Cassandra's Challenge (38 page)

Raising tear drenched eyes she looks at the man
she loves. She never would have known him if the Regulians hadn’t
attacked Earth. If he hadn’t saved her and Tori, but he hadn’t been
able to save them all. The pain swimming in her eyes staggers
him.

“Cassandra…please…what’s wrong?”

“Could you just hold me for a minute?” She
whispers.

Wrapping her in his arms William lifts her off
her feet, carrying her over to the couch pulling her across his
lap. As she burrows in sobs rack her body, he can do nothing but
hold her, rubbing her back like she’d do with Victoria. Tucking her
in close, he rests his cheek on the top of her head, this is the
strongest woman he’s ever known, and she is devastated. What has
happened? What didn’t he know?

Is this how she feels when he keeps things from
her? Blindsided? Unsure of yourself? It is something he’ll never do
again.

As the sobs subside he puts a finger under her
chin tipping her face up to his. Searching, he finds her beautiful
blue eyes red rimmed and exhausted. Leaning down to gently kiss her
he picks her up, carrying her to their bed. Laying her down, he
gets her sleeping top and tucks her in. Turning away he walks back
to the closet.

“William?” Cassandra finally finds her voice,
watching him change into the matching bottoms.

“Sleep Cassandra, you’re exhausted.” Sliding in
next to her he pulls her close. “We’ll talk later.” In the safety
of his arms she lets herself fall sleep.

With her sleeping in his arms William replays
the events of the day, starting with the most important, he isn’t
giving up his life mate, together they will find a way. Even if it
means leaving Carina, they will have a life together, children. But
to have that he first needs to find out who is trying to kill her.
The traitor needs to be found. With his life mate in his arms he
sleeps.

Opening heavy eyes Cassandra discovers she’s in
William’s arms, protected, safe. Turning her head she softly kisses
the place where his heart beats, his arms tighten. Looking up at
him she finds drowsy eyes full of love and concern looking
back.

“You haven’t slept long enough.” He mummers
rubbing a hand up and down her back. She looks at him, her life
mate, he held her while she cried, comforting her, soothing her,
without knowing what was wrong.

“What?” He asks when she continues to stare at
him.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes you did.” Lifting herself up she kisses
him. “Yesterday was a difficult day.”

“My fault.”

“A great deal of it, yes.” Honesty, whether you
like it or not. “But not all, you aren’t responsible for the
Regulians attacking. You’re not responsible for what happened
after.” William watches her, understanding she is searching to find
the words.

“What happened after?” He asks.

“Leander and Javiera came to get Amina.” William
waits. “Leander wasn’t sure how this battle would end. I could hear
the fear in his voice, for his daughter. When it was over Amina’s
parents came for her. They were still a family.” He begins to
understand.

“Victoria’s parents never came for her.”

“No. It upset her, brought it all back. She
cried herself to sleep.”

“You comforted her, made it alright.”

“No. I didn’t. It got by me.” William sees guilt
in her eyes. “I didn’t realize until later when she hadn’t come out
for a kiss goodnight. She cried herself to sleep William and by the
time I realized it Lucas came.
He
made it right for her,
comforted her.”

“You think you failed her.”

“I know I did, I should have realized she’d be
upset.”

“Maybe, but you didn’t fail her. You kept her
safe, her and Amina, if they’d been in that class room…” He didn’t
like to think about it. “You’ve had to handle a great deal by
yourself since the attack on Earth. You shouldn’t have had too. I
should have been helping instead of adding to it.”

“William…” Gentle fingers silence her lips.

“I have. I’ve been very selfish. My need for
you, desire for you. It’s added to the weight you’ve been carrying,
when it should have been lightening it.”

“You’re not a weight William.” Kissing his
fingers she looks at him. “When Lucas was here he wanted to know
how we dealt with it. I told him by knowing we had each other, by
remembering what we lost but being grateful for what we’d found. I
found
you
. It’s a gift. It makes what I lost bearable.”

“You were sobbing. I couldn’t help. I didn’t
know what was wrong.” His heart twists remembering.

“I know. But you did help. You held me, let me
cry. Tori is safe, you’re safe. Everyone I’ve come to care about is
safe.” She takes a deep breath. “My family didn’t survive, but I
found you. I’d never have found you if the Regulians hadn’t
attacked Earth. They died and I found my soul mate.”

“You had no control over any of that.” His voice
won’t let her take any blame.

“No, I didn’t. I know they’d what me to be
happy. But sometimes…”

“It sneaks up on you.”

“Yeah.” William rolls pulling her under him to
frame her face.

“I’m here when it sneaks up on you. I’ll hold
you as you cry for what you’ve lost. I’m not letting go Cassandra.
I can’t.
We’ll
find a way,
together
. We’ll have the
life that we want, with
our
children. I promise you.” He
seals his promise with a kiss.

Returning his kiss she slides her hands down his
back under his waist band to pull him closer. She needs this man,
needs him in every way possible. Bringing her hands around she
eases his pants past his rapidly thickening shaft. Lifting her hips
she presses her entrance against his tip.

Releasing her lips William slowly presses into
her, watching the passion build in her eyes as she takes in more
and more of him. As he moves to withdrawal she groans, tipping her
head back, she hooks her ankles behind his legs.

His mouth attacks the neck she’s exposed,
causing a trembling to start deep inside her.

“William!” Something is different. She doesn’t
know what she just knows she wants it.

Driving into her William pins her lower body to
the bed with his. Lifting his head from her neck he looks at her
with violet eyes more turbulent then any storm.

“I love you Cassandra, with everything I am, I
love you. Accept me, accept everything I am. Accept me as your life
mate for you are mine.”

William watches as Cassandra’s eyes widened then
become an even darker blue as he makes his request.

“I love you William. With everything I am, I
love you. You are my life mate, there will never be another.”
Pulling him to her she kisses him, sealing her vow.

The trembling inside her is growing William can
feel it as he grinds his hips against hers. It pulls at something
very basic in him, the animal need to mate completely with her.
Lifting her hips he can feel the teeth of his desire demanding he
take her, to make her his, and only his. Breaking off the kiss
William tries to regain some control. Looking into his life mates
eyes destroys any chance he might have.

Cassandra’s eyes are blazing, there is a need
deep inside her, fighting to break free. She needs to make this man
hers, and only hers. She needs him more than her next breath.

“Please William.” She cries as her legs try to
pull him deeper. “I need you.”

The animal breaks free as he rams himself into
her, deeper than ever before. Then withdrawing to do it again, her
cries of passion captured in his mouth as his hands rip open her
shirt to claim her breasts, his hands bruising, marking their
territory.

Cassandra’s legs wrap around his waist, she must
have more, must have all of him. Her nails dig into his back,
marking him as her hip piston up to meet his.

Sweat pours off both of them as the passion
grows, the need between them a living thing. Gripping her hands
over her head, William’s mouth scorched a trail down her neck to
furiously suckle from her breast, the actions causing her to
viciously tighten around him. Exploding together William empties
everything he is into his life mate with Cassandra accepting
everything.

Minutes pass with heavy breathing the only
sound. William finally manages to roll to his side, pulling her
close. How had he ever thought he could give her up? Just thinking
about it causes him to pull her closer.

Rising up on her elbow Cassandra looks down at
her life mate. His violet eyes satisfied, his handsome face
relaxed. Reaching up she caresses his cheek. Turning his head he
kisses her palm.

“You should get some more sleep.” He starts to
tell her stopping when she smiles at him. “What?”

“You are always trying to get me to either eat
or sleep. I think you want me fat and lazy.”

“I want you to take care of yourself because
you’re always taking care of everyone but you.” As she opens her
mouth to argue she stops, seeing the look in William’s eyes.

“How bad is the damage?” He lets the subject
drop, knowing she has other concerns right now, but it won’t be
forgotten.

“We lost eighteen all from the nuclear hit,
twenty-eight serious in medical. We were lucky.” Cassandra watched
his eyes as he tells her about his crew. An Admiral has to accept
losses as part of the job, William didn’t.

“I’m sorry. But I disagree it was skill and
training, not luck.”

“We knew they were coming.”

“They didn’t know you were. That’s the skill,
you took away their advantage.”

“Possibly.” Looking at her he tucks a piece of
hair behind her ear.

“How bad is your fleet?”

“It’s Carnot’s fleet.”

“Bull shit, it’s yours. Those are your men, your
ships, how badly did Carnot mess it up?” She has no patience on
this subject.

“He didn’t mess up, they simply had no time. The
Regulians shouldn’t have attacked with the Retribution gone. But
they did and they hit hard. The Sentinel is dead in space, no news
on survivors. The rest of the fleet took heavy damage. Not all
ships are stabilized. Intel is spotty. At this point the border is
undefended.”

“We’re heading that way then.” He should have
realized she would expect that, her protection instinct is
strong.

“No, Valerian is sending three battleships to
the border. They’ll be there in three days. Until then we
stand.”

“The last line.” Again he shouldn’t be surprised
she understood.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t they have any time?”

“The Regulians had the fleets’ coordinates.”

“Again?”

“Yes.” Sliding out of bed William starts to
pace. Cassandra sees the damage her nails had done to his back. “I
don’t know how they’re getting the Intel.”

Cassandra sits up, “There was another
transmission?” As she goes to button her shirt she finds she has no
buttons.

“Yes.” Watching, William walks back to her, a
self-satisfied smile on his face until he opens the ruin shirt to
see the bruises he’d left on her. Gently he touched one. Seeing his
expression, she rises to her knees, framing his face with her
hands.

“I’m fine.”

“I marked you.”

“And I marked you.

“What?”

“Your back.” William flexes his shoulders
feeling a slight sting.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“And neither does this. William,” She kisses him
lightly. “Do you regret what we experienced together?”

“Never.”

“Then you can’t regret this, it's part of it. I
have no regrets, well you might have left me some buttons.” Smiling
she kisses him again.

“I’ll try to remember that next time.” Pulling
her up so her naked breasts are pressed against his chest, he
kisses her senseless.

Gripping his waist she tries to maintain her
balance. He’s always able to do this to her. Sliding the ruined
shirt from her shoulders his comm center rings, causing them to
freeze. Resting his forehead on hers, he takes a deep breath and
pulls her shirt back up. With regret in his eyes he walks over to
the comm center.

“Zafar.”

“Admiral, we’ve picked up another Regulian
transmission.”

“Translation?”

“We don’t have it yet, the attack fried the
translator, but it was sent from Carinian space.” William looks at
Cassandra, who nods.

“Send the transmission to my ready room comm
center, secured line.”

“But sir it isn’t translated.”

“I know that! Send it!” The Admiral is not
happy. Walking to their closet Cassandra pulls on pants and shirt,
giving William a slight smile as she buttons it. Sitting on the bed
she pulls on thick socks, deciding against her boots. Taking a
moment she watches him dress. Feeling her eyes on him William
turns, pulling on a shirt, his pants still unbuttoned.

“You’re a beautiful man, William Zafar.” She
tries to control the blush she feels creeping up her neck. Tucking
his shirt in his pants, William walks over to her, lightly touching
her reddening neck.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever
seen.” His violet eyes serious. “I will love you for eternity.”
Cupping her face he softly kisses her. “Ready?”

“Yes.” Together they walk into his ready
room.

As Cassandra listens William plays the
transmission. Replaying it she begins to translate.

“Where is the Light? It must be extinguished!
The….”

“Replay that part.” She leans forward.

“The other is to be ignored. Find the
Light…finish it.” She leans back. “That’s all is says.”

“They don’t know where you are.”

“But they still attacked the Retribution.”

“Only after they discovered we were gone. They
were covering their bases. If they’d been sure they would have sent
all their ships. We wouldn’t have stood a chance alone.”