by Lace, Lisa
Rev could activate his beacon. The trackers would eventually send a recovery craft for him, but when it was discovered that he had mated with Tracy, all hell would break loose.
They could hang around the miners’ camp and wait for an ore transport vehicle. He and Tracy could stow away on it, and eventually they would make it to a civilized world.
Then all they would need was money, transport papers, and more money, and he had no answer for that. His previous experiences told him he didn't make a good criminal.
He gazed at Tracy, beautiful Tracy, and he felt bad to have gotten them into such a mess. He was too young. He was too impetuous, and he did all the wrong things.
It felt like his brother Tev was beside him. He could hear his brother's voice in his ear, telling him that he was always like this. He was stubborn, never following the rules, impulsive. Tev had berated him for joining the Enforcement Wing.
"What if," Tev asked him, "something happened to both of us? What would that do to Father? When Mother died, it nearly killed him. Losing either one of us would devastate him; losing both of us might kill him."
But Rev needed to follow his older brother. He really didn't believe he had a choice. He wasn't about to let Tev go off on adventures without him. Since the day Rev was born, the two were inseparable. People often mistook them for twins, even though there was a year between them.
Rev looked at Tracy again. Sitting next to her, her scent in the air, nothing felt as right as being with her. She had found him, and she had brought him to shelter. She had taken care of him, tending his wounds with the limited medical supplies.
She was amazing.
He wasn't going to lose her again.
* * *
With a start, Tracy woke. The sun threw long shadows through the chute. Rev sat next to her eating a food bar and drinking water. He smiled when he saw her awake.
"Imagine my surprise when I woke to find my mate with me," he said with a big grin.
"Imagine my surprise when I found out that the man who claims to be my mate is green. When were you going to tell me?"
"Does color really make a difference? Are you a racist?"
"It makes a difference. You weren't honest with me."
He nodded. "Of course, I admit I haven't been honest with you on many points, but in my defense, we were in a difficult situation."
"Were?" said Tracy pointedly.
"We are in a difficult situation. At least we are alive."
Tracy snorted. "From what I can see, that could change at any moment."
He shrugged. Then he smiled at her. "You've done well."
"Who, me?” She fluttered her eyes coquettishly. “Yesterday, I killed a giant space crab, watched a man thrown from a spaceship in the middle of the desert, and dragged him across the burning sand to get here. All in a day’s work.” Turning serious, she said, “Tell me, how did you get so well so fast?
"The medical nanobots plus my own enhancements. Thank you for that. How did you know to give that medication to me?"
"Helmet told me."
"Really? I guess the wivers have upgraded their equipment."
"Really! Really?" exploded Tracy. "Is that all you can say? After everything that’s happened?"
"What would you like to know?"
He spoke with a deliberate calm, which only annoyed her more.
"Everything! I want to know everything!"
Rev shifted and put his arm around her.
"You're upset."
"Damn straight."
"I don't blame you."
Tracy eyed Rev with suspicion. "You don't?"
He shook his head. "Tracy, you were kidnapped from your home, and you were taken light-years away. You had to make a high-altitude jump and survived your first day all alone on an alien planet. Not only that, you found me and did all the right things so I could get well. You are amazing. There are second-year cadets at the academy who couldn't do all that." He kissed the top of her head.
Tracy’s emotions battled between pride and distrust. She did have to admit she felt comfortable with his arm around her.
"So, what's going to happen now?"
Rev took a last sip from one of the precious water pouches.
"We have two choices. One, we contact the mining colony and see if we can get their cooperation in getting transportation offworld."
"Why wouldn't we do that?"
"My last encounter with them didn't go well."
"What happened?"
"We tried to kill each other."
"I could see how that would be a problem," Tracy said dryly.
Rev shook his head. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Make a joke about our circumstances."
"Better to laugh than cry."
Rev hugged her closer. "Is that a Terran attitude?"
"What? Oh, I guess so, for some of us. There are so many things to cry about on our world."
"There are?" he said softly. He breathed deeply, taking in her scent. Having her next to him made him feel things he didn't expect. He felt comfortable, strong, and centered. All his priorities had shifted. Before, he had only cared about his mission. Now he had Tracy, and he had more bad news to tell her.
"There could be more of a problem than the miners trying to kill me. Jaal plans to attack the miners’ camp and kill everyone there."
"What!" she said, sitting up straight, breaking away from his cozy embrace. "When was he going to do this?"
Rev took a deep breath.
"I don't know," he said.
"Where is Carol? You left her with the miners, right? Was she alive when you left her?" Her words ran together in her panic, but there was unmistakable anger underneath.
Rev was taken aback and looked her in the eyes. She was fierce. His mate was absolutely fierce. Rev found with some wonder that he liked that.
The politics of his family didn't suffer a weak person of any gender. She was worthy. The word popped into his head again like it had on the ship. Yes, she was, and Tracy deserved the truth.
"She might not survive, attack or no attack. She wasn't doing well."
"What does that mean, exactly?"
"Sometimes the conversion process just breaks down. The woman's body rejects the new DNA."
"What are you trying to tell me?" said Tracy. "Spit it out!"
"How fast an individual dies varies depending on the species."
"Carol's not going to die." She stood suddenly and started pacing around the small space they shared. She turned suddenly and stared at Rev.
"You told me that your people can reverse the process."
"We've had some small successes. They're working on new procedures all the time."
"Then we have to get your people here and rescue Carol. You told me you have a device to call them. Do it!"
"Tracy, you don't understand. If I call them…"
"Just what is the problem here?" she demanded.
"You are from a nonaligned world. They'll separate us. We won't be allowed—"
"Is that what you’re concerned with? Listen, buddy, it doesn't make a difference what happens to 'us,’ whatever 'us' means. Carol has been my best friend since kindergarten. She's more like a sister than a friend. She's my family, and if you don't do everything you possibly can to help her, I'll...I'll never speak to you again."
She turned her back to him.
Tracy felt childish making that threat against Rev. In fact, she felt like an idiot. Why would threatening to not speak to him move a fucking alien to do what she wanted?
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rev lowered his head. Her words tore at him. As much as he wanted to protest, he knew that she was absolutely right. It was his job to protect women from the nonaligned worlds, and so far, he was doing a piss-poor job of it. Even his mate knew it.
"As you wish, Tracy," he said sadly. Of course, it was the right thing to do. He pressed down on a hard spot on his upper thigh, activating his emergency beacon. The s
ignal would travel light-years to his command center.
After he spoke, she turned in shock, surprised he would acquiesce so quickly.
"As I wish?" she repeated.
"Yes, Tracy. You've reminded me of my duty. I've activated the beacon. All we need to do is wait.”
"How long will it take for them to get here?"
"Honestly, I don't know. The Enforcement Wing works with limited resources. We are stretched very thin."
He did not mention that a runaway tracker would be a low priority on their list.
"What do we do in the meantime?"
"Protocol says to wait."
Tracy sat down next to him with a thud. "I can't sit here and do nothing."
"We'll have to, for a few hours at least."
Tracy looked out beyond the canopy of their shelter. "But the sun's going down; we should get going."
"I'm not ready to travel yet."
"Are you in pain?"
"In some places. The injuries are healing fast though."
Tracy lowered her head. Here she was going on about Carol, ignoring the fact that Rev was injured, and he was right next to her. Her anger was misplaced. She shouldn't be irritated at him; he was doing what he could. If it weren’t for him, she would have suffered the same fate as Carol. It sucked. It all sucked, but he wasn't the cause of it.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't think..."
Rev stared at Tracy, amazed once more. She was apologizing to him? "You don't need to apologize to me. I shouldn't have rushed into a situation I wasn't prepared for. I was overwhelmed. I was taught better, but I was being stubborn. I thought I knew more than my superiors. I do have much to answer for."
"Where angels fear to tread," said Tracy softly.
"What do you mean?"
"A famous poet on my planet once wrote, 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.'"
"Fool? You think me unintelligent?" Rev asked sadly.
"No! It can mean unintelligent, but a fool acts on instinct, in the moment, innocent of consequence. There are some people who think the fool is an apt representative for humans, explaining how we've gotten as far as we have. We believe we can do things when all odds are against us."
"Sadly, I’ve learned the odds were against me."
"At least you tried, Rev. That's the important thing. On my world, the biggest sin is not failing. It's failing to try. I'm sure whatever reason you had to ignore your training and your superiors was a good one."
"I was looking for my brother. He's also a tracker. The last message I got from him led me to Jaal's ship. I thought he might be on it, but I think Jaal and his crew killed him."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Tracy said.
"I was stupid. Jaal and his crew suspected me right off. Cax tried to strand me on Earth and frame me for the murder of a local woman, but I beat him in a fight. I took his identity and left him for the local authorities."
Rev looked into her eyes. "That is why my true appearance was concealed from you. I used a disguise to impersonate him. I needed to advance my mission. I hope you're not disappointed."
Tracy swallowed hard. "Do you think I'm shallow or that how you look matters? Listen, buddy, I like to look, like any other girl, but looks definitely are not the most important thing." Your muscles don't hurt though, she thought.
"Is that another human attitude? I assure you, on other planets, looks are the most important thing. On Qualtax, the males grow feathers on top of their heads, quite tall ones too. They look ridiculous to many other races, but it's the ones with the tallest head feathers who find mates."
"Feathers, seriously?" Tracy laughed. "Well, human women like big things too, but we aren't looking at the top of men's heads to find it."
"Where do you look?" he asked in all seriousness.
Involuntarily, Tracy glanced down at Rev's crotch and, catching herself, lifted her head quickly. It was too late. He had seen the movement of her head.
"That is what you look for in a mate? How big his sexual organ is?"
Tracy flushed pink. "Well, not exclusively. Let's just say a good fit there is desirable. What is important to your people?"
"Scent."
"How a person smells?"
"Yes. We say, 'One whiff contains a thousand words.'"
"Well, there you have it. Humans have a notoriously poor sense of smell compared to other animals on our planet."
Rev gave her a tense smile.
"We do have a similar saying though. We say, ‘One picture is worth a thousand words.’"
"See, we aren't so different," he said with a laugh.
"You want to believe that," she said. "Yet you tell me that as soon as your people come, we'll be separated."
"Not for long," he said. "I'll find you."
"You said that the last time, but who did the finding?"
"Maybe it was more like we found each other."
The light in their shelter had faded. Rev pulled Tracy tighter to him.
"You know," he said. "We don't look different in the dark. You smell very delicious."
The breast where Rev had bitten her and left a mating mark started to tingle.
"I hope that means you don't want to eat me for dinner. I've been in this suit for two days now; I'm probably more than a little ripe."
Rev breathed in deeply. "Wonderful," he said. "Delectable, intoxicating." He leaned over and kissed her. "Mmmmm," he said.
Tracy swallowed hard. "I thought you said you needed to heal some more."
"I could go for some light activity."
"What does my scent tell you about me?"
Rev licked the back of her ear, and she melted.
"Ummm," Rev said, and Tracy trembled as his hum rumbled through her. "That you are sweet, tasty, and a feast for the senses." He kissed her, hot and passionate. It was as if he couldn't get enough. Rev's tongue slipped forward, taking advantage of Tracy’s parted lips. Their tongues met. His slid forward, filling her mouth.
She pulled him to her, needing this. She wanted to feel him against her.
"How do I get this suit off?" she said.
His hands ran over the suit, undoing latches, and with a few shrugs of her shoulders, the suit lay on the ground. He got up, and in the dark she felt him tugging off her boots. They slid off and she felt the planet's sand beneath her toes.
A hot breeze whipped in from the outside, blasting her skin. It dried off her sweat. Rev took her nipple in his mouth and sucked on it hard. Pleasure shot through her, every nerve responding and calling for more.
"Rev," she whimpered.
He kissed and licked down the length of her ribs and stomach. When he got to her mound, he did the same. His tongue searched every fold he could find. Her hands reached for his hair and pulled him closer into her.
She rode his face, making
little noises. As good as it felt, it was too much sensation. He was invading her in many different places in her intimate geography. Fire built as he tasted, licked, and sucked, but he didn't stay any one place long enough to release it.
It was wonderful and awful at the same time.
"I need you," she said. "Now, please, please, please, oh God."
She descended into incoherent noises as Rev pushed his tongue inside of her, but just as she got close to coming, about to release the scream that had built up, he pulled away.
“What are you doing?" she moaned. She could not see his face in the dark. She couldn't see his expression.
Rev pulled her arms forward, putting his cock in her hands.
She touched him, palming the head in one hand and gripping the length with another. On the shaft, she felt something strange.
"What is that?" she said, an edge of fear in her voice. Her hands worked ran across his shaft and felt bumps up the length. "I feel ridges. They weren't there before."
"You are right," he said. His breath was ragged. "You did that to me. When a male is mated, he develops these. It is said to ensure the pleasure of his mate."
"This is normal for you?" she said.
"It is more than that. It shows the depth of our bond. Not all males are lucky enough to get them."
Tracy moved her hand on his shaft, and as she hit a ridge, he shivered.
"Looks like they do something for the owner as well." She gripped him, circling his cock with her thumb and forefinger. She rubbed down and then up the length once, twice, three times.
"You are driving me insane with your hands. What are you doing now?"
Tracy moved to sit up, holding Rev's cock firmly.
"What are you doing now?" he repeated.
"I'm returning the favor."
"What—" He groaned as she lowered her mouth on his cock. "Oh, great goddess," he uttered as she swirled her tongue around the tip.
With a smile, she shifted so her knees were under her and she could get closer to his cock. She sank lower on his shaft, sucking and licking, especially on those ridges. Each time she did, he shuddered. Tracy reached out and took his balls in one hand, massaging them.
Rev fisted her hair in his hands, moaning. "Oh gods, oh gods, oh, no, no, stop."
Tracy pulled away, concerned. "Did I do something wrong?"
Rev pulled her to his heaving chest.
"Good gods, no. If you kept doing that, I wouldn't have been able to hold back. That was so good." He sounded surprised.
"What, don't the girls back home suck dick?"
All she heard was the sound of his breathing.
"I'll take that as a no. Well, they don't know what they’re missing, and those ridges of yours add some fun."
He groaned, and then holding her in his arms, he pushed her back to the sand. He lay above her, holding himself up with his arms. He rubbed his shaft between her legs, sucking on her tits, heating her up once more. A small stab of needlelike pain hit her, and she knew Rev had bitten her once again. Her mind exploded, pleasure lighting up every inch of her skin. His shaft began to poke at her entrance. He held her thighs open and slid inside.
"Oh!" Tracy groaned. Sparks fluttered as he thrust. He held himself still a few seconds. His breathing was rough.
