Warmth swamped me through the collar. Perhaps not love, not yet, but something so close I could not determine what the difference might be. Surnen must have felt it too, for Mikki’s emotions silenced him. “I accept. You are both insane, do you know that?”
“We are yours, Mikki. Perhaps now you fully understand what that means.” I spoke slowly, clearly, as I knew Surnen would understand the need that drove me.
“Perhaps. Now let’s get out of here.” Mikki closed off her emotions until there was no warmth, no fear, only calm the likes of which I’d only ever sensed from other warriors on the battlefield. Or Surnen in surgery.
I nodded. This was a side of our female I had never seen before, and it fascinated me.
“Once the helmet’s off, you won’t be able to see. The pressure of the water is going to make it feel like your ears are about to explode. It’s going to hurt. Hold your nose and blow air into your sinus cavities; try to equalize the pressure inside your head with the water pressure pushing down on you.”
“So, like losing my helmet in space, but in reverse.”
She blinked, thinking. “I guess that makes sense. So, yes. You must remain calm. Step one, take a deep breath, fill your lungs with air. Step two, remove the helmet and equalize the pressure in your ears so your eardrums don’t rupture. Do you even have eardrums?”
“Yes, mate. Our ears are very similar to human ears in both structure and function.” Surnen’s words made her sigh in relief.
“Good. Okay. Step three, since you won’t be able to see anything, I’ll take the helmet from you and try to jam it into the machine. If it works, I’ll grab your hand, and we’ll kick for the surface.”
“I understand.” I didn’t like the sound of it, but I’d survived worse in space, and far worse at the hands of the Hive. I could endure far more pain than damaged ears if it meant saving our mate. “I am ready.”
“No. Wait. What if it doesn’t work? You’ll drown.”
“Mate, it will work.” I had expected to die in some Hive battle. I’d expected to die a Hive prisoner. I never imagined, ever, to die at the bottom of an ocean. Dying here was not my destiny. I had to be positive. There was no alternative.
“Okay, it will work. It has to work. You’ll have to bend your knees and push off the ground. Pretend you’re trying to jump up in the air, that should help propel you to the surface. If it doesn’t work, fight the pull. Keep your legs mostly straight and kick. Kick hard and fast. Put your arms over your head and pull down, like this.”
Mikki demonstrated and I recognized the moves. “Like I did with my log.”
“Exactly.”
“All right, let’s do it.” I lifted my hands toward my helmet.
“Wait.”
I stilled.
“We’re thirty feet down. The air is pressurized. You have to slowly exhale as you rise. Blow out slowly, releasing the air as it expands. If you don’t, your lungs will explode.”
This just kept getting better. “Explode?”
“Maybe not explode completely, but it’ll be bad.”
“So you have protocols in place. Rules that must be followed in order to survive?”
I could see she mentally paused, watched as her mind worked. “Absolutely. Diving is dangerous. You have to follow the rules. If you don’t, you die.”
I arched a brow and just stared at her. Waited.
I felt the moment she understood. Surnen’s need for rules, his obsession with them. From what he’d admitted, his parents had broken them and they’d died. Mikki had fought them her whole life, but she’d been following them in her passion and hadn’t even realized.
“Oh,” she practically whispered.
“You understand now?” I asked softly.
She nodded. “I do. Surnen, I’m sorry for fighting you so hard.” Shame, sadness, compassion filled me through the collar. Regret. Acceptance. And that warm feeling again, this time for Surnen as well as myself, and much stronger than before.
“Mate, now is not the time for this,” Surnen said, his command loud and clear even this far under the water. He was being strong, holding himself together. Controlling his emotions, just as Mikki was doing. I was the weak link here, drowning in pride for our female.
“Trax, do as she orders. Follow the protocols needed to survive and get the hell out of there.”
Mikki and I stared at each other. Resolute. This was it.
“Just don’t panic when your ears feel like they’re going to explode. Kick off the ground and slowly breathe out,” she said. “Okay?”
“Mate,” I said. “I am proud that you are mine.”
“Trax, you’re… well, mine. And don’t forget it for one second.”
“Never.” With that, I set my hands on my helmet and turned it, unlocking the seal.
Instantly water rushed in. My breath was caught in my body. My face was wet. Pressed upon. It was cold, but not as cold as deep space. I opened my eyes for a second, only saw a red blur. I felt as if daggers stabbed at my ears, but I held on to the helmet, afraid to drop it and ruin our plan.
I couldn’t hear anything beyond the pain.
The helmet was ripped from my fingers.
I did as Mikki had instructed and held my nose, blew air into my sinus cavity until the pain lessened, became manageable.
All at once I could feel the suction of water release, hear the grind of gears. We were free. It had instantly worked, the Hive machine stalling enough for us to break free of its hold. I didn’t wait. I bent my knees and did exactly as Mikki had instructed and pushed off the sea floor. I lifted up and kept going. Higher and higher, using my arms, kicking my legs. Mikki gripped my forearm and tugged as I slowly let out air.
My chest burned as I ran out of air to exhale. My eyes were squeezed shut as I thrashed and fought for the surface, but I had no idea how far there was to go. How I could survive a second longer holding my breath.
All at once, we broke the surface, and I gasped, bobbed on top of the water, then started to sink again. Mikki’s hold tugged me back to the surface. I blinked water out of my eyes, saw her talking but couldn’t hear a word since I had no helmet. Looking to shore, I saw everyone waving their arms. Mikki was tugging on me, shifting to her back and kicking. I mimicked her, rolling onto my back as well. It was easier this way. I floated, somehow. Water splashed over my face, but I was used to it… a little, now.
I felt arms beneath my shoulders, and I dropped, my feet hitting ground. Mikki stood up, and we were surrounded, fifteen feet from shore, by the others.
Mikki undid her helmet, dropped it into the water. She grinned at me. I felt her happiness, her relief through the collars. “Fuck, mate,” I said. “Let’s never do that again.”
She laughed and launched herself at me. Kissing me. Hugging me. I was never letting go.
Surnen was beside us, touching Mikki’s shoulder, her wet hair. Our kiss ended, and he pulled her into his arms, kissing her, holding her. His relief amplified my own until I was nearly giddy with the bizarre bubbling happiness flowing through my entire body.
“Governor, control your people. You now have three who have been exposed to potentially dangerous pathogens. Your group will transport off this planet in thirty seconds. Quarantine them until an assessment has been completed.”
That arrogant, asshole voice had to be Helion’s. No one else would dare speak to Maxim in that tone.
I lifted my head, looked to shore. There was a group of seven or eight Prillon warriors, all wearing identical black uniforms and stern expressions beneath their helmets. They must be the I.C. and must have just transported to the beach.
“Helion, glad you’re here,” Maxim replied. “It seems like you’ve got a Hive problem on Vulari.”
He walked out of the water holding Rachel’s hand. I pulled Mikki along, and everyone moved to shore, Surnen right beside us. He had yet to say anything, but his emotions were turbulent, barely controlled. Silence was probably wise, since I wasn’t sure Surnen wou
ld be able to control his mouth if Helion dared say a word about our female.
“I’ll get my crew out of here, especially since three of them have removed their helmets. Keep me updated on these Hive machines. I have a member of The Colony who’s an expert on underwater skills, if you have need.”
“No,” Surnen and I said at the same time. Then we were gone, transported away, the sound of the governor’s laugh and the I.C. commander’s gruff shout the last we heard.
I didn’t give a shit about I.C. or their problems. I had my mate. She was safe. She was ours. And I wasn’t letting her go again. I wasn’t letting anything get in my way of loving her. Even my own stupid insecurities. I’d left them all at the bottom of the ocean.
12
Surnen, The Colony, Private Quarters
* * *
The bed may have been sized for three, but the shower tube in my quarters was not. It didn’t even fit two, which meant we stood outside the enclosure and watched as Mikki washed the Valurian ocean from her body.
We’d been escorted directly to my quarters and instructed to remain under quarantine until one of my medical staff cleared us. Which was just fine with me. I had no intention of leaving Mikki’s side anytime soon.
We’d stripped her bare and pushed her into the tiny tube, then removed our own sodden clothes.
We hadn’t been back on The Colony for ten minutes. It had all happened so fast. No, not just the fucking mess on Valuri, but everything.
“It hasn’t even been a day,” I murmured. We should have felt silly standing side by side and doing nothing but staring at our mate as she washed her hair, but I didn’t. Neither of us could look away, as if she’d disappear.
As if she’d never actually been here in the first place.
But she had. I was different. Holy fuck, I’d been ripped from my bland, strict existence and thrust into hell.
We all had, and we’d survived.
Mikki’s mind was calm. Quiet. The rush of adrenaline had faded from her system. It had from Trax’s as well, but he was restless, body and mind. I had to wonder if it was because she was used to danger, found a thrill in it, while Trax did not. He’d been in dangerous situations throughout his career as a warrior, was used to battle, to risking his life, but not what he’d just endured.
I’d only been in the water for less than a minute, and I hadn’t gone beneath the surface. The idea of it, the reminder that my mate had been trapped down there, had me panicking even now, far from Valuri and its body of water. Whatever the fuck was in that ocean was Helion’s problem.
Mine was before us, and she wasn’t a problem at all.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” he said. “I had no idea.”
The water turned off, the drying setting began, and within seconds the door slid open and Mikki stepped out onto the mat. Grabbing a bath sheet from a hook, I wrapped it about her, then pulled her into my arms. She was so small, her head only coming up to my chest. She offered no resistance, instead wrapping her arms about my waist and hugging me right back. Her covering fell to the floor.
Trax climbed into the tube and took his turn as we stood there. I was hard, no doubt she could feel the insistent prod against her torso, but I did nothing about it. My cock could wait.
“Mate,” I breathed, leaning down and kissing the top of her damp head.
“Scan me for injuries.”
I stiffened and felt a rush of panic. Setting my hands on her shoulders, I pushed her back, tipped my chin down to look at her. “You’re hurt?”
“No, I feel fine, but I know you want to check with your little wands.” She circled her finger in the air. “I’ll submit to a medical test. Whatever you need to be reassured.”
Trax stepped out of the tube, and I looked to him. He’d heard what she said, and I saw the heat in his gaze, but also… affection. Respect. Adoration.
I felt all of it, too. Her concern. Her need for me to be happy.
“Come here, mate. Let Surnen rinse the sea from his skin.”
It was my turn, but I didn’t want to leave her, even by stepping into the bathing tube for the short time it took to wash. By the time I was done, Trax had led her from the room, and he was sitting on the side of the bed, she upon his lap.
Fuck. She was so beautiful, so perfect.
Such a tiny thing and she was fierce. Brave.
Mikki looked up at me when I entered. “I want you to test me.”
I studied her, felt her emotions through the collars.
“All right.” I grabbed a wand from my medical kit by the entry door and returned. “Lay on the bed.”
Trax stood, keeping her in his arms, pivoted and gently set her down in the center. Crawling up beside her, he settled himself along her length, propped up on one elbow.
Using the simple scanner, I waved it over her body from head to toe. While I watched the readings that came through, I also looked over every inch of my mate. I saw the scars she’d mentioned, the tan lines. Her nipples pebbled, and she licked her lips.
“Mate,” I said, feeling her arousal grow. It made my cock instantly hard, and she couldn’t miss it.
“I’m not used to being examined by a naked doctor,” she said, her gaze affixed to my cock.
“The scans show no injuries or imbalances in your blood,” I said, dropping the device on the small table beside the bed.
“You said I’d be pleasured, tested for my ability to orgasm.”
Trax groaned and dropped his head to take a nipple into his mouth.
Her eyes slid closed, and I felt her need, Trax’s satisfaction swirl between us.
“A test is not needed. Your mates are well aware of how you can be sexually satisfied.”
“Surnen, I… I need to know you’re okay.”
Trax lifted his head, his eyes filled with desire. I knew what those little buds felt like on my tongue, and I ached for my own turn. While I couldn’t miss Mikki’s desire, I also felt her unease.
“There is much unsaid between us, isn’t there?” I asked.
“Can you believe you only arrived yesterday?” Trax asked her, his hand sliding absently over her belly and hip.
Her own hand came up, brushed the integrations around his neck and up to his ear. He didn’t flinch, didn’t turn away. I felt… pride, and it pleased me that Mikki had truly relieved Trax of his worries.
She bit her lip, uncertain. “I have made many mistakes,” she admitted.
Sighing, I dropped onto the bed to sit on her other side. She was in our bed—not tied to it as I’d threatened, but between us. “You were correct, what you said. What happened to my parents had nothing to do with you being caught beneath the sea.”
“I’m sorry about your family. My parents and I don’t really get along, but I couldn’t imagine them being gone.”
“It was a long time ago,” I admitted. “I shut myself off. It was… safer that way. Until you showed up. Then—”
“Bam,” she said, finishing for me. It wasn’t the word I’d have used, but…
“Yes. Bam. You defied me at every turn. I was determined to teach you control, to rein in your emotions. But I realize I was wrong.”
“I was wrong, too. I’m sorry I fought you all the time. I understand now. I know you need to keep me safe.” A blush crept up her neck, made her whole face a pretty pink. She looked away. “I will try to control myself. I don’t want to freak you out by being too emotional. I’m sorry.”
“Do no such thing. Your emotions make you powerful, Mikki. They make me feel alive. I need you to feel everything. I want to feel everything with you.”
She pushed up onto an elbow and reached for me, touched my arm. “But Trax made me see, thirty feet underwater, that we all follow rules. I thought I didn’t follow any, that I was above them.”
“Your rules saved us,” Trax said.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “You were so brave.”
He rolled his eyes, just as I’d seen Rachel do, then laughed. “I was despera
te to prove myself worthy. I wanted to understand you, mate, to have something in common where we had none.”
“Mission accomplished.” Mikki fell onto her back so she could look to both of us. “I can’t believe you used a log for a surfboard to get to me.”
“I will see that the Academy adds swimming to its many lessons,” I said, making a mental note to speak to Maxim and gain his support before contacting Vice Admiral Niobe at the Coalition Academy. She was half human, raised on Earth, and most likely had the skills required to teach recruits how to swim. Or find someone who could.
As long as it wasn’t my mate. I stroked her hair, allowed the dark strands to slip between my fingers. My attentions brought her gaze back to me.
“I’m so sorry, Surnen. I defied you because I thought you were like everyone else on Earth who wanted to confine me. Decide who I should be, what I should do. I can’t live like that.”
“Ah, mate. Don’t you see? My rules are in place to set you free.”
She pushed up once again, this time all the way to her knees so she was before me, her face at the same height as mine. She stroked my hair, my cheek, studied me so closely I felt like I was under Rachel’s microscope. “I promise to ask why from now on. Why do I have to follow a specific rule? Why are certain protocols in place?”
“I shall be sure to tell you the reasons.”
“I shall promise never to step foot in water outside of a bathing tube ever again,” Trax added.
I sensed Mikki’s disappointment, and my response was immediate. “You shall learn to swim along with the rest of us. I have a feeling Mikki will make an excellent teacher.”
Trax groaned, making Mikki laugh, but I felt her joy at my words. The ocean truly was a part of her, something she would need to visit to feel whole. Perhaps, once Helion cleared Valuri of the Hive threat, we could return. If not, there were hundreds of other worlds. Surely one of them could provide for her needs.
Things weren’t resolved between us. I wasn’t naive enough to think that. It had barely been a day. We had the rest of our lives to work through any issue that might arise. There would be plenty of issues with a wild, free spirit like Mikki. Yet we shared a new understanding since our trip to Valuri. Things had changed, for the better.
Her Cyborg Warriors Page 14