Fate Unexpected (Earth Defender Book 1) (7 page)

The scent of Kylah’s arousal had Rune holding her tighter. She
moaned into his mouth and ground her pussy against his cock. It felt good.
Really good. Almost too good. It’d been a while since he’d been with a female,
and her kiss pushed at his control.

Kylah reached between them and fumbled with the fasteners on his
pants. Once she had them open, she shoved her hand down the front and took hold
of his cock. She stroked up and down.

Rune pulled away from her mouth as he caught her wrist in his hand
to still her movements. “Kylah. You have to know where this will lead.”

She locked gazes with him. “I do. You want me. I want you. I need
it. I need the connection to remind me I’m still alive. I’ve seen too much
death these past nine months. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.
Please.”

He couldn’t deny her or himself. She was right. He wanted her. Rune
reached up and palmed her breast. He tugged at her nipple. “Okay, but not out
here. In the tent.”

Kylah let go of his hair and then slid off his lap. She stood and
walked to the tent. Rune followed her inside. They once again fell into each
other’s arms. This time he took her lips with his own, already addicted to her
kisses.

Rune tried to take things slow, but Kylah wouldn’t have any of that.
She pulled away and took her shirt off. He would have liked to have a better
look at the undergarment she wore beneath it, but she soon had that off as
well. She stood and then unbuckled her sword belt and the one for his gun and
put them aside before she undid her pants, which she pushed down her legs. She
kicked them away from her after removing her shoes. His gaze landed on the
material that covered her sex.

He would have taken off that undergarment, but Kylah grabbed the
bottom of his shirt and removed it with a yank. She tossed it away before she
shoved him onto one of the sleeping bags on his back. His boots and pants soon
followed. Once he was naked, she settled on top him, sitting up and straddling
his hips.

Kylah looked down at his body with a heated gaze. She ran a hand
across his pecs and then down his stomach. She fisted his cock and pumped her
hand up and down. With her other, she pushed out of her remaining undergarment.
She lifted onto her knees, positioned his shaft at the slick opening to her
body and pushed down, slowly taking all of him.

She rested her hands flat on his chest and then rode him. Rune held
on to her hips as he arched up to meet each of her strokes. Kylah squeezed her
inner walls around his cock, increasing the arousal that surged through him.
Her pussy was wet and tight. The chances of him lasting very long were slim.
She felt too good.

Kylah panted as she rode him faster. He looked up to see she had her
eyes closed. The expression she wore was of pleasure. Rune reached between her
legs where their bodies were joined and found the small bundle of nerves that
the females of his kind shared. He stroked it, which had her whimpering.

Her inner walls spasmed around his length as they clutched and
released him with her climax. She moaned his name as she rode through it. Once
it ended, he surged in and out of her until his orgasm took him over. He
groaned as he emptied himself deep inside her.

Kylah rolled off Rune and lay on her back next to him. The sound of
their loud breathing filled the tent. He turned his head to look at her. She
stared at the pitched material ceiling above them.

“Kylah,” he said, hoping to get her to look at him.

He reached across to touch her arm, but she pulled away before he
made contact. Kylah kept her back to him as she sat up, then donned her
clothes. The sword belt and the one for his gun she put on last. Without saying
a word, she ducked out of the tent, leaving Rune feeling a little used. That
was a first for him. Usually, he was the one beating a hasty retreat after sex
when the female wanted to cuddle, not the other way around.

Chapter Six

Kylah stomped across the camp, and remembered at the last minute to
take down the field before she hit it. Once she crossed the perimeter, she hit
the button on the wrist control to put it back up to make sure a certain alien
didn’t decide to make a break for it while she was gone.

She’d had sex with Rune. That was bad enough, sleeping with the
enemy, but it was worse that she’d enjoyed it. Too much. She’d let her emotions
get away with her while she’d told him her story of what had happened when his
kind had come to Earth. And then she’d let her attraction to him get the better
of her. She’d been alone for so long, she’d wanted that connection sex would
give her.

Now she had to live with it. And she was torn. As Rune had reached
for her, she’d panicked. The tent had become too confining, and the big alien
she’d slept with took up too much of the space. So she’d run.

Kylah put on a burst of speed and ran until the camp was no longer
in sight. Once she stopped, she took her frustration out on a tree that had a
trunk as thick as her thigh and towered over her. She threw her weight against
it and used her new super strength to push it out of the ground. Next she broke
it up into smaller pieces with her hands. She’d take it back with her for
firewood.

She sat on a piece of log and put her head in her hands. Kylah had
no idea what to do with Rune. Having sex changed everything. Regardless what
she’d told him about it just being what it was, it hadn’t worked out that way
for her. She’d liked being in his arms too much, liked having him pumping in
and out of her. The alien not only was good looking but had an amazing body as
well. She’d itched to explore every inch of it to learn all those hard muscles.

If Kylah wasn’t careful, she’d start thinking of Rune as a
boyfriend, which would be stupid. She didn’t even know if she could completely
trust him. There was a chance he’d try to escape again or he’d somehow manage
to take her to his alien employers as a prisoner like the rest of the humans he’d
encountered.

God, Rune hadn’t even known what a kiss was. He’d caught on really
fast, though. And his cock, it was… She stopped herself there. She couldn’t
think about those things. They would only take her down a road she didn’t want
to travel.

Kylah lifted her wrist and looked at the control. It had alien
characters on it that she, of course, couldn’t read. It was a reminder that
Rune wasn’t from her world let alone her planet. She needed to remember that. She’d
gotten so used to his cat eyes she hardly thought anything of them now.

She took a deep breath, then stood. Kylah gathered up an armful of
wood. She’d have to make a few trips to bring it all to camp. The first one,
she dropped the load in front of the perimeter field. Even at night she was
able to see the energy waves with her keen eyesight. She also saw Rune had
dressed and stood near the fire. He looked at her, but didn’t say anything.

Kylah headed back for another load. She was going to have to face Rune
again. She couldn’t hide in the woods all night. She’d have to put on her big
girl pants and act like an adult.

After the second trip, she made one more before she dropped the
perimeter field and began the task of bring all the wood over to the fire pit.
Rune came to help her. The last of it was stacked, and the field back up, when
he captured Kylah in his arms and pulled her toward him.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me?” he asked. “Did I do something
wrong?”

Kylah looked at him. “No, you didn’t.”

“Then what is it? Whatever it is, I’ll try to fix it.”

“Can you give me back my parents and then send the alien ships
away?”

He slowly dropped his arms. “I guess you’re regretting what we did
earlier.”

“Yes. No.” She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m conflicted. I’m not sure
if I can trust you, and I don’t have sex with men I don’t. I know you aliens
have been hunting humans. You take them away and they never come back.”

“Come sit with me.” Rune took her hand and led her over to sit in
front of the fire. He sat next to her. “As I said, before I met you, I really
had no real interaction with Earthlings. I did my job, and that was that. The
two days I’ve spent with you have changed that, especially after you told me
what happened to you.”

“What about the sex?”

“Okay, that has had something to do with it too. You can’t say it
hasn’t changed things between us.”

Kylah met Runes gaze. “It has. So does this mean you want to be my
boyfriend?” she asked sarcastically.

“I’m not sure what you mean by that. I’m male, and I could be your
friend.”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. A
boyfriend is a man who has a committed relationship with a woman. They could get
married after a while or eventually end things.”

“As your boyfriend, I could be a prospective mate?”

“I guess that would be the best way to put it.” At Rune’s look of
unease, Kylah shook her head again and huffed out a chuckle. “Don’t look so
scared. I never said that was what I wanted. I asked if that was where you
headed with this talk.”

“That isn’t the reason. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Then get on with it.”

“I did some thinking while you went to get the wood. About me
working for the Xphens. As I told you, I don’t condone what they did to you
Earthlings. Releasing chemicals into a planet’s atmosphere to almost eradicate
a species is not what people in my galaxy would stand for. I think the Xphens
did it for something more than that, though. Yes, as their troops, we’ve been
ordered to round up any humans who aren’t changed. We weren’t told why. Now I
think I know the reason behind it.” Rune reached over and ran the backs of his
fingers across Kylah’s cheek. “They’re looking for you.”

Kylah stiffened and pulled his hand off her face. “Me? Why the hell,
out of all the people on the planet, would I be on their radar?”

“Not you specifically. I think they released those chemicals as an
experiment. The humans brought on board the ships are tested by Xphen
scientists. I think they’re looking for someone like you. An Earthling that has
abilities he or she didn’t have before the red rain. Someone who is faster and
stronger than would be considered normal. Who can fight better and heal at a
fast rate. I saw a cut on your forehead heal in a matter of seconds.”

“You mean they made the red rain in the hopes of creating a super
solider?”

Rune nodded. “Yes. And you’re it. I’ve seen how strong you are,
especially when you’re angry and your eyes glow. The way you use that sword of
yours, I doubt anyone could defeat you, even with a gun. You move so fast I almost
can’t track you.”

“So you’re going to quit working for the Xphens because of what I
am?”

“And because I know what they’d do to you if they ever got their
hands on you. You’d be experimented on to find out why you survived the
sickness without changing and became what you are. They’d want to duplicate it
many times so they could have an army of super soldiers.” Rune captured Kylah’s
hand in his. “I know you now, and I’ve been inside you, as close as any male
can get to a female. I can’t be impartial anymore.”

“If you quit, you’ll be stuck here on Earth, never able to go home.
Before the red rain, a few countries had space programs, but no longer. I don’t
even know what happened to the international space station that orbited our
planet. That was as far as humans were capable of traveling into space.”

“I realize that. You said mercenaries do some gruesome things all
for the money. Well, I have done some…things…I’m not very proud of. Protecting
you from the Xphens is the right thing to do.”

“You want to stay with me?”

“Yes.”

“What happens if say Gada somehow managed to find us here? Would you
fight him?”

“If it came to that, yes. Though I think I’d be able to talk him to
our side. He’s conscripted, and knows what it’s like to have the Xphens take over
his planet. He hates them, and only does what they command to survive. Plus,
there’s the fact he has no mate or family back home.”

“Are you sure I’d be safe around him? He’s all fur, teeth and
claws.”

Rune chuckled. “Don’t let Gada’s looks fool you. He has a gentle
soul. That’s why being in the Xphens’ army is slowly killing him on the
inside.”

“What about other aliens we might encounter?”

“I don’t know a lot of the conscripts, but the mercenaries, not a
chance. You’d be lucky to find another as honorable as me.”

Kylah couldn’t help giving Rune a small smile. “Now someone sounds
full of himself.”

His brow furrowed. “I know what those words mean, but I don’t know
how I can fill myself up with myself.”

She laughed. “I guess when they taught you English they didn’t
include our sayings. It means that you think highly of yourself. Too highly.”

“Now I understand. And I wasn’t taught English. The Xphens hooked my
mind up to what you would call a computer system and uploaded the new language
directly to it. All the troops that came to Earth, be they mercenaries or
conscripts, had it mandatorily done.”

“Shit, I wouldn’t want anyone messing with my brain like that.”

“It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but without it we’d never be able
to communicate with each other.”

“Very true.” Kylah yawned. The events of the day were finally
catching up with her. “I’m going to bed. We’ll talk more about this when I’m
not so tired. Are you coming?”

Rune stood when she did. “Yes.”

After they were inside the tent, and Kylah had zipped it closed, she
crawled into one of the sleeping bags. Rune did the same with the other. What
he’d told her swirled in her mind. Had the Xphens really made her into some
kind of super soldier? The only way to find an answer to that was to talk to
one, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be doing that any time soon.

* * * *

Rune came awake the next morning with the realization that he had a
warm female body pressed against him. He opened his eyes to find Kylah cuddled
against his side with her head pillowed on his chest, fast asleep. Their
sleeping bags were between them, but that didn’t stop his body from reacting.
His cock definitely liked having her so close.

After they’d gone to bed last night, and Kylah had fallen asleep,
Rune had laid awake thinking over everything they’d talked about while they’d
sat by the fire. He’d made the right decision to stay with her and protect her
from the Xphens. His ex-employers couldn’t be allowed to know she existed.

Rune knew all he gave up to be with Kylah. He’d spend the rest of his
days on Earth. He’d already lived a hundred of them in his galaxy. It was time
for a change. Plus, there was the fact he wanted to be with the female he held
in his arms. Having her that one time hadn’t been enough, and it brought home
that he actually did have feelings for her. It didn’t all stem from attraction.
For the first time in his life, he thought about taking a mate.

Kylah sighed in her sleep. Rune ran a hand down her back. Last
night, their joining had been fast and hard. Now he wanted to take his time to
show her how good they could be together. If he had to start a new life on this
planet, he wanted to do it with her as his mate. It didn’t have to happen right
now, but down the road he wanted it.

He gently rolled her to her back. She didn’t awaken, and only
mumbled a bit. Rune unzipped his sleeping bag before he did the same to
Kylah’s. He ran his gaze down her body. She was slim, but had some muscle tone
to her. It was deceiving, though. She was so much stronger than she looked.

Rune went onto his side and propped himself up on a bent arm so he
could look down at Kylah. He focused his gaze on her lips. Now that she’d shown
him how to kiss, he wanted to do it again. The people in his galaxy had no idea
what they missed out on. Having her lips on his excited him, but when she’d
sucked his tongue into her mouth, that had made his blood pump faster and his
cock even harder.

He bent his head toward her and gently brushed his lips across hers.
She stirred and sighed. Rune did it again, then took her mouth fully as Kylah
kissed him back. Kissing was his new favorite thing to do. He didn’t think he’d
ever get enough of it, especially since he did it with her.

“Rune?” Kylah asked sleepily against his lips.

He broke contact with her mouth and looked down at her as she
blinked her eyes open. “I want you again. And I want to take my time with you.
Please don’t tell me no.”

Kylah met his gaze and nodded. Rune claimed her lips once more in a
heated kiss, pushing his tongue between them to twine with hers. Now that he’d
admitted to himself that she had come to mean something to him, he craved her
touch like no others’.

He flipped his sleeping bag open, then rolled to lay partially on
her. He stroked a hand down her side, following her curves, and went back up to
cup one of her breasts. Her nipple was taut beneath his palm, and made him ache
for skin-to-skin contact.