Depths Of Desire XW5 (5 page)

Not part of Xylon society, castoffs,
violent—the Def’mal lived by their own rules in their own clans. War didn’t
exist between them and Xylon’s society, but neither did peace. Skirmishes
occurred from time to time over territory but the Def’mal hadn’t really been
considered a substantial threat. Not compared to the Egesa.

Why had she only encountered three of them?
She knew there were more. A lot more. Somewhere. Unless maybe they’d been taken
out by the attack too.

The memories played through her head and
she wondered if she’d done the right thing while in their care. She hadn’t
resisted either man’s touch. Fucking made her feel stronger, even while taking
a submissive position, so she’d done what she felt she needed to do. They’d
definitely played the dominant males with her. Her nipples hardened and she
suddenly missed their mouths sucking her in unison, their cocks in her pussy
and her ass.

One of the two had made a larger impression
on her—the one who’d pulled her out of the rubble after the destruction of the
Lair. He’d seemed much more protective than the other one and had treated her
as if she’d mattered. He had seemed to know that she’d needed sex to boost her
own healing abilities. Or maybe he’d just wanted to fuck her. He’d had a cock
any woman would crave to have inside her and more stamina than any man she’d
ever been with, including the various Xylon Warriors she’d fucked throughout
the years.

She reached underneath the outfit they’d
given her, spread her legs and rubbed her clit. She needed to release some of
her tension. As she closed her eyes and rubbed faster, she imagined what the
Def’mal male might have looked like.

After her rescue, she’d been in shock, and
until recently, her eyesight had been blurry at best. She’d never gotten a
really good, up close look at him. Not that she could remember. She recalled
vague images of him from when he’d initially carried her to safety. But her
memory of that period of time was spotty at best.

Her body began to tremble as she imagined
her captor’s tongue licking her clit. Slowly, thoroughly. He’d always made
certain that she came at least once from his mouth. Then he’d enter her and
fuck her like the feral creature he was, while the other male licked, fondled
or fucked whatever part of her body was left available to him.

They had seemed to enjoy speaking to her
and each other while fucking. Their words had excited her, even though she
hadn’t known their meanings. Just the tone of their voices had made her body
react.

“Yes…” A flutter raced up her and tingled
every nerve along the way. She rubbed her clit faster. “Oh, fuck, that’s good.”
Not an explosive climax, but satisfying.

After the pleasure ebbed and she now felt
more relaxed and centered, she got to her feet, knowing she needed to find a
way out of here while she could. She needed to know what had happened to the
planet.

A sound. She cocked her head. Her ears had
been playing tricks on her for a while and she couldn’t identify the strange
noises she’d been hearing. Distant, but here, underground in the caverns
somewhere. Noise down here was deceptive. But it definitely sounded alive. It
was too far off and never lasted long enough for her to really figure it out.
Cave creatures had to live down here somewhere. Whatever it was, she hoped it
wasn’t dangerous.

Her eyesight had now finally improved to
near normal, which made her feel better able to survive and protect herself.
Still, she wished for more light to help her see. Everything down here was
enveloped in shadows. One torch burned on the wall opposite her. But only one.
She’d already looked around for something to make more torches with but the
ground was only littered with dirt and rocks. Nothing to burn. She couldn’t
even rip pieces from the animal hide she wore. It was too tough.

Her stomach rumbled. The food the Def’mal
had brought her had run out. Thankfully, the water pools remained full from the
underground streams, so at least she would be able to stay hydrated.

She’d ripped off her body bandages about an
hour ago, having healed as much as she probably would. She was scarred from the
explosion she’d been in. Probably always would be. Even a Xylon’s ability to
self-heal had its limitations in severe cases. She shook away the thought. The
loss of her beauty was the least of her worries.

She stared at the bandages on the ground.
She’d already tried torching the strips and they’d smoked, but nothing more.
The material wasn’t flammable. Her luck was shitty at best lately.

A sudden wave of depression hit her,
knowing her family and friends were most likely dead. She sniffled but then
straightened her spine.
No.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. She’d
been spared. Others must have survived too. Maybe even some of her loved ones.

She needed to try to find her way out or at
least find somewhere safe, if the air up top still wasn’t breathable. Somewhere
far away from the Def’mal and more isolated. They hadn’t hurt her. They’d even
tried to help. But she couldn’t afford to trust them, even if they did
reappear. Not given what she’d been taught about them.

The fact that she’d been kept away from all
but a few made her think that she would not be well-received by their society
in general, if more of them were indeed down here. The unfriendly female who’d
attended her for a short while after the men disappeared had convinced her of
that.

Relatively healed, she felt strong enough
to explore the caverns beyond her immediate area. She’d need to be extra
cautious. If she came across any guards, she didn’t have a weapon. Being a
security officer, she was trained in hand-to-hand combat but the Def’mal were
larger opponents than she was used to battling. And she still wasn’t at full
strength. Regardless, she had to try.

She stuck to one wall, walking along the
side, so she could find her way back if necessary. She didn’t take the torch,
deciding it would make her too vulnerable by announcing her presence. A small
bit of light appeared occasionally as she walked but she couldn’t identify its
source. A crunching sound alerted her to someone stealthily approaching. She
stopped abruptly. Someone in heavy boots. She picked up a good-sized rock and
flattened herself against the stone wall. Her heart thudded heavily as she
waited. Whoever it was, they were headed right for her.

A man stepped out of the shadows and passed
her. Too dark to make out details, she could only tell that he was tall and
broad. When he stopped and glanced behind him, she feared he knew she was
there. She lunged forward and smashed the rock into the side of his head. She
didn’t want to kill him, just incapacitate him so she could get away without
him following.

He grunted and fell to his knees. As she
took a step to run, something on the man’s jacket glowed slightly and caught
her eye. An ID jewel? She gasped, stopping in her tracks. She dropped to her
knees beside him. “I can’t believe it.” She reached out. “Are you all right?
What are you doing here, Pitch?” Pitch Pantera was a Class 2 Xylon Warrior and
a good friend to her entire family.

“Tara?” he groaned and turned his head her
way. “Am I hallucinating?” He pulled out a light stick and illuminated the
area.

She squinted, not used to the glare. “No,
it’s me.”

“Damn. I can’t believe you’re alive. How’d
you survive the attack?” He rubbed the side of his head. “What the hell did you
hit me with?”

“A rock. Sorry.”

He looked her up and down. “What are you
dressed in? Where are we?”

She shouldn’t have hit him so hard. He
didn’t even know where he was. “We’re in the Def’mal caverns.”

“We’re on Xylon?”

“Of course. Where did you think you were?
One of the clan pulled me from the Lair after the explosion. I was about out of
air. He saved me and gave me these animal skins to wear.”

“Like some cave slave?”

“Would you rather I be naked?” When his
lips twitched, she added, “Forget I asked that. Let me see your head.”

He moved from his knees into a sitting position,
while she examined his wound. He glanced around. “Where are they?”

“The Def’mal? I don’t know. Gone.”

He lightly touched her arm. “You’ve been
burned.”

She pulled away slightly as she continued
to look at his head. She didn’t want his sympathy or his pity. And she saw both
in his eyes. “I’m fine. Now are you going to answer me? How did you get down
here?”

“I don’t know how we got here. We were in
one of the underground shelters and the Egesa found a way in. We were supposed
to materialize out to the repair station.”

“We? Who else survived the attack?” Hope
for her family surged inside her and she lost focus for a moment.

“Ow.” He pulled away when she touched a
sensitive spot.

“Sorry. It’s already starting to heal.
You’ll be as good as new in no time.” He struggled to stand and she helped him
up. When he still didn’t answer her last question, frustration began to build
inside her. “Pitch, if you don’t start giving me some details, I’m going to
punch you. Who’s here with you? Who survived?”

“Sorry. I’m still a bit disoriented. I’m
here with—”

“Me.”

Tara turned to see a woman step out of the
shadows. Josella. She was Halah Shirota’s half sister from Sunevia. Tara had
hoped for a family member, or at least another warrior, and felt a surge of
anger, frustration and ultimately disappointment until she squelched the
negative emotions.

“I told you to stay put,” Pitch said in a
tight voice.

“I know, but I thought you might need some
help so I followed you. What happened to your head? You’re bleeding.” She rushed
to his side.

He waved her away. “Nothing. It’s just a
minor wound. Now we need to get back. Are there any supplies around here, Tara?
Anything useful?” He gaze darted back and forth, searching the area. “Where are
the Def’mal?”

She’d really scrambled his brains with that
hit. He’d already asked about the Def’mal. “No supplies,” she answered,
deciding to let it go. He needed a brain scan and rest, neither of which were
possible at the moment. “The Def’mal disappeared a few days ago. Or so it
seems. Time passage down here has been hard to gauge.” She tapped her ear. “My
translator is out of whack. I can’t understand anyone who’s not Xylon and the
Def’mal couldn’t understand me. Not fully anyway. There was some commonality in
our words, but not enough.”

“What’s she saying?” Josella asked.

“Her translator’s damaged.” Pitch grabbed a
small case from inside his jacket and opened it up. He slid out a long, slim
tube about the size of a finger. The tip of the object glowed first red, then
green as he held it up to her ear. It buzzed, barely audible, then shut off. He
nodded. “That should do it.”

“Can you understand me now?” Josella asked.

“Yes, perfectly. You?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Pitch said. “Let’s head back to
where we’re camped and put together some sort of plan. We’ll tell you all the
details of what happened to us. And you can fill us in on what happened to
you.”

Tara nodded, more than happy to comply.

* * * * *

Ice Moon, Xylon System

Braden trotted back toward his quarters.
He’d just gotten word that Erik and the squadron had returned. He’d never been
so eager to see anyone in his life. His heart was beating hard and his stomach felt
like a vibber avian had taken up residence inside.

He entered his quarters and the door
auto-shut behind him with a whoosh. Erik turned from the panel of data screens.
Braden eagerly scanned the other side of the room. “Where’s Alexa?”

She and the babies had probably been taken
to medical for evaluation. The triplets would need extra special care after all
they’d been through. Still, he needed to see them and hold his mate in his
arms. He hesitated as something in Erik’s eyes cut through him. He saw the man
visibly swallow several times as if trying to find his voice. He stepped toward
Erik but stopped in mid-stride when his friend spoke.

“Braden…”

Panic rose up inside him and his whole body
shook as trepidation filled him. “
Where
is Alexa, Erik? Where are my
children?”

“The station couldn’t hold orbit.” Erik’s
voice hitched. “We thought there was time. We materialized over and searched.
The orbit started to decay. I had to send the men back. I stayed and continued
looking. I don’t know why none of them were at the pre-agreed coordinates.”

Braden shook his head.
No, no, no
.

“We didn’t get them, Braden,” Erik said in
a whisper. He reached out. “I tried—”

“No!” Braden closed the distance between
them and swung at Erik with a wild punch. He felt as if his heart had just been
shredded and his brain had shattered.

Erik blocked the punch and twisted Braden’s
arm behind him.

As if his life force had been torn from his
body, Braden suddenly had no strength and he collapsed in Erik’s arms. When he
stumbled against his friend, Erik fell to his knees and Braden went down with
him. This wasn’t possible. Sobs ripped through him. White noise roared in his
ears and all he heard was Erik repeating, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” in a
barely there whisper.

At that moment, everything in his life
stopped. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. He wasn’t sure how much time
passed before he was even able to breathe again. It seemed as if he’d been
enveloped by a cold, black fog. His love, his family. His whole reason for
existing. They couldn’t be gone!

Seeing the pain in Erik’s eyes convinced
him that it was true. He didn’t want to go on. He couldn’t. Not without Alexa.
He felt completely empty inside. He should have been there with them. Died with
them. He wondered if she had known what was coming, if she’d been scared and
thinking about him, waiting for him to rescue her and the babies. The thought
ripped what was left of his sanity to shreds.