“Another thing.” Morgan stared at the wet spot on the bed, but Mac was almost sure he caught a hint of laughter in the man’s voice, as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “And this really freaked me out. My ass hurts.” He shot a quick look at Mac, and yes, he was grinning. A very self-deprecating grin.
“I feel just the way I imagine I’d feel if a guy who was hung like a horse decided to have his way with me. And see that?” he said, skipping away from something he probably wasn’t ready to think through all that much.
He pointed to another smaller damp spot on the spread. “That’s where Rodie was sitting, where she brought herself off with her fingers while I was getting my ass fucked. Explain that, Mac. Are we fantasizing, or are your Nyrians actually here, actually fucking with our heads along with our bodies?”
Mac didn’t know, but his head was spinning. What the hell was going on? “I don’t ...” The beeper in his pocket went off. He grabbed the little alert, but he was already in motion and headed for the door before he even took the time to confirm the source of the signal.
Morgan was right behind him.
“C’mon, Morgan. It’s Rodie. She just hit the panic button.”
11
T
he dream shack door flew open and Mac rushed in. “Rodie? What’s happened?”
Morgan was right behind him. “Rodie, are you okay?”
Mac was white as a ghost. Morgan didn’t look much better. He also looked like he’d just gotten out of the shower—his hair was wet and tousled and Rodie could have sworn he looked better every time she saw him.
“Nothing bad,” she said. “Still, I think it was worth the call.” She glanced at the squirrel in her lap and grinned. “Mac? I think this is Zianne.”
“What?” He dropped to a crouch beside her chair and stared at the squirrel lying unconscious in her lap. “I don’t get it. Zianne? What’s wrong with the squirrel?”
“Is she okay?” Morgan leaned over and ran his fingers gently over the squirrel’s body. As if she were waking up from a nap, the little creature stretched, scratched her ear with a hind leg, and blinked at the men.
“She seems to be.” Rodie couldn’t stop smiling, though if she’d heard Zianne correctly, they definitely had a problem.
Mac stared at the squirrel. The squirrel focused on him just as intently. “Tell me everything,” he said.
Rodie launched into the story. “So I brought her inside,” she said, after explaining how she’d heard the scratching on the door. “I was afraid something would eat her. Anyway, I gave her a couple of pieces of muffin, but then she jumped to the floor and just ...” Rodie took a deep breath. “It was just weird.”
She coughed. “Sorry. My throat’s sore, for some reason.” It took a conscious effort not to glance at Morgan, but she felt him watching her and his gaze had substance, almost like a physical caress. “Anyway, she hit the floor and seemed to waver and stretch. Suddenly, I was staring into a column of blue light that hurt my eyes it was so bright. I glanced away. When I turned back, I was looking at a gorgeous woman.”
She glanced at Mac. He’d been watching Rodie, but his gaze snapped back to the squirrel. “Describe her.”
“Tall, slender, with really long black hair and gorgeous violet eyes. She smiled at me. Then she just sort of crumpled and collapsed. When she hit the floor, she was the squirrel again, but she was totally out of it.”
Mac let out a long, soft breath. “Zianne? It’s got to be you in there, sweetheart, but why the squirrel?”
“Mac, I think I know. She didn’t speak, but I got a telepathic message from her. It came at me so fast that I’ve been trying to figure it out. She was only a woman for a fraction of a second, but she said something about her soulstone. She’s here without it because the Gar found out she was leaving the ship and they kept it from her. She escaped to Earth so they wouldn’t find her and kill her.”
“How long has she been here?” Mac raised his head. His eyes were almost feverishly bright when he stared at Rodie. She glanced at Morgan.
He shrugged. “The squirrel showed up on the deck at the lodge yesterday before lunch. I don’t know if she’d been here before or not. That’s the first time I saw her. She just ran across the deck and sat on the arm of my chair.”
“Shit. I think this is her second night.” Mac sat back on his butt on the floor and stared at the squirrel. He’d looked stunned at first, but now it was obvious his mind had kicked into gear and the need to act was overriding his emotions. Rodie wished she could read his mind. What was the man thinking right now, after so many years waiting for his lost love?
He let out a deep breath. Blinked rapidly as if he might be fighting tears, but the man’s control was pretty amazing.
He glanced quickly at Morgan and Rodie. “Zianne had a really unique scent I will always associate with her. Honey and vanilla. I was sure I smelled it in my room last night, but I couldn’t find her. Now I know why. Without her soulstone, she’s weak, probably dying. The only way to keep her alive is to get her soulstone away from the Gar. I don’t know how.”
He pushed himself to his feet and paced the small confines of the dream shack. Stopped and spun around. “Wait a minute. Morgan? You’re sure you made contact tonight, right?”
Morgan nodded. Rodie noticed he didn’t look her way at all.
“Rodie, you think you did last night, right?”
“Yes. I’m positive I did.” She glanced at Morgan. There was a definite flush to his cheeks. “Tonight, too, if Morgan had the same fantasy as I did.”
“Crap. You were really there?”
She didn’t even try to hold back her grin. “How’s your butt?”
“Fine,” he said. “How’s your throat?”
“Touché.” She rubbed her fingers over the front of her neck. “It’s a bit sore, but worth it.” She winked. Morgan glanced away so she couldn’t see his expression.
Mac interrupted. “I hate to get in the middle of this ...”
Rodie and Morgan both turned and focused on Mac.
“Thank you. Zianne told me one time that her people could share energy when they were separated from their soulstones. Rodie, the minute you think you’ve got a visitor, I want you to ask them to share energy with Zianne.” He looked at the squirrel. “Will that work, with you in this form?”
“Holy shit.” Rodie stared at the little squirrel as she nodded her head, chattering. “I didn’t expect that.”
Mac ran his fingers over the squirrel’s fluffy tail. “I did. This is the same woman who went inside the electrical components of a computer back in 1992 to get some classified information on a crook. She turned into a stream of energy to do it.” His fingers lingered over the tip of her tail. Then he drew back and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m guessing that she’s able to draw enough energy from the squirrel to keep herself alive, but if she got caught coming back from my time in 1992, that means she’s gone thirty-six to forty-eight hours, maybe more, without drawing from her soulstone. I don’t think she can last much longer, even conserving energy as she is, without an influx from one of her people.”
Rodie glanced from Mac to Morgan and back at Mac. “I don’t know if I’m uninhibited enough to fantasize with you guys here.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Morgan focused on Rodie. “Only if Rodie’s willing. What if both of us were hooked up to the array and broadcasting while actually having sex? That should make it a pretty potent call for help.”
“Oh? And this is a totally altruistic offer on your part?” Crap. She wasn’t ready for real sex with Morgan. Not yet. Fantasy was working just fine, thank you.
“Actually, it is,” Morgan said. “As proof, I’m just as willing to do the deed with Mac. We need to generate enough energy to get a Nyrian down here in a solid enough form that we can actually talk with them.”
“I think I can do just fine on my own.” She glared at both men. “Give me an hour. If I can’t connect, then we’ll talk.”
A cell phone rang. Rodie’d left hers in her cabin. Morgan shrugged. “Not mine,” he said, but Mac pulled his out of his pocket.
He frowned at the screen and answered. “Dugan here.” A moment later he shot a quick glance at the squirrel. “Okay. When did you notice them?” He let out a frustrated breath. “I can. Give me ten minutes, but call the sheriff. Now.”
Then he ended the call. “That was my head of security. Someone’s trying to break through the fence on the eastern end of the array. Morgan, I want you to stay with Rodie and Zianne. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Rodie ...” He let out a frustrated breath. “Get someone here, someone who can share energy with Zianne. I can feel her growing weaker.”
Rodie nodded. “I will.” She glanced at Morgan. “I think I’ll do better by myself, though.”
“You two work it out, though it might not be a good idea for you to be alone here with these jerks trying to break into the site. I have to go. Morgan? If anything happens, if you need weapons, check with Ralph or Meg. They know where everything’s stored.”
“Go. We’ll be fine. I’ll tell the others what’s going on. That’ll give Rodie time by herself.”
“Good.” Mac started to leave, turned back, and ran his fingers over the squirrel’s head. “Damn it all, Zianne.” He stared at the squirrel. Then he spun around and left.
Mac’s eyes had sparkled with tears. Rodie felt like crying herself. The man had been through too damned much. As the door shut, she looked up at Morgan. “What next?”
“If you think you’ll be okay, I’ll find the rest of the team and tell them what’s happening. It’ll take me a while to talk to everyone, so keep the door locked until I come back. Try and get a Nyrian here and communicate as best you can.”
Rodie nodded. “Do it,” she said. “We’ll be fine.”
He leaned close and kissed her, and Rodie thought of the amazing dreams she’d had during his shift. She returned the kiss, almost losing herself in the soft slide of his lips over hers, in his scent and the warmth of his breath, the comfort of his big hand cupping the side of her face.
Then he was gone, and she was alone with a squirrel and her little mesh cap connecting her to the array. Rodie cuddled the squirrel snug against her chest, closed her eyes, and thought of the same guy who’d made such amazing things happen last night. She searched her memories, found the fantasy.
Or was it fantasy at all? She was so confused by everything that had happened, but the memories were so fresh, so real, that she had to believe the man was real as well.
She pictured him as she’d seen him earlier in Morgan’s cabin, standing between Morgan’s parted thighs with one hand planted firmly in the middle of his back, the other on his butt. His entire body had rippled with each powerful thrust of his hips. Morgan’s soft grunts, the steady slap of the Nyrian’s hard thighs against Morgan’s.
This time, though, Rodie wanted to be part of it. She needed to connect, but how? She wasn’t in the room with them as she’d been last night, wearing only her black panties. No, this time she placed herself beside the Nyrian, still holding Zianne and standing next to the man as he slowly fucked Morgan.
How the hell did she know how this would look—the thick, slow slide of the man’s huge cock going in and out of Morgan’s butt. This was too close, too intimate, but it was so hard to look away. Finally, she managed to raise her head and focus on the Nyrian’s face. His eyes were closed, his perfect countenance suffused with pleasure—lips slightly parted as he breathed deeply, steadily, in time with each rock and sway of his body.
Where before she’d watched Morgan, this time she concentrated on the alien. Her heart rate sped up and she felt the flush covering her skin. It took an actual physical act of will to remember why she was here, why he was here.
In her mind, she forced him to acknowledge her presence.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he raised his head and opened his eyes—eyes of deepest turquoise blue. She stared at him a moment longer and her concentration began to waver.
He smiled and winked. Startled, she jerked back, blinking in surprise, but thank goodness he’d pulled her back to the job. Perfect! She moved close, holding the squirrel in the crook of her left arm, stroking Morgan’s shoulder with her right hand, but focusing on the one who was bringing him close to climax.
“We need your help.” She spoke the words aloud.
This was no longer fantasy. This was for Zianne. The man tilted his head, but he never missed a stroke.
“Zianne is trapped here without her soulstone. Can you help her?” Rodie held up the squirrel. “This is her. She’s barely hanging on to this form, and she can’t communicate like this, at least not with us. Maybe you can hear her, but we can’t. She’s growing weak. We’re trying to figure out how to rescue all of you, but right now we need your help. Your energy. For Zianne.”
He didn’t speak, but he smiled at Rodie. Reached out of her dream, took the tiny squirrel in his hand, and held her close against his chest. Then he began to glow, brighter and brighter until his entire body and Morgan’s were surrounded in a brilliant blue aura, a pulsing, living field of energy.
Still holding the squirrel in one big hand, he began thrusting once again. The glow flowed with him as he reached beneath Morgan with his other hand and grasped his erect cock in his fist.
It only took a couple of quick strokes and Morgan’s climax exploded out of him. The Nyrian followed almost immediately, and somehow the force of their orgasm strengthened the blue aura. Brighter and brighter it glowed, until Rodie had to look away.
Morgan cried out. The Nyrian gave a harsh shout, and the aura exploded in a swirling mass of crackling blue energy. Around and around, spinning faster and faster, screaming with the sound of a jet airplane ready for takeoff. The visual of Morgan’s room was gone. The dream shack disappeared, and they were surrounded in an endless night sky filled with glittering stars.
Rodie’s hair stood on end, crackling with sparks, blowing in an unseen wind, and still the sense of power grew. Spreading, pulsing within an endless universe—a universe that was somehow in and of Rodie’s mind.
The squirrel stood on her hind legs and reached for the whirling power. As if she’d called it to her, the mass of seething blue energy arrowed down and disappeared inside the tiny beast. She sat back down, blinking, and words slipped into Rodie’s head.