The Genesis Project (15 page)

“We should finish.” Bianca said.

She wasn't even the least bit concerned about Adams remarks. It didn't surprise him. Bianca was cold,
calculating.
She only did things that would benefit her. Up until recently, he had been the same way.
Gen could benefit you. In more ways than one.
He discarded the idea the moment he thought it. He hadn't been the same male since meeting Genesis Blackmore. He wasn't going to jeopardize anything with her. That included turning her into his father. Bianca would do it in a heartbeat. Maybe even Adam.

“No, this was private. So we don't need to finish. You are all free to leave or stay. I must attend to Scion.”

“Yeah, how did she take him down?” Roland asked.

“She did no such thing.” Scion said. He seemed calm, collected. “I've been suffering from an old Uni-war injury, I allowed her to leave.”

“
Thought she was yours?” Yasira questioned with a gleam in her eye.

“She is Master Treegold's, which makes her my responsibility.”

Xander sighed. At least he knew that Scion was on his side. He would need someone on his side. Gen would need all the help she could get. He looked around and noticed the others weren't leaving fast enough.

“Get the fuck out of the atrium! I have shit I need to attend to. Now!” He roared. His sister sneered at him and gave Adam a look. As Bianca walked past, Xander eyed Adam. The other male knew something wasn't right, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't questioning Xander's actions either, which gave him pause. If Adam reported this back to his father, there would be nothing but trouble for Genesis and her father.

When
he finally reached Gen's house, the solar panels were rising. The sun was slowly making its way across the sky. The door opened before he made his appearance known on her vid panel. She was standing there with her head slowly peering out to stare at him.

“Gen, may I come in?” She hesitated a moment before opening the door further to let him in.

“My father is at a meeting with the Chancellor.”

“Good, can we talk in your quarters?”

He needed them to be alone. He didn't know if her father retained any servants, and he wasn't going to take the chance. She led him to the other end of her house. Her room was messy
and
unorganized. She had seemed so put together while at the Academy. Now he wasn't so sure. Not that the state of her room mattered to him.

“What happened back there tonight?” Gen asked as soon as her door shut them in. Did she really not know? She still had the bracelets on. She should have taken them off. The sight of those bracelets only made him want her more. She was wearing a pink camisole and some grey shorts. Her clothes were well worn, and didn't look as new as her wardrobe at the Academy did. The one thing that drew him to her body was the fact that her neck was not collared.

“Where is your collar?” He snarled. Was she already matched and didn't say anything? What game was she playing? “Are you matched to someone else Gen? Speak now and
speak
quickly.”

Surprised, she took a few steps back, Xander followed. Who was this male that had obviously garnered her affections? Was it the bastard Nimziri? Maybe. He thought darkly. It could be her lying father; there was no way that Gen was related to Vaggo.

“There is no one. My father doesn't care about protocol inside our home, it's just us.”

Xander pushed her into her desk, crowding her with his body and caging her in with his arms. It forced her to bend backward. Lifting her breasts in perfect view.

“Does he drink from you?” Her eyes were wide in confusion, not fear. Something was really wrong with this entire scenario. “Do you realize you could have been killed Gen? Drained
to
the very last drop?”

All the air had left him now. The lower half of his body was melting into hers. He wanted there to be no barriers between them.

“What are you talking about?”

He could have lost her. He couldn't even think past the unthinkable. He was frozen in fear. Fear for her own safety, not his. Xander knew he was attached to Gen. Hell, he'd admitted as much that he wanted her; but to fear for her safety? That was talking it to an entirely convoluted level of weird.

“Not now, we'll talk later. Now, I have something very important to ask you. It's for your safety and my sanity. Don't answer quickly, take your time and think on what I am about to ask.”

“You're worrying me Xander.
What
is it?”

He could hear her heart beating behind her chest. Could only imagine the amount of blood it was pumping through her extremities. Goddess! He wanted to drain her himself. Take the entirety of all she had to offer and so much more. Xander struggled with his appetite. Knowing that if he did take all she had to offer, he'd have to do it the right way. The only way.

“Let's move to the bed.” Xander moved away from Gen and sat at the edge of her bed. This wasn't a stasis bed, like they had at the Academy, but an actual antique bed from before the Uni-wars. It was one of those four poster canopy beds with tattered sheer fabric hanging down on all four sides. It was comfortable and un-kept, like she'd just woken from sleep. When Gen finally sat down on the bed, he felt
that
their position was all wrong. He quietly got up from the bed and then fixed himself on his knees in front of her, between her legs.

“What is this?”

Xander couldn't say a word. Didn't know what he could say to express his feelings. All of this was so new to him. Instead, he laid his head in her lap and breathed her in.

“You mustn't tell me no, Gen.” He looked up into her beautiful eyes and tried to will her to say yes to him. “Say yes.” He traced a pattern of gold veins in her thighs and tried to find the right words. She must have known he was having a hard time, because her hands were sliding into his hair, and she was staring at him with her incredible blue eyes ringed by molten gold.

“What is this thing between us
Xander?
Is this real, or am I only dreaming you are here with me?”

Xander turned his head and smiled against her thigh. He was glad she didn't emasculate him further by mentioning the position he was in. Xander Treegold kneeled to no one.

“Yes, precious. I am kneeling. Something I've never done before, even as a child. But for you, I would bow at your feet for a million lifetimes. Serve you in all things, if you would only allow me into your inner sanctum. I'm that fucked up over you.”

And he was. It wasn't because of her blood either. Somehow, someway, she'd come to mean more to him than anything he ever thought to hold dear. She was a treasure. A precious gem and he wanted to protect her secret. Needed to. The moment was tense between them, as they peered into each
other's
eyes. Words were said even though their mouths did not move.

Who are you?

I am yours.

Truly?

Always Genesis, I will protect you with my own life.

Xander reached up to stop her hands from massaging his scalp. She was staring too intently and her emotions were etched into her face, making her look younger than she truly was. He had to do this right. Make this experience more than agreeable for her. He needed her to be consumed by not only her pleasure, but his. Needed their emotions to be on the same wave length.

“The way you are looking at me is
unnerving.”
Gen whispered.

“That's because I want you.” He could say the words all day, but he wanted nothing more than to show her that she could trust him. “Do you trust me Gen? Regardless of all the games and what others say, can you trust me?”

She hesitated in her answer and it almost killed him.

“I trust your good sense and your ability to persuade all females into wanting you.”

“I would never hurt you, beauty. Ever.”

He needed to prove to her, as well as himself, that he could be trusted.

“I know why you don't want to be involved in the tasting, why you take those shots.”

Her
eyes were wide and her hands came to rest at the sides of the bed, bunching the corners beneath her palms.

“You do not.” She said harshly.

“I can protect your secret, I would never betray you.” His father would not accept her. Possibly all of society, but what did that matter, as long as they were together.

“How?”

“Taste me, let me taste you. No one will ever know your secret.” That kind of sounded like blackmail. But if it worked in his favor, he would use it.

“If I taste you, I will become ill. Father has told me so.”

Of course Vaggo would say that. The bastard must have been waiting for
her
to come of age, before he himself would claim her.

“It's a lie. It's because he doesn't want the council or the Chancellor to poke holes in you.”

“You really do know, don't you?”

Xander only nodded his head.

“But what about the ritual? You're not wearing your bands.”

“Doesn't matter, we will have our own tasting.”

Chapter
14

Xander Treegold knew she was engineered and didn't care! This didn't change much, but it was still baffling. Gens brain rationalized twenty different scenarios and only one good one came of it. If she were to trust him, it would not only be with her life, but the life of her father as well. How could any good come of this?

“You do realize what this means? We shouldn't do this unless we both feel the same.”

How did she even feel about Xander? Everything was too new. Things were hugely out of focus for her.

“
There will be no secrets between us Genesis.” His voice was serious. “None.”

As her mind tried to wrap itself around the concept of no secrets, and be matched to someone like Xander Treegold, the room began to spin. The air was clouded with the scent of fire and something more. Had the Phorem not worn off? She needed to be smart, not stuck. What if this was some kind of emotional black mail? Xander's reputation was well known. Her father would be more than unhappy with her choice of male. She'd be stupid if she didn't think about this. Genesis Blackmore, Genesis Treegold. Did it even have a nice ring to it? Her life suddenly felt like it was on a crash course collision with chaos, head on. She wouldn't be nicked in the side, she'd be decimated.

She
was already out of sorts because of Xander. Her room was in disarray. Clutter scattered everywhere with no room for walking. The transformation from order to chaos was already taking root in her living quarters. Could she really trust Xander with her secret? He claimed he already knew. But why did he still want her? She was a clone, a genetic mutation to further their species. Her thoughts were everywhere and nowhere. Her mind was jumping from one thought to another. Processing the situation made her head hurt.

“I don't think we're a match. How could we be?”

The smile she received for her question disturbed her. It also made her stomach do some twisting of its own. It created an effect that made her nauseous. More nauseous than the
Phorem
had.

“Taste me Gen. That's all you have to do.”

She'd get sick if she did. Her father had warned her. Gen pulled back from Xander and gathered her knees to her chest and tried to think. She pushed herself to the head of her bed and crossed her arms. This wasn't some hard equation or a strand of foreign D.N.A. This was Xander trying to seduce her and trying to control the outcome. Why was he rushing this?

“Why are you rushing me?” Gen tilted her head to the side and listened for signs of un-truths. She could hear the slightest change in his body's functions, nothing escaped her notice.

“Seriously, who wouldn't? I only want to protect you. Covet you.”

Covet.
To desire wrongfully. He wanted to wrongfully desire her?

Xander was now on the bed, his head resting on her knees and looking up at her through his thick eyelashes. Electric blue eyes focused on her, intent to try and gain entrance. She still hadn't gotten over him wanting to wrongfully desire her. Was she such an anomaly that it would be wrong to want her? A question formed on the tip of her tongue. But then Xander was on his knees making his way towards her in slow movements. She tried scooting further back, but there was nowhere else to go. His muscles flexed with each move. He didn't look the least bit calm. There was something brewing just beneath the surface of his skin. Determination was there in the sleek lines of his face. He had no intention of stopping his pursuit. Gen's head hit the wall and Xander was there in her face.
Eyes
half open, and dark with want. The blue now a bottomless black.

“Trust me,” Xander said against the corner of her mouth. His lips barely touching her skin. “Let go.” The words now against her forehead. He placed open mouth kisses across her face, down the side of her jaw and along her neck.

Gen rested her forehead against Xander's. Neither of them moved. She realized he was waiting for her to make the first move. It was her choice. The end of his braid was resting on his chest. His hair tempted her in a way that wasn't normal. She wanted to see the platinum strands tangled with her black ones. Her golden skin next to his milky white skin as they lay tangled, together. That was the word she saw flash through her mind. Tangled.

Reaching out, she untied the
material
that was tied on the end. His breath caught and Gen stilled. She didn't want to mess up, whatever it was that they were doing.

“Is this wrong, what I'm doing?” Gen asked hesitantly. He moved his face so his lips were pressed to her forehead for another kiss. He leaned back instead of answering her and unwrapped the braid at his neck until it rested on his knees. His hands gently guided her as he helped her to unbraid his hair. Soft, silky bliss was the only way to explain the beauty of Xander's hair. Long waves cascaded down his shoulders and piled between them. Her fingers started at the top and worked their way down sifting through the strands. He made small growls in the back of his throat every time she pulled her fingers through his hair.