13.
MADDIE
Maddie really tried to listen when Tisya was explaining the plan to them. She caught the basics of it. There were three main elements: the on-the-ground combat, the air battle, and small teams that were going to be using teleporters the gang leaders owned to infiltrate the ships of the IU leaders and take them out.
It was a good plan, she decided, despite having no military or strategy knowledge at all. It sounded good, at least. She knew the problem came in the form of their raw numbers. They were heavily outdone in manpower by the IU.
She kept that thought to herself, though.
Her mind was busy with other things.
She spent the entire meeting with her fingers laced through Redek's, memorizing every inch of his hand. She might not get a chance to touch all of him, but at least she would have this.
"What are your strengths?" Tisya asked Redek.
"Close combat," Redek responded. "I'm Suytovian. I—"
Tisya held up a hand. "That's all I needed to know." His race's reputation apparently preceded him. "You're a trained bodyguard?"
"Yes."
"Then you'll be in one of the assassination teams."
Redek flexed the hand Maddie wasn't holding on to. "Can I pick who I get to kill?" he asked. The glint in his eyes were terrifying, and it sent a shiver down her spine. He was dangerous. He was so different when it came to combat than how he was with her. It was like two completely different people.
How could someone who seemingly felt no remorse when he ran a knife across someone's throat be so worried about her that his hands shook?
"If we find out what ship the man chasing you is on, you can have him," Tisya confirmed.
"Thank you."
Tisya waved a hand. "You should both get some rest. There aren't many hours until sun-up now. I'll find you somewhere to sleep." He pressed his earpiece and asked, "I need a bed. Where is free?" After a few moments he said, "I'll show you."
They were led down a series of corridors until they reached a door. Tisya gave them directions as to where they should go in the morning when the siren sounded.
Maddie and Redek were left alone, and she still didn't let go of his hand. Inside the room were two twin single beds rather than the bunks of their first hideout. At least they had some privacy.
Redek eased the door shut and offloaded his weapons. His face was drawn with exhaustion and stress. "We should rest," he said. "It's going to be a big fight."
"I wish there was something I could do to help."
"I don't want you involved in any of it."
"I'm not going to fight. I'd be more of a hindrance than a help, anyway. I'm sure there's something I could do with the technology to help in some way."
Redek, now unburdened from his weapons, hooked his arm behind her knees and pulled her to his chest bridal style, then lay her down on the bed. "I'm not wasting this bit of time I have with you trying to figure out how you might be able to help. I want you to help me," he said, pushing her hair out of her face and hovering over her.
Her uselessness evaporated, and she grinned up at Redek.
This was what she'd wanted from the moment he'd stepped foot in her little house on the compound. She'd never in a million years thought it would actually happen—never mind on a foreign planet solar systems away from where she'd been locked up her entire life.
Nothing was going to stop this from being perfect.
She kissed Redek, tangling their legs together and not wasting any time in taking his shirt off this time. She was going to get to feel those back muscles under her fingertips if it was the last thing she did.
And it very well could be.
She ran her palms over the web of muscles, nails digging in as the feeling went straight to her core. How was it possible for someone to be this gorgeous? To make her feel so many things at once?
She squirmed when Redek ran a finger up her thigh, and flinched when her stitches rubbed on the bedding. "Let me be on top," she said, gripping his bicep and pushing him down into the bed.
Logic told her to take it slowly, to savor every moment she had with him before the ensuing fight, but fear had dictated every single thing she'd done since leaving the compound, and Maddie’s biggest fear was that she'd never get to be with Redek completely.
So she kissed him hard, rolling her hips against his hard cock and pulling her own shirt over her head. Her body was taut with desire as Redek reached around her back and unclipped her bra in one fluid movement. She wondered whether he'd learned to do that from experience, or if he was just as naturally talented as it as everything else physical he seemed to do.
She pushed the thought from her mind.
She didn't care what he'd done before he'd met her. Since he'd met her, he'd been completely devoted. She couldn't have wanted anything more.
He went straight to her nipples, pinching softly between thumb and forefinger. She mewled, losing her rhythm where she ground on his cock as a shot of pleasure raced through her.
He sat up and kissed her again, fingers working at the buttons on her pants. "You're gorgeous," he said, lips brushing against hers and gaze piercing.
Heat still rose to her cheeks. It was a compliment that made her blush, rather than the fact his hand had just invaded her panties and was rubbing her clit. She squirmed, trying to find the concentration to get his buttons undone so she could get to his shaft.
He was supposed to be the one at her mercy this time, not the other way around.
When her back arched and she felt the rush of her climax, she pushed his hand away. "Not yet," she whispered through harsh breaths. "It's my turn." He let her push him back down onto the bed and run her fingers down his chest. Then she followed the movement with her lips.
She wanted to be rough and gentle with him all at once. She nipped at his skin with her teeth and followed it immediately with open-mouthed kisses. Redek laced his hands through her hair, but she pulled them away. "It's my turn," she repeated. He was forced to fist his hands in the bed sheets instead.
There was a deep satisfaction as she watched him struggle not to touch her as she finally pulled his pants and boxers off and wrapped her hand around his shaft.
She'd never been in control before. Not of anything.
But Redek gave it all to her. He lay before her, watching her with adoring eyes and letting her have her way with him.
It was intoxicating.
She lowered her mouth to the tip of his cock, flattening her tongue against it and trying not to be intimidated by the thing. There was no way all of it was going to fit in her mouth.
She was a bit worried about getting it inside her, period.
But the moment she tasted him, she only wanted more. She couldn't tease him, she didn't have the patience. She took him into her mouth, using her hand for most of the shaft as she swirled her tongue around his head and bobbed up and down on his cock.
She might not have any experience with doing this kind of thing in person, but she'd had a lot of spare time on the compound, and access to the whole Net.
She knew what it was supposed to look like.
When she looked up and met Redek’s gaze, he looked so tortured she worried for a minute she was doing it completely wrong.
At least until he bucked his hips up a little and was forced to restrain himself.
No, she was doing it just right.
She only managed to keep her mouth around his cock for a few minutes before he'd given in and laced a hand through her hair and pulled her up. "I need to fuck you," he said through gritted teeth. "There's no way I'm not fucking you tonight."
Her stomach flipped and she reveled in his roughness as he dug fingers into her hips and deposited her on his crotch, shaft teasing her entrance.
"If it wasn't for your fucking back I'd be fucking you straight into the mattress right now," he growled. He hardly ever swore, and she loved the coarse language. He sat up and wrapped his hand around his own shaft, pumping twice before pressing it against her entrance.
There was only a small bolt of panic as she felt his head there. He was so big.
But she was so turned on that she knew it wouldn't hurt too much.
And she wanted him too badly to care.
She could see Redek was scared of hurting her, and so she took control now, lowering herself slowly onto him. It stung, but not enough to really hurt. It wasn’t even as bad as the throbbing of her back wound.
It definitely didn’t dissuade her. When she was fully impaled on his cock, she rolled her hips, nails digging into his chest as she rocked against him.
It was almost too much.
Being with him was overwhelming.
She wasn’t thinking about the attack, not really, but in the back of her mind she knew this might be the only time and she felt almost on the verge of crying, though from happiness or sadness she wasn’t sure.
Redek sat up and cradled her in his arms. Whatever he’d seen in her face, he must have understood it. He kissed her softly, fingertips dancing so gently over her back she thought she might have imagined them. She still moved her hips, unable to get enough of the feel of him inside her.
Her hands were everywhere. They ran down his back, digging into every muscle and trying to drag him closer even though their entire bodies were pressed together. They were laced in his hair, curling it around her fingers as their tongues danced together.
She wanted to say something, anything to tell him how much she loved him, but when she opened her mouth it was just whimper of pleasure that left it.
His fingers dug into her hips as he guided her movements, and she could see his frustration growing that he couldn’t have her properly, taking out all the passion he felt. For her, she dealt with the overwhelming emotion by almost crying, but Redek was primal. He wanted to take her hard and fast and let it all out.
And she desperately wanted to let him.
She stopped moving and he groaned as she lifted herself from his lap. “What are you doing?”
She couldn’t lay on the bed without hurting her back, but she got on all fours in front of him instead. “I want you to fuck me.”
Rather than responding in words, she felt his tip at her entrance. There was no pain when he pushed himself in this time, only pleasure.
And there was no hesitation, either. He didn’t rock against her, testing whether she could handle it or not. He pulled back out and started fucking her in earnest, long, fast strokes that hit a spot inside her she hadn’t even known existed.
She gasped and raised her ass higher, arching her back and not daring to move in case it ruined the insatiable rhythm he’d set. Instead, she reached between her legs and rubbed her clit.
She knew exactly what she needed to do to get herself off, and with Redek pounding into her from behind it was an easier task than it had ever been before.
“More,” she begged as she swirled her fingers around her clit.
Redek’s grip would leave bruises on her hips and she loved it. She’d have a mark to remember this by. She’d have Redek on her skin.
When a strangled sound left his mouth, she knew he was over the edge, and that was what sent her there, too. It wasn’t just Redek on her skin, it was Redek inside her, his seed buried deep.
She collapsed onto the bed breathing heavily, body still shaking from her own climax. “Wow.”
Redek laughed and pulled her back to the top of the bed so she could curl into his side. He held her so tight it was almost painful, but she reveled in it. He was just as emotional as she was. She could hardly believe this was the same man who had first walked into her little house with a stoic face and no emotion behind his eyes.
“I love you,” she murmured, peppering kisses on his bicep.
“I love you, too.” He kissed both her eyelids, then rested their foreheads together. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I mean… objectively I’m not sure you can really say that.”
His lip quirked. “Love isn’t objective.”
She kissed him. As much as she wanted to lay and talk and touch and spend every minute before the attack getting lost in each other, she hadn’t written off their chance of success completely yet.
It wasn’t impossible.
“We should try and sleep a little bit,” she said. “At least, you should. You’ve got to fight soon.”
“I’m not sure I can sleep. I think I might have been having a mini heart attack for a straight hour now.”
“You really should.”
“I know.”
Sighing, he lay down beside her. “Sleep, too,” he said. “I want to wake up next to you.”
She couldn’t deny that. With their bodies entwined, she shut her eyes and tried to calm her own heart rate.
If she was going to die tomorrow, this was the best possible night before she could have had.