Lie to Me (50 page)

“I envied the fearlessness you two shared together. But I never, not once, envied your love for one another because I loved you both. Even back then you two were my family. I knew you belonged together.” Satan cupped her cheek. “I knew the moment I met Stone you were his, and by default, mine too. Only
you
have struggled with that knowledge, holy terror.”

Throat tight with emotion, she swallowed past the lump and said, “And his dad, Peter.”

“He’s an asshole,” James said at the same time Creed said, “He’s a dick.”

The metal door groaned as it opened across the room. Stone and Reaper burst through, along with other dregs she knew from the silos.

Stone practically ripped her from Satan and crushed her to him. The hug lasted a millisecond before he was patting her down, reminding her of the day he’d exposed her identity. “I’m okay, pretty boy.”

He verified her claim with a slow, sensuous kiss. At least that was her logic, because given her recent predicament she shouldn’t have responded, right?

She caught sight of Reaper over Stone’s shoulder, her friend’s relief evident on his features.

“Scared the fuck outta me.” Reaper yanked her out of Stone’s grasp and squeezed her so hard she protested with a groan, and her ribs ached, but she returned his hug.

Just as glad to see them, she repeated, “I swear I’m okay.”

Stone tugged her away from Reaper. Kella grinned at being in the middle of their tug of war, while Reaper sighed at Stone’s possessiveness.

“I was terrified I’d lose you.”
Again
was implied as Stone’s fingertips trailed across her jaw, his chest hard and unmoving against her breasts. She was safe again thanks to his previous paranoia. “It’s hard to believe I’m not dreaming unless I’m touching you, sunshine.”

“This is a good lesson.” Stone frowned at her comment. “It could happen again. We all need to be GPS’d just in case.”

“I almost lost you. I don’t want to talk politics right now, but need to savor our success.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and jerked away a second later. “Someone help me get this E-steel shit off her.”

James retrieved the oval remote from Jones’s limp palm. “Holy terror saved herself. She shot Jones.”

A small click and the steel unhinged, falling to the floor with a tinny bang. Stone pocketed the controller, and massaged her wrists.

“I wasn’t going down without a fight.” Kella rubbed her neck, thankful the contraption had been removed. “Creed and Satan gave me the distraction I needed so I took the shot.”

Stone kissed her again, and someone emitted a loud groan. A moment later, Satan said, “Teleport Stone and Kella back to her bedroom in the silos so they can fuck it out of their system that she’s alive. I don’t have the tolerance to watch the mushy shit.”

Kella giggled against Stone’s mouth, but when she opened her eyes they were already in her bedroom. She fiddled with the short strands of his hair as he kissed her forehead.

“Want to tell me what happened?”

“Not much.” But she could see the worry creasing the corners of his eyes, so she detailed what transpired anyway, giving him the peace of mind that she really
was
okay.

“It could’ve gone bad, Kella.”

“But it didn’t.”

“If I hadn’t tagged you, it would have.”

Kella couldn’t argue that, so she just dug her hands beneath his shirt and sent her hands strolling across his tight abs. She kissed the center of his chest. “Not everyone is gunning for me, Stone. Jones was different, but even so, you know our X-Diplomat lifestyle is dangerous. We have to be prepared for these outcomes.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Tomorrow, I want every one of you chipped so you can teleport instantly.” Stone grasped one of her groping hands and dragged two of her fingers across a hard impression right behind his ear. “It’s a computer chip programmed to your fingerprint only, and it’ll activate an immediate teleport. That’s the only way I know how to provide more safety.”

More tech installed into her body unnerved her a little, but she recognized the advantage of the imbedded equipment. “Give Dutch a day longer, and she’ll have it programmed to shoot laser blasts out of our eyes.”

Stone gave her a blank stare, as if he couldn’t decide if she was joking or serious. “Dutch scares me a little.”

Kella laughed, because while Dutch loved her tech, she also was the only non-violent person in the X-Ds. She’d tried to teach her friend a few self-defense moves, but couldn’t get Dutch to hit her to learn them. Then again, she’d wield Stone’s drone like a computer game without an ounce of guilt for the lives it’d take. All right, so Dutch was an enigma and a lot complicated, and Kella loved her lack of predictability.

“Come on,” she tugged on his hand. “I want a quick shower to scrub Jones’s stink off me. Then we have work to do.” A new Quad to take control of, and a Xeno to settle in.

As she anticipated, the shower started off with a quick fuck before hygiene was seen to, but having him inside her cleared her head, and verified Jones wasn’t mind-fucking her with his E-steel leverage.

––––––––

B
y the next day, all of Jones’s counsel and his family were locked up in the former Regent’s dungeon. Stone planned to chip them all with Dutch’s device. The chip would circulate through their bodies, so they wouldn’t be able to isolate its location and remove it later. If they even neared one of Stone’s Quads, the electronic would activate and detonate.

“You’re set to go,” Dutch said through his earpiece. “All I have to do is push a button and you’ll be live.”

The blaring of the sirens in the town square would have all of Quad2’s citizens tuning in. Jones had them trained for that. A few minutes later, Stone went live before his new people...and the rest of the world.

“I am Regent Stone Emmerson from Quadrant13,” he said, squeezing Kella’s hand. She’d remained at his side since being retrieved from Jones’s torture cell. He couldn’t believe his good fortune that she’d survived, while he struggled with the guilt that she’d been forced to off Jones to survive. Yet again, he’d failed to protect her. “Regent Andy Jones plotted to kill my wife, Mackella Emmerson.” Kella gave a small smile, and he knew the children would recognize her as their Mack even if the citizens didn’t. “His failure has resulted in his death. Because of his criminal activities, I’ve imprisoned Jones’s counsel and his heirs. They can’t be trusted to possess a higher moral compass than Jones. Soon they’ll be released alive with instructions to never return. As your new Regent, I’ll enact many changes. Our ancestors taught us that X-genes are the only hope for our future. It was a good lie. Our society believed the propaganda, and built generations off the wombs of innocent children. The lies and dominance ends today. There will be equality for all, and every X-gene is granted her freedom effective immediately. Anyone caught hindering the independence of a Xeno will be executed with due process and zero tolerance. I’ll open the Regency for questions and suggestions. Tomorrow at noon I’ll be available in the square to answer questions as best as I can. This change will take time, but it can be successful if we all embrace it.”

Stone wrapped his arm around Kella’s shoulders and pulled her snug against his side. “Regents watching this feed, use this coup as a warning to those of you who would plot to take what is mine. If this isn’t enough to convince you to stand down, then the imprisonment of my father for the same crimes should deter you. No one is safe from my retribution if you elect to take
what is mine
.”

The red light announcing he was live went black, and Stone sighed, turning toward his woman. He couldn’t do this without Kella at his side. She fed him hope for a better future, and gave him the backbone to take what they wanted. All clinics would fall soon, and in the chaos the X-Ds would push for equality.

Kella clasped his face between her hands and towed his head down to meet her lips. She gave him a soft kiss, but in the smooch he could feel her love. Whatever had he done to deserve someone as perfect as her?

“We’ve got this, pretty boy.”

He hugged her to him, and Reaper and James couldn’t get out of the room fast enough. Stone chuckled. Did they think he would make love to her while they watched? Or did they just want to be spared the “mushy shit” as James had called it yesterday?

“What’s so funny?” she asked as he drew her to a chair and she snuggled onto his lap.

“Reaper and James ran out of here like fire licked at their heels. Funny seeing two bad asses hightail it at the sight of a kiss.”

“Hmm...”

What’d that mean?

She turned and straddled his lap. Her nails scraped across his scalp, lighting up his senses. “Is now a good time to tell you a secret?”

“What are you up to?”

“That’s nice. You automatically assume I’ve done something.” She gave him a mock pout, and he swatted her ass.

“What’s this secret?”

She leaned back to meet his eyes. “I want to christen this office with you inside me.”

No need to ask twice, Stone swiped his arm across the desk, and chucked everything to the floor. In a matter of seconds, he had her bent over the desk, her pants around her knees, and her panties yanked to the side. She cried out when he shoved his dick deep inside her. He’d almost lost her and couldn’t be easy with her. Hadn’t been gentle in the shower yesterday and didn’t try now.

“Harder, Stone,” she gasped, curling her fingers around the edge of the opposite side of the desk.

Stone gave her everything he had. His heart and his devotion. He’d gone from loving a child, to being in love with the woman. Just a few weeks ago, he’d doubted she’d ever be his, and then she’d married him. When Kella committed, she did it with her whole heart.

Despite the adventures that threatened her safety, he couldn’t think of anyone he’d rather share it with.

T
wo years later

––––––––

“S
tone, you’re being ridiculous.” Kella peered at her husband as her son nursed at her breast. Their baby was the first male to be born with the X-gene. Not that they’d tested him, because none of that mattered to them. But thanks to Stone’s paranoia and need to make sure their son, Jaxon, wasn’t just perfect, but healthy too, her pretty boy had the cybernetic doctor run a scan on their infant an hour after birth. The X-gene marker the cyber doc had detected shocked them all, even if it wasn’t a foolproof diagnosis. It was what the spooners had been hoping would happen. If other Regents knew of the finding, it’d put a target on their son’s head, so they kept the news between them.

All clinics had been decimated. It’d take years to get that type of tech back up and running. If they tried, the X-Ds would just take them out again. Most of the Quadrants continued to reject equality for all.

It wasn’t a perfect world, but society had shifted in the right direction. It’d take time and patience.

Two months after defeating Jones, they’d taken Quadrant6, where Creed’s dad served as Regent. Stone declined to manage the Quadrant, insisting Creed step up to the plate as the rightful heir and do right by his people. In the end, her friend had given in. He’d made changes and ran his society much like Stone.

Under Stone’s leadership were Quads13, 2, and 12, the last only because the Regent there had attempted a coup of his own to get rid of Stone. Kella figured it had been out of fear more than anything. Fear Stone would want more power, more land, more people, who knew. Either way, as neighbors, the other Regent had bought into the worldwide Regency claim that it was his duty to eliminate Stone. Stone had won without much of a fight.

Idiots. But she’d come to the realization the X-Ds couldn’t effectuate change overnight no matter how much they wanted.

Together, Stone and Creed made up a solid four Quadrants ran in similar styles. These days they spent more time micromanaging their Quadrants, working on relations between the dregs and spooners, than inciting rebellion. She spent most of her time with Reaper and Dutch micromanaging the spies infiltrating other Quadrants. Life was not dull, and having a four-month-old made life even more interesting.

As a united front, Stone and Creed stood against the other Regents, and currently engaged in talks with a third Regent—Regent Voodoo Jetts—who seemed genuinely interested in changing the way Quad10 ran, and the way his people were treated. Voodoo was young, similar in age to Stone and Creed, new to his post, and while they doubted the validity of his intentions, they still negotiated with him for a ‘Power of Five’ Quadrant. At least that’s what Kella called it, while Stone mocked the nickname.

“I’m not being ridiculous,” her pretty-boy husband groused as he knelt beside her and Jaxon, a teasing glint in his ice blue eyes. He’d decked out in what she called his Regent-finery, a black suit made of fine material. “He hogs your breasts. I want to suck them, but
noooo
, I can’t, because they’re his.”

“Yeah, like I said, you’re being ridiculous.”

Jaxon’s eyes shifted at the sound of his father’s voice, but he didn’t lose his latch on her nipple. If anything, his slurping noises grew louder as if he knew Stone griped about his feeding habits.

“Glutton,” Stone accused, offering his finger to Jaxon’s grip.

Kella laughed, only because she knew Stone wasn’t serious. He was so damn proud of his son, and loved him without shame, never embarrassed to show his love openly. The citizens of his Quadrants whispered about his devotion to his family, and they respected him more because of his affectionate nature.

Since Jaxon’s birth, when he did his hungry-cry in the middle of the nights, Stone would retrieve him from his crib, and carry him to her. He’d sit in the bed, with his back to the headboard, and have her settle between his outstretched legs. She’d lean against his chest while she breastfed their child. During those moments, Stone would nuzzle her neck with his lips, his arms around her, one beneath hers to offer support to their son.

“Watching this is fucking sexy, sunshine,” he’d said probably a hundred times since Jaxon’s birth, and she’d felt the evidence of his arousal against her butt.