The Abduction (23 page)

“Oh, shit… the room is spinning.”

Samantha blinked and shook herself to the present. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pulled her hand free of his sweats and cupped his face in her hands. She kissed his pouting lips, and then gently bit the scar on his jaw.

“Take it easy, tiger,” she spoke in his ear.
“I’ll put you back to bed nicely tonight.”

Rikist smirked, his eyes heated as he pulled back to gaze at her. “Nice is not the word I was thinking when imagining you above me.”

Samantha crooked an eyebrow, fighting a smile. “Me on top, again? Man, you’re getting lazy.”

His grin widened, revealing his dimples amidst the
week’s worth of beard growth. “That laziness only extends to my leg. My mouth, on the other hand, is salivating for some hot, wet—”

A frantic knock on the
wall made them jerk, and an annoyed growl escaped Rikist’s tight lips.

“Samantha?” Krissik’s voice came
from behind them. “I…T-there some… something that side…”

Samantha turned
to peer over her shoulder, noting the way Krissik kept his eyes on his brother. He almost looked pleased he’d interrupted. She frowned, and stepped away from Rikist.

“He is improving,” Rikist muttered
as he glared at his brother, obviously upset by his presence. “What are you planning on telling her?”

“I don’t know.” Samantha shook her head. “I guess I want to see what she remembers first. Krissik, can you help him?”

Krissik nodded and strode across the room, his long legs eating the distance in only a few seconds. He bent to rest
his brother’s left arm over his shoulders, when Rikist’s hand shot out and clamped down on Krissik’s throat. Rikist bared his fangs and let out a low, bestial growl, as his claws bit into the soft skin of Krissik’s throat. The younger alien yelped, and his body rolled into a curled, submissive position as he held his clawed hands out in front of his belly.

“Si trak ri siti,” Rikist’s gravelly voice rumbled. “Tsrik ti risa.”

“Rikist!” Samantha yelled. She leapt forward and grappled at his shoulder. “Let him go!”

Two weeks of tension crackled through the darkened room like firecrackers on hot, summer night. Some part of Samantha knew this moment would come eventually, but now wasn’t the right time. The brothers needed to confront the elephant in the room standing between them, and address their issues in a civil, heartfelt discussion; a conversation that did not involve fangs and claws and blood on her freshly-mopped wood floors.

Samantha jumped as the dark, amber eyes slid toward her, and her skin crawled at the savage fire burning in their depths. She grit her teeth and balled her hands into fists.

“
Let him go. Now!”

Rikist narrowed his eyes, and then grunted and pushed his brother away. Krissik collapsed to the floor,
gasping, and cradled his bruised neck. Fear seeped out of his pores, and his eyes appeared unnaturally wide in his pale face. Samantha knelt beside Krissik to push his hand away, and was relieved when she saw Rikist had not broken skin. She glared at Rikist.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Stay out of this, Samantha.”

“No, this is my house, damn it! You’ve already trashed the place with your first sibling quarrel, and I’m not going to sit by while you two continually try to kill each other.”

“He doesn’t know his place.”

“Are you referring to me?”

“He still wants to steal you away!” Rikist growled, his face distorting in distress.

“After you stole me from him!”

She moved to stand when Krissik grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. He coughed and shook his head, his breathing settling.

“No… Rikist is ro…rotect his.
You…” He let out a frustrated sigh at her confused look, and touched the spot over Samantha’s heart, his eyes resigned. “Dis not mine.”

He glanced at Rikist and then stood, rubbing his
wounded neck, and cowered as he shuffled toward his brother, upturned wrist out. Rikist watched him approach without blinking, his nostrils still flared in anger. Krissik hesitated, and slowly leaned forward, head down, and extended his shaking wrist to Rikist’s chin.

“Ta rik stri istik, Samantha,” he whispered. He swallowed and passively tilted his head just enough to peer up with one eye. “I saw-ree, Rikist.”

Rikist’s frown deepened, the muscle in his jaw bouncing as he grit his teeth. After a moment he closed his eyes and breathed out deeply through his nose, and leaned forward to rub his chin against Krissik’s wrist.

The simple touch cracked something in Krissik, and he
let out a choked sob and leaned further in, giving Rikist access to the soft crease inside his elbow and exposing his neck.

“Saw-ree!”

The anger in Rikist’s face snuffed out like an expired candlewick, and he grabbed Krissik’s extended arm and pulled him closer. He rubbed his check against Krissik’s, his puffing coughs rolling through Krissik’s swallowed whimpers. He closed his eyes tightly, the corners creasing in concentration, and then wrapped his arms around Krissik’s narrower shoulders and pulled him into a firm embrace.

“
Sirtki si raki, Krissik.” His arms tightened as he rubbed the underside of his chin against the side of Krissik’s neck possessively. “I’m sorry, too.”

“And I’m sorry I took so long!”

All heads turned toward the new voice, and Samantha nearly collapsed as Carly dropped her bag just inside the front door, her wide eyes all for the two men embracing on the couch. Her shocked face turned to Samantha.

“
Holy shit, you’ve got two of them.”

“What I would have paid to see John’s expression when he saw Rikist.”

Carly pouted her lips as she mulled Samantha’s story over in her head, and then took another sip of her coffee. One manicured finger tapped the edge of the mug as her mascara-lined eyes roamed the faces at the kitchen table. Samantha wiped at her eyes with a napkin, upset at having to relay
a summary of her adventures over the last few weeks to the friend she’d left behind in a hallway full of aliens. Krissik sat sideways in his seat, his elbow hooked over the back of the nearest chair and eyes carefully watching the blonde’s every move. Rikist looked tired and apathetic, cradling his head in his hands with elbows on the table as he fought to stay upright.

“Is he drunk?” Carly asked, giving Samantha a look.

Samantha snorted. “No. I told you, it’s the meds.” She rubbed Rikist’s back, who sat up straighter and tried to look interested. She smiled at him. “You should go back to bed.”

Rikist cast a wary look toward Carly, who sneered gleefully.

“Do I make the big, bad alien uncomfortable?” she teased.

“You’re… taking this really well,” Samantha cut in. She shook her head. “I was a mess at first.”

“Sweetie, you’re a mess when it comes to men in general.” She waved Samantha away. “Thing is I was actually a little relieved to see them. See, when I was at the hospital I kept waking up to nightmares of giant cats trying to paw at me and rip my clothes off. I’d wake up screaming and yelling things about green lights and such… they tried giving me meds, but once I got home I refused to take them.”

She glanced at Krissik. “I remember you.” She grinned at his surprised expression. “I didn’t at first, but then as more time went by the dreams became clearer.”

“You are not supposed to remember…” Rikist muttered, his brow drawn.

Carly nodded. “I figured that. And in all reality I thought I was going crazy. But then Samantha just calls me out of the blue and then I show up here…” She shrugged and smiled at Samantha. “And here we are.”

Samantha smiled, relieved beyond belief that she had someone else to share this secret with. She patted Rikist’s arm, and he forced a worried smile back.

He
reached for his crutch and lurched to his feet. “Krissik, take the couch.”

Krissik furrowed his brow. “Why?”

“Because Carly needs a place to sleep.”

Carly took a slow sip from her mug
, a wolfish grin on her lips. Her eyes hadn’t left Krissik for more than a few seconds after the initial shock of the men’s presence had worn off, the piercing blue gaze seemed to try hard to peel away every thread of clothing.

Krissik had noticed the hunger in her eyes, and the young alien had surprisingly backed away;
most likely because the look on her face said she wanted to eat him alive and lick the spoon. He’d made it a point the rest of the evening to keep Samantha or Rikist between him and the curly-haired predator.

Samantha, on the other hand, thought that a run in with her…
energetic
best friend would probably work wonders on the angst-ridden teen. She smirked as she watched Krissik squirm in his seat under Carly’s heated gaze, and helped Rikist to his feet.

“Go to bed, I’ll be there in a few.” She gently kissed his lips, and then patted his back as he passed. He glanced back at Carly, and then his brother, and Samantha could see the concern in his eyes. She winked at him. “Don’t worry. She doesn’t bite.”

Carly leaned across the table, her breasts pressing against her folded arms and nearly popping out of her satin bra. She smiled wide when Krissik licked his lips and breathing quickened, obviously thinking she was winning him over.

Samantha knew Krissik well enough to know that Carly was scaring the shit out of him.

She walked behind Carly’s chair and pressed her lips against her friend’s ear. “Take it easy, you’re scaring him.”

“I want to do more than scare him,” Carly whispered back. “Did you see what those men were capable—oh, screw seeing. You’ve done it!”

Samantha clamped a hand over Carly’s mouth. She smiled sweetly at Krissik. “Kris, can you please turn down the bed in your room?”

Krissik nodded, a little too quickly, and disappeared from the kitchen in a blink.

Carly shook Samantha off and glared at her. “What is your problem? Can’t you share?”

“I… Damn, Carly, get a hold of yourself!” Samantha lowered her voice. “You need to slow down. He’s never…” She trailed off, not really sure how she should explain.

Carly’s eyes doubled in size. “He’s a virgin?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s a very significant detail you left out.”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “I didn’t think it was necessary.”

“Samantha?” Rikist called from the bedroom.

She sped past Carly before she could be stopped, and slipped through the bedroom door. The lamp on the bedside table cast Rikist’s broad shadow across the dim room as he dug through the drawer from his sideways position on the bed, his left leg propped on a pile of pillows. She padded closer to him.

“What are you doing?”

He grimaced and rolled to his back, pressing on his thigh. “
Damn, that hurts.” He motioned for her to come closer. “Here, give this to Krissik.”

Samantha held her hand out, and gasped when he dropped a little glass vial in her palm. She sloshed the tiny bit of liquid around, the scent of mint wafting up from the cork. She stared down at Rikist.

“Where did you get this?”

“Had it in my pocket when you brought me here. I’d swiped it from him back at the apartment.”
He smirked. “I think he cold use the confidence boost.”

She opened her mouth the respond, but he held up one hand.

“Just… hurry up and take it to him. He looks ready to explode.”

Samantha laughed, and held the vial up to the light. “With this, they’re both going to.”

Her gaze slipped from the vial to the dark, amber eyes reflecting the yellow light of the lamp like miniature suns, the glow drawing her in like a delicate moth.

“You know I need to leave.”

Samantha’s head jerked up. Her skin cooled and her stomach seemed filled with lead. “What… what are you—”

“I need to close the jump sites.” He sighed and shook his head, his jaw tight. “With Carly remembering, and Krissik coming through…”

“Rikist, I…”

“I will not let anyone take you away from me.”

Samantha fought back sudden tears, unsure where the conversation was going.

“So you’re leaving.”

Rikist looked up at the tone in her voice, and reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close.  He kissed her stomach through her shirt and peered up at her face.

“Samantha, I will come back. I promise. But I cannot sit here, terrified that one day someone else will come through that jump site and find us. Find you.”

Rikist’s eyes creased at their corners and he leaned his head back, staring down at her from over his straight nose.

“
I love you, Samantha. And if you’re willing to put up with a crippled, crude, bad-humored asshole—”

“You’re not—”

“I take that back.” He grinned. “Not the asshole part, but the willing part. Because I am here to stay whether you like it or not.”

Samantha sighed, a weight rolling off her shoulders and she felt dizzy with the release of tension she’d been fighting off all week. She leaned toward the bed and kissed his brown.  

Rikist’s hand twitched on her side as he gently pushed her away and waved her out of the room.

“Hurry up. It’s getting late.”

Samantha smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

Outside the bedroom, Krissik paced the kitchen as he put away mugs and wiped up coffee rings. He glanced up as Samantha appeared, and his hands shook as he pulled her behind the counter.

“Samn-tha,” he stuttered, his practiced vocabulary slipping along with his nerves. “I… I not know what…”

“Just breathe.”

Samantha took his face in both hands and kissed his nose, holding the kiss until he slowed and took a deep breath. She pulled back and smiled at him, letting her thumbs caress his cheeks.

“What happened to the conqueror who yanked me through a third-story Las Vegas hotel window?”

He shook in her hands. “Sh-she berry strong.”

Samantha laughed. “You’re so adorable sometimes, you know that? Listen, don’t worry, she’s not going to eat you.” She hesitated, and then pointedly glanced down at his crotch. “Unless you ask her to.”

Krissik’s eyes registered panic, and Samantha let go long enough to pull the vial out of the pocket of her shorts. The gold eyes widened.

“How?”

“Rikist.”

Krissik blinked, and then a sheepish grin pulled at his lips. He glanced at his closed bedroom door, and set his shoulders a little straighter. He took the vial, tested the contents, and then popped the cork and let half of the contents slip between his lips. He swished the contents around in
his mouth before swallowing.

Krissik smiled at Samantha, and leaned in just enough for her to smell the familiar minty aura laced with sunbeams. “Thank… you.”

“No, thank you.” Samantha wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his in a long, straight line. “You brought me to Rikist.”

Krissik hugged her back, sighing as he rubbed his cheek against hers
, purring. He kissed the side of her neck before stepping back. He winked as he walked backwards toward his door, an eager grin plastered across his face

“Sis.”

The lights were off when Samantha quietly stepped into her bedroom. Rikist’s slow, even breathing filled the dark silence, and Samantha sighed in disappointment as she undressed for bed, trying to ignore the muffled giggling through the walls.

I should have known he’d be sleeping.
Serves me right for thinking that after all this mess tonight he’d be up to anything.

She slipped the silk nightgown over her head and smoothed the edges out just above her knees. She let her hair fall down around her shoulders, scratching at the spot the rubber band had held her bun, and then slipped between the sheets
. She scooted closer to Rikist, staying just out of reach so as not to wake him, and let his radiant body heat comfort her as she acclimated to her chilled side of the bed.

A
hot hand slid up her knee and thigh toward her groin, and she gasped as Rikist pressed his nose to the crook of her neck, his warm breath rolling across her bare skin.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No.”

She hesitated. “When are you leaving?”

He shrugged against her back. “Probably a week. Maybe two. I need to let my leg heal enough to travel.”

Samantha
tried to sit up, but his hand moved from her thigh to her breasts, trapping her against the pillow. Her heartbeat hitched as a single claw delicately traced patterns around her nipples through the silk, and his body shifted to close the inch gap between them.

“Oh,” Saman
tha gasped. Her cheeks flushed as his wide, erect penis slid wetly against her leg.

He’s
naked.

And very lubed up.

Samantha felt him smile against her neck, and he twitched against her leg in anticipation. She bit her lip and grinned, knowing very well his feline eyes could see her clearly in the dark.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
she whispered, wiling her heart to slow before it burst.

He let out a deep throated puffing sound; the two hundred and fifty pound beast’s equivalent to purring.
“Shouldn’t you be screwing me already?”

Samantha gasped
in surprise as the fresh scent of mint and cinnamon enveloped her, and amber fireflies swirled around in the black hole that threatened to caress her into oblivion. She closed her eyes and struggled to focus against the instant ache in her core and the dampness gathering between her legs.

             
He couldn’t resist a quick taste…

She threw her head back and guffawed, her entire body filling with waves of rolling honey and her toes curling in expectancy. She couldn’t fight the stupid
grin that took her lips hostage, so she didn’t try.

“You son of a bitch,” she laughed.

Rikist chuckled and lifted on one elbow to kiss her as he used one hand to shove her panties to the side and rub his palm against her groin. He pressed his mouth against hers, parting her lips and letting his tongue explore. Liquid fire spilled into her mouth and seared her throat and set her blood boiling, and brought her to the edge before her next breath.

Samantha groaned against his mouth and arched her back, her hands curling in his hair and pulling him down on top of her. She broke the kiss, panting, and
her reason managed to struggle to the surface long enough to stare at his face. She used one foot to carefully tap at his cast.