Determine (4 page)

Hydra shook as she was filled beyond capacity.

Starburn slid out of her and then forward again.

She counted six of those long, slow thrusts before he shuddered and his cock jerked inside her. Heat spilled along every nerve, and she screamed again, her body bowing against his as release convulsed every limb.

She sobbed low as she relaxed under him.

He nuzzled at her neck, kissed her ear and released her hands.

He sighed and pressed his forehead to her shoulder. “I have wanted to do that for weeks.” She stroked his hair, noting the bands from her confinement on her wrists. “It isn’t how I imagined it.”

“How did you imagine it?” He leaned back and looked at her with concern.

“Less restraint on my part, more touching.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and stroked slowly until she worked her hands up into his hair, then she pulled back hard, and he jerked back.

“Ow, what was that?”

“You tied me up! Jackass.” She squirmed, but his weight was keeping her pinned to the bed.

“It seemed easier than trying to hold you in place and fuck you at the same time.” He rubbed at his scalp with one hand.

She squirmed out from under him and knelt next to the shredded remains of Breaker’s dress.

Starburn remained still for a moment before he draped a length of fabric over her shoulders.

Hydra was on the verge of tears. “Can you just send me back to the mainland now? I mean, you are done, right?”

He lifted her in his arms and brought her back to his bed, sitting with her in his lap. Starburn sighed and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “I am sorry. In the heat of the moment, I forgot you are not a Guardian groupie.”

She shuddered at what that would entail.

“Well, I am not. I came to help a friend and ended up… here.” Hydra was breathing deep to keep herself from bawling, but she was losing the battle.

What is it, Hydra?
Breaker’s voice came to her thoughts.

It is just…
Hydra sent her every emotion and frustration since Starburn had snagged her off the beach.

Oh. He sort of forgot that you weren’t here under
your own power.

You are talking to him?

Yes, he is concerned, and all team members have
access to me for communications around the clock. He
is a little surprised by your upset. You appeared to
enjoy it.

I did, but now, I have no clothing, nowhere to sleep,
nothing that is mine. I am stuck here unless you decide
to dump me back on the mainland, and I don’t know if I
will still have a job when I get back there. I am in an
unfamiliar situation with nothing to anchor myself.

Does that make sense?

Breaker went silent, but Starburn nodded. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Caalos Renix.”

She blinked and looked into his face, inches from her own. “What?”

“My name is Caalos Renix. Only the Guardians and my own mother know my identity. Now, you know as well.”

He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I will tell you more when you ask it, but this is one thing I felt it important to volunteer. You offered yourself to help, and I took advantage of your good nature, for that I apologize.” She swallowed and nodded. “It is a start. Caalos.”

He smiled and a deep pleasure lit his red eyes.

He kissed her, and she stroked his jaw as she leaned into him. This time, she was hoping that he didn’t simply sweep her away with him.

S
tarburn rolled to his back and stroked his hands around her waist and butt while she straddled him. The idea that he was willing to let her lead had her so wet that the pointed head of his cock slipped into her easily.

She braced her hands on his abdomen and relaxed herself until he was almost completely inside her.

Starburn’s eyes and skin were glowing with intensity, but he kept his hands caressing her softly as she started to move, taking him into her completely after a dozen plunges of her hips.

He cupped her breasts in his large hands as she rode him, her eyes closed for a moment before he pinched her nipples, sending a jolt through her clit and making her eyes open wide.

She gasped and bit her lip as she moved faster, the drag and slide of his cock scraped all the sensitive edges inside her, and she felt him swell slightly inside her while she rode him.

His teeth bared as she moved harder and faster, a low groan pushed out of his throat, and he gripped her hips as his cock flexed inside her.

She laughed softly and gasped when he reached down and circled her clit rapidly. Her own orgasm struck her seconds later, milking his length inside her.

Hydra sighed and draped herself on him.

Starburn stroked her back. “Better?”

“Much. Thank you. I still don’t have something to wear.”

Hydra jerked as something tapped her shoulder. A green vine waved at her. “Hello, Tangle.”

Another tendril brought in a dress in soft silver.

Starburn chuckled. “Thank you, Tangle.”

“Thank you, Tangle.” She reached out to take the dress, and Starburn’s cock shifted inside her again.

She placed the dress across the foot of the bed, her stretching doing wonderful things to his rapidly recovering erection within.

Hydra groaned and lifted herself off Starburn.

“I think I am done for a few hours.” He laughed and stroked her erect nipples.

“Your body disagrees, but it is acceptable. How about a shower and dinner?”

Hydra nodded and took his hand when he offered it to help her out of his bed. Through the dozen facilities she had attended since leaving Earth, only two had had solar scrubbers. The term solar was misleading, but they did use light to cleanse. It was not an intimate
wash your lover’s
back
sort of shower, but it did get you clean in a hurry.

She slipped her feet into position, and the light left her hair and eyebrows but took every extraneous piece of hair or dead skin from her body, including the semen making a slow exit down her inner thigh.

Once she had her turn and Starburn was basking in the cleansing light, she slipped back into the bedroom and into the silver dress. Bots were busy making the bed with clean sheets, and Hydra had to admit that it was efficient.

The dress clung and shifted as she moved. It was only the teeniest bit too big for her.

“I think I have something you can use to belt that.” Starburn walked out of the lav and smiled.

He went to a drawer and opened it, pulling out a set of three silvery disks on a long tie.

He wrapped it around her waist and tied it behind her. “There. Much better. Now, you can raise it so you don’t trip on it.” She smiled and tugged at it a little, allowing her toes to peep out. “What happened to the shoes?”

“Ah, I will have to replace those as well. They disappeared while we were on the beach.” He pulled on a loose pair of trousers and an open vest that showed the claw marks she had left on his chest.

“Sorry about those.” She walked up to him and touched his chest. “Why aren’t you healing them?”

He grinned. “I like them.”

She was going to say something else, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her into the hall and down to the common areas.

Breaker, Tangle and Warp were all sitting and watching news reports. They waved a greeting as Starburn and Hydra entered the room.

A roasted something or other was sitting on the kitchen counter, so Starburn fixed them both a plate. “We take turns cooking. Usually, the most hungry has that duty.”

Breaker smiled. “Usually, it is Starburn.” He shrugged in acknowledgement and carried their plates to the table, gesturing for her to bring the glasses of water.

She carried the water and smiled as the group critiqued the news’s interpretation of the events.

Everyone got quiet when the image of Starburn and Hydra came on the screen. One reporter had found out who she was and the reporters were camped out around her apartment.

Hydra felt a chill run through her. “Are they rifling through my stuff?”

Starburn put his hand on hers. “No. Your quarters were moved earlier today. Your clothing and possessions are waiting at a secure facility on the mainland. Warp will pick them up tomorrow.”

“Why?”

He twisted his lips. “Some groupies have made threats against your life. The Guardian groupies are very possessive, and I have not always used discretion in my liaisons here on Deyfell 4.” Tangle snorted, “Or anywhere for that matter.” Starburn sent a blast of light that struck Tangle on the shoulder.

Tangle shot him the Nyal equivalent of the finger, one hand raised with the middle finger folded down.

“So, you are a bit of a slut, Starburn?” Hydra raised her glass and took a sip while she smiled.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, obviously trying to determine if she was serious or not. “I have certain needs which need to be addressed on a regular basis.”

Warp laughed. “Hydra, that is a question you should have asked before you bedded him, not after.”

She made a face at Warp. “I was busy.” The group burst into laughter, and Breaker wiped away tears. “We heard.”

A blush crept along Hydrangea’s skin. “Well, I suppose we should have closed the window.”

Tangle shrugged. “I am pretty sure that glass is not capable of restricting your voice. It was a lovely concert. I am a little concerned about the ending of the first act, but you managed to pull it together for the finish.”

Hydra propped her chin on her fist and looked at Starburn, “Is it always like this?”

“Yes, get used to it. They aren’t going to change.”

She smiled and finished half of the food that Starburn had set out for her.

When it was obvious she was done, he quirked a brow and took her plate. He finished the contents in no time, leading her to believe that it had been his intent from the start.

She took the dishes away and slipped them into the cleaner with the others. She tidied up the leftovers and put the roasting pan in the cleaner as well. A few button pushes later and the unit was scrubbing at the glasses and plates. Hydra washed her hands and joined Starburn in the conversation area. She sat decorously next to him until he reached out and hauled her into his lap while they watched more newsreels.

Warp nudged Tangle and called attention to the marks Starburn was wearing so proudly.

Tangle nodded. “That is what it sounded like.” Hydra groaned and rested her face against Starburn’s neck.

He chuckled and squeezed her tight.

She continued to hide from the rest of the team until she heard her name on the news.

“Instructor Hydrangea Graham could not be reached
for comment, but witnesses saw her leave the Academy
campus in the company of Warp, leading some to
believe that she is enjoying the attentions of more than
just a single Guardian. Perhaps the team dynamic has
taken over, or perhaps Starburn is unaware of her
activities, but if he is now, he won’t be for long.”
The reporter was a smug woman who was lovely by Nyal standards. There was a cruel set to her lips and eyes.

Starburn groaned. “And so my poor judgement bites me in the ass.”

Hydra punched him in the chest. “Bites
you?
I beg to differ. My friends and students just heard that I was two-timing you with Warp. Not that I am complaining, it is complimentary, but I only jump one super-being at a time. I have my standards.”

She crossed her arms and sniffed, making Warp burst into riotous laughter.

Starburn squeezed her. “That reporter was one of the first to greet me when we arrived, and I was in a vulnerable state.”

Tangle snorted and flipped through the channels. “She got him to sign her belly and got a tattoo overlaid on it.”

“You sign body parts?”

Starburn raised his hands. “We are celebrities. We get asked to sign things and people and occasionally pets.”

Breaker smirked. “I have signed more breasts than these three combined.”

That brought them all into a round of laughter, and together, they watched a video on ancient discoveries and extinct races.

Tangle made eye contact with Hydra and flicked his gaze toward the race on the screen. The Shosai were classified as extinct because so few of their number were still around from the old bloodlines. They blended easily with the Nyal and brought great power with them for the next generation.

The power of the Shosai was a threat to the Nyal Imperial family, so they were exterminated to the edge of existence five hundred years ago.

Two Shosai royals and a few dozen of the population survived, but they had not been seen in generations.

Hydra spent the afternoon curled up on Starburn’s lap until Tangle rose to his feet and said, “I need to go for a walk in the garden. Hydra, will you join me?”

“Sure. My legs are a little stiff… I mean yes.” She ignored the general laughter and let Tangle tug her to her feet.

He offered her his arm, and they walked out onto the balcony. He was dressed in a similar manner to Starburn, but he was only three quarters the width. He was lithe and muscular as opposed to the more solid Warp.

“Do you think you will be able to adjust to being here at the base while we are on assignments?” Tangle was concerned.

“Well, the thing I have enjoyed most in my time away from home is the vast variety of studies that I have been able to pursue. Will my continuing my education be a problem?” She smiled at the flowers to either side of the velvety-mossed path.

Tangle nodded his head. “It is the least we can do. Starburn has a slight issue after using his powers for an extended period of time. We call it after burn. He tends to seek out any and all willing females, several at a time if needed. Having a mate to come home to will make all the difference. I am hoping that you caught my hint earlier.”

“The Shosai. He is one?” She blinked and tried to remember what she had seen on the screen, but Starburn had his hand on her thigh at the time, and she was slightly distracted.