3013: CLAIMED (11 page)

She waited for a response, but was only met with silence. Looking around, she saw that all of the men were gawking at her. Sully and Dom’s hands were frozen in mid-air, their forks halfway to their mouths. Arik had a small smile on his face, while Jax simply stared at her. “What?”

“How long was your swim?” Dom asked incredulously.

“About a half an hour, give or take a few minutes.”

Archer smirked at Dom. “Our woman is wicked smart.”

Serra preened a little bit from his compliment, but tried to hide it. “Thank you. You know this is a better plan, and it will allow us to follow the seller back to whoever their contacts are on the other end. In order to create the program, I’ll need access to a lab with better equipment then you have here. Speaking of, you know none of this would have happened if I’d been allowed to build my own data unit instead of using the Alliance crap they give everyone.”

“Let it go, baby,” Archer said, patting her knee.

She glared at him. “I need my assistant, too.”

“No.”

“Non-negotiable, Jax. I need Troy Takeshi to do this.” She held up a hand. “Don’t even start with me. I know he works for you, too. If you didn’t trust him, you would never have assigned him to me four years ago.”

Jax let out a weary sigh. “How did you know?”

“Maybe it was the way he never once looked at me as more than a colleague, or maybe it could have been how he turned into a freaking ninja every time someone bothered me. Science geeks usually aren’t trained to know a hundred ways to kill someone with a coffee cup.”

Archer, Dom and Arik laughed, but Jax glared at her, not amused. “Who exactly was bothering you and why didn’t I hear about this?”

She rolled her eyes. “Probably because the situations were taken care of, and it was nothing for you to be worried about. Like last month for instance, when we were on our way to The Black Hole on Alpha Station: X2 when those—”

Archer lost his smile “You went where?”

“What the hell were your guards thinking letting you go there? The Krytos who own that bar are fucking crazy!” Jax exploded. “Not to mention all the other scum that take refuge in that sanctuary! And Officer Takeshi was with you? That’s it, I’m busting him down to—”

“You will not,” Serra ordered. “Besides, it’s not his place to tell me where I could go. He was and is my assistant, not my keeper.”

“You always were stubborn,” Jax muttered.

Serra let out a delicate snort as she speared a fresh berry with her fork. “I am.”

“Why were you going to the Black Hole, Serra? That place is too wild for you, and I know you don’t like crowds,” Archer added.

“I was having lunch with Alexis Tesera-Volis and her four, very large, very skilled dragon warrior mates. X2 may not be the calmest station, but you know as well as I do, once I passed through the doors of The Black Hole, the owners would have never let anything happen to me. I’ve remained friends with Alexis since we were in the Academy together.”

Jax waved her on. “So what happened before you got there?”

“Oh, well…there was a Helios male that grabbed me and wanted to scent me—”

“Son of a bitch!”

“Jax,” she chided in a tone that seemed to calm him…marginally. “Troy was with me, as were two of my guards. Before my guards even knew what was happening, Troy had done something to the Helios to get him to release me, and I found myself behind his back without even knowing how I got there.”

“You could have been hurt,” Dom said. “The Helios seek out companions based on scent and if he wanted to smell you then—”

“I know,” she said. “But Troy got me away from him. Before the Helios could retaliate, Alexis and her mates arrived and they poofed the Helios male to the other side of the space station, so I didn’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Dom blinked. “They…what do you mean they poofed him?”

Surprised, Archer asked, “Didn’t you know? Those dragon warriors can use magic.”

“But they can poof people? That’s just not right.” Dom glared. “And now you have me saying poofed, damn it. Can we get back to talking about killing people?”

Serra studied the director her bonded called a close friend, and saw that he was a severe man, with an edge of unhappiness all but clinging to him. “I think you need sex.”

Dom sputtered, coughing on the coffee he’d just drank. He gawked at her as the rest of the men tried to hold back their laughter. His astonishment turned into a dark glower. “I have sex.”

She shook her head, ignoring the other men. “Then perhaps you need to do it more often. Sex released endorphins into the system that elevates stress and enhances mood.”

Dom glanced over at Jax. “Is she for real?”

“What?” Serra said, blinking at the table as the other men lost the fight to hold back their hilarity. “From your gruff demeanor, I believe you would benefit from a steady increase of sexual release to improve your disposition. Factoring in that you are also descended from the Tarin in your familial history, you should know that you might need the additional boost to maintain optimal levels of energy.”

“I’m fine. Sex is not an issue,” Dom gritted out through clenched teeth.

She gave him a thoughtful glance. “Hmm…perhaps the sex you’re having isn’t the right kind of intercourse you need then.”

“Oh, for the love of…will you guys shut the hell up!”

Archer wiped at the tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. “Stars! I haven’t laughed like that in ages. What do you mean, by the right kind, baby? I didn’t know there was a wrong kind.”

“You need lessons or something, Dom?” Jax asked, trying to keep a straight face.

“Fuck all of you.”

“Wish we could help you out, but no thanks,” Archer said with another laugh.

Serra frowned at them. “I didn’t mean it to be malicious. There have been rumors that the Tarin receive higher levels of energy that sustain them longer if they engage in sexual activity with a partner they are emotionally connected to. That’s all.”

“This conversation is over.”

She wanted to say more, but sensed that she had already overstepped a line of propriety that she rarely recognized. Serra was getting ready to apologize when Jax’s wrist unit beeped with an incoming call. He looked down then winced as he saw the readout.

“It’s my mother.”

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

He shook his head, but sighed as the beeping stopped and Archer’s wrist unit immediately started beeping. “Shit.”

“She knows.”

“We don’t know that,” Jax snapped.

“The hell we don’t. You know she knows. She knows everything,” Archer responded. He let out a sigh of relief when his wrist unit stopped beeping, then tensed as the home communications console began beeping. “Shit, you have to answer that. She’ll kill us if you don’t.”

“Hell…” Jax picked up the tablet on the table and hit a button. “Answer, voice only. Block outgoing video.”

On the wall monitor, Donna Spartan-Rollins’ image popped up on screen, her beautiful face marred by the fierce frown she was wearing. “What in the seven hells is this? Why are you blocking me? Jax? Sullivan?”

“We’re in a meeting, Mother.” Jax said lightly, then winced as the frown on his mother’s face darkened.

“A meeting about what? That business with Serra?”

“How do you know about that?”

Donna waved her hand on screen. “You should know better than to ask that question. Your father is still smarting from the tongue lashing I gave him for consenting to have that poor girl taken into custody. Speaking of, the reason I’m contacting you is because we are throwing you a claiming ceremony this evening at the estate.”

“That’s very kind of you, Mother, but we’re busy and—”

“Jax, I think you owe that sweet woman a proper ceremony after the pitiful way you claimed her. Yes, I know about that, too. And don’t think we won’t be having words about that later.”

Jax winced again, then glowered at Dom as the other man chuckled. Jax’s mother raised a brow. “Is that Sullivan laughing? I’ll be having words with you as well, Sullivan Archer.”

“No, ma’am. I wasn’t laughing. That was Dom. Dominic Stryker,” Archer informed her, not hesitating to throw his friend under the proverbial freight-shuttle.

“Well, then. Isn’t this convenient. Make sure you bring Dominic and Arik with you when you come.”

“Oh, well. Ma’am, we—”

Donna quickly cut Dom off with a smile that could only be described as lethal. “Since your mother and fathers will also be in attendance, I would hate to tell them that you disregarded my invitation.”

“Shit.”

“I heard that,” she said with a cheerful laugh. “Anyways, it’s all been arranged. Everything will be perfect by the time you arrive. Is Serra there?”

Serra shot Jax a slightly terrified glance. “Umm, yes, ma’am.”

Donna’s smile softened until Serra could all but feel the acceptance and affection coming through the screen. “Serra, dear. We are so very pleased to welcome you into the family. Thank you for putting up with my sons, and I do consider Sullivan a son, just like we consider you our daughter now.”

“Thank you,” Serra said, her throat tight with emotion. Both Jax and Sully reached out to take her hands in theirs. “And thank you for throwing us a party. I haven’t even thought of it since everything has been happening so quickly.”

“Leave everything to me, dear. Jax, Sullivan, I want you to bring Serra here in a few hours. We need time to prep.”

“Ma, we—”

“Jax, you really don’t want to fight me on this. I will see you in a few hours. Love you.” The entire room was left staring at the blank screen as Donna Spartan-Rollins cut communications.

“People fear me all over the damn universe, and yet my mother just fucking rolls right over me,” Jax muttered as he scowled at the blank screen.

“You aren’t the only one,” Dom said in commiseration. “I can make grown men cry in interrogation, but my own mother has the power to make me feel like I’m fucking four years old when she uses that tone on me.”

Jax sighed as Archer, Serra and Arik laughed. “Well, I guess we can discuss this more on the way to my parents’ estate. Looks like we have a party to attend.”

***

Chapter Seven

The Spartan-Rollins’ estate was a huge piece of property located on the outskirts of the Capital, where the hustle and bustle of the city gave way to the lush greenery of the coast.

In this section of the city, the wealthy lived lavishly in a facsimile of the years on Earth before the Alien Wars. The shuttle touched down onto the ground right outside of the electric gate, and was instantly cleared by the guards once they saw who was in the vehicle. They opened the gates to the estate and the shuttle continued down the long driveway by road as the pilot switched the sky-to-air vehicle into driving mode.

Serra stared out of the window with nervous anticipation. The Spartan-Rollins’ estate was more like a compound than an actual home. The center building was made up of glass and white-stone, set off by a riot of flowers that had been planted surrounding the outside of the main structure. To the right was a large greenhouse, created from glass solar panels and shining steel beams. To the left of the main house were several smaller structures, or what could be considered guest houses, lining the beach-front property.

She remembered being a guest in one of those houses during the years she had been at the training facility. When the recruits had been given leave from the Academy, those who had nowhere to go were welcomed onto the Spartan-Rollins property. Although Serra’s family would have allowed her to come home, she had been happier staying close to Jax and Sully whenever it was possible.

They had made a stop at one of the medical centers to deactivate her birth control implant before heading out of the city. She had been nervous about being back in medical, but Jax and Sully had stayed by her side and the procedure only took a matter of minutes to perform. When it was done, they had met Dom and Arik at the shuttle bay and they had gotten into the back while Jax’s personal pilot flew them outside the city limits.

A gentle hand took hers, and she looked down to see that Jax had stopped her from tapping her fingers in her nervous habit. “Don’t worry, hummingbird. Everything will be fine.”

She tried to smile, but knew she failed when his steel-gray eyes softened and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to his side. “I’m just nervous. I haven’t seen your family in a long time.”

“They will love you. You know, my mother still invites the recruits to the estate during the breaks from the Academy. Talon is on assignment on Alpha Station: X4, but Connor is still in training. She has her hands full when he and his friends are around.”

She laughed. “Sort of like you were. What about Mya? Has she been claimed yet?”

“Hell, no,” Archer said with a laugh from her other side. “She just turned twenty, but Jax’s fathers got her exempt status when she was seventeen. She doesn’t seem like she wants to settle down anytime soon.”

“That didn’t exactly save me,” she said dryly.

Dom laughed from where he was sitting on the other side of the shuttle. The dark man was sprawled out in a chair, eyes remaining closed even as he spoke. “You think any man would be stupid enough to claim the sister of Commander Spartan and the daughter of three powerful parents against her will? They’d be dead before they got the marking device out.”

“Damn right,” Jax muttered.

“I’ve heard that Mya is doing well at Starlight Designs,” Arik commented. “She seems to have your mother’s talent at creating beautiful clothing. Many of the D’Aire wear her designs.”

“She is very talented,” Jax said, the pride clear in his voice. “She wants to expand the business…sell more to off-worlders. But I hope someday she finds a good bonding unit.” He tilted Serra’s chin up so he could brush his lips over hers. “I can’t wait to have you mark me.”

She smiled against his lips. “I like knowing the world will see that you’re mine.”

“We’ve always been yours,” Archer said as he drew her away from Jax to seal his lips over hers in a heated kiss.

“For the love of…stop it,” Dom snapped when he opened his eyes and saw the couple. “If I have to be stuck in here with you, no more of that.”