Science Friction: 15 Book MEGA Sci-Fi Romance Bundle (Excite Spice Boxed Sets)

by Selena Kitt

  Hope silently appeared at Cord’s side, making him jump.

  “Crut. You gotta stop doing that,” he complained, although he was glad she was alive and unhurt. He watched as a few minor cuts and bruises on her head healed.

  Hope used her teeth to pull the glove from her hand and gently brushed a hand over his now-exposed face.

  He shuddered and closed his eyes. Warmth blossomed from her fingertips, through his body all the way to his extremities. No matter how many times she healed him, he would never get used to it. He felt a fleeting pang of joy mixed with uneasiness. What else was she doing to him?

  Hope smiled and readjusted his scarf before turning to Keela.

  Cord blinked and followed her gaze. He unholstered his gun and they stared at it.

  “Gonna have to put her out of her misery.”

  When he raised his weapon, he found Hope standing in the way. “C’mon, Hope. It’s the only way.”

  She shook her head vehemently and he knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to heal Keela.

  Cord tried to step around her and do the humane thing, but she surprised him with her light-fingered skill. He wondered if all Camo could pick pockets or if he had been stuck with the only one who had the skill. There they stood, each with one of his guns and at a stalemate.

  He didn’t think she had it in her to do it. She hadn’t been able to shoot the governor’s men and they were the ones who had held her captive. How could she think of killing him after saving his life so many times? Of course, she didn’t have to kill him, he realized. Just injure him enough to stop him.

  “I ain’t carrying you while you recover from broken legs,” he told her. “Or a gunshot.”

  She shrugged a shoulder as if she had understood him. Perhaps she wouldn’t bother to heal him. Now that she was so close to her destiny, his usefulness to her had run out.

  “Hope—”

  Hope’s finger twitched and she accidentally fired the weapon. The sound echoed around the mountains, echoing through the chaotic winds.

  Cord exhaled. He had seen her squeeze the trigger and had fought his ingrained instinct to fire. He was alive. She hadn’t shot him. He was also glad to find he hadn’t pissed himself. Opening his eyes, he found Hope sprawled on the ground next to Keela, who was fully healed.

  “Crut. I said I ain’t carrying you.”

  Hope’s shot had set off avalanches nearby, which left the path blocked. Cord had turned Keela loose, sending her back down the mountain. She was a hardy animal and thanks to Hope, no doubt able to survive on her own until Cord could find her again.

  He had grudgingly carried Hope. For some reason, her healing abilities had slowed, and he put it down to the cold and the fact she refused to take anything from him. When they were forced to climb the mountain wall, he made a harness out of rope and carried her piggy back.

  Every time she hissed in his ear, he stilled. His chest tightened every time his movements caused her pain. He was also worried because she wasn’t healing as fast as she usually did. Cord consoled himself with the knowledge that her hisses were less frequent the higher they climbed.

  Each ledge they reached offered the false hope of finding the promised cave. Cord started to doubt its existence and wondered what Hope would do if they didn’t find it. Every time he wavered in his resolve to carry on, Hope would snuggle closer, and move her hands across his chest or around his shoulders, reminding him he wasn’t alone. Urging him forward.

  Too busy cursing about accepting the damn job in the first place, Cord almost missed catching the ledge above. His fingers slipped and he forced his attention back to the death-defying task of clinging to rock.

  Easing all his weight to his right foot, he flung his opposite hand out and pushed them up on the ledge.

  Cord heard Hope gasp in his ear and it took him a moment for his eyes to focus on the hidden valley that stood before them. A valley where red flowers grew. In the distance he could make out the gaping blackness of a cave. The cave.

  He wiggled forward on his stomach so a fierce gust wouldn’t fling them off the ledge. Hope didn’t wait and freed herself from the harness that bound her to him and scrambled free.

  Cord watched her on unsteady feet and grunted. “Now your legs work.”

  Hope wept as she stumbled across the valley toward the cave. She had come so far, risked so much, and now here she was, about to enter the cave. That was, if the cave would let her.

  She stopped feet away from her destiny, unable to take those final steps and learn if she was still entitled to enter.

  A shadow separated itself from a sheltered outcropping of boulders and approached. She recognized him immediately as the one her family had sent to meet her. The one who she had deemed unworthy because he had killed.

  What are you doing here? she asked.

  You need someone to enter the cave with.

  You aren’t worthy.

  And you are?

  Hope didn’t reply. She couldn’t. Not after what she had done.

  You did not think you could take the alien in with you, did you?

  She glanced at Cord, who had joined her. Even though he didn’t know what was happening, she knew he offered his support. His hands hovered near his weapons, ready for her to declare the male in front of them friend or foe.

  I hadn’t thought of it, she lied.

  The idea had flitted through her mind once they had reached the mountains. But there were too many what-ifs: what if the cave rejected him? What if he rejected her?

  What will your family say when winter continues, when you return to your tribe and they know you did not meet your destiny? All because of an alien.

  Hope’s chest heaved as his righteous anger welled around her and the fear she had kept at bay—fear of failure, of being unworthy—drained from her. He had voiced the questions she had been unwilling to face.

  I saw you. You killed. You made yourself impure all for that alien.

  I had to.

  I have killed only aliens. You killed one of us. One like you. One with a destiny. What makes you think the cave will accept that?

  I’m—

  Pure of heart? he scoffed. You have betrayed our kind. You even smell like that thing.

  Hope hissed at the insult and attacked.

  Cord was caught off guard. One moment the two Camo were glaring at each other in silent communication, the next they were grappling on the snow-covered ground, having rushed each other.

  “Crut.”

  He pulled his gun and trained it on the male as he scrambled to gain the upper hand. Hope surprised him again when the punches started to fly, frantic yet accurate. The male was stronger but Hope fought dirty, biting, clawing, and using every bony part of her body as part of her arsenal. Cord almost felt sorry for the other Camo. So much for Hope being a pacifist—she was vicious.

  Cord saw the glint of the knife before Hope did.

  “Knife,” he yelled even though he knew his warning was useless.

  He couldn’t squeeze off a shot, not while they thrashed around in a tangle of limbs. Not when he could accidentally hit her. Instead, he re-holstered his gun and threw himself into the fray, forcing his body between theirs, sacrificing himself yet again as the cold steel of the Camo’s blade slipped between his ribs and pierced a lung.

  The drawing of Cord’s blood brought the fight to an abrupt end.

  Hope hissed and grabbed one of Cord’s weapons from its place on his hip. By now she was used to its heft and this time she knew she was capable of using it.

  Her so-called companion pushed himself back on his heels, an astonished look on his face. You would kill me?

  You know I killed for him already. I can do it again.

  You would doom us all for that thing?

  They looked at Cord, who lay between them. Blood gurgled from between his lips and from his side.

  He is male. We are not that different from his kind. The cave might—

  The cave will not accept h
im or you.

  You cannot know that.

  I do, he said and visibly deflated before her. I have already tried. I thought it might be because I was entering alone, but...

  You are not worthy.

  More worthy than you!

  Hope watched as he curled up in shame. The fight had left him. She slowly lowered the gun and turned her attention to Cord. If she was going to heal him so they could meet their destiny together, she would need help. Fortunately, she had access to a second life source, one who offered no resistance when she made her request. She took only as much as she needed to heal her alien.

  Cord was getting used to waking in unfamiliar locations. Tents, the ground, inside caves, it was pretty normal for him. The cave, however, was unexpected and he wondered if this was where Hope had to do whatever she needed to do to end winter. Whatever it was, he hoped it was soon. He missed the warmth of summer. It had ended when his family had been murdered by his longtime friend. At the time winter had seemed fitting, but now he wondered if he was cursed to feel the gloom of winter for the rest of his—hopefully short—life.

  Reluctantly he lifted his head and took in his surroundings. Nearby a large fire crackled in a pit. Steaming pots were suspended above it. Heat. Warmth. He hadn’t expected to feel anything but coldness, not after the knife had—

  Crut.

  He groaned, remembering how his idiotic attempt at busting up a fight between two Camo had ended for him. Hope had saved him, yet again. If it weren’t for her, he would be dead many times over by now. Why was he putting himself through this? Why had he put up with her, the pain, the damn unwanted erections? Did he value currency that much or was it that death wish Cass accused him of having?

  Or was it something else, he wondered as he spied Hope across the cave. She was studying something on the wall and in the flickering light he could make out some rudimentary drawings that continued off into the darkness. Was that her destiny? Drawings? Maybe they were an instruction manual. That thought made him pause. Did she know what she was supposed to do or had he let her lead him blindly into a cave? Would she sacrifice him to her native gods? Would the spilling of his blood usher in spring? It was the only reason he could think of for keeping him alive.

  By the time Hope stepped out of the shadows, Cord had made peace with the universe and was ready to die. He watched her dip some rags into the pots and soak them in scented water before tentatively approaching him. Her smile was disarming but he had accepted his fate and quietly watched.

  Hope now understood her destiny. Her life had been leading up to this moment, but now she realized she had been inadequately prepared. Details had been kept from her. Perhaps purposely, perhaps not. She knew about the cave and how there were others like her with her gift who had a destiny to fulfill before they could then go on to have a relatively normal life. All the restrictions imposed on her would be lifted. She would soon be free, as would the male who had been chosen to accompany her. What she hadn’t known was what was meant to happen inside the cave. The drawings had filled that gap in her knowledge. Two strangers were to enter the cave and create life, and from that moment, the next season would flow across the land.

  She dabbed the dampened cloth across Cord’s forehead. They had been strangers, two people from different places. Her alien qualified as one of the participants, she was sure of it. The cave had let them enter. All they had to do was create life and that would save both his people and hers.

  He let her sponge his face clean and after rinsing the cloth, she wiped lower, across his hairy jaw and down his neck. She had seen the hair on his chest a few days ago when they had been in the tent. Still, she was curious to see how much more hair there was and pulled the layers of shirts back. She washed grime and sweat away as she went. Her eyes followed the wet rag as she wiped down his belly. He helped her remove his clothing until she came to his pants. She had been briefly distracted by his underarms and the two small pebbles of flesh on his chest, but she was determined to continue.

  Cord swallowed hard as she cleaned him. He gripped the edges of the pallet bed he lay on. She was driving him insane every time she dabbed his flesh or grazed his body with her gaze. This was a tortuous way to die.

  Cord dropped his head back and closed his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to last if she kept this up. Embarrassing himself before dying had never crossed his mind. He tensed as she freed him from his pants, and after an excruciatingly long time she resumed washing.

  His hips lifted of their own accord when she grasped his cock in her hand. Where was the knife? Surely there was a sacrificial knife. Maybe he should do it and put himself out of his misery. As long as she didn’t cut his cock off first—a common fear among men.

  The rag disappeared and was replaced with something that was definitely not a knife. He exhaled slowly, glad that he would at least be going to the next life—wherever or whatever that was—in one piece. Whatever it was on his cock though, was soft and all encompassing. The feeling was familiar, but when he couldn’t place it, he lifted his head to discover what it was, then wished he hadn’t. Hope knelt next to him, his cock grasped in her hand and with her lips encircling him.

  Up went his dammed hips again.

  “Crut,” he breathed.

  Hope opened her eyes and trapped him in her gaze. His breath quickened and he bit back a moan, from pleasure or panic, he wasn’t sure. She bobbed her head and he almost lost it right there. The last thing he wanted to do was shoot off in a Camo’s mouth. But she wasn’t just any Camo. He also realized that she wasn’t just any woman. She was Hope.

  He stared at her and wondered why this was happening. Coherent thought became more difficult when she introduced her tongue to his cock. Again with the thrust of his hips.

  Did she want him? Did he want her? He knew his body desperately wanted her. Could being with her mean more to him than the currency she carried? Could he be with her? Had Cass known this would happen?

  Hope divided her attention between pleasuring the male she had chosen to be her consort and the emotions that played over his face. She could almost feel his thoughts and it gnawed at her. What if he rejected her? What if he did not want to be her consort? Would his hatred of her kind be something he could not overcome?

  She wavered. Being with him had seemed so right, but it would be hopeless if he didn’t feel the same way. Hope pulled away, now certain she had misinterpreted his interest in her. Her chest tightened with the same fear she had felt about the cave and her destiny. She had made a mistake, so before he could reject her, she ran.

  Cord swore as Hope hightailed it outside. He grabbed his pants, yanked them up and gave chase. The fear in her eyes mirrored his own. Didn’t she know he wouldn’t hurt her? Hadn’t he proved that already? Cord knew he wasn’t an admirable man, nor a very good one, but he had been ready to die so she could complete her destiny. He had nothing to offer her, just himself.

  With another curse, he sprinted barefoot through the snow and caught Hope up in his arms. Without a word, because it was a wasted means of communication, he kissed her, plunging his tongue past her surprised lips and into the cavern of her mouth.

  “Let’s continue this inside,” he said and turned her back the way they had come. Not wanting to lose his toes or any other extremities, he scooped her up and ran.

  Once back inside, he lowered them to the pallet by the fire pit and pulled Hope across his lap. She straddled him and initiated their second—although technically third—kiss.

  He smiled against her mouth and felt his heavy heart lift. A happiness he hadn’t felt in years engulfed him. He hadn’t felt this way since... well, now wasn’t the time to think about it. He pushed it away to focus on the present. Now he had an extraordinary woman in his arms who wanted him and he wasn’t that surprised to find he wanted her back.

  Hope moved against him as he tugged off her clothes. He gazed at her nakedness, surprised again at the similarities between her kind and his. He reverently cupped her breasts
and nuzzled them. Sliding his tongue between her cleavage, she tasted delicious. She tasted like hope.

  She welcomed his touch and yearned to be closer. She sighed as his hot lips burned across her cool flesh while she explored the hard planes of his body with her hands. He shivered with each chilly touch ghosting over his chest, his nipples, and down to his throbbing cock.

  With a growl, he pushed her back on the pallet and entered her. Her sudden hiss stilled him. Cass was right again; Hope was a virgin. He scrunched his eyes closed and cursed himself for taking her so roughly, for rushing her.

  “I’m sorry,” he gasped and withdrew.

  Hope threaded her hands through his hair and pulled him back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched her back, offering her breasts to him again, letting him know what she wanted. And if that weren’t enough, she rubbed her mound against his still-erect cock.