Part 28 (1/2)

She winked and then drifted off to meet her siblings, who were busy deactivating the other five sleep pods belonging to his crew. Heat warmed his face. If everything that had happened had been a dream, then Kinley knew some of his darkest fantasies. And if what Ben was saying was true, that would mean he and Kinley hadn't had physical s.e.x with each other.

s.h.i.+t, he could only imagine how intense the real thing would be.

Kayla couldn't keep her eyes off Taylor. Correct that. She couldn't keep her eyes off Lt. Brian Taylor. Brian. Hmmm...nice name.

Nice a.s.s in tight, white s.p.a.ce pants too.

He stood at the console, inputting the latest data coordinates that would hopefully enable them to unlock their respective s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps from the wormhole that had ensnared them.

They'd debated whether to try to break the several other s.h.i.+ps free, but in the end the vote had been unanimous. They didn't know what type of ent.i.ty they were dealing with. More studies needed to be done and it would be too risky to go deeper into the anomaly to rescue other s.h.i.+ps trapped there. They had to get out of here before they got sucked back in. Not that she minded going back to all that delicious s.e.x with Taylor.

”Hey, beautiful. Thinking about us?”

Kayla blinked as Taylor suddenly stood in front of her. She'd been so deep in thought she hadn't realized he'd caught her daydreaming. Her cheeks heated and he laughed.

”Just because everything might have been a dream, don't think you're off the hook, Hero. I still have the hots for you and the minute we're alone we're going to be making love like there's no tomorrow.” He winked and walked away, quickly returning to his position at the console.

”Looking forward to it,” she whispered beneath her breath, all tingly and warm. She really didn't have a reason to be shy with him. Nothing had changed regarding her love for him, especially after everything they'd been through-whether it had been real or fantasy. She still wanted him like crazy. Wanted him in her life and in her bed.

Besides, he knew so much about her. Boy did he ever. Her thoughts turned to the many s.e.xcapades they'd had and suddenly her body was humming. She was eager. Needy.

Yes, he was right. Nothing had changed between the two of them. The attraction was still there. Strong and powerful. Without a doubt, the two of them would be okay.

She smiled. Heck, they'd be more than okay. They would be fantastic!

”Blackie, someone is hailing us on the translation communication line,” Jacey White, his communications expert, said from her console.

Blackie tensed and everyone suddenly fell silent, their eyes on him for guidance.

He nodded. ”Put them through.”

He held his breath as the line crackled with static.

”Visual on three,” Lt. Virginia Blakely said.

Everyone turned to the main screen where an array of colorful lights similar to a rainbow splashed across the display. The colors began to dance and melt together into fantastic kaleidoscopes as a breathy female voice spoke.

”We apologize for taking so long to contact you. We were learning your language while you were in what you call the wormhole.”

”This is Captain Josh Black of the United States s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Raider. May I ask whom I am addressing?” Blackie asked.

”Our names do not translate into your language. Our apologies.”

”From which of the captured s.h.i.+ps are you hailing us?” he asked.

”Captured?” There was a slight hesitation and the kaleidoscope of lights slowed into the rainbow again. Silence ensued for several seconds before the lights began to dance in wild colorful patterns Blackie found oddly soothing.

”We are living in the area you call the wormhole. We are everywhere here.”

Blackie frowned. These were the aliens holding the s.h.i.+ps?

”We understand your fear now,” she said softly, almost tenderly. ”No one is being harmed. We wish to thank you for your help.”

”And how have we helped you?”

”We use your brain's energy to help us reproduce. To mate.”

Sharp inhalations and soft curses echoed from everybody who'd gathered around the screen to watch the array of lights. He should tell them not to look. The lights could be some sort of trick, but no matter how hard he tried to turn away and tell the others to do the same, he just couldn't. The lights were fantastic and seemed to seep right into his soul, relaxing and rea.s.suring him there was nothing to fear.

”Excuse me?” he managed to mumble, trying to get across to this woman that he didn't quite understand.

The colors floated into the rainbow pattern again. Silence followed.

”Can you explain further? We do not understand,” Blackie prodded.

The lights did their dance. ”When we detect an alien existence pa.s.sing through our territory, we hold the s.h.i.+ps and use energy from the brains of the aliens. The parts that produce s.e.xual excitement, and thus we harvest that energy for our own s.e.xual needs.”

Oh.

”So you create s.e.xual fantasies and feed off this energy?” Blackie asked.

”Yes, but only if the aliens are a match.”

”A match?”

”We test everyone's s.e.xual chemistry to make the best matches. These produce the best and highest energy for us to harvest.”

”Kind of like a dating service.” Jarod chuckled from beside him.

Blackie elbowed him into remaining quiet. This was a serious matter.

”How long were we held? How were you able to send a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p back to Earth and target a specific family?” Piper Hero asked. ”Our brothers were here at least two years, being held against their will. That's kidnapping on our planet and you could be brought up on charges.”

Blackie grinned. Kinley's twin did have just as much spark and fire as Kinley.

The colors flickered even more wildly, obviously picking up on Piper's anger.

”Your time on Earth and our time here are on different planes. We were able to harvest information from the Hero brothers and realized the 'family bond', as you call it, is so strong in them that we could use it to lure more humans here without a danger to us. We are the ones who sent an exact s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p replica belonging to the Hero brothers back to Earth, with a message telling Earth to stay away from the fictional planet Paradise. We worded the messages through the Hero brothers due to the aforementioned strong family bond, in hopes more humans would come out of concern for their safety. And they did. Another s.h.i.+p did arrive with their sisters.”

Cripes.

This anomaly could be a h.e.l.l of a danger to the human race if these aliens could send such messages and material items back to Earth.

”The occupants on this last s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p have been here a very short period of time,” she said. ”As we incorporated our understanding of your Earth time we have been able to produce a much quicker timeline to get what we need before releasing you back on your way. The females from the last Earth s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p have been in your 'wormhole' only several hours in comparison to our time in weeks, enhanced in your brain.”

Snare. Seduce. Release. How in h.e.l.l was he going to explain to this alien force that what they are doing was wrong, no matter how much time was enhanced in their brains?

”We had a temporary malfunction. We were disconnected when the human called Kinley awakened and was able to break our bond with her. Everyone connected in her dream state, in turn, awakened also. We need everybody to fall asleep again so we can erase the s.e.xual bonds created, and then you are free to go. You will not remember what happened. Or this conversation. Or that we even exist. We have done this to many humans and other life forms who have used this wormhole and we have not encountered any trouble in our ways.”