3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) (4 page)

While most of the Tarin females
just wanted an escort to the planet Avox where they could live their lives in
peace, Adam had been forced to petition the Council of Regents to grant Alliance
status to Cathica as his chosen, or consort as it was called in Tarin culture. When
her status was granted the couple had come back to Earth, living their lives in
seclusion, afraid of the backlash that would come from her being Tarin.

It wasn’t until their only
grandson Evan had fallen in love with Jeanette that both Adam and Cathica were
brought out of their self-imposed exile. Cathica and Jeanette had immediately
liked one another, and with hard work and some drastic changes they were able
to re-launch the restaurant. Evan, Jeanette and Lochlan had chosen to rename
the place Cathica, after Evan’s grandmother, since they used her recipes to
offer a menu spicy Tarin cuisine. The food was something humans had never had
access to before, and the place had become an overnight success.

Dom was close to his great-grandparents
and had learned a lot about the Tarins from Cathica. When he was young, it had
been fun and interesting to learn about the world that so few humans had ever
visited, but he’d never realized that what he had learned would one day help
him with the woman who had captured his heart.

Skylar was not an easy woman. She
was surly, combative and snarky as hell...and that was on a good day. However,
there was also an innate kindness within her that she hesitated to let anyone
see, but he saw it. No matter how much she tried to run from her past, whatever
she had suffered had made her into the woman she was, even if she couldn’t
remember it.

And he loved the woman she
was...flaws and all.

On Tartarus, there had always
been a shortage of females born on the planet. It was a natural occurrence that
no one had ever been able to explain and still couldn’t to this day. For that
reason, many of the males had started amassing harems as a show of their
strength and power. Over the years, females had become a commodity, but the
truth was, it hadn’t always been that way. Female Tarins had once been
formidable warriors, just like the males.

Watching Skylar fight was like
seeing a glimpse in to that past.

Dom crossed his arms over his
chest and watched as a surge of energy made Skylar’s hands glow. A second later
the sparring droid was a mass of sparking metal heaped at her feet. It always
gave him a jolt to see what she was capable of. He might be bigger and stronger
than she was, but he didn’t doubt she could put him on his ass.

Damn, he must be one sick
bastard, because there was something exciting about that.

Skylar wiped the sweat from her
brow and heaved out a breath. Without turning, she asked, “Are you here to
gloat?”

“Those units weren’t made to
sustain that kind of damage.”

“Jax can bill me.”

She turned so their eyes met and
he could see barely banked anger burning in her icy blue eyes. He wondered what
had her so twisted up. He was glad he had taken the time to change before
seeking her out. His casual black shirt and loose fitting pants made their
meeting far more relaxed then if he had remained in his uniform. Going for a
casual response, he uncrossed his arms and leaned against the low wall that
separated the individual training area they were in from the rest of the room. “You
want to explain what your comment meant, Sky?”

“As if you don’t know.”

Rage all but radiated from her,
but he wasn’t afraid. He raised an eyebrow at that, his confusion clear. “Would
I ask if I knew?”

That seemed to give her pause.
“You don’t know about my meeting with the regents?”

Dom straightened, instantly going
on alert. “You had a meeting with them? When? About what? I thought the mission
brief was scheduled for tomorrow.”

“You really don’t know, do you?”

Irritation made him scowl. “I
said I didn’t. You know I don’t lie.”

She slowly nodded as her body
seemed to relax. “Yeah, I do know that.”

“Obviously the meeting was bad
enough for you to come here and beat the shit out of that droid. Tell me what
happened.”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “I’m not
on duty, Director. Don’t give me orders.”

“Fuck that, Sky,” Dom snapped. “Stop
trying to pick a fight and just tell me why you’re upset.”

She let out an impatient breath.
“You’re so damn bossy.”

He grunted as he took a step
toward her. “So you are always telling me. Now, quit stalling.”

She ignored him as she walked
over to the low wall to pick up the hoodie she had left hanging there and put
it on, pulling up the zipper as she turned back to him. “The regents have
decided that I need to choose a bonding pair or else I will be taken off active
duty.”

“No.”

Her brows raised at that. “No?
What do you mean, no?”

Skylar watched as his expression
hardened as if were made of stone. His dark eyes gleaming with banked fury as
he glared back at her. “It means, fuck no, they can’t do that.”

A weight lifted off her chest at
the words he practically snarled at her. It was true that he didn’t lie, but
she had needed to see his reaction in order to really believe it.

“It’s done, Dom,” she said
quietly. “I have until the end of this mission, then I will be relieved of my
position if I don’t choose. Even so, I was informed that Jax could take me off
the investigation if my past gets in the way.”

“Fuck!” he raged as he slammed a
fist down on the low wall, shocking her into silence. He spun on her, eyes
blazing with anger. “Do you really think I had anything to do with that? You
think I have waited this long for you just to fuck it all up by having them
push you into this position? I want you to choose me. To come to me and Arik of
your own free will, not have you forced to take us just because you have no
other option.”

“Well, we can’t all get what we
want now, can we?” she spit out bitterly. “And what do you mean by waiting for
me, you arrogant ass? Did you think I was just going to give in one day and beg
you to claim me?

“Ha! You wouldn’t beg for water
if you were dying of thirst, you stubborn woman.”

“Damn right.” She turned to
leave, but Dom grabbed her arm, spinning her around again.

“We aren’t done.”

“Let go of me,” she snarled as
she jerked her arm away from him. “Do you think I’m going to just let you claim
me now because the regents think they can force this on me?”

“No, I know you're going to let
me claim you because of this.”

Dom grabbed hold of her, wrapping
one strong arm around her waist while the other wound her hair tight around his
fist. Using it a leverage, he jerked her head back and slammed his mouth down
on to hers, taking her lips in a brutal kiss. Her body went rigid in his hold,
and he braced himself, ready to take the surge of energy he was sure she would
hit him with.

But it never came.

Her hand came up to the front of
his shirt, but instead of shoving him away, Dom felt her fist the material in
her grasp to pull him closer. Fuck it, he thought. If he wasn’t on his ass from
her shocking the shit out of him, he might as well take advantage and
thoroughly enjoy the situation.

Dom’s grip on her tightened as he
coaxed her lips apart, spearing his tongue deep to mate with hers. She let out
a soft moan that made his cock painfully hard, and she met his passion with
equal fervor. There was no hesitation as her own tongue stroked against his,
making his body burn with the need to take her. He knew she could feel the
rigid length of his cock pressed against her and let out a groan of his own as
her body moved enticingly against him.

Stars, he wanted to fucking
devour her in great greedy gulps.

He lost himself in the kiss.
Forgetting to breath, he had to pull back when he started to get light headed.
His lungs billowed as he gulped in air. The feel of her breasts pressed up
against his chest made him growl as he lowered his head to taste her again, but
the momentary pause had given her enough time to gather her wits. She released
her hold on his shirt to push at him, stopping him from claiming lips again.

“Wait! Just...wait.”

“Damn it, Sky,” he growled. “Just
let me claim you for star’s sake!”

“No. This is crazy!”

“Crazy is stopping,” Dom argued
harshly. “I want you.”

Skylar made herself pull away
from him even though her body was still humming with the pleasure from that simple
kiss. No, it wasn't simple. That kiss had nearly been enough to make her come.
Every instinct told her to take what he was offering, to give in to the need
building between them, but she couldn’t ignore the warnings flashing through
her head.

“Dom, we have to think about
this. You’re still my commanding officer—”

“Fine. Fuck it, you’re fired.”

She gave a half laugh. “Then I
really would have to kill you.”

Letting out a frustrated sigh,
Dom ran a hand through his thick black hair. “I know you want me, Sky. Are you
really going to try and deny it after the way you burned for me just now? Why
are you fighting it?”

“I have my reasons.”

Dom saw the sadness flicker in
her pale blue eyes, and he didn’t like it. “You’re going to have to face your
past sooner or later.”

That put Skylar’s back up. “Don’t
tell me what I have to do. I know I have to abide by the dictates of the
regents, but I won’t be pressured into anything before I’m ready. I may be
attracted to you, but I have to think about this.”

“You know we’re good together,
Sky.”

“We have chemistry, Dom. I’ll
admit that, but there is more to consider than just whether or not we would be
good in bed.” Skylar took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as she tried to
calm the rapid beat of her heart. “I’m going to go now. I’ll...we’ll talk about
this later.”

Dom waited until she walked a few
steps before softly saying her name. When she turned back to him he had to
force himself not to go to her and drag her to the floor where he could have
her under him. His hands fisted at his sides, and he knew she could see the
proof of his need for her tenting his loose pants. “You can’t keep running from
me.”

Annoyance flickered in her icy
blue eyes. “I’m not running, I’m just being cautious. I just have to think.”

He didn’t bother to argue the
point, but pierced her with an intense stare instead. “Think fast.”

She gave a curt nod, then hurried
from the room.

Dom stood frozen in place as he
watched her leave the gym. As the automatic doors slid closed after she exited
the room, he heard the rush of wings behind him and knew without turning that
it was Arik. He couldn’t blame the D’Aire. If he had wings he would have hidden
in the rafters where he could have watched Skylar without her knowing as well.
Not that he wanted to think about that. Dom had an aversion to heights that
greatly amused his friend to no end.

The bastard.

Arik stepped forward so he was
standing beside Dom as his wings retracted into his back. “That was...intense.”

“She’s lucky I let her leave.”

“You would have never forced
her.”

“I wouldn’t have had to force
her,” Dom growled back. “She wants me. She’s just too fucking stubborn to let
us claim her.”

“What she said was true. There
are issues to consider, and this new ultimatum puts a new twist on the
situation. She has so much anger in her...”

“Wouldn’t you be pissed, too?
Fuck, what the hell were the regents thinking? I wish I could strangle the
fucking lot of them for backing her into a corner like this.”

“They are trying to control her,
and we both know that is something she cannot abide. It is part of the reason
she avoids you.”

Dom turned to glare at his
friend. “Bastard. You aren’t helping.”

“I’m simply stating the truth,”
Arik said with a shrug. “Still, this does not make pressing our suit any
easier.”

Pressing their suit. What an old
world, solicitous way of saying they wanted to fuck her brains out, then claim
her so no other man could ever touch her. Dom sighed. “I don’t want to control
her. I just want to make sure she doesn’t get herself killed.”

“That isn’t how she sees it,”
Arik countered. “You are controlling. She knows that. And she fears what being
with me will mean concerning her forgotten memories. We’ve had this
conversation before.”

Dom knew they had. Since Arik had
met Skylar, he’d made it clear that she was the fated keeper of his heart, the
title given to a D’Aire’s chosen. At first, Dom hadn’t liked the thought of
sharing Skylar with anyone—even his best friend—but they had come to terms with
the arrangement. Sure, that agreement had come after the two of them had beat
the hell out of each other, but it was something they had finally decided was
best for her.

Arik had a calmness, a peace
inside himself that would help counter Skylar’s fiery temper, while Dom would
be able to understand her in ways the D’Aire couldn’t. Both males had made a
vow to protect her, and would do so whether she wanted them to or not.

Stubborn fucking woman.

“I need a damn shower.”

“You might want to make it a cold
one.”

The smirk on Arik’s face as he
glanced down at Dom’s body made him want to punch the winged bastard.

“Funny. At least I got a taste of
her.”

That had the grin fading from
Arik’s face. “Do not remind me.”

“She’ll be ours soon. There’s no
other option,” Dom said. “It’s either that or lose my fucking mind.”

“I agree, and I think it might be time for me to give her a
nudge in that direction.”

Dom laughed. “Good luck with that.”

Arik sighed as he nodded. He knew he was going to need it.

***

Chapter Four

Skylar was frustrated as hell as she paced her quarters.

Since leaving the gym, she had
showered and changed, then tried to get some rest. Lying down hadn’t done any
good because she couldn’t turn her mind off long enough to fall asleep. There
was too much on her mind. She’d gotten back up when her stomach growled, and
realized she’d missed dinner, but nothing stocked in the food console unit
appealed to her.

Giving up, she stopped pacing and
threw on a black shirt and matching drawstring pants before she left her room.
It was late enough that she didn’t see anyone in the corridors as she made her
way to the main mess hall. That suited her just fine since she didn’t think she
would be capable of polite conversation as the moment.

The doors to the main dining hall
silently slid open as she approached them, and she entered the room, relieved
to find it empty. It was a large room, with comfortable chairs around long
tables that allowed for various members of the crew to sit in groups as they
ate or socialized. The entire hall was decorated in different shades of blue,
and was both appealing as well as relaxing.

The glow of the stars out of the
large windows cast shadows through the dark room, but the motion lights fixed
into the ceiling lit up as she made her way across the room. Her step slowed as
she saw a light was on in the back kitchen area through the small windows in
the door. Part of her didn’t want to deal with seeing anyone, but her desire
for chocolate ice cream was greater than her reticence.

Pushing open the swinging doors,
Skylar peeked in, then huffed out an annoyed breath as she saw Arik standing in
front of the large freezer wearing a white shirt and matching pants. She
thought the contrast they made in their choice of colors somehow seemed
appropriate. He turned as she approached, and she frowned down at the bowl of
ice cream he set down on the counter.

Arik saw the suspicion on
Skylar’s face and held back a smile. She was right to be cautious around him,
since he was on a mission...a mission to win her heart. He knew she would come
here, just as he’d known he wouldn’t be able to stay away from her knowing she
was upset.

The D’Aire race was vastly
different from humans, even though they had formed a cohesive bond over the
years since they first made contact. They took pride in being analytical, logical
and never letting their emotions rule their actions...that is, until they found
the keeper of their hearts.

Then logic warred with pure
instinct and the intricacies of love.

Being an ambassador for his race was
a struggle at times. His people depended on making the alliance that existed
between the two races strong and lasting. It was difficult to make a new home
far away from his planet and everything that was familiar to him, but Arik knew
everything had all been worth it since it had brought Skylar into his life.

She was his light, even if she
had no idea how much things had changed for him since he’d met her. Arik had
forced himself to be patient, to wait for her to come to him. Clearly, that had
been the wrong approach to take with her since she was too stubborn to give
into the attraction between them gracefully. He should have known better. She
never gave in without a fight.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Skylar frowned at Arik’s
statement. She walked toward him slowly, taking the time to do quick scan of
the room to make sure they were alone, then stopped when she was a few feet
away from him. The kitchen lacked the comforting feeling the mess hall had, but
it made up for it in functionality and purpose. The gleaming silver appliances
were top-grade, and there was a large metal work table in the center of the
room that allowed plenty of room for the kitchen staff to prepare all the meals
that were served in the main dining hall and the items they loaded into each
room’s food consoles.

She would have bet a month’s pay
that the ship’s head chef and his crew would have had heart failure if they
knew she and Arik were invading their territory without their permission, but a
girl had to do what she had to do to get her chocolate fix. “What are you doing
in here?”

“You haven’t eaten, have you?
When you’re upset, you tend to forget to eat. And I know that you like ice
cream when you’re troubled. Chocolate ice cream, to be exact.”

Skylar’s greedy eyes dropped back
down to the bowl of ice cream, but when she went to grab for it, he moved it
out of her reach. “Hey!”

“Come here, Skylar.”

Arik didn’t give her time to
protest as he simply picked her up and sat her down on the metal counter in
front of him. He stepped forward to keep her where he wanted her, then picked
up the bowl. Scooping up some ice cream with the spoon, he held it out. The
scowl on her face made him want to laugh, but his face was a mask of
impassivity as he waited for her to open her mouth.

“What do you think you’re doing?”
Skylar pinched her lips together as she leaned away from him and reached for
the bowl. “Just—”

“No. This is the very last of the
triple chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. If you want it, you will have to
share with me.”

Her scowl deepened. “You can’t
even eat chocolate. It makes you high.”

“So it does,” Arik said with a grin.
“But if you want this...you’ll have to let me feed you.”

With an irritated huff of breath,
Skylar took his offering, allowing the cold, creamy chocolate treat to settle
her nerves. She felt silly sitting on the counter as he fed her, but what the
hell, it was ice cream and she wanted it. She cocked her head to the side to
study him as he fed her another bite.

He was so damn handsome that
sometimes she lost her breath just looking at him. He’d left his long, white
hair loose so it framed his strong face. While some people had nicknamed the
D’Aire angels, Skylar thought it would be more appropriate to call them
avenging or fallen ones. There was nothing soft or cuddly about D’Aire males.
They were strong, well muscled, and all of them stood around seven feet tall,
but that was before they released their majestic wings that added another foot
to their height.

Arik was a D’Aire warrior through
and through, and his slightly leaner frame complimented Dom’s heavier muscled
body, making them an unstoppable force when they worked together. They were
like day and night, Arik’s light to Dom’s dark. She had to admit that she was
equally attracted to both of them, but the fact that there were two of them was
a whole different issue in itself that she had no clue how to handle. “What
gives, Arik?”

He smiled at her, his
iridescent-blue eyes luminous with amusement. “You are so suspicious, Skylar. I
only want to share my treat with you.”

She waited until she swallowed
another mouthful of ice cream before she sighed. “You know about the kiss, don’t
you?”

The handle of the spoon bent in
Arik’s hand as his grip tightened around it. He released the spoon, then set
the bowl down. “Yes, I know about the kiss.”

“I never pegged you and Dom to
gossip like a bunch of little girls.”

His eyes narrowed as he gripped
her chin, making her look at him. “We were not gossiping. Everything that
happens between two of us affects the third, you know that.”

Skylar knew she was being unfair,
but she didn’t like the guilt the swept through her as she remembered the kiss
she’d shared with Dom. “Arik, I... Hell, I’ve already been through this gambit
with Dom. I’m not really in the mood to rehash this right now.”

Arik smiled as he gently pushed a
strand of her thick, black hair behind her ear. Skylar had a face he could
happily spend the rest of his days looking at...and he would if he had his way.
She had reservations about being with him, and he could sense that she felt
uneasy with him knowing about her interlude with Dominic earlier. Sometimes she
was so easy for him to read, while other time she left him feeling so frustrated
he wanted to pull his own hair out. Arik didn’t mind that Dom had taken
advantage of his time alone with her, because he was about to do the same.

“Skylar, you don’t need to feel
bad about spending time with Dominic, just as you shouldn’t feel guilty about
us being here alone right now. The three of us must come to terms with how this
relationship will work between us.” Her shoulders slumped a little as the fire
in her eyes died. He didn’t like seeing the look of defeat that seemed to
settle over her.

“Why are you and Dom pushing this
now? Do you know how much it pisses me off to know you guys have just been
waiting to swoop in when I have no choice about my own future? I know I’m on
borrowed time, Arik. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

He let out a sigh. “You’ve known
how we’ve felt about you—”

“Have I? Both of you have watched
me, annoyed the hell out of me sticking your noses into my business, but never
once have either of you said anything about wanting to claim me until now. Being
a scroll sucks. All you guys think you need to do is snap your fingers and
poof, I’m just supposed to be happy someone wants to claim me.”

Arik tilted his head to the side
as he studied her. “Have we not courted you enough, Skylar?”

“Oh, fuck it. Forget I said
anything.”

She tried to get off the counter,
but he pressed forward, pushing his large body between her thighs to keep her
in place. He could tell that he had insulted her by the way her body had
stiffened, and he fought back the need to pull her into his arm so he could
soothe her. Skylar’s anger he could deal with, but her sadness was a different
story. And he could see that what he’d said had wounded her beneath her show of
temper.

“Move,” she snapped. “Let me up.”

He ignored her command and
reached up to gently cup the sides of her face with both of his hands. “Do you
know what having a keeper truly means to a D’Aire, Skylar?”

She took her time answering, but
finally said, “I know you bond with one woman.”

He shook his head. “It’s so much
more than that. For the D’Aire, a keeper is the most significant, precious
individual in our lives. It isn’t like the claiming that you humans do. The
bond between us would be something that can’t quite be put into words. The
reason we called them keepers is because you are just that. Once we join, you’d
become the keeper of my heart, body and soul. My heart would beat for you, I
would use my body to shield and protect you, and my soul would call to yours.
The moment we met I knew you were destined to be my keeper.”

She blinked at him. “Why haven’t
you talked to me about this before now?”

Arik hesitated for a moment
before answering. “I see that I should have made my intentions more clear to
you. It’s just...how do I explain this? When we meet our keepers, it’s almost
like feeling emotions for the first time. No, it’s like realizing that I’m been
living in a muted world until you came into my life, and now there is the
promise for more. More sensations, more emotions. Just...more. And this will
only heighten once we truly bond. The D’Aire’s lack of emotions allows us to
function without being bombarded by sexual needs or strong feelings until we
find our keepers. After that, our entire world changes.”

“That’s...” Skylar paused as she
took in what he had just said. “I didn’t realize that it was so different for
you. Is that why you don’t have sex with anyone but your keeper?”

He gave a curt nod. “We only feel
desire for our keepers. Just because I’ve never shared my body with another
does not mean I will not be able to please you. Trust me when I say, you will
not find me lacking in any way when we become intimate.”

“I’m not worried about that.” She
could tell his pride had been stung by his clipped response, but Skylar had no
doubt Arik would be more than capable as a sex partner. It was all the other
stuff involved in being with him that she wasn’t so sure about. Still, this new
information was sort of shocking. “To be honest, all the D’Aire I have ever met
have been single, and I just figured your race just wasn’t very interested in
sex.”

Arik let out a low laugh. “No, Skylar.
We are highly sexual, but it’s just with our keeper. We tend not to let others
know about the details of our keepers in order to protect them. The less others
know about our ways the better to ensure the safety of those we love. If the
public knew just how far we would go or what we would risk to make sure our
keepers stay safe, it would not be good for the D’Aire race.”

“That makes sense. Look, this is
a lot to take in, but you haven’t mentioned my biggest issue with becoming your
keeper. As soon as we bond you would have access to my mind, right? That means
you would be able to see all the memories that I don’t remember.”

“I understand you’re worried about
the mind merge that comes with the bond we will have, but you won’t be alone
when you face your past. Dom and I will be with you.”

“See? And that just makes this
seem even more impossible,” Skylar said, throwing her hands up in the air. “How
can this work if you only bond with one person? What would that mean for Dom?
Not to mention, has a D’Aire ever had a keeper that was Tarin or someone who
was part-Tarin before?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Arik said
carefully. “It means we have a lot of new ground to cover together, but I believe
you wouldn’t be destined to be my keeper if it would harm either one of us. I’m
willing to share you with Dominic because I can sense your feelings for him are
as strong as they are for me. For this to work we must all make concessions,
but never doubt this is just as difficult for me as it is for you.”

“Why?” Skylar asked, honestly
confused. “Why would you put yourself through all this?”

Arik stroked his fingers over a
slight bruise that marred her cheek from her fight with the sparring droid
earlier. He didn’t like seeing marks on his woman, but knew it was something he
would have to deal with. Skylar would never be willing to sit safely on the
sidelines.