Chapter 5
All The Way
Elm’s noise expanded as his senses drew in the wonderful scent of his mate’s and his combined passion. Finally he’d made headway and refused to lose ground now. Stepping closer to her even though he had bared himself, he pulled her up against him. She looked up at him, neither tense nor relaxed.
“What now?” She asked.
“I want you. For now, for later, and forever.”
A shiver passed through her. Did that mean she didn’t like the idea? No, her gaze never showed it if it was true. Mike had known all along what he’d wanted since he’d never hidden it. Not a patient person, he nevertheless waited quietly for her to answer.
“Just take it all the way, huh? I’ve never considered having a one and only.” She smiled taking some of the sting out of her words. “I’m not ready to commit yet, but I am willing to give us a chance.”
Relief rolled over him. If she gave him a chance she would see what they could be. She was the other half of his soul and in time she would know it. Her attitude toward him had undergone a change but it wasn’t complete, not yet. A chance was all he needed to show her how perfect their love could be.
It was odd really since he’d been told Earth girls were easy and always wanted a permanent relationship. So far none of the ones he knew well had been easy to get to know at all. Claiming had been difficult too. Maybe it just referred to those females left on Earth? It might be the situation there made their females weaker and more dependent?
Those females he’d met were strong and strong willed. They resisted settling down afraid they’d get the bad relationships they’d seen or heard of that most of the Earth females had. On Earth, many females were used by their males, cheated on, mistreated, and eventually dumped. Few males in that society even held jobs or did any work at home.
He’d seen movies from long ago and things had been much different then. Earth had gone to hell in a handbasket as Patty was fond of saying. Now there were just seven domes and a station of some kind on Antarctica where the ice had been hollowed out to make a self-contained living environment.
While it was true many humans had abandoned Earth, many had also died. Of the billions once living on the surface, now only a few million were left there. The NYC dome had a little over a million and it was the largest dome. Of those maybe a hundred thousand were male.
Mike made a noise and his attention came back to her. Earth and its inhabitance were beyond his ability to help anyway. His mouth dropped to hers and he claimed her with a need that he’d never felt before. She was his everything regardless of her feelings. It would be his job to make sure her feelings grew stronger.
His mate whimpered, her need scented the air as he took a breath. It was a good sign that she still wanted him. Picking her up. He laid her on the bed in front of him. Nudging her thighs apart, he sank his nose in her sweet feminine center and inhaled as deeply as possible. Unable to hold back, his tongue speared her getting him a taste of her honey. He growled low as the marvelous taste made his desire deepen.
She brought out the primitive male inside him as nothing else ever had. His tongue wandered up to her tiny nub as a finger slowly sank inside her. So hot and wet his cock twitched with the need to be where his finger was. But he knew she was small and needed to be prepared. Besides, he loved her sweet juice and wanted to get his fill. He added another finger as his tongue twirled relentlessly against her nub. His mate moaned and arched against him so close to her bliss. It was time to add the third and final finger and up the speed of his tongue to finally achieve her complete release.
“Elm!” She screamed letting him know she was there. Her juices flowed as he lapped up every drop and slid up her body to impale her on his large shaft.
A groan was pulled from him because the joy of their joining was too much for him to stay silent. He paused, she needed to adjust before he began to hammer into her as he knew he would. Nothing had ever felt this amazing to him in his entire life. There was nothing more incredible to him than time spent with his Mike. Now she arched against him and her toes dug into his ass cheeks attempting to make him move.
As if she could push him and make him do anything. But he wanted to please her in all things so he began to slide slowly at first. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he struggled to go slowly. His speed increased with each plunge until he was hammering into her nearly ready to explode. Again he had to exert control so she would climax again.
“Baby please! Cum for me.” He urged.
That was all it took and her body exploded around him. Her sheath gripped him tight as a fist as she pulled his orgasm out of him and he joined her. Screaming her name, he felt all his essence pumping into his mate. He continued even though he felt nothing coming out anymore. Finally, he rolled off her lying next to her completely drained unable to even move. Gods that had been amazing.
It was a shame they would have to go back to work as soon as they woke. For now, they both fell asleep, drained by the amazing sex they slept deeply. He hated that alarm but knew it meant he needed to wake. The sweet scent of his mate hit him hard as well as the warmth of her body next to his. During their sleep, he’d become wrapped around her. That was the way he always wanted to be. Unfortunately, it was time to shower, dress and then eat.
Mike got up quicker than he did and she had the shower going when he finally got in the bathroom. Without hesitation, he stepped in with her and she moved over to give him room. It took a little longer, but they both got clean. They hurried with drying and dressing before they rushed down the hall to the cafeteria. It was an odd schedule, but they were on and off in six hour shifts.
Once they had eaten, they headed to the command deck. Oak looked surprised showing he’d been so busy he’d not noticed how much time had passed. “Mike, you replace Ranger. At the end of your shift, you’ll be headed back to our ship. Replacements are coming in a group at a time. They are all Phoenix.”
There must be a reason they were allowing Razar use of so many extra soldiers. Something was going on here that they weren’t aware of yet. He knew better than to ask in front of the others. “Do we have another mission?” This he could ask.
“Several. It’s a matter of timing which will come first.” Oak admitted.
“We are certainly in heavy demand.” He grinned at his brother who grinned back. Job security for sure. They had learned many terms like that from Patty. Earth culture was her hobby.
“Take charge and come to our ship when you are relieved. Things are getting busy.” Oak informed.
He wasn’t completely sure how to take that but at the least it meant they would have no downtime anytime soon. Sitting in the command chair, he began to do his work hoping everything would turn out well. The future of his people was tied closely to Mazlans these days. For one group to prosper, the other needed to as well. His people had no desire to be downtrodden or ruled by others either. They also didn’t want to burn squads of soldiers to remain free. Having allies was a good thing. Looking up, he caught Mike’s gaze. She was his future happiness. That also tied his future to those of Earth who she tried to help.
It wasn’t long, or so it seemed, before a Phoenix came to relieve him. They knew each other, but this one was older than he was so he didn’t know him well. Normally, he’d stay and talk, but these were not normal times. Instead, he nodded and met Mike at the door to hurry to engineering where they’d be flashed to their ship.
Once they got to engineering, he sent the message on his com to let them know he and Mike were in place. After so many times being flashed, you’d think it would feel familiar. While it was less disconcerting, he suspected it would always feel odd.
“Hey, Guys. They’re waiting for us in the meeting room.” Carlos said. He turned and led the way with them right behind him.
He could admit to feeling a bit run ragged at this point. Normally they had a long trip where they trained and rested before a quick dangerous mission. Missions were followed by long trip home with possibly questioning prisoners and time guarding them. They might even go through the things they’d gotten for clues or to find a buyer. This time they had almost not stop work. Not that he couldn’t handle it, but the humans were looking rough.
They entered the meeting room seeing only a few others. That was probably because they’d divided into opposing shifts. The others had probably already been spoken to. “I’m glad to see you guys. We’re waiting for the others. They rested while you were working. Grab something to eat and drink while we wait.” Teresa suggested.
Everyone grabbed a plate with food and a drink. “Any ideas about what we’ll do next?” He asked.
“Razar is considering just taking out this whole group. That will still leave the other half who are hiding outside of scanner range.” Flicker mentioned.
“How will we do it?” He asked.
“It was suggested with all the new guys and since we got more knock out canisters, we could just use more of our crew and go on one ship after the others. I’m not sure why they don’t just leave, but they also refuse to surrender. It was suggested they are waiting for backup. If that’s the case, it must be close.” Teresa replied.
“They remind me of a cult.” Mike mentioned.
“They are like the military version of one.” Teresa agreed.
“What is a cult?” Flicker asked.
Mike looked at Teresa who shrugged. It was no surprise when she answered. “They are a tightly bonded group of extremists. The members are usually obsessive with views that may defy reason.”
“That seems to apply here. The problem is we’re talking about their whole race.” Teresa admitted.
“Are we? Or are we really just talking about those in power? Earth has had a history riddled with extreme military groups.” Mike observed.
“I can’t deny that. The difference is they are trying to take over the universe and seem to have been succeeding so far.” Teresa informed.
“It seems we’re the ones getting the honor of stopping them.” He noted.
“If we can.” Flicker added.
“You read my report. We have something to work with if we can get someone to feed us information on what’s going on in their galaxy.” Mike declared.
“Yes, you’re right. But we need to find a way to get more information. That won’t be easy. One of ours going into their territory would stand out.” Oak admitted.
“Why not use spy ships. They can go in camouflaged and pick up information. It’s a commonly used method when the enemy is not well known.” Teresa suggested.
“We can send the suggestion to Razar, but the decision will be his. There’s enough going on to concern us without adding that.” Flicker observed.
His boss was right. They we’re hanging out in the middle of a group of enemy ships. Only two right now were under their control. At least ten more needed to be taken of this group alone. The other group was just out of scanner range, but needed to be taken out as well.
They laid out their plan and began to take out one ship after the other just as they’d taken out the first two. The enemy had to know it was happening yet they just held their position. With more of the crew assisting, and crews taking over once the ships were under their control, in three days this group was taken out.
Scientists were on each of the ships looking for any self-destruct or return home type devices, but none were found. Either this race was so sure of themselves, there were no failure protocols or they simply didn’t know how or had never thought to make them. The lack of such a backup plan just emphasized the rabid attitude of this race. At least that would be someone else’s problem to deal with.
“We’ll be patrolling Oison space and working on the project for your meteoroid, Elm.” Flicker informed. “It will be manned by a combination of Phoenix and Mazlans. Our trusted Earthers will be with us and assigned to control in security on planet.”
“They will probably prefer that to living in space. Not everyone can handle that.” He replied. Everyone knew Mazlans and Phoenix adjusted to space well. At least everyone that knew much about their two races. “What exactly will we be doing on the meteoroid?”
“Razar has already had miners begin the hollowing out process. He’s using equipment from the mines on Oison. There’s already a huge cavern that’s being closed in as the observation area. Once that’s complete, some of our crew will help set up the equipment and train any new comers that don’t know how to do the job. Several female Phoenix will be working with their mates. Razar plans to assign double the needed crew and rotate them planet side every three months.” Oak explained.
“Is that to avoid space sickness?” Mike asked.
“Exactly. It’s true Phoenix and Mazlans rarely get it, but the area of living space will be small. Better safe than sorry.” Flicker informed.
It was going to be a busy and trying few months. He’d have preferred their usual downtime to get to know his mate better. Instead, they would have to get to know each other on a crazy schedule and possibly even be separated on different missions for weeks at a time. It made him growl.
“Did you say something?” Mike asked.
“No, my stomach growled. We should eat when we get done here.” It didn’t make him feel bad to lie. There was no point in her being upset too. Hopefully, she wasn’t only because she’d not realized what was ahead of them.
“Yeah, I’m getting hungry too.” She agreed.
“You two can go eat now then take off until tomorrow. You deserve it. All the crew from this mission will be off until then. With the new people, we can cover things.” Teresa said.
“Thanks.” They both said as they hurried away. Out of sight out of mind and they’d have some time off.
“It’s nice being back on our ship.” Mike commented as they loaded up their plates in the cafeteria.
“Can’t deny that. I prefer our usual missions, but this one has been challenging. It’s good to stretch your abilities and challenge your mind once in a while. I think I’ve learned things that may help me later.” He admitted.
“I have too, but I wasn’t comfortable on their ship. Everything was strange even the smells and the things I touched.”
“You touched me a lot.” He said with a grin.
“You know what I mean. I’m not sure I would ever get completely used to their world. Mazlans and Phoenix don’t seem so different.”
“I can tell you that Phoenix were once part of your world. Our presence probably pushed your development ahead a few centuries.”
“What happened?” She asked.
“You’ve heard of the witch hunts?”
“On Earth?” He nodded. “Of course.”
“It was similar to that and rather than destroy your people and other aliens living among you, we either fled or died.” He admitted.
“Primitive people often react badly to what’s new or different, but how could they have harmed your kind?”
“They were armed by other aliens. While they didn’t have our tech, it was enough. Once we traveled the universe bringing peace and kindness to all. After that, we hid in our own little world hoping not to be noticed. Those who do see us, believe us primitives recruited by the Mazlans.”
“It’s a good way to hide in the open. You’re saying many of our beliefs and technology were influenced by our contact with you?” Mike asked.
“My kind and others that we had contact with. In our haste to get away, we lost contact with many of our ships. We have no idea how many escaped and may never know as they scattered far and wide.”
“That’s a terrible story. After all this time are you sure it’s true?”
“Our kind are long lived. My grandfather was alive then. We generally die violently. There are few diseases that affect our kind.”
“You can live thousands of years?” His mate was stunned.
“Some of our kind do.” He admitted.
“What happens when your non Phoenix mate dies?” Of course she was concerned about aging faster than him and leaving him when she was gone.
“Generally, in a full mating, the mate lives as long as the Phoenix.”
“How is that even possible?”
When we are accepted by our chosen one, we inject our mating venom into their neck here.” He touched the spot where her neck and shoulder met. “It begins a slight change. Why that change continues even after the venom isn’t detectable by medical means, no one knows. You will pick up some Phoenix traits and your life is extended. The change isn’t enough to make you not human, only a bit tougher, faster, more resistant to disease, and longer lived.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Now that you know everything, are you ready all the way?”
“Yes.”