Prime Target

by Monette Michaels

  Roc had finally drawn first blood on Damon. The pirate chortled.

  Damon hadn’t made a stupid move like that since his first year away from Gliese 531C.

  Red flames streaked across Damon’s field of vision. His icy control smoldered and threatened to flash over like a wildfire, but he just as quickly brought himself back under control.

  With the adrenaline flowing through his veins and the Prime battle rage upon him, his wound was a mere nuisance. A cold, healing balm spread through his system—his pain vanished and the bleeding stopped. His battle-mate was healing him, lending him her strength just as he’d done for her.

  His pregnant battle-mate.

  Dodging a wild thrust from Roc’s blade, Damon touched Susa’s mind. Stop wasting your energy on me.

  Then end it, my warrior-gemat. I need you.

  Damon twisted and barely escaped getting a nasty cut across his ribs. His Angel was correct. “Enough of this shit.”

  He feinted, created an opening, and kicked out with his steel-toed boot to disarm Roc. The sound of the pirate’s arm breaking was a loud crack. The crowd cheered and shouted encouragement.

  Pain crossing his face, Roc braced his broken arm against his ribs. Using his good arm, he reached for his laser pistol.

  Even as Roc moved to pull the weapon, Damon slid his battle-blade up under Roc’s rib cage and into his heart. The laser pistol fell from the pirate’s slack hand.

  Damon pulled his blade out and stepped back.

  A surprised expression on his face, Roc choked on his own blood and was dead before he hit the ground.

  Tossing the bloody blade toward one of his men, Damon turned and ran toward Susa. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest. Burying his face in her hair, he muttered, “Seven hells of Jupiter, don’t ever scare me that way again.”

  “It wasn’t my—” she began.

  Damon cut off her protest by taking her mouth. He kissed her until she went boneless in his arms, then he broke the kiss.

  “Don’t care. Just don’t do it again. My heart can’t take you being in danger.” He carried her toward the nearest lift that would take them to the corridor outside their quarters.

  The gathered crowd parted for them.

  “I knew you’d come for me.” Susa, crying and shaking, burrowed into him even as she petted and kissed him.

  For the first time since he’d become aware of her danger, the buzz of adrenaline in his bloodstream dissipated.

  As the lift sped them to the hallway outside of their quarters, he kissed her pale, damp forehead. “Are you really okay, love? Is the baby okay?” He held her with one arm and touched her lower abdomen.

  “I think so.” She stroked his arm with shaky fingers. “He cut you.” Her voice held a hint of hysteria as she touched the deep gouge on his arm and sent healing warmth into it.

  “Angel, don’t waste your energy on me. I’m fine.”

  “It’s not a waste.” She sniffled against his neck. “I love you.” Her breath hitched as more tears slid down her cheeks. “I need you just as much as you need me. Don’t deny me my right to care for you.”

  “All right, love. Care for me, and I’ll care for you.” He walked out of the lift and ordered the door to their suite to open with a verbal command. “And because I’m dirty and sweaty, we’ll do that care in the shower. I’ll check your injuries, and later the paramedic will make sure I didn’t miss anything. Then we’re going to bed. You need your rest.”

  “Damon, I’m—” She lifted her head. Her golden eyes drenched with tears.

  “You’re not fine. If your gemat says you need rest, you need rest.” Damon could out-stubborn Susa all the damn day. “You’re in adrenaline drop. You’re not used to it—this is why you’re shaking and crying. So, we’re going to bed and resting until you’re steadier. I didn’t rescue your stubborn little ass so you could harm yourself by not taking care.”

  Plus, fuck it all, he needed to care for her. It was his right.

  Susa angled her head, reading him. “And you take such good care of me, too.” She nestled her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Damon.”

  “And the One knows, I love you.” And would forever in this life and the next.

  Epilogue

  A little over one standard year later, Cejuru Prime

  Susa sat on the patio of her and Damon’s Cejuru Prime home and reveled in the bounty the One had granted her. Roaming the lush grounds were their friends—and their children, the future of the Prime people. The isolationism of the past was a mere chapter in history. Future Prime citizens would disown the nativism of the Pure Blood faction and acknowledge the integration with hominids from all over the galaxy.

  Susa and Damon were an integral part of that future.

  “Have I told you yet today how beautiful you are?” Damon sat next to her on the love seat and held their infant son Piers who was sound asleep after nursing. Piers’s rosebud lips puckered and sucked at the air as if he dreamt of his next meal. Their son was hungry all the time.

  But then so was his twin sister Moira.

  “Yes, but I love hearing it.” Susa smiled at her gemat and adjusted their daughter’s position as the baby suckled on Susa’s breast at light speed. The tiny, sweet noises Moira made as she fed brought tears of joy to Susa’s eyes.

  “Angel?” Damon moved closer. Holding Piers securely against his chest with one arm, he placed his other around Susa’s shoulder and pulled her into his side.

  “Happy tears. We’re so blessed. It wasn’t all that long ago I walked these gardens afraid of what the future might bring. I almost backed out from traveling to your jump station, you know?”

  “So glad you didn’t.” He kissed her temple and then pressed a kiss to Moira’s blond curls, an unexpected genetic gift from Damon’s Viking forebears. “What changed your mind?”

  Susa laughed. “A lot of wine and the sound counsel of Mel, Nadia, and Bria who’d come that day to help me pack for the trip. If I’d known then the trip would bring me my soul mate and the miracle of our children, I wouldn’t have wasted any time second-guessing myself.”

  “I’m glad you had the courage to grab hold of the future and hang on. You changed my life for the better from the moment I met you.” Damon murmured against the sensitive lobe of her ear. “I love you. I don’t tell you nearly enough.”

  Susa stroked a finger along his jaw. “Lubho, you don’t have to tell me. I feel it with every breath I take. With every touch and look you give me. You completed me—Piers and Moira have only made that union more whole.”

  “Yes, I feel that also.” Damon urged her closer. “Rest your head, Angel. I feel your exhaustion. Our children kept you up most of the night. We should’ve postponed having our friends over.”

  “This was the first time in ages everyone was on-planet at the same time. And as far as me being up, so were you. You’re so good to me and the children.” Susa nestled her head on his shoulder and inhaled.

  His scent kick-started her libido. For the first couple of months after giving birth, the twins had constrained her and Damon’s normal sexual activity. Within the last month or so, her need had come back stronger than ever. Even with feeding two babies and interrupted sleep patterns, she and Damon had managed to pick up the frequency of their sexual encounters and were almost back to the level of early mating.

  Of course, they’d had to get creative—something at which her gemat excelled. Sex happened whenever and wherever they happened to be when the urges were the strongest and couldn’t be put off. The laundry room and the kitchen got a lot of action.

  “It’s my right to care for and support you,” Damon nuzzled the hair at her temple.

  Damon did more than support her. He brought the babies to her for nighttime feedings. Rocked one while she fed the other. He changed their diapers, then put them back to bed. After which, he’d come back to their bed and massage her back and shoulders until she went to sleep. If there were an award for the Best Fathe
r in the Milky Way, she’d make sure he received it.

  Nursing her babies coupled with the heat of the day lulled Susa into a half-somnolent state. The sounds of bees pollinating their gardens, the water rushing through the creek that bordered one side of the property, and the suckling sounds, productive and non, from her babies added to her fugue state.

  A shriek of baby glee startled her fully awake and she looked in the direction of the noise.

  “The babies are on the loose. Nap times must be over.” Damon laughed. “Those babies sure can scoot.”

  Well, they should. Their friends’ children were all around eight months old. Her twins were just approaching four months and still stomach-scooching and were very proficient at it.

  The action on the lawn had Wulf and Mel’s son Bana leading the pack of crawling babies as they chased after Geep, his mate, and their litter of Ragbags. Huw and Nadia’s daughter Elene had managed to grab Geep by his furry ringlets and was gumming him.

  The noise Geep made in response sounded a lot like giggling.

  It tickles, Geep telepathed.

  Susa snickered when Iolyn and Bria’s daughter Mae and Joen and Lia’s son Densic attempted to wrestle Geep away from Elene.

  Geep’s mate kept the still-fragile baby Ragbags away from the rough-housing.

  “Who’s riding herd on the baby gang?” Damon asked.

  “You can’t see them from where you’re sitting,” Susa said, “but Wulf, Iolyn, Huw, and Joen are doing daddy-duty while their gemates are fixing us all a meal.”

  She sighed and shifted Moira to her other breast. “We have such good friends. Once I get my energy back, the next time they come over, I will play a more gracious hostess.”

  “I heard that,” Mel’s familiar voice called out from the grill she was watching. “I do believe it was you, suffering with never-ending morning sickness, who camped out at my home to take care of me and Bana when Wulf was on a mission and I was down with a virus. And I’m also positive it was you and Damon who took Bana for several overnights so Wulf and I could have a couple’s night now and then. And be sure, Wulf and I plan to return the favor.”

  Wulf walked over to Mel, Bana clinging to his father’s back like a monkey. “When are we going to eat? We need food.”

  Bana piped up, “Food, Mommy.”

  Susa and Damon laughed as did Mel who tweaked her son’s nose. “Well, monkey boy, we can eat as soon as your daddy cleans your hands and gets some of the dirt and grass off your knees. Things are all set up on the terrace.” Mel began taking the meat patties and seafood kabobs off the grill and then put them on serving platters.

  Wulf turned and whistled to get the attention of the other fathers. “Food’s ready. Clean up and meet on the terrace.”

  Childish squeals of “food” had all the adults laughing.

  “We’ll be there as soon as we put the babies down, Mel,” Susa said.

  “Take your time. We made enough food to feed the entire Gold Squadron.” Mel walked next to Wulf who dangled a giggling Bana upside down. “There will be more than enough left whenever you get there.”

  Susa glanced at Moira, slipped the nipple out of her daughter’s now lax mouth, and fixed her blouse. She placed her baby girl on her shoulder and patted her back until a very un-dainty burp sounded.

  “My girls are so fucking beautiful.” The words were uttered in the low, sexy rumble that vibrated her very bones, set her clit to throbbing, and her nipples tightening.

  Susa stroked a finger over Damon’s lips and smiled when he nipped then sucked it into his mouth. The pull on the tip of her finger shot straight to her empty pussy. She ached, and her body demanded what only Damon could provide.

  The twins were sound asleep. From experience, it would take a solar explosion to wake them. She and Damon had maybe two hours before their children woke.

  She glanced at the covered terrace of their house, listened to the chatter and laughter, both young and old, as it rang out over the property. “Damon—”

  “Love—” Damon picked up her hand and kissed her inner wrist, then lightly bit the pad of her palm. “I sense your needs. Then I’ll take care of them.”

  “But our guests—”

  “They won’t miss us. In case you missed it, Mel practically ordered us to take our time.” Damon stood, cradling Piers in one arm, and offered his other hand to help her up. “I’ll tuck the babies in. You’ll go to our room and get naked. I’m in the mood to give you lots of orgasms.”

  “How many orgasms are you planning on?” Susa asked, her heart full and her body humming with anticipation. “And what about your pleasure?”

  “As many as I can before one of our nosier friends”—my little pest of a sister—“comes hunting us.” He took her lips with a tongue-tangling kiss. “Your pleasure is my pleasure. And since when have you left me without?”

  Susa smiled. “Never that I can recall.”

  “That’s exactly right.” Damon brought her hand to his lips again and nibbled the tips of her fingers. “So, love, do we have a plan?”

  “Yes, we do.” With Piers in his strong hold and Moira nestled against her shoulderreast, they walked hand-in-hand into the house—where after multiple orgasms for her and two for Damon they finally emerged to the good-natured teasing of their friends.

  They were so blessed.

  ~The End~

  About the Author

  A Hoosier born and raised, Monette still lives in the heartland near Indianapolis, Indiana. Married to her college sweetheart and soul mate, they have one son.

  After many years of practicing law, Monette found that all the clients, opposing counsel, and the problems she handled ignited the need to write fiction. So she started writing – first, romantic suspense/thrillers, then adding a touch of paranormal and scifi and, eventually, a sexier side (as Rae Morgan).

  Monette (and Rae) loves to hear from her fans. E-mail her at monettemichaels@gmail.com.

  Visit her at:

  Website: www.monettemichaels.com

  FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/authormonettemichaels

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonetteMichaels

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/monettemichaels/

  Other Books by This Author

  Writing as Monette Michaels:

  Stand-Alone Novels:

  Fatal Vision

  Death Benefits

  Green Fire

  Vested Interests

  Blind-Sided (with Janet Ferran)

  Gooden and Knight Mysteries:

  The Virtuous Vampire, Case File #1

  The Deadly Séance, Case File #2

  Security Specialists International:

  Eye of the Storm, Book 1

  Stormy Weather Baby, Book 1.5

  Cold Day in Hell, Book 2

  Storm Front, Book 2.5

  Weather the Storm, Book 3

  Storm Warning, Book 4

  Hot as Hell, Book 4.5

  An Ill Wind, Book 5

  The Prime Chronicles Series:

  Prime Obsession, Book 1

  Prime Selection, Book 2

  Prime Imperative, Book 3

  Prime Claiming, a Prime Chronicles Short Story

  Prime Target, Book 4

  What A Witch Series in the Magic and Mayhem Universe:

  What A Witch Wants, Book 1

  What A Witch Needs, Book 2

  Writing as Rae Morgan:

  Coven of the Wolf Series:

  Destiny’s Magick, Book 1

  Moon Magick, Book 2

  Treading the Labyrinth, Book 3

  No Secrets, Book 4

  Earth Awakened, a Terran Realm Book

  Other works:

  Enchantress, a novella

  Evanescence, a novella

  “Once Upon a Princess,” in Ain’t Your Mama’s Bedtime Stories