Alien Salvation (26 page)

The young Imdiko kissed her with a
softness yet desperation that liquefied Lindsey’s insides. She had
a bare moment to wonder how he could possibly feel both gentle and
demanding all at once before sensation took coherent thought away.
Vax’s hands and mouth danced all over her body with a delicacy that
left nothing unexplored. She alternated giggling and sobbing as he
found ticklish and arousing spots in quick succession. He twisted
her around in his arms, thoroughly giving every inch his laser-like
attention.

By the time he laid her in the sand and
gripped her ankles to spread her wide, she was panting with need.
Lindsey wrapped her tiny hands around his slick eager cocks,
pulling him to where she needed him to go. His eyes held hers with
quiet intensity, as if he’d expose and sample her every thought as
he had her body. Vax’s gaze never lowered as he pressed into her
passages, pinning her with his stare as firmly as Japohn had pinned
her with his arms.

* * * *

Vax groaned as the sweet body beneath
him yielded so easily to his thrusts. Hot. Wet. Soft yet clutching
him with determined strength. Her body was an offering worthy of
gods, and yet it was he that she gave herself to. Would continue to
give herself to if Bacoj and Japohn would only weaken in their
determination to send her away.

His conscience, nibbling away at him
with guilt over his selfishness, still couldn’t defend him against
the greedy roar of possessive love. He wanted Lindsey. Only
Lindsey. And he couldn’t stand the idea of her with another clan.
Loving men other than he and his clanmates. It wasn’t fair to be
given a glimpse of paradise only to have it ripped away.

Despite the ecstasy of having his
strength inside Lindsey, her tight orifices clenching until he
thought he might explode with physical jubilation, agony knifed
through his soul and he collapsed over her, his body covering hers,
pressing her into the mounded sand beneath them. Vax held back the
sobs that wanted to wrack his body, overwhelmed by heartrending
pain even as his groin tightened with oncoming exultation. He
thought he might go mad from the differing commotions of emotion
and physical sensations.

He dug his toes into the sand, changing
the arc of his thrusts slightly to find the sweet spot of nerves
within his beloved’s sleeve. She was immediately galvanized, her
sex coiling tightly around his in reaction. Her strangled scream
rang in his ears, and Vax plunged against that spot again, forcing
her onward until she convulsed around and beneath him, lost in the
beautiful torture of rapture.

Vax felt his seed gather itself in the
pit of his belly before charging in full attack, emptying from his
straining cock to invade her sacred ground in a hair-raising
onslaught of pleasure. He howled his gratification even as he lost
his battle against the tears that overflowed the banks of his eyes,
drenching his face with the grief of losing such a precious
creature as his Lindsey.

* * * *

Something was wrong.

As the men brushed sand from her body
and shook it from her clothes before dressing her, Lindsey felt the
palpable strain. It was in the way Vax kept his face averted, his
long waves of hair hiding his expression. It was in the thunderous
silence grim-visaged Japohn kept. And while Bacoj’s face was devoid
of anything but gentle smiles for her, she kept thinking of how
he’d cried after they made love. The feeling that something bad was
about to happen pressed against her, negating the satisfied joy of
having just given herself to the men.

Looking for anyway to alleviate the
dread that poked at her with an insistent finger, Lindsey noted,
“Sand is not exactly fun to have in my butt crack.”

After making a sound that was
suspiciously like a sniffle, Vax offered, “Sand softer on
Kalquor.”

“We’ll have to try this again when we
get there.”

Vax hunched and turned away. Bacoj and
Japohn exchanged a dark look, and Lindsey couldn’t take anymore.
She never hid from bad news, couldn’t stand to live with the
unknown. She opened her mouth to demand an explanation when Vax
suddenly straightened.

“Someone come,” he said.

Indeed the dark blur of a Kalquorian
running at full speed approached, stilling her voice. When he
stopped before the clan, she saw he was as young as her
men.

Not even winded, the stranger bowed to
the clan. “Empress Jessica has sent a message to Imperial Sister
Lindsey. The Imperial Mother requests your immediate
return.”

Lindsey’s heart leapt. Communication
from Jessica! Forgetting in her excitement the clan’s strange
behavior, she clutched at Bacoj and Vax’s hands. “Come on, boys;
let’s see how my baby sister is doing.”

Bacoj lifted her in his arms and ran
back to the base camp, turning their surroundings into a sun-soaked
blur.

Chapter Sixteen

Tara was waiting anxiously in the
doorway of her quarters when the clan arrived. As soon as Bacoj set
Lindsey on her feet, she grabbed her mother’s hands.

“Did you watch? What did she say? How
does she look?” Lindsey bounced impatiently.

Tara tugged her into her room, as
utilitarian as the one Lindsey shared with her men. “I waited for
you. Come in, boys,” she called over her shoulder. “Meet your
in-laws.”

The women knelt on the seating cushions
and peered at the Kalquorian computer, a paper-thin flat console
lying on the table. Shivering with excitement Tara spoke with the
eagerness of a child on Christmas morning. “Will someone tell me
how to do this?”

Japohn knelt behind them and said
something in Kalquorian. A floating vid appeared over the computer,
green hieroglyphics hovering before their faces. “Need voice
recognition. Say something, Imperial Mother,” he urged.

“What should I say?”

At her words, Jessica’s face suddenly
appeared in place of the Kalquorian characters. Lindsey’s breath
caught, and her mouth spread in a huge grin.

Jessica looked beautiful. Her elfin
features were more delicate than Lindsey’s, having inherited Tara’s
fine bone structure. Her long, straight chestnut hair was the same
as her older sister’s however. She wore a purple robe that set off
her healthy coloring. Lindsey had an urge to try to hug the image.
She’d missed her baby sister so much, and her throat closed in
emotion.

Best of all, no hint of shadows
appeared beneath Jessica’s eyes, something she’d worn since the
tornado that had nearly killed them both. Lindsey would have died
without Jessica, but emotionally, the younger girl had suffered
worse. The haunted look had disappeared from her wide almond-shaped
eyes. Had she found peace finally? Lindsey prayed it was
so.

Jessica’s voice was pitched high the
way it always got when she was excited. “Hi Mom and Lindsey! Boy, I
wish I could see you. I hate this two-day delay, so send me a
message as soon as you can! I would have sent this sooner, but
hearing about Dad –” her voice caught, and Lindsey and Tara wept
along with her.

After a few moments, she recovered,
swiping the tears away. “Well, I had to do a lot of crying, which I
continue to do, as you can see. But I’m coping, and I can’t wait
for you to get here. Meanwhile I have some people I’d like you to
meet.”

The vid’s view widened out, and Lindsey
gasped to see three Kalquorians holding a small boy and baby behind
Jessica. The men dwarfed her tiny sister, and she had a moment of
turmoil seeing how vulnerable she looked next to them.

“These handsome devils are my clan. The
Emperors Clajak, Bevau and Egilka.”

The man identified as Clajak stepped
forward. Unlike all the Kalquorians Lindsey had seen, his sleek
hair was steel-colored instead of black, brushing wide shoulders
swathed in a blue robe. The easy assurance he wore eased Lindsey’s
trepidation, and his voice was honey smooth as he bowed to them.
“It is our greatest honor to greet the Imperial Mother Tara and our
Empress’ sister Lindsey. We look forward to you joining us soon.
Imperial Mother, may I present your oldest grandchild, Crown Prince
Wayne.”

The vid picture zoomed in on the
wide-eyed toddler as Tara and Lindsey squealed in girlish delight.
The boy had the cat-slitted purple eyes of a Kalquorian. His skin
was between the Middle Eastern dark tones of his fathers and
Jessica’s fairer golden shade; coffee with a liberal dose of
cream.

“They gave him Aaron’s middle name,”
Tara sobbed through her brilliant smile. “Look at him! I’m a
grandmother, Lindsey.”

Lindsey squeezed her mother’s
shoulders. “Congratulations Mom. Hey, I’m an aunt!”

The vid picture widened again. Another
Kalquorian, the one Jessica had identified as Egilka, stepped
forward, his flowing green robe doing little to disguise his long,
muscular frame. His hair was caught back in a long braid, and he
wore a mustache and goatee. He held a tiny, wriggling baby cupped
in his hands.

The man spoke. “It is my honor to
present your granddaughter Princess Noelle.”

The vid shifted again, giving them an
up-close look at the sleeping cherub. She was obviously only weeks
old, a new, shining life.

Lindsey was breathless as she looked at
the baby who bore her middle name. She chuckled to see
steel-colored hair spring in peach fuzz tufts from the waif’s round
head. “I wonder who the father of that one is.”

The vid moved again to include the
whole Imperial Family. The third Kalquorian, Emperor Bevau, said,
“As you can see, mother and children are all healthy. We are taking
good care of your family, Imperial Mother.”

Lindsey took a moment to admire her
sister’s devastatingly handsome mate. Bevau was the most physically
gorgeous man she’d ever seen, with chiseled cheekbones and a
sensuous mouth. The only imperfection she could see was a long,
pale scar on one of the muscled arms that emerged from his red
robe.

Tara sighed next to her. “They’re
beautiful, beautiful children.”

As if she’d heard her mother’s comment,
Jessica said, “I bet you can’t wait to hold them, huh Mom?” The vid
moved in until her face filled the picture. With a wink she said,
“You’ve got some catching up to do, big sis. Don’t worry matey,
there are plenty of clans lining up to impress you. I think you’ll
be very happy with your prospects.”

Lindsey snorted. “Tell them all to go
home, you scurvy swab. I already found my clan.” She glanced up to
smile at her mates. None of them looked at her, and her grin faded
as she noticed their pained expressions.

Jessica’s voice claimed her attention
again. “Send me messages as soon as possible.” She teared up again.
“I’ve missed you so much. I can’t wait to see your faces. I love
you both and Daddy too.”

She blew a kiss at them, and the vid
blinked out. Tara hugged Lindsey tight and turned to Bacoj’s silent
clan. “Can I play it again?”

Bacoj nodded. He barked an order in
Kalquorian, and the computer made a meek beep sound. “Now you say,
‘play Empress message’ when you wish see more.”

“I will help to you record message to
Empress when ready,” Japohn offered.

“Thank you. Play Empress message,” Tara
ordered, and Jessica’s face re-appeared. The vid began to play
again.

Lindsey rose from her cushion to face
her clan. “May I speak to you guys privately?”

Bacoj inclined his head. “Of course,
Lindsey.”

Leaving her mother smiling through
happy tears, Lindsey led the clan out of her quarters.

The moment they were in their own
quarters and the door was shut, Lindsey demanded, “What’s wrong?
Don’t tell me it’s nothing because I can see it in your
faces.”

Vax stepped away from the others, his
arms crossing over his chest. He wouldn’t look at her. He wouldn’t
look at the others. He stared at the wall behind Lindsey, his pain
apparent.

Japohn looked at Bacoj, who sighed
unhappily. Bacoj motioned to the bed mat. “Sit please,
Lindsey.”

I’m not going to like this. Her stomach
squeezed down as she lowered herself to the mat and
waited.

She watched as Bacoj swallowed hard.
His mouth opened, shut, and opened again. “You go to Kalquor with
Imperial Mother Tara.”

Lindsey looked him in the eye. She
forced herself to keep her voice calm. “No. I’m staying with my
clan.”

Bacoj’s face twisted for an instant
before he regained a patient, resigned expression. “We can no be
clan. You release to join other clan.”

Her heart took a painful thump. “You
can’t. The clanning is a lifelong commitment that can’t be
broken.”

Japohn sighed heavily. He settled his
bulk next to her and put his arm around her. “Members of Imperial
family different. Empress Jessica has clans of rank for you. We
concede her wish.”

“What did I do to deserve this? What
did I do wrong?” Lindsey let the tears spill over, not bothering to
hide the pain.

Bacoj knelt at her feet. He took her
hands in his, kissed the backs of them. “You do no wrong. You
Imperial Sister. You find better clan.”

Anger rose, and she welcomed it. She
jerked her hands away and pushed Japohn’s arm from her shoulders.
“Don’t you dare hide behind that excuse. If you don’t want me, at
least be men enough to admit it.”