Rebellion (A Titan Romance Book 1) (16 page)

Akyra leaned into Raemus’ Raptor to kiss him. “When are you going to take me up in one of these?”

“How about the day after tomorrow?”

“Say hello to Xerxus if you find him. Tell him to stop trying to kill me.”

She stepped back from the blast zone of the Raptors thrusters, tucking her hand under her chin as she watched the five Raptors liftoff into the sky, burning the night momentarily blue.

T
he advance scouts
of Colonel Weir’s Sec-Ops troops made their first strike early the next morning. Nothing too disruptive. As scouts, their job was to lob phosgene oxime-charged
shells into possible enemy locations. The reaction of the enemy often revealed information more valuable than direct hits of incendiary artillery.

But the message was clear: we’re here to fight.

Akyra knew Sec-Ops tactics. She’d lived them for many years. But those days were over.

As she began watching the tactical display from the hologram table in Raemus’ converted office in Ishkari, she thought,
Knowing what’s coming doesn’t always mean I can prevent it.

And it infuriated her. She leaned over the hologram image with Akino, who’d stayed with half the Titan force at the abbey as a quick strike force.

She grabbed her headset. “Clarx, I need you in the office.”

But there was no reply. She waited five minutes before trying again. “Clarx, dammit, we’ve got a job to do. Let’s go!”

“Captain Roux, look.” Akino scrolled the projected mountains and valleys until a cluster of green and blue circles moved to the center of the table. “Here’s your boy.”

Akyra leaned in close to read the text hovering over the icons. Sure enough, one of them displayed Clarx’s ID. “Dammit,
what’s
he doing?”

Akino pointed to the other blue circles—Titans in the field—in the same area. “That’s a recon sortie, captain. He’s running with the big boys.”

Akyra’s heart sank. She wanted to be proud of him, but she didn’t like it.

“Don’t worry,” Akino said. “He’s with Captain Raemus.”

“Why?”

Sure enough, the icons for both Clarx and Raemus were next to each other on the hologram, and she estimated by scale that they were within a quarter kilometer of each other.

Please Raemus, take good care of him.

Before she had time to actually get mad at Raemus for stealing her radio operator, Jexica and Valarae entered the office.

Valarae said to Akino, “Can we have a moment with Captain Roux?”

Akino looked at her cooly, then pointed to the door. “Be my guest.”

Valarae tried to puff up in front of the Titan, but the result didn’t achieve much. Instead, they stood there facing off.

Jexica looked to Akyra with pleading eyes.

“Sergeant Akino, please.” Akyra turned slowly to the Titan. “May I have a moment with my team?
Please
.”

Akino grabbed some gear, saying politely to Akyra, “Of course. Take your time.”

When he was out the door, Valarae started right in. “Captain, we got a solution.”

“What? Solution to what?”

“To all our problems,” Jexica said.

Akyra held up both palms. “Both of you, stop. Wait.” She wanted to talk to Jexica, but rank was rank. “Val, what’s got you worked up?”

“We steal the Bio-Teck cube. Right now. We take it back, and we get the fuck outta here. Colonel Weir is our only chance at getting us off this planet. Maybe back in the division.”

Akyra felt like someone slugged her in the gut. Out of nowhere. She sat down on the edge of the hologram table, dazed. “Steal the Bio-Teck cube?”

Valarae clinched her fists. “We steal it
back
, sir. It’s ours. Half the Titans are gone. Jexica knows where it’s at, and it’s ours for the taking. We get it back to the colonel!”

“Colonel Weir? Shit, Val. You know him better than any of us. What you do think our chances would be?”

“Good.” She paused. “Great!”

Jexica added, “He probably wouldn’t execute us right on the spot. You know,
probably
.”

Akyra held up a palm again, pinching the bridge of her nose with the other. “Wait, wait.” The idea was so completely glaring she felt mystified that she hadn’t thought of it. “Give me a second.”

She didn’t have a Titan’s intuition, but all the variables quickly began to fall into place. Distract the Titans, rush the hazardous waste storage chamber two thousand meters away, which is probably unguarded at this point.

“But how do we get away without the Titans being suspicious?”

Valarae stood up proudly, gesturing with her hands. “We have Colonel Weir…
come to us
.”

Akyra screwed her face at her first sergeant. “How?”

“Leave that to me.”

Akyra’s knees began to go weak, even without the weight of her full body on them. Her breathing slowed, and she began to see spots.

She needed to walk. “Give me a sec, ladies.” And she began pacing the length of the office, hands on her hips, trying to get feeling back to her extremities.

Steal the parcel cube back from Raemus.

She felt physically sick from the words. Not because they involved so much risk, but because they made so much sense. It was the Sec-Ops thing to do.

“Jex, you’re the smartest person on this team. What do you think?”

“Captain, I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t agree with Val.”

Akyra walked back to the hologram table, toggling the image to find Raemus again. She zoomed in several times, making his blue icon more distinct from the other soldiers around him. She stared at his hovering ID.

Valarae stepped up. “Captain, what do you think?”

Akyra was so mixed up inside she needed both hands on the table to balance herself. “Shut up! Both of you, just shut up for a minute.” She hung her head and took a deep breath, almost gagging.

Valarae latched onto Akyra’s tone. “Captain, this is fucking ridiculous. It’s the only way. There shouldn’t be any hesitation!”

Akyra lifted her head to Val, who leaned in so close she could feel her breath. Then, she raised a single eyebrow, speaking calmly. “No. We stick to the plan.”

Valarae’s body tensed up so fast she almost jumped. She spoke slowly through gritted teeth, “We… are going… to die.”

Akyra made the right decision, she knew it. So much that if Val slugged her for it, she would have to be okay with it.

I am not going to betray Raemus. Even it means giving up a chance to save everything I’ve ever fought for.

Jexica stepped in. “Val? Easy girl.”

But Valarae spun round, grabbed Jexica by the shirt and slammed her against the office wall. “No! I won’t go easy!” She let go of Jexica and spun round to Akyra again, who moved in to restrain her if she had to. “I won’t listen to any of this shit! You got us into this mess. I’m trying to get us out, and if you won’t let me, then you’re going to die because of it. Not me. You!”

Valarae stormed past Jexica out the door, who stared at Akyra with disbelief. “What was
that
?”

“Guess she she doesn’t want to get killed. You okay?”

Jexica rubbed her shoulders tenderly. “Yeah, no big thing.”

Akyra added, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have let it get to that.”

They stood in silence for moment before Jexica said, “I’m gonna go. I’ll check in with you later.” She grabbed the door handle. “You sure you don’t want to do it?”

Akyra sighed. “That’ll be all. Thank you, Jex.”

And then, she was alone.

She walked over to a table where Titans stacked some of their gear. Hastily, she rummaged around the packs and belts until she found a knife. A big knife.

A big fucking Titan knife.

Akyra set it on the table and stripped her shirt off. Making sure her hair was back out of the way, she rubbed her left shoulder.

It was right where it always was. She’d rubbed it, felt it, thought about it everyday of her life since the breeding program administrators strapped her whole body down, head to foot, and using a large pneumatic injector, shot the birth control bolt into the deep fatty subcutaneous layer of her shoulder.

All Sec-Ops soldiers had birth control injected into their skin, both men and women. That was part of the job. But Akyra already had it when she signed up. Her implant was a traumatic ordeal, however. Her implant went deeper—significantly deeper—than the other’s. And it was meant
never
to come out.

Akyra Roux was about to change that.

She found a first aid kit. Cleaned the site. Wrapped her shirt around her bicep to catch the blood. Some of it, at least. There was going to be… a lot of blood.

It took took her five minutes to slice open the skin, high enough on her shoulder only one eye could see the area. But she finally saw it, half the size of her pinky.

Once halfway through the excision, she grabbed another rag from someone’s pack and stuffed into her mouth—so she could scream.

The bolt was made of organic material, so it had long since bonded with the living tissue around it. Which meant she couldn’t simply squeeze it out, like a monstrous splinter. She cut it out. All the way.

Her screams alternated between muffled shrills and low groans. She used the screams to help keep her focused through the agony.

But her tears, rushing down her face in streams, were not due to the physical pain. The tears were actually tears of joy. Of relief. Of freedom.

She was sweating profusely, however.
That
was from the pain.

When the bolt was finally out, she tossed it on the bloody table. She’d never seen it before, only imagined it. But it was not what she expected. She leaned over to examine it, not surprised how faint she’d become. Blood covered the bolt, but a light blinked on one end. A small green light. Had it always blinked inside her?

Then, the green light stopped. It faded off. And another began to blink in its place.

A red one.

Akyra unwrapped the blood soaked shirt from her arm, jamming it into the two inch slice that, she finally noticed, pulsed a red stream.

Little Miss Roux? Can you hear me? Are you so afraid of your own blood all over again?

She fumbled her headset to her ear. “Gayla? Gayla, you on this channel? I think I need your help…”

Dropping the headset to the floor, she looked again at the birth control bolt she slashed from her body, remembering everything the act meant.

She watched the red flashing light, knowing it now sent a signal outward through the galaxy. Church guardians would know very soon. If she wasn’t planning on being dead so soon, they’d be on their way to kill her.

She laughed just before she passed out. “Bring it, fuckers,” she said to the ceiling, now lying on the floor in a pool of blood and tears. “You know where to find me now. I’ll be with my Titan.”

G
ayla radioed
Raemus soon after she found Akyra sleeping on the floor of the Titans HQ office.

It was a horrible scene, but Gayla quickly saw what had happened, that the wound wasn’t as bad as the bloody mess looked to be. Akyra cut an artery, but she was going to be fine. The floor of the Titans office, however, was going to need some serious cleanup.

Raemus was back at Ishkari Abbey within an hour, burning an insane amount of fuel rushing to be at the side of his true love.

“A little dazed,” Gayla told him privately. “but nothing serious. I’ve treated her for a lot worse, trust me. She probably had to get a little crazy up here,” she tapped her temple with a stylus, “to do that kind of surgery on herself. Pretty badass, if you ask me.”

Raemus nodded. “Can she still fight?”

Gayla smiled. “Hell yeah. She’s probably more pumped to fight now than ever.”

But Raemus realized he’d meant something else. What he really wanted to know was:
can she still fuck?

It was a blunt, obscene thing to think. But he couldn’t help it. He needed her. He’d been craving her body again since the moment she fell into his arms from the roof of the carrier.

Of course he thought about fucking her. He
loved
her! He went to her room, and he went to find out whether she still could or not.

“Hi, big guy.” Akyra said from her bed, which the abbess offered her as a token of respect and honor while she recuperated.

Raemus dropped his flight gear in the doorway, and rushed to sit on the bed’s end. He tried not to stare at the bandage around her shoulder. He knew what happened. He knew what it meant. “Hello, sweetheart. You… get a bed?”

She shrugged. “Don’t really need it. But it’s nice.”

“But if you don’t really need it, why are you still in it?”

“I dunno, big guy. Maybe I’ve been waiting for you. Why did you come back to me?” Akyra leaned in to Raemus, wrapped her arm around his neck, and kissed him on the lips. A surge of pleasure and excitement flooded her whole body. She’d been thinking of that kiss nonstop for hours. And it was as good as she’d hoped.

He reached around her waist, pulling her to him, pressing his lips harder into hers…
So soft, so full. So irresistible!

He grabbed the hem of her small white shirt and pulled it up over head, neither of them paying her bandage any heed. The pain from her stitches underneath, however, caused a her to wince.

“Sorry, Akyra. Are you gonna be okay to do this?”

“Oh hell yes, please don’t stop.” She kissed him. “Please don’t ever stop.” She kissed him again, opening her mouth to his, inviting his tongue to follow her own.

His hands followed the curve of her body down to her legs, pulling down the sheet, feeling that she wore only panties. He wrapped his fingers around the strap and pulled them down while she lifted her butt and helped wiggle them off.

Like before, even their deepest kisses were interrupted by their persistent smiles. Their lust for each other was immense, but they were simply astonished by the power of their love, and they just couldn’t
not
smile at their happiness. Even as Akyra began grabbing Raemus’ crotch, tugging and pulling, feeling that thick cock through his pants.

She was naked—except for her bandage wrap and the simple, metal pendant. “Now it’s your turn.”

She got up on her knees on the bed, and pulled him up to his feet alongside. “You undo your shirt. I’ll take care of
this
.”

Akyra’s heart beat tremendously with excitement as she unhooked his belt and unlatched his pants, letting them gently slide down his powerful, thick thighs. Now there, right in front of her, bulging through his tight briefs was an equally powerful, broad cock.

She slid her fingertip into the top band of his briefs, paused to look up at his eyes and smile, then she tenderly pulled down the front of his briefs to reveal every inch of that heavy, gorgeous, kissable, suckable, absolutely fuckable fat cock.

It swung down and hung in front of her mouth, and she sucked in a deep breath. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do this,” Akyra said. She opened her lips wide and gently glided her lips over the swollen head, feeling the immense heat of its skin on her tongue.

Both Raemus and Akyra groaned at the same time.

She placed both hands on his thighs, while gently, tenderly, lovingly, sucking his cock. As she did, she tugged his pants and briefs farther and farther down his legs. With the first few inches of his solid, hard cock still in her mouth, she looked upward, suddenly realizing how difficult it was, in fact, to smile with such a big one in her mouth. He already had his shirt off, and she was happy to see his face raised to the ceiling, his arms tense with pleasure.

“Get on this bed now, Raemus.”

But that was that last time she bossed him. Once he looked down to her, and she saw that his beautiful eyes had gone black, she knew
he
was now in charge.

And he was going to finally take her body the way he wanted.

* * *

T
hey didn’t have much more
time together.

But the one thing they didn’t get during their Shu’ri was time to lie together in bed after they’d made love. And, dammit, this time they were going to get it. Even it meant lingering on this bed that was impossibly too small for both their bodies, especially Raemus’ towering, muscled physique.

But they did their best. Even if it was comically awkward. For Akyra, she need only focus on the luxurious ache of her pussy that had, for the first time, been repeatedly fucked and filled without
any
birth control. It was exhilarating to imagine the possibilities of what Raemus’ sexy, warm blue cum was doing inside of her.

Akyra nestled her head into Raemus’ chest and closed her eyes, knowing their time now was getting shorter. She smiled.

After a few minutes of silence, Raemus asked, “Did you know humans used to mate for life. Or at least tried to?”

“Umm, maybe. I think I remember hearing something about that.”

“They called it
marriage
.”

Akyra thought about it. “Sounds nice.”

“The couple would pledge vows of support and monogamy. They would take the same name, sometimes the man’s name, sometimes the woman’s name. Then they lived together. Had a family.”

“Couldn’t they just pick a new name together?”

“We could do that.”

Akyra lifted her head to see his face. “
Are
we doing that?”

Raemus repeated Akyra’s own word, “Sounds nice.”

“What would
our
name be?” She returned her head back to his chest.

“It’d have to be something meaningful. Think about it.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Akyra sat up on the bed. When Raemus leaned up on an elbow, they stared at each other for several minutes. In that gaze, they silently tossed the idea of lifelong monogamy back and forth with their eyes, considering it, doubting it, craving it, dismissing it, and finally loving it.

But never forgetting for a moment this might be, despite their ideas, their last moment together. Forever.

“I don’t want this to end, Akyra.” He fell back to the bed, pulling her down on top of his body, hugging her tight.

“Me, neither.”

“I finally have you. You know?”

“Yeah. Five more minutes, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”