Saxon (Shared Survival Book 1)

by Annalise Alexis

  “That’s because you always assume people are out to get you,” my mate says.

  Scratching noises come from the room containing the furry overlord, and my mate glides over to open it. I love her curves and the way her hips move when she walks. By the ancients, I want to spend the rest of my existence exploring her.

  As soon as she’s free, the furry overlord scurries past my mate’s open arms and begins curling around my ankles. Her scent clings to them as if she is trying to leave her mark. Ridiculous!

  The creature called Bink howls obscenities when I pick her up by the scruff and hold her out to my Leigh, who then refuses her. And when the overlord begins to lament, I mimic her growl. She really is a wretched creature—leaving my mate to feel such negative emotions about her rejection.

  “Every single time. I swear, as soon as he showed up on the boat, the little brat has snubbed me.” My Leigh sniffles and jerks her chin toward me. The curve of her plump breasts swell when she crosses her arms to pout.

  “That’s new. You about to tell me he can talk to animals, too?”

  My mate looks to me for permission to divulge the nature of my abilities. So loyal. It almost makes her lack of challenge over my being poisoned less bothersome. Perhaps she feels some ownership over me after all.

  The furry overlord has jumped up on a nearby box, and after glaring at her, my mate pads over to slide into my lap. The feel of her round ass instantly hardens my cock, and my urge to take her is almost too much. After tasting her essence and feeling what it means to truly lose myself inside her, my need is insatiable.

  “I can process and reproduce any audible language. Now, show me where you wish for me to speak and what you wish for me to say—” Arousal rises from the cleft between her thighs, and my mate arches her back, subtly grinding her sex against me. Sweet sky spirits, I’m about to lose control.

  “Tread carefully, mate. Your friend has asked something of me, and I can only tame my need for you for so long,” I whisper.

  “Gross,” Anya mutters, causing Leigh to laugh.

  “Fine. I’ll behave, I promise.” After hopping off my lap, my mate grabs a nearby chair and sits. “All right, spy queen. What does he need to do?”

  “Just clone Elgin’s voice and say this sequence of numbers and letters into the mic.”

  “Right. Then we’re drinking,” Leigh says, slapping her hand on the table. “I’ve nearly died twice in the past day or so and I deserve to catch a buzz. Plus, it’s not like we have anywhere to go right now anyway.”

  “No, booze. Not this time, Leigh. We need to be clear minded.” Anya shakes her head and looks back at the two screens showing rotating camera views of the compound’s exterior. No movement, and nothing appears to have activated the security measures she has put in place.

  “Bullshit. You’re drinking and we’re going to have an honest conversation about what the hell all of this is,” she gestures to the weapon-lined walls and the array of miscellaneous equipment, “because none of us even know if we’re getting out of this alive.”

  A growl builds in my chest at the thought of losing her. “No one will take you from me.”

  “Simmer down. You know what I mean.” Leigh hops up and starts opening cabinets and looking under the random piles of clutter lining the room until she finds a bottle of brown liquid and collapses back against her chair. “All right. You talk, then we all drink.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Leigh

  Damn, he’s so hot. Sitting here in a chair while Saxon does his voice thing with Anya, I can’t take my eyes off of him. Sure our lives are in danger but fuck, he’s everything I didn’t even know I wanted in one gray, ripped package. And he’s so sweet. You wouldn’t think someone with razor sharp claws could touch you so gently.

  Speaking of which, how in the hell does he make it feel so good when he puts them in my…you know what? I’m not going to question it. As long as he keeps it up, we’re just going to call it what it is. A damn delicious miracle.

  The awkward tension in the room has calmed. Either that or the four shots I just pounded made me care a little less. Saxon and Anya are both tense. They’re cordial and working together to open the list of recordings she found of Elgin, but I can tell neither of them trust the other. Every word they say, every move they make is intentional. It’s almost like watching a really fucked up game of chess where no one actually wins.

  Hence my suggestion of drinking, but no one else wants to indulge. None of us have a freaking clue where to go from here. Saxon hasn’t heard from his brother again, and I don’t know how to explain it, but I know it hangs heavy in his mind. We don’t know where his pod is or if it works. Elgin’s still out there somewhere with his pay-as-you-go mercenaries looking for us. I’m sure the cops are too.

  All because of my pride and determination. It’s a really hard thing to admit. I sunk Henrietta. Sent years of work plummeting to the ocean floor and ruined my career. I was beyond devastated when I woke up, but I can’t seem to muster the same emotion now.

  Yes, I destroyed my entire life, but at the same time, I found Saxon, so I don’t really know how to feel.

  What if I hadn’t screamed like a little girl and yanked on the controls? Or what if I’d let Elgin take the maiden dive and discover Saxon? Would my alien still want me like he does?

  A chill skitters down my spine, and I wrap my arms around myself, cradling the bottle of booze like it’s my only child. Elgin would never let Saxon see the light of day. He would die locked up somewhere or trying to escape, and neither of those situations is acceptable.

  I just need to get him and his brother together, find his pod, and make sure I keep Anya safe in the process. Then I can spend a week processing the death of my life as I know it. Realization sits like a stone in my empty gut.

  I don’t know what’s scarier. An alien showing up out of nowhere to claim me as his or the fact that I literally have no qualms about shoving my juicy ass into a little silver tube and jetting myself into the unknown to be with him.

  Anya’s computer dings, and I sit up taller to see what’s going on. It’s hard to decipher what’s happening with her giant set-up. There’s tech everywhere. And I thought my office back at the lab was a mess.

  “We’ve done it. We’re in, and that pesky little video of you two is gone. Now, we just need to upload your proof of Elgin’s lies and we’ll finally be getting somewhere.” Anya grabs a set of headphones off the top of her desk. “I’m going to copy everything and move it to a separate drive so I can take my time and listen close. You two hang on. This is going to take a few minutes.” She reaches over and snags the bottle out of my hand. “This is cause for a celebration. I might be able to keep you alive and out of Elgin’s hands after all.”

  The bourbon drips down her chin as she throws it back and drinks right from the bottle.

  Needing to feel him, I climb back into Saxon’s lap. The slight buzz of the bourbon lowers my inhibitions, and right now the only place I want to be is wherever he is. Fitting since there really isn’t anywhere else to go.

  Like they were made for me, his hands mold to the curve of my hips, and damn, I love the way he touches me, “Hey,” I whisper with a slight slur. The brightness of his eyes is so striking I have to swallow down all the cheesy stuff trying to pour out of me. “Thank you for helping Anya.”

  I run my nose along his jaw, enjoying his scent. We’ve been in the woods, in the sea and everywhere in between and he still smells clean. Like rain with only the slightest hint of sweat, it wraps around me and holds me just as tightly as his arms.

  “I would pluck the very stars from the sky to keep you safe. If I understood the inner workings of this world, our enemies would already be dust. Your Anya is loyal and an invaluable resource. I would be a fool not to assist her when able.”

  “I love how you act like it’s not a big deal. She nearly killed you once.”

  “Twice,” Anya calls out, an edge of humor in her voice I haven’t
heard before. Seems bourbon affects her, too.

  Saxon chuckles when my eyes widen and I ask, “What? When?”

  He leans in close to whisper in my ear, and my nipples harden. “Before you woke, she attempted to challenge me.”

  “And you let her think she won, didn’t you?” I lean inappropriately close. Saxon nods, and I press a kiss to his lips. It ends up being a little sloppier than I intended, but whatever. He doesn’t seem to care.

  When I pull back and look at him again, there’s something not-so-little pressing against the seam of my ass. I love that I can affect him this way. It’s empowering, and it might be the booze, but it makes me feel like the hottest woman in the world.

  My stomach rumbles in a not so attractive way, and Saxon frowns. “Mu Xitall…”

  “I’m fine. I’m not worried about eating right now. I want to hear what those sexy little slits on the side of your nose are for.”

  Anya swivels in her seat. “How long’s it been since you ate? There’s about a thousand calls logged in here, and they’re taking forever to upload. If you two can manage not to procreate all over my floor, I’ll go find the stash of MREs, dried fruit, and jerky I stuck somewhere in here last year.”

  Saxon lets out a little growl. “She’s right, Mu Xitall. You need nutrients. Forgive me for failing to feed you. It will not happen again.”

  “Forgive you? Please. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count.”

  Before we can even finish our conversation, Anya’s back and chucks a bag of dried apricots at my head. Saxon catches it before it collides with my face and stares at her, unamused.

  She shrugs and clicks through the numerous camera views of the outside around the shelter and the edge of the tree line.

  “All right, spy queen. Time to spill what and who the hell you are. How do you know how to do all this stuff?” I ask, mouth half full.

  She gnaws on a piece of mystery meat then jerks her head toward Saxon. “Him first.”

  Oh, no. Anya does this kind of shit all the time. Answering my questions with some random demand that distracts me enough I forget what I asked in the first place. No way I’m letting her divert the conversation. Saxon opens his mouth answer, but I slap a hand over his mouth.

  “He’s from a planet named Revaris. Him, his brother, and a few other dudes who look like him hopped in a black hole to find their mates, had their travel ship thingy malfunction, got stuck under the ocean, and then woke to me nearly dying a few days ago.

  “Happy? Now, stop skirting my question. Who are you, Anya?”

  She crumples up the paper in her hands and rolls her eyes. “You know what I am. I already told you—wait! Did you just say he has a brother?”

  Saxon stiffens at my side. “His name is Pavil. Why?”

  Without warning, Anya pulls her legs off the table and launches herself toward the computer, spilling the jerky and nuts she was eating. “Shit. I think I’ve got something, and it’s not good. I blew this off at first because I thought they were talking about you, but now I’m not so sure.”

  My stomach turns at the way she’s furiously scrolling through the giant list of recordings. She’s seriously going to leave it at that? “Anya, what is it? You’re starting to freak me out. This better not be one of your lame-ass attempts to avoid answering questions.”

  Ignoring me completely, she slaps her headphones on one ear and looks at Saxon. “There have been sightings.”

  “Explain.” His words are cold, and there’s an edge of threat to them that I wasn’t expecting. Suddenly, I feel a bit more protective of my friend.

  “Damn it, I can’t find it. I only played a few of the latest ones while the rest finished downloading so I wasn’t really paying attention. But I could swear one in here mentions sightings all over the island of a gray monster freaking out the locals.”

  Saxon sighs. “Discreet has never been my brother’s strong suit.”

  “Did they say anything else?” I ask.

  “Hold on, I’m listening. I may have found the right one.”

  Saxon stands and begins pacing the room. “He will not allow himself to be captured. Many humans will die if they attempt to detain him. He has not found his mate. His instincts to survive will overpower him if he is cornered.”

  “Let’s not go there yet, Saxon. We don’t even know if that’s really what she heard.”

  Anya holds up a finger. “It is. I’ve got it right here. It’s from a few hours ago.”

  Shit. If that’s the case, then Elgin’s probably doubled his search efforts. My stomach sours at the thought of what would happen if Elgin got his hands on Saxon or his brother. Not to mention how many people would probably die.

  “Is there any way to talk to him?”

  Using one of his claws, Saxon peels back what looks like skin from his left wrist and starts messing with some sort of screen. “Not with a malfunctioning communicator. The only way I was able to contact Pavil before was when I was unconscious. As my brother, my soul calls to him when I am in danger. I have no other way to contact him now.”

  “I could dart you again,” Anya offers.

  “No!” Saxon and I answer in unison. “There has to be another way that doesn’t leave him barely alive.”

  She throws her hands up. “Just a suggestion. You might want to figure it out quick, though, because according to this, they’re going to search the area around the trench for Henrietta. They scanned the area and spotted something big enough to be her on sonar. As soon as the weather calms, they’re going down.”

  If Elgin brings her up, he’ll have all the proof he needs. Fuck. I’m such an idiot. I should have known not to make that internal recording.

  “No. They can’t have her. Elgin can’t have proof.”

  “I already took care of that, I told you. I wiped the cloud. He doesn’t have the video anymore,” Anya says, exasperated.

  “I made another one. I wasn’t worried about it because I assumed the pressure of the trench would destroy the inside since Saxon ripped off the hatch, but if she’s just on the ocean floor, there’s a possibility the watertight storage compartments will hold. The chances are slim, but if the hard drive survived and those images of Saxon go public…”

  Saxon’s pacing increases and, without warning, he grabs the chair he was sitting in and crushes it in his hands. “Pavil will stay near his travel pod, wherever it is. He will not go far. And if he has located mine, he will protect it at all costs. I can find him.”

  Out of my chair before I can even think, I’m at his side. “No. You’re not going out there. That’s probably exactly what they want. How do we know this isn’t a trap?”

  “We do not. Leaving you is the last thing I wish to do, but what other choice do we have?”

  For several seconds, the room’s completely silent save for the sound of my heart in my ears. The smack of Anya tossing her notebook down startles me. “Fuck it, I’ll go.”

  “Stop trying to be a hero, Anya. You’ve already done enough.”

  Heavy boots slap against the concrete after she yanks them on and once again dons her camo suit. Attaching a belt at her waist, she sticks more knives and guns in various holsters than I can count. “You asked me who I was, right? You wanted to know? Well, this is who I am. I was recruited out of the army into intelligence because I can hunt like a demon and kill soundlessly. I’m the best intelligence officer they ever had. I wanted out, they didn’t agree, so I left, and they’ve been searching for me ever since.

  “I’ve been doing this shit since before you were potty trained. I’ll scout the beach and find out what they’re up to and check all my normal resources for word on his brother. But you two need to figure out what the hell you’re going to do and have a plan by the time I get back.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Leigh

  As soon as the door slams behind Anya, my anxiety spikes a hundred notches. This feels wrong, and I need to do something to get my mind off of the chaos happening bey
ond these walls.

  Her desk. There has to be a transmission or observation Anya’s documented that can help us. While Saxon’s using some of her tools to mess with the thing in his wrist, I start going through all of her notebooks but only find a mass of random data collection, people’s movements and a whole lot of code words I can’t understand.

  There has to be a method to her madness, but I have no clue what it is. Saxon clears his throat, and I realize I’ve been clicking a pen non-stop to curb my anxiety. “Sorry, nervous habit.”

  He tucks his hair behind his ears and gives me a half-smile, then goes back to work after I set it down.

  I scan the room for Binky only to find her cleaning herself. Well, there’s a thought. I haven’t showered in two days. Between the sex and the clammy weather outside, I’m sure I smell like a real gem. Plus, with several layers of sweat and dirt clinging to me, my skin is itchy and uncomfortable.

  Anya’s desk squeaks when I push up to go search the back half of her place. Neither Saxon nor I have been seen it and with all the craziness, I hadn’t even thought to look.

  There are pipes running along the walls and ceiling in her command room, so I know she has to have a water pump in here somewhere. A purifier, I’d imagine, as well.

  What in the actual hell is going on in here? As soon as I part the curtain she’s using as a makeshift door, there are ammo boxes stacked to the ceiling, spare gun parts, lanterns, and what are these?–old beauty magazines?—haphazardly separated in piles. With every step, I learn something new about my friend. Who knew she was a Cosmo girl?

  Nearly stumbling over a giant plastic tub of half created machines, I find a rudimentary shower.

  My heart leaps at the thought of getting clean, and when I turn the dial and water begins to trickle out, I yank off my clothes with lightning speed.

  The first few seconds are rough as my body adjusts to the coolness of the spray, but once I manage to relax, it feels like heaven. The scent of Ivory soap rises as I work the bar into the length of my hair and watch as streams of brown flow down the drain. Damn, I was dirtier than I thought.