by S. E. Smith
“Where are you? Who would dare to help you when we are in the center of the Waxian stronghold?” Deppar wondered aloud.
In his mind, he ran through the different alien species on the Spaceport. There were few who would not only be bold enough to try but would have the slimmest chance of successfully pulling off such a daring mission. The only species he knew of were the Trivators, the Kassisans, and perhaps the Elpidiosians. The Jawtaw, Raftian, and Armatrux knew better than to challenge a Waxian force, especially considering their current alliances with the Drethulans. The Usoleums were too arrogant and would never soil their own hands with such a dangerous endeavor.
“Computer, search for the following alien species on the Spaceport,” Deppar commanded, calling out the list he’d compiled in his head.
“Affirmative,” the computer responded and then replied. “There are currently zero matches for your criteria aboard the Spaceport.”
Irritation flared inside Deppar. Turning around, he walked behind his desk and sat down. Drumming his fingers on the desk, he broadened his search. If he had to sort through every single being currently inhabiting the Spaceport, he would. There had to be an answer, and when he found it, he would crush them all.
“Two hundred fifty-two, two hundred fifty-three, two hundred fifty…,” Mechelle counted.
“Enough! You are driving me crazy,” Mirela groaned, looking up from the computer screen she was studying.
“Shut up, Mirela. I have a new shirt riding on this,” Andy said, popping a snack into her mouth.
“Earlier you said it was a pair of pants,” Mirela said in exasperation.
Andy stuck out her tongue at Mirela. “I lost… again. Edge is working on his abs now,” she retorted.
Edge was having a hard enough time staying focused on what he was doing. The women’s constant teasing was highly entertaining and completely unexpected, but it was his memories of the night before that were distracting him.
Lina had been gone from their bed when he woke. All morning, she had avoided looking directly at him. The wall she was trying to erect between them was almost tangible. Frustrated, he’d spent the morning focusing on rebuilding his strength. Unfortunately, his mind and body were more in tune with Lina than on what he was doing. He finally gave up when he heard Lina’s muffled laugh and lowered himself to the floor.
Breathing heavily, he turned his head to follow Lina as she exited the area they shared. He sat up when he saw the way she was dressed. Once again, she avoided his eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her and Mechelle released a long sigh.
“Oh man! Lina! You should have waited two more seconds before you came out,” Mechelle groaned.
Andy stood up and pumped her triumphant fist in the air. “Yes!! I won,” she crowed.
Mechelle turned and glared at Andy. “That shouldn’t count. He was only four away for me to win again. He would have made it too, if Lina hadn’t distracted him,” she complained.
This time it was Andy’s turn to snort. “Are you kidding me? He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off of her all morning. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think someone has the hots for Lina,” she teased with a knowing glance.
Lina looked over at Mechelle and shook her head. “Don’t blame this on me. I can’t help it if lover boy here has a case of puppyitis for me,” she retorted in a seemingly light, playful tone, but one that fell a bit flat. She turned her attention to tightening the strap over her laser pistol. “Gail, do you have the bags?”
He frowned and rolled to his feet. “Where are you going?” Edge growled.
“Uh-oh,” Bailey said, stepping out of their makeshift kitchen.
He didn’t bother to hide his displeasure. The idea of her leaving the safety of their hideaway made him feel the darkness closing in around him. The fear that she might not return nearly suffocated him.
Lina raised an eyebrow at him. Flexing his fingers, he tried to calm the rising desire to throw her over his shoulder and haul her to their private quarters. He’d already tried that, and it hadn’t gone well, but he was stronger now, better able to think and maneuver. If it was a fight she wanted, then he would give it to her, he decided. He would fight even his Amate to keep her safe.
“Don’t even think about it, Edge,” Lina softly warned with a confused, almost desperate look in her eyes.
He tilted his head at her. She’d been trying to avoid physical contact with him all morning. He raised his eyebrow at her in return.
“I bet a pair of pants that Lina wins,” Andy crowed, watching the standoff with a grin.
Mechelle scowled. “I’m not betting on this one. He’s stronger than he was the last time,” she said.
“Oh, yeah. I could look at that tight ass with no pants on,” Andy murmured.
His lips twitched when Lina shot her friend a heated glare. Taking advantage of her distraction, he darted forward and wrapped an arm around her waist. This time, he kept her back to his front. Lina’s outraged gasp was drowned by the other women’s laughter. He continued walking until he swept them through the parted curtains.
“Damn! Sex in the afternoon. I can’t remember the last time I did that,” Gail commented, drawing snide responses from the others.
“We are NOT having sex!” Lina snapped in irritation, pushing her hands against his.
“Yet,” Edge replied, gently lowering her onto the bed. He covered her body with his, caging her beneath him. “Where are you going?” he quietly asked.
Her eyebrows rose, and she pursed her lips together. He didn’t miss her slightly shaky breath or the tremble in her bottom lip. Her eyes were filled with emotion. Unable to resist, he lowered his head and gently pressed his lips to hers.
She resisted at first, keeping her lips firmly pressed together. He teased her lips, the way she had done to him last night. He felt a shudder run through her body before her lips parted, and she ran her tongue along his top lip. Sliding his arm under her head, he pressed a series of small, light kisses to her lips.
She released a long sigh. “You are such a tease and totally not fighting fair,” she muttered, sliding her hands up his arms to his shoulders. “If you are going to kiss me, you might as well do it right.”
He chuckled at her defiantly spoken words. Goddess, but he loved having her under him. If not fighting fair was how he could keep her at his side, then he would learn every way he could in order to be successful at unfair-fighting practices. He placed a line of kisses along her jaw before he pressed a lingering one to the side of her neck. Tonight, he would mark her there.
“Are you okay?” she murmured.
A wry smile curved Edge’s lips. “No,” he replied near her ear, suggestively pressing his hips downward. “Will you make me feel better?”
A soft groan escaped her. “I swear you’ve been hanging around with Andy and Mirela too much,” she said, pushing against his chest. “Move, before I make you hurt there in a different way.”
He chuckled. Instead of moving off of her, he lifted his head and rubbed his nose along her cheek. Pleasure swept through him at his species’ particular way of intimately showing affection to an Amate.
“I don’t want you to go topside without me,” he stated, looking down at her.
Lina turned her head away from his intense gaze. He took advantage of her exposed neck, bending and lightly nipping at the soft flesh. He was rewarded when her hips jerked. A soft hiss slipped from her lips when she felt his increased desire. She turned her head and he could see on her face that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Both of them grimaced when they heard the women on the other side of the thin curtain.
“Lina, daylight is burning,” Mirela called out.
“Knock it off, Mirela. If the roles were reversed, you and I both know that you’d be burning more than a little daylight. We wouldn’t see you for a week,” her sister retorted.
“Oh yeah, I could live with a week of continuous sex,” Bailey replied with a loud, dreamy sigh, drawing more laughter.
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Lina groaned and shook her head. “They won’t stop now. I have to go. I… we won’t be gone long. Promise me that you won’t do anything stupid. If you try, I’ve given… I’ve given Andy and Bailey permission to knock out your ass,” she murmured.
“It is better than Mirela shooting me in the leg,” he grudgingly conceded, running his nose along her cheek again.
“What in the hell are you doing to me?” she groaned, her hands going back and forth between pushing him away and pulling him closer.
“I am marking you. If I were on your planet, I would be courting you. It is something I learned while I was there. I met a nurse there named Chelsea. She was very interesting. Her husband, Thomas, was also very enlightening,” he replied, pressing his lips over her pulsing vein. “I want to mark you here to show the world that you are mine.”
“You want to…. Oh, hell, no! Move!” Lina ordered with exasperation, pushing harder this time.
He rolled to the side, confused by her sudden panicked tone and vehement protest. She rolled in the opposite direction, half-falling from the bed before she straightened. He sat up and watched her run a nervous hand over her disheveled dark brown hair before she adjusted her shirt. Rising to his feet, he frowned when she took a few steps back.
“What is wrong?” Edge quietly asked.
He took a step toward her only to pause when she held up her hand and took another step away from him. Her throat moved nervously up and down along with her hands. Finally, she released a barely audible curse and looked up at him.
“Listen, I know that you think you are attracted to me in some… sort of, you know, way, but it isn’t real. I mean, you may think it is real, but it really isn’t—real, I mean. I think they probably have some fancy name for it in the medical or science world. I was never very good at either one so I couldn’t tell you what it might be. I just know that it is something that makes a person feel like there is something real when there really isn’t, and I really don’t think we should go there. If you know what I mean,” she finished in a voice that faded on the last word.
Confused, he returned her gaze. “I fear I did not understand any of what you just said. Can you repeat it? Are you trying to say that what happened between us last night was not real?” he asked in frustration. “It felt very real to me.”
She growled before turning on her heel and sweeping aside the curtain. “Gail, let’s go.”
He remained where he was for a split second before he followed her. He was still trying to decipher what she had been trying to tell him. It took another second for her most recent words to register. She was still determined to go topside.
Following her, he brushed the curtain aside. A frustrated snarl escaped him when he saw Andy, Mirela, and Bailey all standing between him and the exit. Mechelle shot him a sympathetic glance from where she was operating the door.
“I do not want her to go! It is too dangerous,” Edge snarled, glaring at the other women.
Mirela chuckled. “And you aren’t? Honey, you’ve got a lot to learn about Earth women if you think acting like a Neanderthal caveman will get you anywhere,” she retorted.
“I am not this caveman. I am a Trivator warrior,” he snapped.
“Yeah, well, if you ask me, there isn’t much difference between the two of you,” Mirela replied.
“You… Earth women are very frustrating,” Edge growled.
“You might as well get used to it,” Bailey replied with a shake of her head. “You’ve got six of us to keep you in line.”
Edge watched as Andy walked over and sat down on the chair by the door. She laid her laser pistol across her lap. His fingers clenched into two tight fists. He was stronger, but not strong enough to take on all of the women.
He grudgingly admitted they were smart. Instead of huddling together, they each took different points in the room where they could monitor his movements, yet still have a clear shot with their weapons. Even Mechelle, the quietest one of the group, stayed far enough away from him that it would be difficult for him to use one of them as a hostage—not that he would do that. It would be beneath the honor of a Trivator warrior.
But, that doesn’t mean I can’t think about trying it, he thought, his eyes narrowing on Andy.
“She’ll be back soon, Trivator. Don’t you worry about Lina. She knows how to survive on the streets, even alien ones,” Andy said, waving her hand at him. “If you need to burn some energy, I could always use a new vest. Mechelle, you game?”
“I think he should rest and build his energy,” Bailey interjected. “How about lunch instead?”
He reluctantly nodded, his gaze still focused on the door. He forced his fingers to relax. Turning toward the kitchen area, he looked down at his hands. They were trembling again.
Chapter Eleven
Trivator home world of Rathon:
“What have you found?” Jesse asked, peeking over her sister’s shoulder.
Jordan glanced up and scowled before she returned her attention to the screen in front of her. Her fingers flew over the keyboard. Eight different screens displayed various data. One had a star map, another screen was filled with rows of data that constantly changed, as if thousands of conversations were running all at once.
“I’m not sure yet. I need to follow this thread,” Jordan replied. “Are the kids being good?”
“They are napping. So is Scout. I think they wore Grandpa out today,” Jesse replied, pulling up a chair to sit next to her sister. “So, you’ve worked like a maniac the last couple of months. What are you working on, and do Hunter and Razor know about it?”
Jordan nodded. “Yes, they know. In fact, they asked me to research all this data. They have recently received additional information from Destin and Sula,” she explained.
“Is this about the missing women?” Jesse asked, her eyes moving over the screens. “I swear, I don’t know how you do this, Jordan. All the data flashing across the screens makes my head and eyes hurt. I don’t understand any of it.”
Jordan chuckled. “I know. Dagger says the same thing. It is like listening to music, only I see it,” she confessed. “Each part is a piece of a puzzle and when it all comes together, I finally get to see the whole picture. I love the challenge and seeing the symmetry of lines creating data which tells a story.”
Jesse shook her head. “You are such a nerd,” she teased.
“I know,” Jordan admitted. “I’ll be out in a little bit. I need to finish compiling this latest lot of data.”
“Okay. I’ll fix you something to eat. You’ve been in here all morning. You probably didn’t even eat breakfast this morning either,” Jesse chided.
“Don’t tell Dagger,” Jordan murmured.
“Don’t tell me what?” a deep voice demanded.
Jesse turned and grimaced. “Uh-oh! Busted. I’ll be in the kitchen,” she muttered.
Jordan bit her lip and managed to enter two more commands before she felt her chair being turned. Her large eyes looked straight into those of the man kneeling in front of her. Her gaze softened when she saw the worry in his eyes.
“I’m fine,” she said.
She tilted her head to rest her cheek against the warm palm that cupped it. Dagger leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. She loved the way his thumb gently caressed her cheek.
“When Hunter and Razor asked me if I would object to you helping them, I said no,” he began.
Jordan’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Only because you knew I’d do it anyway,” she softly retorted.
Dagger sighed. “Yes, you would have done it anyway. I worry about you,” he said.
Jordan’s heart melted at the expression in his eyes. Her hands rose to cup his face and she leaned in and kissed him. His lips parted when she traced them with her tongue. Deepening the kiss, she poured her love for him into every touch, every breath before she reluctantly ended the caress.
“I love you, Dagger. You and our daughter, Helena, are my life,” Jorda
n murmured, brushing another kiss against his lips.
“You are an amazing woman and I love you very much. I want you to take care of yourself more,” Dagger said, his voice growing deeper with the depth of his emotion.
Jordan glanced over her shoulder at the screens. “I’m so close, Dagger. I can feel it,” she said, turning back to look at him with a pleading expression. “I can’t give up on them.”
Dagger drew in a deep breath and stood up, pulling her with him. Jordan wrapped her arms around his waist and held onto him as if she would never let him go. After a moment, he rubbed his chin against her soft brown hair.
“Ten minutes, then take a break to eat. I will take care of Helena when she wakes up. Find them, so we can have you back,” he murmured.
Tears burned the back of Jordan’s eyes. “You will always have me, Dagger,” she promised.
“Ten minutes, then food,” Dagger insisted, releasing her.
Jordan grimaced. “And the bathroom,” she laughed.
Jordan watched Dagger step out of the electronics room, which was set up at Hunter and Jesse’s house specifically for her. Razor had suggested installing the computer system at their own home, but Jordan had declined. She knew herself well enough to know that she needed to be away from easy access to such an elaborate setup if she was to maintain her sanity.
Sinking back down into her seat, she scanned the data coming in. Her heart sped up when the filters she had programmed into the software she had designed suddenly began to go crazy. Her fingers flew over the keyboard again, pulling the information from one screen to another and combining them.
“Prymorus.” Jordan’s fingers touched on a program to identify the man’s voice.
Voice recognition at ninety-nine percent: Deppar Achler, Waxian mercenary.
“You’ve found him?” Prymorus’s voice demanded.
