through the placental barrier during your pregnancy and activated other Ylian traits that had previously been dormant. It might have been almost like gene therapy, where embryonic stem cells are injected into an adult host, where they help to address deficiencies in the host’s DNA.” Beno shrugged. “It’s just a guess, but I can’t think of any other mechanism that might have caused it.”
“But when you did the blood scan that told you I was pregnant in the first place, you said that I was only a little bit Ylian.”
Ignition: Alien Ménage Romance (Phoenix Rising Book 2) Page 6