TakeMeHard (4 page)

Zoe tried to put on underwear, but her skin was too sensitive. "Commando it is." Her ship suit was barely tolerable, but it wasn't as if she could ignore the fact that there were another seventeen people on the ship. A chemise and high heels wouldn't set the right tone.

Her stomach growled and she changed the image in her mind to one of the dining hall. They were at her side in a moment.

"T'shnadar, how many of our guests are up?"

"Zoe, they are all gathered in the dining hall. Maasha is letting the other females feel her belly move."

Zoe chuckled and led her males out of her quarters. She was more sensitive to scent, as well, this morning and it was easy to follow the other blenders into the dining hall.

Her men followed her and looked hopeful at the dispensers.

"Listen guys, lionesses may do the hunting in the wild, but here, you get your own meals. Up on your feet. Your people feet."

Zoe made her own selections and smiled at her guests. The ones who had taken to their beds the night before were a little shy, but when Jarix took a seat and then lifted her into his lap, they relaxed.

Maasha was surprised that the truth of the previous day was the same in daylight. "So, you
are
one of us."

Zoe chuckled and reached for her tray, dragging it close so she could get purchase with her fork. "Yes. Well, I am one of
them
to be precise." She waved her fork at her men.

Trin and Leos smiled. They were wearing their Horcross trousers. The same ones that they had had on in Dorsos's facility, but there was no overwhelming stench of musk, so they had to have run them through the cleaner.

Maasha took the seat across from her. "Can I take you up on that offer for a medical scan?"

"Sure. Are you having any trouble?"

"A slight backache. Nothing to worry about." She waved off the worry.

Zoe piled her food into a sandwich and waved at Maasha. "Come with me. We will do it right now."

"No. I don't want to interrupt your meal."

Zoe grinned and got off Jarix's lap. "I have eaten before and will again. If there is anything going on with your pregnancy, this is the time to find out."

She took her sandwich with one hand and Maasha's hand with the other, leading her gently to the medical bay.

Liiro got to his feet and followed them, a few steps behind.

Zoe felt her own men gather some food and trail after them. Whatever was going on, they wanted to be a part of it.

The walk to medical was short, but Zoe managed to stuff most of her breakfast into her face before she helped Maasha onto a scanning bed. She quickly washed her hands and then returned to the controls.

"T'shnadar can do this, but I prefer to handle the scans myself. Maasha, relax. This will only take a moment." Zoe keyed in the command for a general scan and then stood by to watch the beams analyze Maasha from head to toe.

As data began to stream, Zoe's eyes widened. She quickly started typing commands into the unit and as she watched, the bed changed configuration and turned into a more comfortable unit for Maasha. "My dear, it seems you are in labour. Good thing that the baby didn't decide to show up yesterday."

Liiro went pale under his camouflaged skin. "Now? The baby is coming now?"

"It is. Now, do you want to be here for it or wait outside? I hear that is traditional." She was grinning as she helped Maasha ease out of her ship suit. That reminded her that they had an audience.

"Guys, either help or get out. Maasha isn't putting on a performance here."

As one, they turned to the sink and prepped their hands for assisting.

She chuckled as they helped Liiro prepare for imminent fatherhood.

Maasha looked up at her. "So, how far along am I?"

"It seems that you have been in labour since yesterday. You are eight centimetres dilated and if you allow, the computer will break your water. It seems that your body wanted to keep the baby suspended as long as it could." She kept her tone light, but if Maasha didn't deliver soon, the baby would suffer. It was already in distress, but Zoe had kept the monitors from blaring that fact.

Liiro opted for holding Maasha's hand while Trin grinned and said he was the medically trained member of their grouping.

He took charge of the delivery, a slight tick near his eyes the only acknowledgement of the situation when Zoe showed him the scans. He proceeded with the same affable charm that she had used and once Maasha's water was broken, things moved along at a predictable pace.

Zoe watched as Maasha pulled her knees up, the baby's head making its appearance.

"Lots of dark hair." Zoe announced it and Liiro smiled then grimaced as another contraction gripped his mate.

She was too far gone. She simply listened to the demands of her body and rocked with the impulses.

The little girl slid into the world and right into Trin's hands.

She didn't cry, but she breathed, blinked and looked around with wide, unfocused blue eyes.

Maasha sat up. "What is it?"

Liiro leaned down and smiled. "It's a girl."

Zoe smiled and sighed in relief. Trin clamped off the umbilical and grinned as he cut the tie between mother and child. "And with this, I give you what we do not have…a belly button."

Zoe lifted the child and handed her to her mother. Maasha was crying openly as she counted fingers and toes, admiring the pigment pattern that her child was wearing. She had the same mask as her parents.

Liiro reached out with a shaking hand and touched the wet and bloody head of his newborn. "I think Aliisha would be a lovely name, what do you think, Maasha?"

The woman smiled weakly. "I think it is a wonderful name. Aliisha Zoestra, in honour of the blender who let her be born free."

Trin was working rapidly to finish the details of the birth and when Maasha was cleaned and relaxed with her daughter and spouse, Zoe shooed her men out of medical.

"I will tell everyone to hold off on visiting."

Liiro smiled down at his wife, holding his infant carefully with the extreme awareness of a new parent. "They can come for a visit, but one by one."

"T'shnadar, when will Maasha be able to leave medical?"

"Seven hours will allow her systems to recover enough to walk. I will alert you so that your set can assist the family to get settled into a larger set of quarters. I am preparing the baby's crib right now."

Zoe fought her grin. The ship's manufacturing system was getting quite the workout.

Maasha sat up and dropped her wrap to nurse little Aliisha. "Thank you, T'shnadar. Can you find some clothing for me and the baby?"

"Yes, Maasha. Is there anything else you require?"

Zoe smiled and Maasha winced as the baby latched on. "Nope. I think I am fine."

"I will start sending in the visitors. Congratulations. She is beautiful."

The smile was still on her face when she walked into the dining hall where Jarix and Leos were describing the birth as if it was a blow-by-blow fight.

The men were all fascinated, but the women looked queasy.

She sent her men an image of her wearing nothing but a chastity belt and they ceased speaking.

When she looked at Jarix and raised a brow, he cleared his throat. "The miracle of birth is a beautiful thing."

The laughter that rippled around the room touched everyone and Zoe decided that it was time to tell them of their destination.

"Before you start going to see the baby, I just wanted you to know that we are on our way to a safe place. It is a haven of sorts where no one has any claim on any other living being. It is a secret base and has more than enough space for all of us."

Tirk, the albino, nodded. "What is the name of this place?"

"I will tell you when we get there. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

Chapter Six

Carrah and Delari kept Maasha and the baby company during most of the days while the men took turns taking the shuttle out for spins to stave off any residual feelings of confinement.

Zoe and her men were getting closer with every night they tangled together. She spent her days speaking with the blenders about what they wanted in their destination and making notes. With the bulk of the Hagerson assets at her disposal, she could make their home anything they wanted.

Her personal wealth was extensive and their destination was part of it. When she graduated from her engineering courses, her father had told her he was proud and he gave her the deed to a dead world in the process of being altered for inhabitation. It had been her mother's before her, but her mother had chosen to pass it on to her with the promise that she build a house that her mother could one day visit.

Zoe's agreement had come swiftly and each time a design project had paid off, she put the money toward her personal planet through a number of shell corporations. Hiding her ownership and the viability of the world had been her father's idea. He had assisted her in setting up a maze of layers between herself and anyone who tried to find out where the equipment was going.

They had used a few underworld suppliers for the final pieces of the puzzle, but by the time she had taken an executive position with her family's company, the atmosphere and life seeding had taken hold on her little piece of space.

The base was complete. It had a covered dome until the rest of the surface was ready for full occupation. Less than three dozen people wouldn't even make a dent in the available space until their own homes were ready.

Jarix was in a detailed conversation with T'shnadar about systems specs, Trin was checking on the news postings since they had been captured, while Leos was examining the weapons systems, occasionally asking the computer a question and humming happily as he checked the ordinance.

Zoe was content to sit at a desk and draft plan after plan for homes that held all the amenities requested by the passengers. This was her favourite way to spend her time if she was not in bed with her mates. Drawing self-contained homes that could support a family, help them grow and keep them comfortable was what she loved to do.

She felt curiosity next to her. "Yes, Leos?"

"Those schematics are amazing. Who is that house for?"

His question was genuine. She grinned and showed it to him. "This is for the amphibians, Necr and Kili. Their home is complete with a large pond, rocks and swimming area as well as the dry areas for living and guests."

"Where is Maasha's and Liiro's home?"

She chuckled. "Theirs will be the last home built. I think having a rotation of babysitters nearby will help Maasha and Aliisha until she is a little older. I have asked Maasha about it and she agrees."

"What about our home?" Trin came up behind her and looked over her other shoulder.

"We are occupying the base and when we are on our own, the rooms can be altered easily to our needs. That way, the medical center, the supply depot and the atmospheric maintenance will always be manned."

Leos had a bemused grin on his face. "Do we get a say in this?"

She shook her head. "It is up to the female to choose the territory. The males simply have to defend it. That leads me to this final schematic. The weapons systems are installed, but I don't know if they are operational yet."

Jarix joined them. "So, how is it that this has been built but no one knows where it is?"

Zoe grinned. "We pay the techs to allow us to put them into a sleep and they are run through a bug-destroying archway to make sure that the location isn't leaked."

Trin scowled. "That reminds me. We need to run scans on every one of us. I wouldn't put it past Dorsos to tag his property."

She blinked in shock. "Have you scanned yourself yet?"

Trin shook his head. "I am unsure as to the unit to use for it. If we discover a tracking device, we need to immediately extract and destroy it. I will need you to operate the equipment for that event."

She nodded. "Shall we do it now?" Absently, she locked the designs in her desk and got to her feet.

He nodded and as a group, they walked to medical, smiling at a few of the blenders that they passed in the halls.

"Do you know how to scan for tracking units?"

Zoe snorted and she pushed Trin into the unit used for invasive bodies. "Hold still. I designed this machine and it is very sensitive. I don't want to neuter you."

Trin froze and she laughed. "I am kidding. There is no worry about you getting zapped. It isn't set up to do that kind of surgery. It will look for items broadcasting a signal or static pulses."

He stood and waited for her to run the scan.

Zoe keyed in the requirements and watched the band of light slowly cover her lover from head to toe. The red light at the base of his neck was a bit of a worry. "We have a tracker. So, hold still this will take a moment."

The beam localized at the base of his neck and there was a flicker of a pulse before the light changed to blue. Trin's knees buckled and he blinked up at her. "Did you get it?"

"I did. Jarix, can you help him stand? We need to run a second check." Zoe throttled her worry back and waited until Trin was standing before she ran the detection protocol again.

She sighed with relief that he was clean and without being asked, Leos took Trin's place in the scanner. His chip was hidden at the base of his spine. The blast knocked him to his knees and then he was given the all clear.

Jarix's scan showed two markers and an anomaly.

Zoe cleared her throat. "Jarix, there are two devices inside you. They are wired together. If I kill one, the other will immediately send out a beacon that even T'shnadar's shields won't be able to muffle."

He looked at her with calm eyes. "I know you will do what you can, Zoe, but the safety of those on board this ship is paramount."

"Good. I think so too." She did some calibration and waited for a moment. "Trin, Leos, hold him please. This is going to hurt."

Jarix took their hands and they held him in place while Zoe worked on her calculations. She struck the key and held her breath. Her emotions were locked down so that her worry would not bleed into Jarix's.