Page 24

Chapter Fourteen

Appreciate? Wren almost scoffed. The man had no idea what he’d ignited in her.

Wow . She tingled better than any splice buzz.

And where he ran his hands, from between her shoulder blades to clasp her butt cheeks, her senses were on high alert.

Need consumed her core, drenching her fresh panties.

She shouldn’t be reacting to him this potently.

They’d kissed twice. Her first peck hadn’t counted.

And if what Qaff had said was true, she’d get to be horizontal with Cylo soon. Her nipples pinged in eagerness.

“I smell your arousal, Wren.” His breath feathered across her ear.

“I can’t control it,” she said, then glanced at him, almost brushing her mouth across his, he was that close. “Do you want me to not be aroused, Cylo?”

Navy and neon swirled in his eyes, like the forming of a dwarf star. “I want you as you are, whatever that may be.”

“Good answer,” she said, then gestured to the common. “Lead the way.”

He did, his tight ass still in damp uniform.

Why didn’t that bother him? She’d itch to change into dry clothes.

When she’d stripped, she hadn’t bothered to check whether he snuck a peek.

The conviction and determination controlling his desire were admirable.

Damn, knowing people’s emotions sucked and didn’t at the same time.

She’d have liked a bit of mystery when he was too obvious.

Still, the certainty of their attraction was also calming.

She didn’t need to worry her advances would be rebuffed or he was just stringing her along.

Although, she doubted Etterians played those kinds of games.

He took her down a narrow passage, then stopped in front of one door among many. “The barracks,” he said. “The scimitar houses ten warriors and one officer.”

“How many stayed instead of going with the women?”

“Five, including myself,” he said, studying her upturned face.

“Which women?” She hesitated, pretty sure he’d mentioned two were on board. The thought of being the only human and facing this experimental fallout by herself… She shuddered. “Or am I alone?”

He faced her, his expression intense. “You, Brenda, Fyca’s Dar Eth, and Violet is Durok’s.”

When the door swished open, he paused in the doorway, blocking any possible attack.

The man didn’t know Hiossu, not well enough to risk her life.

Or so it seemed. She peered around Cylo and smiled at her ally sprawled on the bed with his fingers laced across his belly.

Nothing marred his lemon-yellow skin. Not that she expected Cylo to have beaten him up, but a tiny part had considered it.

Hiossu sat up and smiled at her. “You are well?”

She scoffed. “I’m purple but, other than that, weirdly okay.” When she made to go around Cylo, he threw out his arm, catching her across the stomach. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Hiossu’s had many chances to kill me.”

“Let us not give him another,” Cylo said, his gaze running over her face.

He thinks I’m beautiful. The realization exploded bubbles in her belly like sparkling wine.

“I will not harm her. I vow.” Hiossu clasped his hands between his knees. “You want answers I hope I can give you.”

“First, thank you,” she said, settling into a seat Cylo flipped down for her. When she took it, he stood beside her, close enough for heat to pour off him and summon a shiver.

Hiossu grimaced. “I did not help. Look at you.” He gestured to all of her.

“Do you know what was in those chemicals?” Cylo demanded.

She touched his arm. His drive to heal her flooded her with warmth, but she needed to focus on what Hiossu was feeling. If she could, that was. Focusing this…skill could be like trying to steer a broken cargo barge. “Have there been similar results? As in other purple humans?”

Hiossu dipped his head. A ‘shadow’ stretched out to bathe her in sorrow.

“Purple, yes, but they died. You…are a miracle.” He leaped to his feet to pace the small space before sinking onto the bed.

“I assume the other females are well?” He held Cylo’s gaze until he nodded.

“Which would mean either my uncle’s sample had no effect on you, or the double dose did.

Or still nothing until Jniaa injected his formula.

Each kuliriji…” Hiossu frowned. “What is the common word in Galactic, Etterian?”

“Scientist,” Cylo gritted out.

“Yes… Each scientist has perfected their own mix in a race to bring Earthians…humans to our planet.”

“Why?” Cylo loomed though how he did that without moving, she wouldn’t be able to explain. “You do not need them other than for slavery or as products.”

“In a way, you are correct. At first.” Hiossu ran his gaze over Wren, summoning a shiver.

He liked the look of her. Her skin crawled, unlike her reaction to Cylo’s admiration.

“A vid of Lady Ava and Ambassador Barro showed a species softer, intelligent, and capable of such emotional intensity that it piqued the kuliriji council’s interest. When further news reached us that Etterians had found Dar Eths among these Earthians and that Yithians hunted them for the arena…

Well, it was a business opportunity we could not pass up. ”

He offered her a weak smile.

“How many women?” she asked. Darkness formed a shield around Hiossu’s soul as if he couldn’t share this with her.

“Before I was enlisted, I cannot say. You were part of the third delivery.” He threw out a hand.

“I truly am sorry for what my people did… are doing.” He grabbed his temples.

“I would be na?ve to think there is only one facility. Yet, I have never heard my uncle or the other scientists mention another.”

“Could you help Qaff figure out what’s happening to me?” She gazed at Cylo. “Whether I am dying?”

He scowled. “Issneen—”

“Is still our destination, but let’s not waste time.

Additional diagnostics from Qaff and your machines would better inform your doctors.

” She rose, desperate for a moment alone.

To be caught up in this when she’d have an E.A.F.

shitstorm to deal with? “Speak with Qaff, please, Hiossu. Offer what insight you have.”

“Liaise with Olin, as well. Perhaps you can help him locate other testing facilities. You are free to leave your quarters.” Cylo typed on his O.D.I.

He was hot on her heels when she left. Even his presence, though it had calmed her before, was a little too much to handle.

She faced him, splayed her fingers across his chest, and met his gaze.

“I need…a place to just be me. I was taken because I had a habit of leaping into space with only my ankle harnesses tethering me to the station.” She feathered her fingers along the velvety skin below his collarbone exposed by the ‘V’ of his chest armor. “Please, can you help me?”

“I will not allow you to launch yourself out of a bay door,” he said, inching closer to cup her elbows, determination pouring off him. “And the scimitar is traveling too fast to risk it. But I do have an idea.” He caught her hand and laced their fingers with a familiarity that was awe-inspiring.

She followed him to the common, then along a passage to what she assumed was the bridge. The door was shut, but Cylo faced the opposite side. He pressed a wall-mounted square to the right, and a narrow panel opened onto a ladder.

“Up there is an observation deck. Use it for as long as you need to.”

She cupped his cheek, ran her thumb over his bottom lip, then climbed before she succumbed to the desperate need for a hug.

A glance confirmed he watched her. The thought of her ass filling his field of view flooded her with delicious warmth.

Yet the moment she stepped onto the deck and the hatch sealed, all emotions not her own faded.

She crossed to the thick glass to press her temple to it.

Before her…or rather, the scimitar, was the vastness of space with bright stars and constellations in the distance.

This… Somehow, he’d known this was exactly what she needed.

How could a man be that intuitive? Considerate?

It couldn’t be just to get into her pants, right?

Her thoughts drifted to what awaited her at Demeter Station, which brought Pierce and her family to mind.

Shit. She shimmied down the ladder and winced when a wall of emotions hit her, like she waded through quicksand.

She swallowed, wrestled with her inner self, and managed, just, to tamp down the cacophony.

Enough to think. With a trembling hand, she tapped on the door to the comm.

It swished open to a petite blonde sitting on an Etterian’s lap. They had to be Brenda and Fyca. Violet was the oldest woman among them with her lovely silver-gray hair.

“Um,” Wren said, her nostrils filling her with primal urges she wasn’t in the mood to deal with. “I need to contact my parents or someone on a station orbiting Pluto.”

“Not an issue, milady,” Fyca said, brushing aside Brenda’s hair. “Do you require privacy?”

Since only lust saturated the bridge, she could speak to Pierce without issue. “No, not really.”

Fyca pressed a button on the multi-lit console. “Cylo to the comm.”

Damnit. That wasn’t what she meant. There had to be a way to call Pierce without bothering Cylo. She pursed her lips and swiveled on her heel, planning on meeting him in the passage.

His strong thighs carried him toward her, his braid swinging behind his forceful strides. “What is it, ensa?” His concern preceded him like a force field.

“Can I speak to my family? I need to let them know I’m alive.” She wrung her hands. How could she have forgotten about them? She grimaced. Because the moment she made contact, she’d get arrested and imprisoned indefinitely. Her parents had dealt with so much when she’d first gotten arrested.