Quiver (2 page)

Anna was leaving home.

Chapter Two

The staff at Lunar Base rushed her to a medical facility before escorting her to an outbound shuttle.

Anna didn’t know what to expect, but the nine-foot lavender aliens who seemed to have no interest in her whatsoever were a bit of a shock.

One of them bowed low, which was an impressive feat. “Lady, I will take you to your chamber.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I wasn’t expecting you to speak my language.”

It bobbed its head again. “One of us had to learn. I was chosen. Please, come this way.”

Anna followed it down a long hallway, and when they stopped in what looked like a cargo bay, she looked around. “Where are we?”

“This is your sleep chamber. You will be in stasis while we travel. It would be beneficial for you if you were still in heat when you arrive. As you have four days left, we wish to preserve that time. Please, step in.”

The creature touched a wall panel, and it slid open. Inside was a harness that would support her and hold her. She swallowed and stepped inside. Norz had told her that it would be best to follow all directions until she couldn’t be fired into space.

Anna settled, and the door was closed. She saw her mocha skin and whimsically purple hair for a moment before her mind went blank.

* * * *

His Imperial Highness, Caalos Renix, looked at the document on his desk and smiled. “Hydra, come and read this!”

His wife came around the corner, waddling in that cute way that had begun only a few days earlier. She was nearing her time.

“What is it, Caalos?”

He grinned when she refused to call him by a formal name, no matter what they did.

“One of your species is on her way here for a mate. She is a Nyal descendant and in heat. They want me to organize a bride auction for her.”

Hydrangea Renix dropped into his lap with a huff. “She is going to be sold like a cow?”

“Not if you don’t want her to be. I am giving you the authorization to speak on behalf of the Terrans, beginning now.” He ran his hand over her swollen belly, and the kick knocked his hand back.

“Fine.” His wife frowned and read the document and the med file. “Well, she needs a mate immediately, so an auction is definitely in order if that is the only way to get a guy for her, but I think you should contact all the Guardians. Terran women seem particularly able to deal with the stresses of being the mate to a Guardian.”

“You have managed very well, Hydra.”

She smiled and stroked his cheek. “I had reason to want it. Perhaps you should ask Rhoda if she has created anything with Anna’s form on it lately.”

He grinned. “It is like you read my mind.”

* * * *

Quake looked at the message on his screen. The point of origin was Prince Drehl of Sawko and the information contained within was fascinating.

He opened a com line between the two Guardian bases and smiled at his old friend. “You are setting me up?”

Drehl grinned. “Not me. Rhoda. She has been painting Terrans in our space, and we have found one who seems to be located near Hemcorl. Or, she will be. She is a Terran of Nyal descent, is currently in heat and matches your biological requirements very well.”

“Right now? If she isn’t here, why will she still be in heat when she arrives?”

“They froze her so that she can be put into a bride auction as soon as she arrives. I am fairly confident that if you want her, we can have her ship redirected to Hemcorl.”

“Give me a few minutes to look at her stats.” Quake nodded and backgrounded the call.

He looked at the image of the woman and assessed her. Her brown skin was within normal tolerances for the Nyal, but her lavender shock of hair was a bit of a surprise. He pulled up pictures of her family and understanding dawned.

The history of her family was primarily verbal. A journal had explained her sudden rush to leave her world for places with an understanding of her biology.

Without his instigation, an image popped up, sent by Drehl. Quake leaned back and stared at the picture. The woman in the file was wrapped in the arms of a Guardian, and the Guardian in question was Quake. His arms covered her breasts and wrapped her hips; his helmet was pressed to her head, his lips near her ear.

Quake noted the swell of the woman’s belly, and he smiled slightly. It was a very heavy-handed hint, and Drehl was not going to let him miss it.

With his mother pestering him to give the family an heir, this was an opportunity delivered by fortune. He would get his mate, have a child and let her live out her life with whatever pursuits she chose.

He could offer Anna Baxter of Terra a comfortable life and the danger of her home would not be visited on her here. Hemcorl was a wonderful place to raise a family; he only needed to ask his mother about that.

He grinned as he thought of his mother’s face when he told her that the new female in the family wasn’t pure Nyal. She had a minor title and genetic relationship to the Imperial House. That and a grandchild would have to be enough for Yem-lal Aricor.

Quake brought up Drehl’s communication link again. “I will take her. What is the price?”

Drehl grinned. “Well, the Imperial House is offering her to you as a good-will gesture. Any bride price paid will be held in trust for her to use as she wills.”

Quake nodded and checked the family accounts and how much was paid for an average bride. “I will put seventy-eight thousand credits in a trust.”

“That is quite the sum.”

Quake grinned. “Twice what my father paid for my mother. She will hate that.”

Drehl chuckled. “I will send the confirmation to Caalos, and he will divert the transport to you.”

Quake heard an all-too familiar noise. “Excellent. Now, the alarms are going, so I must return to work. Please, excuse me.”

He closed the system and got to his feet, striding across the room and grabbing his breastplate and helmet.

Quake grinned as he strode out toward the riot runner and followed the other Guardians to the skies. He buckled on his protective armour and pulled his helmet with concealing visor over his head.

He was flying out a bachelor and returning as a groom-to-be. It was already a good start to his day.

* * * *

Anna opened her eyes in a pristine bedroom. It was wide, open and had a sweeping view out the balcony on the other side of the room.

She shivered and wrapped the sheet around her, getting to her feet carefully and shuffling to the sunlight and soft breezes coming through the open doors.

She stepped out onto the balcony and looked at the green-tinted sky, the mountains that carried a rich-blue hue and the surf that pounded against rocks below with a lavender foam.

Anna tightened the sheet around her again as the wind whipped at the fabric. Over to one side and sixty feet or more away from her current location, a flat flagstone area contained four men, each working on something that looked like a motorcycle crossed with a snowmobile.

She watched as they joked around with each other, but the wind shifted again, and she couldn’t hear their voices. The wind swept them away.

A moment later, she was staring down as all four men got to their feet and stared toward her location. Anna squeaked and backed into the confines of the room she had woken in. Their eyes were glowing red.

* * * *

Quake glanced at the other Guardians, and he snarled. “Not yours.”

Reverb snorted. “You may have paid, but if she chooses after her mating, there is a chance for one of us.”

Quake struck him, and the other two grabbed at him, hauling him back. He used his talent to shake them until they let go.

Reverb staggered back, rubbing his jaw. “So, you already synced to her?”

“I did. While she slept.” He snarled it.

“Then, go and try and woo your bride. She looks a little skittish.” Reverb kept back but smiled as he waved Quake off. “As second in command, that is an order, commander.”

Quake took a rag and wiped off his hands. “I don’t need time off.”

“She is already starting your rut and you haven’t even met her. You had better get to her before your mother finds her way to the base.” Reverb winked. “Go.”

Quake relaxed, but he still felt the underlying tension that had begun the moment he touched Anna.

The Meradia blood that was mixed with his Nyal family made it very easy for him to attach to the right woman. If she hadn’t been the right one, he wouldn’t be a seething mass of need.

He paused outside her chamber and collected his thoughts, willing his body to calm so that he wouldn’t frighten his bride. He was a little much to adapt to under normal circumstances, and she knew nothing about the culture she had been dumped into.

The language burst she had been given was the only bit of information forwarded to her. Communication was going to be key, but she would be able to learn what she needed about Hemcorl and those who dwelled there.

He steeled himself for a bout of self-control and opened her door.

Chapter Three

There was nowhere to hide, but she tried to step behind the bed anyway.

She stared as the huge man approached, taking in the breadth of his shoulders that were twice the distance of hers, the narrow waist and muscular everything else.

His skin was a bronzer shade of brown than hers was, but the rich scarlet hair made everything look perfectly appropriate.

His wide jaw was tense, and his chocolate-brown eyes kept flicking to red, like a malfunctioning strobe light. His nose was sharp and wide. He looked nearly human, just a lot bigger.

The clothing he was wearing was... well fitted. Every muscle group was outlined, but the piping that trailed from shoulder to the top of his boots made the black articles quite stylish.

He stared at her, and she stared back. Finally, she broke the silence. “Hello.”

He jerked when she spoke. “Anna Baxter, I am Guardian Quake, and I am your husband.”

She swayed. “What?”

“It was decided to spare you the awkward exposure of the auction. Your heat will only last a few days longer, so it was deemed necessary to speed things along.”

She shivered and hugged the sheet to her. “Are there clothes for me?”

“Not yet.” He closed the door and went to an item on the wall that she had thought was decorative.

It was a mask with no eyeholes. It would completely cover her face, leaving only her nose and mouth exposed.

“What is that for?”

He looked down at it. “It is a mating mask. The first time between Nyal mates is often awkward. By removing the sense of sight, much of the fear is minimized and expanding the other senses allows for greater acceptance of the experience.”

“You want me to put that on?” She licked her lips. “Now?”

His eyes flared red again. “It would keep you from being frightened. I do not wish to frighten you.”

“I would rather talk this out.”

“We do not have time.” He extended the mask to her; it was small in his hand.

She took it and examined the jewel-encrusted surface. “I put this on, and then what?”

“And then I try to arouse you to a point where I can join our bodies. After the first time, it will reduce some of the urgency I am feeling.”

She felt something, but it was a raging case of petrification. She had agreed to this. She put the mask on with shaking hands.

“If it will end this problem I have and give me five years without another, I will do what you say.”

When she fastened the strap on the mask, she heard a click. Panic ensued, and she tried to find the connection, but it was gone.

Warm hands touched hers and pulled them away from the mask. “Easy, Anna. I will remove it when we are both calm again. I have been told that the glow of the Nyal eyes can be a little hard to deal with during mating.”

“My parents never mentioned anything about it.”

He chuckled, and she felt the warmth from his body near hers. “They were not both Nyal, and as the male only reacts to the female, it is probably for the best. That you were born at all is a bit of a miracle.”

She thought about the love that her parents had for each other and smiled. “No, I think repetition was the key.”

He chuckled and released her hands. She heard him shifting slightly a short distance from her, and when he returned to her, he stroked her arms, easing her toward him. She shuffled forward with tiny steps until she was in direct contact with a lot of bare skin.

She tried to lean back, but he pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her. Anna mumbled against his chest, “What kind of name is Quake?”

His body trembled slightly. Well, at least laughter was a common factor. That was something.

“I am a Guardian. That is my position. Quake is my call sign. I am here to protect the population and serve the citizens by keeping them alive in whatever manner I can.”

“Oh. Like a police officer?”

He was stroking his hands over her spine over the fabric and caressing the naked nape of her neck with a slow and deliberate touch.

“Something like that. Yes.”

She flattened her hands against his chest and desperately tried to relax. He simply held her and stroked her back, and to her shock, her body was reacting like he had a hand between her thighs.

She quivered in his arms and inhaled sharply. Another sensory wave took over, and she could smell the heat and musk coming from his body with the tang of metal and oil still on his skin.

Without sight, her senses were trying to get a grip on her environment, and he was becoming all of it. She could feel the steady pulse of his heartbeat between them. Her own heart was fluttering rapidly.

He seemed content just to touch her lightly, though the hard bar of his cock against her belly belied his outward calm. Who knew, it could be the way his species was all the time.