Captive Heroes (28 page)

“As I said earlier, we can only work with bonds. We latch onto the sexual chemistry that already exists between the matches and give an added push that speeds up the process.”

“So, what? You’re saying what we have between us…is real? That if we met on Earth we would be highly attracted to each other as quickly as what we experienced in our…dream states?” Kinley asked.

Hope seared her voice and excitement flared across her face. He hated that Kinley had used the word “dream”, because what they’d experienced was real, not a dream.

“That is correct,” the alien replied.

“Then why disconnect it? If it is already there, why not leave what little you have created?”

No reply came from the alien. The swirling colors flatlined instead of curving into a rainbow. Had Kinley’s question somehow puzzled them?

“I mean if what you say is the truth, our love for each other would have happened anyway,” she said. “The sexual chemistry, the attraction, or as you call it the bond, is already there and it would have happened along the way if we’d met under different circumstances, am I right?”

The alien remained quiet. The colors still flatlined.

“So you’ve actually done us a favor, right?” Kinley asked.

By the intense way her eyes sparkled, she was immensely excited about what the alien was saying. “You’ve shaved years off for us, right? The way I see it you’ve helped us get straight to the point without going through the awkward dating stages, the fights we may have had along the way in getting to know each other. The love bond that was already there was nurtured by you. That is, unless you take it away from us. I mean all we need to do is fall asleep and then you’ll screw with our brains and have your way in erasing things. From your research, you know we can only stay awake for so long.”

Kinley was right. They were sitting ducks here. All they had to do was fall asleep and the aliens would cut the ties. Urgency swept through him like a wave. The others milled around uncomfortably, apparently understanding the seriousness of this situation.

Once they fell asleep, they would be at the aliens’ mercy. Again.

“And if you take away what is already naturally there, how do you know we can get it back? There aren’t any guarantees that if you start tampering around and erasing things, you could do a lot more damage than you wish. You strike me as the type of creatures who want to keep us happy and sexually content, right?”

The silence continued. But pride flooded through Blackie for Kinley, who was fighting to keep what they all shared. He wanted to let out a whoop of joy. But that would be inappropriate for a captain. Instead, he reached out and intertwined his fingers with hers and gave her a squeeze of encouragement.

She gazed over at him and he winked.

“You are the female Kinley.”

“That’s right,” Kinley replied. She let go of Blackie’s hand and stepped closer to the screen. Her stance of defiance made Blackie smile. Kinley wanted to fight for them. For all of them.

Gosh, she looked so beautiful when she was mad.

“You were able to process an important issue while in our care. I hope we were able to assist you with your problem?” The alien’s voice had become soft and nurturing.

The colors on the screen turned from beautiful to a dark, disturbing nature. Those colors must represent the alien’s emotions. Tears shone in Kinley’s eyes as she fought for control. He struggled to keep himself in check too.

“I do thank you for helping me. I will seek additional therapy once I return home.”

“The issue has not been resolved?”

Kinley met Blackie’s gaze and nodded. “Sufficiently resolved, but I wish to follow up regarding what happened.”

Silence for a few more seconds and the colors became bright and pleasant again.

“If you wish for the problem to be eliminated, this can be arranged,” the voice said.

Amazing. The aliens fucked with their brains without permission, yet they asked if something could be removed from her memory? Aliens were indeed very complicated creatures.

“No, these memories are a part of me,” Kinley replied. “They are mine. I will keep them and deal with them.”

“We understand. As to your questions. Yes, once your memories of each other and your experiences are removed, the bonds will naturally reestablish.”

“I can’t speak for the others, but I prefer the bond I have with Blackie to remain in place,” Kinley softly said as she held his gaze. By the way she bit her bottom lip she was nervous about putting him on the spot like this.

“I wish this as well,” Blackie acknowledged, wanting to put her at ease as quickly as possible.

Kinley smiled her thanks.

“And the others?” the alien asked.

Kinley and Blackie gazed around the room at the others. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“We are all fine the way we are,” Kinley replied.

“Very well then. Your bonds will remain intact as you wish.”

“What of the children we had?” Annie asked. Distress laced her voice and shone in the others’ faces.

“These children do exist inside of you. Once you begin to mate, they will be born to you in the order they were here.”

Wow.

“What of the other ships? When will you let them go?” Ben Hero suddenly asked, breaking Blackie out of his thoughts of the kids.

“They will remain safe. They are in various stages of their dream states and we are harvesting their sexual energy as we did with you. We will release them when we are completed.”

“You realize what you are doing to them is wrong, don’t you?” Kayla Hero asked. “What you are doing is kidnapping people, forcing dreams upon them and using them for your own selfish needs.”

Oh great. This is not the time to piss off an alien, Kayla.

Blackie tried to grab eye contact with her, but she was intent with her focus on the screen. He wanted to order her to be quiet, but she had every right to fight for the other people being held in the aliens’ web of sensual dreams.

The colorful array on the screen exploded into a magnificent starburst, making them all gasp at the beauty. Blackie swore shimmers of regret raced through him. It was as if he and the alien were somehow connected through the colors.

“This part does not bode well with us, human Kayla. But it is the only way we can mate. We apologize, but it is what it is. When we determine a way to ask permission from the aliens transporting through here, then we will do so. But from our studies of humans, they wish their attractions to go through rituals of dating and the physical attraction that you mentioned previously. You are a stubborn, complicated race.”

“I’m sure in your wise ways you can figure out how to get our permission in the future,” Kayla prodded.

The colors danced in a way that made Blackie happy. The alien was trying to restrain Kayla’s anger through those colors and it was working. Her defiant stance seemed more subdued.

These aliens had too much influence over them and they’d better get the hell out of here as fast as they could. NASA would have to be told, and hopefully they could figure out a way to neutralize the situation or come to some sort of agreement with the aliens about safe, unaffected passage through this wormhole.

“At your request, we will continue to search for a way.”

Kayla nodded. “Good. I thank you for that.”

“There’s no changing your mind to let all the others go then?” Blackie broke in.

“Interfering in their dream states could prove dangerous to us and to them. We do not wish to harm any life form. We need them healthy. We will release them when we have completed our mating.”

Great. Just fucking great.

He was about to ask the alien exactly how many of them were in this wormhole, but she interrupted his thoughts.

“To ensure our continued safety, the coordinates to our existence in this part of your wormhole will be dissolved from all your spaceship’s logs. There is no negotiating on the matter.”

The colorful array on the screen flickered and disappeared, leaving them with the view of the spaceships floating quietly in space.

Blackie’s gut hollowed out in disappointment as he stared at the screen. The occupants of those ships would be on their own for now. He couldn’t afford to keep the rest of them here much longer. He didn’t even know if the aliens would keep their word and let them leave safely or if they were placating everyone and would attack them while they slept. A tinge of anxiety intermingled with a wave of impatience. They needed to leave this place at once.

“She’s gone,” Kinley said.

Sadness etched her face. But he couldn’t afford to soothe her right now. Time was of the essence.

“There’s nothing we can do to help them. If we stick around, they could tamper with our brains again. We could be stuck here forever. The only way to help them is to get ourselves out of here safely and hope NASA can figure out the coordinates. Any objections?” he asked.

No one said a word.

“Good,” he said. “Now, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

* * * * *

Taylor punched in the recent coordinates Buck Hero had just sent him, signifying Buck’s ship had managed to pull free of the anomaly. Now it was their turn to try.

“Coordinates in. Everybody hold on. It’s going to be a rough few minutes,” he called. He didn’t know who he was talking to. Everyone on board his ship was strapped into their sleep pods. He had Kinley, Blackie, and of course, Taylor had insisted Kayla come along with him. The other two ships had already left the wormhole, signaling back that they’d left without a problem.

Joe and Annie had gone with Ben and Jacey in the spaceship the Hero women had shown up in. And Piper, Jarod, Buck and Virginia had left in the ship the Hero brothers had arrived in.

Even with the aliens’ explanation about what had gone on and why they’d screwed with the area of the brain where their sexual fantasies were centered, he was glad it had happened. If they hadn’t been locked in this anomaly, then he may never have met Kayla.

“Here we go,” he whispered and pressed the button that would take them into hyper-speed. He clutched the armrests on his chair as the spaceship began to rattle. In a split second, the other spaceships stuck in the wormhole disappeared and silver streaks zipped along the otherwise black screen. Everything fell silent and the ship hummed along at top speed.

Taylor sighed a heavy breath of relief. The silver streaks were stars. Man, he’d never been so happy to see stars in his life.

“We’re alone, big boy.”

Kayla’s seductive whisper smoothed like a piece of silk over Taylor’s senses and he reacted, big-time. Blood pulsed into his cock and every nerve inside him slammed into alert mode. She chuckled as she came up to where he was seated. “I definitely got the big boy part right, didn’t I?”

She screeched as he grabbed her by the wrist, dragged her around to the front of his chair and hurled her onto his lap. She wasn’t wearing any clothing.

The burn of her pussy against the length of his clothed, hard shaft had them both gasping. Her eyes blazed as his gaze captured hers.

“Do it just like the first time,” she whispered, her eyes sparkling with amusement and lust.

Taylor grinned. In a way this was their first time, wasn’t it?

She wiggled off his lap and bent over, giving him a luscious view of her pussy.

Oh yeah, just like the first time.

* * * * *

Blackie’s heart thudded a mile a minute as he stalked toward Kinley’s sleep pod. He’d programmed his pod to awaken him the instant the computer read that Taylor had gone to sleep. He’d wanted to gaze at Kinley one more time before they went into sleep stasis for the duration of the trip back to Earth.

Would they ever be together again? She’d been attacked back on Earth and tried to suppress her memories…until she’d freaked out on Paradise. Okay, correct that, it hadn’t been Paradise. It had all been in their minds. But was there really a difference? Wasn’t their love for each other what truly mattered?

He sensed they would be in for some tough times back on Earth, but he would stick with her. They would get through this together. He loved her like he’d never loved another woman. She warmed his heart and was the one for him.

As he approached her sleep pod, he froze. Kinley wasn’t there. What the hell was going on? Where was she? Panic zipped through him like a rocket as he turned to search the ship.

“Hey, loverboy. Looking for me?”

Her sexy voice swept into his bloodstream, making his heart hum. She was sitting on the bridge in his captain chair. She looked gorgeous. Her tangled brown hair swept around her shoulders and she wore a white terrycloth bathrobe. Her long legs were crossed and she tossed him an amazing smile that rocked him right down to his core.

“What are you up to?” he asked as he walked toward her.

“Waiting for you to get up.” She dropped her gaze to the area between his thighs and wiggled her eyebrows. “In more ways than one.”

She wanted sex? Now? Gosh, with everything she’d been through, she still looked and acted like herself.