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The mechanic just felt like someone who’d been part of the woodwork forever. The kind of guy you leaned on without a thought because he was always there, willing to lend a hand. It was nice to have someone like that around, given all the fractious personalities living in their makeshift camp right outside my bar.
I accepted the blaster, and headed off for the targets. Hitching the slightly larger weapon than a shotgun to my shoulder, I sighted down the barrel. Yeah, this was much more my speed. The lack of kickback was nice, and the steady hum of the power pack in my hands which fed the weapon was calming.
Each little black mark on the target satisfied something inside of me. When those Drakon Hunters came sniffing around my territory, trying to drive my protection away and claim my bar for their own, I planned to give them the shock of their lives. Each bullseye, I envisioned hitting the smug Prez, Axle Grinder, right between the eyes. It was a very therapeutic session.
18
Radon
The forest was too quiet. Not a single animal was calling for its mate, singing to the glorious sun, or scuttling around in the undergrowth. That probably should have been my first clue that the afternoon was about to go horribly wrong. Instead, I leaned against the trunk of the tree that I was sitting in, and had eyes for only one thing. My mate, Tess.
The female who had already managed to reach past my armor and tight defenses, to worm her way into my soul. They say that you know your mate the moment you see them. It didn’t happen that easy for Asteroid and I, nor was it apparent the moment I set eyes on Quasar. But walking into Last Chance Bar, I knew. I knew so fast that it had hurt my soul.
Tess was mine from the moment our eyes first met.
And that had scared the fuck out of me.
Sitting up in my tree, I watched as the females took direction from Cadmium and Onyx.
The human mates had progressed onto sword practice, after wielding the stun guns that would’ve hurt their pride long before they damaged their delicate skin.
Onyx and Cadmium, even in training, were a sight to behold.
Those two warriors had always been hand-to-hand masters. Drakon females, those who chose the warrior path, were often prized for the fluidity of their movements, but these two were a cut above. Cadmium and Onyx had the deadly ability to both mesmerize and decimate their enemies, and their lethal precision had been drilled into them from early on in life. Females were able to reach smaller targets, and slip through cracks that males, with all their bulk, could never hope to touch.
Watching as Onyx guided the human females through the children’s training was fascinating, one move flowing into the next like a dance. Tess followed each instruction, trying to make her human body move the way the Drakon’s did. Oh, Tess’ body was still poetry in motion, beautiful and sensual, however, she didn’t have quite the same anatomy. Though, when she fully accepted our bond, her human genomes would most certainly adapt to the magic boost afforded to her. So, while Cadmium and Onyx were deadly in their precision, my mate was doing more to stiffen my cock than she was in taking out her imaginary opponent.
Didn’t matter a lick because I could happily devour her–with eyes, tongue and cock–all day.
I had been relieved to discover she was a deadly shot with the energy pistols. I’d also had to stifle a laugh at the way she’d spun the thing around her finger after a particularly good shot, before stuffing it in the training holster strapped to her leg.
“You plan on sitting up here, stalking our mate all day?” Quasar asked, as he jumped up to grab the first branch then pulled himself up to my perch and pressed a warm kiss to my lips.
My sunshine mate and I had been at odds for a long time when we first mated. His constant radiant mood soured me at every turn. We bickered and came to blows more than once. The fact that Asteroid hadn’t smashed our heads together was probably a miracle. I hated that we were at odds again now that we’d come to Earth.
Everything had felt too restricted since the Wyer had landed and was forced to fit in with the rebels who’d been living here for many moons. My tight grasp on duty and honor–that hard-won rank and sense of good fortune–had slipped through my fingers like useless grains of sand. In fact, as soon as we’d stepped onto the soil of this troublesome planet, the hierarchy that was so prized and intrinsic to Drakon culture had dissolved.
Revealing it for the illusion it had always been.
I wasn’t at odds with Quasar so much as at odds with this whole set up which was new and different and, until very recently, had felt justwrong.
But the way my mate leaned into me now, pressing his warm lips to mine, a cheeky grin pulling at them like we were sharing some naughty joke, washed my fear of growing apart down the valley like so much summer rain.
Even the best of families fought sometimes. However, the rift I’d been imagining was one-sided. My mate’s kiss was as warm and loving as ever. The way his tail tangled with mine was intoxicating. Then, when his fan traced lazy circles around the base, dipping into the hole cut out of my jeans to accommodate my extra–by human standards–appendage, a rush of lusty thoughts flooded my mind through our bond.
“Someone has to keep an eye on the females.” I notched my head against his, giving and receiving the comfort which was on offer. “Eden is pregnant, and our mate is vulnerable.” I sighed, trying not to look away from our female while she shot at makeshift targets, knocking each of them down with a steady hand and stubborn disposition. Fuck, but our female was hot when she focused all of her attention on something like this. “Where are the rebel mates, anyhow? If our Tess was pregnant, I wouldn’t be able to let her out of my sight.”
“That sounds about right,” huffed Quasar.
His presence soothed me, lulled me into a deep sense of tranquility as we just sat together, and took in the exquisite view. So much so, in fact, that I almost missed the first blast which echoed through the silent forest, shaking the leaves all around us.
Smoke billowed up in the distance. I leapt to my feet on the groaning branch, poised to drop to the ground in an instant. My weight shifted to the balls of my feet, balancing precariously above the undergrowth as I scanned the terrain for further threats.
“What was that?” Quasar demanded, nearly toppling himself out of the tree as he tried to look around in every direction at once. “Shit.”
He flipped down, using his tail to land gracefully in a crouch, his hand going to where he usually carried his energy pulse gun. His eyes flitted back up to me just as I was doing the exact same thing. Horror stole over his face as we both realized our grave error.
“They’re in the ship,” he mouthed.
