“You should have told Lauren everything. Before she sacrificed herself.” Jo’Aquin’s voice shook with rage. Tension rolled from him in waves.
“Would you have still gone through with what so many needed from you if you had known the final reality of your situation, Lauren?” Mother asked.
Lauren stilled as Mother’s question thrummed in her mind. Would she have? She actually didn’t need a lot of thinking to answer. “Yes. I would have.”
“But are you glad you now have a second chance at the things you thought lost to your life?” Mother asked.
Jo’Aquin’s arms tightened around her. All she could do was burrow closer to him, if that was at all possible. Again the answer was terribly easy. “Yes. I am.”
“You are a friend to this world, Lauren. You are our treasure. You saved us, and we are forever thankful. You now belong to Florn, and Florn belongs to you,” MalCom said.
“Don’t forget the biggest prize of all. You have given others hope. We now have a way to defeat the Reptiles and save other enslaved planets,” Mother said.
“We...can?”
Jo’Aquin’s face changed from bitter anger to...hope. Lauren pressed her palm to his chest. “Joe…your sister?”
He nodded slowly, his eyes roaming her face, flaring with light. “It is a possibility, Lauren. I have never had that reality before. I am thankful.” He glared at Mother. “Not for what you went through without knowing the consequences, but because you are here, alive, warm and safe in my arms.”
For the first time in a long time, she felt a genuine smile stretch her mouth. “We’ll save her, Joe.”
His hand kneaded her flesh, over her shoulders, arms, back. One steel-banded arm wrapped around her waist, the other ploughed into her hair, tugging her towards him. She didn’t resist. His mouth caught hers, tender at first, then it quickly became more urgent. More intent. She wound her arms around his shoulders, sculpting her body against his. She’d accept his kiss, and any other kisses he’d give her before he had to leave. If she had to stay on this planet, then she’d damn well take all she could for however long Jo’Aquin was on this planet. They’d have a few days to make years of memories.
Light footfalls sounded in the room. She couldn’t care less who watched them. Let them. She turned her head so they could deepen their kiss. Jo’Aquin’s tongue dove into her mouth., sucking on her tongue, then her bottom lip. She moaned as heat spiralled through her, flashing through her body in rising desire.
The silence didn’t stop her kissing him either. Jo’Aquin’s hand slid from her waist to her thigh, this thumb circling so close to her heated core. So close to where she wanted his hand.
It wasn’t the scuffing of feet on the floor that stopped her pressing her breasts into the rock-hard planes of his chest, or from sliding her hand beneath his shirt to splay across the heated skin of his pecs. She found his nipple, circling it with her thumb.
What brought her apart, was a deeply male voice and the sarcasm of its tone when someone said, “Commander. I thought when we came to rescue you, it would be to fight off Reptiles, not a female as lovely as the one you have in your arms.”
27
G roaning, Jo’Aquin broke from kissing Lauren. He loved that glazed, faraway look in her eyes and the way her plump lips glistened from just being kissed. At that moment, he knew she’d been in a realm of feeling and building passion, operating entirely on physical and emotional need. His male pride stirred knowing that he’d put that look on her face. If he had his way, she’d have that look on her face all day long. He’d make it his personal mission to keep her looking well-loved. His lifelong pleasure.
She blinked, and her face snapped back into the moment, her eyes solidifying and body stiffening as she peered over her shoulder. “Joe? What’s going on?”
Striker’s brows lifted unperceptively as his gaze slid between Lauren, himself and the freshly liberated locals looking as though they didn’t quite know what to make of a Galactic Federation taskforce. Jo’Aquin sighed. Now he had to stop kissing her.
Jo’Aquin took Lauren’s hand and helped her to stand. She clutched his arm as she looked hesitantly at Striker. He’d never been so grateful, or so frustrated to see his Second in his life. “Lauren, this is our rescue team.”
She frowned up at him before she gaped at Striker. “Couldn’t they have made it ten minutes earlier?”
Jo’Aquin grimaced. “You traced my signal?”
Striker nodded. “We’d been trying to reopen the wormhole you disappeared through to no avail. We’d almost given up any hope that you may have survived. We only caught your signal a few minutes ago.”
Striker left his comment unsaid. As it was, they’d searched for far longer than Galactic Federation standard. Jo’Aquin nodded. “My thanks.”
“I would have kept looking. Finding a way through, as would the entire crew of the Starlight, if it was the last thing we did,” Striker said.
Jo’Aquin’s chest tightened. He would do the very same thing for any member of his crew. “And the wormhole?”
“We reopened using the polarity of your signal. I have to say, this is a surprise to be on this planet,” Striker said.
“And where exactly, is Florn?” Jo’Aquin asked. He had a fair idea through reading the star constellations, although nothing concrete.
“Well into the Nexus region,” Striker said.
Shock ricocheted through Jo’Aquin’s system. This was a planet deep into Reptile-controlled space. The realm of planets in this galaxy alone were heavily occupied. “Nexus region? That can’t be possible.”
Striker nodded sharply. “We came in a cloaked shuttle. The Starlight, and everyone on board, remains safe half the universe away. Just being in this region though, well, we thought the worst. We were ready for a battle to save your sorry arse. Imagine our surprise when the most fighting we had to do was fend off people wanting to hug and kiss us,” Striker said.
Jo’Aquin took in the ammunition and extra gear his crew wore. There wasn’t another place on their bodies where they could have fit another gun. “You almost look disappointed.”
Striker smirked. “I was just in the mood to kick some Reptile tail.” His usually easy expression became serious. “This was one of the first planets to be occupied. How on Hexion is this planet not filled with mind-slaves?”
Jo’Aquin’s arm tugged Lauren closer to him. “Thank Lauren. She freed all souls on this planet.”
Striker gauged him carefully, expecting a joke, but when none came, he looked more confused. “Freed everyone? Lauren? This is the female taken from Earth?”
Lauren peered up at Striker. “Yes, yes and yes.”
Fatigue laced her voice, taking the excitement away from having his men here, at last. She looked completely done in, staying on her feet through willpower alone. She had just come back from the dead. “Lieutenant, I will answer all of your questions, but first I need medical attention for Lauren. She has been through…a lot.” More than one woman should ever possibly go through. Was still going through.
“Let us take her back to my lodging. There, we will answer all your questions,” MalCom stepped forward and laid a hand on Lauren’s forearm.
Jo’Aquin stepped in front of MalCom. “She doesn’t need any more of your help.” His logical mind knew he was being irrational, but he didn’t care. All he wanted to do was get Lauren back to his ship and the best medical care, but he couldn’t. Frustration tinged his anger.
“This might not work out so bad after all.” Mother put her gnarled fingers on his elbow.
He faced down the old woman with a look that usually sent his crew scuttling away. She merely chuckled in a way he found extremely annoying, “The worst has already been done. Let our saviour rest. You don’t need your ship, or your doctors. I am the best ‘medical attention’ she can get. Take her to MalCom’s abode. After I treat her, I will rest there also. There will be much to do, and an old lady like me needs to get as much rest as I possibl
y can.”
Striker stepped one way, then the other, not quite knowing how to deal with the gnarled old woman. Hell, he didn’t either. Before he could protest, Lauren sagged against his shoulder. He swiped his arm beneath her knees and lifted her against his chest.
“I can walk!” she protested.
“I know. But I want to carry you,” he said.
She relaxed into his arms and smiled up at him. “You’re saved, Joe. You can go back home now.” Her voice fractured at the end. She looked so sad, so lost, so alone that his heart constricted and tightened. Unease whispered over him, as though the universe was tilting slightly out of axis.
“All will be well.” He brushed his lips against her forehead. All would be well if it was the last thing he did. He followed MalCom through the maze of corridors and did his best to ignore Striker’s loaded gaze.
He stepped around dead Reptiles that littered the corridors. Obviously, there had been a revolution the moment people had been released from their minds. Scars of battle scorched the walls, blood darkened the ground, most of it Reptile blood, he was pleased to note.
People they passed wore happy, but tired smiles on their gaunt faces. Some came up to them, touching Lauren’s arm, wonder washing their faces. Lauren looked overwhelmed with the attention. “How do they know me?”
“Words runs fast on Florn. Especially a wonder like this. They are grateful,” Mother said, her hand patting Lauren’s arm.
Finally, MalCom opened a wooden door into bright sunlight. Lauren closed her eyes and tipped her head back. “I didn’t think I’d see this again.”
Jo’Aquin stopped dead and watched Lauren enjoying the sunlight. After a while, she opened those beautiful eyes to peer at the people in the street, laughing and crying around them. He took in all in too. It was surreal. It was all too real. It was nothing he’d ever experienced before. The freeing of a planet.
It reminded him of the old black and white photos of Earth when their second world war ended. The people in the streets. Cheering. Happy that it was over. Happy that they had survived the horror. Happy simply to be alive.
“It is a sight, isn’t it,” Mother said quietly in his ear.
People cried out, running down the dirt street into each other’s arms. Families reunited with their children, friends and lovers finding each other again. Bodies of Reptiles were strewn over the road. They were kicked, stomped on and treated like the rubbish they were. Some missed limbs, other had huge gashes in their throats, their stomachs and over their bodies. Jo’Aquin felt no pity.
“By all that is holy, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Striker said, coming to stand next to Jo’Aquin. His men had grouped around him and were watching, as well.
“We will aid these people,” Reed said.
“It will take some time, but yes, they will need help,” Jo’Aquin said.
“They look so happy.” Jo’Aquin’s attention slid to the soft smile played on Lauren’s mouth. They should be happy. They’d been saved by an angel.
“This way,” MalCom’s voice was thick with emotion.
They came around a corner and found a child crouching beneath a shrub and crying. Lauren uttered a sound and scrambled out of Jo’Aquin’s arms. She dropped to her knees in front of the little boy taking his hands in hers. His tear-stained face lifted up. He was a small child, thin and undernourished. “Can you find your mother?”
The little boy shook his head, blinking back tears. Jo’Aquin frowned as he peered down at the child. His thin body had been so abused that he was sick and weak.
“Are you hungry?” Lauren cupped her palm to his cheek.
Tips of the trees around them rustled. Leaves brushed Lauren’s shoulders, as though in a breeze. But the air was still. Brilliant magenta leaves curved over her the backs of her palm. A warm light, as though the leaves were backlit with sunshine illuminated the branch and the leaves and flowed into Lauren’s skin.
Her hand glowed, the colours of the tree swirling beneath her skin before the light transferred into the little boy. She withdrew her hand. The child’s cheeks had plumped out, his body was still thin, but not bony. He glowed with health.
Lauren gasped. “How…what?”
“I told you. You are one with the planet now,” Mother said.
A cry behind them had Jo’Aquin moving to let a frantic woman pass. She fell to her knees and gathered the child in her arms. “Zandia!”
“Mama.”
The woman cried, rocking back and forth as she wrapped her arms about her child. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“The lady made me feel better,” Zandia said, pointing to Lauren.
Zandia’s mother smiled at Lauren. “Thank you so much! I never thought I’d see him looking so good. I thought those Reptiles…they didn’t look after the children. I thought Zandia might not…be...” Tears flowed down her cheeks, her sentence unfinished.
Lauren reeled back, opening her palms and staring at them. “My God. I did that, didn’t I? I felt warm, and the trees spoke to me. They told me to touch him, and they would give him the nutrients his body needed. So I did. And…and…”
“You are symbiotic with Florn. Where the planet can grow and heal the soil and plants, you will do the same to those who live on her,” Mother said.
Lauren trembled, covering her face with her hands. The experience had rocked him, he couldn’t think how affected she was. She stepped into his arms, and he readily accepted her. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent like he needed it to live.
She’d saved that little boy with no more than a touch. This was more than the ramblings of an old woman with questionable mental stability. He’d seen it with his own eyes. She was transformed beyond anything he could have possibly anticipated. Mother was right.
The enormity of the situation hit him like an exploding sun. Lauren couldn’t leave the planet. She was a part of the planet, like none other.
Where did that leave him?
28
S hock reeled through her system. She couldn’t explain what she’d done or how she’d even done it. It was instinctive, just like drawing a breath or yawning. Mother said this was a symbiotic relationship with the…planet!
It seemed so…out of this world. But then again, she was on a foreign planet, and the laws of Earth clearly didn’t apply here. This new…whatever it was…had rocked her from deep within.
They’d walked the busy, now happy, streets of the city and even through the Reptile destruction, she could see the old city beneath the ruins. It was a perfect integration of people living in harmony with the trees, plants, and animals. She was even getting used to the bright colours of the leaves and flowers, and they looked as natural to her as the range of greens of the trees on Earth.
Word had spread. People looked at her with a combination of awe and happiness. Some had even approached her to thank her, some touched her, some stayed back, too shy to come near them.
“You will do many good things here, I think,” Mother had said as they reached MalCom’s house. She’d never been so grateful to see a tree house in her life.
She hadn’t taken that much in when they’d been running for their lives, but it was roomy and very comfortable inside. The space inside was a natural hollow, the wood walls irregular, but smooth. There were nooks and crannies that had been utilised into cupboards. Steps led off through a doorway on one side of the room.
She’d had to bend over to step up through the stairs, but they’d ended out into a room, nearly as large as the living room downstairs. She’d stopped there for a moment and sighed at the cosy bedroom. A small, covered hole let sunlight filter into the space, highlighting a bedroom similar to any on Earth. She almost groaned when she saw the bed. When was the last time she’d actually slept on a real, comfortable bed with a soft mattress and warm blankets? It seemed forever.
Jo’Aquin’s shoulders brushed the side of the tunnel, but at least he was able to stand inside the room. He came up b
ehind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. A shiver worked through her body. Instant heat stirred low in her stomach.
She wanted sleep. But she also wanted comfort. She wanted to be loved. She wanted Jo’Aquin. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She’d promised herself to take whatever he’d give before he left and she intended to start right now.
Before he could utter a word, she turned, stood on her toes, pressed her body fully against his and kissed him deeply. To her delight, he didn’t hesitate, sweeping her away with a commanding thrust of his tongue. He tilted his head, canting his lips over hers, delving deep into her mouth, eliciting a heated thrill right between her legs. Right where she wanted him to be.
She wasn’t going to make love to him slowly. This was going to be hard and fast and exactly what she needed. She wound her arms around his neck, crushing her breasts against his chest. Her hips crushed against his thighs and she sighed at his long, hard erection that poked against her stomach.
His hands found her backside. His fingers splayed over both cheeks, moulding over them, firming, massaging. He jerked her towards him. His cock throbbed, caught in his tight pants.
There was too much clothing between them. She shucked his shirt from his pants, sliding her hands beneath the hem, planting her hands over his pecs. She traced his nipples, smooth and hard beneath her fingertips. It wasn’t enough.
She thrust his shirt up, baring his chest. “Off. Now.” She hardly recognised her husky voice, filled with need, low with desire.
He drew it over his head. She didn’t waste time, bringing her mouth to his large, well-defined chest. She kissed a pec, open-mouthed, licking his nipple with her tongue.
He groaned, the reverberation worked through his chest. She moved to his other nipple, letting the tip of her tongue trail over the dips and swells of his chest, leaving a wet trail behind, before capturing his other pec in her greedy mouth. He tasted of salt and something deeply masculine that made her clit ache and throb.
JoAquin_An Alien Abduction Paranormal Romance Page 17
