by L P Peace
‘No! No! No! No!’ She climbed off him and turned. ‘Kadian. Kadian, please! Open your eyes!’ There was no response and his greyish-brown skin was turning pale.
Rorak arrived. He grabbed the comm and heard him talking in the background, but she could only focus on Kadian.
‘They’re on their way, Olivia. They’re so close.’
Ignoring Rorak, Olivia assessed Kadian. There was a piece of shrapnel that looked like bone embedded in his side—blood pulsed from the wound. There were several lacerations to his skull; one, in particular, seemed bad.
She pressed her hands over the wound to his side to stem the flow of blood, ignoring the sharp piece of bone that cut into her hands.
All she had to do was keep him alive for a few minutes until his friend was able to treat him.
Behind them, the sound of falling stone pierced the sudden quiet in the aftermath of the blast. Looking up, Olivia saw green hands pushing through the remains of the collapsed tower.
Rorak turned and fired several shots. ‘This won’t keep them off for long,’ he admitted.
‘Where are they?’ Olivia asked. She looked out over the rooftops of the neighbourhood and to the cityscape beyond, but in reality, until they cleared the towers of the city, it would be difficult to see any vehicle approaching.
‘They said a couple of metri. It’s almost been that!’ Rorak shouted. He fired more shots at the figures emerging from the ruined tower.
A sort of detached quality took over Olivia. She realised she was in shock, but whenever she looked down at Kadian, at his alien and beautiful face, fear threatened to overwhelm her.
‘Please, please, please.’ She whispered it under her breath over and over, hearing the occasional shot as Rorak forced the Myardahl law enforcement back, not allowing them to gain any ground.
The debris of the tower fell all at once and the way was clear. Several shots were fired in a spread across the roof and Rorak was forced to drop to avoid being hit.
Staying where she was, Olivia kept her hand on Kadian’s side.
The roof was suddenly flooded. At least eight Myardahl law enforcement officers appeared, screaming instructions. They tried to make her take her hands from Kadian’s body. Still, Olivia simply knelt there, maintaining pressure and repeating her desperate chant.
Slowly, the officers began to surround them.
A pulse of something swept over the rooftop, and the lights of their energy weapons went out.
Olivia became distantly aware of the sound of an engine and someone barking an announcement from a ship that was coming in to hover over them.
‘Our ride is here, human. You must let go for a moment so that we can get him on board.’
Olivia looked up at Rorak, barely comprehending his words. When he lifted her hands gently from Kadian, she let go. Over his shoulder, a large ship was hovering over the roof. A Todaal male was standing on the ramp with a large weapon pointed at the Myardahl, who were all on their stomachs.
‘Come, Olivia. He would not want you left behind.’ Kadian was thrown over one shoulder.
Olivia realised she was being a hindrance. Forcing herself into action, she stood and ran over to the ship. The Todaal helped her aboard and she climbed the ramp, only turning when she was on board so that she could watch Rorak carrying Kadian onto the ship.
The Todaal appeared and hit the ramp control. It raised the airlock closing after him. He walked over to a comm. ‘Mona, we’re in.’
The ship lifted off quickly.
‘Come with me!’ Kadian’s friend, Tanir, said. He marched across the bay, Rorak close behind. Olivia followed down a narrow hall across a large living space before Tanir led them into a small medbay.
‘I’ll be back. We have to enact the plan for the slaves. Stay here. Mona will be here in a metri.’
Olivia nodded, watching Rorak place Kadian on the medbay bed.
‘Strap in. The next few metri are going to be rough.’
Olivia quickly moved over to the bed, looking for straps to keep Kadian safe. Rorak moved to the opposite side, trying to help.
‘I’ve got it.’
Mona walked into the room. Mona was one of the doctors on Endurance, working under Reagan Miller. She strapped him down, then pulled out something that she looped around her waist. She’d strapped herself to the table, though the tether to it seemed to be movable, moving around the table with her as she quickly assessed Kadian’s wounds.
‘Can you help him?’
Mona looked up at Olivia. ‘I’ve treated Tanir, but nothing as bad as this. But Olivia, I’ve been studying Todaal medical texts since I’ve been on board and Tanir let me run some scans.’ She took in a deep breath. ‘I think so, Olivia. I’ll do my best.’
Olivia nodded her understanding, even as panic sank its claws into her.
‘We’re only a day or so from Protectorate space, Olivia. We only need to keep him stable. The Tessans’ doctors are miracle workers.’
Again, Olivia nodded wordlessly. She knew that if she spoke, if she tried to make a noise, she’d lose control.
‘Weapons hot,’ Tanir said over the comm.
‘Everybody hold on,’ Mona said. She hit something on the table and a cradle rose, supporting Kadian’s head. She placed one hand on him and gripped a hold on the wall next to her.
Realising she hadn’t actually strapped herself in yet, Olivia saw a couple of seats. Rorak led her over and strapped her in before grabbing a ceiling hold.
The ship rocked.
‘Percussive blasts,’ Rorak said. ‘Energy blowback from explosives.’
Something harder rocked the ship.
‘Those ones are weapons fire against us,’ Rorak said.
‘The Caridea has excellent shields,’ Mona said. ‘They’ll be very fortunate to get through.’
The rocking went on for a few minutes as Mona worked. She moved from handhold to handhold, scanning, injecting, and removing Falmon’s bone shrapnel.
‘We’re about to go through the atmosphere. The slaves have the ship. They’re ahead of us. We’ll be going to FTL in thirty sicri.’
Mona smiled. ‘Tanir’s very good about keeping people informed.’ There was an amused smile on her face even through the lines of tension she carried. ‘If he says we’re going to FTL in thirty sicri, we’re going to FTL in thirty sicri. Not twenty-nine, not thirty-one. Exactly thirty.’
Olivia offered a weak smile, but that was all the affectation she could force. Her eyes hadn’t left Kadian, and they weren’t likely to anytime soon.
The shaking smoothed out. Then the ship was entirely still.
‘That’s it. We’re at FTL. The slaves are on a parallel course for Protectorate space.’
At least they’d managed to do that. Now all Olivia could hope was that Tassian and his people were safe and Kadian would survive the next day.
A blinding light evoked striking pain behind Kadian’s temples. Opening his eyes, he looked around. The room was light, bright, and obviously a medbay. He was surrounded on all sides by dividers, little forcefields that allowed patients privacy.
Next to the bed, Tanir was sitting with a small human with eyes so dark they appeared black and hair darker than the black of space. They were holding hands and whispering together.
Kadian almost laughed when Tanir leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. From the adoring look on his face, the most notorious male of his regiment had been caught by a human.
The human’s dark eyes met his and Kadian managed a small smile.
‘Tanir, he’s awake,’ she said to Kadian’s old CO, who was laving kisses on her neck.
Tanir raised his head and visibly relaxed when he met Kadian’s gaze. ‘Welcome back.’
‘Thanks for having me,’ Kadian quipped. ‘Where am I?’
‘A Tessan ship. Arrinduth. They were waiting on the border of their space for our ships. I’ve never been so glad to see the Protectorate in all my life.’ Tanir laughed.
Even as Ta
nir spoke, Kadian’s eyes cast about the room for Olivia. She was nowhere in sight.
Kadian closed his eyes and tried not to panic. His biggest fear was that Olivia might still leave, might still return to Earth. In her absence, that fear rose its ugly head.
‘No,’ Kadian said, whipping back the covers.
‘No?’ Tanir set the human away from him and stood to meet Kadian, who, with a great deal of pain, had managed to find his feet.
‘She’s not leaving me. I won’t allow it.’
‘Kadian—’ Tanir approached him, his hands out in a placating gesture.
‘No! I’m not letting her leave me.’
‘Kadian!’ Tanir tried to grip his arm, but Kadian moved aside, holding his hand out in warning to his old friend.
The sound of the bay divider being switched off echoed through his mind. Olivia lay on the neighbouring bed.
‘She refused to leave you. She hasn’t slept in three days, so we were forced to sedate her,’ the human woman said. She enunciated everything in a perfect English accent. ‘Mona.’ The human held out a hand. Kadian took it and nodded in thanks.
Kadian took a step forward, but Tanir wouldn’t move.
There was a hiss of the door opening, and an Amaran doctor appeared. ‘You look better,’ she said, moving over to him. ‘Please lie back down. I need to assess you.’
Kadian gritted his teeth and suffered through the doctor's examination.
‘You almost bled to death,’ Mona said. ‘Poor Olivia was beside herself with worry!’
The doctor ran a scan from the bed, then injected him with a painkiller. ‘You’re healing well. I’m always impressed with Todaal regenerative capabilities, but I want you to stay off your feet for the next few days.’
‘I’ll be glad to,’ Kadian said, immediately getting up.
‘Now wait—’
‘Once I’m there,’ he pointed at his mate, ‘I’ll be glad to.’ Slowly, Kadian stumbled over to Olivia’s bed and climbed up beside her.
The doctor shook her head and smiled. ‘This may help,’ she said, pushing the bed Kadian had been sleeping on over. The barriers between them melted away, and the beds locked onto each other. ‘I’ll send someone in to change the bedding.’
‘Isn’t this unusual for a medbay?’ Mona asked.
‘Not on Amara or other bonding worlds. A bond-mate who is seriously injured will often not heal as long as they’re separated from their bond-mate. Once reunited, the healing resumes.’
‘That’s fascinating,’ Mona said. ‘I’d love to talk to you about this more.’
‘I’m about to take supper in the mess if you and your partner would like to join me?’
Mona looked at Tanir with enthusiasm on her face. Tanir chuckled and nodded.
‘How long will she be out?’ Kadian asked.
‘Around another hour,’ The Amaran said.
‘We’ll leave you alone then,’ Tanir said. ‘And go get supper.’
Kadian heard the doors close behind them. The lights in the room dimmed as the ship entered a night cycle.
Carefully, Kadian gathered Olivia into his arms. He held her close, taking in the feel, the sound, and the scent of her as they lay there. It was as though he needed everything about her to penetrate him. He needed her scent on his skin, her breathing in his ear, the feel of her skin under his. He drank her in until she filled all the places within that had long belonged to her. Only then did he allow his eyes to drift closed.
Kadian could tell not much time had passed when he next opened his eyes. The bay was still dark, which just confirmed it.
‘Hey, sleepyhead.’ Olivia’s voice was husky.
He looked down at her face, into her eyes and saw a small amount of humour, masking a lot of fear. He cupped her cheek, his long fingers wrapping around the side of her head, and traced his thumb over her cheek, along her jaw, and over her lush lips. ‘Hello, my mate.’
Olivia smiled, but her eyes teared up. ‘I thought I’d have to live without you,’ she hiccupped.
‘Not for a moment,’ he said, resting his forehead against hers. ‘Not ever.’
‘I’m never letting you go,’ Kadian said. ‘I know I should say that it’s your choice, it is, I know it is. But even if you leave me, I’m never going to just let you go. I’ll want you, love you every day for the rest of my life.’
‘Kadian, you don’t need to worry. I’m not going anywhere without you.’ Olivia moved closer, her hand turning his head so that they were kissing. ‘I love you,’ she said when she finally broke the kiss.
‘I love you too,’ he whispered. He moved closer, intending on finding where the kisses might lead, but a pinching, pulling sensation in his side reminded him of the injury he’d sustained.
‘Let’s go to sleep,’ she said. ‘We’ll figure it all out tomorrow.’
Kadian’s eyes had been getting gradually heavier. He nodded, pulling her closer still until there was no space between them.
‘Go to sleep, my mate,’ Olivia whispered. ‘I’m here. I’ll always be here.’
Those were the last words Kadian heard before he drifted to sleep.
Kadian’s side was still hurting when he left the medbay a few days later. But Todaal healed fast and Tessan medicine, which was actually Amaran medicine, was the very best.
Arrinduth made its way to Tessa through the corridors of space the Tessans ran. Everything was difficult after the explosion at the IGC. It meant the Tessan Protectorate were confined to their own space while those states that actually believed the humans responsible for the blast bayed for blood.
The captain asked Tanir and Mona to remain on the ship; Thanesh wanted to meet them.
As soon as a ship became available to take him to a jump gate, Rorak headed to the Bolsen homeworld to ‘settle some old scores’.
As soon as they reached Tessa, Kadian and Olivia were brought to an apartment in the capital city and informed that Thanesh would be visiting them in the next few days. In the meantime, all of their needs would be provided.
Their escort left, and Kadian walked over to the enormous vista windows overlooking the city, out towards the ocean.
Olivia followed him.
‘The last time I was here, it was mostly wilderness,’ Kadian said. ‘I walked by that river,’ he pointed to an enormous river that split the city in two, ‘with Thanesh and Alethia. We walked to that beach. Thanesh explained his plans, but they hadn’t even begun uprooting the trees yet.’
‘Uprooting the trees?’
‘At Alethia’s insistence, the trees were relocated.’ Kadian grinned. ‘Thanesh would do anything for her. The way I would do anything for you.’ Kadian looked down at her.
Olivia felt herself blush. She looked out at the neighbouring towers. ‘I can’t see inside any of the buildings,’ she said.
‘They’re designed that way. To maximise the privacy of the occupants. No one can see what’s happening in here either.’ He flashed her a wicked grin. ‘I could vrok you against this window, and no one would ever know.’
Olivia felt her pussy clench.
Kadian reached out and pulled her to him until her back was to his front. He slipped his hands down her pants and found her pussy already wet. He moved his finger up and down inside the seam of her, gently circling her clit until she was gasping.
‘You’re sure no one can see us?’ Olivia asked.
Kadian took hold of her chin and turned her face, ‘Positive,’ he said before claiming her lips.
His fingers sped, tightening the strings of her arousal until she was bucking her hips against him for release.
At some point, he’d pushed her pants down and Olivia had stepped out of them, though she couldn’t remember doing it. When he pulled her top off, it was done quickly and he was kissing her again.
Then she was against the window, her legs around his waist as he pushed into her. The window wasn’t like glass on Earth; there was no friction. Her skin slid softly against the surface, allowing h
er to forget about it and lose herself in the sensation of Kadian inside her. Kadian filling her, Kadian cumming inside her as he drove her quicker and quicker to her own release. When she did, she clung to him so tightly all illusion of space between them disappeared. Then he just kept going. They made love on the floor, then the bed, then the shower, against the wall. They ate and made love again, and when they finally fell asleep, Olivia was smiling. She was safe, satiated, and with the male she loved.
Nothing else mattered.
They were woken the following morning by the hard hammering of a fist against the apartment door.
Kadian went out into the main room as Olivia got out of bed looking for clothes. She realised she didn’t have any, any at all, around the same time that Kadian arrived with her clothes from the living area.
‘Thanesh is here.’
Nodding, Olivia dressed, visited the bathroom, and joined both males out in the main room.
Thanesh was standing by the same window Kadian had taken her the night before. Thankfully, this non-glass window didn’t have a mark on it!
Olivia had seen images of Thanesh, but this was the first time she’d seen him in the flesh. He was tall, over seven feet. His perfectly white antelope-like horns rose high above his head, his white hair, worn loose, hung over his shoulders and down to around his shoulder blades. He wore his black Protectorate uniform that looked no different from any of his people. It told her that despite him being the Protectorate leader, he didn’t consider himself to be above them.
‘Any news on Keral and the human?’ Kadian was asking as she entered.
‘It has been a few days,’ Thanesh said. ‘But I am not worried. Keral can take care of himself. Now,’ Thanesh said, still looking out of the window. ‘I have held off telling Earth gov that we found Olivia, as you asked. Now, I would like you to tell me why.’ Thanesh turned to them, his light amber eyes watching them closely.
Olivia and Kadian told the Tessan leader everything. When she described the visit she’d received while at Kadian’s bedside, Thanesh’s eyes turned hard, anger tightening the lines of his face.
