Ecstasy Bound (19 page)

Braden saw how upset the possibility made Pitch. He was a good officer. Always had been. Smart and quick. Braden clapped his shoulder. “No. Don’t give it a thought. I just feel that I need to be with my family while this threat is looming. Once you’re done, if I haven’t found anything on the computer, you can take over.”

“All right,” Pitch answered, still sounding a bit wary.

Erik held out his hand. “Give me your disruptor.”

Surprise crossed Pitch’s face. “You want my weapon? Why?” He glanced over at Braden, concern even more evident in his voice now.

“You won’t need it as long as you’re not protecting Alexa,” Erik explained.

His stare returned to Erik and narrowed slightly. “You won’t need it either. And since we’ll be working together in the same space, what’s the point?”

Erik’s eyes hardened in response. “Are you refusing a direct order, Warrior?”

Pitch stiffened. He hesitated in his response. But only for a moment. “Um, no. Of course not.” He handed over the disruptor, though reluctantly.

Braden knew a security officer felt naked without his weapon. He would swear that Tara had slept with hers. As a command officer, Erik had a right to a weapon if one was available and taking it didn’t jeopardize a life or a project. He would have ordered likewise. Pitch knew the regulations, whether he agreed with them or not.

“If Frost or the Egesa show up, everyone needs to congregate in the decontamination room. We’ll be able to control the atmosphere from in there and can suffocate anyone outside the room. Since we don’t have many weapons, that might be our only chance. If this facility is breached, whoever can get to a comm panel first needs to send out an alarm with instructions.”

“Will do, Braden,” Erik and Pitch both answered in unison.

“All right.” Braden nodded. “Let’s get my family moved.”

When Leila and Josella reentered the conference room, Sam’s head turned, his attention immediately zeroing in on the women, eager and also very anxious to hear what they had to say. Laszlo entered close behind them as if he’d been waiting in the corridor. Brianna had returned earlier and Sam looked over at her. A mixture of concern, wariness and anticipation showed on her face. Her feelings obviously mirrored his own.

They rose from the chairs they’d found in the corner behind one of the hanging sheets. They walked over to greet everyone. Sam’s heart rate picked up as he waited for the news.

“Well?” Laszlo asked. “What were the test results?”

“She’s compatible,” Leila answered. “She won’t be severely affected.”

Won’t be
severely
affected—the words echoed in Sam’s head. “But she will be affected?” The test results sounded less than reassuring to him.

“She most likely won’t be fully protected from all adverse affects. But the chemicals shouldn’t harm her in any permanent way. And she’s agreed to be a part of the rite.”

Sam breathed an inward sigh of relief, feeling much better. He noticed a slight blush cross Josella’s face and she purposely didn’t look at him. Or so it seemed. She probably was not as sexually liberated as the Warriors. He knew her to be from another planet and Halah’s half sister but that’s all he knew about her, other than that she wasn’t mated. She didn’t talk much. Needing to reassure her of her choices, he reached out and touched her hand.

Her head snapped up and she looked at him in surprise.

“Are you sure you’re all right with this?” He didn’t want any woman to feel forced into having sex with him. Even though the stakes were high, Josella had no ties to Earth and this really wasn’t her fight.

“Yes. Of course. I understand how important the rite is. I want to help.”

“I only want you to do this if you’re truly going to be okay with it. Because if you’re not, even knowing you’re helping isn’t going to make you comfortable. From what I understand, I might not be in full control of myself at all times. I don’t want you living with any regrets, given what’s going to happen in here.”

She squeezed his hand. “I’ll be all right. Really. I understand what might happen.

Leila explained it to me.”

Brianna eased her arm through his. “She’s good to go, Sam. You don’t need to coddle her.”

He dropped Josella’s hand and glanced at Brianna. Her move and clipped words held a very distinct tone of jealousy. As did the look in her eyes. He almost chuckled but thought better of it.

Still, he didn’t want to take advantage of Josella. Maybe she wasn’t as shy and inexperienced as he’d first assumed though, for she seemed certain in her decision.

They had few options and he was grateful for her willingness to participate, so he hoped she wouldn’t change her mind once the rite started. As he understood things, she wouldn’t need to get involved unless Brianna required help. Maybe she’d simply end up being an observer. The others thought otherwise but very little seemed to be going as planned or expected lately.

“Josella is ready,” Laszlo said, echoing Brianna’s words, seemingly convinced enough to proceed without further delay. “I’ll call Kam in for standby.”

Sam stiffened. Kam? Laszlo couldn’t be serious. Not a good choice. On more than one level. He didn’t say anything for he doubted his words would carry any weight in the situation. He had to wonder though… How would Halah react if her mate needed to fuck her sister? In his mind, Pitch would have made a better choice. Not that he wanted any males present but Pitch wasn’t mated. Besides, he’d seen Pitch and Josella making eyes at one another.

Josella cleared her throat. “Kam?” The tone in her voice reflected her own apparent concerns.

“Yes, Kam. Is there a problem?”

Sam didn’t understand how Laszlo wouldn’t realize that Kam presented a problem.

He saw it clearly and Josella obviously saw it. Maybe not being able to identify, think through and analyze the possible outcome of situations was part of Laszlo’s weakness.

A mental weakness that Sam hadn’t noticed before now. As he glanced at Josella, he felt sorry for the young woman. She was in a very awkward position all the way around.

“I don’t think Halah—” When a frustrated look crossed Laszlo’s face, she quieted and lowered her eyes.

Sam’s protective instincts rose to a level he couldn’t ignore. He had to speak up about this, even if they all dismissed his words. “Wouldn’t Pitch be a better idea, Laszlo? No personal connection exists with him that might cause a problem later.”

“Yes, Pitch.” Josella’s eyes lit up and she shot him a grateful look.

“No,” Laszlo and Brianna answered at the same time.

Sam looked over at Brianna. He studied the odd look on her face, wondering what her objection could be.

“Pitch is guarding Alexa and the triplets,” Laszlo said.

Sam’s eyes returned to Laszlo. “Replace him with Kam.”

“Pitch’s presence could cause too many problems in here. Earthlings are not known for containing their jealousies. I’m sure Brianna has informed you of their past association. I’m a bit surprised you even suggested him.”

“Association?”

“Laszlo,” Brianna said. “I haven’t—”

“There won’t be a problem with Kam,” Leila supplied quickly. “Xylons don’t hold the same restrictive relationship attitudes when it comes to Initiation participation.”

“Josella and I aren’t Xylons. Not even partly. What association? Brianna? What did that mean?” Obviously it was something important or Laszlo wouldn’t have brought it up.

“I’m sorry, Brianna. I just assumed—”

“That’s all right, Laszlo.” With a sigh, Brianna pulled Sam aside and lowered her voice as she spoke. “There are a couple of issues here that could cause us problems.

Relationship issues. Pitch might not be able to handle seeing you with Josella. I’m sure you’ve seen his interest in her. It could adversely affect the rite’s outcome.”

“But Xylons don’t mind sharing during Initiations. At other times too, from what I know. More than one of you have said as much. And Leila just confirmed it.”

“It’s not that simple. You’re not a Warrior. You don’t play by the same rules or think the same. We do feel jealousy, Sam. It’s a normal emotion, even for us. It’s just that situations exist in our society where we have a more open or relaxed attitude.”

“Yes. This is one of them, right?”

“Normally it would be. An Initiation is a duty. It’s not personal. But our situation down here is anything but normal. Including this ceremony.”

“Hmm. All right. I’ll give you that.” When she said nothing further, he realized he’d have to ask once again for an explanation of Laszlo’s words. “What’s this association thing about?”

Brianna looked away a moment before once more meeting his gaze. “Um, Pitch and I have been together. At a Joining Party. It didn’t mean anything special. It was just sex.

It’s what happens at those gatherings. I didn’t see the point in telling you.”

“You and—” Sam’s head was spinning and he clenched his fingers into fists. She had been with Pitch. Sexually. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, working hard at maintaining his control. He knew he couldn’t very well fault her for what she’d done before they met. He hadn’t exactly been a choir boy himself. But still, the fact bothered him.

If Pitch had ended up involved in the ceremony and had sprung that bit of info on him either on purpose or by accident during the rite, Sam would have gone nuts. He was glad he’d found out beforehand.

Now he was going to say something completely out of character but more was at stake here than just his own desires. “I still think Pitch is the better choice to join us.”

“Why?” Brianna looked at him in surprise.

“He and Josella will be comfortable together. You and he will be comfortable together. The other choices are Kam, Erik, Delemar or Laszlo. Laszlo isn’t well. Delemar is too old. Erik and Kam are mated. And I don’t care what you say, I can’t believe that wouldn’t cause a problem down the line.”

“How would it feel for you to have Pitch here? Especially knowing I was with him.

Earth’s sexual attitudes are quite different from ours. If it causes a problem during the rite, it could jeopardize the entire Initiation.”

“I’d rather not have any males here at all. You know that. Pitch, well, I’ll contain any negative feelings I might have. If you say it was just sex between you two, then I’ll believe that and try to keep in mind the differences between our two cultures and the sexual attitudes of each.” He wasn’t quite convinced he could really do that, though the words sounded good to his ears.

“Are you sure?”

No. He wasn’t sure about anything, especially lately. “If it’s Pitch, at least he’ll be the only one I need to deal with in my head. Unless you’ve had sex with someone else down here too.” If so, he might need to punch something just to get the frustration out of his system.

A smile tugged at her lips. “No. No one else who’s down here.”

As they spoke, Laszlo walked over to the comm panel. “Kam, this is Laszlo.

Report.”

Sam’s head turned. “He’s still going with Kam.”

“I’ll tell him I concur with the decision to use Pitch. It might carry some weight.”

A male voice filtered into the room before Brianna spoke up. “Laszlo, this is Braden.

Kam is otherwise engaged.”

A look of relief crossed Josella’s face.

Laszlo obviously didn’t feel the same for a low growl escaped his throat. He turned his head. “Looks like you will get your Warrior of choice,” he said before turning back to Braden. “Then send Pitch.”

“Also engaged.”

The look on Josella’s face immediately fell and deep disappointment showed in her wide green eyes.

“Well, un-engage him. We need him for standby in the Initiation. None of the Branded women can participate.”

“Everyone is on emergency projects right now and can’t be pulled. Except Delemar, though he’s not answering my calls and I can’t find him.”

Laszlo’s brow furrowed and he seemed deep in thought. After a moment his expression changed to resignation and his shoulders sagged. “Send either Pitch, Kam or Erik over here as soon as one of them becomes available. I’ll take anyone I can get.”

“Will do.”

Laszlo turned back to them and frowned. “Whoever is freed from their other duties first will participate. That’s just how it has to be. I wanted Kam here because he has the most experience with alien-involved Initiations and is also more knowledgeable of Earth’s customs and morals than the others. If it’s one of the others though, we’ll use whoever we can get. In the meantime, we’ll make do. If absolutely necessary, I can help out.”

“I don’t recommend you participate, Laszlo,” Leila said. “While your system is out of kilter, it wouldn’t be wise and could weaken you further.”

“Let’s not worry about my system right now. We need to get started with this before time gets away from us. The rite we’ll be performing is a transitional ceremony.

It is not the same as a regular Initiation, though the steps will be similar. Obviously, we cannot put all Earth males through this. Time-wise it’s not feasible and many would refuse outright. For those who did agree, they might balk at certain steps. It would not work. So what Leila and I have come up with is a way to get Briggs protected enough to survive an attack by an Egesa or exposure to their alien diseases. We will then extract the protective substances from his sperm and synthesize it into a formula that other Earth males can be injected with to provide the same protection.”

Sam went over the steps of the Initiation in his head. Not those just related by Laszlo but the details that Brianna had informed him of while they’d been waiting for the test results. Everything these people did revolved around sex in some way, even their medical procedures. Sex seemed to be the center of their whole existence. Not that he was complaining. He just felt amazed by it all.

“Won’t you need another full-flooded Earth male to test the final formula on?”

Brianna asked.

“Yes,” Leila answered. “We’ll have to test it on Earth. We’ll ask for a scientist or male military volunteer after we get there.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Sam asked.

“There won’t be anything more we can do.”

Sam didn’t like the sound of that. It was all such a long shot. Everything was working against them—from the outside poisonous gases that might still kill them if they couldn’t effectively configure the decontamination room, to relying on a couple of ships in who knew what condition, to hoping the Warriors’ outposts still existed, to this Initiation, to getting all the way back to Earth, to the formula actually working after they got there.

Laszlo clapped him on the back. “One worry at a time, Colonel.”

He nodded, knowing his feelings must have shown on his face. He did his best to force neutrality into his features. Letting his thoughts and feelings show could be turned against him in a critical moment. His training had taught him that. He knew better than to relax his guard in a group setting like this. Particularly an alien setting.