No. Not handcuffs. That might cause gossip. Her arrest would proceed in a civilized manner.
She cursed under her breath, angry at the general—the man who should be her protector—angry at the situation, angry at herself because she couldn’t think of a way to avoid the inevitable.
Hours passed and the sky—whenever she caught sight of it through gaps in the jungle—darkened and different birds and insects came out to play. The red biting bugs vanished, only to be replaced by vibrant pink ones. They were smaller but nipped just as hard. “I’m tempted to break out the bug ointment.”
Felix slowed. “Please don’t,” he said. “Once we get out of the jungle there won’t be as many bugs. There’s a swimming hole with a waterfall. We can swim and cool off. Refresh.” His eyes turned eerie green, the color shift that occurred when his feline half exerted his presence, she now realized. “Make love.”
“Is sex all you think about?” The general might pounce at any moment. She stomped past Felix in an attempt to outrun the turmoil in her mind.
Felix grabbed her arm and hauled her to a halt. “What is wrong with you? You’ve looked like a thundercloud ever since we left the village.”
“What’s a thundercloud?” All right. Even she could hear the sulkiness coloring her tone. She sucked in a quick breath, placed her hand on her chest and rubbed in an attempt to ease the heartache.
“You’re grumpy. Why?”
He didn’t intend to ease up this time. It was stamped on his features. Casey rubbed her chest again. The ache intensified instead of receding. The tight sensation crawled up her throat. She swallowed. Opened her mouth to refute him. Swallowed again.
“Casey.” He shook her a little. “Tell me what’s wrong. It’s eating you up inside.”
“I’m absent without leave,” she said, and the tears finally spilled over, running down her cheeks. “Never mind. This waterhole. Which direction?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“The military won’t see it that way,” she snapped. “They think in black and white.”
“We can explain,” Felix said.
“Won’t matter. The general will order a punishment.” Of that she was sure. He wouldn’t like his precious schedule thrown off.
“Your father?”
“Yes, the general. Now if you don’t mind, the waterhole…” she prompted, her tone a shade shy of nasty.
“Keep following the trail. There’s a colony of bat-birds up ahead. Try not to startle them because they shit in self-defense. Gus thought it was funny.”
Casey didn’t answer, the pain in her chest growing with each step closer to the resort. They would’ve tried her communicator first. It was sitting in Felix’s suite. Then they’d contact her family—in this case, the general. He would’ve contacted the family home to discover if she were there. He might call Aunt Elsa, maybe her brothers, despite them not being close. Then, once he’d ordered his aide to do all that, he would assume the worst and initialize tracking protocol.
She’d have to keep an eye skyward once they exited the jungle. The new stealth ships made no sound, and they could either take her out or snatch her in their retrieval beam if they had a clear sighting.
They wouldn’t care about Felix. If he were injured, or worse, died while they were retrieving her, top brass would see his loss as that of necessary casualty.
Casey felt her mouth twist into a grimace. Of course, if they discovered he had a dual nature, they might consider him suitable to recruit. It wouldn’t be voluntary. No, in this case, they’d snatch him up and force him into service. She’d seen it before, and the abuse of power sickened her to the soul.
She couldn’t allow them to haul Felix or his siblings away.
It was better if she severed ties, ignored the way she felt about Felix. And best she start now, even though it made the pain in her chest spread.
She’d act the bitchy female, be generally annoying, and as soon as they arrived back at the resort, she’d board the first shuttle she could. Even a cargo shuttle, if that was all she could get. The sooner she put distance between herself and the people she’d come to love, the safer it would be for all concerned.
“It’s my duty to return to service. I made a commitment to the military. You understand commitment and duty, Felix?” Aw, low blow. “I’ll contact command on our return and request a personal interview with the general to explain the situation.”
Like that was going to happen. She didn’t intend to make this easy for the general. She’d request more time, more information. Attempt to stall in a last-ditch effort to make the general see reason because she didn’t want this.
Acceding to the general’s command would make her miserable. Oh, they might wipe her memories, even give her new ones in the process; they might make her stronger, they might make her bigger, but they couldn’t give her love and respect.
Although she knew she wouldn’t win, she had to try. For the first time in her life, she had to take a firm stand against the general.
Temper pumped through his veins. No way. No way did he intend to lose Casey now that he’d found her. He glared at her slim back as she plunged through the jungle in front of him. She was his mate.
Mine, his feline roared.
Felix’s steps lengthened to keep up with her. She was practically running now, feet thudding the ground and breaking sticks, crackling leaves beneath her feet in the growing darkness. His eyesight was good in the dark, but Casey didn’t have the same night vision.
She tripped, cursed and picked herself up before he could offer his help. He hung back but watched her to make sure she didn’t blunder into danger. Anything more dangerous than the bat-birds. They’d heard her coming, and he could hear their agitated chirps. A couple of them were already dropping their loads. He could smell the indescribable stench.
“Casey, you need to go slower.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
Was it his imagination or was she crying again? Generally he gave weeping women a wide berth, but something was eating Casey alive. To get to the rank of captain, she would’ve seen a lot of active service. She was tough—both mentally and physically. Yet she’d cried a lot since he’d known her. She’d had that stress attack at the capture compound. She didn’t sleep, didn’t eat much either.
Yeah, he agreed with his mother. Casey was suffering from severe stress, but what was causing it?
Her last mission?
Or something else?
Felix moved with caution since he didn’t want to get covered with bat-bird crap again. At this pace, they’d get to the swimming hole in under an hour. They could use the same shelter he and Gus had built. Make use of their time in a more productive manner.
He’d worm the truth out of her somehow. Because he couldn’t fix something he didn’t know about.
Casey needed fixing, and he was the man to do the mending.
Mine, his feline growled.
Ours, Felix agreed, and his feline stretched beneath his skin.
Up ahead, Casey stumbled. A bat-bird let out its eerie shriek—a combo between a high-pitch squawk and a sonar beep.
Casey picked herself up, let out a sharp curse.
“Casey…” he warned.
Casey shrieked and gave a disgusted shout. “What was that?”
“Don’t make any noise and maybe the bat-birds will settle.” Low chance, but maybe it would quiet her anger.
Casey stopped, allowing him to catch up. “I thought you were making that up,” she whispered.
Felix wanted to laugh, and would have if the stench didn’t make his eyes water. Pale-blue poop covered her hair, dripped over her forehead and trickled down to her chin. He composed himself with difficulty. “I don’t lie to you.”
Not quite true, but she wasn’t exactly being forthcoming with him either. He figured that made them even.
“How much farther to the swimming hole?”
“Maybe half an hour.”
She gave
a tiny groan and he grinned.
“Want me to lead?”
“Please.”
He slipped past her and took lead, taking care with his foot placement. The bat-birds were all awake now, making anxious noises in the trees above their heads. Casey was having difficulty seeing and kept stomping on sticks, making noises.
“Scurvy sky pirates!” she shrieked. “Go faster! Ugh, this is even more disgusting than the stink ointment. Aw, crap!” She groaned at another foul strike.
Felix knew better than to stand still. The rest of the colony would crap in sympathy, the more nervous they got. He kept moving at a fast pace until he was out of range. Once there, he halted to wait for Casey.
His lips twitched upon seeing her. Crap covered her shoulders and most of the sarong the village women had given her. His nose bore the brunt of the assault, and he pinched it between finger and thumb.
“Funny,” she gritted out. “Keep moving. I want to wash.”
“Yes ma’am.”
She snarled and a chuckle escaped him. At least she was worrying more about the crap than whatever was troubling her. Maybe this was a good thing.
He started walking and she stumbled after him.
“I can’t see a damn thing,” she muttered.
He slowed. “It’s not too far. Put your hand in the waistband of my trousers. I’ll stop if there’s a problem.”
“Thanks,” she said.
Her cool fingers sliding beneath the waistband of his trousers gave him a jolt. His feline twisted, sensing her proximity. Soon, he promised. Soon.
They walked in silence, Felix turning over the pieces of the Casey puzzle in his mind.
The tangle of trees and plants started to thin, and Felix heard the bubble of the stream that flowed into the swimming hole Gus had shown him. “Not far,” he said.
“I’ve visited a lot of planets,” Casey said. “But I have never suffered from such bad body odor before I came to Ione.”
“Me either,” Felix said and didn’t attempt to smother his amusement. “Tiraq comes with challenges.” He came to a halt at a spot where a stream crossed the trail. “You’d better wash off the worst of the bat-bird crap in the stream here. We don’t want to foul the water in the pool, which is upstream a bit to our left. If you go to the right, the water is hip-deep a bit farther along.”
“Very funny. Didn’t you get hit?”
“Not this time. I did on the journey to the village.”
Casey muttered under her breath, and Felix watched her stumble into the middle of the stream and start scrubbing at her skin. She ducked her head right under the water and came up spluttering. “It’s colder than I thought it would be.”
“Cold or clean?”
“Like I said. Funny man.” She continued washing and removed her sarong to rub the fabric against a rock that jutted out from the water. “There,” she said, after another five minutes. “That should do it.”
She waded out of the stream, water dripping off her hair. She shivered.
“It’s not far to the pool. Part of it is warmer. A hot spring, Gus said.”
“Now you tell me,” Casey complained.
“I thought a big tough soldier like you could cope with anything?”
She froze, all expression sliding off her face, and Felix kicked himself.
No, damn it! He was tired of tiptoeing around her problems. After they’d swum and warmed up, they’d slip into the shelter and make love. Once he’d helped her relax, he’d ask the hard questions and expect her to answer.
Time for them both to face the truth.
They were meant to stay together, and nothing could stop it happening while he still had breath in his body.
Felix stopped by the shelter and dropped the bag of provisions the villagers had given them. Casey’s clothes were packed in the top, so at least she’d have dry clothes for the morning. He stripped off his boots and clothing.
Casey waited beside him then followed him into the edge of the pool.
“It’ll be cold at first. The warm spot is over on the other side.”
Casey seemed to cheer up a bit once they got warm. They splashed and laughed until exhausted, then they let the warm water soothe them.
“Is this the only warm spot?”
“So Gus indicated,” Felix said. “I think the water goes cool quickly once it runs out of the pool. Difficult to know for sure since we couldn’t communicate with words, but we got good at sign language. Are you ready to get out?”
“I feel clean again, and I can’t smell that disgusting bird crap any longer.”
“Memorable, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
If the military police were actually on their way, then this was the last night Casey would spend with Felix. Against her better judgment, instead of sniping at him, she should enjoy the time they had left. Now that the lunar-moon had come out, she could see the glint in his eyes, knew what it meant. He wanted to have sex.
Make love, her innermost self corrected.
While there were lots of reasons for her to resist, she wasn’t going to.
Make memories. Savor them while they last.
She followed him to the shelter, shivering in the breeze.
“In you go,” he said.
“Have you checked for visitors?”
“There aren’t any. I’d smell them, hear them. The shelter is clear.”
“I’ll take your word for it, and take it out on your hide if you’re wrong.”
“Sounds kinky, but maybe you shouldn’t give me ideas,” he said in a low growl. “I owe you a spanking for not staying out of danger.”
Casey twisted to stare at him. “What? I helped saved Mitchell butt by going with them. The skirmish could have turned nasty if it weren’t for me.”
“Not the point. I made a promise and I will deliver.”
Hadn’t she promised the general she’d go through with the nanotechnology?
Not the same, her mind screeched. Not the same at all.
Her shoulders sagged. If he spanked her, so be it. Something else to remember about Felix—his penchant for spanking.
Casey crawled into the dark shelter. There wasn’t much room, but at least she was out of the cool breeze. The dried leaves cushioned her body. Not too bad.
Felix joined her and drew Casey into his arms. She smelled the masculine scent of him, the greenery surrounding them, and sighed. Safety felt like this, had the same aroma.
He kissed her and she murmured against his mouth. She had no idea what she was trying to say, but she savored the easy thrust of his tongue into her mouth. The taste of him swept over her, familiar now. She burrowed her fingers into his hair, gripped hard in a silent demand to take the contact deeper, faster.
Already she felt the swell of his erection against her hip. The instant he’d touched her, her body had softened, readying for his possession. Her breasts swelled, her nipples hardening to taut points against his chest.
“Now,” she demanded.
“You’ve missed this as much as I have.” Satisfaction throbbed in his voice, a hint of smugness.
“No. You’re good though. You know how to play a woman’s body.”
“Careful,” he answered in a silky tone. “It’s not too late to spank the lies out of you.”
“We don’t have a future, Felix.”
“Bullshit,” he snarled.
Casey didn’t know what bulls or their crap had to do with the situation, but she recognized the dangerous edge to his tone. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, licked across his collarbone and nipped at the soft patch of skin where shoulder and neck met.
He let out a snarl—a feline snarl—and Casey froze, unsure of what she’d done.
He rolled her under him, crushed her mouth to his, and this time he didn’t muck around. He fucked her mouth with his tongue, pulled a tortured groan from her then did it all over again.
With his thigh, he parted her legs, his fingers dancing over her folds, teasing h
er clit while he settled in at her breast. He tugged her nipple between his teeth, sucked hard, bit lightly until her head spun and her fingernails dug into his shoulders.
“Please, Felix. Please.”
“Please what?” he asked hoarsely.
“Fuck me. Take me now.”
He exploded into action, guiding his cock to her opening and pushing deep with one hard thrust. Casey groaned, stunned by the way this situation had spun out of control yet desperate for him to take her and make her come hard enough to push away every single thought.
His strokes were forceful, his breath hot against her cheek. His tongue rasped across the same place she’d teased at his neck, and the abrasive sensation sent a shudder of pleasure coursing through her body. Gods, he was good at this. So, so good. He made her feel invincible, as if she were flying.
He continued to tease the spot on her neck, the skin becoming tender. Casey jolted when he gave her a hint of teeth. He slipped a hand between her legs and rubbed her clit. Another surge of pleasure struck, and Casey moaned.
“Yes,” she cried out. “Yes, yes!”
He plunged deep and bit down.
It was too much. Not enough. She cried out once more.
Felix bit her again, harder this time.
Pain filled her, collided with the pleasure—and then she was tearing apart at the seams, coming so hard she wondered if the ecstasy would make her pass out. She was aware of Felix’s shout, the convulsive heave of his body as he climaxed.
Gradually, gradually, she came back, her body loose and relaxed. Felix licked a spot high on her shoulder, and she was aware of a lingering soreness. She trembled and her pussy gave a spasm, tightening around his cock.
Casey yawned. “That was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard before.”
“Told you I was good.”
“Big head.”
Felix just grinned and gathered her close. Before she knew it, she was asleep.
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