Authors: Shelley Munro
When she looked blank, he grinned. “Old
Earth history. You were saying about the wine?”
“I tried a fruit there. Peaches?”
“Close,” he said, letting his approval
show. “Definitely hints of stone fruit. I’d say it was more nectarine than
peach, or maybe apricot. Do you like it?”
She nodded and took another sip.
“Have some fruit.”
She took some but he could tell she didn’t
really want it. She was placating him. Following orders. He frowned. Why didn’t
she tell him no?
Because she instinctively followed orders.
Felix reached for a cracker and cut a slice
of cheese to place on top. He bit into it, his gaze still on Casey.
The sound of a shuttle returning had him
rising. “I need to speak with my brothers.”
Instead of demanding to go back to the
resort, she nodded in a lethargic manner.
Felix quashed a second scowl and stalked
out to meet Joe and Sly, his younger twin brothers. Hopefully they had more
news about Saber and Eva. Leo hadn’t said much. “Did you get them?”
“No,” Sly said.
He and Joe slid out of their shuttle and
joined him.
“We saw them,” Joe said. “They escaped the
bird.”
“They were bloody lucky,” Sly added. “Another
bird appeared and attacked. The two birds were squabbling over which one of
them got Saber and the woman.”
“Fuck,” Felix said. “Did they look injured?”
Joe gave a curt shake of his head. “The
first bird dropped them. I saw Saber drag the woman into the jungle where the
birds couldn’t get them, so they’re okay.”
“I tried to get Saber on his com,” Felix
said. “It’s turned off.”
“We tried the com too,” Joe said. “Hope it
didn’t fall out of his pocket.”
“Did Leo come back?” Sly asked.
“Yeah. He was in a hell of a mood,” Felix
said.
Joe’s brows drew together. “Still?”
“What bug crawled up his ass?” Sly
demanded.
“Hell if I know,” Felix said. “He’s been
moody and biting everyone’s heads off since we left Dalcon.”
“Maybe he’s tired. He worked long hours on
Dalcon, and has gone back a couple of times to finish a job.” Joe shrugged. “Who
knows with Leo.”
“Do you want us to stay?” Sly asked.
Felix wasn’t sure what was best. Maybe he
should take Casey back to the resort and get his mother to look at her, maybe
dose her with some vitamins, and he could make sure she ate properly and slept.
He’d tire her out with sex, if necessary. She didn’t seem to have a problem
with him touching her.
His com-unit buzzed in his pocket and Felix
glanced at the screen, some of the tension leaching from his shoulders. “It’s
Saber. Saber, you guys all right?”
“Yeah. A bit banged up and a few bruises.
Listen, I need you to go back to the resort and make sure everything goes okay.
Go through the next lot of guests with Scarlett and work out a list of
potential captures.” Saber continued, running through the items that needed
attention.
Felix listened to Saber’s terse
instructions. “What about you? Don’t you want us to come and collect you?”
“No. Eva booked a capture experience and
that’s what she’s getting. I hope you don’t mind if I do it instead of you.”
“No, that’s fine.” Relief straightened his
shoulders. He could keep Casey with him and pamper her until she regained her
balance. No point telling Saber that Leo had pulled out and Felix had decided
to take his place. “Call me if there’s anything else you need or if you think
of anything you’ve missed.”
“Anything comes up, you take care of it,”
Saber said. “I’m going to turn my com off. I don’t want it ringing at an
inconvenient time.” He clicked off abruptly.
Felix returned his com-circle to his
pocket. “Saber said he’s staying out there with the woman and that he intends
to keep her.”
Joe let out a long whistle. “That’s
interesting.”
“What about Lori?” Sly frowned at his
brothers. “Or Laurence, come to that. Laurence won’t like it if he thinks Saber
is replacing his sister.”
Laurence wasn’t rational about his dislike
of Saber on a good day. Back on Earth, Felix had suspected Lori and Laurence
wanted a slice of the Mitchell empire, but now—now the coffers were bone dry,
according to Saber, and still Laurence hung around. Hell, maybe he’d been wrong
about the money being Lori’s chief interest. Saber had clearly loved her even
if Felix hadn’t thought much of the woman or her brother.
Everything had changed since they’d left
Earth to escape the virus. They’d kept their capture program quiet, deciding to
try it with family members before they offered other Middlemarch males the same
opportunity. Saber had said it was a chance to perfect their process, and this
way they wouldn’t raise hope or jealousy. At least that was the plan, and they’d
all gone along with Saber, even though a couple of them—particularly, him and
Leo—had reservations.
“I hope Saber knows what he’s doing,” Joe
said. “We haven’t had time to explore much of the island. God knows what else
is out there. Those big-ass birds have to eat
something
. I’d just as
soon they didn’t decide to come to the resort side of the island and put us on
the menu.”
“He has his com-circle. We can go and pick
him up the minute he sends word,” Felix said. “Do you mind going back to the
resort and returning to pick us up tomorrow? I’ll clean up the huts and be
ready to leave in the morning. That’ll give us a chance to get to know each
other.”
“She could leave you once she’s back at the
resort.” Joe said what Felix was thinking, worrying about.
“I know. That’s why I’d like another night
alone with her before we head back. Saber has given me a list of things to deal
with, but one night won’t make any difference.”
“Tomorrow morning then,” Sly said. “I’ll
com you before I arrive. I don’t want to hurt my eyes or besmirch my innocence by
witnessing any kinky goings-on.”
Felix snorted and waved his cackling
brothers away. He hid his smile until he turned his back and strode back to the
hut. It was good to have brothers, even though they were a pain in his ass at
times. He at least understood Laurence’s grief at Lori’s death, because losing
any of his brothers would send him into a tailspin.
He found Casey holding her wineglass and
staring into the swirling contents. Wherever her mind had drifted, it wasn’t a
happy place.
“Hey, you haven’t eaten.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Try to eat something,” he urged, taking a
seat on the corner of the bed. “I want to jump you again before we go to sleep,
have more hot, kinky sex. You need to keep your energy up.”
Her gaze zapped to his. “Again?”
“You’re very attractive. I like you.”
She lifted a self-conscious hand to her
hair. “I look like a boy.”
“You don’t
feel
like a boy. If you
don’t like your hair the way it is, change it. Grow it long. You should do
whatever makes you happy.”
Casey bit back her snort with difficulty.
He made it sound easy, but he’d never come up against the general’s indomitable
will. She’d grown up with the man and found her life went more smoothly if she
went in the direction he pushed.
But not this time
, her mind screamed.
Not. This. Time.
If she went against him, she’d lose
everything. Everyone except maybe her Aunt Elsa. She sighed, knowing her time
was ticking away. Two more days before she left the resort and walked into the
medical center.
Two more days.
The thought mocked her, shoved fear through
her veins, and not for the first time she told herself she didn’t want to do
this, no matter what arguments the general and the medical experts pushed at
her.
“Why the big sigh?”
“Maybe I’m hungry after all.” She caught
the flicker of disappointment in his eyes before he turned away to cut her a
piece of what looked like pie.
When he handed her the treat, she bit back
a wave of nausea but she forced herself to take a bite rather than make a liar
out of herself.
“What do you like to do when you’re on
leave?” Felix asked.
Casey swallowed. She had a family-approved
life, in which meant she attended concerts and went to formal dinners or
parties…and she had her secret life, in which she slipped away to meet her
aunt. They visited the fabric market and went to fashion shows—with Casey in
disguise, of course. It wouldn’t do to let the general know she was “misbehaving”.
And she spent long hours indulging her creative self, designing outfits and
stitching elegant designs.
“Casey?”
She lifted her chin, took a deep breath. “I
visit with my best friend, Eva. We go shopping in the market, and I like to
design clothes then stitch them.”
Interest, rather than polite dismissal,
glinted in his eyes, and some of the tightness faded from her chest.
“Are you any good? My sister Scarlett was
complaining that there are few decent designers on Dalcon. Would she have seen
your work?”
Her tension ratcheted right back up. “No. I
don’t have time to do much designing these days. Work gets in the way.” She
swallowed, needing to rid her throat of the cold, hard knot that had grown to
the size of her fist. And soon work would take over completely. She’d become a
pet project and would never have the life she—
No point whining about it now. No point at
all.
“I used to go surfing a lot when we lived
on Earth,” Felix said. “I haven’t had a chance to try it here.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You have a fiberglass board and float on
it, allowing the waves to propel the board forward. The trick is managing to
stay upright without falling off. I’ll take you sometime. The waves farther
down the coast from the resort look big enough.”
That tightness clamped her chest, making it
difficult to breathe. Her eyes stung at his casual kindness. He hardly knew
her, would never see her again after she left Middlemarch Resort. But she didn’t
say anything, managed a creditable nod.
“Do you see your family much?”
“D-depends where I’m stationed. Sometimes
my squad does training exercises with my brothers’ units. My father—he’s a
general. I see him on lots of training vids and occasionally he’ll stop by the
posts where my brothers and I are stationed.”
“Did you always want to be in the military?”
“I never considered anything else.” Because
she knew what a shit-storm stepping off the Seonaid path would bring. It was
easier to follow orders and keep her head down.
Scurvy pirates
, maybe
she should have fought expectation from the start. Looking back, that might
have made a difference.
When the mental pain threatened to
overwhelm her again, she asked, “What about you?” She barely forced the words
out before the knot crammed her throat shut.
“Me?” He pulled a face. “I fit in where my
oldest brother thinks I’m needed. I’m a competent farmer, have a good nose for
wine, and I appear to have a talent for all things mechanical, which has kept
me very busy at the resort.”
Casey gave a hard swallow, curious despite
her misery. “Do you resent your brother?”
“Sometimes. Saber makes everything look
easy. He heads the family, sorts out our problems. He won this resort in a card
game, saved us from wandering. Gave us a place to set down roots. Fuck, I sound
as if I’m jealous of my brother.”
“It’s hard when you have older brothers who
are good at everything.” This time the words came easier.
“Yeah.” Felix laughed. “They cast a long
shadow. Eat your pie and drink your wine. Promise me you’ll try to eat more
food. I don’t want your beautiful breasts to fade away. I’m going to do one
last perimeter check and sort out the other hut. The shuttle is coming back for
us early in the morning.”
Casey stared at Felix, forced her lips into
something she hoped resembled a smile. It must have worked because he skimmed
his fingers over her cheek and stood, leaving the hut without a backward
glance.
Those tears burned her eyes again, the knot
in her throat grew to unbearable proportions and she struggled to breathe.
Despite that, a laugh squeezed free—bitter and savagely amused.
In two days, the general expected her to
report to the military hospital, where he’d booked her in for nanotechnology.
By the end of the week, she wouldn’t have
breasts at all—because she’d be a man, with all the working equipment of one.
The perfect Seonaid solider.
Casey managed to eat a little, but her
throat hurt and her head thumped along in time with her heartbeat. Too many
messy emotions rattling her brains and heaping on top of the fatigue from long
nights of tortuous thoughts.
Felix came inside and shut the door,
bolting it for the evening. The glimpse she got of the compound told her night
had fallen in the rapid way of this planet. One moment it was light and the
next, the sky became inky black.
“Do you have any sexual fantasies?”
His blunt question came out of nowhere,
especially since she was expecting some type of praise for eating, as he’d
directed. She blinked.
“I put capture on my form,” she said. “Do
you have any headache tablets in your med-box?”
Instant concern leaped onto his face. “You’re
not feeling well?”
“My throat is sore and my head is aching.”
“I’ll get you something. Get into bed. You
look as if you could do with some sleep too. Maybe we’ll postpone the sex until
tomorrow morning.”
A protest escaped her before her sluggish
brain overrode the verbal tell, and he sent her a rakish grin.
Pretty when
he smiles full-out.
At least she’d have this weekend to remember. No, wait.
Hadn’t she heard the nanos would shuffle her personality and memories, take
away any female traits or thoughts? Once she entered the clinic, she wouldn’t
remember Felix and how he’d made her feel.
Alive.
Beautiful.
Feminine.
And above all, desirable.
“Here, take these for your head.” Felix
handed her two tablets. “And one of these for your throat.” He handed her a
solid lump the size of a fingernail. “Let it dissolve in your mouth and it
should soothe your throat.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing sinister. My mother makes a lot of
our medical supplies. They contain natural ingredients. Once we get back to the
resort, Ma can take a look at your throat and make you something else to soothe
it.”
Casey tried to imagine her own mother
carrying out such a domestic task and failed. Her mother went shopping, had
lunch with the other military wives—the ones with husbands of rank—and organized
perfect parties and balls. Her mother kept busy with her social life.
After cleaning up the food and other things
they’d used, he stripped and slid into the sleep-bed beside her. He reached for
her and pulled her into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. At first
her body remained tense, but gradually his warmth permeated her muscles and she
relaxed. His presence eased her constant obsessing about her shortcomings, her
limitations, her failings—the ones listed by the general during their last
meeting.
Felix made her feel safe.
He lowered his head and kissed her lazily,
sipping from her mouth, tempting her to participate. Sweet warmth, like the
syrup Aunt Elsa poured on her honeycakes, slipped through her veins. He kept up
the gentle kissing, treating her like something precious and fragile. The idea—that
someone thought her worthy of such care—made her stomach whoosh, but in a good
way. His fingers and hands stroked and caressed, teased and tempted until her
muscles became malleable, like a piece of silk cloth. He nipped at her breast,
the sharp teeth pushing pain through her. The sensation startled her, yet it
grabbed hold of her senses made the syrup in her veins, the heat in her pussy,
take on a tinge of dark need.
She wanted him. Gods, how she wanted him to
permeate her body, overload her senses until she could no longer think but only
feel, feel, feel the pleasure and wallow in the bliss.
He seemed to understand because he rolled
her under him, parted her legs and pushed inside her willing flesh. The first
thrust filled her, gave her what she craved. She ceased thinking about her
unpalatable future. Instead, she left herself drift, let Felix direct their
bodies and clutched his shoulders to enjoy every pleasurable sensation. The way
his cock filled her so beautifully. The musky scent of him. The way he kept
kissing her and rasping his tongue over and around her sensitive nipples.
“Do you like the feel of me inside you,
Casey?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t get enough of you, enough of this,”
he whispered in a deep voice right next to her ear. “I’d fuck you all night if
I could and fall asleep still joined with you.”
Gods, he said the sweetest things, made her
yearn for the impossible. A life away from the military. A life like Eva’s,
where she could do what she wanted, when she wanted, instead of following orders
and more orders.
Felix halted his thrusts. He lifted his
head so he could see her eyes. A flash of something—maybe anger—darkened his
gaze. “Where have you gone? Your body has gone stiff. I can feel your mind has
wandered. Do you want me to spank you again?”
A jolt speared her stomach. Definitely a
sexual one. “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.” And she would. It was her fault if
the general intruded and spoiled this slice of paradise. She promised herself
she’d relax, drive the general out of her head. Shove him to the door and lock
his robust, military-fit butt in a mental dungeon.
For the hell of it, Casey pictured herself forcibly
removing the general. A chuckle emerged.
“You think a spanking is funny? It won’t
feel very good on top of the one I gave you earlier.” He smoothed a firm hand
over her buttocks, and she couldn’t prevent her wince.
“When I’m with you, I want to your focus.
Understood?”
“Yes s—” Casey broke off with another
wince. Military conditioning had her responding to the order before she’d even
thought about the action.
“Yes, what?” he prompted.
“Yes sir.” The response fit better when it
was directed at Felix. She
wanted
to obey him. Strange. Did that mean
she’d always followed her work orders under protest? Something to consider. The
general’s plans had required her retirement from service. Officially, she was
no longer military…
Felix withdrew from her body then entered
her again, this time with force behind the thrust. He went hard and fast,
changing the angle until he hit her in the perfect spot with every plunge. She moaned,
raked her fingers down his back, lifted into his strokes.
“Felix!”
“Casey.” He twisted his hips, drove deep,
and she whimpered. When he pulled right out of her without warning, she groaned
a protest.
“What—”
Before she could finish her question, he
turned her on the bed, lifted her body so she balanced on her hands and knees,
her head hanging low and confusion filling her. Then Felix crouched behind her,
ran his hand over her buttocks then slipped it between her legs to play with
her heated flesh. He thumbed her clit and sent jolts of pleasure through her.
She clenched her butt muscles, wanting to hold the wonderful sensations, the
heat and the excitement of his attentions.
The anticipation.
He pushed a finger—no,
two
fingers
inside her core, but that didn’t dissipate the desire trembling within her, the
sensual fire flickering through her veins. “Felix, please. I need your cock
inside me, filling me. Please.”
“As the lady desires,” he purred. “And
since that’s what I want too…” He drifted off, the pause a meaningful one
filled with promise.
She felt him position himself behind her,
felt the prod of his cock and then he was sliding deeply into her body. Her
sheath fluttered at the rasp of intrusion. She gasped and rocked back, driving
him deeper still. So good, so damn good, especially when he curled his chest
over her back.
He whispered a rush of hot erotic words
against the rim of her ear. “You feel amazing. Hot and wet. Tight.” His mouth
latched onto her neck and his tongue darted out, rough and slightly abrasive
against her sensitive skin. All the time his hard flesh invaded her, and her
stomach went all fluttery, a coil of pleasure building, building, building.
She was wet with want now, her stomach
muscles clenched tight as she shuddered and shook, lost in a sensual haze.
His hands roamed her body, he nipped her
neck again—and a burst of heat and pressure rampaged through her.
It became too much, not enough. She writhed
against him, a fine sheen of sweat coating her body. He gripped her firmly, his
fingernails digging into her to the point of pain, driving her.
Driving her.
Then the tension detonated into an explosion
that made her breath catch before emerging with a cry of delight.
“Felix!” Casey sobbed out his name as she
came around his cock.
It seemed to be the signal he was waiting
for because he slammed into her even harder than before. He roared out her name
and collapsed on top of her, his heart pounding against her back at an impossibly
fast pace. For an instant he stilled, then he separated their bodies, leaving
her bereft.
Tears sprang to eyes that had watered like
taps all day. Should be used to it—the physical rejection, being alone. As
squadron leader, her work was solitary until a mission, when it was her job to
make sure everything went according to plan. Then it was back to being alone
again, isolated because of her position.
Scurvy space pirates
, she
should be used to emotional segregation.
Her earlier panic returned in a giant wave.
Not good enough. She couldn’t be, otherwise the general wouldn’t want to change
her. Give her an “upgrade”.
Not good enough. Not good enough.
“Hey, why the frown?” Felix tugged her back
into his arms and covered them both with a blanket.
A tremor of relief slid through her, so
strong she barely restrained a groan to go with the shiver, and she clutched
his shoulders, burrowed against his chest and soaked up his warmth. A man who didn’t
know her at all showed her more caring, more tenderness than her family had
ever given her—apart from her aunt.
She pressed a kiss to Felix’s chest,
needing to show her gratitude. She couldn’t tell him anything, not when he was
a stranger, but hopefully, if she succumbed to parental pressure—like she knew
she would—she would remember the one man who’d treated her kindly, had made her
feel worthy.
A second kiss escaped her lips and hit him
to the right of his nipple.
“Sleep now, sweetheart. We have a busy day
tomorrow.”
They did? Her eyes fluttered closed, and
she let herself drift on the cloud of contentment that came with being in Felix’s
arms.
Best capture fantasy ever.
* * * * *
The shuttle landed in the compound not long
after daybreak. Felix strode toward the vehicle and was surprised to see the
twins inside.
“I thought Leo was going to collect us,” he
said.
“He left for Dalcon to pick up supplies for
Ma,” Joe said.
“Well, as long as someone came to pick us
up.”
“Where’s the woman?” Sly asked, humor
dancing in his green eyes. “Did you tire her out or has she run off screaming
into the jungle?”
“Very funny,” Felix muttered, yet he felt
too loose and limber to put any punch into his reply.
“Ma sent some clothes for her,” Joe said
and handed over a bag. “Scarlett donated them, although she wasn’t very happy.
Said she didn’t have many to spare.”
“Thanks, I’ll buy Scarlett something nice
next time we go to Dalcon.”
“Do you want anything loaded into the
shuttle?” Joe asked.
“The boxes in the first hut. We won’t be
long,” Felix said.
In the hut, Casey was still asleep. Felix
watched her for long seconds, loath to wake her when she needed the rest. He’d
let her sleep late tomorrow—after he explained he had no intention of letting
her board the shuttle back to Dalcon. Lucky for him, his private suite possessed
stout locks on the door. He had a feeling he’d need them.
“Casey, it’s time to go. Casey…”
She bolted upright in the bed, eyes wide
and her hair sticking up in short spikes that reminded him of a ruffled
hedgehog. “Is it time to ship out?
Phrull
, why didn’t my alarm go off?”
Her head shook from side to side and her eyes focused, narrowed a fraction.
Fascinating to witness—the transition from
confusion to full alertness. Felix smiled and handed her the bag. “My sister
Scarlett sent you some clothes. Why don’t you have a quick wash and change
while I pack up here? There’s cold water in the basin over there.”
Something slammed shut in her expression.
An unpleasant thought? Felix didn’t know, but it made him ache to hold her, and
he went with instinct. “They say on my planet if you exchange a kiss in the
morning, the feel-good factor increases a person’s life by five years.”
“I don’t believe you.” Hard, clipped words.
Military words.
“But a kiss is such a simple thing, an
exchange of affection. Why would you risk the rapid passing of years if you
could slow them with a kiss?” This time, he pounced, grasping her shoulders and
tipping up her chin for easy access to her mouth. He took the kiss, used his
expertise to urge her to respond, and after a long hesitation, she settled her
hands on his shoulders and leaned into him.
Felix wanted to cheer. Instead, aware of
his brothers waiting, he pulled back, pressed a brief kiss to her forehead. He
lifted her off the bed and stood her on her feet. “Joe and Sly are here to take
us back to the resort.”
She gave a curt nod and retreated to the
basin of water, grabbing the soap and towel he’d left for her use.
Felix started to strip the bed because Ma
would kick his butt if he didn’t leave the place clean and ready for the next
series of captures.
Casey…Casey was a puzzle, one he intended
to solve. The sad and forlorn expression he caught on her face twisted his
heart and poked at him. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that
whatever worried her, he’d take care of it. He’d take care of
her
.
Silly, since he’d known her mere days, but she spoke to the warrior in him,
made him want to protect, to become a better man…to become
her
man.