Raines, Elizabeth - Covert [Wicked Missions 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (6 page)

“You said it was like pledging ourselves to each other, right?”

She nodded. “It is, but it is also so much more. You’re mated now. You have a connection to them only the three of you can understand, but it also gives you some control.”

“Control?”

“You can only bear a child when you choose to.”

“How is that possible?”

A knowing smile crossed Betinsa’s lips before she tensed, fisting the hand that had been resting on her unborn child. “
Kazom
…”

“Should I get your husbands?”

She held up her hand as the grimace on her features eased. “You will only become pregnant when all three of you wish to have a child.”

“Are you serious? How could that be?”

Betinsa nodded. “Much of being Fraiquan is spiritual, and this is a gift the Creator gives us. Have you ever noticed there are no unwanted Fraiquan children?” She patted Alayna’s hand that rested on the table. “Trust me, you will understand the longer you live as one. Just know this…you need not worry about birth control. Enjoy your men. You may find after this undercover assignment ends, the three of you may decide to stay bonded. Would you like a joining ceremony?”

Alayna shrugged. They were supposed have the translator chips implanted later today, but after that, there were no more things to do to prepare for the mission, especially no arrangements to marry. They had planned to simply
pretend
to be married. They never discussed making it legal.

“I strongly suggest you all marry before you go. Once you have joined, your intimacy will not trouble you so much. And as I said, who knows what will happen when your work is done?” Both of her hands suddenly fisted against her stomach and she panted for breath.

Alayna hurried to the door and called to Matt and Drake. “Betinsa needs you!”

* * * *

“A healthy boy? That’s great, Matt. Congratulations. Please give Betinsa and Drake our best. Bye.” Will flipped off his communicator, dropped it into the pocket of his jumpsuit, and turned to the two people watching him with anxious eyes. “Did you both catch that?”

Alayna nodded while Tanner checked his watch and grinned. “So much for Fraiquans taking a long time to give birth. They’ve only been gone four hours.”

She sat down on the bench. She’d been distant ever since she’d had her private talk with Betinsa, and he hated not feeling as close to her as he had from the moment he’d awakened in the lab in his Fraiquan form. He walked over to stand in front of her. “What’s wrong, Alayna? Are you afraid to get this translation chip implanted?”

All she did was shake her head.

Tanner strode over to stand next to Will. “I’m not relishing the idea of having that thing jammed in my brain.”

“That’s not it.”

Will waited for her to expand on the answer. When she didn’t, he sat down on one side of her as Tanner sat on the other. “Then what’s bothering you, Alayna?”

She turned so her gaze caught his, and for a moment, he saw the Alayna that had been there before the transformation—brown eyes stared back at him, and her hair stood up instead of cascading down her back. Although she was beautiful as a Fraiquan, she’d been just as exquisite as a human. Either incarnation suited him fine. He cupped her cheek in his palm and loved how she snuggled a little closer, like a kitten looking for an affectionate pat. “Will you marry me?” she asked.

So
that
was what was bugging her. After what they’d all shared, she wasn’t going to be content faking a relationship on the mission. She wanted to make the commitment between all of them real—at least for the duration of their time on Fraiqua. He didn’t have to give it much thought. “Of course.”

“And you, too?” she said as her hand grasped one of Tanner’s.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “After last night, Will and I aren’t about to let you get away.”

All the softness in her vanished as she popped back up to her feet. “That’s why you’d go through with the marriage? Because we fucked?”

“First of all,” Will said, trying to hold his temper, “we didn’t
fuck
. We
made love
. The three of us made love.”

“Same thing…” Pacing in front of the bench, she fisted her hands at her sides. “Look, we don’t
have
to get married. We can just go ahead with our original plans and pretend. Then we don’t have to worry about a divorce after the mission.”

Although he’d taken a less forceful role in their lovemaking, he wasn’t about to let her call all the shots now, especially when she had everything so wrong. Standing up, he grabbed her shoulders, pleased to have Tanner stand up as well and join him in glaring at her. “Stop. Just stop and listen.”

She seemed taken aback that he had the audacity to order her around. Damn, but she’d taken to the Fraiquan female role very well. “What did you just say to me?”

Will gripped her shoulders a little tighter. “I said stop.”

“And I’m saying it too,” Tanner added. “You need to listen to us for a second.”

Since he and Tanner had been so in sync from the moment they met as this mission was being planned, he could tell that Tanner felt the same about Alayna as he did. He also knew Tanner would follow his lead. “Alayna, we want to get married, and not because we made love last night. This mission depends on how well we can blend in and how well we can be Fraiquan. The three of us are supposed to be bonded in a way that only Fraiquans are supposed to be able to understand.”

Tanner nodded. “We have to get married and live like a joined trio to make it work. If we just…play house, someone’s going to figure out that something’s not right, and that could blow our cover. Besides…” He shrugged although the intensity in his eyes told Will there was a wealth of emotion behind his words. “We all know there’s something special going on here between us.” Placing one hand over Will’s where it rested on Alayna’s shoulder, he smiled. “Let’s use this time to explore that.”

Alayna kept switching her gaze between both men as if thinking the whole thing over. “I’ve never been in a…relationship like this before. I guess I’m still not sure exactly what’s going on between us. Is it because of this damned
comchi
thing?”

“Or could it be something more?” Will asked. “I agree with Tanner. Let’s do this right.” While he wasn’t convinced that this overwhelming attraction could survive once they’d all reverted back to their human form, he couldn’t help but think there was something going on other than hormones.

The door to the procedure room opened, and woman in teal scrubs stepped out. “We’re ready for you. Who gets to go first?”

“Me,” Alayna said in a tone that brooked no dissention. She reached up to put her hand over the men’s. “Fine. We’ll get married.” Her smile eased his worries. “And we’ll say the vows in Fraiqui.” She kissed them both quickly and headed to the door. “See you both tomorrow.”

Chapter 5

“Betinsa! I didn’t think you’d be here!” Although she knew she was speaking in Fraiqui, Alayna was still amazed her brain “heard” everything in her mind in English. The magical little chip was doing its job well.

“I couldn’t miss you all leaving for Fraiqua.” Betinsa strode across the tarmac, her husbands following behind. Drake cradled their new son in his arms.

Alayna couldn’t resist seeing the baby. When Drake came close enough, she leaned over to peer at the tiny face. “What’s his name?”

“We are naming him after one of my fathers,” Betinsa replied. “His name is Ishalm.”

Pulling back the soft white blanket, Alayna stared down into his dark eyes. They looked brown, but she’d heard baby’s eyes changed color as they got older. His skin was such a pale blue, it was clear he was only part Fraiquan. The baby’s hair also wasn’t nearly as dark as Betinsa’s, nor was it as wavy. “Hi, Ishalm.”

“I came to see you off and wish you well,” Betinsa said. With a glance over to Will and Tanner, she gave a typical Fraiqua admonition. “Trust your wife. She won’t let you down.”

Both men nodded as she inclined her head in return, a sign of mutual respect. Then she turned to Alayna. “It won’t be easy for you. Fraiquans don’t ask for advice from anyone except their mothers, so you won’t even be able to turn to other women. The responsibility rests on your shoulders, not only to make this mission a success but to keep your mates safe. I wish you could contact me, but you’re going totally undercover. You’ll need to take the lead—in all things.”

Although the advice was good, and Alayna was taking it to heart, she already felt more pressure than she’d felt on any other assignment. Add the weight of her guilt for her partner’s death on the last mission, and she feared she might buckle.

With a stubborn shake of her head, she straightened her spine. “I’ll take good care of them.” No way she’d let something happen to them. History wasn’t going to repeat itself.

“I know you will.” Betinsa stepped back to join Matt and Drake. “I shall pray to the Creator to watch over you all, and I wish you much success.” On that, she turned and led her family away.

Alayna took a deep breath before she led her own new husbands up the ramp. It was time for the
Destiny
to take to space.

* * * *

Tanner set the autopilot, checked the com one last time, and then left the cockpit. There would be no more hails from I.D.E.A., no more last bits of information, and no support. They were on their own now. All they had was this piece-of-shit ship, a little bit of cash, and a hell of a lot of work to do with no guarantee of success.

He needed to see Alayna and Will, figuring they were both as tense as he was. All of them really needed to relax and just live in these new personas, but so much rode on the success of this mission. The free flow of patrile from Fraiqua was destroying lives, not only on that planet but on every other planet in the Rhotan System. And who knew how bad the epidemic of addiction could get if the drug wasn’t stopped? Whispered words of the wars beginning again had turned to shouts, and the other planets were threatening invasion if Fraiqua couldn’t stop the trafficking of the horrible drug. The people of Fraiqua wouldn’t survive another war. Their greatest enemy, the Dracorians, would be the first to take advantage of their weakness.

“Will? Alayna?” Tanner called as he entered the galley. He’d expected the smell of dinner being prepared and was surprised to find the two of them sitting at the table just staring into space. “You two okay?” They both startled as if he’d awakened them. “What’s wrong?”

“I think it’s all just hitting me,” Alayna replied. “We’re going to be alone. We’ve got about two thousand universal credits, and we’ve gotta find a place to live. Even after we start working at C.C., it’ll be weeks before we get paid. It’s not gonna be easy, and even when we have money coming in, I’m supposed to gamble a lot of it away.”

Will nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. Might be eating a lot of refugee rations for a while.”

Refugee rations—the food that other planets provided for the people of Fraiqua who were still trying to pick themselves up after the destruction. Most people who needed the help were unemployed and were willing to wait in line for hours to receive expired food to make sure their children didn’t starve. The notion of Alayna standing in one of those humiliating lines tugged at Tanner’s heart. Since money was his expertise, he’d do what he could with their limited funds to spare her that kind of embarrassment. “You’d be amazed what I can do with a few unis.”

He loved Will’s responding smile. “I’d heard you have a knack for making one coin miraculously turn into twenty.”

“Yeah, well. It’s a gift.”

Alayna’s silver wedding ring spun in front of her on the table. He’d seen her do that at all their meals since the marriage, and he figured it was her way of focusing. He only hoped it wasn’t some sort of unconscious desire to get it off her finger because she didn’t want to be married.

Were all newlywed grooms as unsure as he felt at that moment? Somewhere in his heart, Tanner wanted his mates to feel the same affection that had sprouted in his own heart for both Alayna and Will because it was frightening to be standing out on that shaky limb all by himself. How he’d let his feelings get entangled in his two spouses so quickly remained a mystery. Perhaps it was because they were Fraiquan and had completed the
comchi
ritual, but the connection was there nonetheless. He’d learned early in life not to fight the inevitable. “Alayna?”

“Hmm…?”

He wanted to go over and slam her ring down on the table to make it stop spinning. “Don’t be so worried. We’ve all been in worse situations before. It’s not gonna be easy, but we’ll make it work.” Taking the last few steps into the galley, he laid his hands on her shoulders. “Together.”