Initiation (Xylon Warriors 1) (18 page)

She rolled over onto her stomach and shoved a pillow between her legs. Her hips rose and fell, trying to get some relief.

Braden growled deep in his throat as he watched her ass move up and down. He wanted to make slow, tender love to her. But for now, she needed sex hard and fast to help appease the appetite inside her. “Let me help you.” He was more than ready. Without even trying, she made him crazy with lust and longing. He crawled onto the bed, pulled her up on her knees, tossed the pillow aside, and positioned himself behind her.

They would shower later.

With a strong grip on her hips, he pushed into her, only halfway at first, then all the way, when she whimpered in need.

Alexa spread her knees wide and dropped her face to the mattress, leaving her body completely at his mercy, her backside raised with his cock buried deep in her pussy.

He swallowed hard. Damn. His fingers curled around her hips. He pulled his cock almost completely out of her, then pushed back inside to the hilt. Faster and faster, he repeated the in and out movement.

She gripped the sheet and moaned deep in her throat.

The sound of his body smacking against hers filled his ears. In this position, she was so tight, that he didn’t know how long he could hold out, even though he’d already come twice.

“That feels so good, Braden. Harder.”

Too bad that she probably wouldn’t remember most of this. He moved against her with more force.

“That’s…ah, perfect. Yes…need…more. Like that,” she encouraged in her soft, sexy voice.

Yeah. She loved this, and so did he.

Her hair fell to one side, exposing the back of her neck. It didn’t get any better for Branding. Where was Erik? His additional strength was needed to hold her down, or she could end up hurt. A Branding during the high sexual cravings of an Initiation was potentially dangerous if not handled right. A mental bond formed as the mark took hold, and a person in the appetite sometimes fought the connection, because they didn’t understand what was happening.

He slowed his movements so he wouldn’t climax and lose the opportunity. They both needed to come together at the exact moment when he placed the Brand.

“No…faster.”

“Easy, Alexa.” He caressed her hips and ass. “I’ll give you everything you want. In a minute.” Come on, Erik. Get in here.

Alexa rose up and pushed back against him, impaling herself completely. “Now!”

“Shit.”

* * * * *

Leila stared up at Torque, hardly believing Kam’s words. Braden’s brother? She saw the resemblance now. Both had that same tall, dark, and dangerous thing going. Torque was a bit broader and more muscular, but he had the same black hair and deep eyes as Braden. Deeper actually. His eyes held a wealth of secrets behind them. Banishment did that to a person, or so she’d heard. The four lesser moons held secret, violent societies that few were familiar with—that few
wanted
to be familiar with.

“Kam said you’d been banished?”

“To the Sand Moon.”

His eyes twinkled, almost as if he considered banishment a joke. And the Sand Moon was the most remote. She wondered what he’d done to receive the punishment.

“You never answered my questions.” Kam’s face held a wary look. “How’d you get off-moon and all the way out here?”

“I wasn’t completely unproductive while I was gone. I invented a few gadgets that come in handy from time to time.”

“Including a way to circumvent your banishment?”

Torque shrugged. “I gave it a shot. It worked, getting me aboard the ship before it left Xylon’s orbit. I hid in the weapons locker, then moved to engineering later once we reached Earth. From there, I monitored what was going on down here. Pretty simple, actually.”

* * * * *

Erik re-zipped his pants and tossed the wet towel into the laundry basket. He was under control now. He’d be able to help with the Branding.

He walked into the bedroom. Braden looked to be out of it again. Alexa must have worn him down once more. With three people initiating, that rarely happened. He couldn’t imagine trying to initiate a woman alone.

“Hey!” Erik slapped Braden’s foot. “Get up. Let’s get on with the Branding while we have the chance.”

Alexa rubbed against Braden and whimpered.

“Braden,” Erik called. “Let’s go.” He leaned closer. Something was wrong. He slapped Braden’s face. “Braden.” Nothing. “Geez.” He rushed over to the door and yanked it open. “Leila! Get in here. Braden’s in trouble!”

She must have been close by, because seconds later, she ran in, almost colliding with him. If he hadn’t stepped back, she’d have smashed into his chest.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. He’s not moving. On the bed.”

Kam came next. “Is Alexa okay?” He glanced toward the bed, then made a quick turn back toward the door. “I’ll stand guard. Keep me informed.”

Another man strolled in. “What trouble is my little brother in now?”

Erik spared only a glance at the man. Damn. Where had
he
come from? If it wasn’t one pain in the ass, it was another. Instead of finding out the details, he spun on his heel. He had a crisis to deal with. “What’s wrong with him?” he asked Leila, who was fluttering over Braden with her ever-present medical monitor, that small gadget he’d never been able to make sense of.

“He’s been drugged.”

“What? Impossible.”

A frown crossed her face. She lifted a bottle of wine from the night table. “Where’d this come from?”

“The picnic basket, I guess. You should know.”

“I didn’t put any wine in the basket.” She sniffed the contents, then took a small sip. “I don’t taste a specific substance. It’s extra bitter though. This has to be it. Did you or Alexa have any of it?”

“I didn’t. I don’t know about Alexa. I was in the bathroom. I didn’t even see Braden drink any of it. Damn. Those Egesa must have planted it, hoping Braden and Alexa would drink it. Then they could materialize in and take her, without a fight, before anyone even knew what was happening. Can you revive him?”

“I can give him a counter-agent and a stimulant, but there’s no guarantee it’ll work.”

Alexa raised Braden’s hand and sucked on his fingers one at a time.

“Do it,” Erik ordered.

Torque stood at the foot of the bed. His gaze raked Alexa’s naked body. “I’ll take his place. Erik, Kam, and I will finish her off. How much time left in her sexual appetite?”

“A couple of hours.” Leila looked over at Erik, her brow wrinkled in worry.

“You’re not touching her,” Erik said. “Kam! Get in here. Help me with Alexa.”

“I can’t!”

Torque turned toward the door and laughed. “What’s with him? He scared of girls now?” His gaze returned to Alexa.

Erik covered her with the sheet. He didn’t like the way Torque kept ogling her. “Check on him, Leila.”

She nodded and hurried from the room.

Torque rubbed his hands together, then slid his jacket off. “That’s all right. I think we can handle her. If we need a third, Leila can help out. That’d be hot! I’d love to see some girl on girl action. It’s been too long between fucks for me. And there’s nothing like a group fucking-frenzy to get back in shape.” He reached for the sheet.

Erik drew back and smashed his fist into Torque’s chin.

Taken off guard, the man fell and hit his head on the wall. He slumped to the ground. “I don’t think so, Torque. Not this time.” He checked the man’s injury. Not severe, but he would be out of it for a while.

* * * * *

Leila put her hand on Kam’s arm. “What’s wrong?”

He leaned against the wall outside Alexa’s bedroom. “Nothing. I just can’t help with her.” He turned pleading eyes on her. “Don’t let Torque touch her either. Braden would kill him…and us, too.”

“Braden doesn’t want anyone touching her.” She scratched her head. “Well, I guess he changed his mind about Erik. I’m very confused about that. Why did The Council banish Torque? What’s his fight with Braden? There sure seems to be one. And why can’t you at least help a little with Alexa? You don’t have to penetrate her if you don’t want to. In fact, Braden specifically told me no penetration if something happened to him and someone else had to step in.”

“I can’t, Leila.”

“Why not?” she pushed.

“She’s…my sister.”

“What?” Nothing could have surprised her more. It was impossible. Kam’s brain must be scrambled. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s true. We don’t have time for me to go into all the details right now. But it’s a fact. Now get back inside and do what you can to help.”

The last thing she wanted to do was leave without the shipload of answers she craved, but she knew she had to. She’d find out everything later. Did Alexa know about their connection? Did Braden? She rushed back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Her gaze fell on Torque. “What happened?” She knelt beside him and checked him over.

“He hit his head. He’s okay. What’s with Kam? Where is he?”

“He’s going to stand guard outside. And don’t ask me anymore about it, because I can’t explain.” She stood up and went to Braden’s side.

“Well, shit, Leila. What about Braden? He still hasn’t moved.”

“The stimulant isn’t working. I can’t give him anymore. Not for at least another thirty minutes, until his body starts to self-heal. It would be too dangerous.”

Erik pulled the sheet off Alexa. Her soft cries of distress filled the room.

“What are you going to do?” Leila asked. She chewed on her thumbnail.

“As little as possible. Just enough to keep her brain waves stabilized, until you can get Braden revived. In the meantime, get on Braden’s vid-cell and get us some help down here.”

* * * * *

Kam paced in front of the bedroom door. It was too quiet in there. Why hadn’t Leila sent Torque out? If they had a problem, he’d hear. So all must be okay.

But if Torque touched Alexa, all hell would break loose later. Especially if anything went wrong. For Braden to lose another woman because of his brother…

A noise drew his attention. He turned toward the living room, and pain exploded in his stomach. He fell to the floor.

“I’d hoped for a better fight from you, Warrior.”

Holding his stomach, which felt on fire from the punch he’d received, Kam stared up at Dare. How had he gotten loose? Shear stood behind him.

A woman he didn’t recognize was with them. She must have found and freed the two.

Dare reached inside his jacket and pulled out the shield control. Shear confiscated all of his equipment. Damn! What else could go wrong?

* * * * *

Leila snapped the vid-cell off. “Laszlo says no Warriors can transport down right now, Erik. And we can’t come up.”

No way! Certainly, he hadn’t heard her right. “Are you shittin’ me?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Why the hell not?”

“The Marid ship is attacking, and they can’t lower the shield. But the main problem is far worse.”

He didn’t want to hear
worse
, but he knew he had no choice. “What?”

“Right before the attack began, Warriors started defecting in mass over to the Marid ship. There’s trouble back home, another uprising from the banishment zones, reportedly organized by Daegal. They think The Lair is going to fall this time, and are apparently afraid of Daegal’s wrath if they don’t switch sides now—willingly.”

“I don’t believe this is happening. Who do we have left on Earth?”

“I don’t know. The long-range tracking computer is unmanned right now. We’re on our own.”

“Braden has a locator. See if anyone is in the city.”

Leila found and searched Braden’s coat. “Here it is.” She flipped it on. “I’m picking up a few signals in some cities south of here. No one in Black Marble, except for us. I’ll try to make contact with a general emergency code. I’ll leave the signal on auto-transmit. With luck, someone will come to our aid.”

Chapter Twelve

Erik refused to concentrate on the big problem and decided to take care of the immediate one. His gaze traveled down Alexa’s nude body and back up again. He massaged her breasts, brushing his thumbs across her nipples. She had beautifully full tits, perfect for sucking. He licked his lips, tasting her in his imagination. His gaze again drifted down her body, this time settling between her thighs. The dewy curls there looked soft and inviting. Another tasty spot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Leila was doing everything to avoid watching. “You can watch. It’s all right.”

“I don’t want to.”

He chuckled. “Right…” Maybe parrying with her would keep his mind off what felt like an impossible situation.

Her head jerked around, and her gaze locked with his. “Just because you like to watch, doesn’t mean everyone else does, too.”

“How do you know I like to watch?” His smile widened. Without taking his eyes off Leila, he tugged on Alexa’s nipples. He knew she liked that.

“Yes,” she whispered and squirmed on the mattress.

Leila glanced down, then quickly snapped her eyes back up. “I’ve seen you at a Lair party or two.”

She did want to watch, Erik realized. She just didn’t want to admit it. It took all his resolve not to laugh aloud. “That means you were there also, sweetheart.” He had her there. He pinched Alexa’s nipples until she whimpered.

Leila’s gaze again dipped down, then back up. She shifted, pressing her thighs together. “Don’t act so pleased with yourself. I only attend when business calls. A lot of men over-indulge at those things and end up having a heart attack.”

“Not me. I’m a rock. Hard as…” Literally. He chuckled, thinking back on a party or two. Maybe that’s why Leila had refused him, and all others, at the last joining. She hadn’t been there to fuck. He squeezed Alexa’s breasts.

She tugged at his wrist, drawing his attention. Her eyes looked desperate. Her hips rose and fell. “Please…”

Leila took out her monitor and scanned. “Her vitals are dangerously high, Erik.”

He glanced over at Braden and sighed. He was running out of options. “I’m sorry, Braden.” His voice came out scratchy, hoarse. “I won’t let you lose this woman. I’ll protect her with my life. With my very soul, if I have to.”