by Marie Harte
“Easy, Mardu.” Dreyk grinned, and again Rafe was taken aback at the lively features on his otherwise stoic face. “That mating instinct hits hard, doesn’t it?”
“How the hell would you know?”
Dreyk looked uncomfortable and sighed. “Because like you and Erin and your entire damned family, I’ve got a bit of Xema in me as well. That and some Ragga, Zephyran, a hint of Nebite and a world of unknown coding that allows me to come and go as I please and heal those who need it.”
“You can heal, too?”
Dreyk rolled his eyes. “How many times have we come back from a job with little to no wounds? I hate to break it to you, pal, but I’m not as sloppy as I seem. Most of the bloody cuts I suffer on jobs are to help you. My fluids act as a healing agent.”
“You can teleport wherever you want to, and you don’t die. A thousand years old? You are one scary fucker, you know that?”
Dreyk shrugged, but Rafe thought he caught the man reddening.
“Are you blushing?” Rafe laughed long and hard, aware he’d never had a day quite like this one. “Talk about amazing. I mated with an incredible woman and scared a blush out of the infamous Disappearing Dreyk. What are the odds?”
Dreyk scowled. “Pretty damned good I’m going to kick your ass if you keep it up. You’re not that cute, Mardu.”
“The hell I’m not. I got you off, didn’t I?” Rafe asked with real amusement. “Man, I can only imagine you having this same conversation with Gar. He’d be totally nuts by now.”
“I know.” Dreyk sighed. “He’s really against Creations, Rafe. You can’t ever tell him about Erin.” Or me, went unsaid.
“I figured as much. But don’t worry. I’m not going to say one word to him about any of it.” Rafe explained the idea to use the prison ships as a cover for Erin and her family, and Dreyk readily agreed.
“I know a few guys who make great identification tags.”
“Good. And while you’re at it, find us a techie to doctor Blue Rim’s files.”
“My pleasure.” The look in Dreyk’s eyes made Rafe glad he and the large male were on the same side.
They talked more about Erin’s family, Rafe’s tentative plans and his missing brothers.
Then Erin shifted on the ground, distracting them. Rafe crouched down to stroke her back, wanting nothing more than to take care of her until she forgot all about her hellish upbringing. But that would have to wait.
“That’s my cue.” Dreyk stood and stretched, pinning Rafe with his stare. “I’ll get you that laundry list of supplies for the mission and put out a quiet search for her family. But I don’t have to tell you we need to wait before accepting them into the fold. The sister sounds fine, but it’s Ryen that disturbs me. He sounds a lot like the trouble that started the Eryan War. But like I said, I’ll take care of the logistics on this. You have your hands full.”
Rafe stared down at Erin. “Yeah, I do.” He’d never been so damned lucky in his life.
Dreyk snickered, actually snickered, and Rafe wondered where this man had been hiding all these years. “Love brings another one down. First Catam, now you. A hundred beks says Sernal’s next.”
“You’re on.” Rafe shook his hand. “No way Sernal bites it before you do.”
“Me?” Dreyk scoffed. “You’d have better luck turning back the moons from their orbits. I’ll be waiting at the tower where you last bagged those rogue peacemakers. Be there in four day’s time or I’ll take on Blue Rim without you.”
Rafe frowned. “Now wait a minute.”
“Four days. That’s plenty of time to fuck on the move.” Dreyk shook his head. “Horny bastard. Then again, who could blame you...or her?” He grinned. “Best damned orgasm I’ve had in years, Rafe. Thanks.”
“Dick.”
“Whenever you want it, let me know.” Dreyk laughed at the gesture Rafe shot him, then disappeared in an instant.
“Rafe?” Erin’s soft voice grabbed his attention. Shaking his head at Dreyk’s antics, he smiled into his mate’s eyes, aware things were quickly coming to a head. But at least he had her now, and bonded for the foreseeable future.
“I’m here, baby. I’m right here.”
Chapter Ten
ON THEIR THIRD day journeying back toward the edges of the Eron Forest, Erin stared quizzically at the back of Rafe’s head. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but things had definitely changed. A closeness existed between them that hadn’t been there before. And the tender glances of affection Rafe shot her when he didn’t think she was looking shook her very foundation.
She loved him. She knew it and accepted it. But she hadn’t expected Rafe to love her back. He knew she was a Creation. And as much as he talked about helping her out, she thought his desire to assist her stemmed more from his propensity to right wrongs than that he’d fallen in love with her. So why did each touch of his hand resonate through her very being? As if connected by electricity, whenever Rafe looked at her, she felt his gaze. When his fingers brushed her skin, her entire body lit like a lightning storm.
Had to be that last sexual marathon. He fucked me so good, so hard...so long ago. Erin blushed as she rubbed her ass, wondering how she could mistake pain for pleasure. After all that Synster and Canunn had done to make her life miserable, she’d never once orgasmed, had never experienced even a tenth of the depth of emotion for her Creator or Handler that she had for Rafe.
Confused, she nearly plowed into Rafe when he stopped.
“Whoa. Why the rush?” he asked with a smirk. As if he didn’t know.
“Cut the crap. Let’s get back to ‘civilization’ so we can blow Blue Rim sky high.” And forget this mission so you can fuck me again. The blasted man had addicted her to sex, damn his hide.
He raised a brow in that infuriating manner of his and crossed his arms, bringing attention to his powerful frame. Erin loved his strength, that she couldn’t push him around whenever she wanted to. And it was more than his physical power, but his mental acuity as well. Rafe used all of his assets to dominate the world around him, herself included. If only he’d relax enough to indulge in the carnal pursuits she couldn’t stop thinking about.
For three hellish days she’d gone without. He’d kept their pace deliberately slow, attentive to her needs, all except for the one to have him inside her again. Yet she saw the heated glances, the erections he tried to hide. And she didn’t understand why he avoided his need. He claimed he wanted her focused on the mission, and he said he refused to use her baser instincts to overwhelm her.
Since when had Rafe of Mardu found principles? Oh, she knew his peacemaker status required that he help others in need—a category she definitely fit into. But she didn’t want to be his project. She wanted her lover to push her around. This nice act was driving her insane. Such solicitousness when they crossed a stream or encountered a ferocious animal.
Erin snorted. As if she couldn’t handle herself. Hell, she still thought she could take him in a fight, one on one. He’d explained he was Xema, an extremely rare, powerful race of Mardu warriors, and that he thought she might be as well. Yet Erin also possessed some Ragga and Zephyran genetics. With so many aggressive genes, surely she could best him hand to hand? She had once, no, twice before.
The problem, as she saw it, was that as soon as they touched she wanted to submit, to give him whatever he wanted. And she hadn’t felt that way before, even after sharing sex with him. She’d been fighting the need to give in to him whenever they brushed hands or bodies, and she found, to her relief, she was building resistance. But that didn’t mean they had to forego sex totally, did it? Because her body constantly craved Rafe, as much as her heart did.
Glaring at Rafe, Erin deliberately loosed her pheromones, baiting him.
Rafe stilled and stared down at her with a narrowed gaze. “Problem?”
“I want to stop. And you’re crowding me.” But not nearly enough.
“Feeling feisty, eh?” The sparkle in his golden eyes had her loins poo
ling with want.
“Maybe I’m tired of you taking charge. We’re nearly at the trading post, a day early.” And you have yet to make love to me again. “It was my idea to take out Blue Rim in the first place. Peacemaker or not, this is my mission. Not yours.”
Rafe grinned, irritating her to no end. “Well, I can see you’re feeling much better, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been fine.”
“No, you’ve been depleted. You used too much energy to evade me in the jungle. And after, well, after our sensual encounter, I think I pushed you too hard. You needed time to recuperate.”
Angered at his concern that simultaneously warmed her heart yet aggravated her, Erin invaded Rafe’s personal space, a breath between them, and poked him in the chest. “I don’t need you to take care of me. I’ve been doing just fine without you.”
“Right. For the whole four months you’ve been on your own.”
Truly furious, Erin let loose even more of her pheromone and grabbed Rafe by the arms, her fingers curling around his hard biceps. A big mistake, she belatedly realized. Because lust flooded her body and mind, drowning out the anger building there.
“That’s it, baby. Let it go.” Rafe pushed her to her knees and unbuttoned his trousers.
Finally, she wanted to shout, but Erin could only groan as she reached for the thick shaft jutting toward her.
“It’s been so hard waiting for you to be okay,” he rasped as she took him in her mouth. “Fuck, yes. Oh, Erin, I love you so much, baby. You have no idea.”
Joy caused tears to spring to her eyes, and as Erin worked him with her lips and tongue, she knew he spoke the truth.
“You’re so stubborn. Hell yes, you’re strong. But you’re also a woman who needs to be protected.” He groaned when she increased the pressure on his balls. “Do it again.” He cursed and thrust deeper into her mouth, touching the back of her throat. “I’m Xema, deal with it. You’re mine, and I’ll care for you the way I see fit.”
Rafe lost his voice as Erin serviced his every unspoken desire. She shoved a finger in his anus, roughly taking his arousal higher. She tasted his seed as he began to lose control. And then she teased him with her tongue where she knew he liked it, and he cried out as he shot, shuddering with bliss.
Erin swallowed his cum greedily, lost to wainu though she hadn’t climaxed herself. Rafe, however, took care of that by dragging her to her feet and kissing the breath out of her. His hand shot into her trousers and worked her tight little bud, and within minutes she exploded, drenching him with cream.
“Oh, baby.” Rafe kissed her again and rested his forehead against hers. “I love it when you get all pissed off. It makes the need to dominate you that much stronger.”
“Rafe,” she protested, lost under his soft laughter and the short burst of wainu he pulled back from them both. She still didn’t understand how he could control the blissful comings and goings of that state, and she hadn’t yet asked, too lost in the wainu she experienced to care.
“No, no. You cheated. That perfume of yours is lethal. And I’m not as immune as I’d like to be.”
“You don’t want to want me?”
Rafe pulled away and looked at her as if she were crazy. “I love how you make me feel. But when you overwhelm me, it takes away my control. And a Xema is always in control.”
“Always?” She glanced down at his flagging erection.
He flushed and tucked himself back into his trousers, righting hers as well. “Depends on which Xema you’re talking about,” he muttered and added something else under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like stubborn mate.
She froze. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” He scowled. “How good is your hearing, anyway?”
“You said ‘mate.’ Are we mates? Is that why you love me? Why you’ve been so damned caring and careful the past few days?” Her heart racing in anticipation, Erin felt more nervous about his answer than she’d been when escaping from Blue Rim.
“Why? You have a problem with that?” he asked, his answer guarded.
Erin stared, not sure what to think. “But you said Xema can only mate Xema.” She’d asked a lot of questions about him during their trek back toward the trading tower. And to her surprise, he’d been more than willing to answer her.
“That’s what I said.”
“So?”
“So what?” Rafe sighed. “Erin, I love you. Does it matter why?”
“It does if it’s only because we’re both Xema.” Being Created was enough of a burden. Erin refused to be someone’s commitment solely due to genetics as well.
“Please. You’re less Xema than you are a host of other possibilities. You’re sexy, smart, and give the best damned blowjob this side of the System,” he joked, but when she didn’t laugh, he rolled his eyes. “Erin, can’t you just accept that I love you for you? Honey, I know who and what you are. And I don’t care about anything but that you’re mine. Can’t you feel it, the connection between us?”
She nodded.
“That’s very, very rare. I won’t lie. I’ve experienced wainu before, and even felt affection for a few women. But I’ve never wanted one enough to claim her for my own.”
“You claimed me?” Erin didn’t know what that meant, exactly, but she thrilled at all he said. It sounded more and more as if Rafe truly loved her.
“I did. And I won’t apologize for it,” he growled, looking extremely annoyed. “I love you, you love me, and that’s all there is to it. We’re going to destroy Blue Rim, and then you and I are going to get on with the process of living.”
Erin didn’t know what to say. Rafe had been planning all this out for them and hadn’t mentioned any of it to her. Much as she delighted in the fact that he wanted her, she didn’t like having her future planned out for her. She’d gone that route once before in her life. But he’d been so careful not to garner her submission unless they were making love. From that perspective, it seemed as if he wanted her to make her own decisions.
Before she could comment, however, she heard something moving in the woods in front of her.
Rafe froze as well, and they crouched low, taking cover in nearby bushes.
“Cheltam, come on out, man. We have a problem.”
Rafe and Erin glanced at one another in surprise, then stepped out to meet the new arrival.
“Dreyk?”
Dreyk quickly shook his head. “Don’t say another word. Just go along,” he murmured, staring at Rafe. “Trust me.”
“Oh, good,” a voice from Erin’s nightmares, from her Handler, whispered in the sudden silence. He appeared along with a dozen blue-suited men, teleporting into the small clearing of forest with phasers drawn. Eyran security uniforms, the recognizable sight symbolizing Erin’s years of imprisonment, sent her into a panic.
Sweet perfume flooded the air as she readied to fight, to protect not only herself, but Rafe as well.
“Don’t do it,” Dreyk growled, something in his gaze making her take a second look.
And that was all it took to render her off balance. In minutes several pulses stunned her into oblivion, and she fell into waiting arms, not sure of anything anymore.
Rafe stared in shock at Dreyk, not knowing what to think. On the one hand, the instinct to protect his mate made him want to tear off the heads of everyone around them. But on the other, the rational measure of the lawmaker within told him to wait it out. Dreyk had called him Cheltam, after all. If need be, Rafe could kill the lot of them after he’d found his answers.
“Cheltam,” Dreyk said with what sounded like relief. “I was hoping to see you yesterday.” A lie. Dreyk had told them he’d meet them at the trading tower tomorrow. “You have the girl, unharmed, as agreed? See Synster? I told you all was well.” He glanced at Synster, and Rafe recognized the name as the one Erin had put to her Handler.
In their days together traveling back, Rafe had explained to Erin more of his life as a Xema and peacemaker. And his mate
had tentatively described life on Eyra. A series of tests and torture at the hands of Synster, this measly male Rafe could break in two with one hand. Looking around, he failed to spot her Creator, Canunn. Too bad. Would have been nice to kill them both and present them to Erin with bows around their necks.
“She was unharmed,” Rafe growled. “Until one of these dicks shot her with a stunner.”
“The female is fine.” Synster shook his head, disregarding Rafe, to his inherent danger. “At least the phaser will leave no lasting damage. So long as you haven’t done anything to mar her perfection.”
“I saved her ass from peacemakers bent on rape and several raptors and kethra wanting to make her into dinner. She’s a handy woman, I’ll grant you. But she’s not familiar with the Fields of Flor or the Anate Jungle.”
Synster started, his beady eyes narrow. “I hadn’t thought she’d get that far. Good, then.” Synster cleared his throat. “Your man Dreyk tells me you want more than the hundred thousand we’re offering for her capture.”
Rafe glanced at Dreyk and nodded, thinking fast. “If she’s worth that much, then knowledge about more like her should be worth a pretty penny.”
Synster grinned, and unease tingled at the base of Rafe’s neck. “Oh, we know about the others. She’s the last one we need to find, I’m happy to say.” Synster glanced at the men around him and considered his words. “I’m not exactly sure why I should pay you anything, considering I’ve found her myself.”
Dreyk, Rafe noted, narrowed his gaze, anger pouring off the large male in waves.
Rafe, however, hadn’t been away from Cheltam so long that he’d forgotten how to play the game. “Well, now. Seems to me you don’t know me as well as you should, Synster. My reputation is as good as it is because I’m a safe man.”
“How so?”
“I keep very clear, detailed records about every job I take. And though you didn’t deal with me personally on this matter, I have enough on you to put you to death several times over, should our girl’s beginnings be made public.” Rafe smiled through his teeth, pleased at Synster’s sudden pallor.
