Raines, Elizabeth - Marooned [Wicked Missions 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

Drake laughed. “We did. Seems like the three of us work well together. We’ll have to write a book about our adventures when this is all over.”

They’d salvaged more from the
Mirhala
than Matt had ever dreamed. A medical scanner that still worked. Some first aid supplies. A couple of laser rifles. Plus, both he and Betinsa had their personal laser pistols. A small amount of food. Even some bedding.

Since their E.B.I. standard black suits and Drake’s dress clothes were too hot, they had all changed to some of the more casual clothes they’d packed. He and Drake had started with shirts and shorts, but their sweat-soaked shirts now lay draped over one of the higher branches. Betinsa wore a formfitting tank top and tight workout shorts. Matt had seen her in similar outfits many times before when they’d gone for runs or practiced take-down maneuvers. Sure, he’d always admired her svelte, athletic shape. Now, what he noticed was Drake noticing her as well. What Matt couldn’t decide was if that bothered him or if he wanted Drake to envy him because he was close to her.

Despite Betinsa’s lack of a distress message, he knew someone would eventually come looking for them. Drake Keller was one of Earth’s ambassadors—he wouldn’t be allowed to remain missing without a search being conducted. Nor would the Earth Bureau of Investigation allow two of its agents to be considered missing-in-action without checking into all possibilities of how they could have survived.

Several of the thick trees on Katenya were similar to Earth’s bamboo—thick bark but hollow on the inside. He, Drake, and Betinsa had even been able to strip wire from the communications consoles to use to bind the logs they cut down with an ax Drake fashioned from a sharp piece of the ship’s hull. With the three of them working as a team, they would have a safe place to sleep for the night. He hadn’t had the nerve to ask what the gremtils she spoke of were, but the shiver in Betinsa’s voice told him all he needed to know. No way in hell he’d be on the ground when the suns set.

Betinsa hadn’t complained about her injured arm, not even seeming to favor it. He wouldn’t wound her pride by inquiring after her. He knew better.

“Matt?” she called down. “The time?”

She’d asked often enough, it was starting to make him nervous. “An hour ’til the suns set.”

“We should fetch the rest of the supplies from the ship and make our places up here,” Betinsa said as she shimmied past him down the tall tree. She’d found something to bind her long hair with, and though he understood why she’d want the thick curls up while she worked, he missed seeing it loose and bouncing around her shoulders.
Such beautiful hair
. Black as a raven’s wing with long ringlet curls he’d always wanted to tangle his fingers in to see if they were as soft as they looked.

His gaze followed her down the tree, and he couldn’t help but admire the sway of her petite but nicely rounded hips as she hurried to the remainder of the wreckage. Maybe having her here—away from the stress and strain of their jobs back on Earth—might give him a chance to cultivate a deeper relationship with her. He’d desired that for a long time. He’d desired
her
for a long time. Yet they’d hopped from one investigation to the next with no time in between for them to get to know each other a little better.

Now, they had time.
Plenty
of time.

Matt climbed back to the ground, wincing at the soreness in his ribs. He’d evidently hit his side hard against the armrest of his seat. Not that he had a memory of it since he’d blacked out before they’d hit ground. His ribs were tender, but he didn’t believe they were broken. If Betinsa could tough out a banged-up arm, he could suck it up over a sore rib cage.

“Doing okay?” Drake asked as he dropped to stand next to Matt. Leaning back against the tree, he folded his arms over his chest. “She’s something else, isn’t she? Never met a woman quite like Betinsa.”

“Probably ’cause you’ve only dated human women. Need to broaden your horizons, my friend.”

Drake shrugged. “Being an ambassador for Earth, it would be…frowned upon for me to set my sights on another species. Some humans would see that as a sort of…betrayal.”

“I suppose…” At least that meant that Drake wouldn’t be competition for Betinsa’s affections. “My parents feel the same. Dated a woman from Remiza once. She looked human, but her eyes were the most interesting shade of purple with yellow flecks. Gave her away—not that I’d tried to hide her origins. But my parents acted like she had the plague.”

Both men stopped as Betinsa crawled back out of the wreckage. Her face lifted to the setting suns, her blue skin glowing like the sheen of a pearl. “What do you think your parents would say about
her?
” Drake asked.

Matt didn’t answer, fearing for the first time that an event like that might be closer to being reality than he’d ever planned should he and Betinsa find some common ground while they waited to be rescued.

A sound much like a rather large swarm of cicadas rose from the floor of the forest. Betinsa shouted a warning as she headed toward them in a full sprint. “Up! Go up!”

Drake obeyed immediately, but Matt waited, wanting to be sure Betinsa didn’t need his help to climb, especially since she had an injured arm. “Go!” she shouted. “Climb!”

Then he saw the movement, as if the ground had suddenly come alive. Little brown animals that looked a lot like gophers flooded from the dens next to the trees in a seemingly unending stream of fur. “Holy fuck!”

Betinsa scrambled up the tree with Matt right behind her. When they finally reached their platform, he peered over the edge as Drake and Betinsa joined him. In a matter of moments, the small creatures descended on the shrouded body of their prisoner, ate away all the clothes, and then devoured the flesh—even the bones—until nothing was left behind. “Holy fuck!” Matt said again. “Those come out
every
night?”

Betinsa shook her head. “Three nights each rotation of the moon. If I made calculations correctly, this is the second night. After one more, we shall enjoy thirty-one days free of them.”

“That’s a relief,” Drake said, grabbing the rest of the supplies Betinsa had carried up in the canvas bag slung over her shoulder. “Can’t say I’d like to see any of those little bastards up close and personal.”

“Their fur is very warm,” Betinsa replied. “But many must be captured to make a proper coat. Because of the danger, few seek to harvest them.” She shuddered like a dog ridding itself of water on its fur. “I cannot abide creatures such as that. They make my skin crawl.”

“Like rats on Earth,” Matt said. “Hate those things.” He inclined his head toward the edge of the platform as he walked to the middle of their new home. “How late do they stay out? Sunrise?”

“No. They feed for only a few hours. Well before the suns rise again, we’ll be safe and will stay that way until dark.”

“Don’t know about you two,” Drake said. “But I vote we stay up here, get something to eat, and catch some shut-eye.” His eyes studied Betinsa for a long moment. “You feeling okay?”

Matt tried to see whatever Drake thought he was seeing. Betinsa appeared fine. The only thing amiss, if one could even call it amiss, was that her cheeks had flushed a deeper blue. Was she out of breath? Probably because she’d just climbed the tree so quickly…

“I’m
fine
.” Her words were clipped as if the question embarrassed her.

Then Matt thought he understood. “We can find a way for all of us to…relieve ourselves. Shoot, I plan on peeing over the edge and trying to nail a few of those little balls of fur.” He added a chuckle that quickly changed to a fake cough when he realized neither Betinsa nor Drake found him amusing.

Drake’s scrutiny wouldn’t let up. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her again.

“I’m just…anxious about what we’ll do.” She grabbed her bag. “We should eat.”

* * * *

“I can’t keep my eyes open a moment longer,” Matt said, grabbing one of the pillows they rescued and punching it hard with his fist. Flopping to his back, he closed his eyes. “Aren’t you two exhausted?”

“It
has
been a long day,” Betinsa replied. “Perhaps…perhaps we should all rest now.” The strangeness of her tone made Matt open his eyes to stare at her.

“You okay, Tinsa?” he asked before patting the blanket he’d spread out next to him. “Come get some shut-eye.”

“I tire of you two asking about my health,” she snapped. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m merely weary.” Yet she made no move to lie down.

Drake dropped his pillow on the other side of the large blanket, effectively sandwiching Betinsa between the two men. She had to hate that, but Matt couldn’t help but smile. He’d been thinking about the same arrangement when he’d spread out their bedding. Yes, Betinsa was a Fraiqua woman—a warrior—as well as an E.B.I. agent. But she was still a woman, and he couldn’t overcome years of conditioning that men were supposed to protect women. Even women who could probably kick his ass.

Drake’s gaze hadn’t left her, and the frown on his face raised Matt’s radar a notch. What was the ambassador so worried about? Betinsa appeared to be fine. Her arm didn’t even seem to cause her any pain, unlike his ribs that had started to turn a delightful shade of purple and blue. “Are you feeling…strange, Betinsa?” Drake asked.

Her eyes locked with Drake’s, and the two of them seemed intent on some kind of staredown before Betinsa finally shook her head again.

Matt felt like he’d missed something important between the two of them. About to ask, he swallowed his question when his partner finally grabbed the last pillow and dropped it next to his. Then she lay down, rolled to her back, and stared up at the same boring leaves he was seeing. The canopy of trees was so thick, he couldn’t even find Fraiqua through the foliage. Closing his eyes again, he finally sighed and gave up the fight. “’Night,” he muttered before much-needed sleep overtook him.

Chapter 3

Strobe lights flashed through her mind—images of her and Matt and Drake, locked in a sensual embrace. Limbs entwined. Heated kisses. Calloused hands on her breasts, on her thighs, and between them. Her fingers closing around Matt’s erection. Around Drake’s. As Dream Matt covered her body with his and he sank his thick cock deep inside her, Betinsa woke.

The sexual haze of the dream refused to clear, and her hand extended toward Matt’s chest as she lay on her stomach, squirming with a need to mate so profound she suddenly understood the dream. Drawing back her arm, she pounded a frustrated fist into her pillow.

No. No.

No!

The word echoed in Betinsa’s mind, again and again as she felt the changes beginning.

She was past due for the metamorphosis, and the danger of coming home was that the nearness of Fraiqua would force her to finally face it. She still thought she had much more time. Days. Even weeks.

It’s not supposed to happen this fast!
It’s not supposed to happen with
them!

Why couldn’t it have waited at least until she could reunite with her family—so her mother could give her advice and her fathers could help her find the proper partners to bring about the transition. The
comchi
was supposed to occur only with the two Fraiquan males who would be her lifemates, not with two
human
men! Never with two aliens!

Her timing in life had been off from the moment she’d arrived in the universe early—almost too early to survive. Her strength had pulled her through, an inner strength her mother and fathers always said made her a fine warrior despite her small stature. Seemed that despite the passing of twenty-seven years, her timing had not improved one damned bit.

Betinsa rolled from her stomach to her back, panting for each breath as she fought the heat roiling through her. Sensual need made dampness appear between her thighs, and she squeezed them shut as if to hold off what she knew couldn’t be stopped. Yes, she was past due, so past due it explained why
any
two males had triggered the metamorphosis. Most Fraiquan women went through their change around age twenty-three. But by living on Earth most of her adult life, Betinsa had held her time at bay, needing to be exposed to the twin suns, the nearness of her home planet, and the scent of her mates to start the
comchi
. Now it was upon her in the absolute worst of circumstances with the only two men near being humans who would never
recognize what was happening to her and what she needed them to do if she was to survive.

Tonight, she would surely die.

Her tongue ran over the feline fangs that seemed to grow with each passing moment—fangs that only appeared when vengeance was necessary or when she was supposed to claim her mates. The fire in her gut settled in the juncture of her thighs, making her squirm with a sexual desire she didn’t understand, one so overwhelming she knew it must be assuaged at any or all costs. The need was so consuming, it scattered her thoughts to the point she would soon lose her ability to reason her way out of facing Matt and Drake and letting them know what was happening to her. To give them a chance to escape before it was too late.