A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (29 page)

“You know?”

“Miko told me.”

“Miko.” Sev’s face turned sideways. “I
hate
that cat,” he sneered.

Areo scanned his beautiful body. “I’m happy to see that you’ve made the right choice, Sire. Happy to see the rightful king back on the throne.”

“I haven’t made my choice.”

“Yes, you have. There’s no other choice to be made. I tried to tell you that from the beginning, but you never listened.”

Sev’s eyes took on a wild shine. “I will never listen! Not when they’re telling me to leave you!” His fingers gingerly touched her bruised cheek. “I love you.” Tears fell from two sets of eyes. Sev licked hers away. “I worship you,” he murmured against her mouth.

Their kiss was a gateway to another realm—a realm where their love was not prohibited. Discarding their clothes, Sev smothered his petite wife with searing kisses and flaming touches. Each touch, each kiss was meant to remind and convince the other to whom they belonged. Each desperately wanted to make certain the other would never forget them. Every time their bodies came together their urgency increased, as did their tempo.

“Sev.” Areo moaned, arching her back. “Sev.” Her beautiful features expressed intense love and ecstasy at his touch.

Something within Sev snapped.
No. This can’t be the end. This can’t be our last time together! I won’t allow it!

“I won’t allow it!” Sev pulled out and flipped an unsuspecting Areo onto her belly. He parted her thighs, grabbed her hips, and thrust forward—deeply and devastatingly. “I won’t let them take you from me. I won’t relinquish you!”

Sev started to stimulate Areo’s spine, alternating between drawing sensual patterns with his fingers and firmly massaging with his palm. He passionately bit, licked, and sucked every inch of her nape. His insatiable mouth inched down to her tailbone and then back up again. Over and over, he made Areo squirm with delight.

“Stop it, Sev. Stop! You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing. You’re my wife. You’re my soulmate!” Sev clamped his teeth down on the back of her neck. His tongue danced across the tiny hairs underneath his wide-open mouth.

“But the law…oh God…the Seacats.” Areo buried her face in her pillow, smothering her groans of pleasure.

Sev knew exactly when her eyes lit up. Areo fully arched her back and raised her scarred bottom in a pleading gesture, which made Sev roar. His own eyes ignited. He wanted Areo to beg for more.

Sev wrapped Areo’s hair around his left hand and pulled it aside. His teeth clamped harder on her nape, securing her in place. Pulling her hips up with his right arm, he massaged her swollen nub and increased his ramming speed. Soon Areo was begging for a lot more as Sev happily pushed her over that sparkling edge, following close behind.

Early the next morning, Areo sat at the small kitchenette table sipping a mug of coffee. She wanted to embrace the idea that Sev was her husband and damn anyone who said the contrary, but the entire Oceanan race was riding on him being on the throne with a pureblood as his wife. She could never be one.

Sev’s rebellious nature may have gotten them into further trouble. There was no stopping him. He had refused not to ejaculate from behind. Sev foolishly believed that if he impregnated Areo, the others would have to concede to her remaining with him for the sake of their kitten. The idea had embedded itself in his head. Sev had taken her repeatedly. Each time, he had made certain Areo was properly stimulated and his liquid seed securely planted from behind.

He knew the Oceanan race had only one form of birth control—their natural reproductive system. The only problem was, Areo was also part human, and humans had no built-in contraceptive. Since she had never been with a man, Areo had no clue which way her body would respond, if at all.

Areo stared at the mug and sighed. She had tried to tell Sev his plan would never work. The child would be an alien like her. The Oceanans would feel no pity. As usual, Sev refused to listen. When he thought Areo was asleep, he lovingly caressed her womb and vehemently prayed to Onssa for his seed to take hold. It nearly made Areo burst into tears.

Just thinking of it again placed a lump in her throat. “Oh Sev, I love you so much. What am I going to do with you?” She heard
a small beep and depressed the button on her wristguard. “Areo here.”

“Princess, Captain Rider. I’ve received some urgent news. We need to speak. Please come to my office.”

“I’m on my way.” Areo clicked off. She snatched her robe from the sofa and rushed out the doors. Upon entering the captain’s office, she asked, “Rider, what’s wrong?” Then she stopped dead in her tracks.

Rider was standing in front of his desk, speaking to a tall man dressed in Ranger clothes. The man was pale and wore his long, light-brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. At hearing her, both men turned to look at her.

Areo’s eyes opened wide. “Sparky!” She ran into her older brother’s embrace.

“Princess, you don’t know how good it is to see you,” spoke Bob into her hair. “I was so upset when I heard that you were killed by Daehog. Let me look at you.” His soft brown eyes scanned her from top to bottom. “As beautiful as ever. No,” he corrected, touching the tip of her nose. “More beautiful than ever.”

His handsome smile warmed Areo’s aching heart. She did not see there was a fourth person in the room, sitting on the small sofa.

“I agree,” said a familiar voice from behind Bob.

Areo looked behind her brother and saw a hooded being standing up. He removed his hood. A pair of pale-blue eyes that sparkled underneath the room’s lighting met hers. They made her heart flutter.

“Spike!” Johnny opened his arms. Areo ran to him and held her brother tight. “Oh, you guys. Always the sweet talkers.” She stared into Johnny’s beautiful eyes. “Why was I summoned like this? You could have gone to my chambers.”

“We’re not here on free time, sweetheart. We came as soon as we heard Mathew and the others had arrived on Sea Base Five. We need their help. Finding out that you were here was more than a pleasant surprise,” Bob explained.

“What’s wrong? How can I help?”

Johnny gently squeezed her waist. “We received an urgent signal from one of our secret underground emergency shelters on Laaren.”

“I thought we were cut off from everyone,” said Areo.

“We are,” replied Johnny. “But the Seacats there decided to take a chance and get a message to us.”

“Seacats?” Areo gripped Johnny’s shirt. “Any members from our family?”

“Yes, but I’m afraid what they said wasn’t good,” answered Bob. “Our stashed supply of food, water, and first aid is almost depleted. If they don’t get relief soon, they will all die.”

Johnny added, “They are rationing what’s left. But the situation is critical. They’ve held out for as long as they can. They’ve risked their signal being traced because several of the little ones have already died. They couldn’t stand back and watch more perish without trying something drastic.”

Tears began to form behind Areo’s closed eyelids. Children had always been her weakness. “What the hell are we waiting for, then?” She met her brothers’ gazes. “Let’s get our home back from those monsters.”

“There’s just one little problem,” cautioned Bob. “Laaren was taken by the Orions.”

Areo felt the blood drain from her face. “Oh God, not them.”

“I’m afraid so. You don’t have to go in, sis. Mathew and I, along with the others, can handle this one. You can stay here and join us on our next attack.”

“No. I’m going.”

“Are you sure?” asked Johnny. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I have to face those demons again, sooner or later. It might as well be now.”

They nodded in understanding.

“What about Sev? Should I contact him?” asked Rider.

“No! Sev is not to get involved. I don’t care what he thinks. This is my fight, not his. Besides, he’s got other problems right now. Don’t tell him anything until it’s too late for him to stop me. Understood?”

Rider inclined his head. “Yes, Your Highness. Just one small problem. I’ve already told Miko.”

Areo thought for a moment. “Tell Miko to keep Sev distracted until I can get away. I doubt he’ll protest.” She looked at her brothers. “Let’s go.”

They rushed out while Commander Rider called for Miko. They reached the elevators to docking bay without incident. Areo careened to a halt. She yanked Bob back by his pants and stuck her left arm out in front of Johnny to keep them from continuing. Sev stood a few feet ahead of them, having a heated discussion with Miko.

Fixing his pants, Bob scowled at her. “What’s wrong?”

{Sshh. That’s Sev over there. We mustn’t let him know I’m here.}

{I see. Then perhaps we should enlist the aid of Miko.} Bob reached for Miko’s mind.

They knew when Bob made contact by the bemused expression on Miko’s face as he looked around. He scratched his nose, signifying that he understood what to do. He engaged Sev more into the conversation. Lowering their hoods, the three siblings passed them in a hurry.

Sev paused in the middle of a sentence to sniff the air. “Areo?”

Areo’s heart leapt in her chest.

Sev was about to search the area. Miko quickly grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wall. “Do not turn away from me!” he shouted. “And if you ever hit me again, I will show you what I am made of!”

Hearing Miko, Johnny grabbed Areo’s arm and started to run. Bob paused at the end of the corridor and sent a thank you to Miko. The three disappeared around the corner.

Something was not right. The uneasiness Sev felt made him want to be near Areo, so he went back to his quarters. Areo was nowhere to be found. His anxiety increased.

He depressed the button on his wristguard as he exited his chambers. “Jugar!” No answer. “Jugar!”

“Jugar here.”

“Blast it! Where in the blazes were you? Never mind, scratch that. Meet me at the captain’s office. I have a bad feeling something is up.”

“I’m on my way.”

Sev arrived at the office first. He found Captain Rider sitting behind his desk writing on a piece of paper. Sev was not in the mood to beat around the bush.

“Captain, what is going on?”

Captain Rider looked up from his work. Sev stopped in front of the desk and waited for his reply.

Jugar entered the room. “Sev, the Seacats are gone.”

Sev looked at Jugar. “What do you mean, gone?”

“I was with Angel at the docking bay, getting familiar with how things work around here, when I noticed several White Stars departing.”

“There’s nothing odd about that. We have ships arriving and departing Sea Base Five all the time,” commented the captain, trying to give his queen time to escape.

“With Seacats on board?” snapped Jugar.

“Our brand of Seacats and Sea Rangers have been knighted by our queen. We are composed of many different races, not only the feline race. I’m a Seacat, if you haven’t noticed my insignia. There’s nothing unusual about that or about them boarding White Stars. The White Stars are their vessels of transportation.”

Sev’s bad feeling was growing stronger by the minute. “Silence!” he yelled at the captain. “Your colors are reversed, which means you’re a lower-ranking Seacat. Don’t try to fool your superior officer again.” Facing Jugar, he asked, “Explain. What do you mean, the Seacats are gone?”

Sev spotted Rider opening his mouth to speak again. He sent him a steely look accompanied by a vicious growl. The captain shut his mouth.

“I spotted Mathew boarding with several bags. He was followed by several others from my clan.”

“Was Areo amongst them?” He recalled the earlier incident in the corridor with Miko and feared that he already knew the answer.

At Jugar’s confirmation, his eyes ignited. Sev roared as he reached over the desk to snatch the captain out of his chair by the front of his uniform. Yanking him over the table, Sev hollered. “How dare you and the others defy me! Tell me, where did my wife go?”

Rider did not answer. It seemed he was unwilling to betray his queen.

Sev roared and gave the frightened captain a rough shake. “Tell me, before I—”

“Sev!” shouted Mike, rushing into the room. “Stop it! Are you crazy? He’s one of us!”