The Shifter’s Nanny

by T. S. Ryder

  Erica twisted the blanket in her hands, staring blindly in the dark. After she told him about Lirreb's threats, he agreed to stay one night so she could make up her mind. He would be leaving in the morning. She had just tonight to choose whether to stay here with Bethy and Tag or go with Ronan.

  It wasn't fair! Why should she have to choose between him and her cousin like this? This was a Walian-controlled world, Planchet wouldn’t dare to come looking for him here, would they? They could stay and be safe. Or better yet, they could rejoin Zon's fleet. Even the most powerful corporations in the United Species were terrified of him because he had far more supporters than they could ever have. Supporters who would fight for him.

  She turned on her side, her hand going to her stomach. There was this to consider, too. Ronan wanted the baby. She wanted Ronan. Could they find a way to make it work?

  Bethy had done her best to convince Erica to stay. She told her about all the things that the base had to offer. Entertainment, excitement, a place where her skills would be useful. And Erica had to admit it sounded good.

  But the simple truth of the matter was that she didn't want to leave Ronan. Plus Bethy had Tag now. Would she just end up as the third wheel if she stayed here?

  She threw on a robe and slipped out of the room. Ronan's was right beside hers, and she knocked lightly before keying the door open. The T'shav was sitting in bed, a holographic book on his lap. The story was projected into the air at the right angle and height for him to read. He turned off the book when he saw her.

  "Erica, you should be sleeping."

  She closed the door again and padded across the room, kneeling on the foot of his bed. "I can't sleep without you anymore."

  He was very still for a long moment. Erica watched him, trying to guess what he was thinking. But with him that was impossible, so she crawled up the bed before straddling his hips and wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands rested on her hips.

  "I can't sleep without you, either," he whispered, resting his head against hers.

  "I can't make this decision without knowing something, Ronan. You were so happy when you saw I was pregnant. Do you want to be with me? To raise this baby together?"

  Ronan stroked her hair from her face. "Yes."

  "Do you want it enough to face your demons and return to Zon's fleet?"

  A shudder moved through his body. He was silent for so long that she feared he wouldn’t answer. Finally, though, he brushed his lips against hers and nodded. It was all Erica needed. She kissed him back, gently at first but with growing fervor. Ronan's hands tightened on her hips, his body tensing as his fingers dug into her.

  With a sigh, he relaxed again. His fingers traced her spine, his touch light, soothing. Erica moved her mouth to his jaw and neck and he sighed again. An intense feeling of connection build inside her as she explored her lover with her hands and mouth, tracing the lines of his body, feeling him shiver under her touch. He was giving her control, and that more than anything told her exactly what she needed to know.

  "Let's get this off," she whispered, unfastening his pleated kilt.

  He lifted his hips to help her but otherwise was as complacent as a kitten. When she met his eyes he smiled, dimple flashing, and a surge of heat built in her core to match the warmth spreading from her heart. Moving slowly she undressed herself, watching with building excitement as his eyes trailed down her body, lingering here and there before returning to her face.

  "You're so beautiful," she said, cupping his face. "So… so perfect."

  Ronan returned her smile. "So are you. You're amazing. You really are."

  She straddled him again, bodies pressed together. Her hips roved in tight circles, making her lover groan, his head falling back. Her motions built the tightness in her own core and Erica buried her face in his neck. She kissed and suckled on his skin, loving the taste of him, and the way he rolled himself to her, his hands alternatively clinging and stroking her back. Her movements became fast and faster, soft cries emitting from both of their throats. Erica never wanted this slow build-up to end, but Ronan's kisses were becoming more and more desperate–he needed her.

  And she was more than happy to give him back the control as willingly as he had given it to her.

  She leaned back, trusting him to hold her, and Ronan shifted to his knees, her thighs still clasped tight around his hips. He laid her down on the bed and entered in one motion, causing shockwaves to burst through every inch of Erica's body. She threw her head back, just able to stop herself from screaming. Ronan smoothed her hair back and kissed her before settling down, arms still around her. He started a steady, slow rhythm, his black eyes intent on her brown ones.

  They had never made love before. It had been just sex until now. Even as Ronan's pace got faster and faster, building the eminent explosion inside her, they never stopped looking at each other. Erica pulled him closer, wishing that their bodies could just melt together and for this to last forever.

  Ronan, for the first time, finished before her. He used his fingers to bring her to her completion. Afterward, they lay entwined in body, both on their sides so they could stay joined.

  "I don't want you to leave me," she whispered, her chest still heaving, her heart still pounding. "I never want you to leave me."

  "I won't. I promise. I will be with you forever." He smiled softly. "You know, it's T'shav tradition that our souls are born in stars. But sometimes—"

  "Sometimes a single star will birth two souls, and they will always find each other." Erica smiled. "I've heard. It's awfully romantic."

  "I never believed it. Not until… Not until right now. I don't know if it's real or not, but I think I may have just found my Starmate." Ronan pulled her closer. "I love you, Erica Chase."

  Erica grinned. She laughed softly, feeling like she was going to burst from happiness. "I love you, too."

  The door burst open. Erica screamed, searching for a blanket to cover herself. Tag strode into the room, her expression dark and angry. Both her swords were out. She ignored Erica, focusing instead on Ronan.

  "Get dressed, T'shav. We're under attack."

  Chapter Twelve: Ronan

  Ronan and Tag walked side by side down the corridors. Both had blasters in their hands and their swords strapped to their backs. They had ushered Bethy and Erica to a safe room before taking to the corridors, joining with the security forces to drive off the attackers. The Aphrosian kept shooting questioning glances at the T'shav, but he ignored them. Now was not the time for conversation.

  "Hold." Ronan held up a fist.

  The distinctive thudding of boots echoed up the corridor towards them. He nodded at Tag and gestured towards a doorway on one side of the corridor, then hid himself in an alcove across from her. The Aphrosian considered her blaster, then holstered it. She drew the twin blades from her back and grinned. She had a point–firearms weren't well suited to close-quarter combat.

  Ronan drew his own blade. The weight of the broadsword was so familiar in his hands that he forgot for a moment how long it had been since he had wielded one. His muscles remembered exactly how to use it.

  Aliens wearing Planchet uniforms ran down the corridor. They didn't notice the two warriors waiting in ambush until it was too late. Ronan launched himself on them with a roar. He swung the sword, the familiar swish as it severed the air and struck through the nearest neck sparking an ancient bloodlust in his veins. Tag slipped in like a shadow, her blades striking with deadly accuracy.

  The Planchets raised their guns, but it did them no good. Ronan cleaved a great swath through them, driving into the center of the group. Tag backflipped over the group and landed behind him. She laughed as she spun in circles. They guarded each other's backs as they cut down their enemies.

  It was over in seconds. Tag wiped her blades off on the uniforms of the fallen.

  "Well, this is rather exciting, isn't it?" Tag grinned.

  "Not as exciting as it would be if I were alone, but I get what you're
saying."

  "We have to have that duel sometime. But for now, I'm glad you're on our side."

  "Don't take it personally. I'd be out of here already if Planchet was just after your corporate information." Ronan explained briefly his history with Lirreb. "He must have tracked me here and decided it was a perfect excuse to be able to attack the base and steal some information at the same time as abducting me."

  Tag scowled. "I wondered why they would make such an obvious attack on a Walian base. But if they have you as an excuse, they might be able to get away with causing untold destruction here." Her swords rose slightly. "So I guess the question is, do I help you get away and hope Planchet chases you, or do I turn you over to them?"

  "They also want Erica," Ronan pointed out. "And I don't think Bethy would be happy if you let Planchet take her."

  "True… my little wife certainly demands her own way." The Aphrosian grinned suddenly. "Is yours the same?"

  Ronan inclined his head. "I thought she would be a sweet submissive companion. I was very wrong. And I'm glad I was."

  "Hmm. I'll tell my brother what you told me. If the Planchet Corporation is really this desperate to get their hands on you, then we won't be able to stop them. Walian is still quite small, we don't have the resources to fend off a siege. And if they get Bethy… well, they might take her claiming they were 'liberating' her or some such nonsense and then use her for their own purposes. So the safest place, for her and Erica both, is in the Zon Sanctuary. If we can get there, perhaps he will grant us asylum."

  "Us?" Ronan quirked a brow. "You're coming?"

  "I go where Bethy goes. And Bethy goes where she'll be safe, whether she likes it or not. Besides, she has been trying to convince me to find her cousin ever since we met. I doubt she'll be happy if I split them up now."

  Ronan nodded. His kneejerk reaction was to just leave Bethy and Tag here, but his gut told him he could trust the Aphrosian. It was clear she loved her little human, just as Ronan loved his own. He headed back towards the safe room, Tag walking with him. She used her comm to explain the situation to her brother. He confirmed that the Planchets had asked for Ronan shortly after their initial attack. He was giving them half an hour to get away before he handed the T'shav over.

  They made it to the safe room without incident and retrieved their women, explaining the plan as they headed out of the building. Bethy kept asking questions and Ronan had to resist the urge to tell her to shut up. He also had to resist the urge to sling Erica over his shoulder and run with her.

  The ship was docked on the third level of the Walian base, Ronan having parked it there after disengaging the takeoff protocol. The little group reached it quickly. But just as they dashed across the open space, gunfire erupted from behind them.

  Bethy cried out, stumbling. Tag shouted and dove over her, tucking the human in a ball and rolling a few times to hide the two of them behind some barrels of coolant. The Aphrosian knelt, firing rapidly at the Planchets that were charging Ronan and Erica.

  "We can't leave them!" Erica shouted as Ronan scooped her up into one arm.

  He fired back at the Planchets haphazardly, running towards the ship. His first concern was Erica's safety. Once she was out of the line of fire he could come back for Tag and Bethy. Blaster bolts showered down from every side, some barely missing him, some wide from their mark. They were certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel on this attack—probably because it was only the first wave.

  Send in the cannon fodder first, tire their enemies out before sending in a skilled crew. Clever.

  He dashed into the ship, depositing Erica in the main room. "Get into the medical bay and seal yourself in. I'll be back with Bethy and Tag shortly."

  Erica's eyes were wide but she nodded. "Don't get shot."

  He kissed her hard once more before he turned. He hadn't gone more than two steps before a T'shav appeared in the doorway. Ronan brought up his gun while reaching for his sword–but it was too late. He dimly heard Erica screaming behind him, but she sounded so far away. Everything seemed to go terrifyingly slow. He couldn't get his muscles to move quickly enough.

  The T'shav drove his broadsword through his chest. Ronan saw it go in, felt the white-hot pain, but his mind refused to connect that with his body. He let off a shot from his blaster, barely missing the T'shav. In response, his attacker knocked the weapon from his hand.

  When the blade was withdrawn, Ronan fell to his knees. Darkness swirled around him. Erica was still screaming. He couldn't make himself move, no matter how hard he fought to do so. Hands grabbed his shoulders. A high, keening voice was in his ear. He managed to look to see Erica beside him. Her arms wrapped around him and tears flowed freely down her face.

  "No! No! Ronan, no, please no!" She kissed him hard, again and again.

  His strength was failing him. He collapsed. Erica ripped his shirt open. The T'shav stood over them, bloody sword still in hand, gazing down without pity. Ronan's hand brushed Erica's hair. He tried to tell her to run, to leave him, but his voice wouldn't work. He couldn't feel his heart beating.

  Something pricked on his chest, and a burning pain made him groan. His vision cleared enough to see what Erica was doing. She had applied Bloodstore. Now she grabbed a fistful of Fleshseal and shoved it into his stab wound. Ronan's back arched and he screamed with pain. Erica straddled him to hold him in place and continued to work.

  The T'shav that had stabbed him shook his head. He seized Erica around the waist and hoisted her away. She kicked and screamed. Ronan growled, pushing himself up—the pain overwhelmed him and he collapsed again.

  "Well, this human should just about cover the costs that you owe Mr. Libber, right? Pity you'll be dead and won't be able to try to save her."

  "Let me go!" Erica clawed at the T'shav's face.

  "That wound is fatal, little human. No amount of Fleshseal will save him."

  "No!" Erica's voice rang in his ears. "Ronan!"

  Everything went black.

  Chapter Thirteen: Erica

  Erica glared at the Suesue taking a tissue sample from her. It was the fourth time in an hour. Her arms were covered in bruises and scabs. But if she didn't sit still and allow the alien to insert a large-caliber needle in her arm, retrieving a layer of adipose and muscle, she would be restrained. They would also refuse to give her a localized anesthetic. As awful as it was to watch the needle inserted into her arm, it was worse to actually feel it.

  The human rested a hand on her large, pregnant belly. It had been months since the Planchet Corporation took her. Months since she last saw Ronan lying in a pool of his own blood. She didn't know if Tag and Bethy had escaped the Planchet attack alive. She didn't even know exactly how many months she had been in this stark prison.

  The walls were glass, and she could see the scientists working outside. In her little prison was a bed and a water fountain. She was let out every couple of hours or so to use the bathroom, and other than that the only contact she had with anybody was when the samples were taken. Even the food was automatically delivered by a robot.

  Lately, things had been a little different. Nobody would tell her what was happening, but from the probes that buzzed around her, taking pictures from every angle, she assumed she was going up for auction soon. Apparently, the Planchet Corporation decided that it wasn't cost-effective to keep her around as a lab rat or selling off her tissue samples, or whatever they were doing with her.

  At least here she knew they weren't going to kill her or end her pregnancy. If they were, they would have done it already. Whoever bought her, though…

  "There we are." The Suesue put the needle and sample into a sterile container and gestured for the assistant to start using the regenerator. "That's all for today."

  Once they used the regenerator, they wouldn't take any more samples for at least twenty-four hours. Apparently, regenerators tainted the sample for a time. Erica didn't care about the science behind it, she was just glad to be able to have break.

&nb
sp; Erica watched the regenerator pass over her arm. The holes made from the needles disappeared before her eyes, the old scabs healing as well. "Do I at least get to shower today? It's been two days—I stink."

  The Suesue ignored her, turning to the assistants that were marking down what samples had been taken. They never talked to her. Probably to maintain a good professional buffer from acknowledging that she was a living, sentient person that had more than once begged them not to do what they were doing.

  "Mr. Lirreb wants to inspect the specimen himself. Make sure it's clean and dressed presentably."

  "Inspect?" Erica drew back from the Suesue, her heart jumping to her throat. "What does that mean? Inspect how?"

  They ignored her questions, as per usual. Erica's heart pounded as they escorted her to the showers and gave her a pretty, flowered smock belted at the waist to wear. She considered the situation–she didn't know what Lirreb wanted with her, but he was the one that had ordered Ronan… killed. Would she have the chance to kill him?

  Her hand rested on her stomach. No. She couldn't take that risk. She didn't know what her future held, but if she attacked the Planchet CEO, then she'd most likely dead by the end of the day. And her baby, too.

  ***

  Saliva pooled at the corners of Lirreb's blubbery lips as he ate, all but ignoring Erica. Her hands were clenched under the table. The delicious-smelling foods that were spread over the table made her mouth water, but the toad-looking creature across from her stole her appetite with his mere presence.

  "Are you planning on selling me?"

  Lirreb patted his wide mouth dry and leered at her. "Are you referring to the images we have been capturing? You're being sent to market, Miss Chase. As soon as that is born." He pointed at her stomach. "T'shav babies are selling for high prices this year. People do so love to raise them for their own little armies."

  Erica wrapped her arms around her stomach. "We'll be sold as slaves, then?"