Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2)

by Lauren Landish

  “Ahhh umphhh uuuu,” I moan into his mouth, knowing he can't understand me but not caring, just saying it is enough, and I'm coming, crying out as Jensen shudders, and I feel the hot warmth of his come filling me, satisfaction and ecstasy sending me into trembles, tears slipping from the corners of my eyes as Jensen breaks our kiss to cry out one last time, my name tearing from his lips as he finishes climaxing before he sags, his body nearly boneless as he rolls to the side, pulling me with him to stay joined together.

  “Are you okay?” Jensen whispers, stroking my hair in between deep, shuddering breaths. “I wasn't too rough?”

  “You were perfect sir,” I whisper back, kissing his lips softly. “Thank you. I never knew how good it could be. I thought it was just a bunch of big talk from arrogant jackasses. Now I know that it's possible, that it really can be that good.

  I snuggle against him, inhaling his scent and humming happily as I close my eyes. Good night, sir.”

  Holding me closely, he responds, “Good night, my lovely.”

  Chapter 16

  Jensen

  It's still early when I feel Kelbara thrashing, her hands slapping at my back as she moans, trying to make words but failing. I open my eyes in time to feel her rake her fingers down my back, ripping open my skin and sending white hot pain through me. I hiss, but don't say anything. She's having a nightmare, I can hear her moaning incoherently, and while I don't know exactly what it is, she's trying to fight something in her dream, I know that much.

  “Shhh... Kelbara, it's Jensen. I'm here, beautiful. I'm here, you're safe,” I whisper in her ear, stroking her back carefully. I've seen people in nightmares before, it happens too often in my household to not have seen it. Heaven and stars, I've been woken up too many times by someone having night terrors, their screams piercing the night stillness like a dagger to the heart. Sometimes, the person needs to be woken up, sometimes they need to just wake up on their own. That ruins their rest though, so I reassure Kelbara as best I can, whispering in her ear softly and telling her she's safe. It doesn't work, she's so caught up in her terror that she can't fight past it, she's trapped, and I try something else.

  “Fight it, my beautiful woman. Fight it, use my strength to fight it. Take from me, I'll always be here for you, I promise you. Fight it, my beautiful Kelbara. I'll protect you.”

  The words work, and Kelbara sighs, pulled enough out of her bad dreams to snuggle back into my arms and sigh happily as her dream changes, murmuring three words that I can't quite make out, but a little part of me hopes I heard the same ones I think she may have said when she was about to come while we were making love earlier.

  After she quiets down I watch her face carefully, studying every curve and line. I study the way her eyelashes curl outward, rich and light, as delicate as flutterfly wings but almost sparkling in the soft light of my overhead lamps that I didn't get a chance to turn off before we fell asleep. I watch as her lips twitch into a cute little bow as her dream shifts to something even happier, and her hands tighten around my torso into a hug, her cheek pressing against my chest as she holds me.

  I'd lie here like this forever if there was peace. If I thought that Kelbara and I could, I'd stay here at the estate with her, never leaving except to see Audra and Tauren. I could be a homebody if Kelbara wanted me to. There's enough junk in the stuff that still needs to be sold off that we could live comfortably for the rest of our lives, if there was peace.

  But there isn't peace, and as long as there isn't, then I can't just stay here. With the threat of obliteration hanging over us, I can't sit back and let others do the fighting. And if that's the case, then while having Kelbara in danger worries me, at the same time I know there's only one other person I'd perhaps want more at my side, and that's Tauren. With Tauren on one side of me and Kelbara on the other, I think we could take on the whole Slaver rebellion by ourselves and walk out unscratched. Well, maybe with a scratch or two, but nothing that'd leave a mark permanently. She's a warrior, and a woman, a very sexy blend to me.

  I lean down and kiss Kelbara's white-blond hair, inhaling her heavenly scent. The gift she gave me last night. Her virginity. Everyone loses their virginity at some point. But the gift was that it meant so much to her, and that she trusted me, she opened herself totally to me. And it was amazing, because of it being Kelbara. I swear that she moaned the word 'love' as we were kissing, and deep in my heart I hope she did. Today isn't the day to tell her that I feel the same way, but instead to set aside the soft side of our personalities, and be the badass that I know is inside of her.

  Still, we have a few minutes, and I cherish them, holding Kelbara close and promising her silently that I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe in the mission ahead. I kiss her forehead one more time, and she stirs, smiling. “Now who's waking up to an angel?”

  “You don't have to wake up yet,” I murmur, stroking her back. “There's still a few minutes.”

  “I set my internal alarm before falling asleep, I'm fully rested,” Kelbara says, and I remind myself to ask her about this internal alarm clock that she seems to have. “But, it does feel nice to hold you. I think I'll lie here a while longer.”

  Kelbara shifts, lifting her knee over my hip, chuckling when she feels my morning erection tickle her leg. “Didn't get enough of me last night?”

  “No. I'll never have enough of you.”

  She reaches down, wrapping a strong but gentle hand around my cock and begins to pump me slowly, the pleasure making me groan slightly. “Kelbara.... the mission...”

  “I know, sir,” she says, opening her eyes and looking into my face. “Lie back, let me have a few minutes before we have to get dressed.”

  I nod, lying back in the bed as Kelbara sits up, her hand pumping my cock slowly as she watches my face, seeing if what she's doing is right or not. It's just right though, not so soft that I feel like I could stay here until I get bored, but not so hard that it's painful. Instead, her hand pumps my cock tirelessly, drawing me higher and higher to the peak that I know she wants me to have. I rarely let myself be both so greedy as to not please a woman as she pleases me, or to give myself fully to a lover's control like Kelbara has right now, but the soft intensity in her eyes reassures me, and I let my hands rest behind my head as she pumps my cock.

  It's good, very good, and in just a couple of minutes I'm trembling, moaning as she studies my face. “Do you like it, sir? Am I pleasing you?”

  “You always please me Kel,” I moan back. “Oh Kel.... oh, I'm going to come...”

  Kelbara smiles and quickly lowers her mouth, sucking the head of my cock into her mouth and pushing me over the edge. I feel my balls churn, and then I'm coming, maybe not as hard as I did last night but still filling her mouth with my cream. Kelbara sucks it all, not missing a drop before she sits up and swallows, smiling at the flavor as her hand slows, going from pumping my cock to carefully caressing it. She lowers her head again, the small pinkness of her tongue coming out to bathe my cock and lick it clean before she sits up again, smiling. “Thank you, sir. It's time to get up now.”

  “I should return the pleasure,” I whisper, reaching for her, but Kelbara slides off the bed, smiling.

  “Keep it in mind for after today's mission. We can....” Kelbara says before she stops, looking at the bed. “Eww.”

  I look, and try not to laugh at the small bloodstain on the sheets where we'd made love last night. The last remnant of Kelbara's virginity, except for the important part that is in our hearts. “It happens.”

  Kelbara shakes her head, laughing slightly. “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, let's get the sheets changed before we get back, could we?”

  “Not a problem,” I chuckle, sliding out of bed and going over to her. She lets me pull her in for a kiss, and her body feels warm and perfect in the morning air. “I'd invite you to share a shower with me, but I think you're right about keeping my mind somewhere else, if we're going to get this mission started, we need to shower apart.”

 
“I'll meet you in the dining room in thirty minutes, we can leave in an hour,” Kelbara says. “Is that okay?”

  “I eat breakfast in the kitchen, there's no point of using that whole big dining room for most meals. Drives Chef nuts, but I'm the boss,” I joke, kissing her again. “Wait... what clothes are you going to wear for the mission?”

  “Yesterday I messaged Mogar while I was getting ready for dinner, asked him to send over some of my more standard clothes. He said they'd be delivered last night, I trust he's good on that, he knows what the shuttle needs. I won't be flying naked with you today.”

  The image keeps me warm through my shower, even if the scratches in my back sting a little under the hot water. I towel off and get dressed, a one-piece jumpsuit even though I still have bad associations with the jumpsuits and the band of fanatics led by Mathias that nearly ended it all for us. I still can't wear a black jumpsuit because of it, and instead go with a utilitarian gray-green along with my Lancer boots. They're not insulated, but the fabric will be enough down to freezing, and I'm a tough guy, I can deal with below freezing some. Coming down to the dining room, I see that Kelbara has had similar ideas, although she's wearing pants and a tunic instead, but the color is almost identical.

  “Already, our minds are beginning to work as one,” she jokes, comparing her sleeve with mine. “It practically looks like they're from the same lot of fabric.”

  “I'll make sure to get a set just like yours then for next time,” I joke, sitting down to breakfast. It's quick and easy, but lightweight, there wasn't a lot of extra room on the shuttle and it doesn't have a toilet. I don't want to be setting down on a constant basis to go run out to find a bathroom. We head out to the shuttle just as the sun crests above the eastern wing of the estate, and I see that Justine's waiting for us, something in her hands. “Justine?”

  “For your flight, my Lord,” Justine says, holding out a bag. “The staff made sure that you have full rations and other kit packed in the storage area, but Chef insisted that you have something better than ration packs.”

  I open the bag and smell the sandwiches packed inside before sealing it and handing the bag to Kelbara. “Here. Can you run the preflights while I give some instructions to Justine, please?”

  “Yes sir,” Kelbara replies, climbing into her seat in the cockpit while I lead Justine away. I watch her for a moment, then turn to Justine.

  “Thank Chef for me. And tomorrow, remember that Lord Imogen is coming to look at purchasing some of the tapestries in the storage room, you might want to have those ready for him to inspect.”

  Justine smiles, rolling her eyes. “Relax, Lord Jensen. I'll make sure everyone is taken care of, and that you're have a house still when you get home. Hopefully with Lady Kelbara?”

  I can see it in her eyes, Justine likes Kelbara, which slightly surprises me. Justine's not as bad as some of the former sex slaves, but she's always been nervous around Tamarians before. For her to be expressing this attachment to Kelbara already is actually not surprising but flat out shocking. “We'll see. By the way, thank everyone for their discretion last night, and... would you mind if someone changes the sheets in my bedroom?”

  “I'll take care of it personally, my Lord. Is it a mess?”

  I shake my head, wondering if I should tell Justine, but then realize I have to, or else she might worry that I hurt Kelbara. I never, ever hurt any lover I've had, blood is not my thing. “Last night was Lady Kelbara's... there's a little blood on the sheets because of it.”

  Justine nods, her eyes conveying her understanding. “I shall take care of it personally, Lord Jensen.”

  I grin, thankful that I got lucky enough to have someone this capable and understanding just come with the house. “Thanks. And stop calling me Lord Jensen!”

  “Not in your life!” Justine laughs, waving as I run over to the shuttle and climb in. Kelbara's completed the preflight checks and we lift off, heading southeast instead of purely south towards the site of the last battle.

  “According to the information we've got, King Tauren's had a team of Lancers at the site since the battle, going over whatever they can find,” I explain to Kelbara. “And if Ambaris got away down river, then there's one site that he probably headed for.”

  “Port Royal,” Kelbara says, humming. “It's the only place along the river where you can make a hover launch.”

  “At least before you hit the ocean, and Tauren's river forces would have stopped them if they'd gotten there,” I reply, feeding the engines. “So here's the plan. We go supersonic until we get close, staying above five thousand meters. We shift to stealth and ducted fan mode, see what we can see before we set down and start quizzing the locals. If Tauria went there, she's going to have made a splash.”

  “Yeah, you could say that,” Kelbara says as we cross the sound barrier, humming to herself as she looks out the canopy. “Well, this is one improvement over a normal shuttle. I can see all around us, it's beautiful.”

  “I agree. Mogar knows how to make good designs,” I muse. “You should see his workshop at his northern estate, he calls it the bottega, the workshop. He takes inspiration from another genius, an ancient Earth man named Leonardo da Vinci.”

  “I'm still getting over the multiple names thing,” Kelbara says. “How'd they keep track of who were the ancestors, with so many people named Smith, Chin, and Garcia around?”

  “I don't think they even worried about it past a certain point. They had much deeper prejudices to worry about than last names. Like the color of skin.”

  Kelbara grunts, amused. “Seems that our species haven't evolved as much as we'd like. We're still fighting the same heaven and stars fights we had thousands of years ago.”

  The communications panel beeps, and Kelbara switches it on, Mogar's image popping up on my left side on the canopy. Nice setup. “Good morning, Mogar. How's the goings on in the capital?”

  “We're making progress,” Mogar replies. “Actually, we've isolated Omicron platform. While royal troops haven't taken full control, it's totally cut off from communications, there's no way they can launch with a multiplexing antenna. The lunar station is another thing, but one thing at a time.”

  “Nice work,” I grunt, throttling back as we pass Mach 2. We'll be at Port Royal in ten minutes, I'd prefer not to hover over potentially hostile territory, stealth mode or no. “The Q-weapons themselves?”

  “Can only be armed on site. Now, since that means having to send Tauria into orbit....”

  “They're going to have to use a launch site,” I finish. “The orbital platforms are too far outside of Tamaria's gravity well for hover tech to take them the full way.”

  “Exactly. Now, since Platform Omicron is a northern polar platform, they're most likely going to want to launch from a northern site,” Mogar says. “We're starting to search for potential launch sites above fifty latitude.”

  “Cassell has a lot of northern land,” Kelbara interjects. “He was always bragging to Ambaris about his northern vacation home. He said that he used it to store all his extra slaves, the man was constantly over the legal limits on slave count.”

  “Do you know where this vacation home is?” Mogar asks, and Kelbara hums sadly.

  “Sorry, no. I just know he said it was a northern home, and that he could easily double the legal limit with what he has space for.”

  “That'll narrow things down some,” Mogar says. “The legal limit used to be two hundred slaves for a non-noble. If Cassell has a stronghold that can hold two hundred slaves along with whatever forces he had to maintain them....”

  “That can mean he could have hundreds of troops there as well,” I finish. “Mogar, use your resources, find us potential sites. Cassell might be involved in a rebellion now, but he hasn't always been. There should be some sort of record of what this man owns. Find his properties in the northern regions, and give us a list of potential sites. Kelbara and I will put eyes on the sites, find out which one they might be using.”

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nbsp; “Understood,” Mogar says. “Jensen, if you find them, I have orders from King Tauren himself, you are not to try and engage them. Remember, you've got a powerlance each in that thing. He's going to have a full regiment of Lancers ready to deploy via high speed shuttle as soon as we have a location, along with high altitude air support.”

  “Tell my brother in law that I'm not planning on taking on a full battalion of mercs by myself. I'm planning to spot, scout, and get home in time for us to have dinner with him and Audra.”

  “Understood. Start flying north, I'll see what I can dig up. Mogar out.”

  Mogar closes the channel, and I swing north, lowering the speed of the shuttle to just under Mach 1. “We'll have at least two hours before we reach the northern regions,” I say, putting on the autopilot. “How are you doing back there?”

  “Glad I'm a lot smaller than average for once in my life, I've actually got shoulder and leg room,” Kelbara jokes. “Hey, since we have a few minutes, I have a question for you. In poking around Mogar's Earth database, it said that I wouldn't have been short on Earth, that I'd be a centimeter or two over average. But I'm short for Tamaria. What's your theory?”

  “The genetic engineering they did before sending the colony ships is my idea,” I reply after thinking back to my own investigations. She's right, all of the inhabitants of Tamaria are generally taller than what the Earth records show we should have been. “When Earth sent out the two ships that colonized Tamaria, they weren't sure which of about four or five different potential planetary targets in this area of the galaxy the ships would settle on. Some of them were assumed to be larger planets, with higher gravitational pulls than Earth. So, they designed the colonists to be stronger, taller, figuring that gravity would pull them back down to Earth average. As it is, Tamaria's actually slightly stronger gravity-wise than Earth, the acceleration due to gravity there was just a shade under ten meters per second squared. We have ten and a half. But I bet they designed us to be able to be even taller, to be Earth average even in an eleven or twelve level gravity.”