Favored by Felix Read online

  “Did you always want to be in the military?”

  “I never considered anything else.” Because she knew what a shit-storm stepping off the Seonaid path would bring. It was easier to follow orders and keep her head down. Scurvy pirates, maybe she should have fought expectation from the start. Looking back, that might have made a difference.

  When the mental pain threatened to overwhelm her again, she asked, “What about you?” She barely forced the words out before the knot crammed her throat shut.

  “Me?” He pulled a face. “I fit in where my oldest brother thinks I’m needed. I’m a competent farmer, have a good nose for wine, and I appear to have a talent for all things mechanical, which has kept me very busy at the resort.”

  Casey gave a hard swallow, curious despite her misery. “Do you resent your brother?”

  “Sometimes. Saber makes everything look easy. He heads the family, sorts out our problems. He won this resort in a card game, saved us from wandering. Gave us a place to set down roots. Fuck, I sound as if I’m jealous of my brother.”

  “It’s hard when you have older brothers who are good at everything.” This time the words came easier.

  “Yeah.” Felix laughed. “They cast a long shadow. Eat your pie and drink your wine. Promise me you’ll try to eat more food. I don’t want your beautiful breasts to fade away. I’m going to do one last perimeter check and sort out the other hut. The shuttle is coming back for us early in the morning.”

  Casey stared at Felix, forced her lips into something she hoped resembled a smile. It must have worked because he skimmed his fingers over her cheek and stood, leaving the hut without a backward glance.

  Those tears burned her eyes again, the knot in her throat grew to unbearable proportions and she struggled to breathe. Despite that, a laugh squeezed free—bitter and savagely amused.

  In two days, the general expected her to report to the military hospital, where he’d booked her in for nanotechnology.

  By the end of the week, she wouldn’t have breasts at all—because she’d be a man, with all the working equipment of one.

  The perfect Seonaid solider.

  Chapter Four

  Casey managed to eat a little, but her throat hurt and her head thumped along in time with her heartbeat. Too many messy emotions rattling her brains and heaping on top of the fatigue from long nights of tortuous thoughts.

  Felix came inside and shut the door, bolting it for the evening. The glimpse she got of the compound told her night had fallen in the rapid way of this planet. One moment it was light and the next, the sky became inky black.

  “Do you have any sexual fantasies?”

  His blunt question came out of nowhere, especially since she was expecting some type of praise for eating, as he’d directed. She blinked.

  “I put capture on my form,” she said. “Do you have any headache tablets in your med-box?”

  Instant concern leaped onto his face. “You’re not feeling well?”

  “My throat is sore and my head is aching.”

  “I’ll get you something. Get into bed. You look as if you could do with some sleep too. Maybe we’ll postpone the sex until tomorrow morning.”

  A protest escaped her before her sluggish brain overrode the verbal tell, and he sent her a rakish grin. Pretty when he smiles full-out. At least she’d have this weekend to remember. No, wait. Hadn’t she heard the nanos would shuffle her personality and memories, take away any female traits or thoughts? Once she entered the clinic, she wouldn’t remember Felix and how he’d made her feel.

  Alive.

  Beautiful.

  Feminine.

  And above all, desirable.

  “Here, take these for your head.” Felix handed her two tablets. “And one of these for your throat.” He handed her a solid lump the size of a fingernail. “Let it dissolve in your mouth and it should soothe your throat.”

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing sinister. My mother makes a lot of our medical supplies. They contain natural ingredients. Once we get back to the resort, Ma can take a look at your throat and make you something else to soothe it.”

  Casey tried to imagine her own mother carrying out such a domestic task and failed. Her mother went shopping, had lunch with the other military wives—the ones with husbands of rank—and organized perfect parties and balls. Her mother kept busy with her social life.

  After cleaning up the food and other things they’d used, he stripped and slid into the sleep-bed beside her. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. At first her body remained tense, but gradually his warmth permeated her muscles and she relaxed. His presence eased her constant obsessing about her shortcomings, her limitations, her failings—the ones listed by the general during their last meeting.

  Felix made her feel safe.

  He lowered his head and kissed her lazily, sipping from her mouth, tempting her to participate. Sweet warmth, like the syrup Aunt Elsa poured on her honeycakes, slipped through her veins. He kept up the gentle kissing, treating her like something precious and fragile. The idea—that someone thought her worthy of such care—made her stomach whoosh, but in a good way. His fingers and hands stroked and caressed, teased and tempted until her muscles became malleable, like a piece of silk cloth. He nipped at her breast, the sharp teeth pushing pain through her. The sensation startled her, yet it grabbed hold of her senses made the syrup in her veins, the heat in her pussy, take on a tinge of dark need.

  She wanted him. Gods, how she wanted him to permeate her body, overload her senses until she could no longer think but only feel, feel, feel the pleasure and wallow in the bliss.

  He seemed to understand because he rolled her under him, parted her legs and pushed inside her willing flesh. The first thrust filled her, gave her what she craved. She ceased thinking about her unpalatable future. Instead, she left herself drift, let Felix direct their bodies and clutched his shoulders to enjoy every pleasurable sensation. The way his cock filled her so beautifully. The musky scent of him. The way he kept kissing her and rasping his tongue over and around her sensitive nipples.

  “Do you like the feel of me inside you, Casey?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t get enough of you, enough of this,” he whispered in a deep voice right next to her ear. “I’d fuck you all night if I could and fall asleep still joined with you.”

  Gods, he said the sweetest things, made her yearn for the impossible. A life away from the military. A life like Eva’s, where she could do what she wanted, when she wanted, instead of following orders and more orders.

  Felix halted his thrusts. He lifted his head so he could see her eyes. A flash of something—maybe anger—darkened his gaze. “Where have you gone? Your body has gone stiff. I can feel your mind has wandered. Do you want me to spank you again?”

  A jolt speared her stomach. Definitely a sexual one. “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder.” And she would. It was her fault if the general intruded and spoiled this slice of paradise. She promised herself she’d relax, drive the general out of her head. Shove him to the door and lock his robust, military-fit butt in a mental dungeon.

  For the hell of it, Casey pictured herself forcibly removing the general. A chuckle emerged.

  “You think a spanking is funny? It won’t feel very good on top of the one I gave you earlier.” He smoothed a firm hand over her buttocks, and she couldn’t prevent her wince.

  “When I’m with you, I want to your focus. Understood?”

  “Yes s—” Casey broke off with another wince. Military conditioning had her responding to the order before she’d even thought about the action.

  “Yes, what?” he prompted.

  “Yes sir.” The response fit better when it was directed at Felix. She wanted to obey him. Strange. Did that mean she’d always followed her work orders under protest? Something to consider. The general’s plans had required her retirement from service. Officially, she was no longer military…


  Felix withdrew from her body then entered her again, this time with force behind the thrust. He went hard and fast, changing the angle until he hit her in the perfect spot with every plunge. She moaned, raked her fingers down his back, lifted into his strokes.

  “Felix!”

  “Casey.” He twisted his hips, drove deep, and she whimpered. When he pulled right out of her without warning, she groaned a protest.

  “What—”

  Before she could finish her question, he turned her on the bed, lifted her body so she balanced on her hands and knees, her head hanging low and confusion filling her. Then Felix crouched behind her, ran his hand over her buttocks then slipped it between her legs to play with her heated flesh. He thumbed her clit and sent jolts of pleasure through her. She clenched her butt muscles, wanting to hold the wonderful sensations, the heat and the excitement of his attentions.

  The anticipation.

  He pushed a finger—no, two fingers inside her core, but that didn’t dissipate the desire trembling within her, the sensual fire flickering through her veins. “Felix, please. I need your cock inside me, filling me. Please.”

  “As the lady desires,” he purred. “And since that’s what I want too…” He drifted off, the pause a meaningful one filled with promise.

  She felt him position himself behind her, felt the prod of his cock and then he was sliding deeply into her body. Her sheath fluttered at the rasp of intrusion. She gasped and rocked back, driving him deeper still. So good, so damn good, especially when he curled his chest over her back.

  He whispered a rush of hot erotic words against the rim of her ear. “You feel amazing. Hot and wet. Tight.” His mouth latched onto her neck and his tongue darted out, rough and slightly abrasive against her sensitive skin. All the time his hard flesh invaded her, and her stomach went all fluttery, a coil of pleasure building, building, building.

  She was wet with want now, her stomach muscles clenched tight as she shuddered and shook, lost in a sensual haze.

  His hands roamed her body, he nipped her neck again—and a burst of heat and pressure rampaged through her.

  It became too much, not enough. She writhed against him, a fine sheen of sweat coating her body. He gripped her firmly, his fingernails digging into her to the point of pain, driving her. Driving her.

  Then the tension detonated into an explosion that made her breath catch before emerging with a cry of delight.

  “Felix!” Casey sobbed out his name as she came around his cock.

  It seemed to be the signal he was waiting for because he slammed into her even harder than before. He roared out her name and collapsed on top of her, his heart pounding against her back at an impossibly fast pace. For an instant he stilled, then he separated their bodies, leaving her bereft.

  Tears sprang to eyes that had watered like taps all day. Should be used to it—the physical rejection, being alone. As squadron leader, her work was solitary until a mission, when it was her job to make sure everything went according to plan. Then it was back to being alone again, isolated because of her position. Scurvy space pirates, she should be used to emotional segregation.

  Her earlier panic returned in a giant wave. Not good enough. She couldn’t be, otherwise the general wouldn’t want to change her. Give her an “upgrade”.

  Not good enough. Not good enough.

  “Hey, why the frown?” Felix tugged her back into his arms and covered them both with a blanket.

  A tremor of relief slid through her, so strong she barely restrained a groan to go with the shiver, and she clutched his shoulders, burrowed against his chest and soaked up his warmth. A man who didn’t know her at all showed her more caring, more tenderness than her family had ever given her—apart from her aunt.

  She pressed a kiss to Felix’s chest, needing to show her gratitude. She couldn’t tell him anything, not when he was a stranger, but hopefully, if she succumbed to parental pressure—like she knew she would—she would remember the one man who’d treated her kindly, had made her feel worthy.

  A second kiss escaped her lips and hit him to the right of his nipple.

  “Sleep now, sweetheart. We have a busy day tomorrow.”

  They did? Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let herself drift on the cloud of contentment that came with being in Felix’s arms.

  Best capture fantasy ever.

  * * * * *

  The shuttle landed in the compound not long after daybreak. Felix strode toward the vehicle and was surprised to see the twins inside.

  “I thought Leo was going to collect us,” he said.

  “He left for Dalcon to pick up supplies for Ma,” Joe said.

  “Well, as long as someone came to pick us up.”

  “Where’s the woman?” Sly asked, humor dancing in his green eyes. “Did you tire her out or has she run off screaming into the jungle?”

  “Very funny,” Felix muttered, yet he felt too loose and limber to put any punch into his reply.

  “Ma sent some clothes for her,” Joe said and handed over a bag. “Scarlett donated them, although she wasn’t very happy. Said she didn’t have many to spare.”

  “Thanks, I’ll buy Scarlett something nice next time we go to Dalcon.”

  “Do you want anything loaded into the shuttle?” Joe asked.

  “The boxes in the first hut. We won’t be long,” Felix said.

  In the hut, Casey was still asleep. Felix watched her for long seconds, loath to wake her when she needed the rest. He’d let her sleep late tomorrow—after he explained he had no intention of letting her board the shuttle back to Dalcon. Lucky for him, his private suite possessed stout locks on the door. He had a feeling he’d need them.

  “Casey, it’s time to go. Casey…”

  She bolted upright in the bed, eyes wide and her hair sticking up in short spikes that reminded him of a ruffled hedgehog. “Is it time to ship out? Phrull, why didn’t my alarm go off?” Her head shook from side to side and her eyes focused, narrowed a fraction.

  Fascinating to witness—the transition from confusion to full alertness. Felix smiled and handed her the bag. “My sister Scarlett sent you some clothes. Why don’t you have a quick wash and change while I pack up here? There’s cold water in the basin over there.”

  Something slammed shut in her expression. An unpleasant thought? Felix didn’t know, but it made him ache to hold her, and he went with instinct. “They say on my planet if you exchange a kiss in the morning, the feel-good factor increases a person’s life by five years.”

  “I don’t believe you.” Hard, clipped words. Military words.

  “But a kiss is such a simple thing, an exchange of affection. Why would you risk the rapid passing of years if you could slow them with a kiss?” This time, he pounced, grasping her shoulders and tipping up her chin for easy access to her mouth. He took the kiss, used his expertise to urge her to respond, and after a long hesitation, she settled her hands on his shoulders and leaned into him.

  Felix wanted to cheer. Instead, aware of his brothers waiting, he pulled back, pressed a brief kiss to her forehead. He lifted her off the bed and stood her on her feet. “Joe and Sly are here to take us back to the resort.”

  She gave a curt nod and retreated to the basin of water, grabbing the soap and towel he’d left for her use.

  Felix started to strip the bed because Ma would kick his butt if he didn’t leave the place clean and ready for the next series of captures.

  Casey…Casey was a puzzle, one he intended to solve. The sad and forlorn expression he caught on her face twisted his heart and poked at him. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her that whatever worried her, he’d take care of it. He’d take care of her. Silly, since he’d known her mere days, but she spoke to the warrior in him, made him want to protect, to become a better man…to become her man.

  Instinct told him to wait, to let her come to trust him and confide her secrets when she was ready, but patience didn’t sit comfortably on his shoulders. His
feline didn’t like the idea of waiting one single bit. Felix grunted as he worked. Never had he been so aware of his feline pulsing under his skin. Oh, he was conscious of his dual nature, but since meeting Casey, his feline struggled for control. Or was it his imagination? Damn if he knew.

  Maybe he’d shift later tonight, ask his brothers or Scarlett if they’d like to go for a run. They could hunt for zylon, and make sure the population around the resort remained low.

  “I’m ready.”

  Felix turned and almost choked on his tongue. In deference to the tropical heat, Scarlett had sent a pair of brief shorts that showed off Casey’s long, lean legs and a tight T-shirt in a hot pink to rival the surrounding vegetation. The words Mega Babe were emblazoned on the front across her breasts.

  “You look gorgeous,” he said.

  She tugged at the hem of the short T-shirt. “I don’t usually show this much skin.”

  “You should,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  She picked up the bag and a box without being asked and followed Felix from the hut.

  A piercing wolf-whistle rang out, echoed by a second one.

  “Eyes off,” Felix snapped. “You’re here to transport us home, not to ogle my woman.”

  “But the scenery is so pretty,” Joe said with a wink.

  Felix checked Casey’s reaction and found her blushing, although her eyes were wide and brought to mind a startled child. Had she never experienced flirtation? Maybe not, considering her father the general and her career path to squad leader. Perhaps he’d let the twins continue to flirt with her.

  He gritted his teeth and ignored the mental snarl of his feline.

  “Let me help you into the shuttle, Casey,” Sly said and rushed forward to take the bag and box. “Here, Joe.” He thrust them at his twin. “Stow these, will ya?”

  Joe muttered a low curse and Felix smothered a grin as he went to gather the last of the supplies.

  * * * * *

  The shuttle ride took longer than Casey expected, although she hadn’t been conscious on the outward journey. The jungle they flew over was thick and vibrant with color.