Alien Salvation (25 page)

Vax didn’t try to hide his upset. He
scowled at them. His head shook slowly from side to side and his
fists clenched. “She wants us, not some high-ranking clan. She said
so.”

Bacoj laid his hand on the Imdiko’s
tensed shoulder. “What she wants and what’s best for her may be
very different things. We have to put her welfare first,
Vax.”

He was shocked when Vax shook his hand
off and bared fangs at him. “No.”

“Vax.”

His clanmate visibly struggled with his
unaccustomed anger. After a moment his fangs folded back out of
sight and anguish flooded his face. “How could you even suggest
this?” The words were spoken in a low, pained howl that made
Lindsey stir in her sleep.

When she quieted Bacoj said, “Because I
love her. That means I’m not going to be selfish with my
wants.”

Japohn snaked an arm around the Imdiko,
rubbing his back. “Look at us, Vax. We’re young with nothing to
offer her.”

Bacoj could see the terrible
realization creeping into Vax’s face, but the Imdiko remained
stubborn. “We love her. That’s all she wants.”

“And what do we do when we take her
back to Kalquor with no rank? The Empress’ sister can’t be clanned
to a cook, a shuttle pilot and a bounty hunter.”

It tore at Bacoj’s heart to see Vax’s
lower lip tremble. It not only hurt to see his Imdiko suffer, but
it also brought home how much he himself didn’t want to let Lindsey
go.

Vax wasn’t giving up easily. “There is
no shame in what we do. Once this assignment is over and we return
to Kalquor you could be a security guard. A law officer. You and
Bacoj will move up with promotions, I’ll go back to being head chef
and maybe open my own establishment in a few years.”

Bacoj sighed heavily. “These things
take time to happen, Vax. She deserves the best now.”

Vax looked at Lindsey, and the other
two followed suit. Bacoj’s gaze traced over her precious face, over
the sweet body he’d made love to only minutes before. The thought
of her sharing herself with another clan made him want to tear
things apart with his bare hands. MINE, his heart insisted. But his
common sense told him different.

Vax’s voice was choked. “If you make us
do this, you’d better understand me, Bacoj. I won’t clan another
Matara.”

The anger in the Imdiko’s tone shook
Bacoj. Vax had never spoken to him with so much venom. But he was
Dramok, and that meant taking responsibilities he didn’t always
want, even at the risk of alienating his clanmates.

Vax was right in his assertion. Lindsey
was the only woman for them, even if they couldn’t have her. His
voice tight with emotion, Bacoj said, “No, no other Matara will do.
We won’t find another like Lindsey.”

Chapter Fifteen

Lindsey walked along the beach
remaining within sight of the Kalquorian base camp. The search
party had already begun packing up to leave now that their mission
had been completed. One of the buildings had already come down and
she’d watched the Kalquorians fold the seemingly solid metal walls
like bedsheets. What amazing technology the race possessed, she
thought.

And yet for all their advanced
knowledge, they still couldn’t save their own species without
Earther females. Nor could they salvage Earth. Looking out over the
ocean sparkling in the warm sunshine, the blameless golden sand
beneath her feet, it was hard to accept her world would be
uninhabitable within a matter of months. She’d discovered that not
only was the Galactic Council racing to save the human survivors of
the catastrophe, but they also had sent several contingents of
scientists whose sole purpose was to collect DNA from the various
flora and animal life. The search had begun for a suitable planet
to terraform to restart those species so they wouldn’t be lost
forever.

So many things to shed tears over:
grief for her father and planet as well as gratitude for the
kindness of so many other species, some of which had been counted
as Earth’s enemies.

A whistle sounded and Lindsey looked
towards the base camp. Three shapes headed her way, and she swiped
the wetness from her cheeks. Her clan, for which she was the most
thankful for, was coming to collect her.

It stunned Lindsey how her heart
swelled just to see them. She continued to marvel at how she’d
fallen in love so completely, so fast. But she no longer questioned
it. It was right. She knew that beyond a shadow of a
doubt.

Even the strain in the three men’s
postures did little to alleviate how calm their mere presence made
her feel. The bit of worry that nagged at her was like the buzzing
of a persistent fly at an otherwise lovely picnic; a mild irritant
only.

She hurried to them and threw her arms
around Bacoj’s neck. “How bad was it?” she asked.

He smiled down at her, his eyes warming
despite the tension that caused tiny creases around them. “No too
bad. Commendation for save Earthers from Tragooms. Crash also make
find Empress’ family. No discipline action for crashing
shuttle.”

Lindsey went on tiptoe to plant a kiss
on his lips. She felt the swell of interest against her abdomen and
grinned. “That’s a relief.”

He nodded, his arms circling around her
waist to pull her closer. “New shuttle sent soon. We leave few
days.”

“Where are we going?”

The tightness around his eyes
increased. “Clan go to Atlanta.” He took a deep breath. “Lindsey,
transport go to Kalquor in four days.”

She frowned. “You’re not suggesting I
go without you?”

Japohn stepped close. “You wish to see
sister.”

She stared up at him. He was glowering
more than usual Japohn fashion. She recognized her Nobek was very
unhappy. Did he think she wanted to leave them? “Yes, I want to see
Jessica, but don’t I belong with my clan?”

He looked away. “We station here for
year while rescuing continue. Trip nine months to reach
Kalquor.”

Bacoj added gently, “Imperial Mother
Tara need you with Imperial Father Aaron gone.”

She glanced at Vax, who stood a little
apart from them. His stance was stiff, his expression withdrawn.
They were trying to get rid of her. A spark of anger ignited, and
she quashed it. They were only thinking of her best interests after
all.

“I’ve already discussed the situation
with my mother, and she’s assured me she’ll be fine. Almost two
years is too long for me to be separated from you.” At their
continued strained silence, an ugly thought rose to choke her
voice. “Unless you don’t want me as your Matara?”

Bacoj snapped, “Of course we want
Lindsey.” He struggled visibly with his emotions for a moment
before saying in a softer voice, “We want what is best for
you.”

Well, that was a relief. She’d thought
for a moment they would make her leave. She stroked Bacoj’s chest,
admiring how the sleeveless formsuit molded to his sculpted torso.
“Guess what I want right now?”

He swelled against her in response.
When his lips crushed down on hers and his tongue invaded her
mouth, she melted against him, her insides going molten in an
instant. The Dramok yanked her clothes off with almost brutal
force. He ravished her breasts with powerful hands as his mouth
took hers with cruel passion. She moaned, a little frightened and a
lot turned on by his ruthless possession.

Holding her tight in his arms, Bacoj
crashed them down onto the sand. She felt his hand work between
them, freeing his penises from his formsuit. They sprang free of
his clothing, landing on her bare belly hard and slick. She grabbed
hold of them, wriggling to get them in position for his first
thrust.

With a drawn-out groan, Bacoj pressed
in fast and hard. Lindsey arched beneath him with a cry at the
abrupt penetration, the painful pleasure of determined possession
immediately stoking her inner fire. Her Dramok lifted up as if
doing a pushup, looking down on her as he rode her with authority.
Balancing on one hand, he grasped her wrists with the other,
pinning them to the sand over her head.

“I love see you like this,” he growled,
his fangs showing. “Helpless. Forced give what I want to take. Face
soft with want for me. Mine.”

“Yours, my Dramok,” she sobbed. The
initial ache of his strong lovemaking was fading into delicious
licks of heat, warming her insides. He pounded against her in long,
sure strokes, filling her with both lengths to bursting. She
warbled as he drove her steadily to glory.

He brought her with grim determination,
the orgasm swift and furious. Then again. Still Bacoj did not vary
his pace, continuing to ply her with the same steady thrusts,
driving her to the precipice once more. Lindsey sobbed and
shrieked, her cries rising above the screams of the nearby
seagulls.

* * * *

Bacoj fought against Lindsey’s
clutching sex, refusing to succumb to the sweet invitation to fill
her well with his seed. He wanted to stay inside her forever,
making her writhe as she did now, her eyes unfocused as yet another
rush of rapture claimed her, making her jerk in helpless spasms. He
owned her, mastered her, possessed her completely. And he had to
let her go.

The pain in his heart was overwhelming.
He wanted to die right here and now, making love to his beautiful
Lindsey. To perish while seated in her welcoming warmth seemed so
right. To live without her seemed an impossibility. He’d never
known such agony as what faced him now.

She crescendoed again, and this time
his body disobeyed his command, rushing to explode with hers. The
eruption began in the base of his spine, clenching his buttocks as
it steamrolled through his loins, charging through his larger organ
and erupting inside her, filling her, making him a part of her. He
was dimly aware of his roars shattering the air as his cock jerked
and wrenched within the tight confines of her hearth. Electric
pulses traveled to his fingertips and toes.

And through the excruciating joy of
joining, the pain came crashing back, worse for the sweetness of
their bodies fused together for perhaps the final time. Sorrow
suffused his being, choking Bacoj.

* * * *

As her body pulsed in the aftermath of
ecstasy, Lindsey looked at the man over her with a growing sense of
disquiet. Bacoj was crying. The big, confident man had tears
streaming down his cheeks, dripping off his chin to wet her
face.

Before she could catch her breath to
ask if he was all right, he pulled free, leaving her horribly
empty. He moved aside and Japohn took his place.

“Lindsey,” the Nobek said, his voice
rough. He seated himself within her quickly, despite how tight she
was from her recent climaxes. She whimpered with the effort of
yielding to the well-endowed man, but his strength made her melting
soft with acquiescence. She shuddered in delightful torment,
especially when he lifted her off the sand to rest on his kneeling
thighs. The position, with all her weight pressing her down, pushed
him as far into her as her slight body would allow. He scraped her
cervix, bringing sensation of such intensity she suffered a small,
softly rolling climax right away.

He held her tightly to himself, keeping
her pinned in place until her body quieted again. His hand fisted
in her hair, holding her cheek to his wide, smooth chest. She
listened to his heart boom, lulling her to a place of complete
trust.

Japohn rose up straight on his knees,
continuing to hold her tight to his body. His hips swung slowly
back and forth, running his lengths in and out of her channels with
luscious friction. His groin rubbed her clit, sending sparkling
darts of pleasure shivering through her body. She moaned throatily,
a willing receptacle for his needs.

Lindsey felt she hung for a sweet
eternity like that, warm and safe in the Nobek’s arms as he loved
her thoroughly, completely. He gently pulled on her hair, tugging
her face into position so he could invade with his probing tongue,
taking her mouth with the same deliberate care as he took her sex
and anus. She dissolved against him, seeking to meld to him so
completely that they may never be parted.

His pace gradually increased, grinding
her swollen clit with quickening friction. She mewled against his
lips, her nether regions tightening down as pleasure built. He
rumbled a moaning growl, the sound at once bestial and needy.
Japohn took her faster still until the steady slap-slap of their
bodies meeting was a constant drum of sound. Lindsey clutched at
his back, her nails digging in as the momentum of bliss increased.
She quaked with oncoming orgasm, shaking so violently that even the
Nobek’s formidable power couldn’t hold her still.

Culmination burst through her in a
glaring wash of white light, and she screamed into Japohn’s mouth
as the explosion took her into space. She felt him tense all around
her, his body stiffening in a paroxysm of realization. Then he
pulsed hard within her, soaking her interior with his hot juices as
he roared low in his throat.

Japohn held her tighter than ever as
their tremors slowly tapered off, as if he would fuse their bodies
together forever. Only when their breathing slowed and their melded
sexes ceased twitching did he extricate himself and hand her off to
Vax.