“But we can’t just leave him.”
“If they’ve shot him, it’s already too late. If they imprison him, which I suspect they will, getting ourselves caught will not help him at all. Getting this information to the Council and seeing the Commander removed from power is our best chance at helping him.”
Wren knew that he was right, but her heart was heavy as they made their way through the air ducts. When the tunnel dead ended, Kyr opened the panel and climbed out into the corridor. He held his hand out for her, and helped her to climb out as well. They moved silently towards the shuttle dock.
“We cannot afford to look suspicious. Stare straight ahead. Do not duck your head or try to hide your face. It will only make others curious. Act as if you have every right to be strolling out here with others,” he admonished.
Wren didn’t tell him that she knew that. She’d walked out of a mental hospital that way. At sixteen, her parents had committed her for the last time. At seventeen, she had left and never looked back. Her thoughts must have transmitted to him in some way, because his hold on her hand tightened for a split second. Pushing away thoughts of her parents and the misery of everything she’d gone through, she allowed Kyr to lead her into the throng of traffic that was the main thoroughfare for the station. Once again, she simply tried not to make eye contact with anyone or anything.
They had nearly reached the small bay where Kyr’s shuttle was docked when loud, screeching alarms began to sound. Kyr grabbed her roughly and pulled her with him into a dark, narrow alcove. They waited there as a cadre of guards rushed past. When the street in front of them was quiet again, Wren expelled a ragged sigh. Her heart was still pounding furiously and her palms were slick with sweat.
“It will be fine,” Kyr said. “They will begin their search at the Medical Bay and work backwards.”
“There will be guards around the shuttle,” Wren protested.
“But only a few and I can handle them. I’m trained to fight multiple opponents, Wren.”
“I don’t want to see you hurt... and as selfish as it sounds, if something happens to you, I have nothing. I’m worlds away from everything I know.”
There was nothing for him to say to that. She spoke the absolute truth and no matter his training, there was always the possibility that things could go wrong. “When we make it out of here, I promise you that I will make sure you are taken care of regardless of what happens.”
Wren didn’t say anything else. She trusted him more than she’d ever trusted anyone, but it petrified her to be dependent on him. “Let’s just go... before I lose my nerve completely.”
Kyr went first, keeping her behind him as he slipped into the hangar. It wasn’t guards near their shuttle, but the three Aldacyians they had encountered on Earth. Kyr kept them to the shadows, slipping between smaller ships and other spacecraft. By the time they reached the shuttle, Wren felt as if her heart was beating so fast it would simply fly out of her chest. Rather than use the main door of the shuttle, Kyr led her beneath it. There he accessed a service hatch and helped her inside. Once she was on familiar ground, Wren began to feel that escape might actually be possible. No sooner had the thought occurred than the Aldacyians began to charge the ship.
“Buckle up. We’re going to be moving a lot faster leaving than we did coming in,” he warned her.
Wren took the same seat in the control area and buckled the harness. Through the thin fabric of the flight suit, without the protection of the jacket, it bit painfully into her skin. To distract herself from the discomfort and also from her own negative thoughts, she watched as Kyr began to flip switched and buttons on the control panel of the shuttle. The engine suddenly roared to life, but it didn’t drown out the hue and cry from the Aldacyians outside as they raced to their own ship. As Wren watched, Kyr initiated the onboard weapons and fired a single round at the Aldacyian ship. The explosion rocked everything in the hangar. The sense of dread that had overwhelmed her hadn’t been something she’d tuned into psychically, she knew. It had simply been fear and a long history of Murphy’s law applying itself to her life.
Kyr’s mouth was drawn into a thin, tight line as the shuttle lifted off the ground. Wren suppressed a terrified cry when the shuttle suddenly shot backwards at a speed that made her vaguely ill. Kyr was gripping the yoke, moving it with the precision of a surgeon. The ship did a one eighty turn and was cruising out of the hangar and away from the bay at breakneck speeds. He fired another round at the bay as they left, destroying the airlock that allowed ships to dock and takeoff without sucking all the available oxygen out of the station. It had been too easy, Wren knew, which told her more than anything else that the worst wasn’t over.
They had barely cleared the hangar when the first shot was fired. Kyr turned the small shuttle sharply to the right, the strange projectile hurtling past them. Again and again, the dodged each of the missiles, Kyr maneuvering the ship with a skill and precision that she would only be able to appreciate later, when she wasn’t petrified. When they had managed to get far enough away from the station, Kyr entered another series of commands and the shuttle’s speed increased with enough force to push Wren back in her seat. She knew they were being pursued, but the other ships, if the little blinking dots on the display were any indication, could not keep up.
“This shuttle has been custom designed for retrieval and recon,” he explained. “It’s intended purpose has always been rescue missions which could require swift getaways. Their are few ships in the galaxy that can compare with speed, and none in Sector F9.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because I designed this ship myself. I had to petition the council for permission as it was perceived as a possible threat to their authority. It would seem they were correct in fearing it.”
“So, the Commander is part of the council?”
“He works for them, ruling the neutral zone in their stead. But he is not the ultimate power. There are others to whom he must answer.”
“And can they be trusted?” Wren asked as she surveyed the fading blips on the screen in front of them.
Kyr was quiet for a moment before he answered. “At this point, I fear no one can be trusted. By slipping away from the Commander, and by leaving Sector F9 without appropriate clearance, we have made ourselves fugitives of the Core 7 Alliance. But it is necessary if he is guilty of the things you suggested. We have to get the VID file that Amri gave us to them, and that is not going to be easy.”
“I imagine that the Commander has many powerful allies... and those three Aldacyians are not the only ones who will be looking for us.”
“It will take them a few hours at least to get the secondary airlock up and running. By that time, we’ll be well away in another quadrant, but you are right. There are others and this ship is very identifiable... If all goes well, Lexian should be able to meet us in about twelve hours. We just need to lay low until then.”
Wren settled back into her seat. “You lead, Kyr, and I’ll follow.”
Kyr’s smile was dark and lacking humor. It wasn’t as if he’d given her much choice. For the first time, he’d begun to wonder if perhaps Wren wouldn’t have been better off on Earth. Since he’d brought her aboard the ship, they’d faced nothing but danger. He couldn’t help but feel responsible. He could have protected her from the Aldacyians, helped her hide, kept her safe on Earth. Instead he took her away from everything she had known and he recognized that he’d done it because he didn’t want to give her any other options. It had been subconscious, but still he could see now what had prompted that thought process.
“Do you want to go back, Wren?”
“To Sector F9?”
“No. To Earth.”
Wren noted the strange mood that had settled over him. “I didn’t think that was an option.”
“I didn’t either. But I think that’s simply because I didn’t want it to be. If you want to go back, I can make it safe for you there.... New identity, new location, but it can
be done.”
“Would you be with me?” she asked.
He couldn’t. Not for a long time, if ever. He had a responsibility to the other Sentinels, to help them find their mates and hopefully not screw it up as badly as he had. “Not at first. Once the others have been found and my duties to the Core Alliance have been fulfilled, perhaps.”
Did she want to go back? No, Wren thought. She didn’t have anything to go back to, nothing but a job she hated, a family that had locked her up in one mental hospital after another. She could stay with Kyr, with the only person who had ever made her feel accepted and valued, or she could go back to her nothing existence. Another thought occurred to her then, one that left her feeling hollow and weak. “Do you want me to go back?”
“No. Never. But I don’t want you to stay just because you think you have to.”
Wren unbuckled the harness and rose from her seat. She crossed to him and settled herself on his lap, cupping his face in her hands. The stubble that adorned his cheeks rasped against her palms. Pressing against him, her breasts flattened against the hard wall of his chest, Wren kissed him. Her lips molded to his, tasting, teasing. When his hands came up to grip her hips, tugging her more tightly against him, she smiled against the firm curve of his lips.
Easing back, Wren met his gaze earnestly, everything she was feeling for him shining from her eyes. “Earth isn’t my home. It’s just a place where I lived.... a place where I never really belonged. I belong with you.”
It humbled him as nothing else ever had. “I want you,” he said.
Wren stole a glance at the screen behind them. There was no sign of anyone in pursuit. “Is it safe?”
Kyr tugged at the flight suit, baring her satiny skin to the cool air. “It’s worth the risk.”
Wren might have protested, but his mouth was at her breasts. His lips and tongue tormenting each pebbled nipple in turn. She uttered his name on a sigh. He closed his lips over one nipple, tugging sharply, his teeth scraping the sensitive bud before capturing the other and subjecting it to the same sweet torment. The line between pleasure and pain blurred, every pull of his mouth creating an echoing contraction deep in her core.
The harsh grip of his hands on her hips lessened, and then he was tugging at the flight suit again, slipping it over her hips and down her legs. When he touched her, his large, callused hand sliding between her thighs, she moaned. Two fingers slid deep inside her, spearing through the soft, damp folds while his thumb coasted lightly over the pearl-like nub of her clit. Needing to be closer to him, Wren tugged at the buckles of the harness he still wore, finally managing to free him. She tugged at his jacket and the tunic he wore beneath it until her hands touched naked skin. Her nails scraped over the firm flesh of his chest, skating over ridged abs until she reached the waistband of his pants.
Even as she undressed him, Kyr didn’t stop the sensual onslaught. Again and again, he dove his fingers into her exquisitely tight channel, painfully eager to sink his cock inside her instead. With his thumb, he artfully stroked the hardened bud of her clit, ratcheting the pleasure to new heights. By the time she’d freed his rampant erection, she was panting for breath, soft moans and cries echoing throughout the cabin. He tugged her closer, until she had to draw her knees up and drape her legs over the arms of his chair. The position opened her even more to his questing hands and he delved deeper. She cried out, her head falling back, her neck arching in pleasure.
“Touch me,” he urged her. “I want to feel your hand on my cock.”
Reaching down, Wren clasped his cock in her hand. He was so thick, her fingers wouldn’t close around the shaft. With her thumb, she gathered the drop of pre cum that glistened at the crown. The moisture allowed her to stroke him more easily, for her hand to glide over the steel-like flesh until he was also groaning in ecstasy. The groan ended abruptly when he claimed her mouth again. The kiss was hard, bruising, with a touch of desperation in it. His tongue delved into her mouth, sweeping over hers masterfully, claiming her. Then he was moving lower, his teeth scraping over her neck followed by the soothing sweep of his mouth.
“Please!”
“Please what?” he asked before kissing the soft valley between her breasts.
“I need you... I need to feel you inside me.”
There were no coy games to be played, no challenges to issue. Wordlessly, Kyr slid his fingers from the welcoming heat of her cunt. Grasping his cock with one hand, he guided it to her entrance. The heavy tip nudged into the soft folds. He bit back a curse at the exquisiteness of the sensation. He pressed deeper, sliding an inch at a time into her tight sheath, until he was seated to the hilt. She gripped his shoulders, her teeth scraping against the corded muscles there as she sobbed his name. Cupping her bottom in his hands, he lifted her up and then lowered her onto him again. Her inner muscles clutched at his cock, that gentle resistance pushing him even closer to the precipice. He lifted her again, this time guiding her hips down onto his faster and more forcefully. It wasn’t enough. He wanted to drive into her, to fuck her with the desperation that was burning in him.
Rising from the chair, he rested her bottom against the console and hooked his hands behind her knees. Wordlessly, she lay back, offering herself up to him. He drew her legs up, resting her ankles on his shoulders, gripping her hips tightly as he drove into her. His balls slapped against the lush curve of her behind with each thrust. The sounds of their lovemaking; the wet slap of skin against skin, harsh breathing and soft, desperate cries; echoed throughout the cabin.
Kyr watched her. The glimmer of sweat and the soft flush of her skin was so beautiful. Her lips parted as she called his name and it was simply the sweetest sound he had ever heard. Her belly trembled against him, her thighs quivering as the rapture of her orgasm took her. With her back bowed, and her breasts thrust skyward, he’d never seen anything as beautiful or as erotic. He simply couldn’t hold back any longer. Driving into her one last time, a harsh growl rasping from his throat as he came inside her. Her body clenched around him, the walls of her sex clasping him, milking him as he spilled his very essence inside her.
“I love you,” she said, her voice still shaking and winded. “I don’t know how or why, but I do.”
He pulled her to him, pressing against her, chest to chest. “I don’t know what love is. I’ve never experienced it, never defined it. But I need you,” he said. More softly, he repeated it again, “I need you.”
With the massive warrior still trembling in her arms, Wren smiled. “I think you just defined it.”
He chuckled softly. “Perhaps I did.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The following morning, Wren woke alone. Kyr was already at the helm. Climbing from the bed, Wren wrapped the sheet around her and approached him. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You may want to get dressed.”
“Oh? What’s going on?”
“We’re approaching Lexian’s ship. I’m not sure who is on board. Any contact other than a locator ping from the transponder was too risky.”
Wren went to the small cupboard and retrieved one of the simple flight suits. Dropping the sheet, she shimmied into it and then took her seat beside him. She was intrigued to meet Lexian, the man who had shared so much of Kyr’s life, who had shared his body. Any lingering jealousy had faded for her. Every time she and Kyr made love their connection to one another deepened. She couldn’t doubt that they truly were made for one another, nor could she doubt that their feelings for one another were real, in spite of how they had come to exist.
From her perch beside him, Wren watched the large bay doors of the other ship open. It was at least ten times the size of Kyr’s shuttle. Kyr eased the shuttle inside, settling it down gently on the grated, metal floor. The doors slid closed behind them and after a few moments, several lights blinked furiously on the control panel and then went off. At that point, Kyr rose and opened the shuttle doors. He helped her to climb down and together, they climbed a large flight of stairs to the main deck of th
e ship.
The ship was similar to Kyr’s shuttle. The strips of blue lighting that illuminated walkways and outlined doorways. However, the living area was more comfortable. Instead of the narrow berths, there was a large banquette in one corner that was roughly the size of a king bed. On the other side was a galley and dining area that would seat at least ten. The front of the ship was dome shaped and mostly glass so that they appeared to be surrounded by the blackness of space. It was both disconcerting and strangely beautiful.
The man who rose from the helm was beautiful, just as he’d been in the fantasies and memories that Kyr had shared with her. Lexian’s blonde hair was long, hanging to his broad shoulders. There was an arrogance in his stride as he moved toward them. He didn’t say anything, simply embraced Kyr quickly and then turned to her. Memories flooded her. All the love and trust that the two had shared over the years, not just from Kyr’s memories, but also from Lexian’s, filled her. She also felt something else. Lexian was as attracted to her as Kyr had been.
“It is an honor to meet you, Wren Marlow. Your presence here provides hope to all of the Sentinel Guards.”
“Thank you, Lexian.”
“I have prepared a chamber for you both below, if you wish to rest. I have been monitoring traffic and while the Commander has issued a warrant for you, he appears to be using considerable discretion. There is no mention of Wren in the warrant. I can only assume then that he wishes her disappearance to remain quiet.”
“Not my disappearance as much as my discovery,” Wren said. “It’s better for the Commander if no one ever realizes that Kyr even found me.”
Lexian nodded his agreement, “That is very true. The Commander is very aware of appearances and will do whatever is necessary to maintain the ruse that he has been a loyal subject to the Core 7 Alliance.”
Wren knew that there were things that Kyr needed to discuss with Lexian, things that they needed to say to one another without her interference. The air needed to be cleared before the three of them could proceed. She kissed Kyr lightly on the lips, opening her mind to him, showing him precisely what she wanted. When she backed away, she said, “I am not all that tired, but I would very much like a shower.”
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