Sienna, page 12
“That is how many of our kind see it,” he said, his voice deepening.
She glared, even as a spark of something too much like yearning lit her up from the inside out. “That isn’t how things are done, not on my planet, and certainly not here.”
“You don’t approve?”
She scrubbed a hand over her face, her emotions as shattered as her thoughts. How did she answer a question she didn’t even know the answer to herself?
“Don’t answer that,” he said gently, “not right now. Let’s just take things day by day. In the meantime, let me take care of you.”
She sagged and nodded, too tired, too sated and too defenseless to resist.
She’d fight back another day.
Chapter Nineteen
Gray watched Sienna as she slept. She looked so peaceful, so calm compared to the woman who’d all but broken in front of him.
A hot shower had helped to soothe her, as did having him massage soap all over her body, then washing her hair thoroughly while giving her a deep scalp rub. Her bodysuit was already in the washing machine, her rapier within reach on the floor next to her bed.
That she lay naked in bed wasn’t something he was trying to think about. His willpower was tested enough knowing it was only a bedcover that concealed her gorgeous womanly curves.
He stuck his hands into the front pockets of his low slung, navy sweatpants, his wings trembling behind him. It was kind of nice to keep his armor off and give his wings a decent chance to stretch. Living on Earth meant he had to conceal them at all times. When he got the chance, like now, he let them spread out.
In reality, his wings were the last thing on his mind.
It hurt more than he wanted to admit that Sienna didn’t return his deep feelings. But what did he expect? She’d known him for not even a handful of days. He’d been transfixed by her holo-image, then dreamed about her for weeks before they’d finally met.
That she’d been through so much already was just an added deterrent. Not only had she lost almost her entire species, she was on an alien planet trying to elude an enemy that wanted to wipe her from existence.
He bent and pressed a tender kiss to her brow, surreptitiously breathing in her scent of spiced vanilla with aquatic notes. Smoothing some dark hair back from her face, he straightened and took a step back. If he wasn’t careful he’d wake her, and right now what she needed most was to sleep and recover.
He stepped out of the master bedroom she now shared with him and strode down the hallway, the distant clunking sound of the washing machine as it gently washed their clothes somehow soothing his frayed nerves. He still had half-an-hour before he’d need to put them in the dryer, enough time to contact his planet and inform them of the latest news.
He stepped into his small office at the back of the house and shut its door. Then keying in the combination to the small safe under his office desk, he pulled open the safe door and reached inside to retrieve the comms cube.
The safe was laughable at best in protecting his precious communication cube. He relied almost exclusively on the shielding technology of the dozen anti-spy spacers he’d planted around the exterior of the house. They ensured nothing would enter the yard or house without him knowing. And if enemies did approach, those same anti-spy spacers could be triggered to do much worse than sound an alarm.
Placing the cube onto the desk, he waited for it to self-activate. It lit up with a soft glow, then floated up into the air, only when it stopped did he cup his hands around it and begin a series of hand motions that would initiate its universal comms.
It buzzed and he stepped back and waited less than a couple of seconds for the holo-image of his emperor to appear in front of him. The emperor’s short-clipped, striated hair revealed the gold band of priceless, shimmering stellaps that crowned his head, the one true indication of his rank.
Gray bowed his head dutifully even as his emperor’s yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously before he greeted him. “Bastine. It’s been too long since your last update. Please tell me you have useful intel this time?”
“Emperor,” Gray murmured respectfully, for a moment shocked to hear the name most others called him. “I’ve gleaned some information that I believe will prove very useful to the potential threat against our world.”
His emperor nodded at someone in his chambers Gray couldn’t see. No doubt the emperor’s many comms-tech personnel were triple-checking that the halo-image and audio worked perfectly. His emperor refocused on Gray. “Do tell.”
“The Dronians aren’t tolerating Earth’s atmosphere. They’ve been sending their hardiest soldiers to Earth to find and kill the last seven Strazanians before whichever of the gases on this planet kills their soldiers first.”
His emperor inhaled sharply, his interest now absolute. “You’re certain about this?”
He nodded. “I am. The intel came from someone I now trust completely.”
“So you succeeded in capturing the Sienna woman?”
“I did.”
His emperor cocked his head to the side. “I presume you fucked her to gain her trust and collect this information?”
He withheld a flinch. He wasn’t yet ready to say he’d more than fucked her. That he’d marked her as well had never been authorized, and in fact might see him branded as a traitor. The latter meant he’d never be welcomed back on his world, no matter that he was doing everything in his power to save it.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, I fucked her.”
“Good. She must trust you now. You don’t need me to tell you to take full advantage of that.”
He remained silent, though resentment surfaced, almost suffocating him.
“Any other intel?” his emperor asked, impatience snapping from him as he crossed his arms, his wings tucked neatly inside his armor.
Unlike Gray, emperors didn’t need to fight and win to earn their priceless armor, it was their birthright.
“There is, Emperor. Dronians apparently won’t go near water. I’m yet to ascertain if that is because they can’t swim or if they simply can’t tolerate it.”
“It makes sense,” his emperor said in a thoughtful voice. If it wasn’t for those Strazanian rares swimming in the Great Waters, none of them would have survived.”
“That’s not completely true, Emperor. Sienna was one of the rares guarding the royal palace.”
The emperor frowned. “She was the only rare who survived, though?”
“That is correct.”
The emperor’s yellow eyes glinted speculatively. “Be careful with her, Bastine. She’s a seasoned warrior. You just might have met your match.”
A tingle of presentiment slipped down his spine. His emperor was far too perceptive. “I can handle her.”
“I wouldn’t have sent you if I didn’t believe that.” His emperor rubbed a hand over his smooth, prominent jaw, the striated colors so clear Gray imagined he could reach out and touch the lines on his skin. “No matter what happens, your priority is to keep Sienna safe and close. We need her to trust you enough for her to fully open up about everything she knows.”
“That goes without saying.” It wasn’t a lie. He had no intention of allowing her to escape again. He’d keep her safe and by his side at all costs. Any further information she provided was just icing on the cake.
“Good. I guess you also know that I’ll need you to track some Dronians down to test out your water theory.”
Gray nodded, an idea already forming in his head. “Consider it done.”
His emperor finally smiled. “I’ll have my team work on the atmosphere angle while you put the water theory into practice. Keep up the good work, Bastine.”
Gray bowed his head and tucked his hands together. “Thank you, Emperor.”
The emperor nodded, then tucked his hands together in return. “Comms-out.”
The holo-image shut down and the cube ceased its buzzing. Gray waited until it glided gently back onto the desk before he retrieved it and locked it back away in the safe.
If there was anything to be discovered about the Earth’s atmosphere and what it was doing to the Dronians, he had no doubt the emperor’s team of scientists would be the ones to do it. In the meantime he had his own work to do.
He strode to the door and pulled it open, only to find Sienna standing close—no doubt she’d had her ear pressed against the door. He frowned, though his dick jerked at her nakedness and his pulse thrummed in his ears. “You’re supposed to be asleep, not eavesdropping.”
“And where is the fun in that?”
“How much did you hear?” he asked, using every bit of his self-control not to crush her to him and kiss her into submission, then fold her beneath him while he fucked her twice as hard as before for her disobedience.
Her eyes glowed momentarily, a bright moss-green that might have mesmerized him on any other occasion, but instead added to his arousal. She tilted her chin. “Everything! At least I know where I stand now.”
He clenched his jaw so hard it cracked, his dick harder than stone. “You can trust me, Sienna.”
“So you’re saying you didn’t fuck me just to glean information out of me?”
“I never denied wanting intel about the Dronians. But I also never fucked you to get that information. Not intentionally.”
That he could so easily take her now, and possibly cause her hate him forever, was the only thing stopping him from doing just that.
Her face flushed. “I feel so much better now,” she jeered.
He clasped her forearms. “Sienna, I meant what I said earlier. I love you. I would never have marked you if I didn’t feel that way.”
She jerked out of his hold and took three steps back until the wall opposite stopped her from going any further. She looked like she was caught between fight and flight. Then she closed her eyes, as though shutting him out would help her to reach a decision without his image influencing her. When she opened them again, she nodded and said with a heavy sigh, “I believe you.”
Relief filled him, even as he ignored the flicker of hurt that she didn’t tell him she loved him in return. He had to believe one day in the near future she’d feel the same way. It was enough—it had to be enough—that she trusted him now. “I’m glad.”
He drew her close, her feminine curves that pressed against him feeling so natural and right, like they’d been made for one another. “We should get some sleep,” he said huskily. “I have a feeling it’s going to be another big day tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty
Sienna woke, instantly aware Gray wasn’t in the bed with her. But relief overtook her momentary panic at hearing the predatory, soft pad of his feet as he walked around. That she missed his arms wrapped around her, missed the safety of him right next to her revealed far too much about her depth of feelings for him.
She cracked open an eye. It was barely even dawn, no noise outside except a few tweets from their feathered friends in the trees. Did he always rise with the birds? A half-moon gave off enough light through the window to allow her to see Gray’s shadowy form.
“You’re awake,” he said, though he’d yet to turn and look at her as he drew on his armor, ensuring his wings stayed free. The armor was ingenious in allowing him to restrain or release his wings while still fitting his torso perfectly. He’d already pulled on his camo pants.
“Where are you going?” she asked sleepily.
He looked at her. “I need to test the water theory on the Dronians.”
Every cell in her body roared awake. She sat, her eyes narrowing. “And how do you propose to do that?”
“I’ve glided over many backyards late at night and early in the morning. I’ve discovered many treasures. There are children’s toys in the backyard of one house, the children there yet to pick up their water guns.”
She pulled her knees up to her chin. “And how do you think you’ll find the Dronians?”
He stepped toward his closet and pulled a black T-shirt free. The color would obviously help him blend in with the mostly dark sky. He pulled the shirt over his head and turned back to focus on her. “They’ll be looking for me too, now. I’m sure they’ll find me.”
She swung out of bed, aware of his stare on her naked body. She was tempted to strut and sway in an attempt to seduce him, but she perceived his willpower was already pushed to the limits. That he hadn’t fucked her last night when he’d clearly been aroused even now made her question his motive.
Was he trying to prove his trustworthiness? Did he think she didn’t want him in return? She’d been ready to get herself off by the time sleep had finally taken her away from the lust churning between them.
Had that been Gray’s intention? Had he wanted her to stay unfulfilled so that she’d realize how much she wanted him in her life?
Heaven help her, it was working.
Grabbing hold of her bodysuit, which Gray had washed, dried, and hung in the closet for her, she dressed while his sharp eyes watched her every move.
“What are you doing?” he asked suspiciously.
“I’m getting dressed, what does it look like?”
“That isn’t what I’m asking.”
She stalked back to the bed and retrieved her rapier from the floor nearby. “I’m coming with you, obviously.”
He tucked some of his dark and gold, overly-long streaked hair behind the tipped point of his ear. She smiled. It was a shame his hair covered such a cute elfin feature, it made him look nowhere near as dangerous and wild.
“That’s not happening,” he growled.
“I’m a warrior, trained in battle,” she said scathingly. “After we retrieve those water guns, we’ll hang out near the river for an unlimited supply of water ammunition. I’ll take on my Strazanian form to lure the Dronians in close. It will give you plenty of time to squirt the fuckers before I use my powers to make them implode.”
“You want me to use you as bait?” he asked in a shocked voice.
She frowned. “Of course. Time is of the essence. If those lizard fuckers were to somehow eliminate me or my kind, your people will be next—“
He was in her face before she’d finished her sentence. “Don’t say that,” he growled. “Don’t you dare say anything like that ever again. I will not lose you.”
Her heart jerked erratically, her nipples pebbling like wanton soldiers beneath her body suit. She’d thought speaking of losing his people had sent him to the edge, but it’d been losing her that had triggered his darkest emotions.
If she’d doubted his feelings for her before then she didn’t doubt them now. She was all but panting when she responded. “Then don’t leave me behind. We need to watch each other’s backs if we want to survive.”
His nostrils flared, but then he stepped back, nodded reluctantly and said, “Then we’d best leave now under the cover of darkness.”
It only occurred to her then about the tear in his wing. “You’ve been injured,” she reminded. “Can you still glide?”
“It’s not fully healed, but it will be enough to achieve what we need to do.”
“What exactly do you mean by not fully healed?”
“I mean our wings are vital to our existence, and therefore they heal quickly. A thin membrane has already patched my wing together while the rest of the flesh begins to knit around it.”
She frowned. “If you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Bongo was asleep in his bed when she followed Gray out onto the balcony. He turned and lifted her against his chest, then climbed onto the balcony railing with his wings outspread behind him. Her mouth dried at the drop beneath, then he jumped high, and she closed her eyes as her stomach fell.
Seconds later she opened her eyes, her pulse evening out as she watched the ground stay far below while Gray glided through the air like an eagle up high.
She wouldn’t think about his thin membrane tearing and the both of them plummeting to their deaths. Instead she enjoyed the dramatic views beneath as they soared through the sky, the lights below twinkling like the stars above.
She pointed to the bright light falling through the heavens. “A falling star!” she said dazedly. “Quick, make a wish.”
He chuckled. “You believe in that human superstition?”
“I have to believe in something,” she said, “otherwise, what is life all about?”
His grasp tightened suddenly, his strong reaction again solidifying her acceptance that he really did care about her. “If you believe in nothing else, then believe in me and my love for you,” he said hoarsely.
She didn’t reply. This conversation was too much, too heavy, too intense. But then nothing about her life lately had been light.
He glided around the base of the mountain, where farmland was interspersed with outer suburban townhouses, the river now far away.
All too soon Gray put his wings up and back, slowing down their velocity while sending them dramatically lower. She saw the yard he’d mentioned just seconds before his brought his legs up and landed heavily in the overlong grass. She waiting for him to drop and roll, but this time he stayed upright, his arms protecting her, though she felt the jolt all the way through his body.
He lowered her carefully to her feet and she went into combatant mode, slinking low to the ground and listening carefully. But there were no sounds, nothing at all to set off any internal alarms that their entry had been noticed.
Gray nodded to a solitary water gun lying on its side near the far off fence with its sagging palings. She headed that way while Gray moved toward two others that lay on the weed-infested ground with its scattering of toys and too many other unattractive objects of junk.
A trampoline with a ripped mat, which reminded her of the fragile state of Gray’s wing. An old rusted sedan with its driver’s door left open. A couple of white plastic chairs, one tipped on its side. A washing line with some limp clothes pegged in place, which had probably been hanging there for days. Then there were the dolls and toy cars, mixed with cigarette stubs that littered the ground.
She shuddered at the general state of chaos. The people living here didn’t appear to care about...anything. Hopefully that meant a couple of intruders in their backyard would be more likely to go unnoticed.
