Vadim stood and grabbed her around the waist before she could run out of the reception room and into danger. “The fire brigade will take care of it. Nothing you can do, except stay safe.”
Marco stepped closer. “Instead of sector five, I suggest taking her to my pod in sector ten. We’ll have the advantage of being in my home enviro, and all the resources of the military at hand.”
Vadim considered it for a brief moment. “Agreed. Besides, we no longer have time to make arrangements in sector five. The sitch has escalated faster than predicted.”
Kojo spoke to Marco. “Where’d you leave your runabout?”
“Bay four.”
“Marco, take point,” Vadim directed. “Kojo flank, and I’ll bring up the rear.”
Anna’s gaze flicked between the three men as they spoke, but fortunately, she remained mute. He didn’t have time to silence her with another kiss and to do the things he planned to do to her after it.
Marco eased the door open and examined the hallway with his laser in hand. “All clear,” he announced before slipping out.
Kojo wrapped his arm around Anna’s waist and went next. Vadim followed, keeping his attention focused behind him.
Chapter Three
Anna hung on to Kojo’s waist as he whisked her down familiar hallways to bay four. In front of them, Marco stopped and carefully scanned around corners before giving them the okay to proceed. From behind, Vadim urged them to move faster.
Stars above, that kiss had been incendiary. Her body had felt like it was going up in flames. The onslaught of so many sensations had disorientated her. She needed some time in a quiet location to sort out everything that had happened in such a short time in Vadim’s arms.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. Did he do that often with those military service provider women? A burning in her chest—something that might be described as jealousy—had her facing forward again.
How vulgar to feel such a strong negative emotion so soon after their first meet. They still had four weeks before the actual mating. These feelings were supposed to develop over time…if she was lucky. Poor Bella had never generated any intense sensations at all for the three Dweebs.
Anna felt sorry for her dear friend. Bella was missing out on something really amazing, and that was Anna’s impression from only one brief encounter with her own mates. She was beginning to comprehend why some mated quads chose to co-habitate during non-mating times of the moon cycle.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize they’d reached bay four until Kojo pulled her to an abrupt stop on dock eighteen in front of a small runabout. This model seated the pilot and two passengers on a small bench behind him. She wondered which of the men was staying behind.
“Any chance of sabotage?” Kojo asked Marco.
Marco pulled out his datapad and tapped the screen. “Sensors have detected nothing in the vicinity since I left.” He tapped again, and the roof hatch rose. “Ladies first.” Marco held his hand out to help Anna step in.
“No,” Vadim spoke up. “Marco first. Put Anna on your lap. Kojo take the seat next to him. I’ll pilot.”
“It’s a three-seater, General,” Marco protested.
Vadim gave him a cold blue stare. “I’m aware of that, Lieutenant General. Now get in. We’re sitting targets out here.”
Marco seemed to swallow whatever he wanted to say next and jumped aboard the runabout. Kojo helped her in, and she attempted to make herself as small and light as possible on Marco’s lap. Kojo crammed onto the bench next to them seconds before Vadim dropped into the pilot’s seat and secured the hatch.
From the way he flipped rapidly through the pre-flight procedure, it was like he had as many hands as an ancient octopus had arms. They were airborne and heading through the airlock into open space in record time. For a moment, panic squeezed Anna’s lungs at the vast openness around and above her. After spending months in her sector with no reason to leave, Anna found herself overwhelmed by all the empty space of the planet between sectors.
She forced a deep breath and took a look around. The native soil gave off a slight blue glow in reflection of the nearest star. Boulders, rocks and pebbles were the only things on the ground; no plant life of any kind existed. In the distance to the left, the surface of the planet rose steeply in a cliff. To her right, she could barely discern the bio-domes of sector two. Each sector looked nearly identical on the outside, but inside, they’d each been manufactured for their specific purpose. She’d never been to sector ten, the military post; never had a reason to go there. She wondered how it would differ from the others she’d visited.
Stars, her life was small. When she thought about the ancient explorers of Earth, she envied them their freedom to travel so far and wide. She’d never be able to express her opinion aloud, especially with Vadim in her presence, but she sympathized with the Open Air Society. She’d love to have the freedom to step out of the confines of her little existence, to breathe air not purified through scrubbers. But hellitude, Vadim would probably pitch her out of the runabout if he knew she was contemplating this.
Just then, a loud buzz indicated an incoming message on the runabout’s comm channel.
Vadim thumbed a button on the video control panel. “Message receiving,” he directed at the screen.
An image of the head of Council appeared. “Who is this? Where’s Lieutenant General Marco?”
“This is General Vadim.”
“Of course, of course. Pardon me for not recognizing you at once. We are ill at odds here in sector one. We cannot find Doctor Anna. Do you have her?”
“Yes, Councilman Enders. She has been secured.”
“Where is she? And where’s Lieutenant General Marco?”
“LG Marco is accounted for. Due to security imperatives, I cannot release the location of Anna.”
Anna covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe Vadim was speaking to Enders this way. No one spoke to the head of Council in this matter.
Marco patted her knee, and she turned her head to look at him.
“He’s a General,” Marco whispered.
“They come with their own set of rules,” Kojo explained further.
Anna looked at him squashed in next to Marco. She leaned over and whispered, “You look terribly uncomfortable. How far to sector…?” She held up her two hands and wiggled her fingers to show the number ten.
“Eighty more kilometers.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through all this for me.”
Kojo’s eyes narrowed. “You are our mate. For you, we would lay down our lives.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at such a melodramatic statement. Men like these had much better things to do, she was sure, than lay their lives down for a bio-researcher like her. Even though she knew her work was important, she didn’t believe it was
that
important to the survival of all of humanity or anything.
“…another fire,” the Councilman’s words brought Anna’s attention back to the conversation in the front of the runabout.
“Where?” Vadim asked curtly.
“Sector five. Perhaps they think she is hiding among the general population, and they are trying to flush her out.”
“Or impact the greatest number of civilians to create the most fear and chaos,” Vadim replied.
“Either way, they’ve sent a missive to the Council stating they will not stop.”
“Has General Rousseau taken command of the situation?” Vadim asked.
“Yes,” on the video screen the Councilman nodded his head, “he and his men arrived shortly after the first attack.”
“You are in good hands then, Councilman Enders. The Lieutenant Generals and I will proceed with our current mission to ensure the safety of Doctor Anna. Good day, sir.” Without waiting for Enders reply, Vadim thumbed off the connection.
Anna gasped. “You hung up on him.”
“Our conversation had reached its conclusion,” Vadim responded.
“So, what are we going to do now?” she asked, looking from one man to the other.
“We continue with our plan,” Vadim answered. “We establish a secure location in sector ten.”
“Are we really going to run and hide?” That didn’t seem to fit with what she knew of military men like these. Weren’t they always at the ready to fly into action?
“What do you suggest?” Vadim’s tone held a mocking ring. “Present yourself as a target so we can entrap the terrorists?”
“No!” Oh stars, no. She wasn’t brave and selfless enough to do that.
“Our mission is to ensure your safety,” Vadim stated. “General Rousseau and his forces can deal with the terrorists.” He added softly at the end, “For now.”
* * * *
Anna stood in a corner of the main room of Marco’s quarters. Being a high-ranking officer obviously had its perks, as he had two separate rooms in his pod, plus a private bathing room. Or maybe all the pods in the military sector were designed this way to accommodate the size of the military men. All of the men she’d seen since they’d arrived had been over six feet tall. It was like being in a sector of giants.
Kojo, Marco and Vadim worked well together as a team. They spoke very few words to each other as they bustled about the quarters establishing what they termed safe boundaries with sensors in place, inside and outside the pod.
Finally, when the men seemed satisfied with the conditions, they joined Anna in the main room, which resembled the reception room where they’d first met. Marco’s room was a bit bigger, and had a few personal items on the shelves behind the wall benches. She’d tried not to notice, not wanting to be rude and invade his privacy with her snooping gaze, but her natural scientific curiosity got the better of her.
With furtive glances, she’d noted a photo frame with a slide show of what appeared to be him and his parents. His mother was stunning with long, black, sleek hair, and his fathers looked proud of their son with their big smiles. Next to the frame sat a rock with the most beautiful facets of green, red and yellow.
“Please sit, Anna,” Marco invited her to take a bench.
With datapads in hand, the men sat on facing benches, except for Vadim who joined her on the same bench. After several moments of quiet tapping on their hand-held pads, apparently checking for updates or communicating with their units, they put them away and were silent.
Anna squirmed on the bench as the four of them sat staring at each other. “Now what?”
“We wait,” Vadim answered in his typical short way.
“For what? For how long?” She paused and looked around at the four walls that already seemed to be closing in on her. “I can’t just sit here…I can’t…I’ll go—”
Vadim pressed his lips against hers, stopping the flow of her words and the chaotic churning in her brain. Everything else ceased to matter. Her sole focus centered on the sensations emanating from her belly and lower.
Vadim’s lips were warm and surprisingly soft while at the same time the pressure he exerted indicated his dominance. His hand wrapped around the back of her head, and he tilted her so he could better access her mouth. His tongue slipped between her lips, and she felt a craving between her legs for something to slip in there.
She broke free from his lips and gasped. The sensations consuming her were overwhelming and confusing. Was this normal…natural? Was there something wrong with her to want to get physical with her mate so soon? The sun hadn’t even set on their first day yet.
She glanced over at Kojo and Marco watching her and Vadim. Were they judging her? Was she doing this all wrong? Were they disgusted by her enthusiasm?
Marco rose from his bench and knelt on the floor at her feet. He traced his thumb over her brow. “What’s wrong, Anna?”
She shook her head, wanting to bolt from this pod, from these men who stirred up such new and confounding feelings.
Kojo joined them and knelt next to Marco. “We are here for you, Anna, for anything. You can tell us whatever you are thinking.”
Her gaze flicked wildly between the three men. Oh hellitude, she was so out of her comfort zone. Everything familiar had been swept out from under her feet, and she’d landed here in the military sector in front of these three soldiers. She had no idea what she was thinking, or what she wanted, or what she should be doing.
“Tell us, Anna,” Marco prompted as he skimmed her cheek with the back of his hand.
Shivers skittered down her spine, and she threw caution in the incinerator. “I’m out of my element here,” she confessed.
“What do you need from us?” Kojo asked, rubbing his big hand along the outside of her thigh, sending liquid heat flowing through her veins.
“I don’t know.” Her eyes sought out a clue from each of their faces. Could they help her figure out what messages her body was trying to send to her?
“Bedroom, now,” Vadim ordered, making Anna jump slightly in her seat.
Oh stars forbid, they were going to the bedroom? They were going to mate already? Her breathing sped up, and she started feeling lightheaded again.
“Oh hellitude, Vadim,” Kojo cursed as his hand pressed against Anna’s shoulder, pushing her forward to put her head between her knees again. “Maybe you should throttle down to cruising speed, instead of running in hyperdrive. She’s untried.”