Dream Bound (24 page)

It worked. I wasn’t sure if this tiny creature could control the energy, but it can. Can you hear me? My mind is clear, at least for now.

I can. We need to get you to Mac, but he’s dealing with some kind of crisis. How long will this last for you?

I’m not sure. At least until tomorrow. Bolt? Can you or one of the others share energy with me again?

If not me, one of us will be here for you. But, Zianne, be warned. Escape is paramount. The Gar are becoming restless. We fear they are planning to move on this world, stripping its resources sooner rather than later.

Rodie glanced around and realized there was no sign of Morgan or his bedroom and all the stars inside the shack had disappeared. The fantasy had ended, but her body still throbbed with need. Bolt, if that was his name, looked exhausted. He’d obviously given all he could to Zianne.

Will you be able to make it back to your ship?

With the aid of your amazing mind.
He smiled and cupped Rodie’s cheek beneath his palm.
I like your man. Give me another fantasy with him.

I will, if you’ll promise to tell the others about Zianne, that she needs your help.

Of course I will.

Rodie stroked the tiny squirrel in her lap, who appeared to have fallen asleep. Then she brought up Morgan’s image once again, only this time she had him kneeling in front of Bolt. Both men were naked and she added a shower with water beating down on Morgan’s back and coursing over Bolt’s muscular chest.

Morgan cupped the Nyrian’s heavy sac in one hand and firmly stroked his thick cock with the other. Fascinated, she watched the skin stretch as blood filled the organ. His soft foreskin slid back over his glans, exposing the broad, glistening crown.

The Morgan in her mind didn’t hesitate. He leaned close and licked the firm tip, then slowly slid his mouth around the entire end of Bolt’s erect cock. Bolt’s eyes closed and he leaned back against the wall as Morgan licked and sucked, drawing him deep inside his mouth, though not, as Rodie noticed, nearly as deep as she’d sucked Morgan.

She still wasn’t sure how that worked, how she’d been drawn into his fantasy, and she wondered if he was here in hers, or was he talking to Cam or Finn, or maybe with Kiera or Lizzie? And how would that work, if he was there and here at the same time?

When things were settled, when the Nyrians were free and the Gar gone for good, she fully intended to ask a lot of questions. But not now. Now she needed to help Bolt find the strength to get back to his ship before anyone discovered he was missing.

Her Nyrian was enjoying himself. She heard his soft groans and shivered with the arousal he shared. The tiny shack throbbed with desire, with the scents and sounds and even the tastes of sex. Morgan grabbed Bolt’s buttocks in both hands and his long fingers disappeared into the dark crease between his cheeks.

She imagined him teasing that sensitive pucker, the way he’d teased her in her fantasy last night, imagined the way it would feel for Bolt to have Morgan barely penetrate the nerve-rich ring of muscle.

Bolt jerked, cried out, and cupped Morgan’s head in his hands. Morgan drew the alien’s penis even deeper inside his mouth, sucking and swallowing as Bolt climaxed once again. And as he came, his aura glowed brilliantly, but this time he drew the blue fire close around his body. The light sparked, enveloped the man in a crackling tower of energy.

The sparkling light blinked out, and Bolt was gone.

Rodie leaned back in her chair. Morgan had disappeared, too. Zianne was asleep, and Rodie’s shift was almost over. It felt as if she’d just arrived, but obviously fantasy took more time than she realized.

She wondered what had happened along the fence line, where Morgan was, and why he hadn’t returned. Was Cam going to be here to relieve her? Where was Mac? And what about Zianne?

She glanced around the small room and finally decided her tote would make a perfect bed. She took out her wallet and stuck it in her pocket, wadded up her sweater, and made a nest in the bottom of the tote. Then she lifted the sleeping squirrel into the bag and settled her in the soft sweater.

She found a dish in the kitchen area and filled it with water, and set it on the floor out of the way. Put the tote bag next to it with the top folded down so the squirrel could get out. Then she went to the door, to see if she could get an idea of what was going on.

Cam was walking across the open area from the lodge. He waved when he saw her at the doorway. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. Did Morgan tell you what happened? That we’ve got Mac’s Zianne?”

“He did. He’s gone down to the fence line to see if Mac needs any help. I told him I’d come and relieve you. Finn’s awake and watching the front gate, and Kiera’s in Lizzie’s cabin for the night. You can join them if you want. Kiera said the bed’s big enough for three.”

Yawning, Rodie covered her mouth with her hand. “Thanks, Cam. I think I’m just going to go back to my cabin. It’s been a long day. Zianne’s here.” She showed him the tote bag on the floor. “She got enough energy from Bolt—he’s the Nyrian I’ve connected with—that she can communicate a little. The minute Mac returns, let him know so he can talk to her directly. I know he’ll want to do that while he can. The other Nyrians can keep her alive for a while by sharing energy, but they can’t do it indefinitely.”

“They need their soulstones.” Cam stood over the tote and watched the little squirrel. “Can you believe this?” He chuckled softly. “All these years I’ve painted the worlds I see in my dreams, and now I find that some of them, at least, really existed. I’ve always wondered about life on other worlds, and here we are, already communicating with aliens from another planet. It’s really beyond bizarre.”

Rodie glanced at Cam. “I know. I hope it all works, though. When we first got here, I honestly didn’t think we’d really make contact, but Mac was so sincere. I figured I was open to just about anything. Not this, though. Not the understanding that an entire race of people are slaves, that we’re their only chance. That’s a terrifying responsibility.”

Cam nodded. “Even worse is knowing the ones holding them prisoner have the power to destroy Earth. That’s scary stuff.”

“I know. Bolt said they’re worried the Gar might do something sooner rather than later.” Rodie shook her head. “I’m really tired. It’s like all of this is too far beyond my ability to comprehend right now. I think I’ve used up all my adrenaline and every one of my brain cells tonight. If Morgan comes by, tell him I’m in my cabin. I don’t want him to worry.”

“G’night, Rodie.” Cam leaned over and kissed her, and she felt her body responding in spite of her exhaustion.

What was it about this place? Laughing, she broke the kiss. “I hope you have a good night. If you get a Nyrian to show up, see if they’ll share energy with Zianne.”

She left as Cam was settling into the recliner. It was quiet outside. The moon was finally up, though not nearly as full as it had been last night. It was so weird, knowing the Nyrians were in a spaceship on the far side. Between the moon and the lights from the lodge, there was enough light for Rodie to walk to her cabin without a flashlight, which was a good thing, since she’d left hers in the pocket of her tote.

She was exhausted but buzzing. There was just too much going on tonight, and how in the hell were they going to get the Nyrians off the Gar’s ship, with all their soulstones, including Zianne’s?

Yawning, she reached her cabin and went inside. Sometimes there was just too much to worry about for her head to handle. Especially when it was all totally unbelievable shit that she knew for a fact was true.

Scary stuff. Very scary stuff.

Cam stared at the door after it closed behind Rodie, then got himself situated in the recliner. He put the cap on and checked the dials. All the readouts looked normal, and yet there was an alien in the room with him right now. The consciousness of a woman who had actually lived on the world he’d painted last night.
Head trip
didn’t even come close to describing the feelings coursing through him right now.

Did Rodie—did anyone—understand the danger they were in? Everyone seemed so concerned about the Nyrians and their plight, when the gravest risk was from their captors. An alien race responsible for the destruction of untold planets and their inhabitants, capable of sucking the world dry, of taking all its resources, from precious metals to every drop of water on the planet—that was the threat they should be worried about.

He glanced at the tote bag and its sleeping occupant. Then he stretched out in the recliner and stared through the skylight overhead. This time, instead of fantasizing something sexual or imagining the worlds he loved to paint, Cam thought of the ship hiding behind Earth’s moon—close yet so far away. And instead of projecting a sexual fantasy, he decided to try something else.

He thought of the Nyrians as a race of intelligent, thinking beings. Then he called on them for help.

Mac drove one of the four-wheelers back to the lodge with Morgan as his passenger. They’d left a few members of the security team on watch for the night, but he thought the immediate threat—whatever the hell it was—had passed. They’d finally flushed the trespassers out with the helicopter, but then they’d lost them in the heavy scrub. The sheriff and his team had eventually arrived and searched the area, but the night was dark, the mountainside extremely rugged, and the ones they hunted were dressed in dark gear with night goggles.

Whatever their goal, they’d come prepared. That didn’t sound like the evangelical protestors who’d been hanging around the front gate, though Mac had the sneaking suspicion the two groups were somehow connected.

“What the hell do you think they want?” Mac stopped in front of Morgan’s cabin.

Morgan shook his head. “No idea, but they’re definitely not kids out screwing around. Did you see the weapons they were carrying?”

Mac nodded. Assault rifles with night-vision scopes. The kind of stuff his guys weren’t prepared to fight. Hell, he had a regular security force—a few ex-military but not all trained soldiers. Whoever was trying to come through the fence tonight was geared up and appeared trained for an all-out assault.

Mac stared out across the plateau, at the symmetrical pattern of huge satellite dishes aligned in perfect order across the barren landscape. There was no longer a question as to whether or not they’d make contact. Now it was a matter of how they were going to use the connection to save the Nyrians. As dangerous as the situation with the Gar appeared, actual contact felt almost anticlimactic.

He thought about calling Dink. Maybe his resources could discover who was behind the assault attempt tonight, possibly dig up something on the pseudo-fundamentalist group picketing the front gate, see if they were connected to the ones who’d tried to file a lawsuit with Kiera. He didn’t think there was any kind of religious issue behind them at all. It was something more, and he’d bet good money it was connected to tonight’s activities.

“I’m going back to the dream shack,” he said. “I need to see if Rodie was able to get help for Zianne.”

Morgan already had one foot on the ground. He pulled it back inside and sat. “Drop me off at Rodie’s cabin, okay? I should check on her. Crap, but I really screwed up. I told her I’d stay and keep an eye on things, and then after I went to tell the others what was going on, I never got back to the shack.”

Morgan looked totally disgusted with himself. Mac rubbed his fingers across his chin and mouth to cover the amusement he couldn’t contain. This was a relationship he hadn’t seen coming, but it was obvious there was something going on between the two. “Well, for what it’s worth,” he said, “I’m glad you came down to help us out. I had no idea there were so many potential intruders.”

“I know. That was just nuts. And freaky, when you think about it. Hell, you can’t get much farther out in the boonies than you are here. What the fuck do they want?”

“I wish I knew.” Morgan was right, and it was driving Mac nuts, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He turned the wheel, spun the vehicle around in front of Morgan’s cabin, and pulled up in front of Rodie’s. “See you in the morning.”

“You, too.” Morgan climbed out and headed up the steps. Mac drove to the dream shack and parked out in front. He stared at the little building, much too aware of all the things that could go wrong. He’d not allowed himself to even think of Zianne—not while they were busy dealing with the idiots trying to break through the back fence.

Now, though, she was all he could think of. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry—the woman he loved, trapped in the body of a little gray squirrel.

He was almost afraid of what he’d find once he stepped inside the shack.

Cam had to physically shake himself out of the visual he was caught in as Mac walked through the door. It was after two in the morning. Cam felt as if he’d only been here a couple of minutes, but his head was filled with images.

“I’m sorry to disturb you.” Mac paused by the door and glanced around the shack, frowning.

“You must be looking for a particularly tame squirrel.” Cam pointed to the tote bag on the floor in the corner. The squirrel had slept almost the entire time he’d been here. Right now she was curled in a tight ball and had her tail wrapped around her body, covering her nose. “She got a full load of energy from the guy Rodie’s been channeling, or whatever you want to call it.”

Mac knelt by the bag. Cam couldn’t see his face, but the line of his body spoke of a sorrow too obvious to ignore.

“Have you been able to get any more for her?” Mac turned and glanced his way, then focused once more on the sleeping squirrel.

“She can’t handle any more now. Rodie said Bolt, the guy she brought in, was going to tell the others. They’ll take turns sharing with her for as long as they can. One thing he told Rodie, though. He’s worried about the Gar. He thinks they might want to move on the earth sooner rather than later. He doesn’t think we have much time.”