by Kate Rudolph
He barely registered heavy fists beating against him. The pain was nothing. He could deal with pain. As long as nothing vital was broken and his mate was safe he would keep moving.
Distantly he could hear Manda say something, but he didn't pay attention. His choice was to listen to her or to keep her safe, and he would always choose to keep her safe.
It was over fast. Whatever training these aliens had, they weren't expecting someone like Deke. A stupid miscalculation. Plenty of fighters came to the Temple to find peace of their own.
His claws dug into the alien and he didn't give up until blood flowed over them. It smelled sour and metallic and unhealthy.
But eventually the alien fell to the floor.
A hand brushed his arm and he spun around, ready to fight again. But at the last minute he stopped as he realized it was Manda.
Deke braced, ready for the look of condemnation he would face for the ruthlessness of his technique. He could defend himself, could explain that he'd only done it to save her, but he doubted she would listen.
But Manda wasn't looking at him like she was afraid, or like she hated him. Somehow in the fight she'd scooped up the blaster and was holding it. She clearly didn't have much experience holding weapons, but at least she was keeping it safe for him.
She handed it to him. "Thanks for the save. I don't--"
"Always." It came out rough. But as long as she was there, he would protect her. She was his mate. "Come on. We need to move."
There was a lot left to say, but they had to find cover. No doubt there were more of those aliens hanging around. The hallways were too dangerous to linger.
***
Manda didn't have time to process what had just happened as she and Deke ran down the hall. She didn't know where they were going, but she was pretty sure his room was back this way.
Who were the aliens attacking them? What was going on? Why? She wanted to ask the questions, but if they paused to talk they might get spotted. She didn't want to fight those guys again. She already knew she was going to have nightmares just from the feeling of helplessness that came from being caught between those two soldiers.
It wasn't supposed to be dangerous here. Why had trouble found her again?
It was a good thing Deke was leading the way. She ran blindly beside him and would have burst into the next hallway if he hadn't thrust an arm in front of her to stop her. He clamped a hand over her mouth.
That should have set her off again, but this was Deke. And this was the first time he'd willingly touched her since she'd arrived on the station.
A strange thing to get caught up on. Surely he must have touched her before. Maybe. But her mind was too jumbled up to worry about memories at this point.
She heard heavy footsteps, barely, over the beating of her heart, and she and Deke shrunk back about a meter and managed to hide in a shadow as two more of those heavily armored soldier guys passed down the hall.
Deke stiffened. He probably would have cursed if either of them had dared to speak. Now that they were paused for a second she realized they were right down the hall from his quarters. It was only a handful of meters to a place that would feel safe. But they couldn't risk it if those soldier guys were right there.
Deke backed up on silent feet and Manda's footsteps sounded like the banging of drums in comparison. Or maybe that was still her heartbeat. She didn't ask where they were going this time either. Deke had an idea, and given the way he'd fought, he could probably keep her safe.
They turned down one hall and then another and luckily there were no more soldiers. She didn't know how many there were total; even one was too many. She realized that the siren had stopped blaring at some point. Was that a good thing? Probably not. Not if station security wasn't taking care of the threat.
The next hallway they came to looked just like any of the others, but Deke's shoulders seemed to relax. He opened one of the doors and gestured for her to go inside.
He followed immediately after and shut it. There wasn't anything special about the room. It was just a square, painted in neutral colors, with a somewhat padded floor. The lights were dim, and in another context it might have been relaxing.
"It's a meditation chamber," Deke told her quietly. "It's supposed to be soundproof, so they shouldn't hear us. But eventually they'll think to check. This gives us a few minutes to regroup."
Manda threw herself back against one of the walls and then slid down to the floor as if her legs suddenly couldn't hold her weight. Deke rushed over and loomed; she could feel his eyes raking over her, and for the first time she was pretty sure she felt panic coming off of him, as if he wasn't sure what to do.
"Are you alright?"
She shouldn't laugh. It was the completely wrong reaction. But it burst out of her anyway. "I'm not hurt," she managed. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, tugging him to sit down beside her.
He hesitated for a minute, but then he crouched down and finally gave up and sat.
Manda pulled her hand away and it came back green with blood. Her eyes widened. "Are you okay?"
"It's not mine."
Under other circumstances she might have believed that, but right now Deke seemed to be in some kind of soldier mode. He was determined to keep her safe and she was pretty sure he would hide an injury from her if he thought she would worry. She scrambled up to her knees and ran her hands lightly over his arms and down his chest. She straddled his legs to get closer and to make sure that he was alright.
He froze under her and let her do it. A moment later she paused as she realized what this looked like. Their eyes met and his were the bright blue that came with strong emotion. He was staring at her, daring her to do something. Manda breathed heavily, the adrenaline starting to crash and her limbs starting to shake. But staring at Deke centered her, gave her the grounding that she needed. Her eyes flicked down to his lips and his tongue darted out, moistening them.
No elevator was going to stop her this time. She leaned down slowly. She'd never done this before, but she wanted to do it right. Deke's hands settled on her hips, neither pushing her away nor pulling her toward him.
And then her lips were on his, tasting him for the first time.
She was only in charge of the kiss for a second until something seemed to unleash within him and he opened his mouth and devoured her. She felt his fingers digging into her skin and it was almost painful, but she wanted more. Her body burned for him. She felt things she didn't quite understand, but she knew she wanted more. She knew she wanted everything from him.
She could spend the rest of her life kissing him.
She wanted to.
He tasted like violence and protection and a promise of a tomorrow that might never come. It was nothing like she had imagined, but this memory would live on in her heartbeat until the day she died.
That was enough of a thought to remind her of where they were and what was going on. And who might be right outside the door.
They managed to tear apart from one another but she didn't get off his lap.
"I'm not done with you," she told him. Her body burned and she wanted to pull him to the floor and get him naked.
He grinned, and it was like the old Deke was staring back at her for the first time since she'd arrived on the station. "I hope not."
Chapter Twelve
They were supposed to be hiding so that Deke could formulate a plan, not kissing. Deke wanted to forget about the enemies outside and tear Manda's clothes off and show her what he could do. He needed to get away from her, but from the way he was sitting, that wasn't possible.
But she seemed to read his hesitation in his face. She touched her lips and grinned as Deke's cock twitched.
Another time. When they were safe.
"We need to find other survivors," he said as she slid off and sat beside him. It wasn't less distracting. Anytime he was around her, she was all he could think about. But he had to get his thoughts under control. The need to keep her safe overrode everything else.<
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"They seemed to be trying to take hostages," Manda observed with a surreal sense of calm. "They could have killed me. They didn't."
He hated that she had to experience this again. But he was proud of the way she was handling it. Would she panic and scream later? Maybe. But he would be there for her when that happened. Not yet, though. Not till they were safe.
"They could have thought this place was easy pickings," he reasoned. "Maybe they're trying to get a quick load of slaves for the markets." That explanation didn't exactly sit right with him. There were a lot of other easier targets than the Temple of Peace, and many more much closer to slavers' hubs. But they didn't need to know the why, not yet. "If they're not killing everybody, there's probably other people hiding. We should try and find them."
"Do you have any ideas? Because this room seems like a nice little place to set up our home and live forever." She patted the floor enticingly.
Despite the situation he found himself smiling at her joke. Smiling. That was a new and strange behavior. He almost remembered it. "You say that now, but what about when mealtime comes. And I don't exactly see a bathroom in here."
She scowled and then shuddered. "Good point. So what's the plan?"
There was no plan. He was making this up as he went along, but if a plan would make her feel better, he could pretend. "We move quietly and we find survivors. Then we go from there."
"That's not much of a plan." Manda wasn't inspired by his very sound idea.
Deke couldn't blame her. "It's what I've got right now."
That satisfied her.
Getting out of the room was the most dangerous part. Opening the door, they would have no idea who was right outside. But luck was on their side and they managed to sneak down the hall. If Deke were one of the attackers on the station, he would have hit the guard stations first and then gone for the areas most likely to be populated: the cafeteria, some of the entertainment centers, and the larger classrooms. But that meant that the areas near there were also the places most likely to have groups of survivors hiding out.
They headed for the nearest guard station and his instincts proved right when they were almost caught by one of the attackers. They ducked out of the way just in time.
It was another stroke of luck that had them ending up in a hall just as one of the station guards and two people from the Temple of Peace crossed their path.
The guard aimed his blaster right at Deke and Manda, but lowered it as soon as he realized that they weren't the enemy.
"Follow me," he commanded, and started moving before they could have an argument about it.
He and Manda followed, and they ended up in a small classroom down a tiny hallway. It was barely secure with a flimsy lock on the door, and there was no way out except the one door, but Deke wasn't going to argue about it yet.
The classroom had two station security guards and three people wearing uniforms of the Temple staff. He didn't see any Temple visitors. "What are your names?" he asked.
The guard took a helmet off and revealed long red hair, a sharp nose, and sharper cheekbones. "My name is Amri," she said. "My partner is Ryff and these three are Lari, Xys, and Ponta."
"I'm Deke, this is Manda." And that was introductions out of the way.
"They have most of the visitors corralled in the cafeteria," Amri told him, all business. "They managed to split up our security teams. These guys are good."
Deke scoffed; he knew exactly how this went, and he didn't have an ounce of respect for the assholes trying to take the place over. "They're hired muscle who are using overwhelming force. There's a lot of them, but that doesn't make them good."
"How would you know?" Amri crossed her arms.
Deke knew it would come to this. He could feel the darkness wrapping all around him as he sank back into the man he used to be. And then Manda entwined her fingers with his and he almost felt normal. "I was a merc," he said. "And I was a good one. Not some second-rate hack like these guys. So do you have a plan to get them off your base?" he asked.
Amri narrowed her eyes. "We're still working on that."
Of course they were. But Deke was ready for this thing to be over. He wanted his mate safe. "Then it's time to work harder. Let's get rid of these assholes."
***
Manda didn't feel safe, but she felt like maybe she could breathe for a minute. Deke was talking to Amri and Ryff and it was like they were speaking a language she couldn't understand, something about fortifying positions and a lot about weapons.
She would do what Deke told her to do. She was pretty sure no one would expect her to shoot a blaster with any accuracy. She just had to stay out of the way. And that was good, because her mind was racing.
Deke was a merc? Maybe she should have realized it as soon as he fought off those soldier guys like it was nothing, but she'd been too focused on staying alive to really think about it.
And that made her wonder about the dreams. Deke had told her he was a mercenary while she'd slept. He'd told her stories about the jobs he'd done, determined to make her hate him. Had that been her mind making up a backstory for him? Or had they really been sharing dreams?
She should have known what it meant to be the mate of a Detyen. She should have asked any of her friends, but she hadn't wanted to find out. Now she was regretting that. Now she wished she knew.
The dream thing seemed possible. After all, Naomi was a psychic, and if psychics existed couldn't psychic dreams? She knew that mates were connected on a deeper level, so if there was some sort of destiny crap tying them together, why couldn't they share dreams?
Was every dream she'd had of Deke for the past four years something they'd shared? She racked her brain, trying to remember everything, but there were a lot of them. She didn't know if they were all shared. She probably needed to think of something else for a moment. They could talk about dreams and their mating when they were safe.
If that ever happened.
She could still remember the feeling of Deke's lips against hers. Who cared about dreams when she could think about the kiss?
But she couldn't think about that either.
While Deke, Amri, and Ryff were talking, Manda wandered over to where Lari, Xys, and Ponta were sitting. Lari seemed to be about her age, a woman with long white hair and purple skin. Xys looked to be an older man with gray skin, gray eyes, and gray hair. She didn't know if he was actually old or if his alien species just looked that way. Ponta was a human in his forties or fifties; he was a bit pudgy with thinning hair and a nice smile.
None of the three looked like they could put up much of a fight. But they weren't prisoners of the invaders yet, so maybe they had hidden depths. Besides, Manda didn't look like she could put up much of a fight either.
"How are you faring?" Lari asked. She had the kind of calming voice that must have been appreciated by parishioners at the Temple.
"Not very good," Manda admitted. "This wasn't exactly how I expected my time to go."
"Have faith," said Lari.
Manda didn't need platitudes. She needed Deke and whatever plan he had to get them out of this. She didn't spend much time chatting with Lari, Xys, and Ponta, though they sat there for quite some time. It felt wrong to chat while Deke, Amri, and Ryff figured out what to do to get them out of this mess.
She didn't know how long they waited. Deke threw her reassuring glances every few minutes and she appreciated that. But she wanted more than a reassuring glance. She wanted this to be over.
"Is there some sort of reinforcement we can call?" she called over to them after a while. "Someone off the base who could come and kick ass?"
Amri grimaced. "That's what we're discussing. They have some sort of dampener on our communications. We do have a monitoring service that should send in reinforcements if something goes wrong, but we don't know if they're coming. It's possible that everything appears normal on their end. We need to get to the communications room to see what we can do."
"We need to ra
lly security forces," Ryff argued. He gripped his blaster tight and glared. "There's not much we can do if they've taken out our communication."
"Can't we do both?" Manda asked. If there was any possibility of reinforcements, she wanted them at the Temple, but she didn't want to sacrifice any opportunity to fight back against the soldiers.
Ryff glared, but Amri looked intrigued. "Go on."
Manda didn't have much to say. But it seemed obvious to her. "We split up? Some of us go to the communications place? Some of us find security?" Wasn't that clear? It felt wrong to suggest it. Clearly one of them would have already figured it out.
Deke, Amri, and Ryff started talking as if she hadn't made the suggestion. Manda slouched back in her chair. She'd tried. What more could she do?
Several minutes later, Deke walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It was a good idea. You want to head to the comm station with me?"
"I'll go anywhere with you." She wanted to call the words back as soon as she said them. It felt like laying her soul bare. But Deke smiled, so maybe she'd said the right thing.
They had their plan, though Amri and Ryff didn't seem too happy about giving Deke the access codes he would need to contact off-station security. And then they split up once more.
This time she knew where they were going. Both she and Deke had studied the map and she'd been given the access codes as well, just in case something happened to either one of them. She didn't want to think about that. She'd just found Deke again; she wasn't willing to lose him.
And then they were back in the halls, creeping along and hoping to avoid the soldiers.
They came to a crossroads, where four of the invaders were just waiting. They had to go straight to get where they were headed, but there was no way around.
Deke turned to her and whispered. "Stay hidden. I'm going to cause a distraction."
She wanted to tell him to stop, wanted to insist there was a better way, but he was moving before she could say anything.
Manda held as still as she could, hoping it would somehow make her invisible. She didn't know what kind of distraction Deke was going for, but when a loud blast rocked the hall, she knew that was what he meant.