Five Nyrian women, one Nyrian man.
And then there was Rodie.
She'd caught him by surprise, and yet it was as if she'd always been there, always a part of his life. The feelings he had for her, the woman herself . . . Hell, it still felt like a dream.
He'd never had a steady relationship with a woman before, and nothing all that serious with men. How could so much have changed? Now he had Rodie, though what he had with her was a mystery. How much was real and how much fantasy?
He didn't know for sure, but he was willing to find out.
He had Bolt and the other Nyrians, creatures he'd known for such a short time, and yet . . . they mattered. Mattered to him in a way that was almost impossible to describe. As if the forms they'd taken from his mind had left an indelible imprint on his soul.
Essentially, they had become family. His family. And not just the Nyriansâno, the entire dream team was closer than those few he could claim by blood. These were the ones who mattered.
Finn and Cam were the brothers he'd never had. Kiera and Liz were like little sisters. And Mac? How did he describe his feelings for Mac Dugan? Not just a friend, not even a brother. More a mentor, a trusted male, someone Morgan actually admired.
There were very few men he'd ever admired in his life.
And oddly enough, Finn O'Toole was one of them, which was almost laughable when he thought of his first impression of the irascible Irishman. He'd pegged O'Toole as a jokester without a serious thought in his head, a guy more concerned with bagging his next woman and adding another notch to his proverbial bedpost than with anything of substance.
He'd been wrong about Finn O'Toole. At least he hoped so, since he'd be trusting him with his life. Today, he and Finn would learn how to dematerialize, or disassemble, as the Nyrians called it. Essentially, he'd be reducing himself to the molecular level and hitchhiking within the energy mass of an alien creature in order to travel from Earth to the Gar ship that was currently in orbit behind the moon.
Yeah. Sure . . . and it was a good thing he didn't have a clue how this was going to happen or he'd probably be scared to death, but somehow, doing something that was so far beyond belief didn't register well enough to actually terrify him. Yet.
Rodie let out a soft snore and snuggled against his side. He tightened his arm around her shoulders. She was every bit as far beyond belief as dematerializing. Rodie Bishop was someone else he'd underestimated.
He'd thought she was interesting and kind of cute.
He'd had no idea she would totally rock his world.
Of course, when he'd signed on to this project, he really had no idea what he was getting into. Definitely a good thing, being so ignorant, or he'd never have agreed.
And then, just think what he'd be missing.
2
K
iera Pearce stretched, yawned, glanced at the clock by the bedâand did a double take. She shoved herself up on one elbow, squinted, and stared harder at the LED numbers.
“Oh, crap.” She dragged her pillow over her eyes, flopped back on the mattress, and groaned. She'd read the numbers wrong and thought at first it was after ten. Damn it, not even close to seven, yet. She was so not a morning person, especially after a night like last night.
So why had she been waking up before seven every damned day she'd been here?
“Every day?” She giggled into the pillow. This was only her third morning. Why did it feel as if she'd been here for weeks? Months, even?
Maybe because I've never had so much good sex in my entire life?
Well, there was that. If anybody had told her a week ago she'd not only be doing the deed with menâpluralâshe'd be doing it with aliens, she'd have thought they were nuts.
For a woman who thought she was wired primarily for sex with other womenâhuman womenâKiera had discovered a new appreciation for men.
At least these particular men.
Nyrians. Aliens capable of taking on perfect human bodies from sexual fantasies, which, as impossible as it sounded, totally confused her on a more practical level altogether.
She liked women. Loved women to the extent that women dominated her sexual fantasies. So how did she explain the fact she'd had seven different Nyrian visitors over the past two nights, each one conjured from her fantasiesâand every single one of them a drop-dead gorgeous, testosterone-laden perfect male?
Not only were they men who'd left her sexually satisfied and smiling, each experience had led her to an entirely new level of self-awareness and self-confidence.
She still couldn't believe it. Not with the history she had with the male of the species.
Make that males of the human species.
What was so different about Nyrians that every one, every delicious, gorgeous, beautiful guy, had managed to give her absolutely mind-blowing orgasms while somehow avoiding the less pleasant traits of their human counterparts?
Like attitude. Like violence and the big
me, Tarzan, you Jane
dominance thing her ex had. Never again would she allow herself to be used as a punching bag. Not ever. Those days were over. Done. Finished forever.
The unwelcome face of her ex popped into her head. Kiera slammed her fist into her pillow.
Great. Now she was not only wide awake, but that lovely, sensual glow from last night was gone, her heart thudded in her chest, and she was totally pissed. Just great. Grumbling, Kiera rolled out of bed and stalked into the bathroom for a shower.
The sight of the wide-open, high desert sky and the slice of brilliant orange sun rising outside her window calmed her crappy mood. It looked like it was going to be another gorgeous day for all of them on the DEO-MAP project.
She stared out across the plateau at the satellite dishes lined up in neat rows. DEO-MAP actually stood for Discovering Extraterrestrial Organisms through Mental Acuity and Projection, something they'd accomplished almost immediately, but she really liked the name the protestors at the front gate had given it: the God Project. That sounded so wonderfully pretentious.
She smiled at the view, loving the open space and the big sky overhead, loving even more the way she felt about life in generalâmake that her life in general. Maybe she'd see if anyone was free to go on a hike around the plateau. Her shift in the dream shack didn't begin until noon.
She made it all the way to the bathroom before reality intruded. Today was the day. Today they'd start the rescue process, start bringing the first of the Nyrians to Earth.
Permanently.
Ifâand that was a big
if
âeverything worked the way it was supposed to. She shivered and hoped like hell that wasn't any kind of evil premonition raising goose bumps across her arms. She wanted everyone safe, wanted the rescue to be a done deal, not something hanging out there, worrying her sick.
These past few days she'd vacillated between dream and nightmare, fantasy and horror.
Belief and disbelief. Fearing for the Nyrians, loving the ones she'd grown to know so well in such a short time, becoming so intimately involved in the lives of creatures not even close to human that she was already worrying herself sick over their rescue. Even being a part of the process didn't make it any easier or more believable, but there was no avoiding the truth.
In just a few short days, she'd learned to care about creatures she'd never even heard of a week ago. Creatures so far removed from humanity that it was difficult to realize they still shared the same feelings, the same fears, the same needs.
If only there weren't so damned many things that could go wrong. She slipped beneath the warm spray, thinking of the guys who'd shared her bed last night and the night before. Still hard to believe that such a major life change for her had started with an absolutely vivid fantasy in the dream shack in broad daylight.
She'd opened her fantasy with images of Liz and Rodie, doing her best to share the power from her imagination with aliens she really didn't believe in. Everything had started out simply enough, but she'd ended up with so much more than mere fantasy.
His name was Tor. She hadn't even thought to ask after the first encounter. No, she'd been too blindsided by the most amazing orgasmic experience she'd ever had in her life, but he'd said he would come back.
He did. But he hadn't come alone. He'd brought friends.
Oh, damn. Did he ever bring friends.
Smiling, she tilted her head beneath the spray and soaked her hair, added a bit of shampoo, and worked it through the tangles. Rinsed and used some conditioner. The air was dry up here in the mountains, and she'd noticed her hair was drier than usual. She didn't mind curls, but the frizz had to go.
Blame it on the elevation. Mac said they were at seven thousand feet, which was a long way from the San Francisco Bay Area.
Seven thousand feet high in the farthest, most northeastern part of California in the Warner Mountains. High desert country, Mac called it. Lots of stunted-looking pine trees and weird, stinky plantsâand fifty huge satellite dishes that were their link to the Nyrians.
Kiera's mind wandered as she washed herself, running the soft cloth over her breasts and belly, between her legs. She was tender there, but that was to be expected. So far she'd not been with a single Nyrian who was less than well endowed.
She was almost positive they hadn't gotten that from her imagination, and the original plan Mac had, of sharing their sexual energy via explicit sexual fantasy, had quickly morphed into actually having mind-blowing sex with Nyrians taking on corporeal bodies.
It hadn't taken the Nyrians long to discover that, while sexual fantasy was powerful energy for their kind, actually taking on a human body and having sex, experiencing it with a human, was like the difference between a D-cell battery and an atomic reactor.
Even the power they drew from the sun wasn't as strong as what they took from sex, something Kiera found a bit hard to believe, but who was she to disagree? Especially considering what they gave back.
A sexual experience unlike anything she'd ever known. More than physical, more than merely two bodies rubbing together. No, there'd been a mind-blowing emotional connection that was every bit as powerful as the physical. She'd tried to describe it to Mac the first time Tor had come to her, how she'd felt as if he knew things about her she'd never figured out on her own.
How he'd made love to her, made her lose control, lose her inhibitions and her fears.
It was amazing and wonderful, scary and thrilling and all of those feelings together, and they'd continued to grow stronger when he'd come to her again that night. Only he'd brought friends with him. Aza and Jesat. Weird names, gorgeous bodies, really wonderful men.
She never would have pictured herself referring to any man as wonderful, but now she knew a whole pack of them! And she'd have to count the guys hereâMac Dugan, their leader, and Finn, Cameron, and Morgan.
Her list of acceptable males was definitely growing. She'd added four more last night, men Tor had brought to her during her daytime shift so that they could get visuals for their human shapes. Then they'd all returned after dark, when it was easier for them to stay.
That would change, once they had their soulstones. She wasn't quite sure how that worked, only that the Gar controlled the Nyrians by keeping them apart from their soulstones. They could survive for short periods of time without them, but then they needed to return to the ship, to captivity, to recharge with the stones.
They said that once they had their stones and came to Earth, they'd be able to stay here forever, holding on to their human bodies, living free for the first time in eons.
Living as human beings on Earth, rather than being instruments of Earth's destruction. If everything worked according to plan. She refused to imagine anything else. She couldn't think of failure, because she didn't want harm to come to any of the guys she'd gotten to know so intimately.
Kiera chuckled, rinsing the conditioner out of her hair as she pulled up the memory of each one. Tor, of course, because he was her first and he was special, but she hadn't found any fault in Dake, Teev, Sakel, or Bane.
Never in her wildest dreams would she have pictured herself naked with five men at once, but thinking of them now made her womb clench and her sex ripple with pleasure. Before joining DEO-MAP and coming up here to the site, she'd have been fighting a panic attack if five men had appeared in her bedroom.
Instead, she'd behaved like an absolute slut.
A totally well-satisfied slut. Damn. What a night. Chuckling, she reached for the towel and wiped the water and conditioner out of her eyes.
Blinked. And shrieked. She almost slipped on the slick tile, but a strong hand steadied her. Strong arms kept her safe.
“Tor! Good lord, man.” She flattened her palm against her chest and felt her heart pounding. “You scared me to death. Where did you come from?”
Leaning against the tile wall of the shower, he merely grinned and glanced up. She rolled her eyes, but her heart was still thudding like crazy and she had to take a couple of deep, steady breaths before it started to slow down.
She reached out and touched his chest, needing to stroke that dark, chocolaty skin to prove he was really here. Naked. In her shower. “How can you be here now? Isn't your shift over?”
He sighed, leaned close, and brushed the hair back from her eyes as the water beat against both of them. “I missed you. I have a little more time before I must return, but I wanted a moment alone with you.” He cocked his head to one side, studying her. “I had to share you last night.”
She grinned. “You did, and I thank you for your generosity.”
His laughter was deep and rumbled up out of his chest. “You're more than welcome. Aza and Jesat couldn't stop talking about their night with you, and now I have to listen to the other four.” He sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “All they can talk of is the rescue, not because we will finally be free, but only so they can come back to you.”
His words drifted over her like a gentle caress. “That's actually very sweet. I figured they only came back last night to strengthen the visuals for their human forms. I didn't really think of how they felt about, well . . .” She shrugged. It still wasn't easy, this standing here naked with a man she hardly knew. Yet he knew her more intimately than any other man she'd ever known, including her ex-husband.
Tor rested his palms on her shoulders. “They . . . we, all feel more than you realize when we are with you. Our lives have been barren for so long.” He leaned close and kissed her. The smooth glide of his full lips over hers left her breathless. Needy.
Slowly he broke the kiss. “I must return, but I had to speak with you, Kiera Pearce. I have to tell you that even if this plan of yours does not succeed, if none of us or only a few of us are saved, I will never forget you. I will treasure the time we have spent together as the most memorable hours of my life.”
He leaned close and kissed her again, and there was so much feeling behind his kiss, such a sweet desire to claim her without any hint of trying to subdue her. Tears gathered behind her lashes. She felt a tightening in her chest, in her throat.
He ended the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “I've lived a very long life, Kiera. This time with you has been but a tiny fraction of all my years, and yet the hours spent with you in my arms mean more to me than anything. I've known you such a short time, but don't ever doubt my feelings for you. I've been inside your heart and mind, and you are pure and good.”
She stared at him, her heart and mind spinning in separate directions, yet both reached the same place at once, still confused, but certain that something existed between her and this man from another world. “I wish I understood this better, Tor. My feelings for you are so intense they're a little scary. You matter to me in a way no one has before.”