by Lara LaRue
Any chance of you being able to slow them down? I stomped into my boots, making a little bit of noise. Dekkir started to wake up, rolling over and letting out a soft grunt.
I will do my best, but I cannot make any guarantees. It’s simply too uncertain, and unfortunately, I have to reach my stash of equipment planet-side before I can do them any real damage.
I felt his regret and another slight surge of fear. Okay, then. I’ll do my best. I’ll let them know the warning came from you. I suppose I need to remember to call you by your Lyran name when I’m talking about you to them.
Yes, well, to be completely honest about it, my dear, Tabirus is the name I was born with. Dr. Stirling is the alias.
I gasped so loudly that Dekkir opened an eye. What? How is that possible? You don’t look anything like the rest of the Lyrans.
I couldn’t believe it. Dr. Stirling had been my mentor and friend for two years. He directed the science division at the base. Next to Lyran men like Dekkir, he looked completely human. Blond, yes, tall, yes, well built, and, thanks to his symbiont inoculation, telepathic. But Lyran? How was that even possible? He was at least a foot shorter than any Lyran male I had ever seen.
No, I do not. There’s a very good reason for that, and I will explain once you and the others have prepared. A pause. I felt a trickle of guilt from him. For the record, I apologize for deceiving you. But someone had to watch out for what went on at the Earth base.
I sighed. Dekkir blinked and sat up; I went to him and slipped my arms around him, laying my head against his massive chest for comfort. He held me, radiating curiosity and mild alarm. Tabirus it is, then. I would be angrier with you if your infiltration did not just give us the warning that may save our butts.
His amusement brushed against my mind. Fair enough.
Dekkir stroked a big hand down my back. I shivered. “What is it, my love?” he rumbled gently.
“It’s Tabirus. He just sent a warning.” I relayed the information the telepath had sent me and watched his golden eyes widen and then narrow in anger. “Looks like it’s time to put your war chief hat on.”
He stood, towering over me, his arm still around me protectively. I could feel the heat radiating off his bare skin, warming my back soothingly. His muscles were taut, though, with readiness for battle. “Indeed, it is,” he growled softly.
Twenty minutes later, Dekkir stood before High Chieftain Dorin and his assembled court. I let him do the talking while I sat in the front row of seats, maintaining a tenuous mental link with Tabirus while I held on to some of Dekkir’s gear for him. Now and again, I relayed updates on the humans’ progress toward the planet’s surface, but that was all I could do to help. I had no fresh ideas. I had already given the Lyrans everything I knew about the technology that would soon be arrayed against them and the tactics most commonly used by Earth Command. Other than that, I was useless to them, and I felt it. This was Dekkir’s show now. And for all my faith in him, I was terrified.
“We must act now. The humans are approaching rapidly. Their ships will land as close to us as they can manage. Tabirus will attempt to manipulate them mentally into miscalculating their landing. If he does, they will land in the jungle and be subject to the local hostile wildlife. But even then, at least some of them will make it this far.” Dekkir’s deep voice rolled commandingly through the guesting hall. He folded his arms across his armored chest, his broad, handsome face set in determined lines and his silver-gold hair caught back in a braid to coil under his helmet, which I held for him as he spoke bare-headed to the assembly. He glanced up at the throne behind him, and his father looked on and nodded.
“The seers must work to assist Tabirus in monitoring and deceiving the humans,” Dorin rasped and then coughed into his fist. He was still recovering from being poisoned. His skin was ashen under its olive tone, but the determination in his eyes matched that of his son. “The gatherers who know the jungles will act as guides for the warriors.”
Dekkir nodded. “A second contingent of warriors will protect Highfort. Half that number will attack from the air using our Rilleen mounts as empathically controlled proxies. The rest will arm the walls and strike back with projectile weapons. We will coordinate with the seers’ guidance. I will keep direct command.”
I listened and did my best to stay calm . . . or at least look that way. Inside, my stomach was in knots. My heart pounded, and I wanted to cry. I had come to Lyra in the service of Earth Command. Now they had betrayed me, along with the principles they supposedly stood for. They came to destroy, conquer, and pillage this world of everything they could.
Maybe it should not have been a surprise. Humans had a reputation for preying on each other; why wouldn’t they do it to aliens? I’m an idiot. A damned idiot. And suddenly, in the middle of everything, I found myself fighting tears.
Dekkir turned his eyes to me as he fielded questions from the assembled court. He couldn’t reach out and hold me in the middle of everything, but I felt a strong, fierce wave of his love and protectiveness wash over me. He would not let me be hurt. He would look after me, just as he aimed to look after all his people. Just . . . much more personally.
I love you, I thought at him gently with my still slightly inept telepathy, trying to push aside my anguish. But even with his love burning inside me like a brilliant flame, I couldn’t manage it.
“How do we counter their weaponry?” The speaker was a warrior armored in gray scale, with a shock of dark-blond hair that was cropped close, unlike most of his brethren.
“The seers will foul their aim while aiding us in aiming true. Telekinetics will disable what they can of their machinery. Telepaths will misguide them using illusions. Empaths will disable them with nausea, pain, or other strong emotions or sensations, as well as disrupting morale.” Dekkir paused to aim a glance at the willowy, hooded chief seer, who nodded back curtly. He then looked up and addressed everyone. “Unless we work with unity and courage, we will not win. I call on each one of you to accept the roles assigned to you and give your very best to the effort.” He looked back at his father, who nodded at him proudly as he gave his beard a thoughtful tug. “Do it for your people, your high chieftain, and yourselves. The freedom of our planet is at stake.”
Shouts of affirmation rose as he turned on his heel and strode back to his seat beside me.
CHAPTER 14 / GRACE
“I’m scared,” I admitted softly as soon as we were alone together. He had sensed my suffering the entire time he had addressed the court, and as soon as he had gotten everyone’s orders out to them, he had taken me aside into one of the small meeting rooms. Now he cradled me against his chest, stroking one hand through my hair. I drew in deep breaths of his warm, woodsy musk and laid my cheek against his heartbeat, my arms wrapped tight around his solid, powerful torso for security.
“Have faith in your new people, my love.” His voice was so gentle it was almost a purr.
“I do. I understand we’re not helpless and that we’ve got more than one surprise for them when they get here. But there’s more riding on this for me than just survival. No matter who dies today, they will be people I don’t want to die. It doesn’t matter which side they’re on. With the exception of Norcross himself, I don’t want anyone dying.”
He tilted his head, gazing down into my eyes, his adoration and support tinged with curiosity. “Are you that merciful, even to those who make themselves your enemies? They will not be merciful to you.”
“I know, but . . . my tie to them still exists. You talk about the Lyrans being my new people. But . . . these were supposed to be my people as well. Humanity, I mean. My family is human. Humanity is still my race. With the exception of people like Norcross, I thought they were basically good. Instead, they’re suddenly the bad guys. But they won’t see it that way. The people back home, the people I care about, I . . . I’m alienated from them now. I’ll be branded an enemy of the planetary regime. There’s no way I can ever go back to Earth after this. I . . . I
’m never going to see my family again.”
I didn’t realize how much that very idea upset me until I spoke it aloud, and suddenly, I started sobbing. From now on, I was an enemy of Earth. Even if we survived, one day, it was going to get back to my family that I had betrayed Earth Command and joined an alien enemy. They would hate me then. My parents would be so disappointed. My mother would cry. Instead of being able to introduce the love of my life to them and invite them to the wedding, or present their grandchildren to them one day, I would be a pariah who was better off never seeing them again, because if I did, they would hate me.
“This isn’t right. I don’t know why this is happening. I never wanted to be part of a war on another race. I would give anything to make this not be happening.” I was clinging to him, mumbling into his chest as my tears soaked through his shirt.
“Do you wish you had not come here?” His query was very gentle, but I could tell there was real concern behind it.
I shook my head rapidly. “If I had not come, I would never have met you. I wouldn’t give you up for anything. But I really am going to miss my family. I wish humanity wasn’t on the wrong side of a war again. I know we’re desperate. I know Earth is dying. But if they just stopped and listened . . . The Lyrans once saved their own planet from a fate like Earth is facing. Your people could help us. We don’t have to be enemies. But . . . how in the world could I ever get anyone at Earth Command to understand that?”
“You don’t. It is not your task to change the minds of your people by yourself.” He nuzzled the top of my head.
“I know, I know.” I blinked back tears. I knew it was irrational to hope things would turn out better than this once I found out about Earth Command’s plans, but it still hurts. “How . . . how am I supposed to cope with this?”
“Handle one thing at a time, my darling. First, we must determine the best way of getting through this siege alive. After that, perhaps Tabirus will have some ideas. We still have a chance. As long as we’re alive, we have a chance.”
I struggled to calm down within the circle of his arms. It would be so easy to let go of control and just panic and cry on him. But right now, the only reason we had any time alone was that the entire fort was currently waiting for the humans to arrive. Once they made landfall, we would know where to strike out at them. Once they made landfall, everyone would be scrambling again. But for now, and perhaps the next half hour, I was with him, safe and private. And as I drew in deep breaths of his clean male scent and basked in the warmth of his body, it struck me: I could spend that time crying on his chest and despairing over the loss of everything I knew. Or I could take what might be our last chance to make love.
The same thoughts seemed to occur to him at the same time. He didn’t need to be psychic for that. Instead, he stroked my head until I tilted it back and then bent down to claim my lips, his mouth moving hungrily against mine. The coppery taste of his mouth distracted me; the sweet friction and minty smell of his warm breath left me suddenly craving more.
I responded slowly as my terror started to melt away like an icicle in a flame. My hands slid up his muscular back. He lifted me, then walked over to the nearest wall and pressed me against it. One powerful, armored thigh worked its way between my own to help prop me up as our kiss intensified until we ravaged each other’s mouths. My fast heartbeat now thundered in my ears for another reason, and I embraced the distraction with relief.
His hands found the laces on my tunic and slipped them loose, parting the leather to expose my breasts and belly. I stiffened slightly, vaguely aware of the milling crowd just outside the door. They were discussing the situation in loud voices, sorting out the minutiae of his orders before going to their posts. It wouldn’t take much for one of them to walk in on us. But Dekkir did not seem concerned. He simply kept on, running his hands over my freshly bared skin. I didn’t realize he had locked the door, until someone tried the handle and could not open it. I blinked up at him, and he smiled . . . then winked. “They can wait a little while,” he rumbled in my ear. Then he lifted me farther against the wall and started kissing my breasts and throat.
I cooed, clinging to him, the beast-scale armor strange under my fingertips. I wanted to feel his skin against mine, but there was no time. Even as he licked and suckled my nipples into hard points, even as I started to tremble as he pressed me against the wall, I felt the sense of urgency in the crowd beyond the door, in Dekkir, in myself. It never quite went away no matter how sweet the distraction, and I cursed it in my mind. Damn you, Norcross.
But then the despairing thought swept away as Dekkir’s emotions reached out and entwined with mine. His empathy was not as strong as a seer’s, but he had honed it through many years of working with the Rilleen. Those ferocious beasts would not allow anyone to ride them whom they did not love, and so he had ensured a strong rapport and strengthened his mind in the process. Now I could feel an urgency of a different sort from him: the hunger of his skin, trapped in armor, and his sweetly aching length, feeling more and more confined within his codpiece by the moment.
I moaned softly as he reached down to knead and stroke my slick, throbbing mound through the crotch of my leggings. I was starting to ache for him, to need him inside me. His breath started to shiver as he felt my need mix with his own and stoke it upward. To be a True Mate to a Lyran was to weather passions stronger than humans could manage. He growled against my throat, then settled me on the floor just long enough to strip off my leggings and boots. Naked save for the parted tunic, I reached for his belt with trembling fingers—only to have him push me away and unfasten the codpiece itself, lifting it aside.
He scooped me up and thrust into me, pinning me to the wall again. I gasped aloud at his rough entry, but my body was already too aroused to be hurt by even his prodigious girth. He went taut and pushed deeper, powerful thighs holding us firmly as I clung to him. Our shouts of pleasure rose as one, my own soft and breathy and his hard and harsh. The hand not clinging to his shoulder gripped his buttocks, which tightened rock hard with urgency as he ground against me. He drew out, and I felt his bliss at our flesh sliding against each other echo in my own nerve endings. The edges of the armor dug against my inner thighs as I wrapped my legs around him; I didn’t care. Do it. More. Harder. Oh yes . . . please. Don’t stop.
He thrust back in, growling softly as he stretched me open and sank his whole length inside me, a jolt of pleasure running back and forth between our bodies. He picked up a rhythm, slow and gentle at first, just rocking against me, shuddering each time he sank his shaft. But his instincts made their demands soon enough, and he sped up, grinding against me harder as his armor creaked, and I gasped and clung to him.
My body responded to his pleasure and my own, writhing against him despite the hard, nerveless plates of hide between us. His grunts became sharp groans, voice guttural and a little breathless, hands gripping my back and hip hard as he pounded against me. I could feel my flesh tightening around him, more and more, tingling, aching, craving completion. I whimpered, nails digging against his armor, head falling back against the wall as he ran his mouth over my neck.
His voice rose in slow crescendo, deepening, growing louder, the strain in it intensifying until every throaty pant sounded like he was being tortured. Shocks of doubled pleasure ran through me; my muscles locked, body tightening until I could hardly bear it. I let out a long, panting cry—which rose into a wail I had to muffle with my hand as waves of pleasure overtook me.
He groaned through his teeth as I came, and sped further, belly flexing, armor creaking and digging into me, the tips of his fingers gripping me, bruising, and I gasped with pleasure, his rising ecstasy and the little edge of pain he gave me driving me quickly toward another climax. His head fell back, and he shouted as his orgasm spiraled outward to include me. I felt him release from within and without, the rush of warmth filling me even as his pleasure sent me into spasms of delight.
We came back to ourselves slowly, him panting i
nto my shoulder, barely holding me up as he leaned against the wall. He let out a purring rumble and ran his teeth over the side of my neck, nipping affectionately. Slowly, he disengaged from my body before gently lowering me to the floor. He steadied me as I got my wobbly feet under me. “There. Now at least my head is clear, lovely one.”
Our lips brushed as I gasped for air, feeling little aches and pains where his armor or his hands had left me bruised. The thought made me smile; I would wear his marks proudly. It would remind me that whatever else happened, I still had love in my life, even if I never saw my blood kin again.
I brushed my hand over my belly before reaching for my leggings. Perhaps there’s a chance we can make our own family here, I thought wistfully. The idea I might carry Dekkir’s child even now already filled me with an easy joy. I had been queasy a lot these past mornings, but there had been no time to trouble a healer with pregnancy testing while we had been scrambling to recover from the last Earth attack and preparing for the next. The battle to come would be a horror, and I knew it would hurt me no matter who died. But at least with Dekkir around, and the possibility of a child on the way, there was hope and something to live and fight for without second-guessing myself.
You must live, my darling. We both must live, I thought as I finished dressing. I finished lacing my tunic back up, and we shared a last soft kiss as he fixed his armor back around his loins.
“It is time, Grace,” he murmured. “The humans land soon. We must prepare.”
I nodded, still catching my breath. “I’m with you.” When he turned to leave, unlocking the door finally, I followed him out.
