Rebellion (A Titan Romance Book 1) (13 page)

“Which is?”

“That a direct descendant from the original Sol system will bear the children of their salvation. And those children will be fathered by the servant of The Almighty.”

“The Almighty?”

Raemus raised a hand and held it up.

“Now you’re the hands of The Almighty? I’m not interested in fulfilling anyone’s prophecy, Raemus.”

“The mythos of Titans goes a lot deeper than ‘foot soldier’ in these kind of places. I’m not just talking about Minora, Akyra. Folktales and nighttime stories all around the galaxy make us more than we really are. And now…”

“And now?”

“Well, it would seem they’re making you into more, too.”

But maybe it’s not so far out of the question
, Raemus thought to himself.

She was still visibly shaken by whatever slew of emotions assailed her at the sight of so many sad, malnourished children. “I signed up to the Security Operations Division,” she said, “because no one
wanted
me as a mother.” She rubbed her forehead, sat upright, and finally looked Raemus in the eye. “They said I didn’t have
what it took
to breed.”

Raemus leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “Maybe… maybe they saw something in your genes that scared them. Maybe you
do
have what it takes…
maybe a whole lot more
.”

R
aemus had done
his best to comfort Akyra. But the incident at the orphanage dug too deep. She needed time alone, to gather her thoughts, to focus on
her
primary mission of recovering her contract and saving her tail.

Despite her biggest complaint being that she didn’t get enough time with Raemus, now she needed to be far away from him.

And away those crazy ideas about prophecies and fairytales.

She still had a job to do.

She took a small hike alone around the outer perimeter. The forest was dense and beautiful. It was so different than the cold, dry desert they had been in for the last week that she couldn't believe she was on the same planet.

This gave her a chance to examine more closely the style and architecture of the buildings as she passed them, increasingly rundown the farther she strolled from the abbey. Raemus told her not to go too far into the forest. And there were plenty of buildings that were unsafe. If she wasn't being escorted by a local or even himself, it was important to stay away from the older abandoned buildings. That was fine by her. She had no desire to end this already tenuous mission under a few metric tons of collapsed rubble.

She walked a disused path, searching her thoughts and her heart, occasionally picking up the kolach seeds discarded from the great, fern-like trees towering over her, trees reliably used throughout the galaxy for late-stage terraforming because of their fertile, hearty nature. With them, vast land masses could be forested within a century. Repeatedly, she dug her thumbnail into the hard skin of the seeds to reveal the soft, fruitful flesh, bringing it to her nose, smelling its woody, sweet aroma within. She thought of Raemus’ body, remembering his own smells and tastes. Tossing one seed away, she picked up another, absentmindedly moving deeper and deeper into the forest. Thinking more of holding his body, rubbing his shoulders. Then, she thought of his chest. She thought of his abs. Then, because she was who she was, his heavy cock.

Such a shame to have this part of the forest to myself, the one moment of privacy I get, and he’s not around!

Akyra’s heart began to beat double-time as she identified countless places along the path where she’d happily—so eagerly—allow him to take her.
Maybe a little rougher this time. A little more tug and pull.
So many perfect places to fuck, to let him has his way with her willing body. To let him fill her up with cock and as much cum as he wanted.
That fun, sexy, un-fucking-believable blue cum!

Then… her forearm tapper buzzed. Of course.

It always does.

She looked down to see the screen had dimmed: red.

Well, hello there, Bin Ar-Drezar, you sneaky little rat. That’d be just like you to ruin the moment.

She sighed, regretting losing the fantasy of her handsome, lovable Titan, then leaned a shoulder against the trunk of a huge fern and opened her messages.

A
kira plopped
herself down on an old tree stump to ponder Bin Ar-Drezar’s message.

What could he possibly be thinking? How in the world could he possibly believe I’m on his side after everything that's happened in the last week? Because of our mutual devotion to The Church? Probably.

Think, Little Miss Roux. Don’t be a fool. You’re smarter than this.

Akyra rubbed her temples, wishing she could pull her thoughts together. Too many variables distracted her. She wished she could talk all this out with Raemus.
Isn’t that what lovers do?

What did call it, Profuse Variable Assimilation? Kind of a dry name, but I’ll take it right now.

The sexy fantasy pushed its way back into her thoughts, the absence of his touch turning quickly to agony. She missed his kiss. She ached all over, knowing full well the only thing to make that ache go away was his powerful body against hers.

Even a little bit would do the trick
, she admitted.
Just to hold his big strong hands. Just to lean foreheads together, like we did after that firefight when Bin Ar-Drezar’s hunterdrones opened up on him. Just a hug from his insanely powerful arms.

But it always has to be quick. Always just a little bit. Just a squeeze, a pat on the knee.

This is a terrible way to get a love affair going!

She pulled some of her hair in frustration.

Shit, shit shit. I Can’t even keep my thoughts on the task at hand!
she lamented.
You are such a shameless little girl, aren’t you, Little Miss Roux?

Akyra groaned out loud for all the trees to hear. Having messed up her braid, she yanked off the tie and began straightening her hair.

Then, a thought am to her,
Bin Ar-Drezar can still use me. That’s what he’s up to.

Of course he doesn’t think I’m planning on helping him! But the clever bastard is still offering me a way out just in case. Because he can still use me.

But just in case what? I feel in over my head? I’m completely scared to be defecting with a renegade Titan commander? Because that’s what’s happening. Isn’t it? Raemus is a renegade, and to any observer in orbit or even on Dehlosse-5, I’m merely running away with the bad boy.

So, the answer is yes to both. Yes, I’m way over my head, and yes, I’m scared to be with Raemus because I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing.

So… fuck.

Akyra’s thoughts were abruptly broken again when she saw movement farther up the path: Jexica’s flashy red hair standing out brilliantly amid the lush green foliage. Akira watched her for a minute, hesitating to call out. Jexica wasn't just out for a pleasure stroll, either, though she was pretending to be. She was snooping around!

Always doing her job. That young woman is a keeper,
Akyra admitted.
Val and I probably made her work way too hard to transfer onto the team.

It was no use hiding now. Jexica was a sniper, and a great one at that, so Akyra knew she’d been seen long before Jexica came around the path.

They waved to each other from a distance. When Jexica hesitated to approach her captain, who was obviously deep in thought, Akyra waved her closer.

“What are you checking out, Jex?”

“Oh nothing, captain. Just some strange anomalies about this monastery… or convent, or whatever it is.”

“It’s an abbey. Like what kind of anomalies? You mean like, what's this place doing so far away from any other settlement, and why are there so many children here?”

“No, I get that. It's a spiritual hideaway from what these people consider to be an oppressive church regime. No, the anomaly bugging me is the Raptor hidden in the hazardous waste storage chamber two hundred meters…
that
way.” Jexica pointed a single finger toward the deeper, darker forest.

“Did you say a Raptor?”

“Sure did, captain. Tracks around the shed don't look too old either.”

That’s exactly where Raemus told me not to go
…

Awww, fuck.

Akyra swallowed against her tightening throat. “Was there anyone around?”

“Nope. But it’s the only building in the complex with self-sustaining power. And the wires are humming. Something’s going on in there, captain.” She looked Akyra in the eye. “Something… Titan-ish.”

“Well dammit, Jex. What the fuck is Raemus
doing
?”

“Captain, if I may, why don’t you just…you know, ask him? You two shared Shu’ri—you lucky bastard. You’re politically bonded. What’s the deal with just asking?”

Akyra looked away, knowing Jexica was right. In a simple view of things, she
shouldn’t
feel any hesitation asking Raemus anything about his plans. In a more realistic view of things, however, circumstances were completely denying her and Raemus the one-on-one time to develop those bonds implicated by Shu’ri, political, religious, or even romantic.
Especially romantic.

In fact, for the first time Akyra had the terrible thought that maybe their Shu’ri was rushed and completely premature.

What a big mess you’re making of everything again, Little Miss Roux. What a fucking mess.

Just then, they heard the distant roar of aircraft. The sound was growing quickly, low and heavy. It was the sound of very powerful engines.

Jexica moved to a clearing, looking up and shielding her eyes. “What the fuck?”

As the roar grew louder and louder, Akyra joined her favorite sniper, looking up into the sky that was blindingly bright compared to the dim, sheltered atmosphere of the thick forest. She had to shout now over the noise, “Whatever it is, there’s a lot of them!”

She looked up just in time to see the first white Raptor pass over the clearing, slowly, followed by another. Then another. And another.

Jexica shouted at the top of her lungs to be heard, “Are we under attack?”

Akyra looked down the forest path toward the main cluster of Ishkari Abbey buildings two thousand meters away, completely out of sight.

Raptors continued to fly over them in the direction of the abbey. The roar of low flying assault aircraft over their heads now completely washed out their words.

“Their landing thrusters are open. Shit, their landing!”

Jexica cupped an ear. “What?”

Akyra smirked, then shouted even louder. “I said, they’re not attacking. I think we’re having company!” Akyra looked around the forest, then back down the path toward Ishkari. She put her hands on her hips. And
somehow
the immense amount of noise battering her brain gave her an epiphany.

Knowing full well it was impossible to hear each other, Jexica joked again, “What?” Akyra could only read her lips.

“I said, I think I made a big fucking mistake hooking up with Raemus!”

Jexica nodded. “Okay, great!”

Akyra took a big deep breath. A wave of relief came over her. For the first time in her life, she admitted out loud that she didn’t know what the hell she was doing. She was
not in control
.

Except that for the first time, she actually felt relief admitting it.

The last Raptor moved over them, and the volume of its engines began to ease up on their eardrums.

Jexica said, “I counted nine.”

Akyra replied, “Plus the one you discovered is ten. Two flights of five. That’s the entire Titan wing from Zebra!”

“What’s that mean, captain?”

Akyra turned to Jexica, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Jex, I have no fucking clue. Let’s go find out.”

Without their armor on, they ran fast.

Nine shimmering white Raptors awaited them when they reached the abbey’s central open square. They were absolutely gorgeous.

There wasn’t enough room for them to land with any sense of proper formation, but that didn’t stop Akyra and Jexica—slowing to a walk from their two thousand meter run—from gasping at the intimidating sight of their deadly, hawk-like contours. They represented everything Akyra loved about the military.

Jexica said, panting, “Fuck me. Does this mean our convoy is safe now?”

Akyra began smiling. “Maybe. It does look like we just got a lot of extra help.”

“Akyra!” Raemus shouted to her as the last of the cool-down drives stopped whining, and a silence overcame the entire abbey. He was helping one his comrades step from an aircraft after a long flight, smiling broadly, waving to her.

“Raemus!” Akyra was still out of breath, struggling to shout the distance to him. “Why didn’t you tell me we were having company? I would’ve made extra for dinner!”

Raemus might not have heard her joke, she conceded.
But I mean it, why didn’t you tell me, Raemus?

Raemus, Akino, and several of the pilots began walking toward Akyra and Jexica. Many other Banshees made their appearance in the square by then, Valarae, Rayeley, Polli, and Emilia. Seeing Akyra emerge from the forest, they headed toward her, too.

Akyra put her hands on her hips just as Raemus and his guys reached her. “Well, you’re smiling, big guy. Does this,” she nodded to the Raptors, “mean our meeting with Xerxus will go a lot better than I’d hoped?”