Colliding Worlds Trilogy 02 – Implosion (26 page)

“I always knew you were hiding something, but this is a doozy.” She placed a hand on Nalea’s bag. “You okay with this? I mean, it feels like I just got you back and now I’m losing you again.”

Nalea turned to face her. “You’re not losing me. Not really. But, I guess I can no longer officially serve on your trinity.”

Sienna held up a hand. “I still want you on my trinity. How cool is that I have royalty sitting on my trinity? But you’re going to have your hands full being
Grand Lord
. Besides, with all the Sephians remaining on Earth moving to this base, Apolo and I decided to merge trinities once again.” She bit her lip. “Although I suppose that no longer makes it a trinity. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m still expecting you to be the maid of honor at my wedding.”

Nalea smiled. “Nothing would make me happier.”

Then Sienna sobered. “Whatever you need, I’m there. You know that, right?”

Nalea nodded shakily, feeling as though she were in shock. “I know,” she said, sounding unconvincing to even herself. She shrugged. “Hey, I’m doing the right thing. And, Roden, well, he’s my
tahren,
after all
.
It’s time I come to terms with that.”

Sienna put a hand on her shoulder. “If you don’t want to be with him, then don’t. When it comes to Roden, no one would be surprised.”

She chuckled. “That’s it, though. I
want
to be with him more than anything else. It’s more than the bond. I — I love him, Sienna.”

Her friend didn’t respond, and so she turned around to find Sienna staring at the doorway … at Roden standing in the doorway, his eyebrow raised.

“Well, this is awkward,” Sienna said. “I think I’ll go check on … something.” She limped out of the room as quickly as she could, leaving Nalea blaringly alone with Roden.

“
Fyet
,” she cussed under her breath.

Roden pulled the door closed behind him and strolled into the room, looking nonchalant, but she knew better. She could feel intense emotions radiating from him. Happiness? Pride? Even though he wore no smile, emotions didn’t lie. He wasn’t frightened.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, stuffing a tank top into the duffle.

He wrapped his larger hand around hers, his wings forming a semicircle around them. “Make the time.”

“So what, I love you. But it’s going to take hells longer to trust you,” she blurted out, heat filling her cheeks.

He reached for the fastening on his kilt, and then kissed her. “Challenge accepted.” Another kiss. “I do so enjoy your challenges, Lea.” He broke the kiss to drop his kilt to the floor, revealing his long, hard shaft. Her core ached with heat. A breath escaped her, and he smiled.

In a rush, she turned to grab her duffle off the bed. “We can’t do this right now. There’s — ”

His hard body pressed against hers from behind. He wrapped an arm around her, and held her tight against his hard chest and harder cock. He kissed the curve of her neck, and she shuddered. “There’s nothing more important than
this
. There’s nothing more important than
us
.”

She leaned into him as he continued to kiss and nip at her neck. When she tried to turn, his arm on her tightened, and she gasped. He shoved her onto her knees on the bed. Turning her head, she took in his ravenous gaze. Still watching him, she unbuckled her belt and he knocked her fingers away. He finished undoing her pants and yanked them down, knocking her onto her stomach.

She tried to pull herself up, but his heated weight bore down on her. He pressed her thighs open, gently, almost politely, and then paused. She turned to see what he was doing, but at that moment he shoved himself inside in one long, hard movement. She cried out, mostly in pleasure, but some in pain from not being ready to yet ready to accommodate his size. He stopped moving, still inside her. Yet his cock throbbed, as though trying to go deeper.

“Roden,” she begged.

His body trembled over hers, and she realized he was chuckling. But then he obliged. He pulled her to her knees, and began to pump his body into hers. Her hips moved in rhythm against his thrusts. He grabbed the back of her neck. Held her in place as he pounded into her. Her breath was short and fast. She held much of his weight as he pushed in and pulled out. Waves of sensation built with each thrust.

He began to go faster, harder, smashing himself into her. She could do nothing, trapped against his body. And she took everything and begged for more. “I’m — ” She came from a violent thrust that sent her onto her stomach. He held his cock inside, as deep as he could make it, while he came in surges, and another orgasm tore his name from her mouth.

Roden drew out of her with a sighing shudder and rolled her onto her back. Still standing by the bed, he moved forward, onto the bed. She had to spread her thighs for him. He lowered himself and kissed her. She grabbed his hair and pulled him closer. His tongue plunged inside her mouth right before he pushed himself inside, his cock pulsing inside her. He pulled away, and he watched her, his silver eyes a storm, as he thrust into her again. Each time he plunged deep, his cock throbbed harder, growing larger.

Even with only one hand, his grip on her hip held her in place. His fingers dug into her thighs, and another orgasm took her. Her body contracted around his. He thrust inside one final time, burying his cock as deep inside as he could go. He came inside her with a shuddering burst before collapsing onto her.

Nalea wrapped her arms around him. His wing draped loosely over her like a blanket. They lay there, with him still inside, as they rode the descending wave together. He pulled himself up on an elbow, lowering only to lay the softest kiss on her forehead. “Let’s go to my room,” he murmured. “The bed is much larger.”

“
Our
room,” she corrected, tapping to his nose.

He smiled, tracing a finger down her breastbone. “
Our
room. There we can plan our own wedding ceremony.”

She clasped his finger and squeezed. “Don’t push it.”

He chuckled and rolled off the bed and onto his feet. She stared at his broad chest with mouthwatering planes carved into it. She watched him as he wrapped the kilt around his hips and was so enamored with watching his movements that she’d missed his struggle with fastening his kilt with only one hand.

“Let me,” she said, jumping forward. As she worked the fasteners on his kilt, trying not to be distracted by what was separated from her by only the material, he ran his hand over her breast. With his kilt fastened, she glanced up to find herself trapped by his silver gaze.

“You are magnificent,” he whispered.

Her lips parted. He pulled her closer and kissed her more softly, more gently than he’d ever done before, but in that sweet kiss, she knew that this man would do anything, even sacrifice himself, for her.

When he finally released her, he spoke. “You give me greater strength than you could ever realize. You make me feel … ” He frowned, clamping his jaw shut.

Nalea’s brow furrowed. “How do I make you feel? Tell me.”

He swallowed. For the first time, she saw utter honesty in his eyes. “You make me feel …
redeemable
.”

She stood frozen for a second. One simple word, yet it cost him so much to say. Then, she yanked him to her. This time, they didn’t even bother removing his kilt.

An hour later, they entered the hallway, Nalea feeling utterly sated and Roden, too, from the look of the content smile on his face. They strolled, hand-in-hand, stopping when they came to a crowd gathered at a screen installed high on the wall. On the screen, a reporter was talking, but Nalea was too far away to hear her words. Behind the reporter were humans carrying signs. Some humans looked excited, proudly holding signs that said
Welcome
. Others looked angry, shaking signs, such as
ET go home
and
Area 51 is real
and
The end is near
. Her heart plummeted.

Humans knew that they were no longer alone in the universe. And, from the look of things, they weren’t about to embrace them with open arms.

Major Sommers rushed around the corner. “There you are,” he said, coming to stop before Roden and Nalea. “We’ll need to do a PR briefing. Are you up to representing your people as peaceful guests?”

“We will be a shining star for our people as peaceful
citizens
,” Roden said before Nalea could talk.

Sommers gave a tight nod. “Okay then, let’s meet in the officer’s room in one hour.” Without waiting for a response, Sommers took off at a jog back the way he came.

Roden tugged her arm, and led her briskly toward his room.

“Evidently, the military has less control over the media than they’d anticipated,” she said as they brushed past another screen-watching crowd.

“Or, the military is quite efficient at leaking news that leads to their benefit and ties our hands,” Roden replied in a low voice.

A shudder brushed through Nalea as she suspected his words rang with a bit too much truth.

• • •

The military’s PR effort turned into a fiasco, with canned news articles only raising human suspicion and unrest. And so, three weeks later, the time came to introduce Earth’s latest additions to its populace.

Nalea and Roden stood off the stage, ready to make their first public appearance to a new world. The general stood at the podium, with Sienna and Legian at his side, announcing that the United Nations was setting up an “extra terrestrial zone” for all Sephians and Draeken to live in peace on Earth. Flashes barraged the stage as photos were taken. Legian and Nalea both wore dark glasses against the light, though they would’ve preferred not to from a public relations perspective.

Someone has spent serious time on Sienna, adding makeup to hide scars. Sienna and Legian looked strong and confident and in love, and Nalea hoped it would show through in the media. She looked up at Roden. As though feeling her gaze, he glanced down. “I think your friend Sienna’s wedding is about to be postponed.”

She sighed. Yes, she’d already suspected that. It seemed like Sienna and Legian were fighting the gods every step of the way. Although, Nalea and Roden had fought just as hard, she suspected.

“As well as the hunt for Otas. But we’ll take him down. Together,” he said, bringing up her hand to kiss the knuckles.

Then, a question hit her, and she cocked her head. “Do I call you Roden or Kreed?”

His lips nudged her ear, sending chills across her skin. “I was born Kreed. And I became Roden. You know me. I am both and neither. In public, I’m Roden. In private, I’m
yours
.”

She gave a slight smile. Yes, she did know him. “You switch identities so easily. Even Apolo said he hardly recognized you, even though you grew up together.”

“Apolo was my closest friend. We went to school together. And before you ask, no, Apolo wasn’t my slave. In fact, my family had no slaves. Even if my parents could have afforded them, they never would have accepted a slave. They were stalwart opponents against slavery.”

“Yet you become a lord, with hundreds of slaves to your name. How’d you pull it off? On Sephia, commoners can’t just
decide
to become lords. Bloodlines are sacred.”

Roden shrugged. “I’d just gotten over a bad time in my life. On my course for vengeance, I ran into Lord Zyll, who was seeking vengeance for the death of his only son, who’d been about my age. I promised retribution for his son. In return, I became his son to carry on the bloodline. I didn’t like having slaves, but I couldn’t release them without breaking my promise to Lord Zyll.”

She studied him, and the pieces finally fell into place. “That’s why you brought Kreed back. To do what Roden couldn’t do.”

After a moment, Roden nodded tightly. “Yes, that was how it started. I’ve made mistakes, but I don’t have regrets. Everything I’ve done has brought me closer to you.” He cupped her cheeks and gave her a gentle kiss. “It will take work, but we can ensure our people — the Draeken
and
the Sephians — find peace here.
Together
.”

Even with one as her
tahren
, even now doubt nagged at her, questioning whether his race deserved redemption, let alone a comingled peace with her people. “You really think that’s possible?” she asked simply, honestly.

“Give
us
a chance,” he said and held out his hand. “Ready, my dear?” he asked, and she glanced toward the stage.

She swallowed, then slowly, tentatively reached out and took his hand. “I think it’s time to change the course of history.”

The general was just finishing up his bit on how the United Nations was working hard to ensure all three races could live in peace, although Nalea already had some doubts after the comment Roden made earlier about the media leak.

Loud applause rang out, and Nalea swallowed. Still holding Roden’s hand, they stepped onto the stage as the others stood to the side. Human soldiers stood behind them. Whether they were there for protection or to guard them, Nalea didn’t want to think too deeply about it.

Beforehand, she’d agreed to let Roden do the speech. After all, he’d had a lot more practice and was a natural in front of large groups. She only hoped that she would look half as confident and optimistic as he portrayed. As Roden spoke, even when he raised a tablet computer that detailed early human-Draeken encounters, he never once let go of her hand, and she realized she’d lied to him earlier.

Not only did she love Roden, but she
trusted
him. Absolutely and without regret, she trusted the man with her life and heart. And it had nothing to do with the
tahren
bond and everything to do with new bond they’d formed with blood, pain, and love.

She smiled, facing the onslaught of camera flashes.

In time, she’d let him know.

But not today.

Berinn Rae was raised on a farm where she boasted the nearby small town’s largest (and only) comic book collection. An obsessive reader and compulsive daydreamer, it was only a matter of time before she fell in love with writing stories starring women with
kickassitude
.