Suddenly the guard wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her toes into his ass. Her claws must have shot right through her socks! The sting nearly robbed him of his erection, but the rhythmic clenching of her cunt forced his balls to contract. His seed burst out in hot spurts as he shuddered helplessly within the circle of her strong legs.
A moment passed in awkward silence. This was by far the strangest sexual experience of his life. He had no idea what he should say to her. She’d refused to even tell him her name.
The guard carefully separated their bodies and stood. She quickly dressed and picked up her gun belt, fastening it on as she said, “Enjoy the rest of your evening, sir.”
Before he could formulate an appropriate reply, she was gone.
He draped his forearm over his eyes, no longer caring that he was sprawled half-naked on the floor of his lab. His ass stung, the puncture wounds throbbing with the rhythm of his heart. He should swab them with disinfectant just to make sure—
You think you bested me, don’t you?
If he escaped this fiasco with nothing but a few claw marks on his ass, he definitely considered it a win.
You disobeyed me, Evard. I can’t ignore your insubordination.
Pulling his arm away from his face, he sat. “I got caught up in the moment. If I hadn’t focused on the nurse, I would have lost my erection.” He spoke aloud in an attempt to distance himself from his unwanted passenger.
She smoldered and stewed, the heat of her animosity singeing his mind. We will have a rematch. You can count on it. But for now, you have work to do.
Her presence faded and he pushed his hands through his hair, indulging in a ragged sigh. She left him alone less and less often these days. He had to utilize every moment to the fullest.
Shaking away the emotional remnants of the near disaster, he dressed and returned to his workstation. He was so close to mapping the chemical makeup of the Gathosians’ compound. They used it to ensure the obedience of their subordinates. Every member of the Protectorate and every person on the workforce was addicted to this despicable compound.
Whenever Inwatta invaded his mind, he concentrated on how much he hated her, keeping his thoughts firmly focused in the moment and away from his mutinous side project. Evard was determined to unlock the compound’s secrets and free everyone from its addictive properties. With the chains of addiction broken, victims of the Gathosians could band together and drive the wretched creatures back to their own dimension—or destroy them utterly.
* * * * *
Cub followed Autumn through the embassy, too dazed to speak and too exhausted to cry. The tense emptiness in her belly hadn’t eased since she turned loose of Griz and left her old life behind. She looked around as they walked, amazed by the beauty of the building. Did all the embassies look like this? No wonder so many women chose this life over what went on in the refineries.
Autumn slowed her pace, walking beside Cub rather than leading her. “Ulrick told me a little more about what happened.” Her voice was smooth and cultured, sending sparks through Cub’s memory. There had been a time in her life when everyone spoke like that, when people were polite and courteous. “Do you need medical attention before you bathe? It would only take a minute to contact someone.”
She shook her head. “I got a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing a doctor needs to see.”
“All right. I’ll get you settled in one of the guest suites. Would you like something to eat while you soak?”
Soak? She’d be allowed to submerge her aching body in a bathtub and soak, without worrying about being discovered, or punished for her laziness? The thought brought a fresh wave of emotion, and all her stubbornness couldn’t stem the flow of tears.
Her chin quivered and her shoulders shook, and her legs began to wobble. Autumn took Cub by the hand and hurried her along as harsh sobs tore from her raw throat.
They dashed up a massive staircase, Cub’s surroundings passing in a blur of ivory and gold.
A door closed behind them and Cub’s knees buckled. She sank to thick carpet and buried her face in her hands. Grief and anxiety crashed down upon her. She could hardly breathe for the choking pain. Autumn knelt beside her, patting her back lightly.
“It’s all right. Everything is going to be fine.”
“Don’t touch me,” she wailed. “I’m dirty and I…” Sorrow closed her throat completely, and she pressed her hands to her throat. Griz was dead because of her. It was only right that she follow. Death loomed before her, black and numbing, a welcome reprieve from the horror life had become.
Someone touched her face and soothing heat spread across her skin. She turned her head, looking into strange, gray-blue eyes.
Relax. A deep, faintly accented voice sounded in her mind, and immediately her cramping muscles relaxed. Air rushed in and lights burst behind her eyes. You are calm now. No one will hurt you. You are safe.
Warmth and well-being flowed through her and reality expanded. She knelt in the middle of a richly furnished bedroom, Ulrick’s coat pooling around her legs. Autumn knelt on one side of her, gently rubbing her back, and the extraordinary stranger had bent to one knee in front of her. His features were angular, his skin impossibly fair, making his eyes gleam and shimmer. They had seemed more blue than gray when she first looked at him, but they had darkened with all the colors of twilight.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
His presence eclipsed the room, and his smile didn’t fool her for a moment. This was a very dangerous man. “A friend.” Pushing back to his feet, he tossed back his long multicolored hair, and she noticed he was nearly naked. A pair of black pants hugged his lean hips, but his sculpted torso and arms were bare to her appreciative gaze.
“How did you know she was in trouble?” Autumn drew his attention.
“I sensed your fear.” His gaze locked on Autumn and those changeable eyes erupted with fire and longing. Whoever he was, his interest was solidly focused on the lovely redhead.
“We need to talk about what you just did.” How could Autumn not be intimidated by someone so obviously powerful?
“Then you better get moving.” His smile was slow and sexy now, adding to his rakish appeal. “I need to leave in less than an hour.”
Cub watched him walk from the room, politely closing the door behind him. Was every member of the Protectorate gorgeous? Ulrick Brant certainly qualified. If a man ever looked at her the way the stranger looked at Autumn, Cub would melt into a puddle at his feet.
“Let’s get you settled,” Autumn prompted. “I want to speak with Ra’jen before he leaves.”
“His name is Ra’jen? Who is he?” Cub followed Autumn into the bathroom, struggling to understand what had just happened. “You didn’t realize he could do that?”
“That was General Ra’jen Noirte. He’s the Military Head of the Protectorate. And I’ve never met a more secretive man. I suspect there are many things he can do that he hasn’t told me about.”
“But you’re lovers, aren’t you?”
“We are, but it’s a relatively new relationship.” Autumn paused to activate the shower. “Scrub really well before you get in the bathtub. It’s not healthy to soak in dirty water, and you look undernourished as it is.”
Autumn’s kindness was humbling, and suspicious. “Why are you doing this?” She hated the cynicism that made her ask, but everyone had ulterior motives these days.
“We are both human females. Do you really need to ask?”
* * * * *
Autumn slipped back into her bedroom and sighed. Ra’jen was dressed and ready to depart.
“It was either talk or finish what we’d started. And I suspected, in this instance, you’d want to talk.” He strapped on his gun belt as he waited for her reply. He wasn’t wearing armor today, but he never left his headquarters unarmed.
“Unfortunately, you’re right. What did you do to her? She was in the midst of a full-fledged anxiety attack and as soon as you touched her face her entire body relaxed.”
“It wasn’t my touch, it was my voice.”
“But you didn’t say anything.”
His eyebrow arched in a familiar expression. “Are you sure?”
“I thought you couldn’t communicate telepathically unless you’d formed a link.”
“A link is necessary for ongoing or interactive communication, but I’m able to push my thoughts into most anyone’s mind.” Her surprise must have shown because he chuckled. “Come now, love. Why do you think the Gathosians kept me alive while billions of my people were slaughtered? This can’t be that shocking to you.”
She hadn’t really thought about it, but she should have. The Gathosians were task oriented and brutally intolerant. “You just told her to calm down, and she did?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that. My mind identifies the pattern of her brainwaves then emulates them as I send the command. She responds as if the order came from her own brain.”
“And you can do this with anyone, at any time.” Had he used the technique on her? Was this why she’d fallen for him so hard so fast?
His gaze narrowed, and he retreated behind his professional mask—hard, cold, utterly expressionless. “I allowed you to choose every step of the way. I have done nothing to deserve your suspicion.”
“I’m sorry. Humans aren’t able to do things like this. It’s intimidating as hell.”
Without softening his expression, he grasped her upper arms and drew her toward him. “I think you’d be surprised what some humans can do.” He sighed, then his gaze locked with hers. “I will never hurt you. I thought you had accepted that fact.”
“I have. I just don’t like being helpless.”
“You’re never truly helpless with me. I ache to be inside you constantly, and every instinct I possess demands that I protect you. I honestly want you to be happy.” He pressed a kiss to the corners of her mouth then stepped back. “My abilities are tools, nothing more. They need not be any more intimidating than my sidearm. My pulse pistol could end your life far more effectively than a mental compulsion, yet you don’t fear that I’m going to shoot you.”
She nodded, feeling silly now that she’d had a moment to adjust to the idea. “Will her emotions resurge, or did you mute them permanently?”
He pulled his hair back and bound it with a black cord. “That would make her an emotional zombie. All I did was defuse her hysteria. If you’re truly fascinated by the technique, I’ll send Saroji to you. She is far more skilled than I am.”
“Who is Saroji?”
“My half sister. She works as a counselor for the Protectorate. She’s been anxious to meet you anyway.”
Disappointment dampened her already turbulent mood. “You never told me you had a sister.” Despite his insistence that her trust be unconditional, he was still frustratingly secretive.
“All in good time, my love.” He leaned down and kissed her, passing tenderness across their psychic link.
* * * * *
Cub held her breath as the tall, leggy blonde cut another thick snarl out of her hair.
“If you don’t relax, you’ll fall off the stool,” the blonde warned. “I’m not going to hurt you. We just need to make some sense of this mess.”
“You look much improved.” Autumn’s observation made Cub look toward the open doorway.
“And she smells a whole hell of a lot better,” the blonde muttered.
“That’s unkind, Celinna. Our guest was not responsible for her circumstances. Surely you understand what that’s like.”
“Yes, Mistress.” Celinna tucked a strand of her sleek platinum bob behind her ear as she stepped in front of Cub. “I’m sorry if I’ve been less than hospitable. Many of us have done our best to capture Mr. Brant’s attention. We have all failed.”
Cub assessed Celinna’s curvaceous figure and indulged in a sad little laugh. “He don’t think of me like that.” She looked from Celinna to Autumn and back. “He saw someone kicking a stray dog and took it to an animal shelter.”
Autumn smiled, strolling farther into the bedroom. “I understand the comparison, though I rather resent being labeled a dog.”
“That makes me a dog trainer.” Celinna laughed and returned her attention to Cub’s ruined hair. “Make that dog groomer.”
“Would it upset you if Mr. Brant was attracted to you on some level?” Autumn asked.
“Don’t matter. He ain’t.”
“Her grammar is atrocious,” Celinna said to Autumn. “She has to have a language infusion even if she’s just going to sweep the floors. We have standards after all.”
“I’m not sure an infusion is necessary. I don’t trust Gathosian technology.”
“It’s harmless,” Celinna insisted. “I’ve used the infuser on half the ambassadors in residence.”
“What’s an infuser?” Cub asked. They were talking around her, acting as if she weren’t even there.
“It’s a Gathosian device I’d rather not use,” Autumn insisted. “Tell me about your life before the invasion.”
Cub licked her lips and tried to sit still. Celinna was still hacking away at her hair, and Autumn obviously expected something from her she didn’t understand. “That world don’t…doesn’t exist anymore.”
“I understand that, but the past is part of us, whether we accept the fact or not. We must choose to use every event to strengthen us rather than allowing it to destroy us.”
Grizzly’s kind face and warm gaze immediately came to mind. Her heart clenched, and she pressed her lips together. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”
“Don’t think about today,” a stranger coaxed. “Tell her about yesteryear.”
The image immediately dissolved and Cub’s emotions calmed. She turned her head toward the doorway again and found an ethereal apparition standing there. The woman couldn’t be real. Nothing that beautiful could exist in this reality.
Pale-blonde hair flowed past her shoulders and down her back. Her delicate features seemed familiar somehow, but Cub didn’t make the connection—until she looked into the newcomer’s eyes. “You have his eyes,” she murmured.