Invasion of Her Heart (12 page)

Movement drew her attention, and she saw Miln hand a much larger version of a glowing jelly-like strip to Volund. This one pulsed with rainbow colors and had at least fifty fine needles on one side. Fear gripped Venus, and she gulped.

“Maybe dying isn’t so bad after all,” she whispered and closed her eyes.

Chuckling sympathetically, Jaxxon looked down at her. “Even when she’s hanging by a thread to life, our little warrior still has enough fire to voice her opinion.”

A sharp pinch to her thigh snapped her eyes open. She glared at Volund. “Sorry, loved one. If I could heal you any other way, I would.” Regret filled his

words, his hand trembling as he surrounded her other hand with his. “We’ll hunt Randle down, Venus, and destroy him for what he’s done to you. As long as we live, no one will ever hurt you again. Neither myself nor Jaxxon can bear to lose you.” Volund glanced over at his brother and nodded. Both men lowered their heads, kissing her neck softly and whispering their love for her.

At the stroke of their tongues, her neck numbed a second before both Volund and Jaxxon sank their fangs into her neck, releasing something warm into her blood.

“Volund,” Venus cried as they held her down. She could actually feel the hot liquid move through her body, heating every organ it infused. Sweat trickled down her face and into her ears, small tremors shook her body, and it was if a stream of volcanic lava traveled through her system instead of blood.

Venus tried to focus on her surroundings as Miln and the other giant of a man stepped forward. They began plucking glass fragments from her skin.

“She is healing,” the other man said, smiling at her. His bright silver eyes held sympathy. “Her indicators have improved.” As he monitored the readings on the transparent instrument they used to track her vital signs, he tucked a lock of long, blond hair behind one pointed ear. “The change is taking place, Jaxxon, so you can release her now.”

Her mates released their hold on her neck and kissed where their fangs had been. “How do you feel, Venus? Any better?” Jaxxon asked, kissing her lips softly.

“It burns my whole body,” she hissed. Volund and Jaxxon frowned down at her.

“It’s not supposed to be painful—at least that is what we’ve been told. Miln, Oshki, do you know anything about the process?” Jaxxon asked.

“It’s most likely different with every species. No one can be sure.” The man name Oshki shrugged. “Her internal injuries are almost healed, and her body is done changing. It’s returning to a normal temperature for Earth people.”

“Warning! Brace for impact in three, two, one,” a high-pitched voice announced as the ship rocked to one side.

Volund grabbed the table and tried to cover Venus, but he flew backward with Jaxxon. Both of them hit the wall with a thud. Miln and Oshki fell to the floor and rolled with the ship as it creaked and rocked back and forth. Small explosions reverberated around Venus as she was tossed off the table and landed against Volund.

“What the hell was that?” Venus asked, glancing up at Volund.

“Something just hit the ship. Miln, report.” He stood and helped her to her feet as the ship leveled out.

Miln and Oshki ran to a screen hovering in midair. Jaxxon rushed over to a clear panel that abruptly appeared in one wall and glanced out. “This Randle person is becoming more and more of a threat. Volund was worried the man had stolen a Trans Shifter, and it appears to be true. Randle has injected himself so he can teleport, has commandeered our ship, and is now flying it!”

Stunned by the news, Venus swallowed hard, her mind racing. What was Randle thinking? He couldn’t operate Volund and Jaxxon’s ship, could he? “Don’t worry. He doesn’t have that thing you use to teleport. It’s in the old fountain in the town square up the street. I took it off him and threw it into the fountain when he carried me by it.”

Volund looked down at her and smiled. “You amaze me more and more each moment.”

“We’ve got to find him, though,” said Jaxxon. “The Trans Shifter solution is only good for six or so teleportations before another injection is needed.”

Offering Volund a worried look, she said, “But you need your ship to go back in time to choose extractees.”

Nodding, Volund drew in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “True, little warrior, but Oshki and Miln still have this ship, so we’re not without alternative methods.” He sighed and patted Jaxxon on the shoulder as his brother joined them again at the examination table. “Let’s go back to headquarters. I’m sure

Venus wants to clean up, and we can figure out our next step for the manhunt. Miln, Oshki, camouflage the ship once you land it and meet us at the coordinates we gave you. Jaxxon, grab what you need to update the security at our headquarters. I don’t want another surprise like this, and since Randle knows about Venus’s security system, we have to update it so it’s integrated with ours.”

Venus curled up closer to Volund as he gathered her in his arms and rested her head on his chest. She was tired and dirty, but the pain had slowly gone away. So far, the only changes she noticed were her hearing and vision. Both were vastly improved.

“Let’s get you all cleaned up.” Volund kissed her forehead.

Once again the room spun as they trans-shifted to the bank building.

***

Volund carried Venus directly to the shower. There, he stripped her of clothes and helped her step into the cubicle. The door stood ajar, and in the next room, the sounds of his brother updating the security system punctuated the soothing patter of water.

He reached in to help Venus, but she shooed him away. “I’m fine,” she said. “Let me do this myself. I need a few minutes to process everything that has happened.”

Although disappointed, Volund understood her reasons. His mate had burst through a sixth-floor window, thinking she was about to plummet to her death, only to have a strange, shiny sheet unfold from Randle’s pack and float them to the street. She’d been abused by the monster, and then left there beaten and bleeding, only to suffer through an assault on the bounty hunters’ ship after her rescue. Neither little warrior nor little hellion seemed like strong enough titles for her. She was more of a warrior queen.

“Call out if you need anything, my love,” he said. She nodded and reached for the washcloth.

Volund left the door open and strode into Venus’s quarters.

“How’s she doing?” Jaxxon adjusted the numbers on a tiny glowing chip and slipped it inside the main security system box Venus kept in the storage closet.

“She’s trying to cope with everything.” He looked over his shoulder toward the sound of water. “I think there is more bothering her than just the ordeal with Randle.”

His brother closed the back of the metal box and used an odd tool Venus had showed them to use for inserting the tiny fasteners. “Like what?”

“Like being immortal,” Volund answered and swept one hand through his hair.

He pulled his hand free, and the braids at the sides of his face swung forward again, their beads clicking together. “Earlier, she mentioned her fear we’d grow tired of her and that I’d bring Zi-Ahda back when enough time had passed to do so.”

“It will take her time, brother. Be patient and try not to worry so much.” Standing, Jaxxon stepped back and shut the closet door.

Laughing, Volund clapped his brother on the shoulder. “If I didn’t know better, you speak as though you’re the oldest instead of me.”

“You always worry too much, brother. Let our love and time heal our new mate.” He motioned at the dead Bone Eaters. “We need to remove those things and restore Venus’s quarters. The last thing she needs right now is to move into unfamiliar quarters. This is her home, so let’s repair and clean what we can.”

Volund nodded and helped Jaxxon haul the severed bodies—careful not to touch any of the blood or other fluids—to the window and dumped them over the ledge. Jaxxon trans-shifted to their steel room for tools and returned with a square plate that looked like obsidian. Taking it from him, Volund placed it on the floor. Immediately, it began vibrating, and every piece of broken glass slid across the floor or flew from the ledge or rim of the window to stick to the object. The pieces liquefied and became part of the square plate.

Behind him, Jaxxon opened a vial and sprinkled a yellow liquid over the blood, guts, and ichor that stained the floor by the entrance. The disgusting mass began to bubble, followed by combustion, accompanied by yellow smoke. Jaxxon pulled the door open, and the yellow clouds wafted out into the corridor and across the room to flow out the window through which Venus’s body had so recently been thrown.

“Wow, it would have been nice to have had you guys around when I was a kid and Mom gave me household chores to do,” Venus said from the bathroom doorway. “You guys could’ve cut my chore time down to five minutes flat.” She grinned. Naked, her large breasts swaying in time with her hips, she walked to the unmade bed and stretched out.

Instantly, Volund wanted her. Her large, succulent breasts, round hips with a nicely padded ass, long limbs, beautiful pale hair, and eyes the color of a sandy beach were all put together upon a big-boned frame that would intimidate any of the Amazonian women he’d learned about on the journey to Earth. She was a perfect mate for him and Jaxxon. He took one step in her direction, his brother mimicking his movements, but Volund stopped. He looked at Jaxxon and saw his thoughts mirrored in his brother’s eyes.

As badly as I want her, and as much as I know Jaxxon does, too, we need to let her rest.
But oh, how his sapin twitched and throbbed beneath his tilk!

“Come here,” Venus patted the big cushion she called a bed, “and sit with me.”

Chapter Twelve

Volund walked over to her and sat behind her as Jaxxon climbed onto the bed and reclined facing her. “What troubles you?” Volund asked her, already knowing the answer.

“As much as I love you both,” she began, a tremor in her voice, “and as hard as I’ll work to make you both happy, I can’t shake the idea you’ll both grow tired of me after being together for so long. During the last fifty years, before the disease and destruction ravaged my planet, marriages became fewer and fewer. It seemed as though no one was ever content with the person they chose as a husband or wife.” She shook her head sadly. “My parents’ marriage was one of the rare exceptions. Their union aside, I can only recall two marriages while I was growing up, and both ended after only a few months.”

“Venus, we’re not—”

She silenced Jaxxon with a finger upon his lips. “I can’t see you two being content with me for…What? Hundreds of years? And will the three of us really choose to live that long? After a while, won’t we grow bored with life in general?”

Slipping one hand between her arm and ribs, Volund cupped one of her breasts, its weight heavy and warm against his palm. His cock thickened, and he nearly groaned aloud from the desire crashing through him. Instead, he cleared his throat and spoke. “Our society will teach mankind a lot about relationships and marriage. One of the good things about bringing people from Earth’s past is that they can teach others how unions should be honored and how love can endure. Our research has shown human unions from centuries ago lasted much, much longer.”

“Venus,” said Jaxxon, “let us show you how we love. We’re already mated, so be patient with us like we will be patient with you.”

She nodded. “Fair enough. I owe it to you two for not only showing me love, but for saving my life, too.”

“Do you,” Volund nipped her earlobe, “feel well enough to let us start showing you now?”

A tremor passed over her. “Ever since the two of you bit me, I feel as though I could fly. I don’t know what that stuff is that you injected into me, but I’ve never felt this good or this strong before.”

Quickly, Volund sat up and pressed the button on his armor. His greaves vanished, followed by the rest of his armor. Jaxxon did the same, and then it was a race between them to see who could shed his tilk and undergarment the fastest.

Venus giggled from her spot on the bed. “You two are something else, but the question is what?”

“We’re your mates, your lovers, and the ones who will treat you like the queen you should be.” Settling behind her, Volund slid one arm around her waist, his hand splayed across her flat belly.

On the bed again, Jaxxon knelt in front of Venus, his cock hard and eager. “Let us take you to the stars, little warrior, and place you upon the one shining the brightest.”

She smiled up at him. “You both have a beautiful way of putting things.” “Get on your knees,” Volund whispered. Desire raced through him, and his

heart pounded so hard he heard its thunder in his ears.

Venus did as instructed. She balanced on her knees, looking like the goddess Venus personified. Behind her, Volund rose to his knees and pressed the head of his cock to the crack of her ass.

Jaxxon lay on his back in front of her, his cock so hard it poked skyward. “Come here and slide over my sapin, Venus.”

She straddled Jaxxon. Volund watched as she poised herself over Jaxxon’s cock, the head of it separating the lips of her cunt. Slowly, she settled down over it, the length of his shaft piercing her softness and disappearing into her body. She sighed and shuddered. Jaxxon let out a sound of pure ecstasy and placed a hand on either side of her hips.

“Hold still,” said Jaxxon. “Now it’s Volund’s turn.”

Her head jerked up. “What? I don’t think I can handle—”

“Trust us.” Volund tried to soothe her with his voice. His cock was so hard it hurt. Seeing his mate joined to Jaxxon only fueled his lust for her even more. He put one hand on her left shoulder and gently nudged her forward. “Lean forward over him and relax.”

She let out a lungful of air and lowered herself so Jaxxon’s cock was still seated deeply within her, but her ass was slightly pointed to the ceiling. Seeing the tight pink star of her anus nearly had Volund coming before he could enter her, but he shoved the sensation aside and concentrated on their mate’s pleasure. He wet his fingers and rubbed her opening.