| |
EARTH DATE: JUNE 26 6:00 AM
Canadian National Park, Rocky Mountains, Unknown Town
––––––––
THE SKY WAS FILLING with the first greyish pink touches of sunrise and Brooke was numb. She swiped at the tears and looked at the alien who held her so protectively while she broke apart. There was a strength in this man that not many possessed. “Is there more?” she asked, her voice ragged.
Theiv felt as if he was an ancient being who had lived through too many horrors, but he nodded, then handed her a glass of water.
She gratefully accepted the water and took a long drink.
He watched her silently for a minute, then looked down at his hands. “The Amberisian DNA has consistently been present in the pheromones you produce, and our belief has always been that the pheromone was his goal. We did not expect your night vision to change, nor the iridescent glow to your skin, and the mating mark.”
He took a drink from the glass she handed back to him before continuing. “The Amberisian race is nocturnal, which explains your night vision. They’re beautiful in the moonlight, with their glowing skin. A trip to Amberisia is a trip of extraordinary sexual pleasure. Even the night flowers that grow on that planet produce aphrodisiacs. It’s like sexual desire is in the very air you breathe.”
Brooke stared at him speechlessly, her eyes wide. There was such a world and such people?
“The Karis are a very dangerous species. They are part of the accord, but they do not associate with any other race. They are isolationists, and never mate outside their own people. They have wings, Brooke. Their males are very dominant, their females are submissive, and they mate for life. Drace wanted that submissive quality in his experiment.”
Brooke stared blankly at Theiv. “Am I going to grow wings?” she asked faintly.
“I don't know.” His face was grim. “You’ve developed the bone structure in your back that would suggest wings are a possibility. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you the answers you need. There simply has never been anyone like you. Havyn may be able to tell us more.” Theiv watched Brooke silently as she processed the information.
“My main concern, at this moment, is that Drace has developed the ability to communicate with you, and the ability to be in your mind, accessing information that could lead him to you. As I am assuming you accessed information from him during that nightmare. I saw the video feeds. You did things you should not have even known you could do.”
Brooke nodded stiffly, even as her veins seemed to fill with ice, and she struggled to breathe. No. No. This can’t be happening.
Theiv tilted up her chin. “Breathe.” He couldn’t change the hard edge to his voice. Not if they were going to survive and evade Drace. This was not the time for panic. “The storm is subsiding, Brooke, and we need to go, Drace could be close.”
“He’s here? How do you know?” Brooke swallowed and grabbed Theiv’s arm. “Can you use that light thing to get us out of here?”
Theiv shook his head. “I had to sabotage my own flash technology so that I couldn’t be traced. I couldn’t risk leading him right to you.”
“How did you find me?”
Theiv shrugged. “Do you remember when I came to the room you were in on the Exanthus? I initiated a telepathic bond to you, and in case it failed, I put a tracker on you. The tracker itself is a type of Zepto Technology. It’s far too small for the human eye to see and it migrates around the wearer's body, imitating the energy signature of the zepto’s in their system, making it very hard to detect.”
Brooke glared at the alien. She didn’t care if he was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen. That was damned sneaky, and she was pissed. “Is that how Drace is tracking me?”
“No. That tracker is Dragon Warrior technology. As I said, he has access to your thoughts. The longer you remain in one place the closer he is getting.”
“How do you know so much about this telepathy thing from the Gi-, Gee-”
“Giasteans. I know so much because my sister is mated to two men from Giastea.”
Brooke stared. “I’m getting a headache,” she muttered.
Theiv raised an eyebrow. “I told you my mom was forced to become Zemyneah to protect my sister. My father was devastated. He was one of the greatest warriors of the Empire, and no one was going to take the woman he loved. He went after her. Before he left, he made me promise to protect Iandra. I told the council my father had betrothed her to a wealthy man on another planet. They allowed me to take her, when she turned twenty-one, to her ‘betrothed’s’ planet. We ended up stranded on a rough trader’s world called The Forge. My craft was nothing but a patched-up bucket of sprockets, bolts, and injectors, but it was all I could afford. We were in serious trouble and I didn’t know a lot about fixing a flyer.
There were many dangerous men on that planet. I went out to find some parts, and some men got the jump on me. They were in the process of beating the living hell out of me, when these two Giasteans showed up and kicked their asses.
They helped me back to my flyer.” He shook his head, a faint smile curving his lips at the memories. “They took me under their wing so to speak. Taught me how to repair my ship. But they took one look at Iandra and fell in love with her. She was furious, of course, absolutely refused to have anything to do with them. They seemed to take that as a challenge.
Interestingly, somewhere in all their fighting, my sister managed to fall in love with those two idiots. They mated with her and took her to their world. Before they left, they formed a bond with me so that we could communicate.”
“How did they do that?”
“They bit me.”
Brooke glared at him, suddenly understanding how he’d formed that telepathic bond to her. “You bastard.”
Theiv laughed. “I am a warrior, and my priority is to protect the Emperor. I feel no guilt over what I did. Now listen. You might need this information in the future. The Giastean, in a strange twist of fate, shares DNA with the large cats on your planet. They are human in appearance... mostly. They have larger canine teeth than a human and some of them have stripes and spots. They also have a strange need to build their houses in the tops of the trees of their world.
I do not fully understand the Giastean people, their ways, or why a bite forms a bond, but our scientists have long theorized it has something to do with a DNA exchange. It looks like we have proven that theory to be correct.”
Brooke frowned, shaking her head. “This is insane. You must be making this up. I don’t... I can’t believe this stuff.”
“We don’t have a lot of time, Brooke. We need to get out of here.” Theiv reached out, and hauled her against him, intending to help her out of the bed. Brooke gasped, and in a reflex so fast that she never would understand how she did it, she raked her nails down his face and leaped away from him.
Theiv lifted a hand to his bleeding face, and eyed the growling woman crouched back against the wall. Her eyes were glowing green, and he could smell the exotic spice of her pheromones. “Definitely Giastean.”
Brooke’s eyes were huge. She’d... She looked at her hand... claws. Claws! That disappeared before her eyes. Just like before. She lifted confused eyes to Theiv.
“Giastean. I told you.” He pulled one of his medicated wipes from his backpack and swiped it over the long furrows in his cheek.
Brooke winced. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...”
“I deserved it. I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that. I think we can safely say that Drace’s attempt at coding your genetics for submissiveness has failed.”
Brooke glowered at him. “The Giastean people have claws?”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. Why was this woman so noncompliant when she had a ton of DNA from races that had very submissive women? He took a deep breath, and the scent of exotic pheromones stormed his senses. By the Emperor, this was not the time. He knew it was her fear, and probably that sudden reaction she’d had when he grabbed her. Dragons have mercy on him, he could not lose control. “Brooke,” he said hoarsely, trying to regain control.
Brooke fought against the arousal coursing through her body, shocked and horrified. Stupid, weird, alien ways. Her body was betraying her, responding with more heat as panic increased her heart rate. She could feel her most intimate flesh swelling, dampening.
Theiv gritted his teeth and fought against the staggering arousal coursing through his system. The scent of the pheromones she was releasing nearly overwhelmed his control. He was sweating, trembling, and his dick was so hard he swore it was going to explode. Clenching his teeth and drawing on every bit of self-control he’d ever possessed, he stomped over to the bathroom, grabbing his shirt and boots on the way by. “By the Emperor!” Theiv’s rough voice was a snarl of fury. He slammed the bathroom door, creating a barrier to keep himself away from temptation.
Brooke stared after Theiv warily, arousal still rushing through her in hot pulsing waves. She swallowed, filled with a deep shame. What kind of woman was she? They were in danger.