by Jorja Kish
Mackenzie’s heart clutched tighter. No fair, she thought and looked away, suddenly agitated.
“I see that you’re finally awake. I wanted to make sure you had something to eat, just in case you were hungry. Braydok didn’t know when you last ate,” the stranger’s soft, melodic voice announced.
Mackenzie’s head jerked toward the woman and frowned when she finally noticed the slender form draped in an open-style cerulean robe exposing a smooth, flat chest and narrow waist tied with a darker navy sash. Deep-ebony trousers encase slim legs that had jackboots laced to the knees, completing the outfit.
Mackenzie blinked, shocked and confused.
“You’re not a woman,” she blurted and blushed from her rude remark. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” she said, flustered at the surprised look on the man’s exquisite features.
“Oh Sheeala, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. I get that kind of reaction all the time.” The man casually shrugged with an adorable giggle that had Mackenzie smiling despite her wariness. “We Tigard Seers are all delicate and feminine looking. It’s our body structure, honey. Are you hungry? Are you still feeling dizzy?” he asked, approaching Mackenzie with concern in his strange eyes.
Mackenzie visibly jerked when she stared into the man’s feline irises.
“Your-your eyes aren’t normal,” she gasped, scrambling back to hit the wooden-based headboard. She nervously looked around the room, searching for an exit as her heart hammered against her ribs. No freaking way, that’s impossible!
An amused grin twisted his lush mouth that made Mackenzie envious at how full, moist and no doubt soft to the touch his mouth appeared to be. She frowned at the thought, struggling to get back on the road of what-the-fuck-is-going-on-here.
“No offence, honey, but where I come from these little beauties are normal. I know you feel confused and overwhelmed, but you have to understand only one thing. You are safe here,” the effeminate male explained as he gingerly sat on the edge of the ginormous bed. His slight weight barely jostled the mattress. His strange blue eyes sparkled with a curious and sincere light, completely innocent of any malice directed at her.
Mackenzie shook her head, waves of her mahogany strains tumbling over her shoulders and into her tight features. Her eyes were luminous and guarded, with a mixture of unease and intrigue. “Where am I? God, I’ve been asking that question in my head and out loud for so long and all I get are evasive answers. Who are you, and why am I here? What happened to me?” Her questions tumbled out at a speed that had her inhaling a quick breath.
“My name is Keene Aloysius. My mates and I—you already know Braydok—are responsible for helping you transition into your new life. We are here to help you, not harm you in any fashion.”
Mackenzie sharply inhaled and paled at the same time. There was a subtle tremor to her sun-kissed shoulders as she absorbed the words that fell from the stranger’s mouth. His words didn’t match the cadence of his speech. Her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered softly, hating the feeling of vulnerability and confusion. Lord, will it ever stop? she bitterly mused.
Keene felt his heart breaking when he watched the fall of her pretty features, crushed with confusion and uncertainty. He hated her distress as it pummelled into his body. Being sensitive to strong emotions, Keene knew without a doubt that she was barely holding on to whatever strength she had left. He silently debated what to tell her, what would convince her of her new future. Truth won out.
Feline eyes calmly blinked before a sincere smile touched his ethereal features.
“I sent Braydok after you, Sheeala. Like I said, I’m a Tigard Seer, gifted with what you call clairvoyance. I had a vision of you. Braydok and several other Elite Infiltrators were sent to rescue as many women as they could from what we call the Horde.”
Mackenzie numbly stared at Keene, eyes unblinking and a bit glassy.
She opened her mouth to respond, but snapped it shut, unable to find her voice. Her hand trembled when she found the strength to rub her face and sighed a shuddery breath.
“What is this Horde, and what does it have to do with me and the other women you mentioned saving? And, for the hell of it, what does Sheeala mean? Both you and Braydok have been calling me that.”
Holy crap, I fell into some acid-trip rabbit hole. Wake up, Mackenzie. Let this be a crazy dream. I’m at home, sleeping. The world is normal and in the morning, I’ll be going to work, dropping off my daughter at college. This isn’t real. The world didn’t end and I didn’t end up as food for those horrible creatures. Those infected, those…the Horde…oh my god!
Shock paled her pretty features before she gasped in denial.
Keene watched the kaleidoscope of expressions funnel through Mackenzie’s beautiful features. He felt her turmoil and listened to the chaos in her thoughts that were projecting too loudly for him to ignore. Mackenzie’s overwhelmed mind screamed at him.
“No, what happened is impossible, yet it happened. I-I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she said, her voice cracking finally breaking down since the morning when she dropped off Shayane at school and ushered the flamboyant Gypsy Collins into a cotton robe.
Keene crawled into bed, wound his toned arms around her, remarkably strong for their slenderness, and held his weeping woman against his chest. His chest constricted and an ache only his mates gave him when their emotions were in chaos tumbled through his body.
The gentleness of his fingers lightly brushed against her whisper-soft hair. Even tangles felt like heaven under his fingertips. Mine, he thought as he softly rocked her trembling body. By the great gods, she felt so good in his arms and he couldn’t stop his own shiver from tightening his muscles.
“Sweetheart, I know this is a lot to understand or even sort through. I just want you to know that you are safe. No harm will come to you while you are here. I swear it,” Keene said as he pressed a feather-soft kiss on the top of her head.
Mackenzie pulled away from his hold, tears still glistening in her eyes and streaking down her pale cheeks. She searched the sincere look etched deep in the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They were strange eyes, but they were lovely eyes, too. The more she stared into them, the more they seemed normal, until Keene blinked vertically.
“I want to believe you. I have to believe you, Keene Aloysius,” she said with a conviction that overrode her fear and helplessness.
Chapter 14
Mackenzie watched as Keene searched her face, looking for something before he nodded his head solemnly. His eyes lost a bit of their brightness when sadness and a faint touch of wariness briefly clouded them.
“How do you feel? Can you get out of bed? I need to show you something that will explain what my words my not,” he asked.
Mackenzie swallowed and nodded carefully, securing the blanket around her body as she slipped from the bed. Her heart hammered in her chest when she felt Keene’s warm hand catch her elbow when she stumbled as she stood.
“I have you, Sheeala,” he said, keeping a firm hold that made her skin hum with pleasure.
Keene’s eyes travelled down the light golden shoulders dusted with freckles to the creamy swell of the softly rounded breasts that jiggled when Mackenzie shifted. Her skin looked so soft and luscious, but it was her fresh wildflower scent that made him burn for her with each breath.
Mackenzie swiftly inhaled and tried to stop the shiver that coursed through her. She didn’t feel the scorching heat when he held her earlier. Now the delicious heat filled her core and plumped the folds of her pussy with dewy arousal.
What the hell? Not now, she silently fumed against her treacherous body.
She pulled away, blushing with embarrassment when the tender folds between her legs throbbed and swelled, coating her pink flesh with sweet cream. Her body reacted in this way as well when that man Braydok held her in his brawny, sinful arms. It was the same damn thing when Braydok touched her.
“Come.” Keene
stepped away, giving Mackenzie room as he motioned her to follow him.
Mackenzie followed with tentative steps until she felt her strength return. The slightly taller Keene hovered close, but gave her the space she needed. She allowed him to guide her toward a heavily draped curtain of deep burgundy. It stretched across nearly the entire length on one side of the wall.
“What’s this?” She arched a brow.
“Something that will show you that anything this possible, and not to be afraid of what you might not understand right now,” Keene replied, his eyes luminous.
“Okay, like that wasn’t a tad evasive,” she mumbled.
Despite her unease, curiosity sparked her interest. She watched as Keene lightly tapped against a panel that looked like in one of those fancy houses had that had everything automated. Impatient, she tilted her head and fidgeted, but her gut clenched and her muscles stiffened. Instinct told her that she wasn’t going to like or believe what was behind curtain number one.
“Remember, you are safe here.” Keene turned and gave her an intense look as the curtains slowly parted.
Okay, broken record here, she thought. I get it. I’m safe.
Mackenzie unceremoniously gulped, her throat dry and tight. She watched as the heavy curtains parted in silence, exposing a grey wall that shimmered like water on a calm lake. She stepped closer and reached out, but stumbled back and gasped when the shimmering stopped.
Her eyes bulged as she clutched the sheet draped around her as if it was a lifeline. The wall was gone, and in its place was nothing. Only heavy darkness like a void stretched out across the space that was a wall.
Was this death?
Small, strong hands gripped her shoulders and eased her shaking form into a gentle hold as his arms gave her the comfort that she needed. The soft breath against her ear strangely gave her something that she desperately needed. Solace.
“No, honey, you’re not dead. Come, get a little closer and I’ll magnify the screen for you.” Keene gently nudged Mackenzie’s stiff form.
She shook her head and stood right where she wanted to be, away from the void.
“Trust me, we are perfectly safe, and I promise you’ll understand,” Keene said, giving another tug.
Mackenzie chewed her bottom lip and fought with trying to control the frantic beating of her heart. In a minute, she knew her heart would explode, ending this bizarre and terrifying situation. The firm hands on her shoulders somehow had her moving forward and forced her to grab onto the slender fingers in a death grip.
She tentatively approached the barrier, panting under her breath. She whimpered when Keene stepped away, clutching one of his hands to keep him close. He gave her a gentle smile and lightly tapped on the control panel.
The panel shimmered briefly until the entire screen filled with what she called God’s Backyard.
Mackenzie collapsed to the floor when her legs gave out. Her mouth dropped as she gasped from the vastness of what she knew as space.
“Oh my god, this-this can’t be real.”
It was space, as in, beyond Earth, where only imagination and curiosity lived in the lives of scientists and dreamers.
She saw pictures of what the Hubble once photographed among the stars, but none of those incredible pictures did any justice to what she witnessed in this room.
She barely gave Keene a glance when she felt him crouch next to her. Taking a deep breath, she struggled to get up and was thankful for the hands that made her tremble, helping her to rise.
Holy fucking shit!
She took the few steps to the screen and pinched her lips with indecision before finding that gumption buried deep inside her.
Her hand hovered close to the screen and hesitated for a fraction of a second before lightly touching the surprisingly warm surface. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes were huge with wonder and a healthy dose of fear. She placed her other hand on the window and stepped closer while her eyes bounced from one spot to the next, taking everything in.
“How can this be? I know what I’m seeing, and you’re real, because I can feel you, but I’m dreaming, right?” Mackenzie dragged her gaze away from the wondrous sight and set her sights on Keene’s alabaster skin and long, silky eyelashes that fanned most becomingly.
Keene stroked the side of her cheek. “You’re not dreaming, Sheeala. This is very real, like I am very real.”
Inhaling a shuddery breath, Mackenzie stepped back and glanced away before finding Keene’s cerulean eyes again. She searched his liquid eyes and only saw the naked truth staring back at her. He wasn’t human—humanoid, but not from earth. Earth. She wasn’t on her planet anymore. She was somewhere among the stars.
Quietly, she walked back to the bed and sat down, baffled at what she just saw. This is definitely not the Rabbit Hole. Shaking her head in disbelief, Mackenzie clenched the sheet gathered on her lap and softly asked for the curtains to be drawn.
A few moments later, the bed dipped and Keene’s sweet cotton-candy scent filled her senses. She gave him a tight look of scrutiny and stated, “I’m not on Earth.”
Keene shook his head, answering, “No, you’re on the Solace Dawn and hopefully, if you want, it can be your new home.”
“The Solace Dawn, my new home,” she mumbled absently.
Tears gathered in her eyes before she broke down and sobbed into her trembling hands. She cried harder when she felt Keene’s arms wrap around her a second time, tenderly pulling her closer to his strong, lean body. She didn’t know what to think anymore.
She had nothing left.
She was alone and far from home.
Chapter 15
Commander Setti stepped into the bedchamber with Braydok close behind him. His skin prickled when he inhaled a foreign aroma that made him instantly hard and wanting. The Tromere inside him growled, edgy and confused with this new scent. He narrowed his intense eyes and swept the chamber, finding Keene lying in the middle of their bed, tenderly holding the sleeping female.
The sight of the two of them in their bed had his dick getting harder. The air surrounding him exuded an earthy, masculine musk that was highly potent in his unique Alpha male virility.
He sauntered across the room, lethal and sexy. His nostrils flared from the womanly scent, fresh like after a rain, and floral, like blossoming wildflowers on the sultry moon of Pasha. His eyes darkened with arousal. He looked over his shoulder at Braydok, who followed. His lover kept the bright, jagged ring of his purple irises, embedded in a white burst of sunrays, on the sleeping duo.
“She looks beautiful in our bed,” Braydok whispered, sparing a glance at his alpha lover before returning his hungry eyes to the vision curled against Keene’s supple body.
Both men towered at the edge of the bed, each taking their time, roaming the soft curves of the female with their hungry eyes. The air surrounding them thickened with the pheromones that leaked from their pores. The musk of arousal, each unique to them, entwined and send waves to the sleeping bodies on the bed.
Keene moaned, opening his eyes, blinking back his sleep before he focused on the surrounding men. His body hummed with their scent, giving his body that hot rush that made him hard and achy. He beamed and carefully removed his arm that cushioned the auburn-mahogany hair that cascaded over his bicep.
A tender look crossed his pretty features before he kissed Mackenzie’s smooth forehead and quietly edged off the mattress. He straightened the blanket covering her naked limbs and left the bed.
Keene motioned to his bond mates to follow him, taking the men to an alcove that led to a sitting area that was their library. He paused at the threshold with Braydok and turned to find Setti standing quietly by their bed with an inscrutable expression on his sharply chiselled face.
His profile cut high cheekbones, a straight, aquiline nose born from generations of warriors and noble blood, a square, masculine jaw line and full, deep lips that were the only part on him that was remotely soft and giving.
His
alpha was one sexy man.
Keene also gave Braydok a hot, lingering look that had the taller man winking at him before Keene reluctantly looked away.
“Setti,” Keene said in a hushed tone.
The imposing warrior looked over his broad shoulder, his expression suddenly fierce. He pivoted on his heel and swaggered to his bond mates, motioned for the men to continue through the alcove as he followed them.
The sitting room was spacious, with several cushioned chairs, settees and a sectional couch that dripped comfort from its navy-blue surface. End tables were scattered across the room and the walls were lined with books carefully gathered from numerous species and cultures that flooded the Andromeda Galaxy.
Some of the books were the last of the species that the Horde had decimated. Setti made sure that each book in the room had the respect it was due, each one meticulously kept and safeguarded.
Setti roamed the shelving, lightly fingering the precious spines that his fingers glided over, gathering his thoughts before he stopped and stared at Keene’s calm features. Anger bubbled beneath his skin, but it was the worry that forced a heavy sigh from his throat.
“Tell me what happened,” he said in his usual deep, gruff voice that commanded everyone’s attention.
Keene sat down on the couch and folded his elegant hands on his lap before he replied, “She took the fact that she wasn’t on Terra surprisingly well. Of course, she collapsed afterward.”
“She didn’t hurt herself, did she?” Braydok quickly asked, frowning at the prospect.
Keene shook his head slowly and snatched a wavy curl in his hand when the silky strands brushed against his knuckles. He toyed with his hair, a habit he couldn’t stop, so he didn’t bother.
“No, we ended up back on the bed before she broke down and cried. It was horrible. I mean, I hated that she had to feel such sadness and grief. My heart broke each time she trembled in my arms.”
