Triumphant (Battle Born Book 14) Read online

  He rolled to his back and draped his arm over his eyes. He’d even tried suicide, twice, but the Evonti brought him back. He couldn’t disobey, escape, or die. That only left surrender. It would almost be funny if it wasn’t so damn pathetic.

  “If my friends could see me now,” he muttered to the empty hotel room, then dissolved into desolate tears.

  * * * * *

  Knowing Sedrik was watching her, Rebecca covered her face with her hands.

  “Don’t hide from me.” He crawled up along her still tingling body, which dislodged her legs. They ended up wrapped around his waist. Then he gently pulled her hands away from her face and moved them back above her head. “I love looking at you.”

  “I can’t believe I let you do that. I don’t even like you.”

  He laughed, unfazed by her playful slur. Rocking back onto his knees, he said, “You might dislike me, but you certainly liked what I was doing a moment ago.” As if to prove his point, he raised his hand to his mouth and licked her juices off his skin. There was so much liquid that a drop trailed across his hand before he could lap it up.

  Mortified by what she’d just seen, she quickly glanced away. “Dear God, was all that me?” Heat spread across her face and down her neck as she looked at him again. His only reply was a triumphant grin. “How humiliating.”

  “It’s humiliating to want your mate and find pleasure in his attention?” He shook his head, his confusion appearing genuine. “That makes no sense.”

  “I’m not your mate.” She scooted back, quickly refastening her bra and positioning her panties to cover as much as possible. Quickly looking around, she snatched her T-shirt off the stone floor and pulled it on so she’d feel less vulnerable. She still felt hot and breathless, so she didn’t immediately reach for her pants. Carefully leaning against the cool stone wall, she extended her legs to one side of him and crossed her feet at the ankle. “I can’t be your mate. I’m…screwed up emotionally.”

  “That’s nonsense.” He waved away her concern. “You were traumatized by an abusive human unworthy of any female, much less one as extraordinary as you. Does his failure mean you can never love again?”

  “What do you know about it?” she snapped defensively. “You just met me.” Compassion filled his eyes and the one thing she dreaded most, pity.

  “Thea gave me a few examples of how you’ve been treated,” he admitted, his voice almost tentative. “I was going to arrest James Dayton. Now I’ve decided to kill him.”

  She tensed, horrified that he might know even part of what Jim had done to her. It was bad enough that Thea knew. If Rebecca had had her way, she would have escaped without assistance and assumed a new identity in a faraway place where no one knew her. The past was best forgotten, not relived and analyzed. “What specifically did Thea tell you?”

  “That you’re in desperate need of a champion, someone to protect and care for you. I intend to be that champion.”

  The sentimental drivel was so uncharacteristic of the stoic commander that she felt blindsided by the statements. He wanted to protect and care for her? Protection was often offered in exchange for information, but he had no reason to care for her.

  I’m your mate, Rebecca. No one has ever touched you like this and no one else ever will.

  His words echoed through her mind. Tingling heat followed in their wake. Even in her memory it sounded insane. He’d hunted her down because of her connection to the Resistance Force, and now he wanted happily ever after instead. It didn’t just sound crazy. It was crazy.

  “My divorce won’t be final for another two weeks,” she told him. “Technically, I’m still married.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “Of course not,” she cried. “He’s an evil bastard, but this isn’t about love.”

  “Not yet.” He smiled. “But I’m working on it.”

  She reached over and slugged him in the arm. All that did was bruise her knuckles. The man was solid muscle. “You’re unbelievably arrogant.”

  His gaze traveled from her head to her toes, lingering on her bare legs before returning to her face. “And you’re unbelievably beautiful.”

  With a frustrated hiss, she stood and grabbed her jeans, quickly pulling them on. She’d taken her shoes off earlier, but the stone floor still felt cold through her socks. She needed to remind him what this was really about, apprehending Jim and stopping the Evonti. Maybe if she offered some of the information he wanted so badly, it would snap him out of this love-sick haze.

  “If you stop with the pointless flattery, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.” It was more than she’d meant to offer, but shifting his focus was imperative to her emotional survival. “I’m probably a fool to trust you. However, you’re the best option I’ve got right now.” Was he really? He was Rodyte and male. Either made him untrustworthy, so why had she let him kiss her mouth, much less everything that followed? Admittedly, she was sex starved, but nothing excused her wanton behavior. And worst of all, she had been incredibly selfish. He stood too as he retrieved his uniform top and the angle of his body made it impossible not to notice his erection.

  “Do you need to do something about that before we talk?” She made a vague motion toward the affected area then quickly averted her eyes.

  “I just need to calm down.”

  She hadn’t heard him move, but suddenly he was right in front of her. He was so tall her eyes were on a level with his chest, his amazingly shaped, naked chest. Helpless to resist the temptation, she raised her hand and stroked his smooth, gold-tinted skin. “Are Rodytes naturally hairless?”

  He caught her wrist and moved her hand away. “Do you want to talk or play some more?”

  Honestly? She stopped the question just before it slipped past her lips. “We need to talk.”

  “Then let me dress.”

  He was all serious commander again and it made her sad. She much preferred warm, loving, occasionally playful Sedrik.

  She lowered her hand and stepped back. He pulled on a clingy undershirt she didn’t remember him taking off, then his uniform top. Once his appearance was restored, he dug through her supplies until he found something for each of them to sit on. She appreciated the effort. Even with the sleeping bag insulating her from the cold, she found the floor uncomfortably hard.

  Fully dressed again and feeling more composed, she took her place on the box of canned goods. He sat on the cooler, facing her. He’d helped himself to another bottle of water, this one flavored with strawberry and kiwi.

  He noticed the direction of her stare and smiled. “Was this all right?”

  “You’re welcome to anything in here.” His brows shot up in silent challenge and she shook her head. “Anything edible.” He laughed and she blushed to the roots of her hair. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, now relax. You seemed more comfortable without your clothes.”

  “I was high on pheromones.” She shivered, trying not to think about the pleasure he’d given her. It was impossible. Three orgasms! Never before had she come three times in one night. In fact, she’d been lucky if she came at all. Jim had been her only lover and even in the beginning he had not been attentive in bed. “I feel better now.”

  A hint of smugness crept into his smile as he motioned toward the case of flavored water. “Do you want something?”

  “Can’t we share? It’s a little late to worry about germs and I don’t want a whole one.”

  He held out his bottle and watched silently as she drank. Why did he seem fascinated with everything she did? It was unnerving. She took another drink then handed it back. “You’re the inquisitor. What do you want to know?”

  “Is Jim as valuable as I’ve presumed, or should I kill him on sight?”

  Memories stirred, offering countless reasons why the bastard needed to die. She’d endured pain, physical and emotional, repeatedly over the past two and a half years. The physical abuse always took place behind closed doors, but humiliation was a spectator sp
ort. Still, Rebecca forced herself back from the past and considered the big picture. “To have any hope of destroying Abaddon, we need Jim.”

  He accepted her answer with a nod, then paused, clearly upset by whatever he was thinking. “Have you talked to anyone about what he put you through? Pain like that doesn’t just go away.”

  She shook her head angry with Thea for sharing much more than she had a right to share. “The few times I’ve tried ‘talking it out’ were disasters. The nightmares got worse and all the sessions accomplished was making the memories more vivid.” She smoothed down her jeans, needing something to do with her hands. “No one believes me, but the less I think about any of it, the better I feel.”

  His eyes narrowed, but compassion warmed his gaze. “You’ve been away from him for a few short weeks. And all that time was spent running and hiding. You haven’t had time to deal with your feelings. You still need to—”

  “Change the subject,” she insisted. “I’m not talking about this.”

  “That’s the problem,” he muttered, took a quick drink, then obliged her. “We discovered a locked room hidden in Jacob’s house. Do you know what’s inside and what’s needed to trigger the door release?”

  “I’ve tried but have never made it inside any of the secret rooms.”

  “Secret rooms? How many are there?”

  She blew her hair out of her eyes. Already she was telling him more than she’d intended. Her offer had only been meant to distract from the need still pulsing between them. “Three that I know of, but I think there are more. And they’re not all in houses. The one in L.A. was under an office building. Not that it matters now. It was destroyed by the L.A. fiasco. Jim was really angry when he found out about that. Whatever those rooms contain is extremely important.”

  “One is in Riverside, one in L.A., where is the third?”

  “The middle of nowhere really,” she told him. Revealing Jim’s secrets was getting easier and easier. And it wasn’t just spiting her ex, though that did have its own appeal. She was starting to trust Sedrik, to believe he wasn’t her enemy. “There’s a dilapidated farmhouse off El Mirage Road. The secret room is under the barn. The farm is just west of an itty-bitty town by the same name.”

  “El Mirage.”

  She nodded. “But I don’t think those locations are important.”

  He stared at her for a moment, head tilted as he puzzled through what she’d told him so far. “Triangulation?” Not surprisingly, it didn’t take him long to come to the same conclusion she’d drawn.

  “It’s still more or less a guess, but it makes the most sense. I think the perimeter locations power or amplify whatever is in the middle.”

  “You haven’t been able to find the middle location?” He sounded disappointed as he set the mostly empty water bottle down at his feet.

  Annoyed by his reaction, she glared at him. “You try sneaking around with armed guards shadowing your every move. If I deviated from my routine for even a moment, Jim would…” Tears stung her eyes and her voice failed as emotions swelled inside her. Anger pushed back the sorrow, but the emptiness remained. She would not be a slave to her past. Lots of people lived through unpleasantness. She was stronger now and she would not let past pain affect her future.

  Sedrik reached across the space between them and took one of her hands between his. He was so much bigger than she was, his hands literally enveloped hers. “It was a question not an accusation. You’ve already given me more than I expected to learn. You’ve been wonderful.”

  She pulled her hand free and shot to her feet. “I’ve been a freaking pushover. I’m humiliated by how easily you played me.”

  “Played you?” He stood too, his glower even colder than her earlier glare. “How have I played you?” He seemed genuinely insulted by the accusation.

  “You know damn well what you did. You realized I don’t respond well to authority, so you turned on the charm.”

  He just stared at her as if she’d lost her mind.

  “The ‘I’m your mate’ thing was clever. I’ll give you that. What unhappy female doesn’t want to think she’s stumbled onto a knight in shining armor ready, and able, to fly her away from all her problems. This world doesn’t work that way.”

  Without a word, he turned and walked into the adjoining chamber, apparently unconcerned that it was pitch dark beyond the lantern’s light.

  Chapter Four

  Arton the Heretic stood in the shadow of a tall, leafy tree, watching the brownstone mansion across the street. One of the females inside was on his list, but there was a small chance she’d been claimed by one of the battle born. If she’d been claimed, Thea Cline would be useless to the Outcasts and Arton would move on to the next name on his list.

  It was Arton’s responsibility to determine the potential of each female the matching program identified. The final decision involved much more than compatible genetics. These females must be strong, both physically and emotionally. They had to be willing to take on challenges and revel in new adventures. If they were more likely to complain and sulk, bemoaning the loss of their past life forever, they would make everyone around them miserable. For that reason, he only considered females with no dependents, and no romantic interest in their current life. It wasn’t an easy balance to find and Arton was running out of time.

  All the preparations had been made. Overlord Kage Razel was anxious to order the exodus. His men were restless, more than ready to embark on their next great adventure. Arton couldn’t blame them. He was excited too. They had been planning this for years, quietly gathering what they would need to survive on an uninhabited planet until they could make their community self-sufficient. At last, the Outcasts would have a planet of their own, a world where the only law was the Brotherhood Charter and the only authority was Overlord Razel.

  Well, no long-term community could be successful without breeding pairs. No one liked the term, but that was the reality of what Arton was arranging. He was gathering genetically compatible females for his Outcast brothers. The couples must be able, and hopefully willing, to create the next generation of inhabitants.

  He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the females’ willingness would develop overnight. They were being taken from their home world without their permission. But once the pull kicked in and their potential mates had a few weeks to tame them, they would become more logical, more cooperative.

  He’d wasted enough time in contemplation. It was time to act or move on. He pushed off the tree trunk and activated his camouflage shielding. The device made him invisible to humanoid eyes and undetectable to most Rodyte sensors. The portable shield generator was new, the design borrowed heavily from the covert shield systems developed for the newest line of ships and shuttles.

  Carefully approaching the house, Arton placed his feet with stealthy intention. The shields tricked everyone’s vision. They did not block sound. Guards, both human and Rodyte, milled about in front of the house. They were attentive, if a bit lazy, and much too convinced that there was no danger.

  Arton crept up the stone stairs and paused on the wide, railed landing. No one reacted to his presence, so he casually rang the doorbell. The females were in the front room, their silhouettes visible in the window, so it only took a moment for one to answer the door. Lenore Fermont, owner of the lavish brownstone, peeked out. Confusion scrunched up her pleasant face as she let the door swing inward and stepped out onto the landing. She called out to the guards, but Arton didn’t linger to hear what she said. He slipped inside and went immediately to find Thea.

  The younger female sat on a piano bench, lightly depressing the ivory keys. She wasn’t really playing the instrument. More like toying with it. He approached her quickly but carefully, not wanting her to detect his presence. Even so, her hand froze over the keys and her head snapped up. He inhaled deeply, then smiled. All he smelled was fertile female.

  She swung her legs around and faced the center of the room. He knew she couldn’t see
him, but she clearly sensed something was wrong. Her compatibility scores were some of the highest he’d ever seen, so his final decision was easily made. Thanks to the L.A. Massacre, she no longer had anything of importance tying her to Earth. Better still, she was a proven breeder, having produced two healthy children in the past.

  He heard the front door close and a primitive, sliding bolt lock engage. Lenore was on her way back into the room. He reached out and placed his hand on Thea’s shoulder as he used the remote trigger embedded in his forearm to activate the bio-streaming engine on his shuttle. She cried out in shock and fear as their bodies disintegrated, but the beam was fast and effective, so the majority of her scream dissolved right along with their physical forms.

  An instant after she materialized on the shuttle, Thea twisted out of his grip and put as much distance between herself and Arton as possible. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want with me?” In an instant her fear turned to anger. She planted her feet wide apart and looked around as if for a weapon or an escape.

  Arton found her reaction amusing, and encouraging. This one definitely had no lack when it came to spirit. “I am Arton the Heretic. You have been chosen to accompany the Outcasts on our great adventure.”

  “I’ve been ‘chosen’?” She laughed, but the sound was harsh and bitter. “Fuck! You! Put me back where you found me. Right now!”

  Damn, her voice was shrill. He knew she would be upset. They all were when he first “invited” them, but this was ridiculous. He moved toward her.

  She tried to back up farther, but there was nowhere else to go. The shuttle was tiny, meant for short jaunts from its parent ship to the surface or other nearby locations. “You will not be harmed. In fact, just the opposite. You will be protected and provided for. Your mate, once you select him—and it will be your choice not his—will make sure you have—”