The Lobos' Heart Song: Book 2 of the Soul-Linked Saga Read online

  Jackson noted the protective set of her arms crossed in front of her, and again he had to fight down a blood-rage. It took several long moments before he felt able to speak normally.

  “When you get to the ranch there will be an Alverian Empath there who is also a Healer,” he said as he stepped around her to retrieve her suitcase from the bathroom. “Her name is Riata. She is a very kind woman and an excellent Healer, as well as a good friend to Lariah. I have no doubt that she will be pleased to Heal you so that there will be no lingering pain or marks on your body.”

  Saige liked the thought of the bruises being healed. She did not need the physical reminders.

  “It is going to be a while before the Lobos arrive,” Jackson said as came out of the bathroom with her suitcase. He put the suitcase with the rest of her luggage and waved toward a door on the other side of his office. “There is a small sitting room through that door. It’s not much, but it has a sofa you can lie down on if you’d like to rest. There is another door leading into the hall, but it’s locked and I have the key. Nobody will be able to disturb you.”

  “I’d like that Jackson, thank you,” Saige replied. “And thank you for everything you and your brothers have done for me, and are still doing for me.” The words were spoken softly, but with true sincerity.

  Jackson was not certain how to respond to that, so he fell back on formality. He placed his right palm to his heart and bowed. “It is our honor,” he said solemnly.

  A few minutes later Saige was curled up on the sofa with a clean blanket and pillow beneath her. The lights were off but the door into Jackson’s office was open just enough to provide her with a dim light, which helped her feel safe. She felt ridiculous having to admit to herself that she needed that door open. She was not afraid of the dark, but she had had her fill of it for awhile.

  Satisfied that she was safe with three huge, strong men just a few yards away, she closed her eyes and tried to relax. It wasn’t so much that she felt tired as just overwhelmed by all that had happened since she had awakened. The moment her eyelids closed the image of that beautiful, evil being in her compartment aboard the Cosmic Glory flashed into her mind. Her eyes flew open.

  “Okay Saige,” she told herself firmly, “there is no need to be thinking of that...thing. You are safe now so just forget about it.”

  She closed her eyes once more, and again saw the tall, iridescent being. She opened her eyes and sighed. She needed to think about something else or she wasn’t going to be able to relax at all.

  “I think I need my dream guardians,” she thought with a smile.

  When she was ten, long after her father had died, she was living in a foster home with several other children much younger than herself. The foster parents were not cruel, but they had no real interest in the strange young girl aside from the check they received for her care each month. She had no friends, no family, no one who cared about her. In her loneliness, she had begun dreaming about three men.

  She could never see their faces clearly, and they would never answer her when she asked them their names, but they were big and strong and always made her feel cared for, safe and protected. Eventually she had named them herself, calling one of them Fred, the other David, and the third one Ben. Even though she could not see their faces, she never had any trouble knowing which of them was which because, to her, there were so distinctly different from each other. She had never told anyone about her dream guardians, as she had dubbed them, for fear they would insist she banish them as they had her father. And she needed them. Her dream guardians were always there whenever she went to sleep, watching over her and making her feel that she was not quite so alone.

  At first they didn’t talk very much, but as time went by that changed. Before long they were spinning her fairytales of a distant world with blue grass and lavender skies, where the people turned into animals whenever they wanted to, and where a little girl alone in the world would never have to be afraid. She didn’t see her dream guardians every night, but they came to her whenever she was upset, or frightened, or sad, and they always soothed her.

  When she was 16 she was so lonely that she took to conjuring them up in her daydreams. And when she became an adult, her dreams of the three men gradually became more and more erotic.

  At one point, she had wondered if it was her dream guardians that prevented her from feeling the slightest interest in any other male. She had even gone so far as to banish them from her mind in an effort to get on with her real life. For a time she had succeeded, but it hadn’t made a difference. Just the thought of being with any other man made her feel physically sick. And she missed her dream guardians. So she conjured them back into her day dreams, and before long they were back in her night dreams as well. She decided to just enjoy them, as they were all she had.

  Now, as she lay on the small sofa in Jackson Bearen’s office, she reached for the familiar figures, her body relaxing as they appeared in her mind. She found herself in a circular room that had windows all the way around it, surrounded by a large garden. The windows were open and sheer, white, gauzy curtains fluttered in a warm, gentle breeze.

  The floor was covered with thick, soft carpeting and there were fat, white cushions scattered about. Fred was standing near a window, gazing out into the garden, while Ben and David were sprawled on the cushions staring at nothing. The moment she appeared they instantly focused on her.

  “Hello amada,” said Fred as he turned from the window and crossed the room toward her. He was muscular and tall, and, like his brothers, wore only a pair of faded blue jeans. She watched as he hurried to her, his movements so powerful and graceful it set something inside of her on fire. He pulled her close to his hard, warm body and kissed her deeply, his tongue thrusting into her mouth and caressing her own. The taste of him filled her senses, making her instantly hot and wet. Even though she had never kissed anyone in real life, in her dreams she did not hesitate to return his kiss with heat and passion.

  She felt large, warm hands on her bare hips and knew that she was now naked, as were they. Ben began kissing and nibbling her neck and shoulders, and Fred’s hands came up and began stroking her breasts, brushing her nipples with his fingers in a light, teasing motion that had her arching into him in a silent plea for more. Fred responded by pinching her hard nipples between his fingers, rolling them gently in a way that had her shivering with desire. David appeared at her side, took hold of her wrist and gently guided it toward his hard, throbbing cock. She wrapped her fingers around the hot, silky length of him as far as she could, wondering even in her dream if that was really what a penis felt like, and if it was possible for one to be so big that her hand would not wrap all the way around it.

  She started to lower herself to the floor, suddenly wanting more than anything to have Fred in her mouth. It had taken a long time to convince her dream guardians that it would not cause her harm to engage in sexual activities with them in her dreams, though they firmly refused to go beyond certain boundaries. Whenever she tried to get them to cross those boundaries the dreams ended abruptly. She’d spent many waking hours trying to understand that oddity.

  A soft platform appeared beneath her and suddenly she was on her knees, one hand still on David’s cock, the other on the platform supporting her, Fred’s hard cock directly in front of her. She licked the pearly drop of fluid seeping from the broad, mushroom shaped head, then stretched her lips wide and took him into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around him, loving the taste and texture of him against her tongue.

  Ben laid down on his back with his head between her legs. She felt a flush of embarrassment but pushed it away, reminding herself that this was her dream. There was no need for her to be embarrassed.

  When Ben’s hot tongue took a long, slow lick of her dripping pussy her entire body shuddered with the pleasure of it. She took Fred deeper into her mouth, wishing she could take all of him, but not knowing how such a thing could be possible. At the same time, she ran her thumb over the to
p of David’s cock, smoothing the fluid leaking from the tip into the hot flesh before sliding her hand down to the base, then squeezing gently as she stroked back up the way he liked.

  Ben’s hands held her hips as he continued to lap at her pussy, his deep moans of pleasure causing new waves of heat to roll through her. She sucked harder on Fred’s cock, and stroked faster on David’s, feeling her own climax climbing fast within her. Suddenly Ben sucked the small, throbbing nub of her clit hard between his lips and began lashing it with his tongue. She came in a rush, the sudden swell and jerk of Fred in her mouth and David in her hand as they joined her increasing the intensity of her orgasm. Her body arched, all of her muscles tightening as she felt Fred’s come spurt into her mouth, and David’s coat her hand as her orgasm peaked. For long moments her body remained stretched tight and trembling until, with one big shudder, her orgasm eased and she began to relax. Her body continued to jerk occasionally with aftershocks as she licked Fred, searching out every last drop of his essence before slowly releasing him from her mouth.

  “You have no idea how much I want to be inside you,” Ben said from where he still lay beneath her.

  A new wave of heat swept through her. “Then do it,” she urged, forgetting for a moment that this was a dream, and that the moment the subject of actual penetration came up, the dream would, as always, end.

  Chapter 4

  Faron, Davon and Banon Lobo waited beside the docking door for the ungainly Cosmic Glory to complete its docking procedure. Faron was disturbed by the layers of creative obstructions that the Captain of the passenger liner had used in an effort to avoid returning to the Jasani skyport.

  Their first request had been misunderstood, or so the Captain said when the well-armed Jasani cutter had forced the liner to a stop when it became clear that the ship was not complying. Then, he had claimed that it was against the policy of the company that owned the liner for him to deviate from the published passenger schedule without company approval and filing a flight plan change with the ISC. There had been a few other problems but, in the end, High Prince Garen had sent a personal vid to Julian Caulfax Handford, President of Cosmic Star Lines, the Cosmic Glory’s owner. He had made it abundantly clear that all ships, transports, liners and any other craft owned, operated, leased, chartered or borrowed by Cosmic Star Lines would be denied entry into Jasani space for a period of 100 years if this personal favor was not granted at once. The liner had reversed course and headed back to Jasan at all speed within ten minutes of that conversation.

  Faron was relieved by the vid he’d just received from Jackson Bearen informing him that Saige Taylor had been recovered. His biggest concern since learning that Lariah’s closest friend was listed as missing by the liner had been Lariah’s health. She was so small and delicate, and so close to her due date that the idea of her getting extremely upset was…well…upsetting.

  Under other circumstances, he might have waived off the liner and gone back to Jasan now that Saige Taylor was no longer missing. But the Captain’s less than cooperative behavior, and the manner and condition in which the woman had been discovered, were greatly disturbing to him. Faron had no intention of returning to Jasan until he’d inspected Saige Taylor’s compartment and interviewed the Captain.

  “Faron, I would speak with you about Darleen Flowers,” Ban said, interrupting Faron’s thoughts.

  He turned to look at his youngest brother. “What about her?”

  “I think we should consider taking her as our mate.”

  Faron’s brows rose in surprise. “Why?”

  “Because Dav and I wish to have a family, and we know that you do as well.” Ban shrugged. “She is as good as any, and already knows much about us. We would not have to worry about her reactions to those things most human women have difficulty accepting.”

  That was certainly true, Faron had to admit. The biggest problem Jasani male-sets had with mating was finding a human female who didn’t turn around and go straight back to their home world when they learned some of the more unpleasant truths about Jasani males.

  “Do you not wish to wait for our Arima?” Faron asked, his heart sinking at the expressions on his brother’s faces.

  “Who is to say there is an Arima out there for us?” Dav asked reasonably. “The prophecy was about the Dracons, not us.”

  That also was true. Faron studied his brothers for a long moment. “Do either of you have any particular feelings for the woman?”

  Dav and Ban looked at each other before turning their gazes back to Faron. “No,” Ban admitted. “In truth, she is difficult to understand and impossible to know. Most of what she says makes no sense, but as you know, most females are like that. However, she has indicated an interest in us, and in mating. That is half the battle with human women.”

  Again, what his brother said was true. Faron understood and liked Lariah, but she was a singular exception. Most females made no sense to him at all. They said one thing, then seemed to expect males to know and understand that they meant something altogether different. So far Faron had not been successful at that particular game. Nor any of the others that most women they had met seemed to enjoy.

  “I would prefer that we continue to wait for an Arima of our own,” he said. “However, if the two of you are set on choosing a human mate, I will not continue to force my will upon you.”

  Ban and Dav smiled and Faron knew that they had reached the end of their patience with his desire to wait for an Arima. “However, I do not wish to mate with Darleen Flowers,” he cautioned. They both frowned at him but on this point he would not give. “There is something about her that I do not like. I will agree to select a mate, but not her.”

  Ban and Dav looked at each other again and nodded. It was true that Faron had never shown an interest in Darleen, and they could not mate with a female that they did not all agree on. “Shall we request a contract bride then?” Dav asked.

  Faron grimaced. Agreeing to mate with a woman they had never met did not appeal to him much more than the idea of mating with Darleen Flowers did. Of the two choices, he'd take an unknown over Darleen Flowers. There was another choice though.

  “What about a Candy Bride from Bride House?” he asked. Bride House was a secluded compound where women who wished to mate with Jasani males, but didn’t want to contract with a male-set sight unseen, could stay for a limited period of time and meet with several male-sets before making a choice. If, after six months, the Candidate Bride, called Candy Bride for short, was still unmated, she was asked to leave Bride House to make room for another.

  “There is a very long waiting list,” Ban said doubtfully. “It could be a year or more before we could even begin to meet women there.”

  “Docking is complete Lord Protector,” announced the space-tech standing at the docking control station. “Stand by to board the Cosmic Glory.”

  “Let us complete this discussion later,” Faron said. Ban and Dav both nodded, and Faron turned to face the docking door, setting aside all thoughts of mates for the time being.

  Captain Certus Graey tapped the vox in his ear to disconnect and swore furiously. He had hoped to get the Cosmic Glory out of Jasani space before anyone had time to order him back. He’d thought he was being so clever with his excuses and delaying tactics. Now he realized all he’d done was focus even more suspicion on himself. What had happened to his legendary luck? he wondered. It seemed to have deserted him these past few days.

  First, the idiots who had boarded him had taken two women instead of the agreed upon limit of one per trip. Then he discovered that one of the women was the best friend of the bloody Arima to the bloody Princes of Jasan! Oh my, oh my and to make matters worse, according to the call he had received a few minutes earlier, that very same woman had been rescued during pick-up at the Jasani spaceport. By the bloody Bearen brothers no less! As if all of that weren’t bad enough, he was now docked at the bloody Jasani skyport and the stars-damned royal bloody Prime Guardians were due to board his bl
oody ship in moments to investigate the same bloody woman’s bloody disappearance!

  Certus paced from one end of his cramped quarters to the other and back again, thinking feverishly. He knew that the Jasani were shape-shifters, and he had no doubt that the Lobos were going to want to inspect the woman’s compartment personally. Even though there was nowhere near enough room for them to shift into their loboenca forms, they would still be able to scent everyone who had been in there, which meant they were going to get a nose full of a scent that would probably cost him both his rank, and his ship. If that happened, he was going to lose the stacks and piles of money he made by allowing an occasional female passenger to be spirited mysteriously off the ship. And he needed that money. How else was he going to be able to support his gambling habit? Certainly not with the piddling amount he got paid by Cosmic Star Lines.

  A short beep alerted him to an incoming vid, and he knew before he reached for the switch what it would be. Sure enough, the thin, balding image of his First Mate filled the vid screen.

  “The Jasani Prime Guardians are boarding now sir,” he said.

  “On my way,” Certus replied. He flipped the vid off and turned to study his appearance in the small mirror on the back of his door. He was an aging, balding, slightly overweight human male and he knew it. He also knew that he looked a little fumbling, a little eccentric and a little weak, all apparent traits that he had carefully cultivated over the years. That so many people missed the obvious fact that he was a Captain of a class A-3 Interstellar Passenger Liner and therefore, by definition, competent, sharp and capable, always tickled him. People always saw what they wanted to see.

  He saw the signs of nervousness and panic on his round, pale face and he knew that there was no way to hide them. Besides, he wouldn’t be able to hide his scent and he knew that would give him away to the Lobos immediately.

  He was going to have to admit to being nervous. But what was he going to tell them he was nervous about? He opened the door to his quarters and stepped into the narrow hall, pulling the door shut securely before heading for the bridge. As he walked a plan blossomed in his mind. He turned it over a couple of times, recognized that it wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing. He unbuttoned his shirt and deliberately buttoned it back up incorrectly. He considered untying the laces on one of his shoes, but decided that would be over doing it. Instead he ran one hand through his thinning hair, mussing it carefully. That should do it, he thought. Feeling more confident, he picked up his pace and hurried to greet his visitors.