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  Toyo leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “That is a very good question.”

  Chapter Six

  Her rented skimmer was sent back to the agency with a simple command to the console from Drovin. The Guardians settled her in their skimmer and flew her back to the city.

  Rand grinned. “You have a knack for dangerous locations, Bebe.”

  It did not escape her notice that they were all using her nickname now. She smiled wryly.

  “Even on Earth I had a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time, so I took to staying in and continuing my education online. It was just safer that way.” She grinned.

  “And yet, here you are free to wander and get yourself into all sorts of trouble.” Toyo muttered.

  She sighed. “My brother theorized that I subconsciously picked up on the danger and went toward it. He guessed that I picked up on clues and put myself in the most dangerous spot out of reflex.”

  Drovin smiled, “Like the jewellery store.”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I saw the guys in coats milling around and suddenly remembered that my friend Tamra is having a birthday in a week. I wanted to get her something cute. The rest you know.”

  Toyo asked, “One thing, why did he hit you?”

  She winced. “I told him that his plan wasn’t well thought out and bam, weapon to the face.”

  Loesh cackled. “You told him that?”

  “It was obvious. It was their first time; they were scared and aggressive. There was no way they were getting out without peacekeepers.”

  Rand snickered. “Why didn’t they simply grab what they could and get out?”

  Bebe looked at her feet and muttered so low that only Loesh could make it out.

  He laughed and translated. “She saw them come in, jumped the counter and hit the alarm. Things deteriorated after that.”

  Being on a skimmer filled with chortling Guardians was surreal, and as they landed in the street outside her apartment, she caught on to another fact. They all knew where she lived.

  She slumped back and wondered if she would ever have a normal day off again.

  Toyo rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “Come along, Beryl. It is time to put you back where you are safe.”

  She let him help her to her feet and rested against him for a moment when he pulled her close. She came to her senses quickly, but he switched from holding her hand to a wide hand on her back. The contact was comforting and gave her no choice but to head toward her apartment with her security guard smiling and snapping a short salute to the Guardian.

  They entered the lift and he kept his hand at her back.

  She had to ask, “Why were you guys there this afternoon? The meteor would have just ploughed up the field.”

  He grinned. “I was coming into the city to tell you about the resolution to the case when we got the notice about the meteor. Once Loesh determined that you were on a free day, we had a fairly good idea where you would be.”

  She covered her eyes for a moment and then stepped forward when the lift doors opened. “I despise being predictable.”

  He walked her to her door, and when she palmed the lock open, he followed her inside. “Beryl, you are the least predictable woman I have ever come across.”

  She trembled when he turned her and kissed her softly; the door wrapped them in silence and privacy as it shut.

  When he lifted his head, she whispered, “You said you would be at my door when the case was settled.”

  “I did say that.” He brushed his lips across hers as he slowly backed her to a wall.

  Bebe flattened her hands on his chest and deliberately slid her fingers upward into the hair at the base of his skull to hold his mouth to hers.

  He whispered against her lips. “Aren’t you scared?”

  “Petrified, but that hasn’t stopped me before.” She went up on her toes and met his mouth with hers.

  It was all the encouragement that he needed. His hands on her waist lifted her, and he held her at a more convenient height as he tasted her with no threat of an interruption.

  Her pulse pounded, his teeth lengthened and while that deadly warning scared her, she wanted more. Her body throbbed and she wrapped her legs around him out of reflex. She exhaled sharply when he pushed his hips against hers. Heat spiralled through her, inside and out.

  This time, she felt his fingers at the closure to her suit as he eased it open with slow deliberation. She felt the graze of his teeth on her lips and tongue and tasted blood. He shuddered and lifted his head. “Bedroom?”

  She pointed to the door on the left, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to him as he walked the few steps.

  He looked at her bed. “That is very small.”

  She looked between him and her bed and nodded. “It was for me, not for you.”

  “I suppose I will just have to improvise.”

  He settled her on the edge of the bed, peeled her suit down her arms and bared her upper torso. Toyo leaned in and caressed her nipples with his lips, his teeth grazing her, but not piercing the skin.

  Beryl put her hands behind her and arched toward his mouth as he worked at her. She had no idea how someone could feel as hot as she was and not combust. When he had both of her breasts enflamed and aching, he moved down to her navel, flicking his surprisingly strong tongue into the crevice before circling it and dipping in again.

  She quivered nervously when he completed her disrobing, removing the last of her suit and tossing it aside. To her embarrassment, he leaned back on his hands and stared down at her. When he leaned in, she felt the hard leather of his suit pressing against her skin.

  She fumbled at his suit, but he grabbed her hands and pinned them to the bed while he lowered his head between her thighs.

  She had read about it, but never actually felt the wet heat of a tongue working between her thighs. His torso kept her from closing her thighs in mortification, but he continued to lap at her until she was squirming in his grip.

  His tongue thrust deep and stroked her as he retracted it. His teeth pressed against each side of her opening, and she held still for fear of embedding them in her flesh.

  Beryl felt herself shaking wildly, but she kept herself as still as possible as she gasped and moaned with her body on the edge of something both great and terrible.

  He let one of her hands go and pulled his mouth from her sex, rubbing his lips against her inner thigh before biting and thrusting two fingers into her with a shocking suddenness.

  She screamed as the pain and pleasure mixed and spread through her body in a wet, hot pulse.

  Toyo’s jaw worked at her, holding tight to her inner thigh as he consumed her blood.

  The spasms of pleasure continued around his fingers until she was exhausted. When he finally raised his head and licked the blood from his lips, she was relieved to feel the end of it. He pulled his fingers from her and licked and sucked them clean of her juices.

  Beryl felt her cheeks flame and stay hot as he kept eye contact with her while he finished his snack.

  He released the hand he still had pinned and caressed her outer thigh, angling her limb to view the marks he had left on her inner thigh. He smiled softly at whatever he saw.

  She wanted to crane herself up and check to see what he saw, but he had worn her out. Toyo stroked her hair and smiled. “I wish I was not on duty and that we were back at the base, but at least I have managed to mark you as mine, Beryl.”

  She struggled to sit up. “Mark me?”

  He stood up and lifted her in his arms, settling her completely on the bed before rummaging for and finding a sheet to cover her.

  He sat at the edge of her bed and stroked her hair. “I nicked my lip when I was drinking from you, so your blood now carries a bit of W’lyn and I carry Terran. I think I got more out of it than you did.”

  She was trying to stay awake, but something was pulling her un
der. “Why am I so sleepy?”

  “You will figure it out soon enough. I will talk to you tomorrow.”

  She muttered, “Tomorrow I am at work.”

  He stroked her cheek, “It doesn’t matter, Beryl.”

  As she dozed, she mumbled, “Why don’t you call me Bebe?”

  “Because I am neither your brother, nor your friend, Beryl. I am in a category all my own.”

  He brushed her lips with his, and he left her there, sated and exhausted.

  * * * *

  Loesh looked at him in surprise when he emerged. “I thought we were going to leave without you.”

  Toyo shook his head. “It will be her first time and her bed is very small. No sense rushing these things.”

  The other two were in conversation in the back, but Loesh looked at him and said, “Your scent is…different.”

  Toyo grinned. “I feel like I could lift a star cruiser.”

  “Would you be averse to some tests when we get back to the base?”

  Toyo looked at the building where Beryl slept. “You can run your tests, but tomorrow I have a date.”

  * * * *

  Bebe woke and stumbled to the shower when the sun was just beginning to set. She wrapped herself in a robe and was flicking through her vids when there was a knock at her door.

  She went to answer it and saw Toyo on the display. Her mind went onto alert at that moment. He said he would see her the next day at work, and he was not the type for spontaneity when he knew she would be exhausted.

  The knock sounded again, and she reached for the small stunner she kept near the door.

  “Just a minute.”

  She opened the door and smiled. “Toyo. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  He pushed in, and she noted the wrongness with how he moved.

  “I was in the city and thought I would pop in for a quick bit of recreation.”

  His words set her off.

  She angled the stunner in her hand and struck him, knocking him to the floor. Once he was down, she hit him again and again until he was unconscious.

  Bebe moved quickly as she restrained him, zapping him every time he twitched. She made two calls and settled in to wait to see who would come in first.

  * * * *

  Toyo flew as fast as he could back to the city. He could feel the heat on his suit as he reached speeds he had never flown at before.

  The scene in front of Beryl’s apartment was chaos. Peacekeepers and medical transport were there, attending to a man on a gurney, and Beryl was twisting in the arms of two peacekeepers and shrieking.

  “It isn’t him! I swear that isn’t Toyo!”

  Toyo’s eyes saw red when he noted that not only were the guards holding her, but also her robe was untying itself with her struggles. Beryl was shy, and she would not appreciate the exposure.

  “She is correct. Why is she in custody?” he landed and moved to Beryl’s side, brushing the peacekeepers away and cuddling her against him.

  Horrified peacekeepers turned toward the gurney where the injured party was being cared for.

  The commander whispered, “If you are the Guardian, and I don’t doubt that you are, who is that?”

  Beryl was holding onto his uniform, and she whispered, “I am guessing it is the shapeshifter who got that woman pregnant.”

  Toyo steadied her. “Allow me a moment with him. Are you good here?”

  She nodded and stood in her bare feet on the pavement with a crowd increasing in size with every passing moment.

  Toyo looked at the imposter and approached quickly. He grabbed one of the kits from the medical attendant, and he used a laser scalpel to remove several inches of hair from the scalp. A small nick on the scalp proved what Beryl had been telling him. W’lyn’s didn’t bleed purple.

  “This is an alien who attacked another alien who happens to have a self-defence waiver issued by the Guardians and ratified by the peacekeepers. Lock him up until he decides to wear his own face. I am tired of looking at him. Oh, and shave his head. That will make identification easier.”

  The medics and peacekeepers nodded. He was removed from his gurney and manacled, his head shaved and his unconscious form dumped into a peacekeeper transport.

  When Toyo turned back to Beryl, he was filled with rage. A sneering peacekeeper was looming over her asking her if she always answered the door without undergarments.

  Toyo returned to her side and put his arm around her. “Miss Wilkinson was recovering from a near miss with a meteor up at Galku Lake. We suggested that she rest and I am guessing that she did.”

  The peacekeeper flinched. “I meant no disrespect.”

  Beryl sighed. “I was watching a documentary on slugs and there was a knock at the door. I was planning to rest again in a few hours, so I had not gotten dressed. I went to the door and it appeared to be Toyo. He had told me he would see me at work tomorrow, so I knew that something was unusual. I grabbed my stunner. I let him in and he didn’t move right. He told me he was there for casual sex, and since I do not do casual sex, I hit him with my stunner until he wouldn’t get up. I called the Guardian base and then I called the peacekeepers.”

  The man raised a brow. “You called the Guardians first?”

  “They know of my defence waiver and wouldn’t arrest me just for being an alien. Oh, and the real Toyo would probably be with them lending credence to my assertion that that guy was a shapeshifter.” She swayed and Toyo gripped her more tightly.

  Her scent had changed. She still called to mind sweaty, tangled sex, but now, it was for him alone. Toyo wrapped both arms around her and held her in front of him. In the distance, he heard vid cameras whir as a pose that he had never struck with a female was captured for the first time.

  He whispered, “You need to rest again. You will be safe at the base.”

  She tightened her robe and nodded. He could see that the sweep of the surrounding area was far from casual, but when she finally said, “We can go now.” He didn’t hesitate.

  Toyo gathered her in his arms and launched skyward, heading toward the base with incredible care.

  The others had waited. There was no sense in piling into an already crowded situation.

  Instead of clinging to him, Beryl squirmed to get down. “I need a terminal and access to full data streams.”

  Rand nodded. “Of course. Come with me.”

  Toyo followed, curious to see what she was after. The moment she had the authorization, he ceased to exist. She was inside the data and she had a purpose.

  A little deflated, Toyo headed for the kitchen and prepared a snack for her. If she just woke, she would be hungry soon.

  Drovin asked, “So, what happened?”

  “Well, I saw my duplicate and stopped Beryl from being arrested again, but she saw something that I didn’t. My guess is that she is looking for it now.”

  Rand chortled. “So, she is a cool one. Bonded with you in an afternoon and dismissing you in the evening.”

  Toyo grimaced. “I don’t think she knows that we bonded. I didn’t tell her, and it wasn’t the proper ritual for both concerned.”

  Loesh narrowed his eyes. “Come to think of it, she doesn’t bear any bites.”

  Toyo smiled. “She does, you just cannot see them if she isn’t naked. Did you notice that the urge to take her is no longer there?”

  Rand cocked his head. “Now that you mention it, it is gone. She is still attractive, but the obsessive pull at my senses is gone.”

  Loesh laughed, “Because she smells like Toyo.”

  Drovin winced. “That would do it.”

  * * * *

  As she came out of her focus, she heard laughter. She assembled the data pack and sent it to the peacekeepers. She put a copy on a data crystal and headed into the common room again.

  Toyo turned toward her with a smile. “Did you find what you are looking for?”

  “He did it nine times that I can prove.
Not just as you, but as other powerful men. He was the security guard at the front door. He knew who was coming and going, and when the women were alone after their lovers had left.”

  She held up the crystal, and Drovin floated it away from her and into the vid reader. The display was chilling. The women had all reported strange pregnancies, only one had made it to term, but the child died soon after. None of the women’s regular lovers admitted to being the fathers. They had all been in another city when the interaction had occurred.

  The Guardians were silent. Finally, Toyo said, “What were you looking for at your apartment?”

  “The security guard. He should have been dealing with the peacekeepers, but he was nowhere to be found. He was off duty or on break when all of the other incidents occurred.” She put her hand in the vid, grabbed an image of the guard from his work photo and enlarged it.

  “I looked for men in security positions where the complaints were made with the approximate description as research indicates that shifters choose a sweet spot for their transformations. It is a form they can even hold while unconscious.”

  Rand looked over at her. “Why you?”

  She shrugged. “My guess is several factors. I was recently seen with Toyo, a form that he already has down. The Guardians had just escorted me home and that would make most women quite giddy. Oh, and I am an alien and a child with me might have a better chance at survival. The first wave of Terrans could breed with just about anything with the right medical care. Finally, I was alone.”

  The men nodded and Toyo walked up to her. “Thank you for your instincts.” He gave her a tight hug that expressed his relief now that he understood the consequences of her acting as she did.

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, shivering as the enormity of her close call swept through her.

  She fainted.