by Lora Leigh
This mission was the most important one of her life and Lynn knew it. Ariel St. James had to live. She had to regain her strength to use the power embedded within that crystal. But even more than that, Lynn had known her place was by the other woman’s side, her power bracing the other woman’s until she could regain her strength. Just as she was beginning to realize that Alyx was a part of that power and her mission here as well.
“Lynn, pull your men in closer to the house.” Dragon’s voice filled the comm. link at her ear as her body suddenly went on alert.
“Pull in.” She sent the order out quickly as she turned and raced back into the house. “Assume base position.”
The order would have the two-dozen men and women surrounding the house. Half inside, half out.
“What’s going on?” She couldn’t sense the psychic waves of malice that usually accompanied a strike. “They’ve never attacked in daylight before.”
She sprinted up the curved staircase to Ariel’s room.
“They’re moving in a more conventional pattern now,” Alyx said softly as she slid silently into the bedroom and positioned herself beside the bed. “You have two four-men teams moving along the mountain in assassin formation. Keep your men alert, but I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
Ariel was sleeping comfortably, a light flush of health on her cheeks as her body healed. Lynn quickly checked the bulletproof shutters that had been installed on the windows and the position of the bed away from them.
“Dragon, you keep me up-to-date,” she murmured quietly, unwilling to awaken her client.
The aliens communicated telepathically, a power she didn’t possess herself. Very few of her people did, so it wasn’t a dependable means of communication until Lynn and her warriors learned how to break through that final barrier on the psychic plane Alyx and his men had guided them into.
“Always, my love.” She winced at the shocked gasps and strangled snorts from the two-dozen men and women who worked under her.
She didn’t dignify the statement with an answer.
“Liz, you and Jack get up here with me,” she ordered two of the strongest psychics on the force. “If it’s Blackthorne men, I want a ready source of power.”
Providing the psychic shield needed to keep the terrorists from invading the room with their own waves of power had been steadily draining her strength. She hated using anyone else because of the danger involved, but she was too frightened that her own energy would fail when they needed it most.
“I will be there to aid you should you need it, Lynn,” Alyx countered the order. “I merely need your people out of harm’s way. Sometimes Jonar gets brave and sends his own force as a last resort. Your people cannot come against them.”
The calm strength in his voice seemed to aid her failing powers. She took a deep breath and fought to relax as Liz and Jack entered the room. They took their positions. Those two on one side of the bed, Lynn across from them.
“Lynn, do not attempt to shield her yourself.” Dragon’s voice was firm now. “It will drain you too much. I promise, we have this under control.”
“You do your job, big boy, I’ll do mine,” she said quietly as she nodded at the other two agents. They would support her if her strength failed. She had never failed before.
“Lynn.” Dragon’s voice hardened as she relaxed back in her chair, closing her eyes and taking a deep, fortifying breath.
She ignored him. She cleared her mind as she allowed the power that seemed to hum in the very center of her soul to gather. It began to build, to gain in strength as she opened herself, directed the energy and let it free.
Lynn didn’t open her eyes, but she knew what the other two agents saw. The thin, misty-like dome that surrounded Ariel would be impenetrable by all but the strongest psychics. If needed, Lynn could call on the power of her entire force to lend their strength.
She could hear Dragon cursing. The sudden freedom, the opening of her senses, allowed her to see so much more as well. The assassins heading in weren’t mere psychics. They were warriors, much as Dragon and his men were, but hopefully not as strong.
The immortals. As always she had to fight her terror when knowing they were near. They were without souls, without mercy, and their power was so strong that even she had not sensed the dark cloud of energy pouring in front of them, ready to strike at the weakened Ariel at the first opportunity. But she saw more as well; a golden wave of energy meeting the dark cloud, directed by Dragon and his men.
Before her amazed senses she saw a battle waged on the psychic plane that she knew she might never glimpse again. Golden streams of power arched into the metaphysical level, meeting the dark menacing cloud head on. Flaring energy erupted in waves as each attack directed toward Ariel was thwarted before ever coming close to the dome Lynn had placed around her.
Snaking bolts of lightning, fire and pure electricity tore through the ominous power Blackthorne’s men had placed before them. On the ground, gunfire began to erupt as the terrorists shot wildly, desperate to wound or kill whoever dared to meet them with such strength.
The entire battle played before her mind as Dragon’s force played almost lazily with the enemy. She could see him, as plain as she would have if her eyes were open and she was standing beside him. He was sharpening the blade of a sword. A sword, for God’s sake. No conventional weapon. He showed no sign of stress or concern. Playing with the enemy as he tore a path of careless destruction through their psychic force.
Chapter Seven
Within minutes it was over. The dark gray cloud slowly cleared, leaving four immortals slowly disintegrating to dust on the forest floor. Lynn collapsed as she pulled the shield back, allowing the power to flow back into her weary body. She didn’t open her eyes, even though she heard Liz’s gasp. She knew who was there.
The long, silken strands of his hair flowed down her back as he bent to pick her up. She felt it, like a caress, over the skin of her shoulders and back. Lynn felt her nipples peak, her pussy clench in hunger. She was weary, weak, and craving his touch as she had never hungered for anything in her life. It terrified her.
“Keep the monster reined,” she ordered him weakly as he lifted her quickly from the chair with a sharp command to the other two to stay with Ariel.
He strode from the bedroom, his steps quick as he moved through the house.
“I should spank you,” he snapped as he kicked a door closed behind him. “That was a foolish thing to do, Lynn. Did you not trust me to do as I said I could? And barring that, could you not at least have harnessed your true power? For pity’s sake, woman, you will be the death of yourself.”
She grunted as she bounced on a bed. His or hers? She opened her eyes wearily, relieved to see it was her room, her bed.
“As though you would be of any use to me sexually in this shape,” he snorted, waving his hand over her body.
“Dragon.” She jerked the comforter over her suddenly nude body. Her clothing lay on the floor as though it had never covered her flesh.
“Look at you.” The restrained violence in his voice as he suddenly covered her body with his own caused her to tremble in reaction.
Lynn stared up at him, fear and lust snaking through her system as the heat of his body seeped through the blanket and sank into her flesh. Her legs were held tight between his, his chest pressing against her abdomen, her wrists shackled to the bed by his hands.
“Do you think that covering hides you from me?” he snarled furiously. “Shall I show you how easily I can dispose of it?”
Just that quick it was gone, fluttered to the floor as she watched with wide, amazed eyes.
“I am like nothing you have ever known.” He bared his teeth at her, his silver eyes darkening, swirling with flashes of electric fury. “You do not disobey me. You do not place your body nor your mind in danger…”
“Don’t tell me what to do.” Lynn struggled against him weakly, unwilling to lie still, to be helpless beneath the shards of plea
sure tearing through her body.
He was only lying against her, she groaned silently. Yet her body was soaking his weight up, trembling in fascinated ecstasy at the feel of the heat pouring from him. Her pussy was on fire. She couldn’t believe it. She had never felt so empty, so needy for something to fill that hidden channel in all of her adult life.
And her breasts. His eyes were trained there, watching her nipples harden, her breasts swelling as his gaze seemed to darken.
“I’m going to fuck you until you can do nothing but lie beneath me and whimper with each orgasm ripping through your body,” he growled. “When you are too weak to move, too weak to even cry out as my cock is surging hard and deep inside your pussy, I’m going to give you every drop of come building in my balls. And trust me, baby, I have quite a load stored up for you. Then perhaps you will be willing to accept all of what I have given you, Lynn. All of it.”
Her eyes widened in shock as she began to shake her head almost violently. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to remember how to say no.
“You will sleep first.” He seemed to only grow angrier as he watched her. “Your face is gray, Lynn. You cannot even gather the energy to struggle against me because you refuse to allow yourself that freedom. When I fuck you, you’ll at least be awake enough to keep your damned eyes opened.”
“You’re insane,” she gasped, her body burning for him now despite her unwillingness to allow that monster rising between his thighs into her cunt. No way. No how. Her cunt was singing a different tune, unfortunately. “You are not fucking me with that, that thing you have for a cock.”
His eyes narrowed, the planes of his face tightening with anger.
“Thing?” Silky menace filled his deep, resonating voice. “That thing? Oh, darling, when I shove that thing up your tight little pussy you’ll be screaming a different story then, I promise you that.”
Her body already was. His breath washed over the tip of her full breast, creating a streak of lightning-hot pleasure that struck her pussy like an arrow of lust. Her clit was straining between the bare folds, throbbing and swollen as the juices spilled from her vagina, pooling between her thighs. Energy hummed within her weary body, but it wasn’t the pure natural energy of her own power. It was that dark center raging, straining for release.
“Ah yes.” He moved against her, his gaze centering on the hard nipple. “You know, don’t you, beloved, that denying me won’t last forever.”
Her fingers curled against her palms as she felt him shift his weight, pressing between her thighs, settling his hard abdomen against the slick, moist mound of her sex.
Lynn whimpered as the material of his clothing brushed against her straining clit.
“Stop,” she finally gasped as he ground against the sensitive little nub.
“Stop?” he whispered. “I can still the fires, Lynn. I can please your body without taking you as I want to. I can make you sleep relaxed and dreamless, your body replete.”
As he had in her dreams. Their souls merging, a mating dance filled with more pleasure than she could ever imagine.
Lynn couldn’t stop the moan that tore from her throat. “This is insane. It won’t work. You’re not even human,” she wailed desperately.
His hands lifted from her wrists. Lynn moved to push away from him, only to find that even though he had released his grip, she was still shackled to the bed. She stared up at him in surprise.
“Humanity does not begin and end on this planet,” he growled as her thighs were spread apart by unseen hands, her hips lifted, opening her to him, baring the smooth flesh of her cunt for his inspection. “You can say no, Lynn. At any time.”
Could she? She was watching his face instead, seeing the hunger that transformed it, that lit his eyes with carnal intent and gave his expression a wicked, sinful cast. Then he licked his lips.
“If I dare to lower my lips to such perfection, I may not rise from the banquet until we both collapse from exhaustion,” he said regretfully. “But I will not leave you to ache this way, little love.”
She felt the plump swollen lips of her pussy spread.
“Dragon.” He wasn’t touching her in any way.
“Your perfect little clitoris is swollen,” he whispered. She imagined she felt his breath against the overly sensitive bud as she panted for breath. “Your sweet nectar lies thick and glistening on the curves of your cunt, tempting me to taste.”
Her breasts were heaving as she fought for air. Lynn was certain she was going to pass out any minute from the sheer excitement of the moment.
“Come for me, little one,” he whispered then, his voice deepening as he stared into her eyes.
He wasn’t touching her, Lynn screamed out in shock to her inner self. Not touching her. But she felt his mouth anyway, it surrounded her clit as the sensation of a tongue rasping, licking, a mouth suckling, drawing on the little bundle of nerves. It took only seconds. Her body was primed, aroused, lust whipping through her system like a wildfire, consuming her.
Something in her mind shifted, opened. In that moment she felt him flowing into her, felt pleasure whipping through her body, her mind, stopping only at the shield she had placed around that dark center of her soul.
She exploded in a blaze of heat and light so intense she feared she would never survive it. It rocked through her body, rasping each nerve ending, sending waves of pleasure so intense, so astounding, pouring through her system that she screamed out at the rocketing release.
“I have lost my mind,” she heard Dragon growl as he threw himself from the bed, releasing her as the blanket was thrown over her once again. “Look what you have done to me. You have made me an insane man. Damn you, when will you stop this senseless fear of me?”
Lynn opened her eyes despite the drowsiness tugging at them. He gestured to his body, the thick ridge of his cock rising along his lower stomach, covered only by the snug material of his clothing.
“Hmm,” she murmured, remembering well the sight of it, frightened to realize just how badly she did need to fuck him.
“I should not be like this.” He frowned at her heavily, a male pout crossing his expression. “I should be buried inside you, finding my release with you, not playing these childish human games of touchy-feely. It is insanity.”
Her body still hummed with need, but her mind was slowly shutting down. Exhaustion washed over her, bringing with it a veil of complete and utter darkness.
*
Alyx stared at Lynn as she slipped into sleep. Her expression smoothed, the fear and the lust leaving it, settling into lines of weariness as her body relaxed. He sighed in frustration. Soon, he promised himself as he touched the heated medallion at his chest. It was a dragon surrounding the iridescent silver of the stone.
The stone was the heart of his planet, of the powers that had been given to him upon his completion of his warrior’s quest. It was his protection, his solace while away from his home world. In it, he carried all the things needed to complete him should he find his bond mate on a world other than his own. The final ritual of his bonding with Lynn would release the Dar-phantom, who had made this journey with him, and the other medallion that would complete the binding of their hearts and of their souls.
But, the journey ahead would not be easy. She fought him. She denied him her body, even though she could not whisper the words denying his touch. Her mind would not accept. Until she accepted the need she had for him, he could not take her. Until her heart accepted her feelings for him, the Dar-phantom would not come forth. The ritual of the mating could not be made without her full cooperation and desire. He sighed heavily. This might well be the hardest battle of his life.
Chapter Eight
“You stay away from me.” A slender, trembling finger poked into Alyx’s chest as he stepped into the kitchen the next morning, praying for coffee. It was his one true weakness, the taste he had developed for the dark, bitter brew.
But rather than a cup of steaming energy, he was instead greeted b
y a more than irate little vision of simmering lust and fury. He lifted a brow in surprise as he looked down at the small digit digging into his breastbone.
“A bit to the left,” he murmured. “It would do much more damage over the piercing there.”
Her eyes narrowed at the challenge before she sniffed in disdain. The sharp, nailed little weapon retreated as she turned her back on him and paced over to the counter. His gaze followed her then became distracted by the steaming pot beside her. He rubbed his hands in glee as he directed a ceramic mug from the shelf, and the coffee pot from its base.
Lynn turned back to him, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she watched the psychic manipulation. He paced over to the pouring coffee, gripping it in his hands as he mentally returned the pot to its resting place. He smiled over at her with something he hoped wasn’t complete anticipation. He could feel her body throbbing, the heat reaching out to him. She would not be able to deny him much longer.
“It was a calm night last night,” he said as he took his coffee to the long table sitting in front of a large paned window.
Sunlight poured through sunny yellow curtains, warming the wood bench table and sparkling on the pristine white appliances and adobe tile floor. It was a nice, spacious room. Clean and smelling nicely of spices and herbs. It was homey, which he hadn’t really expected. Most influential humans that he knew rarely stepped into their kitchens unless forced to do so. It was the domain of the staff only.
“Breakfast was hours ago,” she informed him, ignoring his comment. “You missed out.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I ate with my men earlier this morning. There were details to iron out.”
“Details?” she questioned him with false patience. “I would hope you are not planning details on my mission without informing me?”
