Destiny's Shift (24 page)

before I go?” he asked, pointing to Jovan’s forehead, “or do you want to wait for human

time to heal?”

Jovan immediately jumped for human time as he still felt the waves of sadness

coming from Cohen when he had his shield down, but then he had second thoughts. If

Cohen could heal the hole in his head while Jovan had his shield in place, then maybe it

would be a win-win for him.

“Let’s do it, Cohen, but if I tell you to stop . . .”

Cohen nodded, the bags under his eyes looking like they were carrying ten pounds

of water each.

They went into Jovan’s room. “Lay down,” Cohen instructed, pointing toward the

bed.

Jovan had actually been able to get through the healing, although Cohen’s sadness

was nearly insurmountable. But Jovan had been able to block out Cohen’s feeling so they

were barely a dull roar, and all he felt was a tingling in his forehead as Cohen repaired the

damage from the drill.

“Thanks, man,” Jovan said.

Cohen nodded and left without another word.

Jovan lay on his bed for a few moments, thinking about what he had to do next.

There was one person he needed to exchange a few words with.

This wasn’t going to be fun. SR44 males were a protective bunch, and that went

for mates as well as family. Jovan had deflowered Noah’s sister, and Jovan was certain he

wasn’t happy about it.

Sighing heavily, he went upstairs to the kitchen area. Blake was resting, Annis

was with Cohen, Rayner was still sick from the dart he took, and Faith and Liberty had

gone to the store to get something for dinner. It was just him and Noah in the kitchen

area.

“I need to talk to you,” Jovan said.

Noah turned to him, his anger evident. “You slept with my sister,” he said in a

quiet voice, “and I don’t want to even see you, let alone talk to you.”

No sense in denying it. Liberty had already told Noah.

“Come on, Noah, knock it off. We’ve got to talk about it sometime.”

“You slept with my sister when I specifically asked you to keep your fucking

paws off of her!” Noah bellowed, his voice echoing off the tiled floors and counters.

Jovan sat down at the kitchen table, realizing where this was going. Noah was on

a roll, and once he got to this point, there was no stopping him or getting a word in

edgewise. He paced the kitchen, throwing out a few curses, pointing at Jovan and went on

and on.

“It is my duty as her brother to protect her. I simply asked you not to have sex

with her. You told me not to worry about it! I trusted you! She’s was a fucking virgin,

Jovan, not just physically, but she’s almost childlike in every way!”

And judging by how loud Noah was, it was going to be a while before he calmed

down.

A few minutes later, Noah sat down across from him, breathing heavily.

“Look, Noah—”

“You of all people, Jovan. Do you know she cares about you? In her innocence,

she’s probably got visions of a big mating ceremony. You, who skirts on the outside rim

of life, the guy who prefers to be alone, the guy who sometimes seems like he would

rather be locked in a box than—”

“I love her, Noah.”

Well, that shut him up.

Noah sat back in his chair and rested his ankle on his knee, stunned into silence.

He just stared at Jovan.

“I love her, and if she will have me, I want to mate her.” While getting his head

drilled, he realized that he really wanted to live, and it was because of her. He had gone

and done the one thing he never thought would be possible: he had fallen in love, and it

felt like the right thing with the right person. Liberty, the one person on this planet who

understood him and had given him the greatest gift of all: the ability to control his own.

Mating ceremonies on SR44 were always done in the color of the female’s form,

and a clear, crisp vision of Liberty walking toward him in a light pink dress flashed

through his mind.

There was a long silence.

“Are you kidding me?” Noah said.

“No. I’m dead serious. I plan to ask Liberty to become my mate, and I wanted to

get your blessing. I love her.”

Noah looked around the kitchen. “I didn’t see that one coming,” he mumbled.

“That one pretty much came out of left field and blindsided me.”

Jovan shrugged. “Sorry, man. I was surprised as well.”

Noah exhaled loudly and looked around the room, his gaze coming back on

Jovan. “If my sister will have you, then you have my permission to mate her.”

Jovan smiled, feeling like he had won the lottery. “Thanks, man.”

“But don’t fuck it up, Jovan. Don’t hurt my sister. And I do think she deserves

better than you.”

Both laughed and Jovan said, “I do too, my friend.”

It occurred to him that if he did mate Liberty, by Earth customs, he would

somehow be related to Noah. How, he wasn’t sure, but he would definitely look it up.

They stood, clasped hands, and did a quick guy hug with a tap on each other’s

back.

“I still want her to come back to Fernley with all of us,” Noah said.

Jovan didn’t like it, but he knew Noah was right. This mansion was safe, but the

silo was like Fort Knox. He wanted Liberty as protected as possible. And the next steps

he would be taking wouldn’t exactly fall into the definition of safe.

It had been discussed before that he would stay in Phoenix with Blake, and they

were going to see if they could at least get a read on the other group of SR44 males who

called themselves The Platoon. It would be strictly recon, but he didn’t want Liberty

anywhere around in case things went bad.

“Agreed. I want her in a secure location as well, Noah.”

There was a stretch of silence while they eyed each other. Jovan decided he

needed to get moving. “I’m going to check on Blake,” he said, and left Noah in the

kitchen.

Back downstairs, he quietly slipped into Blake’s room and sat down.

Blake had saved Liberty, even taking two bullets for her simply because Jovan

asked him to, and he thought of everything Blake had given up to help them. His job. He

had gone against his government, and if they ever identified him, he would be wanted for

treason or some shit like that. Basically, Blake had given up everything in his human life

to understand what he was and to help their people.

Their people.

Although Jovan hated Colonists, it was interesting to think that him and Blake

were carved out of the same stone, so to speak. Blake was part SR44ian, even though

Daddy had gone bad, his soul turned to black, and he had become a Colonist. However,

he still had SR44 DNA floating around in there, so Blake was part of their people.

And lying in front of him was proof that just because someone’s parental heritage

was bad news didn’t have to mean that the progeny swung that way. People could come

from bad situations and make something of themselves, just as Blake had done, and gave

it all up for them.

The question had been what would happen to Blake after the rescue mission was

completed. They had three options: first, they could kill him, which didn’t sit well with

Jovan at all. Second, they could let him go, which did put Blake in danger and into a

pretty crappy life of being on the run and always looking over his shoulder.

Or they could ask him to join forces with them to help with the Colonists, their

offspring, and the shit storm that was coming with The Platoon who wanted to kill all the

Saviors. And maybe some more FBI.

Jovan put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. The thought of it all made

him tired.

Chapter 48

Liberty found Jovan sitting at Blake’s bedside. As she gently placed her hand on

his shoulder, he jumped.

He turned to her and smiled. He looked exhausted. “Hey,” he whispered.

“Hello, Jovan. How is he?”

Jovan shrugged. “Cohen was in here a while ago, so unless he missed something,

Blake should be waking up in the next day or so.”

Liberty stared at Blake on the bed, his eyes closed, his face pale. Truly, the events

of Jovan’s rescue had been terrifying. She shivered as she thought back to that night.

Without thinking, Liberty had run from the car when she saw Jovan, simply wanting to be

close to him. Upon reflection, it was not a smart thing to do. She hadn’t given any

thoughts to the bullets being fired, her sole focus on Jovan. It was only when she reached

him that fear hit her as she took in the whole situation.

Then Blake had taken her back to the car and was shot. It still made her shudder

as she remembered being pinned beneath him and feeling the warmth of his blood seep

into her clothing. She had felt as though she would suffocate.

“Can I talk to you a minute? In my room?” Jovan whispered.

“Of course.”

They left Blake and went next door to Jovan’s room. He quietly shut the door,

pressed her up against the wall, and brought his lips to hers.

A familiar heat exploded within her, and she ran her fingers through his hair,

feeling weak in the knees.

After a few moments, he picked her up, hurried across the room, and laid her out

on the bed. Looming over her, he was a behemoth of a male, and desire bloomed within

her. “I have this problem I need you to help me with,” he said, leaning down over her.

“What’s that?” she stammered.

His raw, masculine scent filled her senses, his hair tickling her neck as he brought

his mouth to her ear. “I don’t know where to start,” he whispered, sending a chill down

her spine.

“Start what?” she asked through a constricted throat.

His lips found the area below her earlobe. “Do I start here?” he said, gently

kissing her neck. “Or do I start here?” His lips found her other ear.

He moved down her body and lifted up her sweater. He slowly peppered her

stomach with kisses, and then his tongue traced around her bellybutton. “Or here?”

His lips had her speechless, and she couldn’t answer.

Bringing her to a sitting position, he got on his knees in front of her and whipped

the sweater over her head. He licked her nipple through the soft blue silk, and Liberty

moaned.

“Or maybe I should start here?”

Flicking the clasp of her bra, he brought it down over her shoulders and tossed it

to the side.

He took each breast in his hands and gently massaged them, causing her nipples

to become rock-hard pebbles. He flicked each with his tongue, sending waves of pleasure

through her, and then delicately pushed her back down on the bed.

Reaching for her jeans, he undid the buttons and slid them slowly down her legs

to reveal a small triangle of blue silk covering her sex that matched her bra. He let his

fingers trace over the silk, and her body shivered as the soft fabric touched her secret

flesh. Using his knuckle, he applied just a little more pressure.

“Or perhaps this is the best place to start,” he said, his eyes glittering as her hips

grinded into his hand.

Pulling away, he stood up and lifted the green t-shirt over his head. He then

reached for the button on his jeans and allowed them to pool at his feet.

The light from the room hugged and shadowed the ridges of his muscled body,

making him look even larger. He stood before her, his sex jutting out from his hips, and

the coil in Liberty’s belly begged for release.

Jovan got down on his knees again and ran his hands up and down her legs.

“But see, there’s another problem,” he said, meeting her stare.

“What’s that?” she breathed.

He lightly kissed the inner thigh of her right leg, and then said in a soft voice, “I

want to fuck you. Hard.”

Nipping the inner thigh of her left leg, he said, “I want to make love to you.

Gently.”

Kissing her silk-covered sex, his eyes never leaving hers, he said, “I want to taste

you until you orgasm on my lips.”

Sitting back, he continued to rub her legs from her knees to the top of her sex.

“And I also need to talk to you. Do you see my problem, Liberty? I don’t know where to

start or what to do first.”

He brought his mouth back to her sex, and she could feel the heat of his breath on

her delicate skin.

“So what do you think, Liberty? Should we talk first? Or should I just start here?”

He pushed the silk aside and ran his finger down her slick flesh. Liberty’s hips

bowed from the bed as she closed her eyes.

“Yes, Jovan,” she said, “there. Start there. We can talk later.”

Liberty opened her eyes just in time to see Jovan ripping the silk string in two.

Chapter 49

Liberty and Jovan lay side by side, the rumpled sheet pulled up to their waists,

staring at each other. Liberty ran her fingers through his hair, loving the way the silky

strands fell around his face.

“I really, really need a haircut,” he said.

“Oh, no. Please, Jovan. Don’t do that. I adore your hair at this length.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Please. Don’t cut it.”

“Your wish is my command, my little package of trouble.”

“What does that mean?”

He smiled. “It means that you are small, but have caused me big trouble.”

Liberty pulled the sheet up to her neck, upset that she would be referred to as

“trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Jovan, I don’t understand. I have helped you get control of your gift. I

have participated in your rescue. We have had the sex . . . I mean, sex. I don’t believe I