Angus turned and lifted a brow. “Which ceremony took for ya, Admiral? Which do ya remember? There’s something binding about standing before yer fellow men and declaring yourself to be the keeper of one woman and one alone.”
“I’m just saying it doesn’t necessarily matter to the end result of the match. It only matters to some women,” Nate finished, even after realizing how lame he sounded. Marrying Sheena was the only one he remembered. It was the only time he’d invested his heart in a relationship. He nearly winced when Erin snorted at him and glared.
“It matters to all women who know the man they’re promised to will be the last and only one she lets bed her. That’s no small thing and should not be seen as one by her matchmakers or the people of the planet she’s saving. Every woman in this program is a fecking heroine—no, she’s a fecking warrior—and should be honored as such.”
“Maybe we should get married and show these Universe 10 bastards how it works,” Angus declared.
“Don’t start,” Erin said, turning her glare on Angus. “Yer not an alien, Angus. I’ll marry ya when I’m good and ready, and not one day before.”
Angus smiled at her answer. “Well, that’s not the sweetest yes I’ve ever heard, but I guess it will do, considering the source.”
Erin let an exasperated breath escape before turning her attention fully back to John. “Will ya put in a good word with the Guardians for us? That’s all we’re asking.”
John stopped in front of a conference table and crossed his arms. “Alright. I’ll sponsor your request. I doubt they will agree to your suggestion, but we can try.”
“Thanks be to ya, John. That’s all we can ask of ya,” Erin said, favoring her superior with a smile.
“Angus?”
“Yes, John,” Angus said, his attention on the screen now.
“Did you get your kilt yet?”
When Angus looked at him, Nate shook his head. He gave John his full attention too. “Who was delivering to the ship? It hasn’t arrived.”
John smiled. “Well, the delivery I actually sent to you was a bit more complicated than I’d originally planned. Let me check into the matter and I’ll get back to you with an estimated arrival time.”
Nate nodded once. “Very well.”
Good-byes were said and then the com screen went blessedly blank. Nate could barely wait to leave the room. For once, he was more than happy to be heading to his empty quarters. He needed a break from the MacNamara madness.
“You haven’t blinked once in thirty minutes. It can’t be that fascinating.”
Still dazed over what she was seeing, Sheena lifted her head from her private com to stare at her snarky sister. “I think I’m wrong about them being clones. Or at least I hope to hell I am.”
Bri took the seat on the other side of the table. “I’ve waited all my life to hear you admit you might not be right about something. Why are you ruining the moment with that startled look like you just got tranquilized?”
“Their DNA is perfectly flawed. They both have disease markers that haven’t been seen in a millennia on this planet. Yet they also have a level of DNA health that barely exists in New Earth humans who were born before the alien biologics were released during the invasion. Their DNA—for a lack of a better way of saying it—is as innocent as Angus and Erin are.”
Bri waved a hand at the com Sheena leaned over. “I won’t pretend I understand even a quarter of what you do, but are you saying they actually are our freaking ancestors?”
Sheena shrugged. “Strictly from a DNA standpoint—yes.”
“Huh,” Bri said. “So they were telling us the truth, just like they said they were. I like them, but this whole time I really thought they were lying.”
Sheena shook her head trying to shake off her conclusions, but it just wasn’t working. She didn’t like where her mind had gone. “I just thought they were programmed with the story they gave us.”
“I don’t get it. If they’re our ancestors, where the hell did they come from?” Bri asked.
Sheena frowned. “If they’re clones of Mom and Dad’s ancestors, their existence is the biggest success this world has ever seen in self-replication. Any clone with DNA this complex won’t die early. Instead, they’ll thrive like born humans. Can you imagine the ramifications? Natural reproduction has been challenging for anyone exposed to the alien biologics during the invasion. Though they never said, I had the sense that was why Mom and Dad waited so long to make us. I don’t think conception was possible for them in the normal way.”
“Wow. That suddenly makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it.”
“It absolutely does. But frankly I’m not buying the clone theory anymore. I don’t think Angus and Erin are clones at all. No one has done more research into regeneration than I have. I’m nowhere close to creating beings as viable as Angus and Erin are. That kind of human replication simply isn’t possible yet. Plus, you have to keep in mind our true origins. All humans were seeded from an alien species to begin with. What they set in motion within our continuing evolution has never been duplicated by any other species we’ve ever encountered. The Anunnaki, whoever they were originally, they’re our real ancestors. We’re all just copies of them and each other.”
“Now I’m more confused. What’s your take on Angus and Erin then?” Bri asked, honestly wanting to know.
Sheena glanced at the screen, no longer seeing what was on it. All she saw was a hundred more unanswered questions. “I don’t think they’re anything as simple as clones. I think maybe they are our ancestors. I just don’t know how that’s possible unless the Guardians have perfected time travel.”
Bri laughed. “Time travel. Right. That’s about as likely as us learning to pinpoint wormholes in space. Time travel attempts have all ended in unexplained deaths and missing people. I can see the Guardians playing with it, but if that was true, they’d have already gone back and halted the invasion.”
Sheena sighed. If Bri stayed on this ship much longer, she was going to lose quite a few of her illusions.
“The data I’ve seen indicates that there are certain insurmountable problems with New Earth’s presence in the time and space continuum. Dad worked on a project involving time travel. Test subjects left our time and never reappeared. Plus history was altered by their absence. Luckily, nothing catastrophic happened before the project was ceased. The problem is we can’t stop and start time in our own rapidly spinning universe, especially not well enough to do anything like retrieving someone from our own past. But…”
“But what?”
Sheena shook her head. “Let me think this through before I postulate something stupid just because I’m desperate for some kind of answer. I’m going to look through the notes Dad left for me. I compressed them until they fit on a zeon crystal. I wear it like a necklace. No one ever knows it’s a compilation of over four hundred years of his research.”
Bri chuckled. “A necklace? And you always said I was the sentimental one.”
“You are the sentimental one,” Sheena said, grinning back.
“So what are you going to do next?” Bri asked.
“That depends. Are you ready to leave with me?”
“Sheena… we talked about this.”
Sheena smiled. “That’s what I thought, which means I’m staying until you do. And since I’m staying, I figure I might as well scratch an old itch while I’m here.”
Bri’s eyebrows rose. “Just like that?”
Sheena snorted. “No. Of course not. But the chemistry is still there and it’s going to happen eventually. I’d rather it be when I decide it should and not because I’ve had too much alien ale. That could have happened when he came by. It didn’t, but it could have.”
“Watch your heart,” Bri advised, sighing softly. “You still haven’t gotten over the last time Nate broke it. I’m not sure you realize the effect he has on you.”
Sheena shrugged. “Maybe things are different now. Maybe when I leave it will be comp
letely over. Imagine me feeling no anger. No hurt. No disappointment over coming in second to a damn airship. Maybe Nate and I will just be lovers for old times sake and then both just walk away afterwards.”
Bri pressed on her eyelids which were both starting to twitch. It always had been her only visible sign of stress. “Yeah… and I’ll keep pretending I’m not sexually interested in the fiercest looking creature who ever came through the alien portal.”
“Darcone’s a good person… for an alien. He thinks he’s too old for you and he might just be, but that would be the case with any Earth female interested in him,” Sheena said, closing down her research. “I will confess to you, and you only, that he’s the only alien I ever liked.”
“Nate’s a good person too,” Bri said. “Mostly he’s been good to Angus and Erin. He’s been good to me as well. He let me stay instead of kicking me off his airship.”
Sheena nodded as she headed to her room. “Yes, I know. That’s why I’m going to sleep with him. Nate can consider it my thank you for taking care of the only family I have left… and yes, I am now including Angus and Erin in that group.”
Chapter Six
What he’d done to relieve himself of his physical torment took the edge off his lust, but the effect only lasted until he found himself thinking about kissing Sheena in his office. There had never been another woman who generated that much desire in him merely by breathing. How she did it was now a century old mystery he’d never been able to solve and probably never would.
The quiet knock at his door surprised Nate. Crew members normally contacted him via com link first unless it was critical. He grabbed a shirt and pulled it on as he walked to answer. A freshly showered Sheena with wet hair stood on the other side. He stared at her as he pulled his shirt down into place. The urge to tug her into the room rolled over him like a wave.
“Hi. Can I come in?” she asked.
Nate swung the door wide to let her pass. A low growl from Darcone was followed by a resigned head shake as the alien walked off. After a hundred years of serving with Darcone, words between them weren’t really necessary in most situations. That suited Darcone because he didn’t like to talk anyway. It normally suited Nate too, but he no longer saw it as a positive for his character. Now it only made him feel emotionally shut off from just about everyone on his ship.
He closed the door and turned slowly. Sheena was dressed in comfort clothes, gray banded workout pants and a tight top that molded to every curve she owned. It wouldn’t have been a seduction wear choice for most women. But it had always been Sheena’s. Her relaxed clothes signaled the scientist was finally going off-duty.
“Did you come about the report?” he asked, testing his theory.
Sheena studied the floor as she sighed. “Not really. I’ve decided there’s no use digging until I know what to ask. I’m sure you suspected I’d react that way.”
“Are we being politely honest… or just honest?” Nate asked.
“Honest.”
Nate felt one corner of his mouth lift over her utter lack of hesitation. “Yes. I suspected you’d be stumped by the information.”
“But you’re not willing to tell me more about why, are you?”
“Not at this time,” Nate said wearily. He was surprised when Sheena nodded.
“Okay. Next issue. Can I stay the night?” she asked.
Nate stared, unsure he’d heard correctly. “Just like that?”
Hearing the echo of Bri’s surprise in his question, Sheena decided she must have gotten more blunt over the years. A woman had needs, didn’t she? She’d decided to let Nate take care of the ones she had for him—on her terms, of course.
“Yes. Just like that. I’ve gotten very realistic about sex in the last hundred years. I’m tired of being wound up. Aren’t you?”
Nate frowned at the flat statement. Did Sheena really think all they had was a physical attraction? That had never been the case with them. It wouldn’t be the case tonight either—if he let her stay. He studied her, looking for what, he didn’t know. When he made no move, Sheena laughed at his hesitation.
Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, Sheena pulled it over her head in a one smooth motion, leaving her naked from the waist up. Her nipples beaded as Nate stared.
“Breathe, Nathaniel.”
Nate looked away from a now half naked Sheena to save his sanity. His clothing felt like it was choking him. “Why are you doing this, Sheena? Tell me the real reason.”
Sheena shrugged. “Do I really need to explain our mutual attraction to you? It was obvious to me this afternoon that we weren’t done with each other. Maybe all divorced couples go through this second chance thing. I don’t know.”
“Well, I do. I’ve been divorced from five women. It’s only been like this with you,” Nate said sharply.
“Thank you, I think,” Sheena said with a small chuckle and a shake of her head. “If that’s the case, why aren’t you over here taking advantage of my offer. Don’t you want me?”
Nate hadn’t felt himself move, but suddenly he was standing next to her. One hand cupped her naked breast while his mouth lowered and slid across hers as unerringly as ever.
Want her? This wasn’t just about wanting her. This was madness… lust… need. He needed her. He needed her like he needed air.
Even through the blood pounding in his ears with his loud heartbeat, he heard the fasteners of his pants give way seconds before Sheena’s hand plunged inside and closed around him. Stroking firmly, she groaned into his mouth, and he eagerly swallowed every tiny sound. Only this woman had ever brought him this sense of rightness and a pure, hot, all-encompassing desire to be inside her.
A flashing light above his door drew Nate’s attention from her and had him muttering an epithet. He pulled his shirt off and roughly tugged it over a dazed Sheena’s head as she stared in shock at the guards now coming inside. Nate used her hastily clothed body as a shield while he fastened his pants back. The uncomfortable tightness at least flattened his erection enough to make him presentable.
“Apologies, Admiral. A strange shuttle is requesting permission to dock. They lacked normal clearance for coming aboard the AAS airship. Those aboard only laughed when I asked for their registration. My instinct is to deny them, but I wanted to check with you first. It’s rare anyone dares to go around well established protocol.”
Nate stepped around a stiffening Sheena. He could feel her shutting down… and shutting him out. “Next time, use the damn com to warn me of your arrival. Wait for me outside, Captain.”
Sheena snorted as the man’s eyes widened over what she was sure was an unusual order. The idiot finally took in the scene he’d burst in on. You could see in his gaze the moment his pea brain finally figured out exactly what he’d interrupted.
“My apologies… uh… to you as well… uh… Dr. MacNamara.”
“For what? Interrupting my stupidity?” Sheena asked, smiling wickedly. Stooping, she picked her shirt up from the floor where she’d dropped it during her pathetic strip show. “Do you think it surprises me that this airship is still staffed with more cock-blocking human bastards than aliens? I assure you that it does not surprise me at all.”
“Sheena…” Nate began.
She raised a hand to stop his denial. “Save it, Admiral. I don’t need more lame apologies. I’m horny, not heart-broken. But don’t worry, I can take care of my own needs later. It not like I wasn’t used to doing that most nights when we were married.”
Beyond the stunned and gasping men, Sheena spied a semi-friendly face. “Oh look… Berg is here. He can take me back to Bri’s quarters. Now there’s nothing stopping you from rushing off to do your job, which apparently only you can do. I know how much you love being needed by every creature on this fucking airship.”
Sheena walked forward with intention. The still startled men with Captain Cock-Blocker parted for her to pass. She saw Berg look over her head, no doubt seeking permission from Nate, but she didn’t wait o
n him to get it. She started back to Bri’s room at a rapid clip, cursing herself for giving in to her physical weakness.
At least some good had come of tonight. The sexually frustrated walk down memory lane had re-immunized her. Lust, desire, and whatever warmth she’d been feeling for Nate had left the moment he’d thrown his shirt over her head to hide her nudity. Worse, his scent now surrounded her, wiping away a hundred years of therapy. Just how crazy was she acting?
Thoroughly pissed, and just as thoroughly aroused now, Sheena promised herself that she was not about to fall down the damn rabbit hole of wanting him more than air again.
“Captain Cock-Blocker?” Bri laughed as she repeated the nickname. She also noted Sheena hadn’t taken off Nate’s shirt yet. Her too intelligent, former brother-in-law had to be one of the most stupid males she’d ever met when it came to women. “Did you actually call him that to his face?”
Sheena ran a hand through her hair and nodded. “Do we have any ale? I’m wound so tight, I feel like climbing the walls.”
Bri chuckled, nodded, and rose from her seat to fetch a glass. She ended up pouring two and brought them both back to Sheena.
“Here. You can drink mine too. Maybe it will take the edge off. There’s nothing worse than coitus interruptus. It makes a woman mean.”
Snorting, Sheena took several good swallows. Then she lifted the first glass and downed the rest. She set it back on the table harder than she meant to.
“Damn Nate for making me feel like an idiot again. My hand was wrapped around his dick and the fucker still pulled away from me. Who does that shit? Other men wouldn’t have done that shit. I fucking know that’s the truth. There have been plenty of men in my life and none ever turned me down. None.”
Bri nodded. “Of course, they didn’t. Nate’s just… I don’t know. I can’t explain him. Captain Cock-Blocker though. Wow. Every time I see him now, that’s all I’m going to be able to call him, even if it’s only in my head.”
“I’m glad my torment entertains you, Bri.”
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