Mission (6 page)

Working with the Guardians let her expand her control over her own mind and spend time with other Terrans who had adapted to a new life on a new world with men who were extraordinarily dangerous and a good match for their mates. Wren’s mental control was invaluable, and she taught with nothing held back. It really helped.

Learning that humans carried so much energy in them and that some had been living and working next to her day after day had been a little shocking, but then, so was Jewel’s ability to numb the emotions of those around her.

She was pacing out on the cliff when Beryl came to meet her, waddling a little. “Hello, Beryl.”

“Why are you so fidgety today, Jewel?”

Jewel looked at the other woman and sighed. “I need to find a way to send a present home, but I don’t have any money or credits or whatever.”

“That isn’t an issue. You have made money for your efforts as a Guardian.” Beryl smiled. “I like to shop. What are you looking for?”

“I promised to send my sister Amanda something for Christmas, and if I send it now, it might just make it. I am looking for something that can’t be found on Terra.”

Beryl grinned. “Send her one of the W’lyn.”

The mental imaged made Jewel gasp. “Oh, that would be something, but where would I put the stamp?”

They giggled together and Beryl smiled. “I am serious. We can go shopping right now. Wren and Drovin are having a telekinetic food fight and that is just too weird for me right now.”

They headed for the skimmers and Jewel ducked inside, “Beryl’s taking me shopping.”

Wren called out, “Have her back by three.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Beryl settled in and Jewel took the controls. “Where are we going?”

Beryl rattled off coordinates and they took off.

Jewel flew across the water, over the city and into the wilderness. “Where are we going, Beryl?”

“Oh, just a place where you can find something that you can’t get on Earth. Trust me.”

They cruised for an hour or more, and when Jewel was going to ask again, a house appeared at the designated coordinates.

“Where are we?”

The ground was green and lush trees, meadows and rocky terrain were all together in this spot.

“We are at a green preserve. It is a designated protected wilderness area.”

“Why is there a house here?”

“Oh, he must be the forest ranger.” Beryl smiled. “Come on. Let’s go meet him.”

“What can I find here that I can’t find at home?”

The sound of chopping wood was familiar, and she wandered around until she could find the source. Her knees wobbled when a shirtless Stormyo was standing there with an axe, chopping deadfall into burnable pieces.

Beryl cleared her throat. “Hello, Ranger. We are your local Guardians and we thought we should come by and say hello.”

Stormyo paused with the axe in the air and turned around, his skin gleaming with sweat. “It is an honour to get a personal visit from a Guardian.”

Jewel took one step toward him then another, and he met her halfway. She kissed him with all the pent-up longing of the last six weeks. When she had reacquainted herself with the taste of him, she cleared her throat. “Stormyo, this is Beryl.”

Beryl was grinning. “We have corresponded. I helped him get the immigration paperwork for W’lyn. It was tricky. I basically had to say that he was the only one of his kind.”

“Because I am.”

“The facts helped.” She chuckled.

Jewel didn’t want to let him go, but she had to if she was going to get Beryl back in time. “We have to get back to the base. Beryl needs her snack.”

He sighed and stroked her spine. “So this was just a tease?”

“I didn’t know you were here. I am here on a weird sort of lend-lease agreement. I am allowed to be a Guardian but not a peacekeeper. I help out when they are called for crowd situations.”

“I knew you would be suited for more than just waiting for me to injure myself.” He kissed her swiftly. “Well, you know where to find me.”

Jewel smiled. “I do, and I can use a riot runner next time.”

Beryl chuckled. “I did not put you two together to rip you apart. I will hit the auto return and get my considerable ass back to base. I will send your riot runner out here in case you are needed. Your new mission is to have a private reunion.”

Jewel pressed her head to Stormyo’s sweaty chest. “Thank you, Beryl. My com link is still in. Call me if you need me.”

Beryl wagged her eyebrows. “Oh, I will. Now, enjoy your moment of quiet. I will try and keep it that way for at least two days.”

Beryl climbed into the skimmer with more determination than grace, and she lifted off with a final wave.

The sound of the ship faded away and Jewel leaned back to look at Stormyo. “You are the forest ranger?”

He smiled. “I am. The forest and I have already come to an understanding.”

She had a moment of doubt. “Do you want me here? Did you just want to start over on your own?”

His arms tightened almost painfully around her. “I want you here. There is only one woman I want in my life, and she is here in my arms.”

She squeaked but her heart eased. “Okay. Good.”

He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her ear. “There is not a sentient creature for thirty miles in any direction. I am having a powerful urge to be inside you.”

She opened the closure of her shirt and stripped off her leggings, bending over a stack of wood and looking back at him. “What is taking you so long?”

He opened his leggings and his cock was thick and slick. He gripped her hips and pressed into her. Her body gave him a honeyed welcome and she groaned in relief at having him inside her again.

He gripped her hips and pounded into her while she braced herself on the woodpile. Her breasts felt the scratch of the bark, and her nerves twitched with each harsh slide into her and the suction of the stroke as he pulled back.

She grinned in triumph when he shouted and dug his fingers into her hips. As he stilled, she remained immobile until he pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

“Well, that settles it, Stormyo. You really did miss me.”

He chuckled and pressed into her as he nibbled at her ear. “I really did miss you.”

She pushed herself upright against the wood and felt him swelling inside her again. “Oh no, not against the woodpile. That was a onetime offer.”

He withdrew, and she heard the small snap of him closing his trousers. Jewel looked at her leggings and sighed. At a foot away, they seemed miles in the distance.

Stormyo lifted her and flipped her over his shoulder, snagging her leggings as he passed.

She tried to brace herself on his back, but the sweat made her hands slip to cup his butt.

“Now, now, if you don’t want to start something, hands where I can see them.” He chuckled and shifted his shoulder, causing her to lose her grip.

She hung from him, looking at the stone stairs beneath his boots and the flattened pathway into the house.

The hand that held her still stroked lightly down the crevice of her buttocks. She squirmed and his fingers tightened.

“That should be my line.”

He laughed and paused, flipping her over his shoulder and sliding her onto the flat surface of his bed.

He slid on top of her, moving aside the edges of her top. “I have truly missed you.” He licked at her neck and worked his way down her belly before tonguing her until she let out a low moan. Fire followed his every caress and it was dizzying to be in his arms again.

She circled her hips in invitation, and he left her for seconds in which he opened his trousers and pressed against her before he slid inside.

The slick, strong fire of him making room for himself within her brought tears to her eyes. While she had hoped that his words of promise were true, there was always a doubt when you were dealing with a man of wide-open opportunities. Living with the Guardians had made things worse. She had seen how men who were much in demand lived with their mates and that was not the situation she had been in.

Jewel clutched at Stormyo’s arms as he rocked inside her without hesitation, and his undertone of urgency was back again.

The sounds of sex filled the room, but Jewel was listening only to the change in Stormyo’s breathing that said he was close.

To speed things along, she slid a hand between them and rubbed at her clit, circling it until she bucked against him without rhythm as her body clasped him tight.

Stormyo thrust into her frantically before holding himself to her while he trembled in reaction. He dropped onto her, and she wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss to his ear. “Hello to you, too.”

He lifted his head and smiled. “Hello. I have missed you very much.”

His kiss was deep and slow, warming her soul from the care he took with the contact.

She stroked his head and neck, reacquainting herself with the amazing feel of him. She sighed and flexed her gloved hands, wanting more than just the heat and hardness under her hands. She wanted the silken suede of his skin.

Behind his head, she peeled off her gloves and opened the sleeves of her suit. The touch of her hands to his bare skin made her close her eyes to savour the feeling.

When she opened her eyes, he was smiling down at her. “I want to show you something.”

He withdrew from her, pulled her to her feet, removed her top and slipped a wide-sleeved, silken robe around her shoulders. The weird thing was, it was her size.

Stormyo remained naked as he pulled her through the house and out into the yard where they had so recently been.

With enough space around them, he shivered quickly, and Jewel watched as he grew, stretched and bent until an eight-foot-tall deer stood in the spot that Stormyo had so recently occupied. His rack stretched up another three feet and was twice as wide as his body.

The stag turned to her and cocked his head as if saying,
So. What do you think?

Jewel smiled and walked down the steps to him, extending her hands to him. “Very pretty.”

He snorted and shook his head.

“Fine, handsome, striking and strong.” She smiled as he came to her and put his dark nose in her palms. She stroked his head and the spot between his horns.

He turned to face her with one eye and he jerked his head.

“I don’t understand.”

Letting out a deep sigh, he knelt in front of her and jerked his head back toward his back.

“Oh. You want me to get on?”

He nodded.

She tied the robe, lifted the hem and slipped her leg over his back, holding his rack for support.

He stood up and took off into the woods. Riding a stag was never going to be a popular mode of transport, but for this one day, having the warmth of his hide between her thighs was definitely a good thing. It was one helluva way to spend an afternoon.

The riot runner arrived just before dinner. Wren had spoken to her via the com and confirmed that she was not needed for the evening but that she shouldn’t forget the gala festival on the weekend.

After the conversation, it was clear that Wren was not expecting her back at the base.

Jewel sat across from Stormyo at dinner and smiled. “It seems that they have transferred me unofficially into your custody. This is getting annoying.”

Stormyo smiled. “They mean well. It was obvious that we were both happy to see each other.”

She blushed. “Yes, but I thought I was making a difference as a Guardian. I suppose I was just fooling myself.”

He shook his head and sipped at his water. “Beryl told me that you were an asset to the team. This situation is strictly because of me.”

“What?”

“I require a large expanse of land to live fully. I had always planned to buy a large chunk of a planet somewhere, but when this location was offered to me, I jumped at it.”

“And me?”

He reached out and took her hand. “I would like you to consider becoming formally bonded to me.”

She blinked rapidly as she realized that he was proposing. “What would that entail?”

“Living with me. Loving with me. The occasional ride naked through the woods.” His gaze sparkled. “Oh, and by my traditions, you would receive all I own.”

“What?”

“Indeed. The female controls the finances, which is why the male is best off having as much as possible when he makes the offer. How is it with your people?”

“Similar and different. In the culture where I was born, they mix their finances upon marriage and split them when they part. Well, half the population splits, the other half remain married.” She made a face. “I think that is how it works; I have never paid much attention to it.”

“We will do it my way. It ends up better for you and lets me enjoy nothing more than romping through the woods.”

She chuckled. “So, you have made up my mind for me?”

He got up, walked around the table and tugged her to her feet. “I want no one but you for the rest of my life. I would be honoured if you would agree to the same.”

She squeezed his hands. “I didn’t even know I wanted someone until I ran afoul of you. I want you for the rest of my life, even if I get the emotions wrong sometimes.” She sighed and frowned.

“What is it?”

“I still have to find a present for Amanda. I promised her something that she couldn’t get at home.”

Stormyo grinned, “Well, I am yours so she can’t have me.”

“You are right. She can’t.”

“I believe I have an idea if you would care for it.” He pulled her against him and whispered in her ear.

Jewel laughed and giggled madly as he laid out the plan. “Oh, that would be perfect.”

He tilted her head up and whispered against her lips. “I think that it calls for a celebration. Possibly a reward.”

“Oh, I couldn’t accept a reward on top of all of your worldly goods.” She whispered against the curve of his mouth.

He wrapped his arms around her, playfully smacked her butt and carried her into the living room. He set her down, and while she righted herself, he arranged flat ottoman-style furniture into a long wide bench. He hummed to himself as he removed his clothing and then he stretched out on his back with his erection jutting skyward.