Cage (Dark World Book 1) (16 page)

“It was when I saw little things, when they thought I wasn’t watching. The way my mother touched him at times was a definite signal for him to her needs. Sometimes he appeared annoyed. I think I’m like my mother in a very emotional way. I think it’s why I needed more than what the Mountain could create. My mother was somehow different from other females and flustered my father. I loved to watch her get what she wanted.

“There were certain looks as she wandered into her personal area. My father tried to appear all leader-like, but he soon followed. Maybe that was when you came into the Mountain’s thoughts about what I needed. I wanted a mate who thought for herself, who could express her feelings—make me want to follow her into her private area. Not simply follow wherever I led. You’re a bit too expressive at times, but I wouldn’t trade you for a new mate.”

“You look young but from the way you speak you seem very old. Does your kind mature differently?” Cyra asked.

“I think because of the way you describe years, that yes, we mature differently as a species. My parents were long gone before I had any thoughts of a sexual nature. When I got my first erection, my thoughts changed about females and their roles. I wanted a mate to rub me, to do—other things.” Cage was mortified as he felt a slow blush creep up his face. He hadn’t thought of those sexual wants in years.

“I think maybe you better remove your covering before you bust out of it,” Cyra said and grinned at him, though she seemed a bit shy. She was grieving, but she wanted him close. Cage had never been with a female for comfort. Watching her little tentative actions, he realized now was a good time to let her set the pace for making love.

Cage yanked his cover off, then let it slip to the floor instead of pitching it across the room. His relief at not being restrained was short lived when Cyra shimmied down the furs and took his hard cock into both hands. She needed both of her hands for his size, her palms were silky soft, her fingertips were magic. Cage could feel his heart hammer in his chest when his sexual fantasy played out without him asking. Cyra’s lips tasted the head of his cock. Her small tongue darted out to lick him. Females from the Mountain would have done this if asked, but Cage would never have asked. They weren’t sex slaves. Cyra was doing this of her own free will.

Her mouth drew him deep and Cage gripped the furs in his fists. As she sucked him, she slipped her coverings off and they fell off the side of their furs. When he was rock hard she released him and to his surprise, she straddled him. Her hands guided his cock to her heat. She knew when she gazed down at him he was surprised. She impaled herself, rocking steadily allowing only an inch at a time to invade her.

“Do you like that?” she asked.

Um yeah.
“It feels different from before.”

“Should I stop?”

Cage gripped her hips knowing if she stopped, he’d die right there under her. He shifted wanting more of him inside her, but she placed her palms flat against his chest giving her leverage. It was killing him as she took her sweet time with him.

“Cyra,” he finally warned.

“Just a little longer,” she whispered.

All of him was inside her and she didn’t move. She lay down over his chest and pulled him to her as tightly as she could. Cage wrapped his arms around her back and carefully rolled them over. He sensed what she needed. His cock throbbing in want, he pulled gently from her and inch by inch slipped back inside. They remained locked together. Cyra’s face was buried into his throat. All play was abandoned. He could feel the wetness of her tears.

“Everything will be fine,” Cage whispered. “I’m here. No matter what battle we have yet to go through, I will always be here. You are safe with me. Our sons will be safe with me.”

“Cage, you need to know something about human females,” Cyra replied.

Her tone was muted, pressed against him and he didn’t catch her entire sentence. He thought he caught the word ‘female’ but he reassured her with the many tribe leaders on board the Mountain must have mates planned for their sons. Cyra sighed. She was pliant in his arms, her grip less frenzied. Her tears had stopped. Cage knew as a baby he had cried. The last time he cried he was six. His father found him sobbing his heart out and beating a stick against a tree. Roar was a little older and was able to change into Cage’s worst fear. Cage was angry with himself, warriors weren’t supposed to fear anything.

Cage’s father told him it was all right to be angry, it was fine to be afraid at his age, but he needed to be strong. No more tears. His father had wiped his cheeks and lifted him to his shoulders telling him one day he would best Roar. Cage hadn’t cried since. His father was a wise man, kind, gentle, but a tribe leader. Cage would be a leader in time. Now Cage was a leader. When Cyra cried, he had no intention of telling her to stop. She didn’t howl or wail, just a few moist, grieving signs of distress.

“I love you, Cage.”

Cage stopped moving, he came but he didn’t yell; he pulled her closer. Cyra’s even steady breathing told him she slept. It had been a long day. Cage rolled to his side with her in his arms. He spent a long time running his hand over her hair and breathing in her scent.

“I love you, too.”

Cage had everything he wanted in his arms. Death to anyone or anything who would take her away. The new dark world be damned. Cage and his warriors would be ready for what lay ahead.

Cyra studied the inside of the alien vessel. The ugly buggers weren’t advanced, but they were intelligent. Everything within was supersized to accommodate the large aliens. It took Cyra a while to figure out what was meant for what when the overlarge buttons seemed more a child’s Lego. The computers were simplistic, rustic even. There was a chamber filled with disgusting rotted skin she assumed was their food. The odor made her nauseous. Another chamber was obviously a place to torture their captives.

Everything around Cyra made her feel on edge until the chambers were cleared out. Once void of the repugnant smells and evidence of heinous activity, Cyra was able to get down to business. For the most part, the teaching came naturally to her. The annoyance was she could hear Cage growl every time Roar came too close. Cyra was getting frustrated; she had to be near Roar and his warriors to teach them how to control the vessel. With Cage acting rabid, it was taking away valuable time.

“Cage, for heaven’s sake,” Cyra squealed when she turned and ran into his chest. “We’ve been out here, going through this every day for two weeks. Every day you get more overprotective. What’s your problem?”

“Don’t you know?”

He sounded livid and Cyra was at a loss. “No, I don’t.”

Roar chuckled. “It appears our tribe leaders and warriors will have our hands full, if we are successful.”

“How can you not know you are carrying my heir?” Cage demanded. He spun on Roar. “Learn faster. You know what this is doing to me and my warriors. My mate is to be protected daily; she should be inside the cave with the protection up.”

Cyra’s mouth hung open for a moment. “Carrying? How do you know?”

Cage looked dumbfounded. “How can you not?”

“It takes certain signs for women to know on my planet, a small test.”

“My body sensed the second you conceived. It goes against every tradition for you to be roaming around out here,” Cage railed.

“I will not be forced to spend my pregnancy caged—Cage,” Cyra yelled.

Cage ran a frustrated hand over his face. Cyra could see he battled to control his temper. She turned back to the console.

“One more time, Roar. These panels control flight, shields and air quality. This is for hyper drive. I’ve punched in the coordinates of Earth—there and back. Don’t touch any of these and you’ll be fine. Get your female and get out. Then the next leader can go, hopefully by then we will have more ships in operation.”

“Oh no,” Cage bellowed. “After this ship leaves, you are headed home where my warriors and I can keep a close eye on you.”

Cyra rolled her eyes. “I don’t think so,” she muttered.

“What was that?” Cage asked.

Cyra turned to Roar. “Good luck out there. I mean that. It will be nice to have another female to talk to.”

“You’re done?” Cage sounded relieved.

“They are as ready as they’ll ever be. Whether or not they are a success will remain to be seen. Roar’s mate is out there. I remember playing with her; the Mountain has shown me.” Cyra clapped Roar on the back. And Cyra was glad though the Mountain slumbered, there were simple images she could remember when necessary. “Are you ever in for a treat.”

Roar winced. “I understand sarcasm,” he said.

“Good.”

“Do you at least know her name?” Roar asked.

“No, we used to call each other by nickname. Hers was T Tauri Wind. You may want to check out stars as you travel.”

“What does Cyra mean?” Cage asked.

“It means throne.”

“What’s a throne?” Roar asked.

“It’s a place where a ruler sits,” Cyra said and felt the blush creep up her face. “The others called me Throne, but as a child it meant nothing to me.”

“It has meaning,” Cage said and circled her within his arms.

“It’s time to gather my chosen warriors and leave,” Roar said.

Roar thanked Cyra for her help and clasped an arm with Cage. Cage nodded and he and Cyra disembarked. They watched as the remaining warriors entered the ship. Cyra and Cage watched as the ship hovered for mere seconds before zipping into the air—it was gone.

“Good luck,” Cyra whispered.

Cage had his chest pressed to her back. “Do you think we will see them again?”

Cyra closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she smiled. “Yes, but they are on a daring adventure, and a dangerous one. The Mountain gave me an image that will go against what you know. Human females are born. They may not fall in love with a tribe leader because he says so. The tribes have many warriors to choose from.”

Cage looked dumbfounded. “That can’t be possible. How would they procreate?”

Cyra lifted an eyebrow and Cage shuffled his feet. “I’m sure the warriors can figure out what goes where.”

“But they will need protection.”

“Then tribe leaders are going to be very busy for the next hundred years. Maybe it’s why the Mountain chose humans as suitable mates. There are some weird and wonderful images from Earth and our females are well traveled, and very imaginative.”

“The Mountain is quiet in my thoughts.” Cage sounded troubled.

“You were told what you needed to know. Your work is done and so is mine. The Mountain is quiet in my thoughts too, it’s moved on to another. I have only my memories to look back on.”

“Do you think the Mountain will ever speak to us again?”

Cyra nodded after a while. “When it calls us home.”

Cage turned her in his arms, he looked dumbfounded. “When it calls
us
home?”

“I was given a gift for my services. The night after we made love and you took Zenon home. The Mountain opened to accept him, and there was a brief window. I requested to be with you forever. It seems the Mountain has agreed. It simply answered ‘yes’ and was silent. It was enough.”

Cage spun her around until he settled her and placed his hand on her belly. “Let’s go home. Our warriors deserve a celebration. We will celebrate you.”

* * * *

“Um, there’s a problem,” Kai whispered as he held the newborn in his arms.

Until the Mountain saw fit to create a new warrior for Cage, he was able to accept Kai in place of Zenon. Cage rose from the bed beside Cyra filling with concern over Kai’s words. Kai held the baby for his inspection. Cage’s concern grew.

“What’s wrong?” Cyra asked.

“Um, our son is fine,” Cage said uncomfortably. The baby was pink like his mother and missing a vital part. He glared daggers at Kai and whispered heatedly to him. “It must have fallen off inside, find it.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know.”

“Cage, give me my baby,” Cyra demanded.

Cage wrapped the baby up and with hesitance moved to hand him over. Cyra un-swaddled him. She smiled, which confused Cage more.

“Well, I’m sorry he’s not the son you were expecting, but she’s perfectly healthy.”

“She?” both Cage and Kai said simultaneously.

“Yes she, what’s the matter, did you think the poor thing lost his manhood in there?”

“No, no of course not,” Cage and Kai muttered.

“I’m uncertain how this is possible,” Cage said marveling over the infant. “Tribe leaders have only male offspring. It’s what the Mountain gives us.”

“Look around, Cage,” Cyra said and chuckled. “You’ve been given a lot of things you hadn’t expected.”

It was true. The Mountain gave them male heirs to protect the warriors. With the females gone, the half-human males would need their own females to create more heirs.

Cyra cried out. Cage raced to take his female babe. He cuddled her close feeling stupid. His mate was full of surprises.
A female baby?
Cage had never in his wildest dreams thought he would be gifted with a female baby. The females on his planet only ever had males. His concern deepened as Cyra howled again.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think maybe I’m not done yet.” Cyra groaned and cried out.

“What do you mean? Not done?” Cage asked.

“I mean we’re having twins.” The look she cast in his direction startled him with her gritted teeth and angry glare.

“Twins?” Cage was mystified and almost fell over. There hadn’t been a multiple birth in his tribe,
ever
. Then again there had never been a female birth ever either. He had heard of twin heirs once, but never witnessed anything in the ancestor’s history to verify one. “Humans can have twins?”

“Humans can have multiple births.” Cyra gasped and grew red pushing.

Cage watched the miracle of birth as a head appeared followed by a shoulder and the baby slipped out. Kai cleaned the baby in a clean skin.

“A son, Cage. You have a son. Look for yourself; this one came with external parts.”

Cage could have been knocked to the ground by a single fingertip he was so amazed. He took his camouflaged son into his arms. “Two offspring. Cyra, you really are amazing. We will have two to fill our lives.”