3013: SYNERGY: A 3013 Novella (3013: The Series) (9 page)

“Thank you, Falor.”

“Are you hungry?” Raiden asked. “There
is a meal being prepared for us back at the palace. We will have a formal
celebration in a few days, so don’t think you’re getting out of that. Everyone
is very excited for you, Orion, and they are looking forward to meeting Morgan.”

“I’m starving,” Daven said from behind
them. “What? We live at the palace, too. Aren’t we invited?”

Raiden chuckled. “I’m glad to see you
haven’t changed, Daven. Of course you and Blaiz are invited. When have you ever
not eaten at our table?”

Daven grinned. “True.”

Raiden turned to Blaiz. “I hear that we
have something more to celebrate than Orion finding his keeper. Congratulation
on becoming an ambassador, Blaiz.”

“Thank you, Dir.”

“Orion? What does ‘Dir’ mean?”
Morgan asked.
“My language converter
isn’t giving me a definition that I recognize.”

“It really doesn’t have a meaning…it’s
just a term used as a form of respect, and it’s usually used for the ruling
families. Dir is for males and Dar is for females.”
Orion let go of her to pull his shirt
off as he explained. “
You will now be addressed as Dar Morgan, or simply
Dar.”

Morgan’s pulse sped up as he bared his
chest.
“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Would you like to go flying with me,
my love? We could walk to the palace, but it will be much quicker if we flew
there.”

“Really?”

“Yes, we will all fly back to the
palace if that is okay with you. I will carry you, and promise I will never let
you fall.”

“I know that.”
She smiled.
“I would love to go
flying with you.”

Morgan turned and saw that Blaiz and
Daven were removing their shirts, but her focus shifted back to her keeper.
Orion tucked his shirt into the waistband of his pants, then he released his
magnificent wings. She loved watching his wings spread and stretch, and had to
curl her hands to keep from reaching out and touching them.

Reading her thoughts, Orion sent her a
wicked grin and whispered,
“You can touch them all you want.”

“Promise?”

“Oh, yeah.”

She laughed, causing everyone to look
over at her, but she didn’t care. She was too happy to let anything worry her
now.

Raiden and Blaiz were already in the
air as Orion lifted her into his arms.
“Are you ready, keeper?”

She nodded as she wrapped her arms
around his neck. Unable to help herself, she reached out to rub one of his white
wings. It was amazing to her that he was able to hide them from view unless he
wanted them unfurled. Unlike feathers, the wings were made of a strong
substance that protected his body like armor even though it was soft and
velvety to the touch.

Feeling him shiver at her touch, she
smiled. Later, she promised herself. She would get to touch him all she wanted
when they were alone.

“You are playing with fire, Morgan.
Just wait until I can touch you, too. I will show you how dangerous it is to
tease me.”

She loved it when he was playful, and
couldn’t hide the grin that curved her lips. “I can’t wait. Take us home, my
love.”

“As you wish, keeper.”

CHAPTER NINE

Morgan felt like she was dreaming.

Hours after they had landed, she felt
the strangest urge to cry as she sat with her new family. Since they’d gotten
off the shuttle, everything had been so wonderful, she was afraid it wasn’t
real, that it was too good to be true.

Family…it was such a simple word with
so many different meanings. She had loved her parents and the crew she had
grown up with. During her time in the Academy and the following years, she had
found friends to care for, as well. But the love she felt for Orion was something
she couldn’t even find words to describe.

Her keeper was her world now, but her
good fortune didn’t stop there. Although she had been worried to meet Orion’s
brother, it hadn’t taken long for Morgan to accept Raiden as her family. It
helped that she felt Orion’s love for him through their bond, but she had
gotten her own sense of Raiden when he’d let his guard down and allowed her to
read him.

She was aware that Orion had informed
his brother that she was an empath. So, when Raiden had tucked her arm in the
crook of his to escort her into the dining hall when they reached the palace,
she had known the contact had been deliberate. Since Raiden wasn’t a seeker
like Orion was, he needed to touch her to read her just as she had to in order
to get past his shields.

Raiden was a complex male, who had a
strong sense of honor, but sometimes he allowed duty to rule his life too much.
She felt his pride in Orion, and how pleased he was to have his brother home
for good, and how happy he was that his brother had found his keeper. For that reason
alone, he would protect Morgan, but when he sensed how much she loved Orion,
Raiden accepted her as a true sister.

During their meal together, Morgan
finally understood the phrase that some families were born, while others were
made. Orion, Raiden, Blaiz and Daven were hers now. It was a blessing beyond
compare to have them in her life, and it was something she was determined to
never take for granted.

After they had finished eating, Blaiz
and Daven had excused themselves while Orion and Raiden gave Morgan a tour of
her new home. The D’Sil palace was magnificent, and Morgan thought it would
take her a long time to get used to living in such splendor. Then again, the world
was filled with precious gems and gold, so much so, that they weren’t
considered that special to the D’Aire, unlike how humans and other races viewed
those items.

The palace itself was an entire isle. Carved
into the stone was an elaborate set of corridors and rooms on various levels. As
she met some of the people who lived and worked in the palace, Morgan was able
to see how much they loved and respected the D’Sil brothers. When the tour was
finished, Raiden left them to attend to some business. Orion showed her to
their quarters.

“All the females I’ve seen were wearing
dresses. I hope I didn’t offend anyone by wearing pants,” Morgan said as they
strolled down the hallway. She tried not to look down at the plain black slacks
and purple shirt that she had on. The shirt had been one of her best, but she
still felt drab compared to the beautiful clothing the D’Aire wore.

“You may wear whatever you like,
Morgan. We can have dresses made for you, or pants and shirts out of the
fabrics you like. Females wear pants here as well, so you have no reason to
worry.” He stopped in front of a double set of doors. “There are only three sets
of rooms on this level. The smaller two belong to Daven and Blaiz, while this one
is ours.”

Orion opened the door to their suite of
rooms, and stepped inside after Morgan. It had been months since he had been
here himself, but nothing had changed. Glancing around, he could tell that
someone had cleaned recently, and their belongings that weren’t already
unpacked were stacked against the wall in the sitting room. Without looking, he
knew all of their clothes were hanging in the closet room off of the bedroom.

He smiled as he felt her pleasure, and
wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’m glad you like your new home.”

She turned in his arms so she could
look up at him. “It’s our home now.”

“It is.” He leaned down to brush his
lips over hers. “I want to take you somewhere.”

Her eyes twinkled with amusement. “To
the bedroom?”

Orion laughed. “That is a wonderful
idea, but I had another special place in mind. Will you go with me?”

“Anywhere.”

He walked over to the stack of their
belongings and found the bag he had brought with him to X21. Opening it, he
removed a smaller bag and held it out to her. “We’re going to fly. Will you
hold onto this for me?”

Morgan took the bag from him, then went
with him as he pulled her toward the balcony. She noticed that the D’Aire
didn’t use windows. In fact, most of the cut outs were left open, letting the
breeze in. There was sheer fabric draping down over the balcony that shifted
from purple to green, then to silver depending on how the light hit it. Orion
held the fabric out of the way as he led her out onto the balcony.

“Hold on, keeper.”

She gasped as he scooped her into his
arms, launching them up into the air as he released his wings. Wrapping one arm
around his neck to hold on, she closed her eyes and tilted her head back to
enjoy the feel of the wind on her face. She shivered a little as it became
cooler the higher they went, and opened her eyes to see that they were flying through
a thin layer of wispy clouds.

Orion held her closer to his chest.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be warm soon.”

It only took a few minutes until they
were almost at the top of the isle, and Morgan saw that they were heading
towards a small cave opening.  “Umm…are you sure you wouldn’t rather go
back to our bedroom?”

“I’m taking you to my favorite place on
this isle. Trust me. It’s not what you think.” He smiled down at her as he
landed lightly on his feet. He retracted his wings as he carried her into the
cave.

It was dark inside what she’d thought
was a cave, but was really a long tunnel that had a light at the end of it. Morgan’s
eyes widened as the tunnel opened into a large cavern that looked like it was
right out of some sort of fantasy.

Several thick candles on metal stands
had been lit, but there was also a hole in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to
stream in. Precious gems stuck out of the stone walls, glittering brilliantly
in the light. There was a large lagoon of sapphire blue water that filled
almost half of the cavern, with a small waterfall feeding the pool from above.

Orion released her slowly so her feet
touched down on the soft, green moss that covered the cavern floor. “This is
amazing! I can see why this is your favorite place. Where is the water coming
from?”

“The northern section of the isle is
surrounded by clouds, and the water collects on the stones and runs down here.
The lagoon is heated by a system we created underneath the rock bottom. Most of
the isles have something similar. This one is reserved for the ruling family,
but we allow those who live in the palace to use it. Daven came up earlier to
light the candles for us. He’ll make sure we aren’t disturbed.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me,”
she said softly.

“When I was young, my father taught all
of us how to fly in here. I’m not sure how many times I fell in the water, but
it was easier than hitting the ground.” He chuckled, then sobered again before
saying, “I came here the night my family was killed, and found comfort in
thinking of all the memories I have of them in this place of beauty. And it was
here I decided to become an ambassador and to find purpose for my life.”

“I’m glad you did, otherwise, I might
not have ever met you.”

“We would have found one another. Our
love was fated.” Orion took her hand and guided her over to where a mountain of
colorful pillows had been arranged near the water. He had asked Daven to bring
a few pillows up to the cavern, but as usual, his friend had gone a little
overboard. They both sat down on a square pillow, and he gestured to the bag
she still held. “Go ahead, look inside.”

Morgan opened the bag, then she pulled
out a small silver device. Her breath sucked in sharply as she stared at it.
“This is a MCR device. How did you get this?”

He took the device from her and held it
up between them. The device was used for marking, correcting and removing the
tattoos used by the elites, and was very difficult to obtain. “Your friend,
Olivia, gave it to me when we visited her office before we left X21. You were busy
signing the forms that released you from your duties with the Alliance while we
spoke.”

 “That was sneaky of you two,”
Morgan said with a breathless laugh. “It’s illegal to use unless you have the
proper medical authority. I can’t believe she got one for you.”

“We have to return it to her after we
use it, but I’m pleased she thought of giving this to us.” Orion met her gaze.
“I know how much you dislike the mark you wear, but I want to give you the
choice. We can either mark you as mine, and in return, I would wear your mark
on me…or we can remove your star, and trust in our bond together.”

Morgan stared at the device a moment
before looking back up at him. She could sense how much he loved her and wanted
her to be happy, so he would be fine with whatever decision she made. He would
wear her mark, even though most D’Aire didn’t like having anything on their
bodies.

Just knowing that made her love him
even more.

Tears burned her eyes as she reached
out and placed her hand over his chest, feeling his muscles flex and his heart
beat beneath her palm. The choice was easy. Looking at the dark, tanned skin of
her hand against his paler flesh made her realize that even though she was
human, in her heart, she was now a D’Aire.

Because her heart belonged to the D’Aire
male in front of her.

Orion heard her thoughts, and smiled as
her love warmed him—body and soul. “We will remove your star, then. You are a
D’Aire keeper, and are no longer bound by the rules of the Alliance.”

The look of happiness on her face made
it impossible to resist leaning into her to kiss her soft lips. Her moan made
him want to take the kiss deeper, but he had something to do before they lost
themselves in a haze of pleasure. Pulling back, he smiled at her as he pulled
some of the other pillows closer to them.

“Why don’t you lay down? Removing the
mark is going to take a lot longer than putting one on.” Orion held the MCR
device up, and smiled sheepishly. “I already set it for removal.”

Laughing, she lay back as she rested
her head on a pillow. “You know me so well.”

“Ready, my love?”

When she nodded, Orion held the device
over the star next to her eye. He watched the small screen as the device
scanned the mark, then it began to hum as it started removing the ink from her
skin. Her hand gripped his thigh hard, and he paused the device for a moment.

“Does it hurt? Do you want me to stop?”

“It stings, but I’ll be okay.”

He started the device again, holding it
with one hand while he held onto hers with the other one. When it was finished,
he put the device down and used the corner of one of the pillows to wipe at the
ink spilling down the side of her face. He gently rubbed the smooth,
unblemished skin, then leaned down to press his lips again the spot where the
mark had been.

“Is it gone?”

“Completely. The Alliance has no hold
over you now. You are mine…all mine.”

He wasn’t prepared when she sat up and
threw herself at him. She pressed kisses all over his face as he braced himself
with one hand so he wouldn’t fall over. He felt her joy, and felt ashamed that
he hadn’t figured out a way to remove the mark that the Alliance had put on her
before now.

Gripping her head with his other hand,
he pulled her mouth down to his, claiming it with a passion so hot it set his
blood on fire. His tongue delved deep, stroking against hers as he pushed her
back, covering her body with his. Their combined pleasure overwhelmed his
senses, making his cock throb with need.

He craved the taste of her, wanting to
possess her in every way possible. Reaching down, he started to unfasten her
pants, but she stopped him before he could. He growled in protest, but she just
laughed lightly.

“Will you release your wings again?”

He cocked his head and stared down at
her. “Right now?”

There was a sparkle in her eyes when
she nodded. “But stand up first.”

“As my lady asks…” He slowly got to his
feet, then released his wings from his back. He was slightly confused by the look
she sent him, but the desire he felt coming from her was loud and clear.

She stood up and placed her hands on
his bare chest, igniting a blinding need for her that went soul deep. He stood
in place, but turned his head as she moved around him.

“What are you doing, keeper?”

“I’m taking my turn touching you,” she
said as she stroked her hands over his wings. “You have touched every inch of
my body, but you stop me whenever I want to do the same to you.”