by Eva Priest
I captured her fingertips, tasting her. “Always and forever.” For a moment, our gazes locked and I wanted to claim her right where we stood. By all the gods, she made me feel like I could conquer worlds.
She was truly a miracle. A gift. Solana was even more beautiful than I could have imagined. Creamy, perfect skin that I longed to mark as my own. Her lush curves spilling over my grip. The memory of her long legs wrapped around me as I plunged myself into her.
She shivered in my hold, a delicate tremor that had nothing to do with cold. Her desire flooded my senses, a sweet musk that I longed to taste outside of dreams.
“Speak, my mate. I would hear your thoughts.”
Solana flushed every time I claimed her with words. My mate. Would she blush this way when I claimed her body?
“Am I really your mate?” she asked in a voice so small it shattered my heart.
If she had doubts, I would slay them as surely as any enemy. “You reached for me in dreams. You straddled my body. I know your scent, your taste. How your eyes darken when I slide my cock into your hot, wet pussy. There is no doubt you are my mate.”
She flushed even more, her breaths coming in sexy gasps. My mate liked bold words. “Is that all I am? Just a warm hole to fuck?”
I grinned. She needed to know I valued her entire self and not just her body. I thought it was clear that I valued her mind and heart since we’d shared unity. Incompatible souls wouldn’t have been able to do that. Then again, she didn’t know our ways, and so it would be my pleasure to teach her.
“Of course not. That’s just the fun part. I lay claim to all of you, heart, mind, and body. Once you’re safe, it will be my honor and privilege to show you.”
I kissed her hard and swift. It wasn’t meant to be sweet or romantic. It was a promise between a warrior and his mate. She was breathless all the same.
“And to set the record straight. Your pussy is hot, wet, and tight.”
I reveled in the flames that danced in her gaze and heated her cheeks. Soon, I would have her naked and blushing beneath me. Above me. Alongside of me.
I would take my time learning her preferences, and sharing mine. Like most Rodinians, I’d never thought to find my fate mate. Now that I found her, I would never let her go.
9 SOLANA
The strange captain led us down dizzying halls. Cade insisted on carrying me, and I let him so I wouldn’t waste time arguing. Swallowing my pride was easier when I realized that there were more people to rescue. Every moment counted, and I refused to be the reason that someone was being hurt longer than necessary.
Besides, nuzzling against a hot body wasn’t exactly a hardship. Especially when he said the dirtiest things. Despite his words, I felt self-conscious when Cade cradled me against his body. I was taller than most women I knew—and many men. I had a little too much of me in too many places—top too heavy, thighs too thick, too much jiggling in my walkaway. But, Cade never slowed or faltered. He made me feel delicate and feminine. Protected. Safe.
And so damned hot. If I had underwear on, they would have been destroyed by now.
I rested my head against his shoulder and allowed myself to savor this sensation. I wanted it to last me for many lonely nights in the future. Leave it to me to find someone so perfect and he didn’t even live on the same planet as I did.
We finally arrived at the other medical bay. It was larger than where I was held. My room had been more like a private hospital room whereas this was more like a wing of an emergency room with multiple beds separated by privacy screens. Whoever these other captives were, they had undergone what I had. Maybe worse.
They were lying on their backs, naked, hooked up to machines. They had been in stasis, in this condition of helplessness longer than I had been. How many times had they been tested or experimented on? Touched?
A shiver rippled through my body. Cade squeezed me in response. “You’re safe, kitten.”
Silar scanned the patients, and then ran ahead.
There were three three females in suspension.
Silar went from one pod to the other, checking out the biometrics. He hooked his gun up. “Okay, how do we turn this off?”
“You don’t know what they’re going through. What if those aliens doped them with something to heal whatever experiments they were doing?”
“Well they can’t stay here.”
“Obviously, but they’re in no condition to move.”
“They have to be. The others only had a small window of time to be a distraction. The aliens will be back with their zappo ray gun that paralyzed us. Do you want to go back to that?”
“Never. I never wanted to feel helpless again.”
“You won’t, my mate.”
Cade’s simple reassurance shouldn’t be such a comfort to me, but it really was. Even outside of a drug-induced stupor, his voice soothed me. Or, maybe it was just Cade. I never—and I mean never—would have allowed any man to just hoist me off and carry me around. I’d been looking for a connection my entire life. Every date was met with lackluster boredom, and I dated all kinds.
Funny how that old adage, “there’s plenty of fish in the sea” didn’t work on me. Apparently, I was fishing in the wrong ocean altogether.
God, I could see myself getting lost in Cade. That was the problem, though. I would fall so deeply and manically in love with him that when the day comes that I lose him—and that day would come; my track record proved that—I would be devastated beyond repair. There would be no getting over him.
I needed to tell him now that it would never work between us. It was the only fair way. Merciful, for both our sakes.
Before I could, the whirr of a ventilator made me gasp. If I hadn’t heard the men in black enter and exit my room for my tests multiple times, I would have missed it. Now I associated that sound with them—with fear, pain, and helplessness.
That one tiny reaction gave Cade the opening he needed to hit first and ask questions later. He had thrown the nearest man in black across the room. The crunch of bone was highly satisfying.
Silar Praxis crashed into me with a wailing “No!” before he was hit with the other alien’s immobilizing device. I scrambled for Silar’s fallen gun. It was so small I was afraid I’d break it. Nevertheless, I steadied myself on my knee, lined up my shot, and exhaled. I squeezed the trigger. I was glad to have braced myself because that gun bucked like a woo-girl on a rodeo bull. Hot damn!
The blast hit the man in black directly on his chest. Cade was a blur and jumped on the fallen man, landing on his ribs. Despite the hollowed-out ruin of its torso, Cade grabbed the man’s chin and jerked upward, severing half of the man’s jaw.
Cade roared in triumph, and I could damn well feel the vibrato in every bolt of the ship.
The clattering of footsteps sounded just outside, and I swung my little gun toward them. Two men in uniforms similar to the captain’s appeared there, and I assumed it was the men who had been the distraction. Still, I kept my gun pointed toward them until Cade nodded to them in greeting before standing at my side.
“What happened?” The darker one of the new pair nodded at the mess.
Cade wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “They underestimated my mate.”
I flushed. “I did nothing. You and Silar did everything.” The two newcomers hoisted the still unconscious man onto an empty cot. If it weren’t for the captain’s selfless act, that would have been me on there.
Cade looked at me as if I’d hung the moon and stars. “You alerted me to their presence before we even knew they were here. If you hadn’t we’d all be imprisoned or worse.”
I discovered that Raymy Brice and Coop were indeed part of the ship’s crew. While Cade and Raymy secured the perimeter, I went with Coop to check on the unconscious people, covering them to protect their dignities. The engineer knew his stuff: he was able to get the remaining three women out of the stasis pods and onto the beds. They were worse off than I had been, with multiple abrasions along thei
r arms and backs. What the hell were those creepy little buggers doing to them?
Coop doted on one woman in particular. She had smooth, copper skin with delicate features and cheekbones that could slice through steel. “Your wife?” I asked.
He looked up at me with soft puppy eyes as he nodded. “She’s beautiful, Coop. She’s one of the ship’s enforcers?”
“She was Head of Security, but she deferred that position in order to spend time with me after we bonded.” His ecstatic smile disappeared in a veil of sorrow. “We were trying to have a youngling. She figured after one, maybe two, she would care about kicking ass again. She’d served with the captain in the pre-Concord wars. Plus she’s Themysian, so she needs to be able to work out her fighting nature.”
I pretended to know what all he meant. The translators helped me to understand the words, associating images with the words that he said, but slang and cultural references were hard to put into context. I hoped for Coop’s sake that his strong and noble wife returns to him whole. “She can hear you. I know she can. Don’t stop talking to her.”
His eyes filled with tears and threatened to burst my heart. I moved away so he could have some privacy, and so I wouldn’t end up crying along with him.
Cade’s strong arms wrapped around me, and I found comfort nestled against his warm, purring chest. In his arms I realized: I didn’t want to let him go. I had to, of course. There was no way I could stay.
Raymy Brice called out from across the room. “Reaper? Something happened.”
What now?
Cade went into alert mode, his body growing in size before my eyes. “What’s happened?”
“The other body. It’s gone.”
“He must have gotten better somehow? Transported?”
“How is that possible? He was dead.” Wasn’t he? I looked to Cade for confirmation.
He nodded. “Yes, I heard his bones snap and felt his life functions cease. I dismissed him as a threat.”
I looked over to the other man in black. He was definitely dead. “Maybe the other one wasn’t dead enough?”
“You mean you think he came back to life?” Raymy exclaimed.
I shrugged, not wanting to say anything stupid.
Cade, however, spoke up. “Silar Praxis said that their technology is beyond anything he’d ever seen. Maybe there is a point where the Kridrin can regenerate themselves. The other two I confronted, I tore apart.” He indicated the ruin on the floor as if it weren’t obvious already.
The idea that we were facing an unknown enemy that could come into our midst like shadows, and potentially regenerate themselves even after death was a nightmarish thought. I swallowed down my fear even as Cade offered comfort with his rumbling purr. I needed to move. Needed to remind myself that I was alive and still fighting. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. Let’s just clean this mess up so the others won’t see it when they eventually do wake up.”
We made quick work of putting the medical bay to rights. Cleaning up was easy when there were a lot of nifty tools and gadgets to work with. By the time the medical bay was clean, the first of the crew—the medic named Zann—started to stir.
I went to help her, hoping that she would be able to assist the others when the ship’s alarms blared overhead.
Raymy palmed his blaster. “What in star’s blazes is it now?”
Cade tensed a moment, then grinned and tapped his chest. “This is Reaper One. I hear you loud and clear, Reaper Two. It’s good to hear your voice.”
10 SOLANA
Cade’s Reaper unit was overwhelming. The crew of the Lucky Duck I could handle. Aside from a few odd features and coloring, they basically looked like other humans. The Rodinians, however, were something else entirely.
All three of them were transported into engineering, and their presence felt like an entire army. They were all just under seven feet tall, with a commanding presence that would only come from experience leading a team of people. Striped, spotted, furry, with various colors between them, and yet the way they spoke and their ease with each other, they were very clearly a pack. A family.
They knew about me, as they had ready smiles and respectful bows when they introduced themselves. I was so busy staring at their magnitude, that I promptly forgot their names. Thankfully, Cade saved me from embarrassing myself by personally introducing me to each of them.
“Talus Balica and Lyova Artox.” Cade gestured to both warriors as if they were a matched set. The former had golden skin with black and brown stripes and endearing tufts of fur on his pointed ears, while the latter had a gorgeous mane that I envied. I tried not to fidget with my plain appearance in the shadow of their exotic features. “Tal here trained as a scientist, and often invents useful tools for the Legion.”
Tal grinned, revealing impressive fangs. “More like useful tools to make my life easier but your version makes me seem more noble, so I’ll go with that.”
“And Lyova is from one of the premier families of Rodinia Prime. He’s undefeated in the arena, which he puts to use out here in the Savage Lands.”
Lyova leveled a rakish smile at me. “I only hope fate would be so kind when she decides to reveal my own mate.”
I blushed furiously under his golden gaze. Cade growled, a low rumbling sound that echoed in his chest. I let him tuck me into his side, as if he would stake his claim on me. He didn’t need to bother.
Lyova was handsome, with a face that could have landed him on any magazine cover on Earth. I had no doubts that he was just as lean and muscular under his suit as Cade. But the flirtatious alien with the easy smiles did nothing for me. Quite simply, he wasn’t Cade.
The last Reaper had a different vibe than the others. Where Tal, Lyova, and Cade were furry and maned, Dorn’s head was shaved. His pointed ears were bare, with only silver hoops along the lobes as his adornment. His skin held a grayish-purple hue with iridescent rosettes that were only visible when the light hit it in a certain way. More reserved, he held himself a little apart from the group. His preternatural calm drew me to him.
“And last but not least, Dorn Pardus is my second, and in the field, he’s Reaper Two. He’s also the only one who can keep the other two in line, which is a rare talent in and of itself. But he’s known for being gifted with mechanical know-how, so any issues you may have, he can fix it for you. He once fixed his prowler as it was free falling toward a ravine. He had it back to flying in a heartbeat.”
The other Reaper cocked his brow. “And I ran down the fucker that shot me.”
A shiver ran through me at his deadly tone. The stoic warrior was not one to mess with. “Speaking of fuckers, are we clear here?” He glanced at me and back at Cade.
Cade leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Dorn is very direct, and all business.”
“Work hard. Play hard. The sooner we wrap business, the sooner we get to playing.”
The double meaning was clear and got the other two grinning. A rush of desire flooded through me from the bond I shared with Cade. Yeah, play time was definitely sexy time.
With a heavy sigh, Cade crossed his arms over his massive chest. “I planned on calling into Legion command, give them an update and see what they want us to do next. Silar Praxis was the target, but he’s still unconscious and there seems to be bigger fish to fry.”
I knew what that meant. The guys might not be done after all, and might be directed toward another operation.
Suddenly, I felt very much like the fifth wheel. “Well, I can excuse myself and let you finish your business.” Before Cade could protest, I interjected. “You have business to finish, and quite frankly, I would prefer going back to the medical bay. I wanted to help the doctor with any of the waking crew and offer any insight I could from my experience.”
Cade looked unsure. “I don’t want you alone.”
“I won’t be alone. The whole crew will be there,” I protested. Usually, I’d just do whatever I wanted, permission be damned. But I needed him to see that I was a ca
pable and intelligent woman, despite the circumstances in which he’d found me.
“I’ll be there, too,” Talus said. “You don’t need me at the debrief, and I could lend medical assistance as well as ensure your mate’s safety.” The striped warrior spoke to Cade over my head, and a familiar knot curled in my stomach. It had been just like this my entire life. My own feelings and contributions belittled or ignored. Did they think I was completely helpless? All the other men who had been in my life thought I was pretty useless. Maybe alien males were the same.
I had never tolerated this in my professional life, and I refused to tolerate it here. The fact that I didn’t have the first clue about a life off Earth and on a spaceship was irrelevant.
Cade stopped me before I could stalk off. He carefully placed his hands on my shoulders, and waited until I looked up at him. It was hard to stare down someone so much taller than you, but didn’t stop me from trying. “I know you are frustrated. We will speak later. But, I couldn’t let you think that we think less of you, or that we don’t hear you. I don’t think you are worth less, and would never think that. You are worth more to me than this universe. We protect you because you matter to us.”
The ardor behind his words washed over me like a surging wave. It was like being engulfed in my favorite blanket or reading my favorite book. It was comfort and belonging and recognition all jumbled together. I drank it down like a cup of hot cocoa after a cold and bitter winter’s day.
Well, if he said it like that, it seemed petty to stay mad at him.
11 SOLANA
I’d been determined to keep my distance from Tal so I could process through all that I’d just felt, but the man was impossible to deter. In fact, the shorter my responses, the more exuberant he was in entertaining me with tales of their unit’s adventures, highlighting Cade’s battle prowess especially. Despite myself, I ended up laughing along with him.
