Fighting Syndrome (Stand Alone Tales Book 13) Read online

He stared at her in astonishment and slowly began to remove his clothing. He was wearing the standard layers of leather that were part of the Sandman uniform. “I have a few hobbies. Training, piloting, trying to prepare for a war. You know, the standard.”

  “Oh. I thought you might know how to cook or something.” She smiled and watched his skin come to light as he peeled the layers off. She sat on the edge of the bed and kicked her feet.

  He paused while loosely folding his shirt and jacket, tossing them onto the chest at the end of the bed. “You are staring.”

  “I have spent the last twelve years with nuns. Why do you think I am staring?” She looked at his face, and he had a quirked smile.

  “You don’t seem very timid.”

  She wrinkled her nose as he sat to remove his boots but left his leather trousers on.

  Ebra tilted her head. “Why are you leaving your trousers on?”

  He smiled and walked toward her. “To slow me down. Now, Ebra, I have dreamed of you for years, so I am trying to take things slowly.”

  She stood up and pressed her hand to his chest. He was cool and hot at the same time.

  “Why are you so calm about this?” His words rumbled to her through her hand as well as her ears.

  “Well, I wasn’t at the abbey for entertainment. I was there to protect me, and by extension, my family. For whatever reason, I was nearly kidnapped twice when I was fourteen. I have no idea why, but it scared my family enough to send me away. I don’t want them to be scared anymore, so if I have to hide in your shadow, I will do it.”

  “And yet you were willing to marry Urnet.”

  “Like fuck. I was willing to let him get me away from the abbey. The moment that I heard he wasn’t on board, that ship sailed.”

  “What do you mean he wasn’t on board? Wasn’t he there to greet you?”

  She blinked. “No. Why?”

  He left the bedroom in a blur, and she heard him yelling for the Sandman. She wandered around the bedroom and opened and closed the wardrobe and the chest at the foot of the bed. Tonos returned, and he had run his hands through his hair at some point because tendrils were hanging over his eyes. “I had hoped that we had more time.”

  She blinked as he walked up to her, lifted her, and kissed her. She pushed on his shoulders, and he leaned back. “What is going on?”

  “Urnet is on his way to our colony world. He is using his relationship to you as his bargaining chip to gain your parents’ ships and weapons.”

  “We have to tell my parents that I am not involved with him.”

  She squirmed in his grip and was getting ready to attack when he said, “We already have. My assistant is notifying them and my parents. As soon as it is done, I will head out to the colony and stop his progress.”

  “It?”

  “You.”

  “Ohhh.” She sighed. “Well, then, better get it over with.”

  He was startled when she kissed him, and he staggered when she slid her tongue along his, being careful to avoid his fangs.

  He got over his surprise and carried her to the bed. He leaned down and held her as she dropped back. He snorted and flicked off her shoes. “This is not how I imagined you on your wedding night.”

  She shrugged. “I always imagined that I would steal a shuttle and completely avoid a wedding night, so we are both surprised.”

  “Ebra.”

  She looked up at his eyes and his slow smile. “Yes?”

  “I would have come after you.”

  Her heart flipped, and she blushed. “You don’t have to say that.”

  He pinned her between his hands and leaned so that their bodies were touching in a number of interesting places. “I know, but I would have, and I will if you try and run.”

  She blinked at his grasp of her plan, and he grinned, showing a very feral expression.

  “There she is. I had wondered what you had done with her.” He kissed her again.

  She put her hands on his shoulders and ran her hands over his skin. Men were definitely constructed differently to women. His broad shoulders were wider than she was by a good bit, his muscles were slab and sinew, fun to touch.

  He raised his head, and his eyes had a strange glow, his face had more of that feral expression, and what was definitely unsettling was that his teeth were out.

  She was gasping, and there was some definite wetness starting between her thighs, but she wasn’t prepared for him tearing her gown down the center. The surge of adrenaline spiked her reflexes, but he grabbed her hands and held them together on her belly while he knelt between her thighs, and he exhaled a stream of hot air against her. She shivered and whimpered as his tongue made contact with her skin. He dragged the tip of his tongue between his folds and parted her, lapping upward until he flicked her clit.

  He repeated the slow motion, and to her horror, he set up a steady beat until her hips were moving against him, meeting his caress. When he slid a finger inside her, she gasped and moaned. Ebra wanted to cover her face, but he was holding her hands. He worked a second finger into her, and she was caught by surprise when the rising tension snapped, and her body arched, shivering while she clamped down on his fingers.

  He stood quickly and released her while he stripped out of his trousers. She sat up and freed herself from her sleeves a moment before he pressed her back into the bedding with her hands pinned above her head.

  “Why are you keeping my hands confined?”

  He grinned. “I have seen your dreams and read your files. I know what you can do if you choose to.”

  She didn’t get a good look at his cock before he pressed it against her, but it slid in in small increments. She could definitely feel it as he stretched her to make room for the length and breadth of him.

  She heard a whimper and blushed when she realized it was her voice that had made the sound. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I want to hear you.”

  She swallowed and turned her head away as he thrust in all the way. She moaned. Every part of her inner channel was occupied with him. Sweat coated her body, and she was panting as she struggled to adapt to the feeling.

  Ebra finally realized that Tonos wasn’t moving. She slowed her breathing and turned toward him.

  He smiled. “Are you all right?”

  She blinked and noted genuine concern. “I think so.”

  “Can I move?”

  She blushed and nodded. “I am curious as to what happens next.”

  His gaze darkened, he kissed her as his hips moved, and he began to stroke in and out of her with slowly increasing speed.

  Ebra wanted to touch him, push her hands against his, but he flexed his hands and kept her arms above her head. Being along for the ride was terribly passive and not her style. She raised her legs, and he slid even deeper. She groaned and arched her head and back as the change in sensation sent her into another level of arousal. Her senses were alive, and Tonos had relentless control over his. He was hot, and there was an urgency to the signals his body was putting out, but he was refusing to simply let go. He was holding back for her sake. The problem with that was that she was depending on him to take her over the edge, and he wasn’t going to go without her.

  He thrust faster and harder, sending her breasts bouncing, and her body clenched around him. She was so close, so very close. He moved his head and pressed his lips to her neck. He bit, she screamed, and he groaned as they came together in a rush.

  He sucked at her blood as she was pinned under him, and with each strong suction, another round of aftershocks clasped his cock inside her. She gasped and shivered as he thrust into her again and groaned and bucked again.

  When he lifted his head, her body was buzzing, and her neck was throbbing. He licked the wounds shut and pressed his forehead to hers. He licked at her lips, and she tasted her own blood.

  She growled and moved, flipping him to his back, and he was still inside her. She smiled and pinned his hands to the
bed next to them as she slowly rocked her hips.

  He frowned. “How did you do that?”

  She chuckled. “Oh, dear. I thought you said you had read up on the syndrome?”

  “I have, I meant, I was on you, and then you were on me.”

  She leaned forward and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “Oh. That. Fey blood. Other blood. It lets me move short distances very quickly. I can’t sprint like you can, but short distance is very possible.”

  His eyes closed, and he gripped her hips. She was still slowly riding him, but it was just keeping her body hot rather than driving her higher.

  Tonos’s eyes were hot. “Would you like assistance?”

  She bit her lip and nodded, not quite sure how to get what she was aiming for. Tonos slid his hands across her torso, cupping her breasts and rolling her nipples between thumb and forefinger.

  She shuddered as a very pleasant set of sensations connected her breasts and her clit. Who had done that wiring?

  When he sat up, he took one of her breasts in his mouth and licked before blowing a column of air across her now-wet skin. She gasped and squirmed when he wrapped his lips around the now-tight nipple and sucked while stroking the nub with his tongue.

  She felt her body clenching around him, and he paused for a moment before continuing. The rhythm of her rocking faltered, and he switched to the other side. She squeaked and shivered. Ebra started to slide a hand down toward her clit, but his hand was suddenly in the way. She shuddered as he started to stroke the hard nub, his mouth still working on her breast.

  She ignored the sound of her voice and just kept moving on him, rising and falling faster and faster until she let out a long, low moan. Her body clutched him, and her muscle control ceased to work. Tonos didn’t hesitate; he sat up, pulled her into his lap, and bent her back so he could continue to worry at her breasts while his hips slapped against her from below.

  Ebra gasped, whimpered, and moaned as his attentions went on. She opened her clenched eyes and whispered, “Tonos, please.”

  His pupils went black, and he pulled her tight, bit her again, and shuddered into her.

  She gasped and clutched at his shoulders as her nerves burned hot in a flash.

  She felt him moving her around and woke up when he had tucked her into bed. He was dressing. “Where are you going?”

  “I told you. We have to defend our colony.”

  She sighed, focused, and sat up. “I am coming with you.”

  “No.”

  She glared at him. “If you want my family to listen, I had sure as hell better be there.”

  He looked at her body. “I don’t have anything for you to wear.”

  She grabbed the sheet, wrapped it around her, and changed its shape. In less than ten heartbeats, she was wearing boots, leather trousers, a tight bandeau, and a long vest to make it less obvious.

  He stared. “Right. Well, you aren’t armed.”

  She touched the sides of her thighs and lifted her hands with blades in them. “Good enough?”

  He frowned, spun her around, and then, there was an amused glint in his eyes. “Where do you pull that stuff from?”

  She smiled. “That will have to wait for our first anniversary. There are some secrets a lady should not divulge right away. Shall we?”

  He sighed and nodded. “Come on. Let’s get your sister and go.”

  Ebra laughed at his expression, and she dismissed her blades. Not everyone could have a weapon in their mouth. She had to make do.

  Chapter Five

  Weller looked shocked when they entered the living area. “Aren’t you... uh... busy?”

  Tonos sighed. “Regretfully not. We have a colony to save. Will you accompany us?”

  Sister Weller got up and smoothed her habit. “Ready. Asshat, are you coming?”

  The Sandman got up and glowered. “I am ready. Shall we use local transport?”

  Tonos shook his head. “The shuttle will be here in minutes. Powder your noses if you can.”

  Ebra went to the kitchen and found some food, slapping sandwiches together and shoving one into her mouth as she joined the others in the dining area. “Here. Eat if you are hungry. It has been a while for me, so pardon my greed.”

  The sandwiches disappeared, so she went and made more so she could have a second one. Just as she was returning to the main area with her prize, the heavy hum of the shuttle sounded from the courtyard in front of the house.

  She took her snack, made sure her friend and her mate were with her, and headed for the shuttle.

  Tonos looked at her as she gnawed savagely at her food. “You are a little less polished than I imagined.”

  Weller snorted. “You don’t seem to understand what the abbey is. It isn’t a religious organization. It is a refuge where folk like Ebra can get the training they need to not kill anyone in daily life.”

  Ebra snorted. “Right. Folks like me.”

  Weller grinned. “I was surrendered.”

  “I know. I know. But there was a reason, wasn’t there?” Ebra snorted, and then, she realized that the men with them were actually paying attention.

  Weller grinned. “Yes, yes, there was.”

  They chuckled to themselves, and Ebra finished her sandwich. She was so damned hungry, the food only touched it. She was going to need more, but the mother superior had warned her about it.

  During the last few weeks, her diet had been altered from the food at the abbey to the food from off-world. It was a difficult transition, but it meant she needed more food to fill the gap of running multiple metabolic rates at the same time.

  The shuttle lifted off and met up with a warship in the skies above. Ebra tapped Tonos on the shoulder, and she said, “I need a com unit. I don’t want my parents thinking that I am dead for any longer than necessary.”

  He stared at her, and she smiled. “Your Highness?”

  He sighed and looked to the Sandman. “Com station. She has twenty minutes before we are underway.”

  Asshat smiled and nodded. “This way, princess.”

  Weller pointed at the prince. “I am going with him. I want to find out how to steer this thing.”

  They split up, and Asshat warned the com that they were on the way and told them to connect to her family.

  Ebra rattled off the bounce locations into the com link.

  The voice on the other end confirmed, and she and Asshat continued their controlled sprint through the ship.

  She started sweating as she ran, and heads began to turn as she started giving off pheromones.

  Asshat glowered. “What is going on?”

  “The elf genes are waking up. They go with the hair and attract the largest quantity of mates for my perusal. They don’t usually chase me, so that’s fine. It was the main reason for my time at the abbey. Girls aren’t that interested.” She chuckled and continued the run with turned heads in her wake.

  “So, you can’t control the attraction?”

  “If I am with Tonos enough, it will alter the expression of my glands, and that should circumvent the normal expression of my pheromones. They will reduce in intensity over time.”

  “What is the purpose of the pheromones?”

  She chuckled. “A high quantity of mating partners. In elf society, when you get pregnant, you get a mate. Not before. You don’t want to be hogging a male who could have a better chance at procreation with another female.”

  Asshat was appalled. “That is horrible.”

  “I suppose it depends on if you are in line or working on drawing them in. Either way, the joyous union needs to result in offspring, or you have to move on after a few months.” Ebra shrugged. “I can’t do anything about it, so I just have to know that the effect is there.”

  They entered the com deck, and she was ushered to a screen immediately. The call had been working at connection for the duration of their sprint.

  She sat in the chair, and when her a
ccess code was requested, her fingers cruised across the keys. She wasn’t surprised when her family’s secretary was on the screen. “Hi, Mortin.”

  He sat, stunned. “Miss, you are supposed to be dead.”

  “Yeah, I was wondering if he was going to play it that way. Can I speak to my mother, please?”

  “Your mother? She is...”

  “Bawling her eyes out. I know. Get her to the monitor. Now, Mortin.”

  There was a two-minute wait, and then, Ebra saw her mother’s face with her father in the background, looking murderous.

  Her mother gasped. “Ebra? We saw your body.”

  “It was a Jenven blank. They were trying to cure me. So, I made sure that the blank was unusable and ran away to marry a vampire mix named—”

  “Tonos.” Her father looked relieved.

  “Um, yeah. He found me, and now, I am on his warship heading to defend a colony. If you have any men in the area, pull them back, please. I don’t want to hurt anyone whose family I have met.”

  Her father nodded. “I will order the pullback and break our connection to the Urnet force. Now that you are with Tonos, there is a whole other range of treaties to put down.”

  She smiled. “There is no room for negotiation, Father. I have signed the contract and am locked to him.”

  Her father looked furious all over again. His anger was causing his aura to flare, so she had to get his attention.

  She whistled sharply, and when he stared at her, she inclined her head. “Time was a factor, and I am getting the signal that it is running short. So, pull your men out, or they might run into me.”

  Her mother nodded. “Will do, dearest. We will wait for additional contact.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Communication out.”

  She cut the com and turned to the Sandman before the engines started to pulse. “Well, that was fun. At least we won’t be attacked by folks that I know.”

  Asshat stared at her. “They took your word for it?”

  “Of course. The whistle is made by two different sets of vocal cords. He heard that one in his bones. The copy couldn’t have managed it.”

  “Ah. Well, we had better get to the control deck. We are heading for our gate.”