H e thought he’d broken through to her. For one glorious moment, he’d felt Ahnna’s mind crack open, seen hunger in her eyes, and then he watched her crawl back into a cell built by HD-X with bars she couldn’t see and a key she carried inside her.
She refused to accept the new paradigm before her, choosing to live the lie that justified her life and beliefs.
Water cans full, wounds washed, they descended the next few pillars in silence. The light began to fade, the deeper they descended.
Ahnna rappelled down a few feet and paused. “We are so ill-equipped for this.” She tapped her comms-link. “Axo, can you hear us?”
The AI’s voice replied to them both. “I am picking up your response loud and clear.
“We’ll keep checking in with him,” Tierc said.
Ahnna swung from her rope, used the light on her weapon to light up the darkness and then switched it off. “What’s your charge?”
Tierc checked. “Ninety-five percent.” He’d burned power lighting the fire.
“Mine’s full. Let’s stick with one light for now.”
“I can see fine.”
Ahnna muttered something Tierc didn’t catch. He ignored it, probably something rude. They dropped another twenty feet. His sharp hearing picked up the rustling before his eyes detected movement. “Skal! Ahnna, hold up.”
She braked, aimed her weapon’s beam down and gasped. As she redirected the shaft of light towards the rock face, a coiling shape launched towards her, venomous teeth snapping. Ahnna squealed, fired, and lit up the rock in a large swathe. A heaving surge of movement fled their position. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with horror. “Snakes, millions of snakes!”
Weapon in hand, Tierc scanned the rock in case one decided to turn back. “Not millions. Hundreds.”
“Thousands! We can’t go this way.” A note of panic shrilled her voice. “They can climb the rock. Cover me.”
“I am. What are you doing?”
Ahnna’s hands whirred as she reorganized her rope. “I’m outta here. We need to find another way down.”
The drone dived past them, filming the critters, skittering sideways when a slew of snakes launched towards it. Tierc fired a split second blast at a sinewy shadow risking a return to the cleared area. They needed to keep their fire to short targeted bursts to conserve power. The charred snake dropped to the writhing nest below. “There could be snakes on other pillars. Take stock a second.”
“I fucking hate snakes.”
Spoken with honest passion.
Zeke spoke through their comms-link. “Not good, dudes. That’s all I can tell you.”
The unexpected intervention said much. Zeke had stuff he couldn’t tell. That meant Octiron must have done more preliminary research for this challenge than they had let on, which made sense given the scientific nature of their assignment. Perhaps there was another way down. He scanned the rock below for immediate danger and then searched the cliff-face around him. A dark shadow fifty feet up and to their right caught his eye. “Ahnna, I think there’s a cave.”
“Crawling with snakes.”
“No, it’s too high. We haven’t seen any snakes until now.”
She followed his finger with her weapon’s beam. “How the hell did you see that? Okay, I’m coming to you. We need to switch to climbing mode.”
The amount of reorganization just to go up took Tierc my surprise. His friends made it look so casual. “Should have paid more attention.”
Ahnna grunted as she shifted his quick-draw to a new anchor. She pulled on a rope hard. “Okay, you’re good. Follow me.”
Probably not the best time to explain he didn’t need the rope. The rock had plenty of pockets and footholds, he could have free-climbed, but having her so close and personal set his neurons afire and on an intellectual level, seeing her in her element gave him pleasure. The challenge forced them to communicate and surely working together would wear down her resistance.
He chased her to the cave, couldn’t improve on the line she chose. Ahnna constantly paused to check the cave for snakes. Tierc spotted movement behind a rock, didn’t say anything for fear of spooking her. He slowly moved into position ready to strike if the snake did. The moment they were both inside, Tierc moved Ahnna aside and stalked up on its position. It struck fast. Tierc moved faster, grabbed it by the neck and threw it outside. Surprised Ahnna hadn’t made a sound, he turned and discovered her crouched over, her face so white it stood out in the darkness.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” she mouthed.
“Stay there. I’m going to check further in.”
She nodded, more focused on breathing.
Tierc sensed one more critter in the shadows on his way back. Too far from the entrance to throw it out, he snapped the snake’s neck instead. Hopefully Ahnna’s phobia didn’t extend to snake meat because their rations weren’t going to get them far and he was ravenous. A humming made him look up, Zeke’s drone zooming in on the snake.
“Real cool,” Zeke commented in his ear. “Like some Karyadi move.”
“Don’t know what that is, I’m assuming a form of martial arts.”
“Close, but not a discipline that originated on Earth.”
“Axo, is this snake edible?” Tierc asked.
“That reptile is a Cyran. They are common on Altaira and reported to be high in nutritional value.”
“Good.”
“Who are you talking to?” Ahnna asked before spotting the dangling snake in his hand. “Shit. Another one!” She began to look around them.
“That’s the last, I swear, but I’ll take point from here, just in case.”
“You think this cave goes somewhere?”
Tierc draped the snake around his neck and led the way round a corner. He pointed at several steps hewn into the rock that led down to a roofed passageway. “I’m willing to bet all these pillars interconnect, but I want to conserve our weapons power. Do you trust me to see clearly enough in the dark?”
“Yes, but we can’t be sure this cave system connects to the level we need.”
“So we’ll double back and rethink. Look, someone put these steps here. This cave’s been dug out for a reason. The darker this gorge gets, the more dangerous it will be outside. We’ve seen no birds, no creatures capable of climbing except for a couple of persistent snakes, and no evidence of animal inhabitation, no tracks, no stools, no skeletons. Starting a cave system here avoids tangling with snakes and god knows what else lives farther down. I think it’s worth exploring.”
Ahnna was frowning. She looked freaked out.
Perhaps she didn’t realize his night vision was superb.
“I can see really well down here.”
“I can’t.”
He reached for her hand, but she snatched it away before he could touch her. “You see well enough,” he pointed out.
She nodded. “Fine. We’ll try it your way. You’re bringing the snake with us?”
“Dinner.”
She shuddered. “Another reason to hate you.”
Shock chilled Tierc’s blood, and part of him understood she had intended the words lightly, the context of the situation, her fraught state, the lack of venom in her words, all pointed to a throwaway line, but damn, this chick knew how to twist the knife. She recognized it too, the way she bit her lip, heat warming her cheeks. Her eyes skittered away. Ignore it. They didn’t need the distraction of their personal war.
Tierc raised his blaster and headed towards the stairs. When Ahnna didn’t immediately follow he looked back. “Keep close.”
To his relief, she joined him willingly, one more ceasefire to add to the rest.
It quickly became obvious the stairs spiraled around a four meter diameter and they had already descended at least a hundred feet. A flickering light below brought Tierc to a stop.
“What is it,” Ahnna whispered, rubbing her hands up and down her sleeves. She’d holstered her weapon a while back.
“Either a natural fluorescence or technology.”
“Technology means people. Have you noticed how smooth these steps are?”
“They’re also dusty. No one’s been here in ages.”
Ahnna crouched and ran a finger across the step. She took out her weapon. “There’s a fresh air supply coming from somewhere.”
Tierc carried on another full turn and stopped. They’d reached the bottom and a passageway stretched out ahead of them. He studied the flickering light on the wall ten meters along, an artificial light source that illuminated alien scribblings carved into the wall.
“Zeke,” Tierc said tapping his comms. “Send an image of this to Axo. Axo, what’s this say?”
The drone zipped down the corridor, filming the writings.
Axo was less helpful. “I am not permitted to divulge this information.”
“Why not?”
“It would give you an unfair advantage.”
An advantage suggested they were on the right track. Octiron had to have been down here. They would have sent a drone. Hell, a drone could have carried out the geological survey. This whole challenge was about putting them through the wringer for the salacious enjoyment of the masses.
“You’ve carried out research for us before. On Trax.”
“I am not permitted to divulge this information.”
“At least we’re within comms range,” Ahnna commented. “Although I’m not sure for how long. What happens to your drone then, Zeke?”
“It’s auto-programmed to track you.”
“Come on,” Tierc urged, “let’s keep going.”
After twenty minutes the corridor widened. Tierc rummaged through metal pipes, wrapped coils of optical fibers, and a variety of electronic gizmos stacked in a recess. A technological society had worked down here. A tool kit could prove useful. He started to hunt through some thermoplastic cartons.
“What are you thinking?” Ahnna asked as she inspected the supplier labels on the optical fibers.
Tierc stepped over some piping. “That whoever left this equipment arrived a long time after whoever wrote on those walls.”
“Agreed. These fibers date back fifty galactic years. This place has been abandoned twice.”
“Someone planned an operation here before leaving in a hurry.” Tierc pulled out a storage carton. “The question is why.” He lifted the unlocked lid, half-expecting something to jump out at him. Then he grinned. “We have a wire cutter, knife, and a flashlight.” He flicked the switch. “A dead flashlight.” He picked up a miniature welder and fired it up, creating an intense blue flame. “We have fire.”
Ahnna grimaced. “Just don’t ask me to flash cook that snake.”
Tierc’s stomach growled. “Think of it as char-grilled meat. Probably tastes like chicken. We need to eat and it’s late. Let’s camp for a few hours. Food, rest, and then we’ll be ready for whatever else Altaira has to throw at us.”
A little further on Tierc stopped at an ornate wooden door. He tuned out the incessantly hovering drone and listened. On hearing silence, he pressed down the handle and pushed the door ajar. The air inside was stale, but nothing jumped out at them. The empty reception area led to an office and kitchen, and bedrooms, the bedsheets ruffled as if their occupants had left in a hurry.
“This used to be a huge space,” Ahnna said, patting one wall that was clearly part of a more ancient structure.
The other walls were pre-fabricated. Someone had built a base facility within the cave system and furnished it for a team of four.
“A geological survey,” Tierc suggested.
“A survey team that left before they got started.” Ahnna’s eyebrows rose high. “What’s down there?”
* * *
Tierc skinned the snake and Ahnna cooked. She said it was only fair.
Chewing the grilled meat until his jaw ached, Tierce glanced at Ahnna picking bones out, her nose wrinkled in distaste. The snake had a nutty flavor that wasn’t unpleasant but the meat’s sinewy texture robbed the meal of enjoyment. They sat on easy chairs in the mess room, their meal accompanied by sips of boiled water. The silence wore on Tierc’s nerves. Zeke had parked his drone atop a closet where it presumably recorded their every word. Real conversation killer.
Ahnna expelled a long breath as she studied her next bite. A light sweat beaded her forehead.
“Do you want to break into the rations?” Tierc asked.
“We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”
He nodded. “You did well. Getting us down.”
“Like you needed my help.”
Tierc frowned at her. “If you believed that, you wouldn’t have taken so much care.”
Ahnna shrugged and tore a strip of meat off with her teeth.
Crandal’s voice spoke through Tierc’s comms-link. “Tierc, what were you doing in New Vegas?”
Tierc’s shoulders slumped.
Ahnna rolled her eyes. “Can’t even loathe a meal in peace.”
“We’re tired, Crandal,” Tierc said, “Do we have to do this now?”
“Yes. Viewers want to understand you. There’s growing interest in your universe. Our audience wants to know how your universe differs from ours.”
“We don’t abduct people and force them into a stupid contest to get their freedom back for a start,” Ahnna snapped.
“But you are taking part,” Crandal admonished. “You signed up to the rules and that includes giving interviews.”
Ahnna’s jaw tightened.
“I feel the same way,” Tierc began, but her fierce glare turned his intended words of support to dust. He directed his reply to the drone. “Haven’t we discussed this before? I was there to—”
“You told us why you were in Ahnna’s room, but not why you were in Vegas. You told us you were based in Washington U.R.”
“That’s right. I was in New Vegas overseeing security for a conference—”
“I’d say standing in for the keynote speaker is more than oversight,” Crandal pointed out.
Ahnna’s heart audibly skipped a beat and Tierc studied her frozen expression, a sinking feeling in his stomach. He’d wondered when Octiron would force this confrontation.
“Yes. I was the keynote speaker at the UR conference.” Tierc caught the briefest moment when Ahnna paled.
“Ahnna?” Crandal said. “Who was your target?”
Her teeth ground together and Tierc knew she’d caught onto Crandal’s little game.
Tierc watched the pantomime. Crandal knew the answer and Ahnna refusing to cooperate wouldn’t stop the truth coming out. Tierc stood and moved away, forcing Zeke to launch the drone into the air in order to catch both their reactions. Damned if he’d make this easy for them.
“My mission was to… neutralize the… keynote speaker,” Ahnna’s hands parted, her brow knotted, “but not you,” she said, looking at Tierc, “another Qui-human, Fitor Saracen.”
“Neutralize?” Tierc couldn’t let that go. “You mean kill. Assassinate.”
She pulled her arms in, her body closing against his attack. “We’ve been through this. I was fighting for humanity. Fitor Saracen was promoting the benefits of humans breeding with Qui, a seditious attempt to normalize human genocide!”
Finely worded—Ahnna always drew on HD-X rhetoric under pressure, except her usual conviction sounded strained, and she looked torn, riddled with confusion and guilt. Her eyes flicked around the room, looking for answers that weren’t there.
She faced Tierc again. “When did you replace Saracen? Nothing was announced.”
“We were tipped off that HD-X was targeting Saracen at the conference. The Qui Ambassador to Earth refused to let him attend. I was already in New Vegas to handle security and, as a noble Qui, I agreed to speak in Saracen’s place. We decided to keep the roster change quiet until we flushed out the assassin, which apparently we did.”
She swallowed. Her heart raced louder than usual. For once her training couldn’t hide her shock. “You’ve known this all this time?”
“That you’d have attempted to take me out at some point? I assumed that was your purpose in New Vegas, yes.”
Tears shone in her eyes and Ahnna swiped them away with her sleeve. “I wouldn’t have killed you. You’re not Saracen. I knew what he looked like.”
“You don’t know what your orders would have been.” Tierc sensed her confusion, recognized her rising horror as she projected HD-X’s likely response. Hope stirred inside him. “Ahnna, tell me truthfully. If HD-X had ordered you to proceed with your mission, would you have obeyed? Knowing your target wasn’t Saracen?”
Pain crossed her expression. “I don’t know.” She met his eyes. “I didn’t know you then.”
“What about now? What if they ordered you to kill me now? Here?”
Her skin drained of color. “I couldn’t kill you. I swear. Oh God! What if you hadn’t found me? What if we were still on Earth? Fuck. I feel sick. What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is now you know me. You know Qui aren’t the monsters you’ve been led to believe. You’re doubting everything HD-X told you. You’re no longer sure that humanity is at stake, and your target is standing in front of you when he should be dead, brains exploded on a New Vegas stage for the all the world to see!”
Ahnna clapped a hand to her mouth, launched up, and rushed out the room.
“Perfect,” Crandal whispered.
* * *
In the bathroom, Ahnna cleaned up her mess as best she could. The taste of undigested snake meat coated her throat. She’d love to blame the food but another alien reptile was responsible for the churning emotions sweeping through her.
Questions? Doubts? Her whole life skidded under her feet.
She couldn’t slow her heart beat. She felt cold to her bones. She folded over her knees and buried her fists into her eyes to stem scalding tears.
HD-X would have told her to take the shot. No way they’d allow any keynote speaker at that conference to walk away, taking down a noble Qui a major consolation prize for missing out on Fitor Saracen. And she’d have done it, too. How could she not? Her mission had purpose, just cause. Fitor Saracen was publicly courting a human. Killing Saracen would have prevented more human-Qui and saved a young woman from becoming a Qui pawn in humanity’s destruction. Killing Tierc Marcel would have accomplished the same objectives. Yes, she’d have taken the shot.
Killed him.
The knowledge curdled her insides, hit like a physical pain, an unbearable, stabbing pain.
“Ahnna, are you okay?”
She started at Tierc’s voice, scrabbled to her feet and turned the faucet in a futile pretense because of course no water emerged, the plumbing in this abandoned facility bone dry.
“Ahnna?”
“I’m fine.”
Why did he care if she was fine or not? Why did he keep saving her life, again and again?
More tears filled her eyes.
Tierc, this so-called monster, was a nobler creature than she, and maybe HD-X were wrong about the Qui. How could she feel this way if Tierc were a monster? She understood the physical attraction, his pheromones were powerful weapons, and she’d been trained to resist, had nanos to help combat Tierc’s effect, but no pheromones could make her care this way.
She worried about Tierc’s future in this universe.
Glimpses of pain in his eyes no longer reassured but left her tense and anxious.
Guilt ate at her for enjoying his company too much.
Damn it, she felt so safe in his presence. He was supposed to be her enemy!
Suppose HD-X was wrong?
Humans in Paragon bred with other humanoid species. Humans still thrived. She didn’t know the truth anymore.
A knock made her straighten. She opened the door and faced the man causing havoc in her heart. The drone shot into view and whatever words she’d been about to say dried in her throat. God, why did he have to be so incredibly sexy and hot? He didn’t need fucking pheromones.
She pushed past him. “I need water.”
Pity they hadn’t found something stronger to drown out this existential crisis frying her brains out. A tequila would taste good.
She sank down in her chair at the table and refilled her mug with boiled water, sipped it. Tierc took the chair opposite a few seconds later. Concern filled his eyes and a strange feeling overcame her, something akin to appreciation.
“I would have killed you, back then.”
A shadow crossed his face. He nodded.
Ahnna forged on. “But not now. I couldn’t kill you now. HD-X could order me to kill you and I would refuse.”
“What would be their reaction?”
“Rehabilitation.”
“Brainwashing.”
Those treacherous tears kept coming. “Is that what they’re doing to my son?”
His hand shot out across the table and gripped her forearm, just above the wrist. “Ahnna, Fitor Saracen’s keynote speech was to propose a new approach to HD-X, a chance to end the violence. Too many humans sympathize with your cause and evidence shows our zero-tolerance approach is chasing people towards HD-X, not away. Saracen proposed that we focus on deprogramming HD-X operatives… an intervention.”
“Deprogram? Brainwashing by another name.”
Tierc looked despondent. His mouth formed a grimace. “We’re stuck here, you and I, we can’t ever go back, and yet I care so deeply about the future for human and Qui. My mother was full human, Ahnna. She loved Earth, raised me to feel as loyal to humanity as I do to Qui. I’ve no conflict about who I am. There’s no conspiracy to commit human genocide. I resent the accusation. Humanity saved the Qui. Three hundred years ago, low birthrates threatened Qui with extinction. Now there’s hope. The Qui Empire is stronger with the United Regions. History proves the undeniable benefits of Qui and humans in alliance—for both species.”
“Do you want me as your mate?” The question blurted out from nowhere, shocked her as much as it did him. His fingers still gripped her arm. His pheromones bled through her clothing and warmed her skin. He slid his hand down to take her fingers, his eyes holding hers, watching for her reaction. She only had to move and she trusted he would withdraw his touch immediately and so she stayed very still.
“My Qui has never reacted to a woman this way. It’s difficult to explain the intense focus of Qui sensations in your presence. I would kill to protect you, Ahnna, and it kills me to incite your hatred. Still, I know without a shadow of doubt my Qui has found his mate.”
Ahnna’s breath caught in her throat. Goosebumps chased up her skin. She’d been fighting his pheromones long enough to know he roused a reaction less to do with body chemistry and more to do with her heart and emotions. Those sexy eyes devoured her, his attention unwavering, and she craved a kiss from those beautiful lips. Her fingers tightened around his, an involuntary reaction and she swallowed, frightened she gave out signals inviting him close, and yet equally desperate for his response.
A deep crease divided his brow. “Ahnna, if you are testing me–”
“I’m not testing you.”
Light blazed in his eyes followed by a flash of pain. She glanced at his cuffs.
“I’m fine.” The words floated on his breath. Tierc stood up, dominating the room. His eyes had darkened to black, an effect she’d noticed when Tierc fought his Qui. “I’m taking us to a bedroom. Is that okay?”
She nodded, heart thumping so hard her chest hurt.
He moved fast, swept her into his arms. She squealed in surprise, panicked, and then they were in the room she had occupied earlier and Tierc was slamming the door shut on the drone. It thudded into the door. “Fuck if I’m letting Octiron watch this.” He tapped his comms-link off and then Ahnna’s comm just as Zeke began a furious protest.
Tierc set Ahnna on her feet and backed away, hands raised. “You still okay?”
She laughed. Maybe it was the thought of Zeke and Crandal freaking out, or the drone’s surprise, as if the flying robot had developed its own personality. More likely it was hysteria. She was about to commit a mortal sin, a heinous crime, with a monster, whose inviting lips curved into a shy smile and suddenly her giggles dried up.
“You are completely safe,” he reassured.
“I can’t get pregnant.” Once more the words burst out, her emotions so off kilter. “I mean, I can, obviously, but not with a Qui.”
“What are you hoping for, Ahnna?”
“I want to explore this, what I’m feeling. I’m not making a commitment. I’m not saying this is right.”
“Okay. At least you’re honest. Qui have to choose to procreate, it is too dangerous to reproduce with the wrong person, but I have needs that require satisfaction.” He raised his wrists. “Right now, I couldn’t impregnate you even if I wanted to.”
His hand cupped the back of her neck and he stepped closer, the combination making her lightheaded. She rose on tiptoe to meet his kiss. His head dipped and a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She expected to panic—he was a Qui—but she welcomed his heat as he pulled her close. His hard erection pressed against her belly and warmth flooded her. Nerves fired a bolt of pleasure to her core as his lips touched hers. His tongue swept her teeth, and a sharp ozone taste cleansed her palate and then his mouth coaxed her open. He explored her thoroughly unleashing sexual mayhem in her core.
Ahnna rubbed against him, giving way to her body’s demand for more.
She banished her doubts.
HD-X wasn’t here. They were two creatures alone in an alien universe. They had a shared history and experiences. Their bodies met as if they belonged together. Tierc wasn’t a monster. He was kind, forgiving, and gentle. His Qui was locked up safe, couldn’t harm her.
Her hands wound around his neck. She clung to him, drawing Tierc closer. He thrust his fingers into her hair, supported her head even as he walked her back towards the bed. Ahnna uttered a quiet protest, and he stopped instantly, his lips kissing a path to her ear.
“What is it?” he whispered.
She pulled his shirt from his pants, wanting to feel the weight of his balls in her palms again, to explore that stiff hard shaft desperate for escape. He helped her shed his clothing, toeing off his boots as he pushed her jacket off her shoulders. He stripped her slowly and she let him, for the sensation of his fingers brushing her skin lit fire trails all over her body.
Tierc’s hands faltered the instant she curved her fingers around his hot blood-engorged cock. He hissed, buried his head against her neck.
“Don’t stop,” he gasped out when she rolled a thumb over his glans, his reaction so completely human, a man enslaved to the pleasures of the flesh.
He recovered enough to push her pants down to her knees and then he was forcing her to the bed. She fell back, hit a soft landing, as Tierc tugged off her boots and then slid her pants over her feet. He straightened, paused, gazing at her naked body.
“You’re so beautiful, so perfect.”
She grinned because his eyes devoured her and then her throat closed with emotion at the astonished delight in his eyes. Ahnna knew she was an attractive woman, but Tierc’s reaction imbued her with newfound confidence, a joy in her own body. He coveted every inch of her, from her toes to her ear lobe.
Fear had been replaced by pure anticipation.
When he knelt before her, she rose up onto her elbows. He placed his fingers against the insides of her knees and nudged them apart. Kissing her inside thigh he nibbled his way towards her center, teasing her inner petals aside.
She collapsed onto the bed, arching her back as his tongue lashed an uncontrollable storm of pleasure to new heights. She cried out, taken aback by the sweet stabbing ache. She gripped the coverlet, twisting her hips away from his tongue when the sensations overpowered her. Tierc gripped her hips, renewed his attack with vigor, and suddenly she was pressing into the throbbing pulse of sensation, her climax building, sweeping through her and she moaned.
Tierc rose above her, positioned his cock against her and thrust in hard.
Ahnna tensed as his cock rubbed her to the crest of an orgasm. He filled her so perfectly, she wanted more, but she dared not move in case she burst and she wanted to savor this rolling undulating pleasure.
He stilled and she opened her eyes.
Tierc was watching her, his eyes aglow and a sensual grin on his face that thrilled her.
“Stay just like that,” she smiled, arching her back.
Somehow his lower half did stay perfectly still, even as his head dipped towards her. She realized his intention when his teeth trapped a nipple and his tongue lashed the top of the nub. He thrust in at the same time and her orgasm exploded, everywhere, a paroxysm of delight that thudded through her in waves, radiating from her core. Every muscle tensed, she held perfectly still prolonging the sensation and then Tierc was pummeling her hard, setting off new sensations, drawing out the sublime experience as his fingers began to rub her clit. A sharper throb burst out of nowhere and it was so satisfying, incredible, nothing like the routine orgasms she had experienced in training for her cover.
Ahnna pulled him down atop her and reveled in the kisses he showered over her face, neck, and breasts. “Oh my god,” she breathed. “That was incredible, like you knew everything I was feeling.”
“I did. We came close to culmination.”
She’d heard Qui used telepathy to conquer their victims.
Victims? The concept clashed with her experience of just a moment ago. No way was she a victim, but shit, telepathy and sex together?
“Culmination’s really a thing?”
“Culmination is very much a thing, but rare—takes a special connection. I could sense your pleasure, but your mind is not ready to open. That’s okay. It takes time to build trust, accept the depth of your feelings. I haven’t experienced culmination, you would be my first, which is only right.”
* * *
Tierc contained an animal urge to ravage her. A raging lust fired his blood. His primed cock twitched and ached for release. He couldn’t hold off much longer, he had dreamt of this moment, but nurturing Ahnna’s trust, supplanting a lifetime of HD-X rhetoric, demanded infinite patience.
She rose up against him, crushing his cock between them. “What about you?”
Tierc couldn’t speak, caught in a spiral of escalating pleasure. Ahnna traced his face with her fingers, her eyes softer than he had ever seen them. In return, Tierc sketched intricate patterns on her skin, his fingers exuding a pheromone to reawaken Ahnna’s passion.
The mind-numbing sensation plateaued. “There’s plenty of time. I want you to be ready.” He pressed against her, gasped, frowned at the rock hard pressure building below. He wanted to give her more time. Ahnna abandoned her exploration of his mouth. Her feather-light touch skimmed his shoulders and ran down his biceps, dropping to his waist and then one hand cupped his hot swollen balls and the other grasped the base of his shaft. She guided him to her entrance, arching against him. He slipped easily inside her well-oiled channel. Ahnna held him off for one moment, adjusting to his girth, and then she opened wider for him and he slid in. Instinct took over. Tierc rammed in hard.
She protested and he backed off, but then nails dug into his buttocks and Ahnna forced him in. This time she met his assault, and Tierc gritted his teeth, holding back an impending release.
He drowned in her delicious scent.
A light perspiration coated her skin as their joining grew increasingly frenzied. She arched underneath him, drawing his attention to her delicate breasts, so firm and pert. He nipped the nearest nipple and nearly came at her responding moan. His tongue lavished the rosy bud as he pummeled her body. Her hips rose against him, his climax gathered, unstoppable, as she suddenly gripped his upper arms, one hand moving into his hair. She gripped the hair roots, pressed his head down, encouraging him to suckle her nipple. He obliged, shifted his weight onto one arm allowing him to pinch her other breast with his free hand.
She screamed. Vaginal muscles clamped around him, destroying any semblance of control.
Tierc pounded her harder, his cock slick with her gushing orgasm.
A powering stampede overwhelmed him with the pure intensity of his release. He groaned, slammed into her again and again, pinning Ahnna to his rhythm. No longer could he tend her pleasure, his entire being focused on his pumping cock, spilling its contents inside her. At his peak, he was dimly aware of nails raking his back, holding him in place, his pleasure her pleasure.
Exhilaration filled him. His joy and Ahnna’s joy, meshed into one. Her mind sang to him.
Tierc hesitated to enter, stopped by a sense that Ahnna was lost in sensation, an unwitting participant to their psy connection, a deeper culmination, and he would not risk her trust so soon. He merely nudged her mind with his, letting her know he was there. He watched her eyes shoot open, felt her pull together an unsteady wall. Her mind closed.
One day…
He kissed her nose, moved to withdraw, but a palm slammed his butt and held him inside her. Her self-satisfied smile made him laugh.
“You want me to sleep inside you?”
Her whole body quivered. “Is that a thing, too?”
“It could be, but I’d worry over crushing you and that would be a terrible end to our first night together.”
Her eyebrows rose in question. “Our first night? That’s very presumptuous of you.” A teasing note softened the tartness in her response. Ahnna’s eyes narrowed on him, a seductive look. “I admit the sex was beyond anything I imagined.” A smile recaptured her lips. “So good. God, I’m going to hate myself in the morning.”
“Because you slept with a Qui and liked it.”
A serious shadow darkened her eyes. “I think I have to work through a few things. I need to be honest.”
“Go ahead.”
“One moment I hate you, my head stuffed with reasons why I shouldn’t even like you. The next I want you, and then I’m blaming your pheromones, and you for using them against me.”
“It’s rarely on purpose, Ahnna. You have pheromones too and they are impossible to resist. What you’re getting from me is my response to your attraction. I control my pheromones far better than you do.”
Her mouth pursed, she wanted to believe him, but he guessed old habits took time to die.
“And then…” she whispered.
Her beautiful silver-grey eyes dared him to interrupt her a second time. He waited, heart thumping. His blood pumped with an urge to run… fight… anything but this terrifying suspense.
“My mind clears and I see you, this incredibly patient man, who absorbs all my hate and deflects all my attacks on your very existence. You make me question everything. Is it you? Are you unique among the Qui?”
With her warm body wrapped around him, with Ahnna so vulnerable beneath him, Tierc fought the urge to kiss her doubts away. “Ahnna, sometimes your beliefs make me very angry. I have to remind myself of your perspective. I remember you have been raised this way and have no experience to question things you’ve been taught, no reason to doubt you fight a righteous cause. I am unique among Qui, because I am your Qui. It is rare for two Qui to fight over a mate as the chances of mutual attraction are low. Compatibility requires a mating attraction and a psi connection felt by both parties. When the Qui first encountered humans, there was a meeting of peers; the most noble of Qui bloodlines encountered the finest of Earth’s resistance.”
Ahnna’s body softened. She listened to him, her heart and mind open.
“The Qui Empress had a powerful mind, and a fine mastery of her pheromones. I believe she could conquer almost any heart she deemed worthy of her attention. The United Region’s foremost general caught her attention and sparks flew. The Qui of that time were cruel, ruthless to human eyes, I see that, I understand. And then noble after noble found their human mate, and, yes, for a while, it must have appeared that seductive Qui would devour the human race. The low numbers of Qui curtailed immediate concern, but I suspect religious and political objections sowed the seeds for Human Defense-X.”
He paused, reluctant to lapse into a lecture, but she arched her body against his, a delightful sensation.
“Go on.”
He chuckled. “Okay. Well, it became apparent that noble Qui bloodlines were more drawn to a human mate than other Qui, and over time the chances of a productive match have dropped. Compatibility is no guarantee of a successful breeding. Humanity is not at risk. Humans will always out-breed the Qui. It’s the Qui who must work to survive. Our numbers have been low for centuries, and Qui hybrids are more prevalent now. Qui to Qui matings are a rare thing indeed. The fear HD-X holds is precisely the same fear some Qui nobles have voiced about humanity. Our race is being diluted…” Tierc smiled gently to show he meant no accusation. “Someday soon there will be no more Qui, only Qui-humans.”
Ahnna’s brow dimpled, her mouth rounding in surprise.
Tierc drew in a breath and sighed, savored her body’s warm acceptance of him. “I don’t know what happened here, but our extinction in this alternate universe proves that Qui procreation will always struggle. I don’t know why.”
Ahnna frowned. “I had not considered this.”
He nodded. “At first, this attraction between us felt like a punishment, a cruel twist in a universe barren of Qui. How could I love someone so hateful, a woman prepared to kill in the most cowardly way possible? And then I got to know you, to understand you. I witnessed your pain—” He scented her tears and shook his head. “Ahnna, please don’t cry, losing your son must have… I didn’t mean to remind you.”
“No, it’s not that, I mean, yes, Joseph will never leave my thoughts, but,” her tears spilled over, “I would have killed you, if the portal hadn’t taken us, If not that night, then later. Oh my god!”
Her body stiffened and Tierc took his weight, giving her room to move. “No. Your mission died that night I found you. You’d been tagged. You’d never have entered the conference building. Maybe another HD-X cell would have taken your place, but you were never destined to kill me. Our meeting changed both our destinies. I’d prefer we were on Earth, but—”
She shuddered. “I’d be in hiding, or prison.”
Tierc grimaced. “I really don’t want to owe Octiron any favors.”
“On that we agree.”
He frowned, began to shift free, but Ahnna’s clutch on him didn’t relent.
“Okay, on what do we disagree?”
She looked startled and Tierc realized her comment had been a casual one.
“I’m not sure.” A deep crease furrowed her brow. “I need to think. A part of me says this isn’t right, that I’m betraying everything I believe in, and then I consider, what if you’re right, what if,” she swallowed and her voice cracked, “HD-X is teaching my son to fight a senseless war.”
Tierc’s heart ached for her. How could he say HD-X taught something far worse than a flawed ideology? They were raising her son to fanatical hate and ignorance? HD-X operatives knew only joyless lives of sacrifice. What comfort would that bring Ahnna? None. She couldn’t do anything to save him, to stop HD-X.
They were trapped in another universe, alone with their secret, his secret.
At least, for the first time, Tierc felt real hope for their future. If Ahnna could overthrow her upbringing, accept him as mate, then his secret was safe, and they could enjoy a normal life together. Their biggest hurdle would be children. Raising Qui hybrid children invited so many complications, a massive obstacle in their happy future.
Maybe if they left Paragon, settled in a quiet part of the galaxy. His mind filled with possibilities. Whether she liked it or not, his Qui accepted Ahnna as his mate for life.
The human in him simply loved her.