Favored by Felix (12 page)

Already she felt the swell of his erection
against her hip. The instant he’d touched her, her body had softened, readying
for his possession. Her breasts swelled, her nipples hardening to taut points
against his chest.

“Now,” she demanded.

“You’ve missed this as much as I have.”
Satisfaction throbbed in his voice, a hint of smugness.

“No. You’re good though. You know how to
play a woman’s body.”

“Careful,” he answered in a silky tone. “It’s
not too late to spank the lies out of you.”

“We don’t have a future, Felix.”

“Bullshit,” he snarled.

Casey didn’t know what bulls or their crap
had to do with the situation, but she recognized the dangerous edge to his tone.
She pressed a kiss to his shoulder, licked across his collarbone and nipped at the
soft patch of skin where shoulder and neck met.

He let out a snarl—a feline snarl—and Casey
froze, unsure of what she’d done.

He rolled her under him, crushed her mouth to
his, and this time he didn’t muck around. He fucked her mouth with his tongue,
pulled a tortured groan from her then did it all over again.

With his thigh, he parted her legs, his
fingers dancing over her folds, teasing her clit while he settled in at her
breast. He tugged her nipple between his teeth, sucked hard, bit lightly until
her head spun and her fingernails dug into his shoulders.

“Please, Felix. Please.”

“Please what?” he asked hoarsely.

“Fuck me. Take me now.”

He exploded into action, guiding his cock
to her opening and pushing deep with one hard thrust. Casey groaned, stunned by
the way this situation had spun out of control yet desperate for him to take
her and make her come hard enough to push away every single thought.

His strokes were forceful, his breath hot
against her cheek. His tongue rasped across the same place she’d teased at
his
neck, and the abrasive sensation sent a shudder of pleasure coursing through
her body. Gods, he was good at this. So, so good. He made her feel invincible,
as if she were flying.

He continued to tease the spot on her neck,
the skin becoming tender. Casey jolted when he gave her a hint of teeth. He slipped
a hand between her legs and rubbed her clit. Another surge of pleasure struck,
and Casey moaned.

“Yes,” she cried out. “Yes, yes!”

He plunged deep and bit down.

It was too much. Not enough. She cried out once
more.

Felix bit her again, harder this time.

Pain filled her, collided with the
pleasure—and then she was tearing apart at the seams, coming so hard she wondered
if the ecstasy would make her pass out. She was aware of Felix’s shout, the
convulsive heave of his body as he climaxed.

Gradually, gradually, she came back, her
body loose and relaxed. Felix licked a spot high on her shoulder, and she was
aware of a lingering soreness. She trembled and her pussy gave a spasm,
tightening around his cock.

Casey yawned. “That was amazing. I don’t
think I’ve ever come that hard before.”

“Told you I was good.”

“Big head.”

Felix just grinned and gathered her close. Before
she knew it, she was asleep.

General Seonaid buzzed his aide. Three
quick stabs of his finger before the skinny Palito man scuttled through the
door connecting their offices. His off-white eyes protruded and he couldn’t
stand still or maintain a gaze. Buggy in appearance
and
behavior.
Imbecile.

“Yes sir?” He saluted in the respectful way
the general expected from his subordinates.

“Have you located Captain Seonaid?”

“No sir.”

The general tapped his fingers on his
desktop and frowned. “Why not?”

“She’s not answering her com-circle, sir.
No one has seen her on Dalcon, and she’s not at the resort where she was booked
during her leave.”

The general tapped his fingers again, a
loud drumroll of impatience. Damn the woman. She’d always been trouble, never
did what was required of her. She always had to ask questions. Questions,
questions, questions, until he lost patience.

“Take steps to track her via her chip,” the
general barked.

“But sir, Captain Seonaid has been
discharged from the military. It would be against the law to track her.”

“I’ll authorize it,” the general snarled.

“Sir, the reconnaissance department won’t
do it straight away. They are working on the space pirates plaguing the north
sector of the galaxy.”

The general picked up a glossy black-and-red
stone, one mined on the planet Dalcon. He tossed it from hand to hand even as
he narrowed his gaze on his aide. “You tell them to give this priority. Captain
Seonaid must be found. She has a health condition and must enter the medical
facility immediately.”

“Her records don’t state she suffers from a
medical condition.”

Annoying bug.
“She caught a virus during her last mission but refuses to accept
she’s dying. We—my wife and sons—are worried about her.” The general lied
without a qualm, even managed to squeeze his features into sadness.

“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. I’ll contact
reconnaissance right now.”

The general sighed and set the
black-and-red rock down on his desktop. It clicked loudly in the silence. “Thank
you.”

The general waited until his aide exited
the office and shut the connecting door behind him. He stood and made his way
to the window, which overlooked the city and the palace in the distance. Only
then did he allow a slow smile to curl his lips.

They would find Casey, and when they did,
he’d get his way. He’d lose a daughter and gain a son, and that promotion would
bear his name.

* * * * *

“We should go,” Casey said.

“Soon,” Felix replied with a lazy yawn. He
rolled, pinning her beneath his weight. “I think we have time for a bit of
canoodling.”

“Exactly what is canoodling?”

He grinned. No, it was more of a smirk.

“It means I get to kiss you some more and
make love to you again.”

“But I need to get back to the resort.”

“Wrong answer,” he said and trailed a line of
kisses down her jawline, down her throat, down to the spot where he’d bitten
her at the height of passion last night. She expected pain because he’d bitten
hard, but instead a surge of sensual energy flashed through her body.

She gulped and shuddered when his fingers
traced across the same spot. Sensations ripped through her, too fast, too many
to catalogue. Startled, she glanced at him, saw the way his eyes widened.

“What?”

“I…ah…” He gestured at her neck. “There’s a
mark where I bit you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Of course there are teeth marks. You bit
me. It doesn’t hurt though.”

Felix’s brows drew together, confusion and
wonder combining on his face. “Can you see it?”

“No, not properly. Tell me, what is it?”

“There’s a…a tattoo where I bit you—a small
black cat.” He fingered the spot, and a groan burst from her throat.

“
Scurvy sky pirates
,” she muttered. “Every
time you stroke me there, I feel it down here.” She cupped her sex.

“Works for me,” he said, his slow smile
making her want to grin in return.

He linked their fingers and nuzzled her
neck, taking tiny bites from her throat. The instant his mouth came into
contact with
the
spot, she sucked in a wildly excited breath. The
seductive stroke of his tongue forced another cry from her, desire kicking her
in the belly.

No longer did she want to leave. No, she
was weak. A few kisses, a few touches, and she wanted to linger to enjoy every
minute. A heavy pulsating sensation filled her pussy as he kissed her again.

“Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

The endearment had her obeying. His finger
lightly circled her clit and her heart thundered as if she were running a race.
He traced her slit with a gentle finger then lifted her to his mouth to give
her a pleasuring stroke across her swollen flesh. Talk about sweet agony. No,
she didn’t want to leave now.

She gripped his hair, holding his face in
place.

“More, more, more,” she chanted.

His tongue was rough against her clit. It
was abrasive and sexy and pushed her into a place of raw need.

“Let go, sweetheart.”

“No, I want…I need…” She tugged his hair
harder, lifted her hips to gain more pressure from his mouth.

“I’m not going to stop. Promise. I’m going
to fill you, give us both pleasure.”

She released her grip enough for him to
move over her. He manacled her wrists with his hands and licked around one
nipple.

“You promised,” she said. “Please. Please
put your cock inside me.”

Felix laughed and continued to tease her,
driving her higher, faster, harder. She felt the slickness of her pussy, felt
the throb of her clitoris, felt the surge of heat when he licked across the
tattoo.

Her channel gave a spasm, and she groaned
with disappointment.

Felix smiled, pressed a lingering kiss to
her lips and then put his cock exactly where she wanted it. He drove into her
and shoved her past the point of no return.

Gods, how would she ever walk away with her
heart intact?

She gasped for air, cradled his big body
against hers and tried not to cry. She already knew the answer.

She wouldn’t.

When she walked away to keep Felix and his
family safe from the general’s ire, she’d leave her heart behind.

* * * * *

A day later, Felix was pleased to note
someone had taken care of repairs to the fence. He also picked up the subtle
hum of the silent alarm, doing its job of protecting the perimeter. No more
blaring sirens throughout the resort in the middle of the night.

“We’ll go via the rear entrance and head
straight to my suite. That way we can clean up before we meet anyone.”

Casey gave an abrupt nod. “Okay.”

Felix’s feline stirred with a cranky snarl.
He shot a glance at Casey, noting her unhappiness. The closer they’d gotten to
the resort, the quieter she’d become. And she was still insisting she was
returning to Dalcon on the next available shuttle.

He begged to differ.

No way. No how. Not in his lifetime.

She wasn’t going anywhere without him at
her side.

They made it to his suite without bumping
into anyone. Felix pressed his palm against the door pad and the locks
disengaged. He opened the door and stood back for Casey to enter.

“I’m going to check in with Ma and my
brothers,” he said. “You use the sanitizer room first.”

She gave another clipped nod and
disappeared. For a nanosecond, he was tempted to follow her and demand answers,
to tell her how their future would work. Together. He didn’t. Instead, he left
his suite and went to find his mother.

He found her in the resort office, in the
center of a ring of male employees. Everyone was talking at once. Scarlett
watched warily from her desk on the far side of the room, and their secretary-receptionist
looked as if she wanted to flee the melee.

“It’s not fair,” Laurence said. “Justin
gets to work in the holo room. He gets all the women. I’m stuck at the shuttle
port.”

“It’s not my fault,” Justin said and shoved
Laurence.

Laurence shoved back.

“I don’t want to work in the back office,”
another man protested.

“The roster isn’t fair,” a younger male
shouted.

Felix waded through the crowd and halted by
his mother. “That’s enough,” he snapped. “You will give your name to Scarlett,
give her a brief description of your complaint, and she will organize a time
for each of you to speak with me and air your grievances. Once I have a full
picture, I will take action to sort out this mess. Understand?”

When no one said a word, he nodded. “Right.
Form a line, give your details to Scarlett and return to your assigned posts.”

Laurence stalked over to Scarlett’s desk
and murmured a few words before wheeling around. “If things don’t improve
around here there’s gonna be trouble.”

Felix scowled after the retreating man. “I
really don’t like him.”

“Shush, son. He’s still grieving his sister’s
death.”

“Sure, Ma, but how long do we tiptoe around
his feelings? Lots of us lost friends and family after the virus outbreak. He
doesn’t have an exclusive on grief,” Felix said.

“I’m glad you arrived when you did.” Anna
patted his arm. “Things were getting nasty.”

“Anything else I should know about?”

“I have a list,” she said drily. “Someone
is still cutting holes in the perimeter fence. One of the holo rooms is out of
action because someone vandalized the control center. Also we seem to have a
thief. I don’t know if it’s a guest or a staff member, but either way, it’s not
good publicity. Oh, and someone from the military is trying to contact Casey. I
told them she wasn’t here, but they were very insistent.”

Foreboding went through Felix, but he bit
it back. Casey was safe in his suite. “Okay, Ma. Let’s go through the problems
one at a time and try to make sense of them.” He urged his mother into Saber’s
office and closed the door.

They were halfway through the list when his
com-circle buzzed.

“Felix,” he said, his mind on the thefts.
He and his brothers worked long hours now. They didn’t need to spend half their
nights prowling the resort under the guise of security.

“It’s Saber. Can you meet me at the shuttle
port and fuel up another shuttle for me to fly to Dalcon? I’ll be there in half
an hour.”

“But what—” The com cut off before he could
get out his question. “Saber’s back.”

“Oh good,” Anna said. “I can’t wait to see
him.”

“It doesn’t sound as if he intends to stay,”
Felix said. “I’d better go make sure a shuttle is fueled.”

* * * * *

When Saber landed the craft on the shuttle
pad, Felix was waiting for him.

“Where the hell have you been?” Felix
demanded. “Are you both okay?” His gaze went from Eva to a plump blue bird that
was letting out anxious squawks. “What the hell is that?”

“Is the shuttle fueled?”

“Yeah,” Felix said. “I got Laurence to take
care of that for you.”

“Thanks. We’d better go. I need someone to
return this shuttle.” Saber plucked the bird from Eva’s arms and handed the
honking thing to Felix. “This is Bluebird. Give him to Scarlett to look after.”

“It’s not dinner?” Felix asked.

“Bluebird is
not
dinner,” Eva
snapped. “And if I come back and discover Bluebird missing, I’ll hunt you
down.”

A spurt of humor made his lips quirk
upward, quickly controlled when he saw the promise to follow through glittering
in her eyes. “Yes ma’am. When will you be back?”

“I’m not sure,” Saber said. “A few days,
maybe longer.”

Great. In the past, he’d resented Saber,
felt a bit like a useless spare wheel while his older brother plowed through
life’s challenges. Now that he was standing in Saber’s shoes, he realized the
hard and challenging line Saber walked. Yet his brother took everything in his
stride.

It made Felix appreciate his big brother.
Right then, he made a promise to himself that instead of fanning his
resentment, he’d get off his backside and offer to take up some of the slack. “Contact
Ma, will you? She’s been worried about—
What the fuck?
”

The shuttle Saber and Eva had arrived in
shimmered before his eyes and, bit by bit, faded away until nothing stood on
the shuttle pad.

Saber strode to the pad and walked straight
through the empty air. “Fuck, that’s all kinds of disturbing.”

Felix stared, wondering if he’d imagined
the entire vessel.

“It’s lucky we flew straight here,” Eva
said, her cheeks bleached of color. “What if it had disappeared while we were
in flight? We could have d-died.”

Saber went to her and pulled her against
his chest. “We made it here in one piece, kitten.” He stared over her head, his
gaze connecting with Felix’s before he closed his eyes.

Felix could tell what his brother was
thinking. Hell, he felt the same way about Casey.

Eva pulled away from Saber and ran her
hands down her body, patting the clothes she wore. Her expression was one of
horror. “Do you think our clothes will vanish too?”

Felix barked out a laugh and did a quick
visual sweep of his brother’s mate even as he stroked the bird he was holding
in an effort to calm the creature. “Could be quite a show.” His gaze rose and
snagged on a tiny tattoo on her upper shoulder, near her neck.

What the hell? That was the same as Casey’s.

Saber let out a feral snarl and Felix
straightened, wiping his expression clean. Obviously not the time to ask
questions. Understanding the urge to protect a mate, Felix moved back half a
step to show Saber he meant no harm to Eva.

Saber’s growls subsided. “Your call,” he
said to Eva. “We can grab fresh clothes, but we’ll lose time because my mother
will want to meet you and feed us.”