The man across from her cradled his rifle in his hands, his easy stance not fooling her at all. They had left one form of imprisonment for another, and she had no idea what was happening. She only knew that she was afraid, and she hoped that Sera and the aliens were worth all of this trouble.
They flew for just under an hour, then descended to the deck of a cargo ship, landing where the shipping containers should have been. There was another man in black waiting for him, his face covered with a skull mask like all of the rest. When the helicopter landed, he stepped up and leaned into the cabin.
“Ms. Thompson,” he said, his voice modulated and precise. “Mr. Brunner. I’m so pleased you could join us. Sergeant, please see to it that Mr. Brunner is taken to medical to have his injuries addressed.”
“Yes, sir.” Their escort manhandled Asa into a fireman’s carry and took him away.
Joely turned to the remaining masked man and licked her lips nervously. “Who … what…”
“We mean you no harm,” he said.
“So you’re friends?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I would agree that we are not your enemies.” He held out his hand. “Come with me, please, Miss Thompson.”
She hesitated, but accepted his hand and his help alighting from the helicopter. Once she was steadily on her feet, he led her off of the deck and through a door in a square structure, then up a staircase. He proceeded to take her through a confusing warren of hallways and arches until finally she was in a room with a tiny bed.
“This is your billet for the duration,” he said. “If you need help finding your way around, just use the intercom on the wall to ask someone to come escort you. We would prefer that you stay put just for now, until we get under way.”
“What is this place?” She looked around. There was a military feel to this operation, despite the civilian exterior. “Who are you people?”
“Our captain will explain it all once we’re away,” he said. “I’m the first officer, and you can call me Randall.”
She was full of questions and riddled with apprehension, but the man’s tone was clearly final and he seemed to have somewhere to be. She nodded and sat down on the bed. “Okay. Thanks.”
He nodded to her and turned to leave.
“Uh, Randall?”
He turned back. “Yes?”
“Can I see my friend?”
“When he’s cleared from sick bay, I’ll tell him you want to visit him. He’ll be billeted across the hall from you.”
She nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
He nodded back, then turned and left, closing the door behind him.
***
Sera and the two Ylians left the motel long after dark, traveling under the cover of night on the way out of San Antonio. Marfa was over five hours away, and Beno intended to make several stops at unsuspecting banks along the way, so that would delay them even more. She tried not to think about how long they’d be delayed if some passing cop saw them helping themselves to the cash in the machines.
They already had two ATM stops behind them. She drove toward the west, anxiously watching for flashing lights. Beno was counting their ill-gotten gains, and Theyn was quietly staring out the window at the passing scenery. She rubbed her hands against her legs, wiping the sweat away.
“What is your brother’s name?” Theyn asked.
The abruptness of the question broke her out of her anxiety-induced reveries. “Pardon?”
“Your brother. What is his name?”
“Evan.” She thought of the last time she’d seen him, when he was just a little boy. She wondered what he looked like now, and if he was happy.
“Maybe you’ll find him again,” he said.
“Maybe.” Even to her own ears, she didn’t sound convinced.
Beno finished counting the stolen cash and put it aside. “I think we should stop and buy some bags or suitcases or something to carry this in.”
She snorted. “A suitcase full of cash. I feel like I’m living in a B movie.”
The brunet shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe you are.”
“Do you even know what a B movie is?”
He grinned at her. “Not until you started thinking about it. Now I do.”
“Cheater.”
He laughed. It was a rich sound, and she realized that she had never heard it until this moment. She glanced into the rear view mirror and caught his eyes, and the warmth in his expression took her breath away. He was looking at her with such honest affection that she didn’t know how to react. Nobody had ever looked at her that way.
Something bright flashed through the sky overhead, bathing the car and the road in virtual daylight. A sonic boom followed the light, and Sera pulled over, gaping.
“Keep driving,” Theyn said. “Please. Don’t stop.”
“What was that?” she asked. “Was that another probe?”
The blond Ylian shook his head and answered in a grim voice. “No. That was a ship entering the atmosphere.”
Her heart was pounding in her ears. “Taluan?”
“I don’t know. Possibly.”
She took a deep, steadying breath and pulled back out onto the road. “We’re heading in the same direction as that ship.”
Theyn nodded. “Yes, but at the speed it was moving, it will be much too far away for it to be a concern. We won’t be encountering it on the road.”
“I really hope not.”
She spared one last glance at the now dark sky and kept driving.
***
The door to Joely’s billet opened, and she looked up as a black-clad man entered the room. He was wearing dark glasses, which seemed at odds with his tactical get up. The rest of his face was covered by a thick blond beard, and even though he wasn’t wearing a mask, she still was hard pressed to really say what he looked like.
“Miss Thompson,” he said, “the captain would like to see you now.”
She rose hesitantly. “My friend…”
“He’s still in sick bay. They worked him over pretty good, so the doc has his hands full.” He gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”
He escorted her through the ship until they reached the captain’s office. The man held the door for her but did not go in. She stepped over the threshold and stopped just inside the room.
The captain was sitting behind his desk, busily typing on a tablet. He looked up at her, and she gaped. His eyes were like human eyes, but the irises glowed blue like Theyn’s.
“You’re a hybrid,” she blurted.
He nodded. “We all are, here. Please, take a seat.” She did as he requested, perching on the edge of one of the chairs facing his desk. “My name is David Prentiss. I’m the captain of this ship, the Cyclops, and the commanding officer of our unit.”
“Joely Thompson,” she said, “but you already knew that.”
Prentiss smiled. “Yes. I did. Miss Thompson, you have no need to fear me. We’re on the same side.”
“And what side is that?”
“We both want to find the Ylians and keep them safe from those who would exploit them.”
She jiggled one foot nervously and tucked a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear. “You mean the military.”
“For both Mexico and the United States, yes.” He sat back. “As you have surmised, my crew is made up of people of mixed ancestry. We are human and Ylian, and we live outside the lines. Our ancestors landed on this planet centuries ago, roughly when your friends arrived, and they bred with the local population. That’s where we come from. Some of us have more of the Ylian bloodline than others, but we’re all mixes… and we all want to rescue our elders before someone does something to harm them.”
Joely asked, “And once you rescue them? Then what?”
“That depends on what they want to do.” He studied her for a long moment with his extraordinary eyes, then said, “Tell me about them.”
“They’re nice,” she said blandly. “Good looking. Smart.”
Prentiss sm
irked. “And their relationship with Dr. Cooper?”
“I don’t rat on my friends.”
“We found the biological specimens that your prior ‘hosts’ had obtained from the farm house. I would say that at the very least, the relationship is sexual.” He watched her carefully, waiting for a response. She stared back and held her silence. Finally, he sighed and said, “I am asking because it’s important. Is she their mate?”
“You’d have to ask her.”
“I would love to, but I don’t know where she is.”
“That makes two of us.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any idea where they might have gone?”
“None at all.” She sighed. “The other guys, the ones who had me before, they asked all these same questions. How do I know you’re really not trying to get control of them, too?”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” he countered. “I suppose we’ll just have to trust one another.”
“Sorry. I’m having some trust issues right now.”
She expected him to be annoyed, but instead he laughed. “Understandable,” he said. “Totally understandable.”
Joely stood. “I wish I knew where they were. I wish I could help you. But I can’t.”
“You can’t,” he echoed, subtle menace in his tone, “or you won’t?”
“I can’t.”
He looked at her closely again, and she felt uncomfortably scrutinized. “Ylians have many innate abilities. Telekinesis. Telepathy. Energy manipulation, like reiki. I can read your intentions like you read a magazine.”
She lifted her chin. “Well, intention this, buddy. I don’t know where they are, I’m not lying, and even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you. I don’t know you from Adam’s housecat, and you haven’t done anything to make me think you’re on the up-and-up.” He began to chuckle, and she glowered at him, crossing her arms. “What are you laughing at?”
“You. Your bravado when you’re really just so frightened.” His tone was slightly mocking, and it angered her. She could feel her face flushing. “Go back to your billet, Miss Thompson, while we decide what to do with you and your friend. My sergeant is waiting outside the door to escort you back.”
Joely turned and stomped to the door, fuming. Before she left, she turned and told him, “I don’t know what this little interview accomplished for you, but it was a total waste of my time.”
She could hear him laughing as her guard led her away.
Chapter Fifteen
They reached Marfa well into the next morning, when the tourists and locals were busy going about their lives. Sera parked the car at the first hotel they reached, the Marfa Riata, and went inside to rent a room. She asked for a king-sized bed, and the clerk was happy to make the arrangements, although he did look a bit askance when she paid for the room in cash. She booked it for three nights, then took the key cards and collected her Ylians.
The room was pleasant, painted in a cooling shade of blue-gray, and the bed was soft. At that moment, she really didn’t care about anything else. Five hours on the road was more than sufficient to have made her tired and ready for a little...well, anything that didn’t involve being in a car.
Beno and Theyn carried their belongings in, and Theyn locked and barred the door once they were inside. Sera looked up at them from where she was lounging on the bed.
“You look so tired,” Theyn said softly. He came to sit beside her and ran a hand through her blonde curls, moving them back away from her face.
“I can drive next time,” Beno told her, sitting on her other side. “I was watching you. I think I can do it.”
“We’ll see. We can work on it. It takes more than….whatever you got through your telepathy.”
He winked at her and teased, “You don’t think I’ve got the right coordination.”
“Hand-eye-foot coordination takes some practice,” she defended. “And maybe you need to work on your reaction time.”
Theyn grinned. “He is sluggish.”
Beno gave his partner a mild shove, and Theyn laughed. “Don’t listen to him. I’m lightning fast.”
Sera smiled. “Maybe I like being the only one who drives. Girl power and all that. Men always drive the cars. Did you know that there are some countries where women aren’t allowed behind the wheel?” She playfully put her hand on the hard planes of Beno’s chest and returned the shove he’d given Theyn. “You boys need to step back and let this girl keep the keys.”
Now it was the brunet’s turn to grin. “Feeling the need to exert a little dominance? A need to take control?”
“Maybe,” she teased.
Theyn grabbed her by the waist and flipped them both until he was on his back and she was on top of him. She gasped at his speed and strength, but smiled when she found herself straddling him. She grabbed his wrists, and he allowed her to push his hands into the pillow above his head. He grinned at her wickedly.
“Ooh, yes,” he whispered. “Control me.”
His words sent a tingle up her spine, and she leaned down to claim his mouth in an aggressive kiss, which he eagerly returned. She could feel his shaft hardening beneath her, straining against their confining clothes, and her body moistened in response. She speared her tongue into his mouth, and he let her explore, stroking his own tongue against hers in welcome. She purred in the back of her throat, desire for him flooding her.
Beno shifted to kneel behind her on the mattress, his legs straddling Theyn’s. He ran his hands down her back, then skimmed over her sides and back up her abdomen until he was cupping her full breasts in his palms. She arched into his touch, and he gently squeezed. She moaned.
Too many clothes, Theyn told them.
Agreed. She straightened and released him, pulling off her shirt. He looked up at her with raw lust, taking in the sight of her perfect mounds pressing against the lace of her bra. Beno unhooked the offending undergarment and slid it down over her shoulders, revealing her erect, pink nipples. Theyn smiled and ran his tongue lightly over his lips, enticed.
Beno kissed Sera’s back and shoulders, his hands busily helping Theyn to divest himself of his clothing. He stripped them both, pulling their clothing away and discarding it onto the floor. When they were nude, he kissed Sera deeply and pulled away, moving to lie on the other bed.
Sera looked at him in confusion. “You’re not joining in?”
“Not this time.” He smiled. “We can love you separately as well as together.”
She looked down at Theyn, then over at Beno, who was naked now, too, stroking himself as he watched. Theyn took her hands in his and pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her.
Finish what you start, he urged her.
Sera grasped his wrists again, and he smiled as she pushed his hands above his head. She braced herself against his arms as he pressed up against her, the tip of his cock nudging against her wet folds. She pushed back and swallowed him whole, her body squeezing around his welcome intrusion. Beneath her, Theyn sighed in bliss, his cheeks flushed.
She rocked her hips against him, sliding up and down his shaft, drawing out the loving as long and as slowly as she could bear. He felt so good inside her, filling her deeply, rubbing against her in all the right places. His heat, his hardness, the way he throbbed within her body all made her head swim with the pleasure. She squeezed his wrists harder, pressing down, holding him down as she rode him. He gasped as she tightened her internal muscles around him, and he thrust up to meet her downward slide.
They pushed against each other, Sera rocking her hips faster and harder, Theyn driving up into her and matching her pace. She moaned and tipped back her head, arching her back in delight, and the sound of flesh against flesh filled the room.
“Sera,” he groaned, transported. “Sera, by the flame, you feel so good.”
Her response was to tighten around him again, and he shuddered. She could feel the tell-tale tingling of her building climax, and she rode him harder while he snapped his hips u
p into her. They were mindless, lost in the feeling, animal lust taking command. Release rolled through her, a tidal wave of pleasure that made her shudder and shake, cries of ecstasy tumbling from her lips. He speared into her once more, as deep as he could go, and unleashed his passion, filling her completely.
She was still tingling and trembling when Beno rose from where he’d been watching. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her away from Theyn, lying her down on her back beside his bliss-drunk partner. He stretched out on top of her, pressing into her body, his arms still coiled around her waist. She pulled him close to her, wrapping her legs around his hips, urging him to take her. He thrust into her, his face pressed against her neck, his body rubbing against her pleasure spot over and over. She wailed as a second climax washed over her, and she quaked in Beno’s arms as he chased his own completion. He reached his flash point with a broken cry.
Beno slid out of her, and she was sorry to have him leave. He collapsed beside her, and Theyn snuggled in on her other side. She was still tingling and so sated that she couldn’t have moved if she had wanted to. Warm and satisfied, they held her in their arms until they all fell asleep.
***
When she woke slowly, pulled out of slumber by the sunlight that was shining brightly through the gaps around the curtain, both Theyn and Beno were gone. She sat up, alarmed and suddenly fully awake.
Guys?
There was no answer, and her heart started to pound. She crept over to the window and peeked out, and to her dismay, the car was no longer in its parking place.
Their belongings were still in the room, although she couldn’t find her clothes anywhere. The Ylians’ garments were also missing. She couldn’t go out looking for them, even if she knew where they were, so she decided the best she could do was clean up and wait.
She showered and wrapped her hair and body in towels, then sat on the bed to fret. She had resorted to turning on the television and flipping through the limited cable channels when she heard footsteps approaching, and then the key card slid into the lock with a ‘snick’.
In Love with the Enemy (A Rizer Wolfpack Series Book 4) Page 22
