Her head had been firmly in the clouds with her dreams of ruling the world or at least a small section of it. She worked so hard to redeem herself in her father’s eyes and she was sure she could do it. All she needed was time, the one thing that was taken from her. She was crushed when she realized she would never leave her hometown. The years, the dreams all for nothing.
“My head was filled with homework and projects, so I never noticed that the street was empty until he approached. My first thought upon seeing him was that he was attractive. The thought was so foreign to me I almost tripped. I spent too much time with my head in books to look at men.
“He apologized, can you believe that? Said he was sorry but he still…I’d tell you everything was ok but years later it still can ambush me if I’m not careful. Here’s the thing that I never understood. Somehow he seemed to know I would have a daughter. Just freaky luck but it still bothers me. Why did you need to know?”
Rylan stood and moved towards her stopping in front of her. She could feel her throat moving as she fought to swallow the bile that had risen. The tears she was sure were long gone threatened to spill over. He opened his arms and she shot in. Seeking the one thing she never found after her experience—comfort.
She cried. Not because she was raped or because she had a child. She cried because sometimes life was cruel while at other times it was gentle and loving. Tears came because it was years since she had a true confidant or someone she could lean on. She wept because sometimes in order to start anew you had to say goodbye to the painful past.
Rylan swept her up in his arms and moved to the couch settling her on his lap. He held her until her tears slowed, then finally stopped.
“I got you all wet.”
“I’ve been wet before.”
She gave him a watery smile and dried her eyes on his shirt. His laughter as he watched her was contagious and she joined in.
“I try not to be a fount of tears.”
“You’re not. What you are is strong and independent, able to deal with whatever comes your way. I like that about you.”
“I never told anyone my whole story, not even my mother. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He took his finger and gently caressed her cheek.
“What does Mckayla’s conception have to do with what happened earlier?”
“When I met Mckayla, I knew she was advanced like you. A different kind of human. The more I was exposed to her, I became convinced that she was more than human. An inter species hybrid.”
“What do you mean inter species hybrid?”
“Her father’s not human.”
Aviana just stared at him like he lost his mind. “Of course he was human. I would know.”
“Are you able to tell I am not human by looking at me? I suspect he was not with you long enough for you to know or he manipulated your mind into seeing what he wanted you to see. Either way he was not human.”
“What was he?”
“That was the question I faced. Until tonight I wasn’t sure, but it can’t be a coincidence that you were attacked by the same species in both the bonding trials as well as earlier.”
She bit her lip as she waited for him to say something. The man who attacked her was the same as in the mate trial. Seems death wasn’t a sure thing in that realm.
“They are Urom.”
“I believe Mckayla is half Urom but it doesn’t make sense. Usually they are a peaceful species. I can only imagine that there had to be a reason for one to treat you as he did.”
“I hate to object here, but from my encounters they are not peaceful at all. Murderous among other things is how I would categorize them. Are they just after me or are they after Mckayla, too?”
“There’s no way to know yet. We do know they are after you and we need to find out why.”
She nodded and wound her arms around his neck. Her stomach ached at the thought of finding out what was going on, but she knew it couldn’t be put off.
You need to find out about the Urom. Of course she did, but facing up to the fact that Mckayla wasn’t all human wasn’t something she wanted to do that moment if she had the luxury of putting it off for an hour or two. Besides, it’s not like she didn’t know; even as she lied to herself, she knew her child was different and it just never mattered before.
He picked her up taking her through the bedroom to deposit her on her feet in the bathroom.
“No, not right now.”
He reached over and started running water in the large tub as she slowly took off her clothes quickly catching his attention. She drew her shirt over her head like she was a stripper giving a private show. Inch after inch was revealed as she watched his throat swallow and his hands clench.
Feeling bold, she undid her pants one layer at a time. She shimmied out of the jeans she wore even as the second layer of clothing kept her from his sight.
She flashed him a smile, watching as his eyes smoldered. He made her feel sexy as she shimmered out of the leggings that kept her warm outside. They slithered down her hips revealing her panties to be nothing but a sheer scrap of material. When his tongue came out and boldly licked his lips, her pussy clenched wanting his tongue in her.
She stopped, dressed in nothing but her panties that were now wet and a bra that showed more than it covered. He was still clothed.
“You may want to take that off if you’re getting into the tub with me.” Her voice came out breathless at the thought of seeing him naked again.
He reached in front of him and slipped the first button from his shirt before he stopped and looked down at it, then looked at her.
Walking to him she felt her hips swaying and smiled as she tried to be sexier for him. She watched him as she got closer, his eyes slid to half mask showing her he liked what he was seeing. Taking his hand, she slipped the next button out the hole before kissing his cheek. Her hands slid down and undid the next one. This time her kiss went to the top of his neck. After each button she kissed him. With the last she kissed the base of his neck, nibbling him.
His breathing increased letting her know he liked it. His mind was an open treasure chest to her. She could feel the increased beat of his heart. The hardening of his cock and the throb of it were in her mind as she merged with him. He wanted her, was amazed that she wanted him too.
She pushed the shirt down his arms and it was quickly followed by him stripping his t-shirt over his head. With a sensual look, she went to the pants undoing the button as he leaned over and stopped the water. He added a vanilla scent to the water making the room smell heavenly. Unzipping his pants, she found out there were no extra layers there. Nothing but warm flesh met her. With a push of his pants, his cock sprang free rising to meet her.
He kicked off the offending garment as she slid to her knees. She needed to explore him. Her hand caressed his cock moving gently on it at first. Trembling fingers traced him from the tip to the base, amazed at how he jerked in her hand.
She slid one hand around and caressed his balls, feeling them slide through her fingers. A sound of discovery came from her lips leaving them wet and parted.
Tilting her head she looked up at him. His eyes were on fire with need as he watched her touch him, explore him. She wrapped her hand around him noting he was too thick for her fingers to meet.
Lowering her head, she licked the head of his cock with her tongue. The salty flavor of him swamped her senses. A bead of pre-cum slipped out and she lapped it up. Feeling his pleasure through their bond, she licked him again before taking him in her mouth. An explosion of carnal delights erupted on her tongue as she took him in.
Her pussy throbbed wanting to feel his hardness inside. Her cheeks puffed as she pulled on him sucking him down a little further. Rylan growled from the sensation of being in her wet mouth and Aviana felt like the Goddess of lust.
Carefully she took several more inches in knowing she wouldn’t be able to take him all. Quickly she fell into a rhythm of moving her head up and down. Su
cking him in while the taste of him made her hotter.
“Aviana.”
“Mmm.” She moaned around him not ready to give up her treat. She sucked harder and faster loving how his legs stiffened.
“Baby, you keep that up and I won’t be able to help myself.”
“Give it to me. I want to feel you deep in my throat, know what you taste like.” Her voice came out around his cock, the vibrations making him shake.
She took his cock out and licked the underside before lowering her head to take his balls into her mouth. She sucked and tugged on them, feeling them draw up.
His grip on her hair tightened when she took him back in her mouth; sucking in as deep as she could, she worked her lips around him as his breath came out shorter and sexy sounds hissed from his lips in pleasure. His hips moved working his cock in her mouth as she knew he tried to stay still.
She was with him inside his mind as a feeling of fire shot up his spine. She felt his body stiffen and his balls pulled tight forcing his seed out through his cock into her waiting mouth. Squirts of his hot seed hit her in the back of her throat as she released moans of pleasure to mingle with his.
So hot, never did she think it would be like this. Her body tingled as she brought him to release. Glancing up, she watched the look of pure pleasure on his face. A smile of satisfaction hovered over her lips.
Chapter Nineteen
The pounding on the outer door had Aviana looking at the hot tub full of water longingly. Rylan reached down and pulled her to her feet. Cradling her in his arms, he whispered words of adoration to her before kissing her deeply with his essence still lingering on her lips.
“Ignore it.” His deep voice commanded. The pounding simply got louder.
“I know you’re in there, Rylan. If you would have answered your mental hail, I wouldn’t have to come pound on the door.” Gabe spoke loudly, an irritated tone to his voice.
Aviana sighed. “You know we have to answer him.” She gave him one more lingering kiss then gently disengaged from his arms.
Walking to the sink, she picked up her tooth brush. There was no way she was meeting his brother like this. Her face pinked and her cheeks heated at the thought.
With a dramatic sigh letting her know just what he thought about the situation, Rylan walked out of the bathroom.
Not knowing what was happening she opted for a five-minute shower. She grabbed a clean set of clothes then walked into the living room to see what was happening. Rylan was sitting on the couch putting on his boots.
“What’s going on?”
“Several girls have been reported missing in town. All of them disappeared today.” Gabe filled her in.
“How many girls and what ages like teens or younger?”
“Seven girls all between the ages of five to seven,” Rylan said softly.
Mckayla was in that age group. They may have tried to snatch her if she were here. Aviana began to shake thinking about her daughter being missing. Her thoughts went out to the mothers who must be going out of their minds with worry about their children.
She went to her room grabbed a pair of socks and then grabbed her boots from the closet.
“Where are you going?” Rylan asked.
“To help look for seven little girls and nothing you say is going to stop me.”
“I wouldn’t try.” His phone rang and he tossed it to her. “This is for you.”
“Hello?”
“Mommy!”
“Baby, how are you? Are you having fun?”
“Vick and I are having fun with Alexei and Amber, Mom. We played football where you had to grab the flag from the back pocket and I won!”
“She won because she’s really really fast!” Vick’s voice could be heard in the back ground.
“Mom, when can I come home? I miss you.” The longing in Mckayla’s voice was easy to hear.
“I miss you too, Baby. You’ll be coming home soon. I’m just making sure things are safe for you to come back to.”
“All right, Mom. Vick, my Mom said we can go home soon!” She yelled making Aviana wince and bringing smiles to both Rylan and Gabe’s face who could hear her through the phone.
“Honey, I have to go. I will talk to you soon, ok?”
“I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too.”
The phone clicked off. Aviana felt like she was missing a part of her body when she couldn’t hear her voice any longer. The thought of her missing almost devastated her before she reminded herself that Mckayla wasn’t the one missing.
“Let’s go find those baby girls.” She grabbed her coat from the closet and brought Rylan his, noticing how more of his things were turning up amongst hers.
Victor and Selma met them at the front door, along with Joaquin.
“We’ll take two cars, this way we can help search for them in teams,” Victor directed.
Rylan walked over to one of the cars holding the passenger door open for Aviana. Gabe climbed into the back as he went around to the driver’s side.
“Where should we start?” Rylan asked Victor who was still standing by his SUV.
“There are a couple of groups searching in town, abandoned buildings ect…”
“We can start in the woods, that way we have all the territory covered to some degree.
“We’ll take northeast.”
Victor gave him a will do nod and jumped into his SUV. Rylan got in and turned in the direction he and Aviana walked earlier.
“Do you really think someone kidnapped seven girls to bring them out to the woods?”
“Where do you think they are?”
“I don’t know.” Her limbs trembled thinking of those girls alone and scared. There were so many things that could happen, she never just thought of it happening in her small town. Big city things was how she thought of them. The reality that they could happen anywhere was now smacking her in the face and leaving her feeling slightly breathless.
“Let’s assume for a moment that whoever took them wasn’t human. Who would want seven little girls?”
“The Sudir?” Aviana asked tentatively.
“That’s not their way to abduct so many at once. It’s definitely not how Zuhun works. Calling attention to himself is a risk,” Rylan replied.
“What’s the possibility that Zuhun or any Sudir came across seven advanced youth at the same time?” Gabe asked.
“It’s highly unlikely.”
“If we leave out the Sudir then who’s left?” she asked, turning in her seat so she could see both Rylan and Gabe.
“The Urom,” Rylan said quietly. “There’s a small section of them that have been fighting against the royal house trying to stage a coup.”
“Why would they want little girls? Especially when one just threatened me.”
“They wouldn’t unless they were searching for something or someone.”
Aviana’s stomach clenched. “What do you think they were searching for?”
Please. She sent up a plea to anyone listening for it not to be her daughter.
“I think they’re searching for Mckayla.”
Her head bowed with the realization that these little girl’s lives were in danger because someone wanted her child. They had to find them and she needed to find a way to keep Mckayla safe.
“What will they do when they realize none of the girls they have are the one they are looking for?”
“I’ve been asking myself that same question. If I had seven girls that I no longer needed and I wasn’t in the mood to return them to the arms of their loving families what would I do with them?”
“Give them to someone that would be more than willing to take them off their hands. Someone who could use them as a meal or a very temporary energy source.” Gabe chimed in.
“The Sudir.” Aviana’s voice was husky with despair and anger as both clawed to make its way out of her throat. “He can’t have them.”
“No,” Rylan assured her, “he can’t.”
&nb
sp; Before long they were parked at the gazebo they were earlier in the day. There were boot prints in the snow leading in a direction they hadn’t walked.
Rylan and Gabe looked at each other before ushering her back to the car.
“We’re going to follow the tracks. Most of them are too little to be made by an adult. Let’s see where they lead.”
Gabe picked up his phone calling Victor to let him know where they were going.
“Victor and Selma are going to join us.”
Aviana nodded, keeping her focus on the road ahead of them hoping to catch sight of the girls.
“Where are we?” Aviana asked staring at the house they parked in front of.
“This is where Zuhun lives,” Rylan replied.
“This is where he took Vick,” Gabe stated looking at the house in front of them.
The porch still looked like a death trap waiting to happen. Victor and Selma pulled up alongside of them. They exited the cars as Zuhun brought out seven little scared girls, all terrified from the looks on their faces.
“It took you long enough to get here. I have something I think you want and you have something I want. I propose an even trade.” He indicated the girls with a flourish of his hand before he pointed to Rylan.
Rylan moved toward the porch; it was Aviana’s restraining hand that stopped him.
“You can’t trust him, Ry. You know you can’t.”
Zuhun laughed. “What can these little pathetic humans do for me except die? Rylan on the other hand…” He licked his lips before he smiled letting them see his rows of teeth.
His hand shot out catching Rylan with a bolt of lightning dropping him to his knees in pain. Then he pulled a white light from Rylan consuming it.
“Mmm, so powerful. I love the taste of you, just like I will love the feel of you under me.”
“Come to me willingly, and I will let the girls go. Fight me and I will kill them right here in front of you. Make your choice now.”
Aviana’s face blanched, the color leaving it as she turned pleading eyes to Rylan. Gabe’s face looked like it was set in granite as she refused to meet his brother’s gaze.
Rylan pushed himself up to his feet and stood unsteadily. He turned and hugged Aviana whispering in her ear before setting her aside.
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