The Mad Lieutenant (The Lost Planet 3)

“You always La-La when you’re feeling anxious. There’s no need. We would have seen signs of other life if there were something living here.”

“I do not sing when I’m anxious.”

“That’s true,” he says as we round a curve and then another. “You sing when you’re happy, when you’re sad, when you’re working. Except you sing different tunes with each mood. You’re my little songbird.”

“Shut it, Lieutenant, and keep walking.”

“Yes, mate,” he answers, and even though I can’t see his face, I can hear the smile in his voice over the comms.

When there is no more dust and the sound of the howling wind can no longer be heard, Draven comes to an abrupt stop. I slam into his back, but his great form doesn’t even jolt.

“What is it?” I ask. Then, I look around his shoulder and gasp.

The passageway dead-ends at an immense cavern filled will brilliant turquoise water.

“A pool!”

A beautiful, glimmering pool. After the long, dusty walk through the crevasse and days of staring at the barren, desert-like landscape of the planet surrounding the facility, I’d almost forgotten how beautiful water can be. The blue glow seems to be emanating from the water itself.

I automatically go to take a step toward it when Draven tugs at my arm. “What? It’s gorgeous.”

“We don’t know if it’s contaminated. Before we do anything, let’s set up the vacuu-pod, and I’ll measure the R-levels.”

With a mournful look at the shimmering pool, I follow Draven across the cavern to a smooth patch of gravel beach deep inside. As Draven sets up the vacuu-pod, I study our surroundings and find the pool of water isn’t the only thing different. I’d been so distracted by the water, I didn’t notice the myriad of plant life blooming from the most unlikely places. Cracks in the black rock. Streamers of dark blue seaweed fluttering under the surface.

Once Draven finishes setting up the vacuu-pod, he joins me, also in awe of the cavern. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“You’ve never been here before?” I ask, stepping closer to the pool.

“We tend to stick near to facility. It’s safer.” He pulls a device out of his pack. “Let me check the R-levels here.”

“Are you sure I can’t go swimming?”

“Not unless you want to catch a disease.”

I slump and sit at the entrance of the vacuu-pod as I watch him take samples from the gravel, the water, the air, and even the plant life. He shakes his head each time, his brow furrowed.

“What is it?”

“This place…it’s as though it’s untouched. Life flourishes here. These plants, this water, I’ve never seen R-levels so low. I have to take these samples back for Galen to study. I don’t know what it means, but he will.”

When he’s finished, I tug him inside the vacuu-pod. As much as I want to take a dip in the pool, we have a goal and we’re both exhausted. “Maybe we can come back to take more samples. Bring Galen to study. If he gives the okay, maybe we can even come back to go swimming. The dust storm out there would be worth it if we could go swimming.”

“You are fearless, aren’t you, Molly mate?” Draven says as he pulls off both of our gear.

“Only with you,” I answer.

In minutes we’re bundled in the thin blankets, Draven tucking me under his chin and pulling me close. “And I with you,” I hear before succumbing to sleep.

12

Draven

I wake warm—too warm—and with my cock hard. Judging by the way I feel, I would say we’ve only been asleep for a few hours. I doubt the sun has come up yet. I should go back to sleep, but then I realize why my cock is hard. Hot lips kiss the side of my neck as my mate strokes at me through my unders.

“You must get some rest,” I murmur, my voice thick from sleep.

Her words are warm against my neck. “I’ll rest better if I’m…you know…”

“Relaxed from the toxica?”

“Yes. My mind is racing.”

I roll her onto her back and kiss her in the blue glow from the nearby pool that’s visible through the window of our small vacuu-pod. It takes some wriggling, but we manage to undress completely. There’s not much room to service her like I wish with my mouth, so I have to settle for my fingers. I retract my claws as not to hurt her and massage her nub that vibrates with need. Easily, I work her up into a state that has her crying out my name. Then, I press the head of my thickness against her slick opening. With a hard push of my hips, I drive all the way into the depths of my mate. Her body is tight, hot, and hugs me in a way that makes me nearly feral with the need to claim her with my seed.