No Rules (23 page)

Though she didn't want to, Alison released him and finished washing herself as best she could with the remaining foam. He went down on all fours looking utterly shocked. She dove for the container and ripped open the lid, pulling out the fabric within. A long-sleeved dress for her and shirt and pants for Del. The foam had almost evaporated, though he hadn't moved.

“Here, put these on.” Flinging the clothes at him she yanked the dress over her head. It wasn't the most flattering thing in the world, more like a shapeless sack and without any undergarments the coarse texture abraded her still tingling nipples.

Del barely had the pants up over his hips when the door opened.

“Time's up. Hope you made good use of it.” The patroller waved them forward.

Alison blocked the other woman's view of Del with her body and put her hands on her hips. “Couldn't think of a better one.” She smirked.

He made a strangled sound behind her. She cast him a quick look and was glad to see he had pulled the shirt on. Good, no whipping. Patroller bitch would just have to get her rocks off elsewhere.

The patroller's eyes narrowed. “The empress is waiting. Move it.”

F
enton clasped his hands behind his back, hiding them from the patroller's scrutiny. Alison had blindsided him completely with her little surprise seduction. One second he had been busy washing her, and in the next she had driven him to his knees, gasping to recover from the most explosive orgasm of his life.

He hadn't seen it coming, hadn't anticipated her abruptness or his potent reaction to her shocking touch. Embarrassment at his lightning-quick reaction churned under the surface. Sure, he'd been aroused, he usually was when he was so near her, but the way she'd taken charge, demanded his body obey, took sexual gratification to a whole new level.

No one else could have toppled his control. Only Alison had ever crept past his defense grid to his command center. She'd taken over and he couldn't wait for her to do it again.

Just like her jealousy, it warmed him to know she wanted him so fiercely, had as much trouble keeping her hands off him as he had keeping his away from her. He owed her an orgasm, though, and he licked his lips as his eyes absorbed the swaying of her backside. So many possibilities to even the playing field.

But the moment would come and he planned to take full advantage of it.

Gwella had visibly aged since the last time Fenton saw her. She sat at the end of a long table. The seats to her right and left remained empty. Kel and the man he recognized as her personal breeder sat facing one another. Ari was nowhere in sight.

“Where is she?” Fenton's voice was calm, but even so, the patroller who'd escorted them up hit him on the back of the head with the end of her chem whip. It hurt, but he barely flinched. The time of pretending to fit in with this society was at an end.

Alison glared at the patroller. “That was unnecessary.”

“Your breeder speaks out of turn.” She sneered.

Alison's hazel eyes narrowed, her tone filled with warning. “Don't call him that. He's twice the warrior you are, you rancid bitch.”

“Enough!” Gwella smacked her hand on the table. “Patrollers will leave now.”

The sadistic woman's jaw dropped. “Empress, they are dangerous—”

Gwella cast the woman a dangerous look. “I have their offspring. They pose no threat to me. Be gone, before I order you whipped for insubordination.”

Bowing low, the women turned and departed. Gwella's glare fixed on him. “You. You have incited revolution.”

“What do you mean?” Alison asked. “How could he do anything? He's barely been conscious in the last week.”

Kel cleared his throat. His gaze went to Gwella, who scowled, but he spoke anyway. “The breeders are gathered by the gate, demanding to be let out. It seems they would rather face the helcats with their bare hands than continue to live in subjugation.”

“You are their representative?” Fenton asked.

Grief shadowed the other man's face. “It's what Dani would have wanted.”

“How dare you speak for my daughter?” Gwella snarled. “She was the greatest warrior ever to be born.”

“But she didn't want to be!” Kel stood up and faced down his lost love's irate mother. “Do you know what she wanted? To spend time with the young ones, to nurture and teach them to grow things. Her heart was that of a caretaker, not a warrior. She did what she did out of love and duty, but she hated every minute.”

“Lies!” the empress snarled. “I think I know the heart of my own child better than some half-wit breeder!”

“Enough!” the other man thundered, causing Alison to jump. Fenton put his hand on her arm to reassure her and she cast him a nervous glance.

“Link,” Gwella started but he rose to his full imposing height, clearly irritated.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “Is that really how you see us? See me? As some intellectual inferior?”

“No, of course not,” the empress stammered. “It's them, not you.”

Planting his fists on the table, Link steamrolled her. “I am one of them! I agree with them, the same way your daughter did. Do you want to know why we never got along? It had nothing to do with her sire. She didn't respect me for not standing up to you, for being your faithful hound instead of the man I could have been.”

Gwella wrapped her arms around herself, shook her head. “That's not true.”

“It is, whether you accept it or not. She came to me, begged me to talk to you. I refused, told her I believed you would make wise decisions and do what was best for your people. That I owed you my support. I thought we had an understanding, that there was mutual respect shared between us. I see now your prejudices make that impossible. No man alive took part in the creation of the helcats, yet we are continually subjected to your disdain. How is that just?” Link squared his shoulders and moved toward the door.

“I will not be coerced, by you or anyone else!” Gwella shouted. “This colony's welfare is my responsibility, not yours.”

Link turned back to face her, to face them all. “Then you have condemned us to death. And if I'm going to die, I'll go out fighting.”

Gwella's lips parted as she watched him go, her expression truly stunned. “Treason.”

“Empress,” Kel said softly. “It doesn't have to be this way. Allow the men to fight, at least those not tied to the care of offspring. We can reach a compromise.”

Fenton noted that Kel didn't mention Dani again, a wise move since Gwella appeared overwrought as it was. Sinking into a chair, she put her head in her hands.

Alison moved forward and knelt before her onetime friend. “Gwella, he's right. The men want to fight, they were training for it, with Del.”

“I never should have brought you here. We were contented,” the empress murmured, almost to herself.

“We were dying,” Kel responded. “We still are. Commander Fenton gave us a fighting chance.”

“An act punishable by banishment.” Gwella's gaze locked on his. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Fenton squared his shoulders and clasped his hands behind his back. Looking her directly in the eye, he said, “I did what I had to do in order to protect my loved ones. Dani and Kel had the right of it, things could not keep going the way they were. The genetic mutations are starving, and a starving animal will take greater risks. Like the one that dug through the tunnels. You need every able-bodied individual fighting if you want to survive.”

“He's right.” Alison spoke quietly, putting her hand over Gwella's. “Those things are hungry and desperate. If there aren't enough people holding them at bay, this haven will fall.”

The empress stared at each one of them in turn, then her gaze went to the door.

“Please, Empress,” Kel implored. “Don't let her sacrifice be for nothing.”

Gwella stood and paced the room. Alison rose but Fenton put a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place.

The empress turned and her chin went up. “Fine. Tell the breeders . . . the
men
. . . that those not tied to the care of a child less than ten may take up arms. Commander Fenton will instruct them how to fight.”

Kel's head lowered. “Thank you, Empress. It is the wisest choice.”

“I will lead the vanguard, if that is your wish,” Fenton volunteered.

“You will do no such thing,” Gwella snapped. “Did you not hear what I said?”

Alison's eyebrows drew together. “Del is probably the best warrior on Daton Five.”

“Which is why I want him training our patrollers, male and female. But he is responsible for a young life and therefore he must remain behind.” She smiled, but it was cool and carried a malevolent message. “No, you, Alison, will take my daughter's place and lead the attack.”

 

“What are you doing?” Alison moved to the small table where Fenton worked. Ari was asleep in the next room, what had become her own residence at Gwella's. Though they'd both been beyond relieved to see the little girl was both healthy and happy, the reunion had been bittersweet, made stressful by the empress's announcement that Alison would lead the vanguard attack against the helcats.

Fenton didn't answer her, didn't look up from the small device he was picking apart, and she wrapped her arms around herself. “Del?”

“Training starts tomorrow. Get some sleep, you'll need it.” Covering the hand he was working with, she murmured, “I'll sleep when I'm dead.”

“That's not funny.” He jerked away, stood up, and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. She wished she had the skills to cut it for him as the longer locks seemed to irritate him.

“I know. Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.” It was clear that Gwella was still irate, as only a grieving mother could be. Though the conditions had improved, they were still prisoners, and Alison was to take the brunt of the punishment for Fenton's hand in leading the insurgents of the men of Daton Five.

He paced the small room. “I can shift, disguise my other self and go with you, protect you.”

She shook her head. “And what if you're caught? She'll have us both put to death, probably Ari too. This is the only way, Del.”

“No. I won't accept that.” He sat back down at the table. “There has to be another solution.” Again he picked up the tools and started fumbling.

Alison eyed the device he'd been picking apart since she put Ari down for the night. The attack was scheduled for two days from now, at midday. The last thing she wanted to do was spend her last precious hours of life watching him fiddle with whatever that was.

She moved closer and looked over his shoulder. “Is that . . . ?”

He held up the device, the one she'd had inside her body for almost a week, and heat crept up her face. “Should I even ask why you kept that or why you felt the need to dissect it?”

“It's like a demoleculizer, breaking matter up into its basic atoms. I thought, in conjunction with your shield, that I could weaponize it.”

She frowned. “My shield? You mean my health guard?” The one she'd forgotten to use not once, but twice earlier when she'd taken him into her mouth. Sure, she could blame the situation, the constant surges of adrenaline that left her either jittery or exhausted, but deep down she knew the truth. She wanted Del's flavor on her tongue, wanted to be marked by him in that primal way. It made her feel powerful, desirable, and no technology should get in the way of that.

“Yes. If we modify it and tie it in to the frequency of your shield, it will amplify the effect so that any living thing you touch will be obliterated, its DNA unwoven.”

She blinked, imagining herself as a walking force of destruction. Her lack of military prowess would be irrelevant; the helcats wouldn't stand a chance. “You can do that?”

He bent over the device once more. “I need to find something that will boost the power.”

She left him to it and went to check on Ari. The little one lay on her stomach, her head turned to the side. Alison was still taken aback by how much she'd grown in the last week. She'd put on weight and was starting to wiggle more and more. She actually pushed herself up onto her hands and knees earlier.

“You are so beautiful, little princess.” Tears burned behind her eyes. Part of her wanted to pick Ari up, to hug her and breathe in her distinct baby smell. She wanted it fresh in her mind when she went up against the helcats.

“She sure is.”

“Link.” Alison turned toward the man leaning against the doorjamb and wiped her eyes. “Thank you for taking such good care of her.”

“It was my pleasure.” He waved her out and shut the door so they wouldn't disturb Ari. Deep, dark chocolate eyes fixed on her face. “I want you to know I volunteered as your first in the vanguard.”

“Why?”

“Because it pissed Gwella off, although not enough to have her rethink this madness, unfortunately.”

A wry smile worked its way out. “I don't blame her. If someone caused Ari any harm, I'd want his guts for garters.”

He flashed her a brilliant grin, that seemed to glow in the dim lighting against his dark skin. “That's how mothers are.”

“Oh, I'm not Ari's mother.”

“In all the ways that matter, you are.”

She closed her eyes. “I never wanted a child.”

“Why?”

Normally she'd deflect or ignore the personal question altogether. But with the sands running out of the hourglass, she couldn't remember why. Opening her eyes, she met his gaze. “I'm selfish, always have been, always will be. I don't make sacrifices for others, not without resenting them. It's not pretty, but it's the truth. No child should grow up with someone like me for a mother.”

Behind them a door closed, and she stiffened, sensing Del's presence. How much had he heard?

He stopped behind her and though he didn't touch her, she could feel him in every cell of her body. “Would you excuse us?”

“Have a good night.” With a nod, Link disappeared downstairs.

“Come back inside.” Del took her hand and pulled her into their room.

She looked at the thing on the table, which seemed to still be in as many pieces as when she'd left. “Any progress?”

Slowly, he nodded. “I think so. I hooked it to the bio-mechanoid from Ari's pod. Carbon life forms generate heat, which can be converted to energy. In theory, it should work but that's not why I dragged you back in here. I owe you an apology.”

“Whatever for?”

“Not paying attention to your needs. You wanted to talk and I distanced myself. The cause was just, but I don't want you to think you are alone.” Blowing out a breath, he sank onto the pile of cushions. “This isn't the way it's supposed to be. I don't know how to be left behind.”