Mary felt Rykaur stiffen. “We must notify Oz at once. He could be Howell’s next target.”
Zaureth nodded, stepped forward, and laid his hands on Mary’s face. Though he continued speaking to Rykaur, Mary could feel the healing power in his touch.
“Even if Oz is not his intended target, Howell might use him to get to us. We need to get back as soon as possible and speak with Klause. He will want to know about this.”
Rykaur nodded, his hair tickling Mary’s face. “I agree. But Mary and I have to locate the children first.”
“Jefferies had them dumped,” Mary whispered, recalling the conversation they’d had. “But he didn’t say where.”
Gryke crossed his arms over his chest. “They could be anywhere.”
“I think I know where they’ll be.” Mary pushed to her feet, surprised that her pain was subsiding. “I told the oldest one, Hank, to take the children to the shack where we once lived, if I didn’t return. If they’re alive, that’s where they’ll be.”
It pained her to say those words aloud. Of course, they were alive. Her heart wouldn’t allow her to believe anything else.
“How far is this shack from here?” Zaureth inquired on his way to the door.
Mary thought about that for a moment. “About two miles.”
“Can you walk that far?” It was Braum who asked the question.
Rykaur lifted her into his arms once again. “I will carry her.”
“Or we can steal a car,” Mary suggested, noticing the odd looks she received from the room’s occupants. “It’s easier than you think. Besides, it’s not my first rodeo.”
Gryke shrugged, following Zaureth into the hall. “Humans have strange sayings.”
Mary smiled at the back of his head. “You have no idea.”
“Oh, I believe I do,” Gryke shot back over his shoulder. “I am mated to one.”
Once outside, Rykaur set Mary on her feet. She held a finger to her lips and motioned for them to stay put. “Give me your knife.”
Rykaur raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll need it to hotwire a car.”
“Here is his knife,” Braum murmured, handing her the blade. “I found it protruding from Jefferies’s stomach.”
Mary accepted the knife, grateful someone had wiped off the blade. “Thank you.”
Jogging silently across the street, Mary tested every car along the curb until she located one that had been left unlocked, and then opened the door.
She leaned in, removed the plastic cover under the steering column, and located the wiring harness connector before pulling aside the ignition, battery, and starter wire bundle.
Using Rykaur’s knife, she then stripped an inch of insulation from the battery wires and twisted them together. Once she located the starter wire, she stripped it as well and touched it to the battery wire. The engine came to life.
Quickly standing, Mary waved the slack-mouthed Bracadytes forward. “Get in.”
The sight of four massive Bracadytes filing into a small Honda Accord would have been comical on any other night. Not tonight. Mary was far too worried about the children to find humor in anything.
Once all doors were closed, she eased the car onto the road and crept slowly forward with the lights off.
After taking a left at the stop sign, she switched on the lights and pressed her foot on the gas.
No one spoke as Mary maneuvered the car through the side streets of Destin. She turned onto a dirt road and came to a stop in front of the small cabin on the bay.
Her heart squeezed in dread as she threw the car in park and jumped out.
“Wait,” Rykaur called out, climbing from the car.
But Mary continued to run. She reached the cabin in a matter of seconds, gripped the old brass handle, and jerked the door open.
Four sets of eyes stared up at her in terror from the corner the children huddled in.
Hank stood first. His little body trembling from fear or exhaustion, she wasn’t sure. “M-Mary?”
Mary opened her arms and dropped to her knees, ignoring the tears that slid down her cheeks. “You’re safe now.”
The children flew into her embrace, each trying to hug her tighter than the other. “We thought you were never coming back,” Hank breathed against her neck.
Mary pulled them closer. “I told you I would come for you.”
Hank suddenly stiffened, his startled gaze swinging toward the door. “Oh my God.”
Mary looked over her shoulder to find four giant Bracadytes hovering there. “They’re with me. They are friends.”
Pushing to her feet, Mary lifted Liza into her arms and held out her hand for Kelly. “Hank? Get Lance and let’s go home.”
“Back there with Jefferies?” Hank whispered, fear evident in his voice.
Mary shook her head. “Jefferies is dead. You never have to worry about him again.”
They arrived at the car, and the Bracadytes squeezed their giant bodies back inside.
Hank moved around to the passenger side and met Mary’s gaze. “Where are we all going to sit?”
Mary’s lips twitched. “Well, since I’m the only one who can drive a car, you’ll have to sit on their laps.”
Hank looked appalled by the idea.
“Come on,” Mary gently ordered. “It’s only for a few minutes.”
Hank handed Kelly to Zaureth and followed Lance around to the other side. They both got in, with Lance sitting on Braum and Hank on Gryke.
Mary passed Liza to Rykaur.
“How am I to hold her? Facing me or away from me?”
A laugh bubbled up. Mary met Rykaur’s serious gaze. “Facing you is fine.”
Mary got behind the wheel, put the car in reverse, and drove back toward the entrance of Aukrabah.
Chapter Thirty-One
Rykaur yawned and stretched his long legs out in front of him. He hadn’t had much sleep since returning to Aukrabah. And worse, he hadn’t had a minute alone with Mary since their arrival.
“Are you bored?” Klause growled, pinning Rykaur with an irritated stare.
Braum laughed. “I am certain he is exhausted. He has four children sleeping in his bed.”
Klause waved off Braum’s attempt at humor. “I am not concerned about who is or is not in Rykaur’s bed. I want to know if Oz and Maria have left Cuba and if President Pratt has notified the Cuban leader of the monster in their midst.”
“Oz is still in Cuba,” Gryke responded from his position behind the king. “He thinks he can do more good by staying there. He also said that Howell could kiss his Cuban ass. His words, not mine.”
Klause’s face turned red with anger. “Has he no sense? He is a wide-open target as long as he remains there. He should think of his mate if not himself.”
“Perhaps he has a plan?” It was Melvin who spoke.
Klause beckoned him forward. “What say you, Melvin?”
The ex-CIA agent shrugged. “I’m just saying that Oz is no dummy. I imagine he knows what he’s doing.”
“I am certain that he feels that way, but the former president of the United States is not only crafty, but I am sure he has allies all over the world, Cuba included. If he wants Oz badly enough, he has the means to take him out.”
Melvin’s mirrored sunglasses prevented Rykaur from seeing his eyes, but the set of his jaw told Rykaur exactly what the human was thinking. “I agree. When do we leave?”
Klause’s gaze narrowed. “I do not think it wise for you to go.” He held up a hand when Melvin would have argued. “You cannot travel beneath the water as a Bracadyte would. You would have to go by boat. Alone.”
“Not alone,” Brant announced, stepping into the room.
All heads swung in the direction of Henagar, who strolled into the room with Anthony Vaughn.
Rykaur noticed Fiona stiffen next to Gryke.
She pushed away from the wall. “Do you think that’s wise, brother? I mean, aren’t you still involved with the clinic construction?�
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“The clinic has been up and running for weeks, Fiona.” Brant shifted his attention to Klause. “Count me in, sir.”
The king studied Fiona’s brother for a brief moment, then gave a short nod, and addressed the room at large. “Rykaur, Braum, and Gryke will take the lead. They will select ten of our best warriors, including Melvin and Brant to accompany them to Cuba. I want Howell brought down by any means necessary.”
“Pratt might want him brought back alive.” It was Melvin who spoke.
Klause leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Pratt’s wishes in this are not my concern. If Howell is located, I want you to kill him.”
“I’ll be going along as well,” Fiona announced, obviously ignoring Gryke’s growl. “Not only can I fight, but I think that Maria would appreciate my presence.”
The king barely spared Gryke a glance, his gaze fixed on Fiona. “I agree that you should go.”
The meeting went on for another hour, with everyone working together on a plan to protect Oz and hopefully bring down Howell.
Rykaur finally pushed to his feet. “It is settled then. We leave within the week.”
The king nodded his agreement. “Take whatever you need.”
Zaureth stood as well. “Will I not be accompanying them?”
“You are needed here. My daughter is due to give birth at any moment, which is why Vaughn will remain behind as well.”
The healer nodded and then strode from the room.
Rykaur exited behind him, his stomach flipping in excitement at the thought of seeing Mary. Though he’d had no alone time with her in the past few days, at least he’d been able to look upon her. And if he never touched her again, he knew he could live the rest of his life happy in the knowledge that she loved him.
Picking up his pace, Rykaur hurried to his apartment, stepped into the foyer, and came to an abrupt stop.
There, lying in the center his bed, her red hair loose and spilling over her bare shoulders, lay his Mary.
She smiled softly and beckoned him forward. “Close the curtain.”
Rykaur nearly ripped the curtain down in his haste to pull it shut. “Where are the children?”
Mary tossed back the cover to reveal her completely nude form. “Rauneca took them for the night. She’s going to speak to Grant about designing the empty room next door into private bedrooms for them.”
Rykaur barely heard her words. He knew she’d mentioned Rauneca and something about bedrooms, but his mind was solely on Mary and her incredible body.
Mary laughed. “You didn’t hear anything I said, did you?”
“The children. Rauneca. Bedrooms,” he repeated, unlacing his vest. He tossed it over the back of a chair and quickly removed his shorts. “I want you too much to care about our living arrangements at the moment.”
Crawling up onto the bed, Rykaur gripped Mary’s ankles, opened her legs, and lay between them.
Her soft sigh of anticipation wrapped around him like a warm caress.
“What are you doing?” she whispered in a breathy voice.
He nuzzled the insides of her thighs. “Something I have dreamed of doing to you since I first learned of it from the Marines.”
Her soft woman’s scent surrounded him, drawing him forward, eliciting a hunger in him that triggered the descent of his fangs.
Rykaur coasted his nose along the crease of her leg, slid it over her mound, and dragged it down the other side, only to repeat the process.
Mary’s breathing kicked up, her body growing restless beneath him. With every pass of his nose over her skin, she lifted her hips. The subtle movement telling him where she wanted him most.
Rykaur wasn’t even sure Mary knew what she wanted from him. But he did. And that was all that mattered in that moment.
Mindful of his fangs, Rykaur hovered over her glistening sex, extended his tongue, and swiped it through her slit.
Her hips jerked in reaction.
He licked her again, this time swirling around her tiny raised bundle of nerves.
Mary’s hands flew to his hair, gripping him with a strength that surprised him.
He slipped inside her mind, longing to feel what she felt, to connect with her on an emotional as well as physical level.
The love she held for him slammed into him with a power that startled him. It swirled around in his head before settling inside his heart.
“I love you too,” he sent back through their connection, all the while lashing her with his tongue.
A desperation seeped from Mary’s psyche into his, a feeling Rykaur would never forget as long as he lived. It made him feel powerful and animalistic.
He growled low in his throat, penetrated her with two fingers, jerked his head aside, and sank his fangs into the soft flesh of her thigh.
Her blood entered his body in a rush of euphoria he would never get used to.
“Mate with me,” Mary cried out, her hips keeping time with his ever-moving fingers. “I want your blood flowing through me, Rykaur.”
Still, he drank, his mind held prisoner by her scent, her taste, the love he sensed inside her.
“Please,” she begged, her voice hoarse with emotion.
Rykaur pulled from her thigh and sat up. His own heart hammering behind his ribs. “Are you sure? Because once I do this, you can never go back.”
“I’m sure,” she breathed, her eyes glittering from beneath hooded lids.
He searched her gaze, her mind, her heart, and found no doubts. “I hope so, because I can never let you go, Mary. I know that I can be overbearing, controlling, and stubborn. But I can promise you one thing. I will give my life to keep you safe. I will never hurt you or leave you, and I will cherish you through eternity.”
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye. “Mate with me.”
Rykaur’s fangs were in his wrist before she finished her demand. He bit down, pierced a vein, and pushed her thighs farther apart with his knees. “Until death and beyond.”
“Until death and beyond,” she softly repeated.
He gripped his throbbing shaft in one hand, laid his bleeding wrist against Mary’s mouth, and pushed his great length inside her.
The feel of her locking onto his wrist, her vaginal walls stretching to accept his larger size, and her eyes closing in bliss, had to be the most euphoric experience of Rykaur’s life. And he never wanted it to end.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mary held Rykaur’s large wrist against her lips and ravenously took his blood into her mouth.
She felt rabid, feverish somehow, as if she couldn’t get enough. In that moment, she longed for fangs of her own—fangs she could sink into his neck, his thighs, his sex. The thought startled her.
A long, low growl came from his throat, and Mary realized he’d read her erotic thoughts. She didn’t care. She wanted him to know her feelings for him…about him.
The stretching, slightly painful sensation of his entry began to ease, and Mary tilted her pelvis up, seeking, needing something only he could give.
Rykaur lifted his wrist from her mouth, gripped her legs, and draped them over his shoulders.
His hands came up to rest near her head, and he thrust deep.
Mary cried out in ecstasy, the new position allowing him a much deeper entry than before.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he pumped into her again and again.
Nothing had ever felt as incredible as having Rykaur deep inside her body. Coupled with his blood now flowing through her, Mary was in a place she never thought possible.
Tears of ecstasy spilled from her eyes as Rykaur made love to her mind while he drove into her body with long, calculated strokes.
Her insides began to pulse with an impending orgasm. With every pass of his thick, mushroom-shaped head against her vaginal walls, more nerves were stimulated until Mary thought she could take no more.
She was wrong.
Rykaur jerked back onto his haunches, f
lipped her onto her stomach, and entered her from behind.
Mary could only hold on as Rykaur slipped one arm beneath her chest to anchor her against him, and slid his other hand under her hips to stroke her aching sex into a frenzy.
A hoarse scream ripped from her to be captured by the pillow she’d buried her face in.
“Come for me,” he growled, driving deeper into her.
Mary’s entire body seized with the orgasm spreading through her. Like a wave on the ocean, it started in her center, traveled up her back, and crashed its way back to her core.
Rykaur slammed into her with a mighty roar, his voice inside her mind chanting over and over, “I love you, I love you…I love you.”
Mary shuddered beneath him, holding on to his words with all her strength. She tucked them away inside her heart, for fear she’d awaken one day and realize she’d imagined them. “I love you too, Rykaur. Now and forever.”
Lifting off her, Rykaur rolled to his back. “Come here.”
“I’m not sure I can move,” she breathed, her face still buried in the pillow. Little aftershocks of her orgasm continued to pulse within her.
Rykaur leaned up and kissed the back of her neck. “Was I too rough with you?”
Mary gave a throaty laugh. “Are you kidding me? That was the most amazing feeling ever. No wonder people do it on a daily basis. If you weren’t so big, I’d demand it more than once a day.”
He turned her over and pulled her head down to his shoulder. “There are other ways to pleasure you besides entering you. I will strive to keep you satisfied, my fiery-haired mate.”
Mary snuggled closer, testing the waters by purposely probing his mind.
His thoughts suddenly invaded her senses like the fluttering wings of a thousand butterflies.
She saw herself through his eyes. The adoration, the longing, the loyalty.
And then she witnessed herself splayed out before him, her eyes closed in pleasure as he held something small and smooth against her aching center.
“Rykaur?” she said aloud.
He kissed the top of her head. “Those are heat stones that you saw. They hold heat inside them for days, omitting a warmth that aids in drawing blood to the surface.”
Rykaur: A SciFi Alien Romance (Enigma Series Book 8) Page 12
