Favored by Felix (11 page)

“Is sex all you think about?” The general
might pounce at any moment. She stomped past Felix in an attempt to outrun the
turmoil in her mind.

Felix grabbed her arm and hauled her to a
halt. “What is wrong with you? You’ve looked like a thundercloud ever since we
left the village.”

“What’s a thundercloud?”
All right.
Even
she
could hear the sulkiness coloring her tone. She sucked in a
quick breath, placed her hand on her chest and rubbed in an attempt to ease the
heartache.

“You’re grumpy. Why?”

He didn’t intend to ease up this time. It
was stamped on his features. Casey rubbed her chest again. The ache intensified
instead of receding. The tight sensation crawled up her throat. She swallowed.
Opened her mouth to refute him. Swallowed again.

“Casey.” He shook her a little. “Tell me
what’s wrong. It’s eating you up inside.”

“I’m absent without leave,” she said, and
the tears finally spilled over, running down her cheeks. “Never mind. This
waterhole. Which direction?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“The military won’t see it that way,” she
snapped. “They think in black and white.”

“We can explain,” Felix said.

“Won’t matter. The general will order a
punishment.” Of that she was sure. He wouldn’t like his precious schedule
thrown off.

“Your father?”

“Yes, the general. Now if you don’t mind,
the waterhole…” she prompted, her tone a shade shy of nasty.

“Keep following the trail. There’s a colony
of bat-birds up ahead. Try not to startle them because they shit in
self-defense. Gus thought it was funny.”

Casey didn’t answer, the pain in her chest
growing with each step closer to the resort. They would’ve tried her
communicator first. It was sitting in Felix’s suite. Then they’d contact her
family—in this case, the general.
He
would’ve contacted the family home
to discover if she were there. He might call Aunt Elsa, maybe her brothers,
despite them not being close. Then, once he’d ordered his aide to do all that,
he would assume the worst and initialize tracking protocol.

She’d have to keep an eye skyward once they
exited the jungle. The new stealth ships made no sound, and they could either
take her out or snatch her in their retrieval beam if they had a clear
sighting.

They wouldn’t care about Felix. If he were
injured, or worse, died while they were retrieving her, top brass would see his
loss as that of necessary casualty.

Casey felt her mouth twist into a grimace.
Of course, if they discovered he had a dual nature, they might consider him
suitable to recruit. It wouldn’t be voluntary. No, in this case, they’d snatch
him up and force him into service. She’d seen it before, and the abuse of power
sickened her to the soul.

She couldn’t allow them to haul Felix or
his siblings away.

It was better if she severed ties, ignored
the way she felt about Felix. And best she start now, even though it made the
pain in her chest spread.

She’d act the bitchy female, be generally
annoying, and as soon as they arrived back at the resort, she’d board the first
shuttle she could. Even a cargo shuttle, if that was all she could get. The
sooner she put distance between herself and the people she’d come to love, the
safer it would be for all concerned.

“It’s my duty to return to service. I made
a commitment to the military. You understand commitment and duty, Felix?”
Aw,
low blow.
“I’ll contact command on our return and request a personal
interview with the general to explain the situation.”

Like that was going to happen.
She didn’t intend to make this easy for the general. She’d request
more time, more information. Attempt to stall in a last-ditch effort to make
the general see reason because
she didn’t want this
.

Acceding to the general’s command would
make her miserable. Oh, they might wipe her memories, even give her new ones in
the process; they might make her stronger, they might make her bigger, but they
couldn’t give her love and respect.

Although she knew she wouldn’t win, she had
to try. For the first time in her life, she had to take a firm stand against
the general.

Temper pumped through his veins.
No way.
No way did he intend to lose Casey now that he’d found her. He glared at her
slim back as she plunged through the jungle in front of him. She was his mate.

Mine
, his
feline roared.

Felix’s steps lengthened to keep up with her.
She was practically running now, feet thudding the ground and breaking sticks,
crackling leaves beneath her feet in the growing darkness. His eyesight was
good in the dark, but Casey didn’t have the same night vision.

She tripped, cursed and picked herself up
before he could offer his help. He hung back but watched her to make sure she
didn’t blunder into danger. Anything more dangerous than the bat-birds. They’d
heard her coming, and he could hear their agitated chirps. A couple of them
were already dropping their loads. He could smell the indescribable stench.

“Casey, you need to go slower.”

“I don’t have to do anything.”

Was it his imagination or was she crying
again? Generally he gave weeping women a wide berth, but something was eating
Casey alive. To get to the rank of captain, she would’ve seen a lot of active
service. She was tough—both mentally and physically. Yet she’d cried a lot
since he’d known her. She’d had that stress attack at the capture compound. She
didn’t sleep, didn’t eat much either.

Yeah, he agreed with his mother. Casey was suffering
from severe stress, but what was causing it?

Her last mission?

Or something else?

Felix moved with caution since he didn’t
want to get covered with bat-bird crap again. At this pace, they’d get to the
swimming hole in under an hour. They could use the same shelter he and Gus had
built. Make use of their time in a more productive manner.

He’d worm the truth out of her somehow.
Because he couldn’t fix something he didn’t know about.

Casey needed fixing, and he was the man to
do the mending.

Mine
, his
feline growled.

Ours
, Felix
agreed, and his feline stretched beneath his skin.

Up ahead, Casey stumbled. A bat-bird let
out its eerie shriek—a combo between a high-pitch squawk and a sonar beep.

Casey picked herself up, let out a sharp
curse.

“Casey…” he warned.

Casey shrieked and gave a disgusted shout. “What
was that?”

“Don’t make any noise and maybe the
bat-birds will settle.” Low chance, but maybe it would quiet her anger.

Casey stopped, allowing him to catch up. “I
thought you were making that up,” she whispered.

Felix wanted to laugh, and would have if
the stench didn’t make his eyes water. Pale-blue poop covered her hair, dripped
over her forehead and trickled down to her chin. He composed himself with
difficulty. “I don’t lie to you.”

Not quite true, but she wasn’t exactly
being forthcoming with him either. He figured that made them even.

“How much farther to the swimming hole?”

“Maybe half an hour.”

She gave a tiny groan and he grinned.

“Want me to lead?”

“Please.”

He slipped past her and took lead, taking
care with his foot placement. The bat-birds were all awake now, making anxious
noises in the trees above their heads. Casey was having difficulty seeing and
kept stomping on sticks, making noises.

“
Scurvy sky pirates!
” she shrieked.
“Go faster! Ugh, this is even more disgusting than the stink ointment. Aw,
crap!” She groaned at another foul strike.

Felix knew better than to stand still. The
rest of the colony would crap in sympathy, the more nervous they got. He kept
moving at a fast pace until he was out of range. Once there, he halted to wait
for Casey.

His lips twitched upon seeing her. Crap
covered her shoulders and most of the sarong the village women had given her.
His nose bore the brunt of the assault, and he pinched it between finger and
thumb.

“Funny,” she gritted out. “Keep moving. I
want to wash.”

“Yes ma’am.”

She snarled and a chuckle escaped him. At
least she was worrying more about the crap than whatever was troubling her.
Maybe this was a good thing.

He started walking and she stumbled after
him.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” she muttered.

He slowed. “It’s not too far. Put your hand
in the waistband of my trousers. I’ll stop if there’s a problem.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Her cool fingers sliding beneath the waistband
of his trousers gave him a jolt. His feline twisted, sensing her proximity.
Soon, he promised.
Soon.

They walked in silence, Felix turning over
the pieces of the Casey puzzle in his mind.

The tangle of trees and plants started to
thin, and Felix heard the bubble of the stream that flowed into the swimming
hole Gus had shown him. “Not far,” he said.

“I’ve visited a lot of planets,” Casey
said. “But I have never suffered from such bad body odor before I came to Ione.”

“Me either,” Felix said and didn’t attempt
to smother his amusement. “Tiraq comes with challenges.” He came to a halt at a
spot where a stream crossed the trail. “You’d better wash off the worst of the
bat-bird crap in the stream here. We don’t want to foul the water in the pool,
which is upstream a bit to our left. If you go to the right, the water is hip-deep
a bit farther along.”

“Very funny. Didn’t you get hit?”

“Not this time. I did on the journey to the
village.”

Casey muttered under her breath, and Felix
watched her stumble into the middle of the stream and start scrubbing at her
skin. She ducked her head right under the water and came up spluttering. “It’s
colder than I thought it would be.”

“Cold or clean?”

“Like I said. Funny man.” She continued
washing and removed her sarong to rub the fabric against a rock that jutted out
from the water. “There,” she said, after another five minutes. “That should do
it.”

She waded out of the stream, water dripping
off her hair. She shivered.

“It’s not far to the pool. Part of it is
warmer. A hot spring, Gus said.”

“
Now
you tell me,” Casey complained.

“I thought a big tough soldier like you
could cope with anything?”

She froze, all expression sliding off her face,
and Felix kicked himself.

No, damn it! He was tired of tiptoeing
around her problems. After they’d swum and warmed up, they’d slip into the
shelter and make love. Once he’d helped her relax, he’d ask the hard questions
and expect her to answer.

Time for them both to face the truth.

They were meant to stay together, and
nothing could stop it happening while he still had breath in his body.

Felix stopped by the shelter and dropped
the bag of provisions the villagers had given them. Casey’s clothes were packed
in the top, so at least she’d have dry clothes for the morning. He stripped off
his boots and clothing.

Casey waited beside him then followed him
into the edge of the pool.

“It’ll be cold at first. The warm spot is
over on the other side.”

Casey seemed to cheer up a bit once they
got warm. They splashed and laughed until exhausted, then they let the warm
water soothe them.

“Is this the only warm spot?”

“So Gus indicated,” Felix said. “I think
the water goes cool quickly once it runs out of the pool. Difficult to know for
sure since we couldn’t communicate with words, but we got good at sign
language. Are you ready to get out?”

“I feel clean again, and I can’t smell that
disgusting bird crap any longer.”

“Memorable, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

If the military police were actually on
their way, then this was the last night Casey would spend with Felix. Against
her better judgment, instead of sniping at him, she should enjoy the time they
had left. Now that the lunar-moon had come out, she could see the glint in his
eyes, knew what it meant. He wanted to have sex.

Make love
,
her innermost self corrected.

While there were lots of reasons for her to
resist, she wasn’t going to.

Make memories. Savor them while they
last.

She followed him to the shelter, shivering
in the breeze.

“In you go,” he said.

“Have you checked for visitors?”

“There aren’t any. I’d smell them, hear
them. The shelter is clear.”

“I’ll take your word for it, and take it
out on your hide if you’re wrong.”

“Sounds kinky, but maybe you shouldn’t give
me ideas,” he said in a low growl. “I owe you a spanking for not staying out of
danger.”

Casey twisted to stare at him. “What? I
helped saved Mitchell butt by going with them. The skirmish could have turned
nasty if it weren’t for me.”

“Not the point. I made a promise and I
will
deliver.”

Hadn’t she promised the general she’d go through
with the nanotechnology?

Not the same
,
her mind screeched.
Not the same at all.

Her shoulders sagged. If he spanked her, so
be it. Something else to remember about Felix—his penchant for spanking.

Casey crawled into the dark shelter. There
wasn’t much room, but at least she was out of the cool breeze. The dried leaves
cushioned her body. Not too bad.

Felix joined her and drew Casey into his
arms. She smelled the masculine scent of him, the greenery surrounding them,
and sighed. Safety felt like this, had the same aroma.

He kissed her and she murmured against his
mouth. She had no idea what she was trying to say, but she savored the easy
thrust of his tongue into her mouth. The taste of him swept over her, familiar
now. She burrowed her fingers into his hair, gripped hard in a silent demand to
take the contact deeper, faster.