by Isabel Wroth
Tarek pressed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, sighing loudly.
“Hopefully, the data-cube Falken’s mom stashed away will give us a place to start looking. Will we be back in time for the naming ceremony?” Cassie directed her question to Tarek, but Falken assured her they would be there and back again within a matter of days.
“Leave in the morning.” Tarek ordered, dismissing them with a tight smile.
*****
As a reprimand for manipulating him into doing what she wanted, Cassie spent the night tied to the headboard to receive whatever form of pleasure Falken chose, for as long as he chose. If she had been unable to sense his need for something to be within his control, she might have protested a bit more.
His calm the following morning and the sense that he had purged some of the agony and frustration from the previous day, was worth every ache and pain she suffered after having been so thoroughly had. It was a fair trade off, in her opinion.
Falken had vented some anger, some stress in the form of withholding her orgasms for as long as he wanted, and in return Cassie had been pleasured nearly into a coma. So what if she was walking funny?
The relaxed look on his face was totally worth it. The knowing smirks from Zarak and the rest of their protection detail as they boarded their transport? To avoid any embarrassment, Cassie decided the warriors were just jealous.
Falken took her to the rear of the transport, to the small suite on board the same shuttle she had taken to S7 a few weeks ago. He sat on the edge of the bed, taunting her with the delight dancing in his eyes.
~Come sit, my heart. I know you must be exhausted.
-Oh, and you’re not tired at all, huh?
~Not nearly as tired as you. You look as though you’ve been run ragged for days.
Cassie punched him in the arm before climbing into his lap, trying to stifle a wince as her body protested not only the position, but the effort it took to make the climb. As soon as he folded her up on his lap, the heat from his immense body started to go to work on her sore, worn-out muscles.
“How long is this flight?” she grumbled against his collar, her lashes already drooping.
Falken turned his head to rest his lips on her brow, his lips moving in a gentle caress with every word. “If we make good time, the sun should just be setting when we arrive.”
A soft chime sounded near the door, and Zarak’s voice filled the cabin. “We are secure for departure, commander.”
“Understood. I will join you soon.” Falken pressed his lips to Cassie’s cheek, nuzzling at the soft skin there. “Sleep, my one.”
*****
Cassie wasn’t sure what it was that woke her, but for a moment she didn’t know where she was. The room was silent, dark, missing the normal sparkle from the minerals in the cavern walls. She vaguely remembered him waking her up to say they had arrived at their destination, but the room actually looked more like Falken’s quarters on board the first warship.
It took her a minute to remember she and Falken were on board a shuttle heading for his childhood home.
Speaking of, Cassie looked up to see Falken’s face turned towards her in sleep. She was laying curled in the crook of his arm, her thigh thrown over his in a way that brought her core right up against the rock hard muscle of his thigh.
She smiled to realize that sometime after their arrival Falken must have undressed her and put her to bed. The smile died on her lips when she realized she couldn’t actually feel that rock hard muscle of his thigh.
Or the heat of his body.
Or the beating of his heart when she lay her hand on his chest.
She could see his chest rising and falling, but she couldn’t feel anything. Her pulse rate skyrocketed, but before she could completely freak out, a familiar voice spoke from beside the bed.
“It’s alright, Cassie. This is…somewhat of a dream.”
A shriek of surprise left Cassie’s lips as she bolted up into a sitting position.
Falken didn’t even twitch.
“Ilaria! What the hell? Where have you been? Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick! And what do you mean this is somewhat of a dream?”
The ghost-like apparition of the missing Matavei shimmered into view and Cassie was relieved almost instantly by the kind smile on the other woman’s face.
“I apologize for having caused you any distress. I have been drifting and preparing for my Awakening. My essence will begin to fade as the protocol of my pod slowly begins to bring my body out of stasis. It is easier to communicate with you when you are asleep, I can slip in and out of your consciousness without expending energy that would speed up the process.”
All of that sounded good, except for the part where Ilaria had hesitated over the word, ‘drifting.’ Cassie looked down again to check on Falken, completely weirded out by the fact that she could see her own body still nestled against his side. Her own ghostly self, half out of her physical body…
“This is so weird. Am I doing that astral projection thing?”
Ilaria tilted her head and gave a thoughtful frown. “That would be an appropriate comparison. I am speaking to your sub-conscious mind while you are in a dream state.”
Okay. More weirdness to think about later. “Right. Okay. Where were you drifting? I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“After deep reading so many individuals I needed to clear my thoughts. I wanted to say goodbye to you, before I Awakened. I wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed our time together.”
Cassie felt a wash of sadness slosh through her, thinking this might be the last time she saw Ilaria.
“Thank you, Ilaria. For all you’ve done for me personally and for everyone else here. Tarek wanted me to tell you the next time I saw you, you are welcome in Sarazen territory, in spirit or in flesh.”
“I will remember it. Cassie, I found something while I was drifting, it’s what kept me for so long.”
Cassie frowned as she saw Ilaria’s mouth continue to move, but no sound came out except for every other word. Her figure even wavered in and out, like they had a bad transmission connection. “What?”
Ilaria lifted her hands and huffed with annoyance to see them getting less substantial and mistier.
“The others of your kind…followed their familiar…found them on…need help. They are…danger…there is…boy…beautiful.”
Cassie shook her head and reached out as Ilaria’s image got more and more transparent, but her fingers slid right through the torso of the other woman. Ilaria looked frustrated, her lips still moving, trying to tell Cassie something important.
“YOU HAVE TO FIND HIM!”
*****
Falken jerked awake when Cassie suddenly sucked in a huge gasp of air and bolted upright in the bed. Thinking someone had somehow invaded the shuttle, he leapt from the bed ready to tear the intruder to pieces. Cassie panted from the mess of the bedsheets and called out to him softly.
He ordered the lights on and saw no one except his mate, looking bewildered as her wide eyes moved over their empty room. He crawled back up across the mattress to curl his hands over her shoulders, making her flinch and look at him in bewilderment. He stroked her hair and nodded when her wild gaze settled on him and steadied with recognition.
“Cassie, what is it?”
“Ilaria was here. She did something to communicate with me while I was dreaming. She’s gone. She said something about others of my kind needing help, but she wasn’t coming through as clearly because she was waking up. Something about them being in danger, then something about a boy, and then right before she disappeared, she yelled at me that I had to find him.”
Cassie was practically in his lap now, vibrating with nervous energy as her words came faster and faster.
“Alright, alright,” he soothed her gently, worried by how badly she was shaking, “Let me get you some water.”
She shook her head, clutching at his arms almost desperately, kneading at the muscle while she searched around
the room for the female who wasn’t there.
“My kind, that would mean more humans, right?”
Sensing her urgency to understand Ilaria’s last words to her, Falken turned with her so he was sitting against the headboard and let her sit astride his waist while she pressed her lips together in distress. While she reached up with one hand to fist her hair in her hand as though it would help her think better.
“Perhaps.”
Her beast filled her eyes when she snarled at him. “I don’t need you to patronize me right now, Falken! Ilaria was seriously trying to tell me something!”
He attempted to soothe her, surprised by the vehemence in her voice.
“I believe you. I am not attempting to patronize you, my one. I am concerned for you. Tell me what happened. How did your conversation start?”
Cassie closed her eyes tightly, hissing softly while she tried to remember. “This is somewhat of a dream,” she muttered, seemingly more to herself than him. “Um…consciousness, no, sub-conscious, less power to talk that way. Drifting…oh my god, I can’t remember!” Her eyes snapped open and tears were sparkling on her lashes. “Falken, I can’t remember!”
She struggled for all of a heartbeat as he pulled her down to cuddle her to his chest, shushing her when she hiccupped around frustrated tears.
“Cassie, you woke violently. It is little surprise you don’t remember the details of your sleeping conversation, and if Ilaria was talking with you via your sub-conscious mind, it will take some time to remember.”
“What if I don’t have time?” Falken opened his mouth to tell her they would find a way, but Cassie gasped and interrupted him. “The data download. Ga’rae can access my sub-conscious mind, access the memory and replay it for me!”
“No, he will not.”
She shoved back with an outraged gasp, her lips parted in surprise at the harshness of his tone. “What? Why the hell not? Ilaria was shouting at me, not just casually trying to tell me something. She shouted it.”
Falken struggled to calm his voice, not having been ready yet to follow this kind of discussion to its inevitable conclusion. “Ga’rae is not here, and I trust no one but him act as your medic.”
Cassie tilted her head, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “If you had led with that, instead of back tracking while feeling uncomfortable, I’d be inclined to accept it as the seat of your concern. But you’re shit out of luck as I can feel you trying to hide something from me. Ilaria has provided us with vital information in the past few weeks. Information that led to the capture of four major players in this conspiracy. So you better have another, way more important reason for having just used that tone of voice with me.”
“Can you say with absolute certainty, the bits of information you remember Ilaria giving you are more important than the data-cube we came for? If you can, I will take you home to the fortress right now.”
She sat in his lap, studying his face like she was trying to decide how grievously he might have wounded her again.
“What are you hiding from me?” she breathed, as though she dare not speak the words any louder.
Falken sighed as he smoothed his hands down her arms, trying to chase the chill from her skin. “I am hiding nothing, my love.”
“Oh my god. You are!” she shouted. Shoving out of his hold to stand over him, jerking the blanket off the bed to take with her as she climbed off. He blew out a heavy breath and smacked his head back against the headboard, lifting his feet to let his wrists rest on his bent knees, watching Cassie pace furiously back and forth in the narrow space between their temporary bed. She wrapped the blanket around her torso, jerking it snug between her breasts with a tight knot.
“I cannot believe this! I can’t believe you! After everything we’ve just gone through, you’re hiding shit from me? Seriously?” Her incredulous shout was followed by a banging on the door that joined their small suite to the forward section of the shuttle. Cassie shouted even louder, cheeks on fire with her indignation. “Who the fuck is it?”
The reply was muffled by the door. “Zarak. Is everything alright?”
Falken had to bite down on his lips to keep from laughing as Cassie stomped her foot and then kicked the train of the blanket out of her way.
“NO! Falken is hiding something from me and he thinks it’s funny!”
“I can hold him down if you would like to beat him for his insolence.” Zarak offered, a hint of his own amusement plain even through the door.
Cassie did not find it amusing. She shook her fist at the closed door, shouting her reply as though Zarak could see her through the closed panel.
“Then who’s gonna hold you down? Huh? Mind your business! You!” she spun and stabbed her finger in Falken’s direction. She took a breath to continue berating him for the secret she thought he was keeping from her and then stopped.
Falken lost all semblance of amusement when she froze mid-motion, her chin jerking back while she licked her lips and looked completely bewildered.
He kicked his legs out and got up, pausing when she threw one hand out to stop him and pressed her other to her chest. “Cassie?”
Her gaze shot up to his, surprise tinted by fear widening her eyes. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
She gave a little sound of distress, clapped her palm over her mouth and just made it into the small washroom to heave what contents she had in her stomach into the sink.
Falken followed her, ignoring how she tried to tell him to go away, and carefully scooped her short locks out of her face.
“You should not upset yourself so, my heart.”
“Oh…god.” she groaned, hanging her head over the basin for a moment.
He winced in sympathy as she began another round of heaving, steadying her while she struggled and took her weight when she finally finished, her body sagging from exhaustion. He waited there at the basin for a few minutes more, just in case.
She clumsily turned the faucet on, letting him hold her up while she rinsed her mouth and splashed water on her face. Bracing her hands on the rim of the basin with a little groan.
“I get angry all the time. This is…not…normal.” she hiccupped her way through the last few words, tipping her head back to rest on his shoulder.
“Ready to get back to bed?”
She nodded, shivering as the heat of her exertion and her anger drained away. He carefully scooped her up and carried her slowly back to the bed, making sure he moved almost incrementally to keep from jostling her any further. As soon as he placed her on the mattress, she flung her arm up over her head with a groan.
“Still nauseated?”
“No. What the hell?” she rasped, “I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”
“Perhaps your extreme emotion coupled with the lack of food—”
“If you’re not talking to explain to me what the big secret is, don’t talk.”
“I am not keeping a secret from you, Cassie.”
“You do remember I can smell it when you lie, right?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but she flung her arm up and turned over to give him her back.
Falken struggled not to laugh at her disgruntled little growl when he touched a kiss to her nape, choosing to ignore how she attempted to roll her shoulder in an effort to dislodge his touch.
"I am not lying to you, Cassie. I keep no secrets from you.”
“Whatever. Keep it to yourself then, see if I care.”
Falken lay down and curled himself around her back, nuzzling his chin across the top of her head. Enjoying the way the silky strands brushed against his face and filled his senses with her sweet scent. He reached around and curled his arm over her chest, cupping her shoulder in his hand to keep her from trying to wiggle away.
“As you wish, my one.”
Fifteen
His mate was still grumpy the following morning, not responding to his attempts at conversation except to glare at him with the flame of her temper bright in her eyes. Ca
ssie actually growled a testy little sound when he bent to press a kiss to her hair as he left the bed.
Right on time, Zarak sent a message to his wrist unit, announcing his return with food to break their morning fast. Falken did his best not to smirk when the scent of Cassie’s arousal curled through the air. His one enjoyed the sight of him dressing and undressing, almost as much as he enjoyed watching her do the same.
Keeping his body between Cassie and the door, Falken opened it to find Zarak with a tray heaped with various food items in his hands. Falken didn’t have to ask for a report as he took the tray from Zarak.
“The warriors sent ahead to secure Farro’s residence have reported no activity. His warehouse and supply office have been obliterated by a fire that broke out two days ago.”
Falken grunted, unsurprised by the fire. Farro’s co-conspirators would have wanted to conceal any evidence of their illegal shipments or any information that could be used against them. He said as much and Zarak grunted in answer.
“Where did this all come from?” Falken nodded to the tray of food.
“From the closest street market, commander. Matem and I went to meet the warriors at the rendezvous and picked it up on our way back.”
“You are confident it is untainted?”
“I am, sir. We brought rations with us from the fortress if you would prefer. But I didn’t think that would appease your mate at this time.”
“Rations will definitely not appease her!” Cassie called from behind them.
Falken grunted at the other male, pressing Zarak to ensure the food was safe for Cassie to eat. “Would you give it to your mate?”
“You have a mate, Zarak?” The sound of Cassie getting up from the bed followed her question.
Zarak’s ears turned pink, his eyes dropping to his boots respectfully. Ensuring he would not catch an inappropriate glimpse of Cassie. “No. I have not yet been so blessed. But yes, Commander. I would.”
Satisfied, Falken gave a grunt. Clicking his tongue when Cassie pressed up against his back and reached around him to snitch a piece of fruit from the tray.
