by Lynnea Lee
“He took her,” the shrill voice yelled over the comm. “He was dressed like one of the guards, and he just marched in, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her out. We tried to stop him, but he was threatening the customers with a blaster!”
Shit, it must be their wayward guard causing trouble.
“Who did he take, Sammy?”
“Angie! He took Angie.”
An angry snarl issued forth from Ryek’s throat.
Bax spoke, “We met Angie first when she was with you. Is she your female?” He didn’t wait for Ryek’s reply. “We can continue our meeting later. I must go calm my own female, and you must go save yours.”
Ryek sent a note to Holden and headed towards the Daily Dose. His little minx was in trouble, and he needed to go to her rescue.
They got to the Daily Dose in record time, his long legs making short work of the distance. Unlike at the fence, he smelled the traitor clearly, and hidden behind the foul scent of deceit was the delicate perfume of Angie’s fear. The scent made him see red.
He stalked along the trail until the road where it stopped. The guard had used one of their vehicles. Ryek called up the records to see which vehicle had passed here recently. The double-crosser had made a critical mistake by using one of the colony’s security off-roaders. They all had tracking devices installed.
He was taking Angie towards the fence.
Holden arrived with his vehicle. Jumping in with a giant leap, Ryek landed in his seat and the two sped away to rescue their female.
“Where are you taking me, and why?” Angie tried asking again.
The male had shoved her into one of the off-road vehicles the security used and driven her to the perimeter of the colony. He now worked at opening a section for the vehicle to drive through, while holding the weapon on her haphazardly. She didn’t dare make a break for it, as keyed up as he was.
This time the guard answered. “I need to trade you for my life and freedom.” His answer just made Angie more confused. What was he talking about?
“I think you got the wrong girl. I’m not worth anything.”
“Don’t try to lie to me. The rumors are everywhere. You’ve been sleeping with the director. You are the only female in his training group, the guards have seen you two together at The Hideout, and you were together yesterday in the comm office. He never notices the females, so you must mean something to him.” He yanked hard on something on the fence and sparks flew. Now that he’d started talking, he didn’t stop. He mumbled to himself as he worked on the fence. “How the fuck did they find out? I’ve been under their radar for years. I know Yurf did not rat me out. If he did, I would be dead already.” He waved the blaster absently at her.
His words percolated in her head, and she realized who the frazzled looking guard she was trapped in a vehicle with was. Holden had mentioned someone trying to sabotage the fence last night, just before he’d left her alone in his home.
Looking around for a weapon, all Angie saw was a pair of pliers and a utility knife in the back seat. Those were useless against a fully grown Tallean male. It would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight, a butter knife.
Angie fingered the comm in her pocket. She knew that Holden could still track her with it. She’d never change the tracking information. Could she secretly get a comm out to him?
She felt the face of the comm, trying to imagine where she needed to press to dial his contact. She clicked the screen-on button at the side and went through the motions she thought were correct. Embarrassingly, she still had him on speed dial, but right now, that was a bonus. Nothing happened. She couldn’t even take the comm out to see if she was successful.
“Fuck!” the alien swore.
She heard it too; another vehicle was approaching—another off-roader from the sounds of it. But the fence was opened, and the betrayer leaped back into the driver’s side, restarting the engine.
Angie had to get away, and she needed to do it now. Before the vehicle could drive into the rocky field beyond the fence, she made her move. Unlatching and pushing open the simple bar that held the passenger in, she dove for the vegetation on the side, rolling her body to protect herself.
Oof! She landed hard: the wind knocked out of her. She hit the ground, and her vision swam with the impact despite the ground being covered in plant life. The moment it took for her to orient herself felt like an eternity. The crazed deserter guard skidded the car to a halt, intent on retrieving his hostage.
“You little bitch! I should kill you for wasting my time!” But as he took a step towards her, a second vehicle sped into view. Realizing that it was too late to retrieve his prisoner, the guard jumped back into the vehicle and peeled off.
Bang! Bang! Two shots rang out, echoing through the trees. Tires screeched angrily before his vehicle skidded and slammed hard sideways into a large boulder with a loud crash. For the first few seconds, no motion came from the driver’s side. The second vehicle slowed to a stop, and Holden and Ryek walked out.
Angie had never been so happy to see either male. They looked angry and sexy all at the same time, and she knew she was safe.
The traitor crawled out of the wreckage of his vehicle, his blaster drawn. But Holden was faster. In a blur, he was in front of the corrupt sentry, his cheeks uncreased, and his fangs descended. Angie saw him like this often. She’d heard some Talleans refer to it as bloodlust, though it didn’t have a proper term. Some Talleans tend to revert to old ways of fighting, the jaws unhinging to allow a bigger bite and larger fangs. They preferred to fight with the claws on their feet rather than with blasters. It was fucking hot!
Ryek came to her, his fangs a little longer than usual, and his cheeks half-creased. “Are you hurt?” The words were unclear since it was challenging to speak in his state, but Angie understood all the same.
“I’m good, I think.” Angie pushed herself up, but as she put weight on her foot, she gasped and clutched at Ryek’s forearm. The world spun from the movement, and she grabbed her head with a hand. She didn’t know what was worse—the sudden dizzying pain in her head or the pain in her ankle.
“Shit!”
Ryek knelt on one knee and sat her down on the other, encouraging her to lean against him. He picked up her foot carefully and analyzed it. It was swollen and red and had already started to develop a sizable bruise.
“You’ve sprained your ankle. And you might have a concussion. There is a portable medical unit at my place.” His words were clearer now as his cheeks re-creased, and his fangs retracted. He helped her up and carried her to their vehicle.
A deafening roar sounded, and Angie turned her head. But the movement was too fast, and her vision blurred. When it cleared, she saw Holden standing triumphant, holding the traitor’s bloody severed head up by the hair like a prize. It was creepy and disturbing, but also totally hot. As his eyes met hers, he threw the gory trophy to the ground and stalked towards them.
Ryek blocked his way. And when Holden snarled at him through his bloodlust, Ryek snarled right back, shoving at the hulking beast Holden had become. Angie was glad Holden didn’t attack Ryek for stopping him.
“Our female is injured.” Ryek voice was low and firm. “You must return from bloodlust on your own. You can not take her now. You would hurt her.”
Angie had calmed Holden from his bloodlust often in the past. It was one of the reasons why she went to the amberberry harvest with him every year. After protecting her from the beasts that never failed to attack them, Holden would fuck her senseless while still mostly feral. And she loved every moment of it.
But the headache and the blurry vision told her that Ryek was correct. She couldn’t help him out this time.
Ryek held the portable med unit to Angie’s head as she slept on the extra cot at the security office. He wanted to bring her to his home, but work called, and this was the next best option. Luckily, she had only sprained her ankle and suffered a mild concussion. The medical unit wou
ld help her heal, but she would still need to rest after. The med unit beeped, signaling that it had done all that it could.
Earlier, Holden had spent time with her, healing her ankle, before he had to leave to train his team. Ryek had used the time to finish his meeting with Bax via comm. It had been Bax’s idea so that Ryek could spend more time with his injured mate. He hadn’t corrected the male’s assumption of Angie’s status.
A guard poked his head in to let him know the broken fence was fixed. The fences were one of Ryek’s biggest worry. The equipment and resources they needed to keep the barrier running and intact was running low after several recent fence outages courtesy of their now-dead Dominion spy.
Bax was now on his way to pick up the much-needed supplies. It was a mission the good captain had taken with a promise of delayed payment, an I owe you. The colony’s coffers, which had been doing well before the Dominion’s attention, were now near empty.
Ryek was in over his head. He wasn’t cut out for this job, and he had no idea what he was doing. The colonists here trusted him and had faith in him. But did they know that he could be leading them to their doom?
There was one particular colonist that he needed to protect more than all others, and she was rousing from the cot.
“Ugh!” Her hand went to her head. “As if I don’t get enough headaches normally.”
“Let me get you some nuri leaf tea. Don’t move.”
He remembered she had been drinking the healthy tea when he’d picked her up yesterday from her work. They didn’t have the fresh leaves at the office, but the replicator made a decent replacement, and with all the health benefits as well. He handed her the warm cup of clear, pink liquid.
“Thank you.” She drank the whole cup in a few large gulps
“Feeling better, my little minx?” He grabbed her firmly by the upper arm and helped her up to sitting. He didn’t plan on giving her a chance to flee. She had already evaded Holden last night and this morning, and look what happened.
“Last time I checked, I’m not yours. You shouldn’t call me that.” Good, she must be feeling better if she was getting mouthy with him
“You are mine, and I’ll call you whatever I like. Holden said you gave him the slip last night and this morning. You’re a little brat. I see why he calls you Trouble. Trouble found you almost immediately.”
“I didn’t do anything!” She wrinkled her nose at him, and the cuteness made his chest tighten.
“Holden and I will both punish you for giving him the slip later.”
“Ugh! Males!” Then she turned it around on him. “Is it just me, or are the two of you controlling my time? Passing me off to each other?”
She was right, but it was no secret. “No, it’s not just you. We have it all planned. I dropped by Holden’s last night with a pretzel from The Hideout. You weren’t there.”
She turned to face him, her mouth in a little O. “You did?”
“You said you wanted one, so I grabbed you one. They are only good fresh, so Holden and I shared it instead, because somebody had run off.”
“Oh.” She got quiet then. “Thank you for thinking of me. And thank you for saving me.”
“Always.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you think you can handle a moving vehicle?”
“I think so, I feel much better, and I’m not dizzy any more.” She wiggled her feet. “And I don’t even feel the sprained ankle. Those medical devices are amazing!”
“Don’t put too much weight on it yet. You can walk, but no hard landings. I have a team prepping the surface to air missiles. I need to check up on their work. Let’s not make them wait.” He held out an arm for her, and she took it, helping herself up. “Tonight. You will stay where we put you, especially with the Dominion heading our way. We need to know you are safe.”
Holden had packed a bag of her belongings this morning after failing to find her at home. They had both agreed that Angie needed to stay with them from now on.
“I will be safe at home.”
“You will stay where we put you,” Ryek repeated. He tilted her face carefully up so that their eyes met. “And if I decide to put you on my cock tonight, you will stay there all night and not complain. Do you understand?”
Her arousal filled the office, and Ryek had to hold back a growl.
“Do you understand?” He used his sternest colony director’s voice.
“Yes.” The single word came out a breathy whisper.
Chapter 9
Yes? Was that all she could say? Ugh! She should be stronger than that. This was the type of control Holden had on her body; he turned her brain to mush. And now it seemed that if she weren’t careful, Ryek would have it too. Oh, who was she kidding? He already had it. Instead of fixing one problem, she was staring two in the face.
They were back at their outdoor training area by the edge of the forest. They’d agree to meet Holden here after he finished training his group. Angie rubbed at her neck and shoulders, the muscles sore from the hard landing earlier. The medical device hadn’t found anything wrong, so she knew it was just from tension.
“Lie down. I’ll give your muscles a rub.”
She was tempted to take Ryek’s offer but didn’t trust it not to become something else, something more. “I’m okay.”
Ryek picked her up and flipped her over, pushing her down onto the mat onto her belly, and straddled her hips. “That wasn’t a question. That was an order.” He dug strong fingers into her sore, tight muscles.
“Mmm.” All of her protest died on her tongue. That felt so good.
Strong, rough hands dragged over her skin, rubbing and massaging until she felt like a limp noodle, draped over the mat.
“She’s enjoying that. But what she really deserves is a good whack on the ass for eluding me this morning,” Holden’s voice said from behind her. She hadn’t even noticed him join them.
Careful not to nick her with the claws on his feet, Ryek pulled her up onto his crossed legs, ass in the air. He kept a hand on her back while the other hand pulled her stretchy pants down roughly to her knees. The hand then rested on the back of her thighs, trapping her in place. “Here you go, I’ll hold her down for you.”
A third hand, Holden’s warm, callused one, palmed her ass, rubbing in small circles.
“Hello, Trouble. You look much better.” Holden’s growly voice sent shivers down her spine, and she froze in anticipation. “If I remember correctly, I told you not to fucking move last night. And what did you do?” He gave her ass cheek a hard crack with his palm. “What did you do, Trouble?” The hand came down again, making her gasp.
Ryek gripped her hair by the base of her ponytail, pulling her head up firmly but gently. “Answer him.”
With both their attention on her, heat blossomed in her belly, and moisture dampened her panties. Damn! How was she supposed to resist this? Holden knew exactly what lit her flames, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. This time he had Ryek backing him up, too.
“Two versus one. This isn’t fair!” she wailed. With one of her hands trapped between Ryek’s body, all she could do was flail with the other one. She whipped her hand out, catching Holden on the side of his leg with a loud thwack. Score!
A firm hand gripped her free wrist and bent her elbow back, locking her hand behind her back. She tugged at her wrist as her arousal rose. Holden spanked her again, once on each cheek, as Ryek gripped her by the back of the neck. A moment after, a finger teased at her slit through the thin fabric of her undies.
“Answer us, little minx.” The finger pulled aside the thin scrap covering her and dragged up and down her opening. “What did you do last night after Holden told you not to move?”
“I moved,” she squeaked, the lust around them so strong that she felt dizzy.
Two thick fingers plunged in, and Ryek finger fucked her, setting a slow, deliberate rhythm. Angie arched her back, moaning and writhing on his lap. Underneath her body, Ryek’s m
anhood swelled and pressed up against her belly.
Holden leaned over so that his lips were inches from her ear. “Next time I tell you to stay, you stay. Do you understand?” he asked in a low growl.
Ever a brat, Angie didn’t reply.
A few hard swats landed on her ass, and the fingers in her pussy withdrew. She whined at the loss of fullness as her channel clenched at nothing. The fingers teased at her opening again, and she pushed back trying to get more.
“Not so fast. We will give you what you need, but you must promise to do what we tell you. Especially with the Dominion so close.” It was Ryek who spoke. “You won’t run off again. You will spend the next few nights with us, either in my bed or Holden’s. You stay where we put you. Do you understand?” Fingers teased at her clit, and she mewled, the sound escaping her lips on its own accord.
She nodded.
“Not enough. I want to hear it,” Holden urged.
“Yes,” she whispered. With the hand trapped between her bodies, she pressed against Ryek’s erection.
“Behave,” he growled.
“What?” she asked innocently. It earned her another spank on her reddening ass cheek.
“And no more sneaking off in the mornings,” Holden stressed. “You will wake up in our arms.”
“Yes.” She wiggled her hips, eager for them to touch her.
“Good!”
Ryek’s thick fingers plunged back into her pussy, fucking her hard as his thumb pressed against her clit. Holden added few well-placed smacks on the round globes of her ass with one hand as the other reach down to pinch at her nipples. It was too much. Too many sensations assaulted her, and she exploded around Ryek’s fingers, her muscles squeezing and clenching.
“That’s a good girl.” Holden’s voice came from behind her. He leaned in and gave her reddened ass a kiss. “Now, let’s eat. I dropped by The Hideout and brought some food.”
Argh! How could they play her body so expertly one moment, only to switch to food the next? It wasn’t fair.
