by Sara Page
And I want to hold him inside of me forever. I’ll never take for granted this gift he is giving me—his very being. He’s giving me every little thing inside of him that makes him him.
I don’t know how or why we were brought together, but he’s forever a part of me now. When I think of life before him, I realize there was a pain there, buried deep inside my chest. A pain I carried around without knowing what it was.
The pain of missing my other half.
I love you, I push back through the bond and his rhythm stutters.
I never thought I could fall in love with someone… especially after losing my family, but I love this guy so much I feel it with each breath I take.
I feel it in my very soul. And it’s so good, so strong, I know I have to protect it.
“I love you,” I repeat out loud and my hands grab at the spines on his back, gripping him tightly.
I need him more than air… I need him more than I ever needed the serenity…
With a snarling growl, his thrusts quicken and deepen.
His balls slap against my ass and I feel every little bump, every little ridge of his cock stroking against the walls of my pussy.
“Maul,” I cry out, nearly screaming his name as he pushes his love back into me.
Stars burst behind my eyes and every muscle in my body locks up as my release hits me.
Wave after wave of pleasure rolls through me and I swear the universe starts moving as he swells up inside me.
There’s a near blinding flash of green and then I feel him spilling himself inside me. Filling me up with his life.
With his love.
Until I’m overflowing.
“Lexi,” he groans, trembling above me before collapsing.
I accept his weight greedily. I just love how it feels to have him on top of me, nearly crushing me.
With one last groan, he pushes his cock deep before stilling.
“I love you,” he says with so much emotion, so much vulnerability, my throat tightens up and tears sting my eyes.
“I love you too,” I say as I stare at his beautiful face.
And that black, hollow void inside my chest closes up.
I know as long as I have him, I’ll never be empty again.
Chapter Seventeen
Maul
The throttling down of the engines gives me a distinct sense of foreboding. The window to the bridge shows the full circle of more than forty Red Masks standing in the expected spot where I landed. The moment we entered Rathturia’s solar system, I sent a broadcast to high command with my ship identification and my request for permission to enter Rathturia.
Neither Marketh or I were expecting to be ordered to stop all movement and until we could be ‘escorted’ into planetary space and then into the Citadel’s landing area.
“Escorting us like we’re common criminals. As if we would be smuggling anything to Rathturia,” Marketh hisses at the window.
His silver orb is floating around the bridge, looking at the Red Masks surrounding us.
I feel about the same as he does. It is highly irregular to do something like this to someone with my rank. While news has surely reached here about the two different orbital instances, I’ve not broken any laws. In actuality, I’ve defended them to the best of my ability.
Well, freeing Lexi to bond with her might be an issue, but surely it is of a more oddity than a lawful issue.
“I agree, Marketh, but until we have more information we will need to continue on.”
“Maul?” Lexi asks with a tinge of worry in her voice. “Who are all those people with red face masks?”
“They are a part of the order I belong to. The Red Masks are the Tribunal’s and Rathturia’s branch of law enforcement. We are loyal to Rathturia first, though we are above all political alliances or branches. We answer to the Supreme Leader, and ultimately we fall under only his judgment.”
I shake my head and know that was a long-winded speech that barely gives her the information she needs, but standing here on the bridge, looking out at the heavily armed forces awaiting our exit, I don’t think we truly have the time to explain it all.
“Oh. Do you…” she begins to ask but quiets as I pull my mask from the travel bag I left on the captain’s chair. She watches me quietly as I press the mask to my face and attach it to my cloak. “I was going to ask… wow…”
I start to grin behind the mask at her but stop. She won’t be able to see it and that’s on purpose. We’ve been trained since the start of the academy to conceal all facial expressions and emotions from the universe. But in the short amount of time we’ve been together, all of that training has gone with the winds of oblivion.
I can no more hide my feelings towards her than I could stop breathing.
Reaching out with my hand, I grip hers as I send all of the love and care I have for her. It must be enough because her smile widens as she gives a small shiver. “I love you too, big guy. And I know the baby can feel it too.”
I nod my head and say, “Our daughter will be much loved by us.”
She chuckles. “Son. Our first born will be a son. You will get two more after that and they will be girls.”
Staring at her, I’m baffled. “I did not know that humans have precognitive abilities. It is not something that has been seen often.”
She quirks her right eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t have anything like that. It’s called a mother’s intuition. I just know.”
I shake my head and laugh. “I will trust your judgment, my love, though Marketh will be able to tell us within a couple of weeks.”
Holding her hand tightly, I walk with her down the bridge stairs and into the long corridor of the ship. The little giggling blue brats are standing there in their purple robes, staring at us with giant smiles. They were giddy knowing we would be taking them home in a roundabout way, even more so when they got close enough to overhear that Lexi is carrying my child.
When Lexi was out in the ship instead of our quarters, they surrounded her with giggles and touched her belly, trying to get her into their gossip circle. Lexi has taken on a mothering role with them. She made sure they were eating properly and gave me enough space. Thankfully, I no longer feel tiny pinches on my butt whenever I walk by them.
Roaring at them only produces giggles and sexual gestures now. Not that they were scared of me before Lexi talked to them…
After their rescue, I’m not sure they don’t see me as some kind of hero.
“I’ve sent communications to high command and haven’t heard word back. Not even your father’s symbiote has responded.”
“You’ve what?” I ask with a growl.
“Well, he might at least know what’s going on, but… I’ve got nothing on why we’re being treated this way. Even with the way you left things, Maul, we should still have had a response.”
Fucking stars.
“Let’s get to our duty, Marketh. I believe we’ve kept them waiting long enough,” I say as we stand before the ship’s docking bay door.
I lift my forearm up to him. “Do you want to dock?”
It’s a long pause before he says, “No, I don’t think so this time. If they mean to cause us any harm, I want to be ready.”
“Marketh, I doubt they have ill intentions for us.”
“Regardless. I have the ship set to full counterattack mode. If they try to force themselves aboard or try anything lethal, if we’re close enough it will be met in kind.”
I look at the Marketh in shock. “That is far past your authority, Marketh,”
“No, it isn’t actually. You have yet to retake command of the ship since you gave me command. In pure selfishness I refuse to give it up at this moment. We four are connected now. I see no reason for putting our lives in jeopardy.”
Shaking my head, I say, “As you will, Marketh, but know we are going to have a talk about this later.”
“Yes, Maul,” he says with a snicker and I swear it’s as if he was saying ‘Yes, Mother.
’
“Thank you, Marketh,” Lexi says from my other side.
I roll my eyes and push the button for the cargo door to open for us.
“Maul,” Lexi says quietly. “Why do you have black stripes on your mask? Are they signs of your rank?”
“Yes, I am a striped four times.”
“Is that high up?”
“Yes. The highest I am able to go without being promoted to a new caste.”
We exit from the back of the ship through the cargo bay and walk towards the contingent of four Red Masks standing inside of the wide circle.
Each of the four standing there before us are fourth-striped officers. Right away that sense of foreboding heightens. “Marketh, you may have been on to something.”
“Damn, I wish I wasn’t.”
They walk with a purpose towards where we stand. We haven’t moved far away from the ship. I don’t know if we would have time to get back on now if we bolted, but even if we could get on and not have them board us, we would never make it out of the Citadel alive.
Damn.
“Maul of the Red Masks, fourth-striped bearer of Justice, we are here to bring you in for questioning,” one of the men with red eyes says over the din of traffic off in the distance.
“Under who’s orders and by who’s authority?”
“The Supreme Leader, Creaven. We here by request you disarm yourself and allow the human to leave your captivity.”
I growl loudly. “You’ll lose a lot of men this day if you think either of those things will happen.”
There is no way in this universe would I allow them to take my bonded from me.
Incredulity enters the voice of red eyes when he growls right back, “You have taken the oath. You dare question the Supreme Leader’s order?”
“If he intends to take my bonded away from me, I will disregard his orders and he can take them with his morning constitution.”
“Maul, that may not be the right thing to—” Marketh begins to say before two high-pitched giggles from behind me break through his words.
The tension, even with the giggles, rises as the fourth-striped officer asks, “You have bonded with the human? Impossible.”
I shake my head. “No, it is not impossible, and to separate us will be murder. Be it on your own life if my bonded is hurt.”
One of the other fourth-striped officers steps out of the small group. Walking towards me and redeyes, he says, “If what he says is true, we must bring them in together. We have no proof of the law being broken. I believe that we may need to consult with the Supreme Leader before we go any further.”
I nod my head in agreement. “Yes, I agree. I ask for a formal hearing with the Supreme Leader.”
“So be it on your head, Maul. Split them apart!” Red-eyes shouts.
The movements of the surrounding guard are swift and done with brutal efficiency. I would be proud of how quick the men move if it wasn’t in an effort to try to contain us.
“No!” I shout, but it’s too late to move. The four in front of us dart in as the circle of forty men and women quickly shrink in upon us.
Pulling Lexi to my arms, I feel the Paxzies coming up from behind me and latching onto my legs.
Marketh speeds around our small circle, shouting obscenities at the guards and their symbiotes. Claws ripping through my knuckled skin, the first Red Mask to approach I slash at with my tail to his face.
It doesn’t reach but he takes a step back.
This isn’t going to work though as I watch the four delegates who approached us move out of the way. The larger group of Red Masks raise stun blasters.
“Desist with your defiance!” is shouted.
I roar out in anger, “She is my bondmate! You have no jurisdiction to remove her from my presence.”
“Fire on him, dammit!” Red-eyes shouts as he points at me.
In a flash of blue light, I feel the bolts slam into me from all sides, save from the behind.
Behind me the poor Paxzies take the blows.
There are no screams from them or Lexi. She took the first bolt I think.
It’s the seventh bolt that finally takes me down. I’m already feet away from my bondmate as I forced my body to move past the stunning shots.
But I can feel it now, the red haze is leaving my eyes as I drop to my knees then to the ground.
“That was outside our orders, My’Clar!” one of the four men says to the one with red eyes. “We were to take them into custody, not shoot them! They showed no hostility! “
I faintly hear the response as my eyes cannot be held open any longer. “It doesn’t matter. He stole this human just like the male one said. And he lied. We do not bond with other races. I did the Supreme Leader a favor.”
“I don’t…”
It’s darkness then.
Chapter Eighteen
Lexi
I’m dying.
The pain, the absolute agony ripping through every nerve in my body is more than I can withstand.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” I hear a familiar voice ask angrily.
I can’t make out the shapes or colors around me. It’s all just blurry blobs in a red haze. I’m in so much pain I’ve been blinded by it.
“I-I- don’t know…” A soft, nervous voice answers. “Perhaps it’s true. Perhaps they’re truly bonded…”
“Impossible,” the familiar voice responds just as another searing wave of pure agony rolls through me.
My spine arches of its own accord and my hands clench into painful claws. It feels like my very soul is being torn from me, forced out of my body through all my pores.
“Shut her up. I can’t take any more of her moaning.”
Am I moaning? I couldn’t hear it over the sudden roar in my ears. The other half of my soul, he’s roaring for me. I know he’s out there… somewhere… suffering.
Dying.
Slowly.
Without me.
“Wha-what do you want me to do? Knock her out?”
“No, you fucking idiot. Give her a dose of serenity.”
No! No serenity, I try to scream but only hear the words echoing inside my own head.
“Serenity?” The nervous voice repeats anxiously. “You want me to drug her with an illegal substance?”
“I already explained it to you earlier, she’s an addict. She must be suffering withdrawal and we both know that can be fatal. Do you want her death on your hands?”
He’s lying! Lying, I scream until my throat is so raw it feels like it’s bleeding. And through the fog of pain, I can suddenly place the voice.
Fuck, it’s Jack.
“N-no, but…” The anxious one stammers. “I-I could get in a lot of trouble for this…”
“You’re a doctor,” Jack says dismissively. “It’s your sworn duty to do what’s in the best interest of your patient.”
“Yes, but I’m not really comfortable—”
“Then give it to me!” Jack snaps angrily. “I’ll fucking save her life.”
“Fine! Here!”
There’s a bit of a scuffle and then Jack grunts as if he’s satisfied.
“I won’t be a part of this!” the voice I don’t recognize cries out.
“Then get the fuck out!” Jack roars back.
I try to move. I try to crawl, to roll away. To do anything. But my body doesn’t respond. It’s like all the cords connecting my brain to my muscles have been snipped.
I’m fucking trapped.
I focus all of my energy on my tongue and manage to push out one word past my lips. “Help…”
“Lexi,” Jack coos soothingly and I feel him brushing my hair back. “I know you’re hurting, darling, and I’m going to fix it.”
This is like one of those bad dreams… One of those nightmares where I know if I could just move, if I could just fucking speak, I could survive the awful thing that is about to happen to me.
But I can’t.
“Don’t…” I groan and my throat f
eels like I just swallowed razor blades.
“Relax,” Jack drawls out.
I feel the familiar prick in the side of my neck and then the darkness rises up inside of me, swallowing me up.
The pain fades away and I start to drift into the darkness.
My tether to this reality snaps.
I hear Jack’s voice from far away. “Everything will be better in just a moment…”
Maul
It’s darkness I last saw and the feeling now screaming into the very depths of my body and mind. I can hear Lexi screaming through the bond. The fear, the pain, and the feeling of oblivion stretching out in front of us is so much that the suddenness of it all stopping leaves my heart stopping in mid-beat.
I’m in a metal cell.
Alone.
Only a dim light from the hallway gives me any reason to not believe I have died. It’s Marketh sending electrical jolts through our armband, up into my heart that brings me back. There is nothing on the other side of the bond. It’s an empty shell.
No thoughts. No feelings. No warmth.
I feel cold here in the cell and my body begins to shiver on its own accord.
“Maul, you must stay awake. No more passing out. I know—” Marketh pleads with me.
“What have they done to her?” I ask, my voice harsh as if I swallowed glass.
“I don’t know, and use our link. We are lucky for the moment that they have not tried to sever our tie until whatever is to be done with us.”
“Could they?” I ask. I know it has been tried but proved fatal too often.
“Would they, is what you should ask, and I don’t know. We’ve been here for five hours and in that time I’ve had to restart your heart three times. I don’t have much more left in me to do it again. It’s been too often and we have had no time to recharge me,” he says and I can feel the weariness in his voice.
“How? I mean, I don’t…” I can’t understand what he’s saying. I mean I know what the words mean but I don’t fathom what’s happening.
“We don’t have much time, Maul. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I think the bond you share is getting ready to shatter. They must be putting her under with serenity, or something close to it. And with the distance between you two, it’s going to kill you both,” he says in a rush.
