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  He got up with a groan and staggered to his feet. He rubbed at his chest and cursed low in Ikanni.

  He pulled the second male from the vent and the third exited on his own.

  Her first target said, “She seems to have been waiting.”

  The second groaned. “She has excellent aim, Bael.”

  The third male simply looked relieved that he hadn’t been a target.

  The second male pointed. “She must have crawled out through that open hatch.”

  The first man nodded. “You can go after her. I will attend to my father.”

  Orriko then. He looked startlingly similar to the stronger image of Alvar. He disappeared, and the two other men slipped into the hatch.

  Lilli’s stomach growled, and she kicked herself for not bringing supplies into her hidey-hole.

  She sealed the hatch and crept from beneath her bed. She was halfway to her supply packs when Orriko appeared in her room and wrapped his arms around her from behind, lifting her off the floor.

  “Hello, Base Command.” His pleasure at her capture was as unmistakable as the body she was held against.

  “Bael Orriko, nice to meet you.” She panicked and sealed the base to everything, pumping the breathable air out.

  He squeezed her, “Stop that, Command. Open the vents or it will not go well for you.”

  She didn’t see how it could go well for her, but she opened the vents and ceased the purge.

  In the next instant, they were out of her room and in medical. His father was still lying in the pose she had placed him in.

  “Why did you do this?” Orriko walked closer to his father and kept her in front of him.

  “He was my friend. He needed to rest with dignity.” She let tears fall, and they splashed on Orriko’s arm.

  He turned her in his grip and looked into her face for the first time. “You.”

  She blinked. “Me?”

  “You were the last to touch my father. You are retaining his soul.” His hawk-like features smoothed out, and he caressed her cheek with his fingers. “So very soft.”

  Things were rapidly spiralling out of control when he leaned in and kissed her, the soft exploration rapidly turned into passion on his part, and Lilli was left trying to fight him off. She didn’t get very far, but he did cease his lip-based assault, and he leaned back with a smile.

  “It seems that my father chose you for me.”

  Remember, I am giving you a gift, it just may not appear to be one at first.

  Lilli stare up into those red eyes and said the first thing that came into her thoughts. “Son-of-a-bitch.”

  Chapter Three

  He leaned back and laughed. “Well said. Well, Command, what were my father’s last words?”

  She sighed and tried to get out of his grip. “Danara.”

  Orriko stilled. “What?”

  “His last word was Danara.”

  Her captor was having difficulty dealing with that revelation.

  She waited until he had himself under control. “If you want to keep me prisoner, you can put me back in my room. If you block the crawlspace, I can’t get out.”

  “I don’t think so. My father placed his trust in you to guard him, so you will guard him.” He stiffened his spine and turned her back to face the body of her friend.

  She reached out and smoothed his braid once again.

  “You braided his hair?”

  “It was getting caught underneath him. He wasn’t comfortable, so I braided it. Is that a problem?” She frowned, not sure if she had broken some kind of Ikanni taboo.

  “No. It shows that he was cared for, though I do not know why he chose to depart the living world here.”

  It was bothering him. Lilli could see it in every line of his body. She just didn’t have the nerve to tell him that his father was matchmaking.

  Her stomach growled, and she wrinkled her nose when the three Ikanni males in the medical bay turned to stare at her. “What? It has been a few hours since I ate.”

  One of the men frowned. “There is no food left on the base.”

  “Well, I had some in my room, enough for a few weeks. If you would let me return there, I can get it and stop making inappropriate noises.”

  The men spoke low and fast, straightening and shaking their heads. The first speaker straightened. “Bael Lerock has ordered that you remain here.”

  “Then, can someone go and get the supply bag that was next to my door? I swear it isn’t booby-trapped or anything. It just holds compressed ration bars.”

  The men spoke and shook their heads. “No. We cannot leave nor let you leave until Bael Lerock returns.”

  She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head, trying to stop the dizziness that hunger was bringing on.

  Two hours later, she was curled against the wall and seeing spots. Light flickered behind her eyes, and she thought it was just her until she heard the shouts of confusion.

  Hands lifted her and the world folded in on her for a moment before she was being laid on her bed. She felt hands at her temples, and with a soft click, the control array was removed.

  Lighting stabilized in the room around her, and Lilli opened her eyes.

  Orriko was leaning over her. “Are you awake?”

  She nodded. “Hungry, thirsty. The array takes a lot of energy.”

  He grimaced. “Of course it does. How long have you been running it without a break?”

  “When did your father come here?”

  He propped her up and held her with one arm while he placed a container of water to her lips. “Drink.”

  She spluttered. “That isn’t water.”

  “It will relax you and hydrate you. Drink.”

  She drank again. It was that or spit the liquid in his face. She tasted herbs, sweet and alcohol.

  He withdrew the container but continued to hold her. The distance from his face to hers gave her a charming view of a scar that ran along his jawline.

  Orriko pulled pillows behind her and sat her up. “Now, Base Command. I have a few questions.”

  She grimaced. “Fine. There is no one left to betray, so shoot.”

  He blinked and leaned back. “It is working on you that quickly?”

  She scratched her nose and frowned. “Is what working on me? I don’t have any Alliance information. I just run the base, and now, the base is empty.”

  He looked at her, watching her face intently. “Why were you left here?”

  “Each ship holds ten, we had three ships. I am the odd one out.”

  “How were you planning to leave?”

  “In forty-five days, there is a window to the nearest relay station. I can fire the pod and hope for the best.” She licked her lips. Her head spun and felt fluffy, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

  She picked at the bits of debris and fluff that had settled on her padded white jumpsuit.

  “You were going to hide in your room until the forty-five days were up and try to sneak past us?”

  She shrugged, and to her horror, she told him. “I can get through the entire base via a set of tunnels in the walls. All Base Commands can.”

  His eyes widened and a smile flickered over his features.

  “Will they come for you?”

  “No. I am now classified as dropped personnel. I live or die on my own means. What will happen to me now?”

  Orriko blinked and he frowned. “I haven’t thought about it. I suppose it depends on how you behave during the ceremony.”

  “Ceremony?” She blinked rapidly. It was hard to focus on a thought.

  “Four young women will arrive and place their hands on my father’s body. If one of them feels the presence of my father, she will become my woman for a time as we try to bring his soul back to the living.”

  “How?”

  “By reincarnating him in a new life.” Orriko gave her a knowing look. “Do you really want me to explain it?”

  “Bringing him back as a baby.”
<
br />   “Yes. He will give a piece of his soul to the woman he believes has the best chance of bringing him back.”

  She blinked. “How will he do that?”

  “I am supposed to be asking the questions here.”

  She giggled. “Fine. Go ahead.”

  “What is your name?”

  “Lillibeth Hislar of the Alliance Protectorate of Terra.” She gave him a salute and giggled again.

  He left her side for a moment and returned with a data pad. “What are you and my father talking about here?”

  She smiled. “Danara. He loved her and missed her very much.”

  “What else?”

  “You. He said you would come and that he was giving me a gift, though I may not appreciate it at the time.”

  Orriko’s brows twitched. “He said that?”

  “Yup. It’s probably still on the monitor record if you turn up the volume.”

  He stared at the image of his father speaking his last word and the care with which Lillibeth folded his hands and draped his body. She sat and watched him watching the last moments of his father’s life.

  He sighed and turned off the display. “You and he were friends.”

  “We were. When he came to the base to check on our activities, we would play a game of chess or go for a walk in the gardens. I think he enjoyed just talking with someone who simply wanted to talk with him. No demands, no requests, just conversations about weather and vegetation.”

  “That was it?”

  “Sure. We both knew I was here on a temporary basis, so there was no reason to discuss anything else. The Alliance was never on Ikanni to stay, and I knew it. He did try to give me the history of your people at first. He quickly ceased the attempt.”

  Orriko chuckled. “He knew when he was beaten, though if he kept coming, he didn’t give up easily.”

  Her head spun, and she leaned back. “Oh.”

  He fed her more of the liquid and watched as she recovered slightly.

  Orriko lifted her chin and ran his thumb along her lips. “Now, what are your preferences for sex?”

  Chapter Four

  Lilli felt her skin go from pale to fiery in an instant. She squeaked out, “What?”

  “Though we have to go through the formalities, my father chose you as my mate, and I want to know what you like.” He smiled, but there was a calculating look in his eyes.

  She shivered. “Um, I haven’t really given it much thought.”

  “How could you not know what pleases you?” The concept seemed to baffle him.

  She blinked, and the honesty made her say, “Because I have never been pleased with another person in the room.” She clapped her hand over her mouth as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

  “Are you a virgin?” His snowy brows came together in confusion.

  “No.”

  “Then, why have you never felt pleasure?”

  “I have felt pleasure—it simply wasn’t at someone else’s hands.”

  He pulled her hand from her mouth and made her repeat herself.

  “Ah. I understand. It is surprising given the attractive nature of your person.”

  “I don’t get out much, and I spend a lot of time alone.”

  He got up and began to explore her room, opening drawers and searching for something.

  Her head cleared, and she realized what he was looking for. Instead of trying to stop him, she walked to the bag of rations and took out a bar, nibbling delicately as she watched him go through her room inch by inch.

  Orriko went through her drawers one by one, and she sat at her desk and waited. He grabbed her by her waist and lifted her away from her desk as he continued his search.

  Finally she sighed. “What are you looking for?”

  “A sex surrogate. There must be one in here somewhere.”

  “Nope.”

  He paused. “What?”

  “No, there is no sexual surrogate here, at least not one that can easily be identified as such.” She rolled her eyes as she provided him with extra information once again.

  He ceased his search and tucked her back in bed with her ration bar. “I see. Well, for a woman who travels from planet to planet, it makes sense for you to travel light, though it will delay any progress between us until tomorrow.”

  She backed away from him. “What?”

  “The majority of my father’s soul has left his body for the next life, but a kernel of his being is inside you, and the only way to get him out is having you bear a child that carries the kernel of his soul inside you.”

  She frowned. “Why do you have to be involved?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You would prefer one of my men?”

  She shook her head. “No. Yes. I don’t know.”

  Lilli ran her hand over her tightly braided head, grazing her fingertips over the magnetic connection at her temple.

  “If you were one of the Ikanni, you would already have me inside you.” His smile was intense.

  “Um. Okay. That is disturbing.” She looked around and noted that all her displays were off. “What time is it?”

  “Three hours until dawn. You have been hiding for over a day.”

  Lilli nodded. “Good. It explains why I am so sleepy.”

  “I will leave you until the ceremony. Wear your uniform and unbind your hair. A guard will come and get you.” He slipped her halo onto his arm.

  “Wait, if you take that halo, I can’t open the door.”

  “It will be fine. One of the men who came in through the duct will come to get you.”

  She didn’t have a chance to ask what would happen next.

  Her monitors had no connection to the outside world, and without the halo, she could only control her immediate environment. Lilli decided that a shower before her nap would probably help her dry her hair.

  In the lav, she unpinned coil after coil of braids and began the laborious process of straightening her hair. When her hair was free down her back and covering her to mid-thigh, she stepped into the shower for a needed scrubbing and a little clarity of mind.

  What the hell am I going to do now?

  The man who popped into her room was wearing a sleeveless formal tunic with silver piping that made his arms and torso appear huge while highlighting his narrow waist. His silvery white hair was a straight cloak down his back.

  “Base Command, please come with me.” He looked surprised when she got to her feet and approached him.

  She smoothed her white quilted suit and stood just out of arms reach.

  He sighed and stepped forward, embracing her and transporting her to medical.

  He released her as if she were on fire, and the four other women in the room turned to glare at her with burning coals for eyes.

  The guard who transported her said, “Go to the head of Bael Lerock.”

  Lilli walked to Alvar’s head and looked down at the body. Once she was in position, a formal gathering of five males entered the room via transporting. The men were masked and wore formal tunics and leather leggings.

  One of the men removed a small ovoid from a pouch at his belt, and he reached between the women who surrounded the body to place the object against Alvar’s arm.

  “Ladies, please touch Bael Lerock, one at a time.” The guard seemed to have taken on the role of master of ceremonies.

  Each of the Ikanni women reached out and touched the body in turn. When it was her turn, Lilli leaned down and kissed Alvar’s cold forehead. Light burst from the orb, and the rest happened so quickly, Lilli only had a vague impression of arms around her and transportation back to her quarters.

  She was opening her mouth to ask what the hell was going on when a mouth covered hers and hands worked at her suit.

  When his tongue slipped between her lips and tasted her, his own taste was enough to make her pull him closer. Honey, chocolate and something she couldn’t pinpoint were the flavour of Orriko.

  She had heard of the seductive powers of the Admaryn but hadn
’t experienced it firsthand. The blended species were as attractive as the pure bloods were supposed to be, but she had never expected to be in the embrace of one.

  Lilli reached for his tunic and opened the clasps with fumbling fingers. Her suit shrieked in protest as it tore down the centre. The fabric trapped her arms but that became a secondary concern as he knelt and took one hard nipple in his mouth, tonguing and sucking hard until her knees threatened to give way.

  He switched to her other breast, his hands worked at her back to tear the uniform away from her skin.

  Electric heat was pooling in her sex with every tug on her nipples, and as he roughly pulled her to him, she cried out as an orgasm rushed in. A low moan echoed in her chambers and teeth pulled at her nipple, drawing the waves of energy out until his hands were the only things supporting her.

  He moved his mouth voraciously down her belly, gnawing and licking at her skin as he peeled the shreds of her suit away. The suddenness of the sensations rioting through her was shocking, but since her body wanted what he was offering, where was the harm?

  Chapter Five

  Lilli trembled as he lifted one of her feet and set it on his inner thigh. He unlaced her boot and removed her sock, tossing it aside. He repeated the manoeuvre on her other foot, and with a few harsh jerks, she was completely naked.

  He pressed his lips to her belly, and she threaded her fingers through the snow white of his hair. Orriko lifted her foot again and replaced it on his thigh. He leaned in and parted her sex with the slow stroke of his tongue.

  She moaned and held onto his head for balance. He flicked her clit with his tongue and slid two fingers into her, plunging and pumping hard and fast until she shivered and choked out a cry again.

  This time, he lifted her in his arms and placed her on the bed. He adjusted his clothing and leaned forward, his cock pressing into her as his glowing red eyes stared into hers.

  She arched her hips and wrapped one leg around the leather of his trousers. The shift allowed him to ease into her, but it was the last slow move he made.

  Long, deep thrusts turned into pounding slides as he increased the tempo of his hips until she was clutching at him and staring up at him as a third release ripped through her, pulling sparks into her gaze and leaving her shivering.