by S. E. Smith
Tears welled up in her eyes as his words sunk in. “Is that all he said to you?” She asked.
Cosmos smiled tenderly down at her, resting his palm against her cheek. “Well, and the fact that he was going to rip me into little pieces and make sure that I felt it if anything did happen to you,” he said with a crooked grin.
Terra gave a short chuckle before she just gazed at him for a moment. “There is no reason that I cannot have a child. It is just – Prime males inject a female with a chemical that helps prepare them for mating. It normally takes several injections of the chemical before a female’s body accepts his seed. I do not know if I will be able to conceive without the chemical. Nothing like this has ever happened before – the mating between a Prime female and a male from another species,” Terra explained quietly.
In that instant, Cosmos felt the difference between their species greater than ever before. The knowledge that he might be the reason they could not have children, that his being human, might prevent Terra from having a fulfilling life, shook him to the very core of his being. All his life he had been different from other people. He had been better than others in many things. He had definitely been smarter and more successful so the knowledge that he might be lacking was a new concept to him. He fell back against the pillows and stared blankly up at the ceiling, his mind swirling as he ran through all possible solutions to fix this problem.
“NO!” Terra said harshly, sitting up and straddling his waist so he had to look at her. “You are not deficient. You are the smartest, strongest, handsomest, most noble man I have ever known besides my father and brothers. There is nothing I would change about you. I love you, just the way you are and I would never wish for another,” she said fiercely. “Do you understand me? I love you just the way you are!” She waited a moment before she rolled her eyes when she felt his cock jerk under her ass. “I think your body knows it anyway,” she muttered as she started to roll off him.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Cosmos said huskily. “I think I need a little more convincing. How much did you say you love me?”
“You are incorrigible,” Terra giggled as she leaned down over him, letting her breasts brush against his chest.
“But you love me,” he responded shifting her down until his cock was aligned with her heated core. He groaned loudly as she slowly impaled herself on his throbbing shaft. “We’ll figure out how to recreate the mating chemical if we find out we can’t have kids without it. Together we can do anything.”
“Together,” Terra breathed out as she began riding him.
Chapter 13
Avilov slammed the cell phone against the wall in rage. It had been four weeks since the night at the warehouse. He had lost over fifty of his best men and several important contacts within the U.S. government. On top of that, his accounts had been hacked into and all of his funding from his illicit businesses had been seized and given to charities around the world. He suspected that even his contact with the Vice-President of the United States had been compromised. His legitimate businesses were being seized by governments around the world or the stock prices had dropped so far as to make the companies practically worthless. He was having to dip into his hidden reserve funds. He knew who was behind it. Cosmos Raines and the creatures he had helping him.
Avilov stared at the screen on his computer. An image of the male his men had captured stared back at him with cold, deadly flaming silver eyes. He needed to know where in the hell Cosmos had gotten the man. He was not human. All the tests the doctors at his testing facility had conducted proved that he was not from Earth. But where in the hell was he from? That was the billion dollar question.
He was furious because the facility in Oregon where he planned on shipping the male had been seized by federal agents. The doctors studying him had barely had time to move him from the Washington State facility before he was discovered. Now they were taking him to a small facility they had set up in California. It didn’t have any of the equipment they needed and was not even a true research lab. It was basically just a converted office building where they had rented a section of the basement to house the male until a better facility could be obtained.
Avilov clicked an icon on the desktop of the small computer to open the current news from around the world that had been delivered to him. The laptop wasn’t even hooked to the Internet. Everything he had was brought in on a flash drive and triple checked by his security team before he placed it in the small computer he was using. He had to go off the grid after several close calls.
The first few weeks had been a nightmare as he tried to liquidate as much as he could before it was seized. He barely stayed one step ahead of the agents from around the world seeking him. Hell, he barely stayed one step ahead of the other mob bosses looking to kill him. They were furious that he had not only placed information about them on the disk that was stolen but had led government forces around the world to their doorsteps. He currently had a fifteen million dollar bounty on his head, preferably with him being brought in dead. Only his closest men knew where he was and even then he didn’t trust them. He looked around the sparsely decorated former World War II bunker he had taken refuge in. He was in the middle of Siberia locked in an underground frozen crypt.
“Sir,” a deep voice spoke behind him.
Avilov turned with the hand in his pocket, gripping the Makarov pistol as he did. Afon stared at him with cold eyes. He and Afon had become acquainted with each other when Avilov literally plucked the man off the streets of Moscow when Afon was just fifteen years old. Afon already had a reputation for being deadly but he lacked power and money. Avilov gave him both in exchange for loyalty. So far, Afon had never shown that his loyalty was waning.
“Afon,” Avilov acknowledged him with a nod. “Do you have the transportation ready and have the other men been given their orders?” Avilov asked turning just far enough to flip through the current documents he had requested on the man he was going to be visiting in Prague. “I don’t want you going with them. You will remain with me,” he ordered, looking up sharply to make sure Afon understood.
Afon bowed his head in acknowledgment of the order. “I have the team ready to go in after Raines. They have their orders to capture him alive. They have also been ordered to procure any equipment that he has. I’ve kept everything classified and no electronic dispatches have been sent,” Afon said in an emotionless voice. “I have also secured transportation to Prague for us.”
“When does the team leave?” Avilov asked coldly.
“They leave tonight. They will not attack until I give the order. I determined it would be best for your untimely death to be announced first. Also, it has been agreed that more information was needed before the team moved in. We need to understand what capabilities the silver-eyed man we are holding has. We also need information on the security system Raines has installed. It would help make the strike more likely to be successful. I have instructed the Team Lead to study the target and notify me of his findings before engaging Raines.”
Avilov frowned as he brought up the World News headlines that had been downloaded for him. The announcement that the Vice President of the United States had suffered a deadly stroke and died two days ago chilled him to the bone. The man had been fifty-six and in perfect health according to his latest medical exam three months ago.
“Sir, when you are ready,” Afon said quietly. “We should leave immediately.”
Avilov looked up at the man standing before him and had a feeling the trip was not going to be a comfortable one. Avilov nodded and waved his hand to let Afon know that he would be ready to leave shortly. He needed to look over the information he had one more time on the plastic surgeon he had an appointment with and wanted to read the article on the Vice President. He wanted to make sure the surgeon was the best. His eyes drifted back to the news headline only this time they drifted to the picture below. There was an article on Cosmos Raines and his current charity funding. A savage gleam glittered in Avilov’s e
yes before he slammed the lid to the laptop closed in anger and frustration.
Cosmos Raines was a dead man, Avilov thought savagely. He will spill his secrets before he dies but he will die.
*.*.*
Terra leaned over Cosmos’ shoulder to study the information he was looking at on the computer screen. He was going over the information that had been obtained from the files Tansy had stolen. He knew the President was aware of it. J’kar had told him of their visit with the President. He and his brothers had been frustrated with their mates when they insisted on accompanying him, his brothers and their father to see the human leader just a week after Tansy regained consciousness. Mak had been beside himself with worry for his mate. She was still weak from her injuries and exhaustion but determined to go on her own. Mak had tried to get her to let him and Borj handle it but she just rolled her eyes and told him either she was going with him or she was going alone but she was going.
Cosmos shook his head and wished he had been a fly on the wall when Tilly and her clan along with a bunch of big ass alien warriors suddenly walked out of a shimmering doorway into the Oval Office like they were out visiting a neighbor. That would have been an awesome sight, especially when Teriff introduced himself as a ‘dickhead’. He was just glad that the President had been receptive to listening to them instead of panicking and calling in the military. As far as he could tell, Askew Thomas hadn’t mentioned his unusual visitors to anyone outside of his inner-circle. Avery had informed him shortly after the Presidential visit that there was an elite group of agents looking for a man with unusual characteristics. The only reason she knew was their paths had crossed on more than one occasion during her own search. She informed Cosmos that she had the agents covered should they discover something before she did. Trudy and Rose had narrowed the search to California at this point. Unfortunately, California was a big state with a huge population.
Personally, Cosmos hadn’t been surprised in the least bit about the sudden death of the VP almost four months ago. After he had read the information about what the man had been up to and who he was in cahoots with, Cosmos would have killed the man himself. The VP had been responsible for countless deaths world-wide, some directly according to the report.
It was the additional information that Cosmos was working on right now. The governments were going after the long list of names of the other organized crime bosses. He wasn’t interested in those others right now. He would let the governments do their thing. He would send in teams to take out the ones they missed or couldn’t get. No, right now he was more interested in proving whether the newest report was accurate or not. His gut was telling him it wasn’t. When he had read that Avilov had been killed in a car bombing by one of his former associates yesterday morning in Paris, Cosmos had been skeptical. Yes, he knew Avilov’s former buddies had put out a huge bounty for his head but something just didn’t ring true. He wanted to see the body parts and analyze their DNA. Until he had concrete proof, he would go on the theory that it was a set up to get the heat off of Avilov’s back.
“Is that the man you were looking for?” Terra pointed out over his shoulder as a picture of Afon Dolinski popped up on the screen.
Cosmos turned his head and brushed his lips across hers. “Yep, that’s him. He is Avilov’s right-hand man. If we find him, we find Avilov. He won’t be far from him. The reports say only one man was in the vehicle. There should have been two if it was Avilov because he never went anywhere without him glued to his side. The thing is, Dolinski would never have gotten into any vehicle that he had not personally inspected or had total control over.”
“It’s been over four months since Avilov disappeared and there has been nothing on him. Most of his associates have been apprehended or their funding has been cut off. All of Avilov’s assets have been frozen or seized. Isn’t it possible that this man could have abandoned him?” Terra asked scooting over to sit in the rolling chair next to him.
Cosmos’ eyes softened as she pulled her long legs up into the seat and wrapped her arms around them. Her bare toes peeked out from under the long sweatpants she was wearing. He would never get tired of looking at her. The last four and a half months had been incredible. When they weren’t working on finding Avilov or helping Avery locate Merrick, they were spending time learning about each other.
He knew her mind was as sharp as his and her curiosity was insatiable. Terra had supported the response team when Natasha had been rescued a little over a week after her kidnapping. She had provided medical support to the injured woman. Lan had taken Natasha back to Baade once she was stable for additional medical attention and to recuperate. Natasha had been in bad shape by the time Maria and Lan had located where she was being held. They had barely made it in time to save not only her but Helene. Helene had gone in after her sister unbeknownst to Cosmos. He thought she was safe back on Baade until a very irritate Prime warrior showed up demanding to know the location of Lan and Maria.
Brock discovered Helene had escaped back to Earth with RITA2’s help shortly after Lan had returned to take his place in the search for Natasha. RITA explained her ‘sis’ just wanted to help Helene out since she was so distressed about her missing sister. She had no idea that the feisty Russian was Brock’s mate.
Helene had taken out a good portion of the men who had taken her sister by the time Brock, Lan, and Maria had shown up. Maria later reported that the group of men that had taken Natasha had been a part of an initial coalition between Avilov and another mob boss. It appeared the mob boss had taken a fancy to Natasha and wanted her brought to him. Cosmos was glad they were just down to one missing member now.
“It’s possible Dolinski deserted him but I doubt it. It doesn’t fit with his profile,” Cosmos said reaching over to pull Terra’s chair closer to his. He smiled when she squealed as the chair rolled across the concrete floor. “Have I told you how much I love you today?” He asked huskily, turning so they were facing each other.
Terra shook her head and smiled. “Only about fifty times. But I’m not complaining,” she added teasingly.
“Cosmos, sweetheart. I’m sorry to break up your intimate moment but your folks are calling,” RITA’s cheerful voice sounded over the sound system.
Cosmos lowered his head with a groan. He had only talked to them a couple of times over the last four months. They had been in Hong Kong working on a huge project and except for a few brief conversations he hadn’t had much time to ask more than how the project was going and how they were doing. He tried to contact them at least once a month knowing that both of his parents lost track of time when they were in the middle of something. He had always been the glue that kept them together. They weren’t bad parents, just single minded when they were working on something which was almost always.
Raising his head and releasing his breath, he looked into Terra’s eyes. She had a supportive, if teasing, smile on her face. They had talked about how he was going to introduce her to them. He was still stuck on the part where he said, ‘Hey mom - dad, I’d like you to meet my mate. She’s an alien.’ Yeah, that just didn’t sound like something you told your parents over the phone.
“Patch them through, RITA,” Cosmos called out before he grinned at Terra. “Maybe I could ask them to take a few days off and we could fly to Hong Kong and meet up with them.”
“That would be wonderful,” she said, nervously biting her lip.
“They’ll love you,” he assured her just as his mother’s voice came over the speaker.
“Cos… Cosmos,” his mother said in a trembling voice.
Cosmos knew immediately that something was wrong. He could hear the fear in her voice. His head jerked around toward the monitor and to the picture of the man standing next to Afon Dolinski. The man’s cold eyes stared silently back at him. Dread clawed at his stomach as he realized he was right – Avilov was not only alive but the son-of-a-bitch was declaring war on Cosmos.
Chapter 14
Cosmos typed in a command for RITA
to trace the call and record it. A quick flash across the screen showed she was already on it. Cosmos took a deep, steady breath even though his heart was pounding.
“Hi Mom, how are you?” Cosmos asked casually as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
“She is not doing too well, Mr. Raines,” a slightly accented voice smoothly replied. “It would appear that she and your father do not care for their current accommodations. A shame, don’t you think?”
“What do you want, Avilov?” Cosmos demanded, not even bothering to pretend he didn’t know who was behind the call.
Avilov’s cold chuckle sent shivers down Cosmos’ spine. “I want information, Mr. Raines. I have something of yours and I want to know where it came from. I thought to ask your parents for help but it would appear they were blissfully unaware of your little experiment and your new friend. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe them at first.”
“You son-of-a-bitch, I’ll kill you if you hurt them,” Cosmos snarled out. “I’ll fucking rip your heart out and shove it down your throat.”
Avilov laughed again. “I believe you really think you could kill someone but I’ve studied you, Mr. Raines. You are too much like your father. You like to keep your head in your inventions and your eyes on the pretty ladies, including the one by your side now. Such beauty, much like your mother. It is a shame about your father. I’m sure he was wishing he could have protected her as she watched him die.”
Cosmos’ hands trembled as he gripped the desk in front of him. “Mom?” Cosmos called out hoarsely.
“He killed him, Cosmos,” his mother cried. “Your dad… he killed him,” she sobbed out.
“Your mother will join your father but not as quickly if you are not in the following location by midnight tomorrow night,” Avilov said coldly. “Do not try anything, Mr. Raines, or I will send her to you piece by piece.”
Cosmos sat frozen as the connection ended. Terra reached over with a trembling hand to touch his shoulder but he jerked away, standing up and walking over to the railing looking over the initial Gateway. His fingers turned white as he gripped the railing, wishing fervently that it was Avilov’s neck instead.