Denied - 54. Chapter 54

The Captain’s quarters also became his war room. I had nowhere to retreat to be alone, and the stress of it was wearing on me. I went from being alone and desperately wishing for the touch, sound, and scent of other beings to freedom that was bearable only because of my small quarters, to the bliss of sharing a room with Captain for a short time.

Now, as I tried to find some small way to handle the crowd by curling into the corner of the room so two walls surrounded me and my back was safely covered, Captain, Deke, Aparoe—who still clutched a cloth to their eyes at times but had a fierce expression on their face—and the others of his bridge crew met in our room to discuss all the revelations.

“I’m sorry, Kohen,” Captain said. “We’d have more room, but I had my office outfitted as a brig.”

“They’re alive?” Aparoe’s mouth dropped open. “After they betrayed us all like that?”

“No.” Deke shook his head. “My teams and I took out the cells and agents on the ship before the shuttles were released down to Mackinack. My cousin”—his nose wrinkled in disgust, and I thought he would spit on the floor—“is our current guest. He knows far more than those underlings, and he’s a far better bargaining chip, should we need him.”

“Did SaARALA get a message off?” Captain asked. “Warn anyone of our meeting rendezvous with Freska?”

A small alien with purple stripes and several eye stalks burbled, waving stubby hands. “No, the comms have not fired off any interstellar transmissions.”

Captain narrowed his eyes. “What about in-system messages?”

I drew in a breath. What if they knew we were coming? If they were already there, nets with EM fields just waiting to burn out our engines and trap us before we could jump to the meeting coordinates.

“Nothing we could see.”

Relief swamped me, and I sagged. The wall caught and held me, and I leaned my head back. A small caress behind my ear startled me. I jerked his head up, glancing around wildly. Nothing. No one had touched me; they were all still seated and discussing the raid.

It was the synthgar. Captain had transferred it to me once we’d reached our new quarters. The tiny creature had a firm grip but was so light I barely felt him once he’d locked into place behind my ear. It was like wearing a locator, but this one occasionally moved. And it was warm, like a smooth, flexible ring that warmed me mentally as well as physically.

I lost the thread of the conversation as I focused on that tiny ember of heat. Was it what was between me and Captain? The link between us brought me a sense of comfort and security. I’d never remembered feeling before meeting him. He brought me warmth I basked in

“Kohen?” Captain stood over me. Our tiny quarters were empty for the first time since we’d gotten on the shuttle.

“I’m sorry. What did I miss?” Did I need to go to work somewhere? Do something?

“A bunch of planning for torturing more information out Elliard. Bastard’s holding out. I’m going to take down this conspiracy that’s furthering the Brox Consortium’s goals to subjugate species by any means possible in order to grab power. Central Command is made up by representatives from each planet, but they all retain autonomous control within galactic regulations. Brox would replace all that with a single rule, a single voice that drowns out all others. And that voice is corrupt. I plan to silence it for good for once.” Captain crouched.

“But even taking down a vast conspiracy can’t be all work.” Captain crouched. “Enjoying our new friend?”

“He’s so warm.” The synthgar had moved from my ear to my neck, and I sat with one hand cupped over him.

“I thought you’d like that.” Captain smiled. “Warmth. Heat.”

“It’s what I felt when we first met. The heat from your arm. It hurt to touch you, but you were so warm, so soft.”

Captain frowned. “I hate hurting you, but pain… it’s part of bonding. Both for this,” he cupped my hand hovering over the synthgar, “and being bonded. It’s a risk, because if we separate too long we could be harmed.”

“So you can’t get rid of me? Drop me off with those other rescued beings somewhere safe?”

“I stopped trying that a while back. You won’t be left behind.” Captain’s fingers caressed mine. “I don’t think I could handle it anyway. Not being close to you is torture.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “We have a few hours before we’re needed. Are you ready?”

Was I? I locked gazes with Captain, seeing all he felt and how it matched his words in his open eyes. “Yes,” I whispered, my breath instantly gone as my skin tightened. A miniscule quiver took up residence in my spine, turning it to jelly. “I need help up.”

Pulling me to my feet, Captain made a face at the small bunk. “Not the bed I’ve chosen to bond in.”

“We’ll be close. Close is good.” I wasted no time stripping. “Naked and close is better.” My shaft was firm and throbbing, pearls of fluid beading at the tip.

Captain licked his lips, and I groaned. “Naked. You. Now.” His uniform went flying, and Captain yanked down the covers on the bunk. He slid onto the mattress leaving barely enough room for me. Good thing all I wanted to do was blanket his body.

Somehow, somewhere, he found slick and brought it to my entrance. I gasped, arched, and whined. He breeched me, and I was so focused on that I never felt the warmth at my throat turn into a burning strike. Not until the synthgar climbed onto Captain’s neck and pierced his neck with that wickedly sharp tail, pumping in his unique poison.