Replicant: The Kithran Regenesis, Book 2

by Dani Worth

  The two men kept kissing and Egan’s hand cupped Kol’s crotch.

  Lux spotted me and must have murmured something strong enough to catch their attention. All eyes turned to me.

  I grinned and waved my fingers.

  Lux rolled her eyes, grabbed a hand from each man and tugged them down the tunnel.

  Damn.

  I leaned my back to the wall, stared at the glowing foliage through the clear dome and tried to cool down. Everything throbbed. Watching the raw hunger and need among those three had me burning with jealousy, and it scared me. I preferred numb. I could survive with numb. Just being here carved through my shell to poke at the tender, raw inner torment.

  Sucking in a deep breath, I continued toward the med pod. Talking to Erik in my current state of painful arousal was a bad, bad idea. I’d sit with Maska awhile; see if I could annoy him into waking up.

  Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of Erik through the window before I reached the doorway. I stopped and ducked back out of sight, then slowly leaned far enough to see him. He was alone in the room with the Replicant, and he stood over the bed, staring down at him. I couldn't read his emotions from this angle, but I could see the tight shoulders, the one stiff fist at his side. I leaned further and saw that Maska wasn’t awake. I was starting to wonder if he’d ever wake up.

  Familiar guilt flooded my system so fast, I turned away from the two men and leaned my head back against the wall. It was too much, this new sense of culpability on top of the other emotions assailing me tonight.

  When I opened my eyes and turned back to the room, I caught Erik watching me. The fury that twisted his features made me catch my breath, but I walked into the room and faced him over Maska’s bed. “You really have to stop directing all that anger at me. I’m not the one who lied to you.”

  “What did that thing do to his body? His mind? Why won’t he wake up?”

  “I don’t know, and I am sorry about that.”

  He scraped his hands through his short blond hair. “I need answers. I need him to wake up and explain to me why he did this.” When he raised his gaze from Maska to me, the bleak cast made my stomach hurt. “I loved Maska more than I’ve loved anyone in my entire life, and I want her back.”

  “You’d rather have the lie?” I couldn’t help but ask, I was curious. I’d tried to put myself in his place, but it wasn’t completely the same for me because I was attracted to both sexes. I’d have been pissed about the lie, but then with me, the gender-switching part of the lie wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. I looked down at the sleeping Replicant, noticing that his sheet rode low, leaving his stomach and chest bare. My eyes widened. He was truly a work of art with that long, lean torso. I’d have expected chest hair because of how rapidly whiskers had covered his chin during the shift, but he was hair-free except for a silky-looking line of black hair from his belly button down. I closed my hands into fists instead of lifting the sheet to see where that line led. Surprise stunned me momentarily and I murmured words I never would have thought possible. “He’s beautiful like this. In his true form.”

  Erik didn’t answer, but he did look back down. The sight of Maska’s bare skin seemed to upset him so much, I reached for the sheet to pull it up. Don’t know why—I shouldn’t have cared how he felt—but for some reason these two were getting to me. And one of them wasn’t even awake.

  Erik stopped me from pulling up the sheet, placed his hand on Maska’s shoulder. “I can’t process this. I have all these feelings, this anger that’s ripping my gut to shreds. I want to rage and break things.”

  “I heard you did.”

  “Yeah, I have some cleanup to do in ou—my living pod. Or his. Hell, I don’t know who will live where now. But I don’t want you to take him back to Bastilleen.”

  Sighing, I leaned against the wall. “I have no choice. Why is it so hard for you all to understand that? He’s an escaped prisoner. He’s breaking every law out there, and while I understand you all love the Replicant, he has no choice but to return to finish out his sentence.” I watched as he brushed the side of his hand over Maska’s neck. “You do still love him.”

  “I don’t know if I do. It’s there, but it’s so wrapped up in the woman I’ve shared my bed with for the past year.” He leaned over the bed, lifted strands of long, black hair and held them to his nose. “His scent is the same, and how is that possible?” He dropped Maska’s hair and backed up until he could sink into a metal chair against the wall. “This is beyond fucked up. What did he do to end up in that prison?”

  “The file says he was locked up for a violent crime, but is a nonviolent prisoner. Guess he found redemption inside or something.” I shrugged. “I don’t care. You know, you could wait for him. He’ll have time tacked on to his sentence, but—”

  He narrowed his eyes, curled his lip into a snarl. “The man escaped years ago. You really think they’re going to slap on something like a year to his time?” Erik shook his head. “He’ll be lucky to ever get back out. You can’t take him.”

  “And what?” I straightened, threw my hands into the air. “Do you plan to keep your relationship with him, then?”

  “How about you just give us time to figure something out? To hear an explanation from him?”

  I stared at Erik for a long time. Everything about this takedown felt wrong, and I should have paid attention to my instincts when the call for his recapture came down the tubes. Yeah, I’d questioned the violent but nonviolent label, but I’d been too wrapped up in the realization I’d be returning to Kithra. I hadn’t wanted to figure it out. So, what if I did give them some time? It would mean staying longer on Kithra—just the consideration made my heart clench—but I did feel I owed Maska something for putting him through that forced shift. “I actually haven’t reported him found yet, so yes, I’ll agree to a little time once he wakes up. But I still have to take him in. Too many people know about him now, and who knows where Lux blabbed about the NED. Word will get out.”

  “Fair enough.”

  His expression softened. Slightly. I looked at the golden color of his hair and wondered if he had hair that color on his body. I’d never been with such a fair man before. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been with a man in so long, I barely remembered what it was like. Flashing back to Kol backing Lux into the wall, the full arousal I’d felt earlier came flooding back. The pinch of instant, stinging heat between my legs should have kept me from asking him my next question. “Why don’t you come have a drink with me?” My voice came out huskier than I intended.

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea, given our reaction to each other before?”

  “It’s just physical. We’re strong enough to ignore the urges. Besides, you told me you don’t—what was the word? Cheat?”

  “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t.”

  I shrugged. “Then we’re good. Come on, I’ve got some fantastic Earth whiskey in my trunk.”

  He didn’t move, didn’t take his gaze off the Replicant so still and quiet in the bed.

  “Erik.” I waited for him to look at me. “Maska isn’t going anywhere. You’ll get your answers. I’m offering a drink, not sex.”

  Even as I said it, I knew I lied. I still had an itch I needed scratched, and my body reacted to Erik in ways it hadn’t reacted to anyone in a long, long time. I wanted to sprawl out on a big Kithran bed and spread my legs for him. I wanted to find out the color of hair on his body and how he felt rammed inside me. I worked hard to school my features, had to cross my arms over my chest because my nipples reacted to my thoughts instantly.

  He stood, glared at me. “Why are you trying so hard?”

  I could have lied or shrugged off the question. But I kind of felt I owed him truth after ripping his life apart so badly. “It’s…hard being here, and I’d rather not be alone tonight.”

  He didn’t look away, and what I saw in his expression only intensified the lust tearing through my body. “I don’t want to be alone either.
”

  Chapter Six

  I loved the living pod they’d chosen for me, and in an ideal world, it would have been one I’d try to purchase permanently. Unlike the small, dark mining pods, this one had a huge living room area with a sky dome. With one touch of a button, shields closed over the dome so it was protected during Kithra’s wind storms or for privacy. But the night view was so spectacular, I left it open, not giving a damn if anyone saw Erik here and wondered why. I’m sure Egan would have said the human was in a vulnerable state and I should not take advantage. My need pulled at me until I threw out every reason I shouldn’t try to seduce the man.

  “Make yourself at home.” I waved my hand at the sprawling red couch that wrapped two sides of the room. “That thing is sinfully comfortable. I’ve been sleeping out here so I can watch the animals.”

  He stood by the dome, and I flashed back to when Maska had stood as a woman in that tunnel with the lush, blue vegetation behind her. A leeto scampered along a branch near the window, hands and mouth full of twigs, its black fur smooth and silky looking. I’d seen a similar creature on Earth 3, a monkey. Our leetoes were a hundred times more beautiful with their thick pelts and gleaming emerald eyes.

  Erik stood at the dome, staring at the creature when it stopped in front of him and cocked its head to the side. “Egan told me this time is similar to Earth’s spring and the animals are making nests. Have to say, I haven’t taken a lot of time to watch them. What’s that one called?”

  “A leeto. When I was a kid, my sister made friends with one that would come up to her window and leave things on the branch right outside it. Flowers or food. We were addicted to classic Earth stories at the time, so we teased her to death about her furry Romeo.” I walked toward the bedroom, wishing I didn’t have to work so hard for this, wishing he would follow. Purposely keeping my eyes off the huge bed with its thick, black comforter, I rummaged in the open case for the ridiculously expensive whiskey I had wrapped in clothes at the bottom.

  Abruptly, my knees went weak and I sank onto the soft bed. I’d talked about my sister. Just casually threw out that tidbit like she was still alive…like it was an ordinary day and I’d see her sometime soon.

  The room spun. I froze, clenched my eyes shut.

  “Jarana?”

  My eyes flew open to find Erik standing in the doorway of my room. His broad shoulders filled the space, his blond hair catching moonlight that made it shine. I focused on him, hard, desperate to kill whatever was building inside me before it escaped and turned me into a raving maniac.

  “Let’s drink the whiskey out there. That absurd bed is not a good idea.”

  I glanced at the bed. It was round and big enough to comfortably sleep six. “Absurd? Isn’t your bed like this?”

  He shook his head, grinned. “Mine’s built into the wall. It’s huge, like all the other beds on this planet, but it’s not on a pedestal and it doesn’t turn circles.”

  Lifting an eyebrow, I eyed the walls, looking for a switch. “Didn’t know it turned circles. Cool.” Turning back to him, I held up the whiskey. “A little of this and maybe we can take a ride on the spinning bed.”

  He walked close.

  I held my breath.

  He took the whiskey bottle and left the room.

  Chuckling, I followed.

  Four drinks. It took four drinks to get the man to loosen up. Unfortunately, he loosened up too much. I broke off midsentence when I heard his slight snore. Grinning and not even close to steady, I lurched across the room and braced my hand on the back of the couch to look down at him.

  The sadness that pulled his gorgeous features down was absent now as he slept. His mouth was open and one arm dangled over the side of the couch. I lifted it and rested his hand on his stomach, running the tips of my fingers over the shiny blond hair on the back of his hand. Then I turned to look for the Dranellian cotton blanket. But I turned too fast and fell on him. He grunted, grabbed my waist. My butt ground onto his crotch hard enough to make him wince, but it was me who made the startled noise when he turned me over and flattened my body on top of his.

  I gasped at the hard wall of masculine chest when my breasts squashed against him. His hot, whiskey-scented breath wafted over my neck, and I shivered.

  “Maska, missed you,” he slurred before he scraped teeth over my neck and jaw, tightening his arms around my back. I gasped and he slanted his mouth over mine.

  And just like that, my alcohol-addled brain turned off all protest. I opened my mouth, moaning when his tongue slid inside to stroke mine. He tasted of whiskey and need and his kiss was thorough, hot and deep. Every inch of my skin burned. I opened my legs and rubbed against him, swallowing the groan that rumbled from him into my throat. His dick was so hard, it was nearly painful, but I didn’t stop. His tongue moved faster, catching the rhythm of my hips.

  “Damn, I can smell how much you want me.” His hand wedged between our bodies and he stroked his fingers between my legs. “You’re so wet, your pants are soaked.” Groaning, he opened his mouth over my jaw, nuzzled my ear. “Take them off.”

  His cheek came into contact with my short hair and he went still.

  I braced my hands on the couch on either side of him, digging my fingers deep into the soft, red cushions, and pushed up. It ground my clit even harder on him, but I wanted to see his face, wanted him to see me—to know I wasn’t his precious Maska. But the regret that flooded his expression killed my desire instantly. I leaned to the side and just rolled off him and the couch. Lying there, I stared at the thick forest through the dome and worked to bring my breathing back to normal. When I heard him snore, it was all I could do not to get up and smash my fist in his face. Instead, I got up and left him there, lurching toward the door and slapping my palm on the panel.

  I stumbled through the doorway and tripped over something in the dark tunnel. “Fuck,” I ground out, my teeth so tight, my jaw hurt.

  “Did you?”

  I rolled over and nearly crawled out of my skin when I saw glowing, opaque eyes. They were like Kithran flowers, soaking up the moonlight and reflecting it back into the tunnel. Maska sat slumped against the dome wall, and he listed to the side. He’d plaited his long, ropy black hair, and it pooled on the floor beside him. I reached out to help him and he hissed at me.

  “Did you fuck him?” He pronounced each word sharply with a pause between.

  “No.”

  He stared at me, his mouth so tight, his full lower lip nearly disappeared.

  “Let me help you back to the med pod. You aren’t in any condition to be wandering the tunnels.”

  “Wasn’t wandering, Tracker.” He steadied his hand on the floor, sat a little straighter. “I was looking for you. Just didn’t expect to find you on top of Erik.”

  That’s right, I’d left the privacy panels open. I opened my mouth to tell him Erik had moved on, to start the process of getting them used to the idea of Maska not staying, and instead I shocked myself. There was just something about this man, something that tugged at my heart in the strangest way. “He’s drunk. Thought I was you.”

  His lip curled. “How could he possibly mistake you for me? Even in the form he loves, I’m very different.” He raked his gaze down my crouched form. “You’re bony. Hard. Not his type at all.”

  “Don’t worry, he clued in fast.” I let him insult me. The throbbing ache in my groin should have had me snapping his head off, but the four whiskeys and his obvious resentment over his helplessness touched me.

  I have to get off this planet.

  The door opened, throwing light on his face, and the devastation there ripped through me. It hit Erik hard too because he squatted down in front of the Replicant, his expression tormented. “Maska, you’re awake.”

  Maska stared at him, milky eyes eerie in the low light. “You moved on fast.”

  “No.” Erik shook his head. “I haven’t.” He glanced up as if just then realizing Maska would have been able to see us from farther down the tunne
l. “What did you see?”

  “Her grinding on you. And you didn’t look like an unwilling partner.” The half smile that twisted Maska’s full lips disappeared as his head tilted down. “That hard cock says a lot too.”

  “I always wake with a hard-on, you know that.” Erik cursed and reached out to help Maska straighten up. Even I had to wince when I saw how gingerly he touched the Replicant’s arms.

  Maska scowled and pushed his hands away.

  Erik put his hands right back. This time, he cupped Maska’s shoulders. “Let me get you back to the med pod.”

  “I can get there myself.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

  He didn’t look at me. “Got here, didn’t I?”

  Ignoring Maska’s protests, Erik slid his arms under the Replicant’s legs and behind his back and lifted him from a straight squat. Impressed, I followed along. Erik was big, but Maska was taller and looked heavy. Plus, a few minutes ago, Erik was passed out drunk on my couch. He’d probably drop the man. I told myself that’s why I followed, but the truth was I wanted to watch more of their interaction.

  Maska was no longer protesting, instead staring at Erik. He didn’t hold on to the blond man, didn’t snuggle—just held himself stiff and stared. His long braid slithered over Erik’s arm to brush Erik’s hip as he walked. The style left Maska’s face so clear, his sharp features looked carved from stone. Except for that mouth. Kei was right, he really did have a fantastic mouth. The top lip had an intriguing dent in the middle, the bottom lip full. Together, they were kind of heart-shaped, though he looked too masculine to appreciate the description, should I decide to share. I smirked.

  Milky eyes met mine.

  Shock sobered me fast when I realized there wasn’t any hatred aimed in my direction. In fact, he seemed to study me with curiosity more than anything else. His eyes dropped to my chest, and more surprise hit me when my unbound breasts responded to his look. My nipples hardened and his eyes narrowed. He stared another few seconds before that languid gaze crept back up to my face. I should have ignored the hint of amusement that curled that pretty mouth of his. Normally I would have, but there was a shitload of whiskey floating in my system. “Like what you see?” I drawled.