Ignition: Alien Ménage Romance (Phoenix Rising Book 2) Read online

  They tumbled together on the bed, touching and kissing, moving tentatively. Sera was nervous, afraid that sex would feel different now that she’d had a child, afraid that it would hurt, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to please them the way she once could. She hesitated, and Beno whispered, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

  “I want to.” She kissed him firmly. “Don’t stop.”

  She lay on her side, her face toward Beno, who stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. Behind her, Theyn pressed in close, covering her shoulders and neck with kisses that made her shiver. She closed her eyes in anticipation as the men pressed together, their sexes fusing until they were one member through the mystery of their merging. They pushed gently into her, and she gasped in pleasure and the lingering ache from childbirth. Theyn pressed his hand onto her lower abdomen, warm and soothing. His osteoderms shimmered, then his hand began to glow, lighting the darkness of the room. Healing energy coursed through her, and the pain was gone, leaving only desire in its wake.

  They made love to her gently, as if she was a delicate treasure and they were being careful not to break her. She clung to them as the three of them rocked together, one happy woman, two men made one in their need for her. It was magical.

  When it was over, they lay together in a happy pile, sated and love-drunk. Both men curled around her, their arms protectively over her body as they slept.

  Chapter Two

  Dawn came much more quickly than any of them would have liked. Beno and Theyn prepared themselves quietly for their mission, dressing in black tactical gear and arming themselves with Ylian weapons. Sera held Kira in her arms, watching.

  Nima came to collect them, and Theyn and Beno kissed their mate and child goodbye at the door. Theyn lingered a moment, his fingertips stroking his daughter’s face gently. She cooed at the touch, and he felt a wordless telepathic brush against his mind. It seemed that their daughter had inherited Beno’s gift, and the thought made him happy. He kissed Kira and Sera again, then followed Nima and Beno down the hall.

  ‘Are you ready for this?’ Beno asked him, his voice warm and comfortable inside his head.

  Theyn smiled. ‘No. Are you?’

  ‘I’ve been spoiling for a fight. I’m more than ready.’

  They walked to where the Ylian shuttle was waiting with Commander Elina at the controls. The hatch whispered shut behind them when they climbed aboard, and when they sat, the seats conformed to their bodies, holding them securely in place.

  “Your Highness,” Elina greeted. “Commander Beno. I will notify you when we’re in range of the island so you can activate your camouflage ability.”

  Camouflage was a Ylian ability that the hybrids and the Ylians on Earth had lost. It was an extension of personal energy and will, deflecting light and concealing people or objects from view, both physical and technological. Theyn was uncertain if he and Beno would be able to conceal the entire shuttle from prying eyes. Their camouflage could be extended over multiple people if they were in physical contact, or to their mate through their bond, but they had never tried to hide something so large before. He didn’t know if their energy could be amplified to such a level without outside assistance like the crystals that powered the camouflage generator at the Siberian facility where they lived.

  That generator was one of three that had been built on Earth using Ylian technology, and they were the only things that stood between this beautiful blue planet and the fate that their own world had suffered. Out there in the cosmos, probably in a solar system not far from the one they were in, the fleet of the Taluan Empire waited and watched. They were always looking for more planets to strip of their resources, and for more sentient races that they could control, consume or enslave. Three generators and the good graces of the Ylian people were the only buttress between Earth and utter devastation.

  Sometimes when Theyn closed his eyes, he could still see his planet coming apart under the Taluan assault. The could see the magma from the center of their world rocketing up through the atmosphere like missiles as the crust, as green and blue as Earth’s now was, split like the shell of a hard-boiled egg, separating from the core of the planet in great curving sheets of rock and soil. He could imagine the screaming of his dying people, and it took no imagination at all to hear the keening of Ylia herself. The death throes of his world were indelibly scorched into his mind and heart. In that moment, he had sworn to the Burning One that he would do anything to ensure that his people survived.

  Now was his chance to live up to that oath.

  Beno looked at him, and Theyn knew without asking that his bond mate had witnessed his foray into sad memories. His best friend, his partner, nodded to Theyn encouragingly, his smile signaling his confidence in their ability to do what they were setting out to do. The Imperial Ylian wished he could be so certain.

  After several minutes of flying in silence, Elina announced to her passengers, “We’ll be in the range of Itzela’s sensors in forty seconds. Now’s the time.”

  Theyn reached out and took Beno’s hand in his, squeezing tightly, both to increase the power of their connection and for simple reassurance. Beno squeezed back, and they activated their camouflage ability.

  It was easy enough to make themselves disappear from view, but it took a great deal of effort to extend the effect far enough to encompass the shuttle. They both broke into a sweat, and Theyn’s hand trembled. Beno tightened his grip.

  “How will we know if it’s working?” Nima asked nervously.

  “When they come for us, or they don’t,” Elina answered.

  Theyn was finding it difficult to breathe, and his heart was pounding. He could sense that his bond mate was in similar distress, and he worried that they might be critically overextending their powers. The shuttle plunged into the fog layer that hid the island from the prying eyes of human governments. The blanket of clouds had been strengthened by contributions from Theyn and Beno themselves when they had been on Itzela, before they’d realized what horrors it protected.

  The misty shroud suddenly gave way, and a gleaming white city appeared in the forward screen. There were patrol ships in the air above the manicured streets, but none of them showed any sign of reaction to the newcomers.

  Elina flew to an open courtyard in the rear of Queen Apfira’s palace, shaded with ornamental trees and lined with colorful flower beds. She put the shuttle down on the ground with barely a bump. Nima immediately activated the control that would turn the shuttle’s walls transparent, and they all looked out, taking stock of the courtyard and its inhabitants. When they were satisfied that there were no guards or other witnesses, Nima said, “All right. Let’s go.”

  Theyn and Beno dropped their camouflage and released one another’s hands. Nima slung a pulse rifle over her shoulder and tossed another to Beno, who caught it easily. Theyn tugged at his disruptor glove to make sure it was on securely, then took his palm-sized blaster from his pocket, praying to the Burning One that he wouldn’t have to use it. His head was pounding.

  Beno took point, leading them out of the shuttle. Ahead of them were sealed double doors that led to a short hallway, which in turn led to the Men’s Quarters and the objects of their mission. The doors were locked, as they expected, but the electromagnetic pulse from Beno’s disruptor glove made short work of the lock’s mechanism. The doors slid aside and they hurried through, closing the doors behind them again to conceal their passage.

  The hallway twisted to the left, to another set of sealed doors. This time when Beno pressed his glove against the lock plate, a visible jolt of electricity lanced up his arm from a shield that had been placed there. He jerked back, gritting his teeth against the pain. Nima aimed her weapon at the lock and fired. The blast destroyed the lock completely, and the door sprang open.

  The Men’s Quarters were still and dark. The only light came from the glowing energy shackles that kept the male Ylians on their beds. There were more males than they had seen before, some of th
em in terrible condition.

  Theyn shook his head. ‘These aren’t the same men we saw before. Those men were full-blooded Ylians. These men are hybrids.’

  Beno looked around the room, then said, ‘Well, they still need help, so let’s keep going.’

  He took a quick headcount and asked, ‘How are we going to fit them all on the shuttle?’

  ‘We’ll get another shuttle.’ His partner told the entire group, “I’ll keep watch on the door. You three get those shackles deactivated.”

  Nima asked, “Your Highness, can your healing ability remove the sedation from them?”

  “It should,” he answered, moving to the nearest bed. The man on the mattress was covered in open sores and mottled with bruises. He shook his head. “I wonder if some of them aren’t better off being sedated instead of feeling what they’ve gone through.”

  “I’m not carrying them,” Elina said, “so you’d better wake them up if you can.”

  Theyn nodded and put his hand to the injured man’s forehead. His healing glow extended outward, spreading from his touch to suffuse through the other man’s body. The man gasped, his eyes flashing open, shining yellow with the human-style irises of a hybrid. He stared up at Theyn in shock and more than a little fear.

  “It’s all right,” Theyn told him gently. “We’re here to help you.”

  He whispered in awe. “You’re a full-blooded royal.”

  Theyn nodded as he pushed his disruptor glove against the control unit for the energy shackles that held the man to the bed. The shackles flickered, then vanished altogether. The man lurched from the bed, rubbing at his wrists.

  “Thank you.”

  The prince smiled and moved on to the next bed. Elina and Nima were already working their way through the room, disabling the shackles and checking the prisoners for pulses and consciousness. Some of the men were awake and aware, and they sprang from their beds as soon as they were released. Others were deeply unconscious, victims of cruel experimentation that had left them broken and battered. One of the men was already dead.

  Beno looked back at them from his post at the door. ‘Someone’s coming,’ he announced.

  The others crouched beside the beds where they were working and Beno pressed himself against the wall beside the door. The lock hummed and the portal opened. An orderly with a data pad in her hand stepped into the room, not looking up from the screen. The door slid shut behind her, and Beno fired his weapon in one well-aimed burst, stunning her and dropping her to the floor. Nima scurried over and bound the woman’s wrists and ankles with manacles that she had scooped up from the beds. Beno picked up the data pad.

  ‘This has links to all of Lady Tayne’s research notes,’ he told his companions. ‘Maybe we can find out what she’s trying to do. I’m going to download as much as I can while you keep releasing prisoners. Nima, see what she has in her pockets. There might be something that can help these people.’

  The resistance fighter wasted no time obeying his directions, frisking the stunned orderly and relieving her of a medipen and triage kit. Theyn and Elina continued through the ward room, releasing the rest of the shackled men. The prince did his best to wake those who looked well enough to walk, but his healing energy was rejected by some and rendered ineffectual. He had never encountered any Ylian he couldn’t heal, and he wondered what had happened to them.

  Beno finished his download and slipped the data pad into his pocket. ‘Let’s go.’

  Elina whispered to Theyn, “We can’t fit all of these people into the shuttle.”

  Theyn nodded. “Then we’ll have to steal another one.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  Beno smiled. ‘Leave that to me.’ He went to the exterior door and activated his camouflage, disappearing from sight with a shimmer.

  ‘Be careful,’ Theyn warned.

  ‘Always.’

  Nima looked at the men they had released. “I say we load the worst off into the shuttle we have and send them to the base in Siberia. The healthier ones can wait until the new shuttle arrives.”

  Elina nodded. “A good plan.”

  “Your Highness, can you camouflage a group of us?” Nima asked.

  Theyn frowned. “Not without Beno. I could camouflage two or three, but I need my bond mate’s energy to extend the ability beyond that.”

  Elina nodded grimly. “Then we’ll have to take our chances.”

  The prince turned to one of the newly released males, a hybrid who seemed more aware and in better physical condition than most. “What is your name?”

  The man blinked his eyes. “Itan.”

  “Itan, can you help carry one of the others?”

  Itan squared his shoulders and nodded. “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “Excellent.” Theyn turned away to gather up the broken body of one of the men he had been unable to help. As he leaned closer, he suddenly recognized Heron, Queen Apfira’s hybrid mate. He felt his heart go to ice.

  Across the distance, Beno could feel his distress. ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s Heron. He’s practically dead. I think they punished him for helping us.’

  There was the briefest twinge of sympathy from his bond mate, and then the other Ylian said, ‘He knew the risks. He said as much. At least we’re getting him out now.’

  Theyn steeled himself to the task and gathered Heron up in his arms. The man moaned in his drugged sleep, his pain too great to be hidden by the chemical fog. He carried him toward the door, and Nima stopped him.

  “How are we going to camouflage the shuttle if you and the Commander are separate?”

  He answered tersely. “We’re not.”

  Nima strode toward the door. “I’ll take care of that.”

  “Wait!” Elina hissed. “Where are you going?”

  “Flight ops. We’re not going to need camouflage.”

  Theyn opened his mouth to argue, but Nima slipped out into the hallway before he could stop her. Elina frowned, pursing her lips.

  “We’d better hurry,” the soldier said. “This could get very bad, very quickly.”

  Chapter Three

  The halls of the palace were strangely deserted, and Beno made it as far as the shuttle field before he saw anyone else. A trio of mechanics stood and conferred near a machine they were repairing, similar enough in appearance that they might have been triplets. Multiple births were not known among the Ylians, but it was common among Bruthesans, so he presumed they must have been mixed race. As he slipped closer, he noted that all of the women had hybrid yellow eyes, but with a strange purple ring around their very un-Ylian irises. The purple reflected light while the yellow did not, and the effect was almost unsettling. He had never seen a Ylian/Bruthesan hybrid before.

  At the far end of the field, sitting among the idle vehicles, he could see the shuttle that he wanted. Instead of six passenger seats, this one had twelve. Between this shuttle and the one that Elina had appropriated, they would be able to accommodate the entire group of males who needed rescuing.

  Beno slid past the three women, careful to be as silent as he could. Camouflage only worked by bending light; it did nothing against sound waves. He gave them a wide berth, skirting the edges of the field until he reached the object of his mission.

  The hatch was standing open, and there were signs of ongoing minor interior repairs. It was mostly cosmetic, nothing that would make the shuttle unusable. Satisfied with his choice, he slipped onboard and sat behind the controls.

  The engine activator was keyed to retinal scans, and for obvious reasons, his eyes would not match those of the shuttle’s pilots. He turned to his disruptor glove for assistance. A press of the palm later, the activator’s retinal scan unit was on the fritz, and he was able to access the launch controls. They were different than the controls he was accustomed to using, but similar enough that he could figure out how to make them work.

  ‘I have a second shuttle,’ he told his bond mate. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Loa
ding up the worst-injured of the men,’ Theyn answered with gratifying speed. ‘I’ll be keeping them as stable as possible while Elina flies.’

  ‘What is Nima doing?’

  He could feel his partner shake his head. ‘I don’t know. She said something about flight ops and ran off.’

  Beno nodded. ‘I think I know. Hold tight until I tell you it’s safe, then have Commander Elina take you and the shuttle to the base as quickly as she can.’

  ‘Will you follow?’

  The concern in his bond mate’s mental voice made him smile. Neither of them could survive without the other, and they both knew it. ‘Of course.’

  Beno reached out with his telepathy, attempting to locate Nima. He found her mind in one of the service hallways near the flight control room, and when he tried to tap to let her know that he was there, the roiling subterfuge that he sensed made him suspicious. He opted not to pry - this time - and proceeded with his nudge against her consciousness.

  ‘Nima. What are you doing?’

  He could feel her startled reaction, and then irritation colored her mental response. ‘I’m disabling their surface to air weapons as well as their sensor arrays. They’ll see us lift off, but they won’t be able to shoot us out of the sky or track us to our destination.’

  ‘Excellent.’ He looked out at the shuttle field and did a quick mental calculation. ‘Can you issue a code to the security force shuttle fleet? Maybe force them to power down?’

  ‘Not without affecting our shuttle, no. We’re going to have to take our chances with them.’ She tugged at something. He could almost, but not quite, see through her eyes to see what she was doing. Her body made a few more quick, jerky motions that he could sense, and then she announced, ‘That’s it. I’m running back to the Men’s Quarters. Get your shuttle here as soon as you can so we can load up and get out.’