Viper's Hope (Anguis Defenders Book 1)

by Stephanie West

  Viper felt so deeply for Hope he feared the depth of his building affection would drive her away. The intensity of his lust and possessiveness had certainly threatened to do that.

  "So tell me." Hope asked looking desperate and insecure.

  Viper suddenly realized while he'd been wooing his subeo and doing his damnedest to care for her physically, he hadn't truly told her how he felt about her, the feelings that moved him.

  "The Anguis believe that the pheromones that drive mating come from more than just a biological need. We believe that the body responds to what the heart and soul recognizes in the other person." Viper stroked Hope. "Among my people we call this harmony of mind body and soul, amare. I always hoped to achieve amare with my mate and I think this is what you are looking for too." Viper ran his hands up Hope's back. "When I look at you I revel in the beauty and the perfection of creation that I see reflected in you, including your quirks, your unique humanity. It makes me appreciate and honor my own spark of the Divine." Viper paused as he brushed Hope's cheek. "I think amare is what is growing between us, and I don't want to snuff it out by pushing you."

  "Oh Viper that's so beautiful. We call that love." Hope sobbed.

  "I understand Hope, really I do. Amare takes time to build." Viper continued. "Even though many of us believe that when we mate we've found amare, I personally believe it's like a newly forged blade in its roughest form, it must be honed, before it is sharp and can withstand the battles set before it. And even at that it must be cared for so it doesn't become tarnished or dull." Viper said into the top of her head as he rubbed his cheek through Hope's silken hair.

  Viper wanted Hope desperately but he would wait if pushing her meant he lost the potential deeper bond he felt forming between them.

  "I've had the best few weeks of my life, despite what has happened." Hope looked up at him. "I've never experienced such passion or joy. I care about you so much." Hope hiccuped as tears streamed down her cheeks. "When I first saw you I felt like something monumental was on the horizon. I chalked it up to the fact you were so different, alien, but now I'm certain a part of me recognized I was staring at my future."

  Viper lifted Hope's chin and kissed her. It wasn't a sensual kiss, just simple, but it still held a host of emotions he couldn't express in words. Hope's admission made him almost ecstatic.

  "I have treasured our time together too and feel blessed to have found you."

  "Viper if this is how things are going between us, I can easily see myself spending a lifetime with you." Hope's blue eyes sparkled as she gave him a shy smile.

  "I don't want you to feel obligated to rush Hope. It's not the way I want us to be." Viper insisted. "I want you mind, body and soul, but on our terms, no one else's."

  "That's funny because I don't want you to be obligated to mate me, some foreign girl, because of some hormone thing, even if I am a hot piece of ass." Hope smiled.

  Even though Hope joked Viper could see how vulnerable she'd been feeling. Because she wasn't Anguis, she'd been thinking that the mating was a biological prime directive that obligated him. Viper's hand brushed across his mark on her neck. It pained him that Hope had worried or questioned the nature of how he felt about her. They should've talked about this sooner.

  "Hope, I couldn't have asked Kadru for a better subeo. You are an amazing female, strong, kind, and wildly sexy." Viper growled.

  "I don't know I might have gotten the better end of this deal." Hope ran her hands up his chest. Viper nearly groaned as a shiver worked through him.

  "I'm having all but ONE of those tapes we recover destroyed." Viper said with a wink.

  Hope punched his arm, but the smile was back on her face.

  "Goddess I love it when she rough-houses with me." Viper smiled inwardly.

  "So it's decided, as soon my family gets settled we have the ceremony."

  "We will combine it with your traditions." Viper insisted. If Hope was going to do this, they would include her customs as well. "Tell me about your mating ceremony."

  "Basically the woman wears a fancy dress, and the man wears a suit. The couple stands up in front of their family and friends where they exchange rings and declare their love for everyone to see."

  "That is not so different. Whatever you want or need is yours." He'd give Hope the moon and the stars if she only asked.

  "Oh that reminds me. I got you something." Hope fished through her bag and pulled out a chain with an ancient Cerradont tooth.

  "This is awesome, thank you. Do you know how old this is?" Viper asked as he admired the rare fossil then put it on.

  "No, the little old couple said it was antique and from a very big cat." Hope shook her head.

  "It's probably about 100,000 years old, at least. These were the last of the gigantic species on our planet."

  "Wow, I had no idea."

  Hope opened her mouth and touched her own canine comparing the two. Viper laughed as he led Hope out of the conference room. He felt like he was flying, not even the recent security breach and turmoil dampened his mood at the moment. Hope had agreed to be his. She was still nervous, but she had agreed.

  Viper looked at his parents and Ophidian talking in the hall.

  "Do you all have things handled?" Viper inquired.

  "I'm working on it." Ophidian reported.

  "Well we have a mating ceremony to plan, find me only if there's an emergency."

  Viper couldn't be sure but he thought his mother did a little victory dance.

  "Do you think she's going to be as happy when she hears it's going to be a mixed ceremony?" Hope whispered with a giggle.

  "You are rotten to the core female." Viper said as he lifted her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulder.

  Hope squealed and slapped Viper's ass as they left the community building heading for their private pod.

  "Film this, assholes!" Viper chuckled as he stalked across the park, Hope squirming on his shoulder.

  Hope

  The next few days were a whirlwind. Hope wondered if she'd lose her mind on several occasions. The Purist protests still continued but the announcement that their mating ceremony was only on hold till her family arrived seemed to assuage the bulk of the people.

  The amusing and disturbing twist being that a large, very large portion of the male population got off on the idea of a female being wild and mounting them in the bedroom. So not only did they have racist protesters around town, they now had throngs of horny men hoping to catch the eye of a human female. Viper had gone so far as to have a fence installed around the colony.

  There were even rumors that a women's lib movement had started up, arguing that females had the right to be anyway they wanted in the bedroom particularly since males could be so dominant. That had Hope grinning. Unfortunately all of it just gave poor Viper and Adder more to worry about, and Hyla another reason to frown at her.

  Tara, JP, and Acris helped Hope plan for the ceremony while Viper played interference with all of Hyla's demands. Hope had let her future mother-in-law make a lot of decisions, but Hope still had a few things she wanted to choose for herself. Her dress being one of them.

  Ophidian was their regular bodyguard when they went to the seamstress to have her dress made. JP was a great artist, so he was able draw what Hope wanted for the dress maker. Hope was a bit sad her older sister, Faith, couldn't be there, but to get everything done she had to start without her.

  "But she's here now, sort of." Hope smiled as she looked at the hibernation unit.

  "What was that?" Viper asked as he held her hand.

  "Just thinking about all the things Faith has missed. I can't wait for her to wake up and I'm dreading it at the same time."

  The three of them sat in the living room of of her sister's new home. Tara had the hibernation units brought in so it would be more private. All the preparations were made to awaken Faith, Hope's brother-in-law, Cody, along with her niece, Charity, and nephew, Justice. Now they just waited.

  Hope
snickered at her family's names.

  "What is so funny?" Tara asked as she checked their vitals.

  "I was just thinking how crazy Faith was to keep up the little naming trend our hippy parents started." It made Hope smile.

  She and Faith had lost their parents seven years ago to a car wreck, shortly after she graduated college and Charity was born. Justice reminded Hope of her dad. Her parents would've been over the moon with their grand-kids. They would've no doubt liked Viper too with their accepting 'live and let live' attitude.

  Viper looked at the children with interest.

  "So the female, Charity, is seven years and the male, Justice, is four?" He asked and Hope nodded. "They are so small."

  "We aren't as large as you."

  "Is this what you looked like when you were young?" Viper asked as he studied her niece. She was pretty cute with her blonde curly mop.

  "Yeah, I guess."

  Viper smiled sweetly at them, then turned to her.

  "I guess I better go before they wake up."

  Hope felt bad when he made to leave. Of course she'd gotten used to Viper's not quite human characteristics and she couldn't wait to introduce him to her family, but she had to remember this was going to be very rough for them. She recalled Tara's response when she awoke. Viper dwarfed her by almost a foot and a half not to mention he looked dark and savage. He'd probably scare the piss out of her family, at least till they got to know him.

  It was so sweet he thought of them, having far more experience at waking poor rescued souls. Despite the logic Hope still didn't want Viper to go. She sighed in frustration.

  "Are you the Boogeyman?" Hope heard her nephew say.

  She and Viper turned to Justice.

  "Well I guess the cat's out of the bag." Tara whispered as she carefully observed the children for distress.

  "No." They all replied simultaneously as Justice sat up, staring at Viper with big wide eyes.

  "Don't be dumb Justice. I told you the Boogeyman's not real. He's one of the X-men. Right Aunt Hope." Her niece said groggily.

  Tara almost laughed as she checked on Faith and Cody. It was taking the adults a bit longer to wake up, but that was normal.

  "Charity don't call Justice dumb please." Hope asked Charity as she wiped the sleep from her niece's eyes.

  "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Justice asked Viper as he climbed out of the hibernation unit.

  Hope moved to give Justice a hug. She was so freaking happy to see his sweet little face, she could barely contain it. Hope forgot how wonderful their banter was.

  "I'm a good guy. My name is Viper."

  "He's my friend." Hope told the two children.

  "Oh good." Justice relaxed. "Cause I lost my ninja sword." Justice whispered, which was so loud the room heard it.

  Hope tried not to laugh as she squeezed him then Charity. Kids were so funny with how they processed the world around them.

  "We will have to find you a new one then." Viper said as Hope helped Charity out of the hibernation bed.

  "He's not allowed to have it because he hit me with it." Charity told Viper looking very serious.

  "Well you shouldn't call me names." Justice informed his sister.

  "Justice, Charity." Hope exclaimed, putting a halt to things before they devolved.

  "God, I love them." She silently grinned.

  They were carrying on without a care in the world. More concerned with who was right than even the 'X-man' character in the room. Hope had to admit Viper was pretty bad ass like that. She herself thought Viper reminded her of one of the characters too, probably since she'd watched the movies and cartoons at her sister's house.

  "You must always remember to protect females, never hit them little male." Viper got down on one knee and told Justice.

  If you've never seen a male who's sexy and good with children, then you're missing out. Hope's heart nearly melted.

  "And we don't call each other names." Hope added to her niece.

  "Okay. Hey Viper you have snakes for hair." Charity noticed

  "Can I touch them? I got to touch one at the zoo once." Justice added.

  Viper nodded as he bent forward on the floor.

  "They're not snakes. Its just different kind of hair." Hope said as she scooped Charity up and again squeezed her tight.

  Justice reached out and tugged one of Viper's dreads. Hope tried to pull the little boy in for another hug but he evaded her grasp.

  "Little stinker!"

  He was now way too mesmerized with Viper to be concerned with her. Hope watched as Justice started dancing around.

  "Hey buddy do you need to go to the bathroom?"

  "I do." Charity replied raising her hand as if she were in class.

  "No!" Justice replied, but the way the tow-headed boy crossed his legs said otherwise.

  "What if I show you the facilities?" Viper volunteered.

  "I'm a big boy I can go by myself." Justice puffed up his chest.

  "The bathrooms are different here." Hope informed them. "Are you okay helping them?" She asked Viper.

  Tara was here, but she was keeping tabs on the sleeping adults. Hope was glad they arranged a dwelling next to her own for her family. That way she'd be close these first few days when things were the roughest.

  "Follow little ones, I will show you the bathroom then if you like I can show you your new room." Viper said.

  "Okay! Are we on vacation? I like vacations." The kids bounded after Viper as they went down the hall.

  Hope turned to see Tara smiling.

  "He's good with kids." Tara winked at her.

  "I know, right?" Hope gushed.

  "Do you think you are compatible?"

  Hope considered the question. She hadn't really thought about it. Things had been too wild.

  "I don't know, you're the doctor, you tell me."

  Tara looked like she was hatching a plan. Hope suddenly imagined her friend drawing lots of blood from her and Viper in the future with a groan.

  "Compatible with who?" Faith yawned. "Hope how'd you and Tara get here?" She asked in confusion as she started to glance around the room.

  "It's a long story." Hope leaned down to hug her sister. "We'll explain everything as soon as Cody wakes up."

  Faith looked over at her husband in the other unit.

  "Hope why are we in some kind of crazy coffin?" Faith looked suddenly to the other empty ones. "Oh my god where are my children?"

  "Relax they are fine. They woke up faster than you did and had to go to the bathroom." Hope tried to reassure Faith.

  "Tell me right now what's going on Hope!" Her sister started to panic.

  "Babe, stop nagging your sister." Cody sleepily mumbled.

  "Yeah, stop nagging me." Hope couldn't help tease as she assisted Faith out of her hibernation unit.

  "You don't even know what's going on!" Faith groused at her husband as she walked over to Cody on wobbly legs. "Wake up Cody, so I can find out where we are and what's going on."

  "I'm awake. Stop shaking me." Cody grumbled.

  "Do you remember the meteor shower?" Hope asked and Faith nodded. "Well it brought something awful to Earth, and we had to be rescued."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The meteors carried a virus that poisoned the earth and we were rescued."

  "Hope have you been drinking?" Cody asked skeptically.

  "Hey mom, dad look, Viper's one of the X-men. Isn't he cool!" Justice bounded in followed by Viper and Charity.

  "I have my own room!" Charity trilled as she held Viper's large hand.

  Faith's eyes grew large. Hope could tell by the breath she sucked in that she was going to scream. Hope slapped her hand over Faith's mouth.

  Cody jumped out of the hibernation bed but stumbled.

  "Get away from my children!" Cody yelled.

  Viper understood the man's concern. He instantly let go of Charity's hand and stepped back.

  "Don't worry dad. He's not the Boogeyman." Jus
tice moved to his father talking calmly as if he were the adult in this situation.

  Cody grabbed his children as Faith batted at Hope's hand.

  "Don't scream. This is Viper." Hope walked over to Viper so they would see she wasn't afraid of him. "His people rescued us from annihilation."

  Both Cody and Faith's eyes left Viper's face for only a moment to acknowledge her.

  It was a long tense conversation as Hope described how Viper had rescued her, a story she'd told a billion times. She was thankful the kids were so comfortable with Viper because it put Faith and Cody at ease.

  "Viper's people, the Anguis, were attacked about 15 years ago by a smaller group of the Morbo."

  "That's the virus on the meteor?" Faith confirmed.

  "Yes, they lost many but we're able to avoid extinction. Unfortunately what they discovered was that the Morbo are very resistant to anything but extreme heat and UV. They swarm fast, infect a host and replicate."

  "Like AIDS or Ebola on crack." Tara added.

  "What does this thing look like?" Cody interjected.

  "I will play you some images later." Viper told them as he glanced towards the kids.

  The little ones did not need to see the almost humanoid virus. It looked like something that had been de-fleshed. Hope still shuddered from the video of it leaping onto a victim and stabbing the man with its proboscis tongue.

  "Anyway the Anguis and other alien species have been attempting to fight off the Morbo and rescue people like us throughout the universe." Hope finished the basic explanation.

  "I am sorry we failed to intercept them sooner." Viper said morosely.

  Hope knew he took it as a personal failure. Eradicating the Morbo was a cause that he held near and dear to his heart, with good reason.

  "Hope, I still don't get how you got them to find us. You were on vacation in California. Didn't they put you to sleep?" Faith asked.

  "Well here's where I tell her the next level of crazy news." Hope sighed.

  As it was Faith was giving Viper the look that said 'You're sitting too close to my baby sister.'

  "I couldn't tranquilize Hope when I found her. It went against something inside me." Viper said as he looked at Hope with smoldering eyes.