• 1-If Only For One Night

“If Only For One Night”

Written by Sapphira, and based on
Earth: Final Conflict, Fifth Season

Disclaimer: Oh, most definitely not mine…. I make no profit
off of ANY of my fanfics, other than the neat little
rewards called reviews…

Archives: If you want it for your distribution, you can
have it… just let me know where it is going, and make sure the credit for it
goes to me…

Note: This story and its sequel “Black Fire” originally
came into existence over at ff.net a couple of years ago, but when the rating
ban caught up, the stories were removed before I even had a chance to save the
over 300 reviews that the entire project received… but anyway… IOFON is only
the first part. It was originally going to be just a one shot, but it received
such praise that its 70,000 word sequel was borne.

IOFON is an alternate ending to the episode “Death Suite”…
This is a Howlyn/Renee pairing, and it is a very
erotic exp explicit read. If you have a problem with this pairing, then leave…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 Renee cautiously slid back into the warm, fizzing tub
surrounding her r lor locking the door into the bathing chamber behind the dark
headed woman, Sophie, the manager of Hidden Gate Spa. It was just as well.
There was something about that woman that made Renee very uncomfortable,
although she couldn’t really pin-point just what exactly it was. There was just
something there in that false sweetness that rubbed her the wrong way. But that
wouldn’t be the only thing that had set Renee’s teeth on edge since arriving
here at the Spa. It was like she couldn’t even turn a corner without flinching
at near nonexistent shadows.

Maybe Street was right. Maybe she really was in danger of
losing her mind, if she couldn’t even retreat to such a remote location as
this, and be content with the knowledge that nothing harmful could reach her
here, other than her own mindless fears.

She let out an exhausted sigh as she leaned her head back,
allowing the rim of the tub to cradle her neck. Closing her eyes, she inhaled
the intoxicating fragrance of Lavender and a few other scents she couldn’t
name. The flickering shadows from the candlelight danced under her eye-lids, as
she tried to force her muscles to untwist and relax.

She hated what had been happening to her since she had
tried to save that mother from falling to her death. She could still hear her
screams, could still feel the slick slippery wetness of the woman’s blood
coating her hand, the snap of her beaded bracelet… And the
sound of the baby crying against the cruel twist of fate that had taken its
mother away from it forever.

Renee remembered carrying the child down those darkened
flight of stairs. She wouldn’t let Street even so much as touch it. The way it
had clenched it’s fists against Renee’s clothing, it’s
mouth seeking the nourishment that she was incapable of providing for it…

Her heart bled for this child. And all
the others that had been orphaned. Whether by the Atavus or other situations beyond anyone’s control.

 Renee had seen so much loss in the last few years,
so much death. She didn’t know how to stop it. If it
could even be stopped. It was a constant battle. A riddle with no answer.

And she was so tired of playing a game she couldn’t seem to
win.

 She could feel her shield starting to chip, to crack.
And to know that her mind was in serious danger of
shattering, shook her sense of self-preservation on an elemental level.

She couldn’t afford that.

 She had watched so many friends and fellow Resistance
fighters fall before her. Her and Street were
practically all that were left, and if Renee didn’t keep it together, then
everything would be lost. Ra-jel had told her that it
was her destiny to lead Earth out of the darkness and into its golden era. But
that wasn’t going to happen if that dark abyss that she seemed to be staring
into every minute of every waking moment didn’t stop clawing at the edges of
her fracturing sanity.

And that darkness had a name. Oh, did it ever have a name.
It also possessed eyes of black fire, and a voice that resonated against
Renee’s soul.

 Howlyn.

 Everywhere she turned, he was there. Either in his actions or his form. It was hard enough
fighting this war, without having him throwing her mind and body into erotic
chaos every time she saw him. Every time she dreamed of him.

Every time he pursued her. Hunted her.
Every time he touched her.

He was a relentless hunter, and she responded to that. And
she hated him for it. Hated herself more for wanting
him.

He was their dark Prince, who desired her, his species’
number one enemy, as his Queen. She was light to his Darkness, and she fought
him at every turn, but fought herself more.

 “Can you look me in the eyes, and tell me that you
don’t desire me?”

Renee’s eyes snapped open, as the unbidden memory of those
words, spoken in a silken tongue wrapped in steel, rang true in her mind. She
remembered that moment on the Mothership, when he had
spoken those words to her, after she had adamantly refused their connection.
That moment when she had almost gave in, would have given in, if Ra-jel hadn’t saved her from him. And
herself.

 It was then that Renee had fully comprehended the
danger she was in. Just in being around Howlyn
affected her on a level she hadn’t even known existed.
It was the part of her that answered to the wildness in him, the desire to be
his, even as she sought to destroy him.

It was dangerous and forbidden. She couldn’t forget what he
was doing to her people. And she could never be his. Ever.

 “Be mine… Or die with the
others!”

 Renee winced slightly at the memory of her dream. The
reason why her mind was in such a turmoil this late at
night. It had become quite common for her to dream of Howlyn,
as he damn well knew, but this seemed different than usual. More
real. Like it had actually happened. She could
still feel the hardness of the broken window seal pressed into her back. Howlyn’s unyielding body imprinted upon the front of hers.
The bruising strength of his hand clenched around her hip. At
odds with the gentleness in his tapered fingertips as they brushed her face…the
flames of desire flickering in his obsidian eyes.

“You can’t save your species, Renee. You can’t even save
yourself.”

 Renee groaned slightly as she shut her eyes once
again, willing her mind to shut down and forget the memories and images and
sensations that thinking of Howlyn created. He knew
the effect he had over her, and he gloried in that power. Reveled
in it.

 She tried to relax. To let the bath
due its job as it bubbled and fizzed around her body. To
feel each muscle unclench and loosen. She had finally succeeded, when
she sensed rather than heard a noise coming from the door she had just locked.
Someone was rattling it, trying to get in.

 Renee sat up slowly and turned back the jets on the
Jacuzzi, silencing their flow. She waited a few moments, and not hearing it again,
ascertained that is was just her imagination playing tricks again, like it had
all day.

 She started to lean back when she heard the sound of
someone’s fist smashing through the door, and as she shot up, grabbing the
sides of the tub in support, knocking over the crystal water glass to smash on
the marble floor, she had one true moment of solid clarity that came rushing to
her as fear mixed with heady adrenaline shot through her body...

 Her dream hadn’t been a dream after all. It was a
mark of how foolish she had become if she had genuinely believed otherwise… and
somehow, someway…Howlyn had found her, and had come
on his own to take of this personally.

Once and for all.

~*~*~*~*~

She didn’t know how she knew all that, but she did. Her
body sensed he was near even if her mind didn’t want to believe it. Her hand
reached out to turn the spou ful full. Maybe with any luck, he’d slip on the
water. Not likely though.  But the noise just might provide her with some
cover as she moved.

Glancing into the shadowed corner behind the tub, she shot
up and out of the tub, water cascaded off of her lithe body and onto the floor
as she caught up her robe and threw it on. She shuddered to think what would
have happened if she hadn’t locked that door. Confronting Howlyn
was never a good thing. Confronting him while naked…

Well, that brought up a whole bunch of very bad case
scenarios.

Renee quickly looked around the room, and behind the
curtain for another way out. A door, a window, a
closet which might contain something she could use as a weapon. Nothing. She was very effectively snared and trapped. Renee
pressed a trembling palm to her forehead. She didn’t know what to do. She
ducked behind the curtain in time to hear what was left of the door, slamming
into pieces against the wall, and sat down in the wooden chair positioned
there, her legs partially giving out.

She couldn’t do anything but simply sit and wait. And see
which card she was dealt.

 She watched from the shadows as he walked in. Heard his familiar hiss as he yanked back the curtain to reveal the
overflowing bath tub. Fully expecting her to still be
sitting there. Not bloody likely.

She sensed his spleconecond confusion when she wasn’t
there. Sensed him smile slowly as his senses pin-pointed her location in the
room. She had no doubt that he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, as
well as the smell of her rising fear… among other things.

Renee felt the weakness flood her limbs, her sense of
balance altered, as her tunnel vision rned ned with a debilitating vengeance. Blurring her ability to focus, as Howlyn
ripped the thin barrier of the curtain separating them away, his primal
trademark Atavan hiss/shriek vocalization
piercing the writhing steamed softness of the bathing chamber. Releasing his triumph in uncovering his prize.

 Renee started and a small startled gasp escaped her
lips at the sight of him within her unfocused and glazed eyes.

 Howlyn became suddenly very
still and serious as he studied this human female he had come to prize. He had
seen her anger, her fire, her passion. Her desirepan>pan> And he responded to her on so many different
levels, that it confused even him sometimes. And his was a species that prided
itself in living instinctively.

His obsession with her had start over 3 million years ago,
when she had stood bravely in front of and and Nahima.
He had never met her before then, but his senses ascertained that she had
recognized him. And had responded to him. He saw the
recognition flair up when he had walked into the throne, momentarily distracted
with his anger at Nahima for returning. Sensing the
instant desire shoot through her.  Watched her out of
the corner of his eyes as her pupils dilated and her lips parted.

But he also watched her shift her body into a fighter’s stance, and her hand clench tightly around her energy blade.

It was an intriguing contradiction… And she had fascinated
him from the beginning.

“And What …are
these?” he remembered the question he had voiced to Nahima.
Nahima’s exotic beauty had caught his attention in
the beginning, but she was a dangerous and sly Atavan
female, who would just as soon kill him and rise as the ruler of the Atavus, then to become his mate and subjected to bearing
his young. That is why he had banished her from his bed, as well as his palace.
And why he had been so furious at her return.

 But now, she had brought him this…interesting
specimen from the future.

“Intelligent Livestock. Remarkable.”

He remembered the sudden glint of anger in the human
female’s eyes when he had referred to her as livestock. He had smiled slightly
at her, mocking her, letting her know that he knew he had rubbed her the wrong
way, and that he had found it delicious. He watched that intoxicating spirit
behind those eyes silently challenge him, and knew that he liked her very, very
much.

But he was also aware that this warning that Nahima had brought him, meant that, despite her nonchalant
attitude towards the female, that Nahima considered
her a threat. This human female had an intense fire about her that Nahima had already experienced… Enough so, that she
considered the entire human race was a danger. Destroying all of their human
livestock was no small thing. It could very well destroy their
own race.

 But still, he had to stir the embers some, just to
see what result would occur. Just how far would this new female go?

“These creatures don’t look dangerous,” he taunted Nahima, eyes never leaving the object of his newly
discovered but increasing desire. “On the contrary.
Rather desirable.”

He had accomplished his goal when he watched Nahima’s face twist with jealousy and she had hissed at
him, “Allow me to demonstrate!”

Nahima had taunted Renee
into attacking, but Howlyn sensed immediately with a
measure of confusion that the human female wasn’t even trying. She was allowing
Nahima to think she was winning. Allowing
her to knock Renee around. His interest peaked as he watched this from
his throne. Enjoying the show. He was
intrigued. What was that strange but beautiful female up to?

When Nahima was preparing to
kill her, Howlyn shot up from his throne, all
amusement fading. He wasn’t going to let her be harmed because of Nahima’s vindictiveness. Not yet anyway. Not untilhad had
satisfied his curiosity.

Somehow he sensed that this is was
something the female had expected. She was actually pleased at his
interference, but not necessarily because she feared Nahima.
Part of him wondered if maybe this unique creature was testing him.

“Nahima!
No… I wish to examine her.” His heated sentence had been enough to make Renee’s
heart slam up into her throat.

Howlyn realized a moment
too late his error by giving away more than he intended Nahima
to know, by letting his simple curiosity fall away.
Revealing what he really thought of the human.

Nahima became
infuriated, her body tightening, ready to rip the human female apart to defend
her believed claim to Howlyn. Such was the Atavan way.

“He desires You?!”
the boiling Atavus hissed in disbelief, her eyes
flaming venomously.

Howlyn moved to
intercept and distract Nahima, but pulled up short,
when he saw the strange dark skinned male had made use of his energy blade, by
plunging it into Nahima’s stomach.

 Pity he missed her heart. He might then have lived.

 Temporarily distracted from Renee, Nahima went over to Howlyn, where
his intention was to do some distracting of his own, long enough for the female
to take the chance and slink off to some corner ou Every time she encountered him, she barely managed to escape with
her life, while everyone else around her was dying. How could she let herself
feel this towards a monster? What did that say about her?

 She didn’t want this, she didn’t want to want
him so much that she trembled and vibrated with his every innuendo. But she
couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t push him away. He completely overwhelmed her.
She didn’t want to feel his cleaves run down her body to wrap around her hips. Didn’t want his mouth upon hers. His teeth
in her shoulder. His body in hers. She didn’t
want any of it.

But she needed him nonetheless. So much so that she
thought the pressure would send her into flames at his slightest touch. She
couldn’t fight her desire. It was a living, breathing, pulsing
thing, threatening to destroy her if she didn’t give into its voice. It was
nothing like what she had felt in the past. The desires she had felt within her
body then, paled in comparison to what she was feeling now with him only a
single touch away.

She felt the heated liquid pooling between her thighs. Knew
he could smell it. She felt like her mind was in an inferno. It was primal,
begging to be unleashed. Begging for the release only he could give her.

What had he done to her? What had she done to herself?

“Surrender yourself, Renee. All
resistance.”

 Renee felt a silent whimper claw at her throat at the
sound of his softly spoken words. Howlyn knew she was
fighting herself. Knew she was fighting the intense Atavan
mating heat that his species felt towards their perfect match. It never took no
for an answer, and within his species, it was never fought. It was natural for
his kind. But this human woman had fought it for so long and so hard.

And it was starting to break her. And that probably had
more to do with her current predicament than anything else that this war could
have thrown at her.

And it was most definitely something he knew how to fix. And would… one way of another.

 Renee felt those embers under her skin catch fire.
She was burning for him, her entire body shaking from it. And damn it if he
didn’t know it.

“It’s time.” He whispered seductively. Willing
her to meet his eyes. To accept what he was offering her.

She looked at him, tears of frustration and anger burning in
her eyes. She had never asked for this. Never been prepared
for him. She had released him from his underwater prison, and had
unwittingly become a part of him. She hated him, wanted to kill him. Wanted to kill his entire species. Wanted them to burn in hell
for what they had done to her people.

But she needed him like she needed air, and right now, she
was drowning. And he was offering her a lifeline.

 Granted, it came from the enemy, but it was a
lifeline nonetheless.

 Renee didn’t know what was going to happen if she
gave into him, but she knew that she couldn’t fight it anymore. Fighting what
she was feeling was killing her slowly. She had to fight back now in the only
way she could. She had to give in to this long enough to get away from him to
fight another day.

And right now, that kind twisted logic was making a hell of
a lot of sense to her.

Fine then. She’d give into it. She’d let it all go, and allow herself
the luxury to forget. She would set fire to the night with him at her side.
Whether that fire would set her free, once and for all, from him, or enslave
her further, she didn’t know. But it was her only chance to destroy this
primal, instinctive need to mate with him, and the option was here. In this
place, Now. While she was still on
her turf. What other choice did she have? If she fought, he would just
cart her back to the Mothership, kicking and
screaming.

And if that happened, she’d never be able to escape him.

As her tunnel vision disappeared in a sudden flash at her
decision, she focused her eyes on his strikingly alien ones. Something finally
clicking into place as she acknowledged that she was really going to do this.
That there really was no going back. No chickening out. This was really going
to happen.

 And something wild within her lifted its head to the
stars in triumph.

~*~*~*~*~

Howlyn became almost frighteningly still as he saw Renee’s eyes
finally come completely alive. Focused and clear. Her body had stilled its
restrained trembling, and a sharp awareness was rising to the surface in its
place. She had come to a conclusion, what he didn’t know, but he had seen that
look too many times from her not to instantly be placed on his guard.

 Renee felt her heart speed up as her mouth went dry.
She couldn’t believe she was going to do this, knew she would regret it
tomorrow. But there was no room in her mind for thought. She was consumed with
the sensations and instincts driving her closer to him. It was like a tidal
wave, sweeping her up and making her forget everything except the embers of
desire that were stirring to life with his closeness. Setting aflame every
doubt or thought or fear she possessed.

Renee felt something boiling over in her till exploded.
Leaving behind a very aroused female aching for what was hers. No more running,
no more hiding.

 Howlyn wouldn’t know what
hit him.

 She slowly, silently stood. Legs
unfolding and body arching slightly into the shadow of his, as he refused to
take a step back.

The edges of her robe slid open, Displaying
a long vee that started at her bared throat and
revealed a generous portion of the valley between her breasts. Going further
down over the valley of her tightened stomach and pulled into a point above her
naval. The rest of her robe clinched tight in the sash, hiding the rest of her
body from view. Her taut nipples were noticeable through the fabric. Her
movements were blatantly seductive and Howlyn was
very aware of what her body language was communicating to him.

 Renee saw how Howlyn’s eyes
darkened, the way he inhaled her scent. Tasted it. Bathed his senses in it. And knew there was no way out for
either of them.

 Renee was barely three inches apart from him. The
heat from their bodies was intermingling. The fragrance of Lavender was caught
up with his own unique sexual pheromones that were releasing into the air. He
smelled wild, similar to sandalwood, but not quite.

She loved the way he smelled, although she wouldn’t ever
admit it out loud. She knew it was one of his weapons he used against her.

The chemistry between them was earth shattering. She
guessed that was what he had wanted for her to feel from the beginning. A
reflection of what he had been feeling for so long.

 Renee had been with men before, and had loved most of
them, but this was the first time she had felt this degree of intensity. She
knew it was because of him. Because of what he was. He
awakened something primal within her. Something she had kept locked up aside
and hidden. Tucked away so she’d never have to feel it, experience it. Live it.

It was something that he wanted to bring back out into the
light. Something he wanted to possess. To show her, to prove
to her that it was okay for her to burn.

 Howlyn closed his eyes in pleasure as Renee reached out and
voluntarily touched him for the first time. Fingers brushing
over his skin tentatively, as if she was experiencing the texture for the first
time.

A
combination of an Atavus growl and hiss escaped his
lips, as he slowly curled the side of his face into her palm in an almost
feline response. His tongue flicking out gently to stroke her
wrist. His black eyes flashing languorously towards
her as he observed her reaction to him.

Tonight,
he vowed to her silently with those eyes, there would be many firsts for them.

She
received the message, and her breath caught in her throat at the glint of
erotic determination in that black, knowing gaze.

He reached his own hand up to touch her. Feathering over
the pulse he saw beating at the base of her throat. Stroking
upwards. Tilting her chin up to stroke her parted
lips. Her blue eyes were almost black from her expanded pupils. Signaling her desire.

Howlyn cautioned himself to move slowly with her, even though it
was against his people’s way of doing things. He didn’t need to scare her off,
not when they had come this far, and had finally reached this place.

There would be plenty of time to show her the many facets
of the Atavus’ ways of giving and receiving pleasure,
and even though she wasn’t of his species, he knew she would be receptive to
them.

And he couldn’t wait to be the one to teach her.

He wasn’t a fool. She had in her mind that the Atavus used pain to gain pleasure, and although that might
be true for some, he had no intention of hurting her. At least, not in the way
she thought he might hurt a female.

She knew how he sustained himself, by feeding off of her
fellow humans. Like all of his kind. He wasn’t going to regret that. He had
fought her, left the imprint of his claw marks upon her skin, demanded her
surrender time and time again. It was who he was.

But he also wanted her to know that there was a side of him
that could bring her such exquisite pleasure. If only she would let him fully
into her mind and soul. He could show her what he was meant to give her. What
she was meant to give him.

But for now, he would take things as slowly as a fully
aroused Atavus male was capable of after being
deprived of his true mate for over three million years. He would lead her
slowly into things, and see how she reacted before taking things deeper. Farther.

Renee closed the distance between them. Her
body seeking the touch of his. She coiled one arm around the back of his
neck, burying that hand in this thick black mane that curled around his alien
face, touching it with shadowed strands. Shielding his heated
black eyes from the rest of the world as they focused on her. Teeth
slightly bared as he waited for what she would do
next. His body tensed and hard against his desire to have her
then and there.

Her other hand traced over his suit,
gently clawing at his abdomen in a silent plea for him to touch her. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Couldn’t believe
she was asking, pleading, for his damning touch.

 She watched him move his hands slowly up to her
shoulders. She could feel the heat from them through the cotton robe long
before he settled them there. Her skin ached underneath the now abrasive
feeling of the cloth against her skin.

She felt him loosen the top of her robe, sliding it just
off both of her shoulders. He leaned forward as Renee tilted her head back and
to the side invitingly. Her back curving in a slight bow.
The fiery heat of his mouth latched onto the sensitive spot where her neck met
her shoulder. Renee groaned as she felt Howlyn’s
teeth work her skin slowly and gently. She pressed closer to him, grinding
herself up against him, seeking relief.

Howlyn hissed louder than he intended, and his arm tightened
instinctively around her waist. Pulling her flush up against
him. It took all his self discipline – whatever the hell that was – not
to lose control right then and there. His teeth fastened sharply on her neck. Biting the skin hard, but not enough to break skin.
Reminding her yet again who and what it was that she was tangling
with.

As if she needed the reminder.

Renee almost exploded against the sensation. Her nails
raked his forearm, frustrated at the feeling of his suit under her fingertips,
as he used his tongue to soothe throbbrobbing love bite. He abandoned that spot
to trace a sizzling path along the side of her throat. Going
lower to lick the beads of moisture gathering between her breasts. He
watched the line of her throat as she leaned further back against the arm
supporting her. Pinning her against him. Renee felt
the delicious black fire flooding between her thighs. She was caught up in the
primal need to take him deep within her body as far as he could go. And nothing
else mattered but his taste, his touch, his heat.

 Renee
hissed herself when Howlyn suddenly pushed the fabric
away and grasped one of her nipples with his teeth. Her
breath coming fast. He rewarded her primal outburst with one of his own.
She let out a small cry as he flicked and laved at her. Nearly knocking her off
her feet as he tugged and nibbled, suckled and bit. Sending
darts of fire straight down into Renee’s lower body with every passing of his
tongue, every scrape of his sharp teeth.

Her nails bit into the back of his neck as he suddenly
lifted his mouth from her breast and brought it crashing down on hers for the
first time. He pressed forcefully against her lower lip with his tongue, using
the expert technique to gain entry into her waiting mouth. There, he swept
inside, demanding all that he touched. Kissing her over and
over. He claimed her mouth as he intended to claim her. Thoroughly. There was no conscious thought to his movements,
only a dark cloud of primitive passion.

 Renee
trembled as his alien taste flooded her mouth. He was like a fine wine she
couldn’t get enough of.

And she drank of him.

She felt his tongue duel with hers. Dipping and plunging. Nipping
and biting. She knew he was close to snapping. To losing
control. And she wanted him to. Her body ached for him to.

“Lose ‘em” she hissed hoarsely against
his mouth. Tugging hard at his suit. Nipping his chin when he didn’t move fast enough. She didn’t
want anything between them anymore.

Her hands encountered hard, smooth, heated flesh as she
pressed up against him. Rubbing his shoulders, his chest.
His body didn’t look very different from a human male’s, but she could sense
the alieness of it. The texture was like satin over
rock. The color was extremely pale and shadowed with different hues, like his
face. And his… Renee swallowed, once again aware of
her heart pounding in her chest and the echo of its pulse between her thighs,
as her eyes slid back up the length of his body to meet his eyes.

 Howlyn had tried resisting
the release of his cleaves, remembering her reaction to them on the Mothership, but he couldn’t halt the natural process from
occurring when he saw the heaway way she had studied his body. He would keep
her from fearing them. He would show her that they were good for things other
than feeding or fighting. That they were useful for many, many
different things.

 Renee started slightly when she heard the slight
hissing sound, signaling the release of his cleaves and running them up her
thigh and under the robe. She flinched visibly, muscles tightening. Trying to
figure out what he was planning. She had felt their bite too many times, and
had seen what they were capable of doing to be comfortable with their presence.

Howlyn made a light soothing sound in her ear when he had felt
her tense against his skin. He massaged one hand against her bared breast, and
the other, cleaves fully extended, up her outer thigh, and moving cautiously to
the inner, wrapping around the flesh there and kneading. Gently pulling her
thigh up a little ways, and completely open to his
touch, setting her on fire. Slowly easing her tension, at the
same time getting closer to his goal. Arousing her to
a breaking point.

 Renee bucked against him as his cleaves found her
hidden treasure. She dropped her head into the nook of his neck as he growled
as her response, jerking her tighter up against him. Hissing lightly in her ear
as he flicked and stroked his cleaves carefully over her. Coating themselves in her dew. Leaving no doubt in
Renee’s mind that this was some sort of test. Howlyn
wanted to see how far she would let him go. Willingly.

She locked her eyes with his, reading the sexual challenge
there. Slowly, she raked her fingertips down the centerline of his muscled
chest, and lower still, to his own throbbing need.

Her fingers wrapped around him, massaging gently. Purposely.

Howlyn let out an Atavan shriek,
communicating to her his desire in the way of his kind, as he grasped her upper
thigh firmly, cleaves still extended, and brought it up and around his hip. The
only barrier now between their throbbing arousals was her trapped hand. Renee
allowed her fingers to rub herself. Coating her fingertips
with her own dew. Then, tauntingly, took those soaked fingers, and ran
them down his member, then back up to its head. Mixing her
honey with the few drops of his seed secreting from its tip.

 Howlyn had his answer.

He let his restraint go. Letting out his trademark
hiss/shriek, he used his cleaves to slice the robe away from Renee’s body. Leaving her body nude. Her skin was the color of golden
light. Heated from her desire.

Snarling softly, he flipped her around, and pressed her
close to the wall. Primal instinct taking control.
Both of his arms wrapped around her waist, capturing her hands in both of his. Laying them flat against her stomach, with his both his palms
covering hers. Trapping them there. Both sets
of cleaves now fully extended and glowing against the silken flesh of her abdomen.

Howlyn nestled his face against the curve of her neck and
inhaled. Trying to reinstate control over his instincts, and
barely succeeding. He was Atavus, and not
exactly comfortable with controlling his instinctive responses during mating.
It was not something that had ever been expected of him in the past. But it
hadn’t actually been a human female in his embrace either. He could very easily
damage things inside of her if he wasn’t careful of his immense strength.

He didn’t mind if she was afraid of him for what he was,
and what he represented to her species and this planet, but he didn’t want her
to fear their joining.

He matched his breathing to hers. Soft
growls rumbling in his throat as he sensed that she was just as much aflame
with this dark passion as he was.

Renee felt Howlyn’s weight
pressing in from behier. er. Knew what he was planning. How he intended to take
her. She had never had sex in this position before, had never figured herself
to actually be turned on by it. But she didn’t care. Didn’t
fight. Hell, he knew she wanted him like this. It was an intimately
shared fantasy that she had envisioned in more than one dream of hers.

 There was a small mirror just a few inches in front
of her face. Her gaze locked with Howlyn’s through
their reflection. Knowing that he had positioned her in front
of it on purpose. He was certainly clever, she’d give him that.

 Unclasping her hands, he spread her arms on either
side of her, his cleaves flitting up her forearms,
barely touching her skin. She could feel the strange heat admitting from them
raise the fine hairs on her skin. He placed his broad palms over the backs of
her hands, and finally retracting his cleaves, interlaced his fingers with
hers, literally pinning her to the wall. Renee felt the strength rippling
through his forearms and shoulders as he held her in place. Exerting just
enough pressure to let her know he wasn’t going to allow her to so much as turn away. Showing her that
there was no escape from him now. He pressed his body close to hers. She
curved her back toward him. Her derriere nestling up against
his arousal.

He purposely nudged her legs apart with his knee and ever
so slowly, as if marking the end of his hunt, entered her from behind.

    Renee felt him slide into her hot
core. She felt his heat filling her, stretching her with his considerable size.
She eased the way for him, her head falling back onto his shoulder as he used
his silken lips and sharp teeth to grasp her shoulder. Holding
her in place for his invasion.

He flexed and surged inside of her, the firm muscles of his
thighs bracing her. With his first thrust he set the tone for what was to come.

It was powerful, raw, untamed. Wild and
almost feral. Like his species. With every one following, he went
deeper, surer, stronger.

Poignantly Howlyn stared at Renee
through the reflection as he moved inside of her. Their eyes met and held.

Renee felt immeasurable pressure building within their
bodies. Sweat glistened on them both as they slid perfectly together. The intermingling fragrance of their mating filling the air with
its musk.

Howlyn released one of her hands from the wall, to cup and grind
it into one of her breasts. His sharpened nails flicking over the taut pink
nipple. Renee laid the hand he had just released over his that was creating
such a torment for her. She held his hand there. Encouraging
it to knead harder.

Howlyn responded to her silent plea, by thrusting harder and
faster into her. Grinding into her. Losing
control. She was so tight, and so on fire, hntednted to stay there
forever.

 Renee felt those black embers within her explode. She
let go of the hand massaging her breast, and looped it around the back of his
neck. Firmly holding his face and mouth against the curve of
her throat. Nails biting into his nape. She was
burning up! He was burning all around her. In her. Through her. The pressure kept building, she couldn’t take
it anymore, but he still wouldn’t give her the release she needed.

She realized then that there was something he was holding
back on giving to her. Something that he would do that would
make her climax.

 Did he want to kill her?! Renee let out an impossible
cry, practically begging for whatever it was. Howlyn
snarled, purposely denying her. Needing to make this as long
as possible. Needed it as built up as far as she could
take it. Needing her to remember that she had begged
him to place his mark upon her for the rest of the world to see. That
she had been branded his.

 And that she had wanted it!

 Renee grinded herself down farther on him as he
thrust hard up into her. Howlyn finally relented.
Realizing he couldn’t go much longer himself without losing precious control.
It was time she learned what it was to be mated to him. The
King and ruler of his species. It was time that he showed her just how
he had meant to claim her from the moment that he had first laid eyes on her
strong, lithe body.

He sunk his teeth sharply in to the love bite he had placed
on her nearlearlier as a sign of what was to come. He pierced her skin sharply.
Tasting her sweet blood on his tongue.

It brought Renee to yet another level as the pleasure/pain
of their union hit her. Sweeping her away as her climax literally exploded
within her. Sending her scream to the stars themselves.
Howlyn’s mating scream joined hers as he found his
own release within hers. Spilling his molten seed into her
and through her to her womb. Sending aftershocks
coursing through Renee’s body as he slowly grinded against her. Bringing
down the fevered mating pace he had set for their race to the heavens and back.

 Howlyn let go of Renee’s
still pinned hand to wrap his arm securely around her waist as she sagged
against him. Breathing heavily. The silk of her still
pinned up hair brushing over his heated face. He quickly reached a hand up to
undue it, before returning it to around her slender waist.

He matched her breaths to his, coaxing them to slow down.
He held her. Giving her time to recover. His tongue
gently lapped the small wound on her neck. Laving the
soreness from the interesting trigger of release that had always been
there between the mating of a particularly special Atavus
pair. Signaling that, at least in part, they had been mated.

In order for it to be a complete union, she would have to,
in turn, place a mark upon him. Howlyn knew he was in
for a battle to convince her to do so. But he knew he was up for it.

Although, she had surprised
him before. She just might be all too
willing to sink her teeth into his flesh.

 He continued to lick the soreness away from small
tear in her skin. Reveling in the taste of her blood in his
mouth.

k'> He had shown her a small portion of what being mated
to an Atavus male was like. And she had matched him
time and time again. She was exquisite. And she was marked as his. She had
begged for it, even though she hadn’t really known what she was begging for.
But it didn’t matter. It was done.

She was finally his queen. And he would never let her go.

~*~*~*~*~

She was going to have to leave him.

Renee slowly opened her eyes, and the
full impact of what she had just done – what they had done together – hit her.
What the hell had she done? This wasn’t going to make things easier at all.

She had been completely and utterly ravaged. He had taken her to
new levels of ecstasy that she had never imagined. She had thought if she had
merged her body with his, then it would have been enough to allow her to forget
the way her body tightened with desire every time that she saw him, and she
would finally be able to focus on what was important.

Now she didn’t think she’d ever be able to focus again. It hadn’t
helped ease her constant desire for him… it had just made it worse.

She had always known that he possessed certain gifts when it came
to his… Atavan sexuality. But this had been more than she had expected.
She didn’t want to even consider what the climatic love bite he had given her
in the end had meant.

When she had thought he couldn’t take things any farther, he had
taken great pleasure in showing her otherwise. Her senses were completely
shattered by him, as he had intended from the beginning.

And he had barely even started.

He was still holding her. Giving her a chance to
think, if not the room to do so. He was waiting for her response.

Renee turned her head slightly to look at him over her shoulder.
His eyes met her thoughtfully. As if he was trying to figure
her out himself.

What were they to do with each other now?

Renee tilted her head up to gently meet her lips with his. Allowing herself that bitter-sweet final connection to him, even if
he didn’t realize that this was to be the last moment of their dark and
passionate night. Her tongue flicked out to gently run over the seam of
his mouth.

He smiled then against her lips, almost mockingly, gently nipping
her lower lip with his teeth in a reminder that he was still in control, before
taking her tongue within his mouth. Allowing her to explore
at her leisure, before taking charge once again, and deepening the kiss
himself. The black mane of his hair flowing forward to
frame both of their faces, as he slanted his mouth over hers to strive even
deeper.

He broke away suddenly, and ran the tips of his sharpened nails
down her still nude body. Running down the center of her chest, and lower to
feather over her stomach, and lower still, to press his palm possessively into
the tiny golden curls there, guarding treasure. His
treasure. He smelled her desire stirring hungrily again. Her body beckoning to him to join with her, and to never leave its
heated haven. He felt his own body becoming heavy again. Howlyn hissed softly to himself, hearing her groan in
response. Knowing he would never get enough of her. She enflamed him as no one
else ever had.

“It’s time to go.” He spoke huskily. More a
growl than words. His hands tightening on her bare
hips, as if he had expected her to pull away from him with those words.
He wasn’t going to let her go without a fight. He had to get her out of there
and back up on the Mothership with him, where she
couldn’t get away. Once she was in his chambers, he could take his time exploring
the endless possibilities her body represented. Find out just how deep her
passion ran. He couldn’t afford to take any more time here. His mating
instincts were pressing him to get her secured within his lair as soon as
possible, and he was smart enough not to ignore them. Smart enough to know what
she would do, if given the chance to think things through.

Renee nodded slowly, allowing her body to become completely
relaxed. She reluctantly pulled away from the hard press of his heated body.
The feeling of his desire noticeable again. She breathed a little easier when
he finally released her, watching her cautiously to see what she would do. Her
mind was in chaos, but she had to remain calm, or he would sense something was
wrong.

She couldn’t surrender to him, any more than she could give up
this battle. He may not understand her loyalty, but she just simply would not
abandon her people in their hour of darkness.

She looked around for her robe as Howlyn
moved to pick up his abandoned exo-suite. What was
left of her robe, lay in soaked tatters on the marble
floor. Completely flooded.

The forgotten water spout that had been left on at full blast had
done its job. They were both standing in quite a bit of it. Howlyn
didn’t notice, or didn’t care. He wasn’t aware of what it was capable of doing,
how effective it could be for someone who didn’t have anything left to lose.

Renee slowly walked over to the chair she had been sitting in only
moments ago. She caught up an extra robe that was hanging there on a rack, and
slipped it on. Howlyn watched her amusingly as she
securely belted it around her waist self-consciously. Amazed she could still be
so modest after all they had just done in each other’s arms.

The human could be quite intriguing at times.

Howlyn was
careful to watch her as she slowly sunk back down into the wooden chair. Her
silence was thick in the room. He could sense her tension building, but it
wouldn’t do any good. There was only one way out, and that was with him at her
side. If she managed to escape, he would run her till she dropped if he had to.
There was no way in hell he was leaving this planet without her. And to hell with Sandoval… That man was beginning to outlive
his usefulness.

Renee shifted hesitantly on the chair, slightly sore. She knew
that what she was about to do would infuriate Howlyn
like nothing else she had ever done prior to this. But she knew he would still
be alive. It wouldn’t kill him like it might a human, but it would sure put him
out long enough for her to get away. Long enough to find Street, and get the
hell out of here.

“I can’t leave with you, Howlyn.”

Howlyn glanced at
her wryly. Here they go again. It was exactly what he had been expecting from
her. He wanted nothing less. He started to laugh slowly, coldly.

“You can say that, after all we just…experienced together? After I
just showed you a small portion of what I am capable of giving you?” He stared
at her intently, watching her actions like a feline stalking its prey, as she
defensively pulled her slender legs back up to her chest, his eyes flickered
quickly over the sensually graceful movement, before zooming back in on her
face. His words twisting insultingly. “Amusing world, this …Earth.” 

He watched her bite her bottom lip in nervousness as she caught
what he was implying, and his amusement faded away. He stepped closer to her. Gaze turning an almost frigid cold of dark determination.

“I told you on the Mothership that you
were mine.” He growled harshly. He felt the warrior in him tighten, preparing
to strike. She was not going to deny him any longer. A female of his species
never dared to threaten to remove herself from her mate’s care.

“And I told you I would fight you till my last breath!” Renee shot
back angrily. “I will not stand by and watch you destroy my species!”

Howlyn’s
shriek of anger and frustration reverberated throughout the bathing chamber.
Renee realized then that a small part of her enjoyed infuriating him, it was no less than he deserved. She watched the
flickering candlelight dance across his darkened and shadowed face, as his eyes
burned with fire and passion for her.

“You’ll forgive me, my dear Renee,” he spat out arrogantly, “But I
don’t recall having given you any choice in the matter!”

“I’ve always had a choice, Howlyn.”
Renee spoke quietly, barely audible, even to his own
highly advanced hearing. Her eyes locked on to the hair dryer sitting there so
innocently on the towel rack beside her. It was already plugged in and waiting.

“You just never acknowledged or realized that.”

With that, her right hand snatched up the appliance, flipped it
on, and threw it in the water pooling around Howlyn’s
feet.

His suit couldn’t protect him from that. He went down instantly. Spasms ripping through his body as he screamed in rage at her
defiance.

Renee watched as the flashes from the electro charge lit up the
chamber, almost blinding her. She could smell the electricity burning in the
air. In him. It finally ended with the fuse on the
outlet blowing out.

&nbso:p>o:p>

The dryer died, and the chamber was quiet except for the sound of
the water still overflowing from the tub, that just moments ago, had been a
sanctuary for her. Before him.

Howlyn was on his
back, unconscious. But Renee knew he wouldn’t stay that way for long. She had to
get out of there, fast. She hopped down from the wooden chair, her bare feet
slapping in the water that had just moments ago had proven to be a very
effective conduit.

Glancing a final time at Howlyn, she
bolted past him, and out of the chamber. Expecting to feel at
any moment the sensation of his arms wrapping around her waist, capturing her
and dragging her to the Mothership.

But it never happened. And as she ran off, frantically searching
for Street, Something cried out slowly from within her, dying with every step
that took her further and further from his side.

What had she done?

~*~*~*~*~

Howlyn dove into
the portal just as the Spa around him exploded violently. He felt the burning
sensation of its force against his back, even as he portaled
to the relative comfort of the Bridge back on the Mothership.

He leapt out and landed in crouch on the smooth metal flooring as
the portal behind him grew silent once more.

His spun around and hissed violently in the direction of Sandoval,
soaked black hair framing the side of his enraged face. Rage pointed at
Sandoval as if he was somehow responsible for this outcome.

“What kind of human is she?” he growled out. Voice
hoarse with his anger and disbelief. His gaze shot to the side to look
through the viewing panels on the planet sprawling out beneath the Mothership’s forced orbit, and another shriek exited his
throat in frustration. Sandoval’s resulting answer did little to ease his
temper.

“Female.”

Howlyn came to
his feet swiftly. Emotions running high. He was
momentarily satisfied by the wave of fear that ran through the human male’s
despicable body at the suddenness of his collective movement, and he growled
threateningly again for effect.

Juda magically
appeared. Sliding around in front of him to bloke his view of
Sandoval. He found it rather pathetic that she constantly sought to
protect that human from him.

She rubbed the front of her familiar body up against his, hands
coming up to massage his shoulders, but before she could begin to speak, he
lashed out at her with animalistic intensity brought on by a reaction even he
himself hadn’t been prepared for. He didn’t want her touching him right now.

Feeling instinctively repulsed by the very scent and touch of her
while Renee’s essence still clung to him, he threw her with an unrestrained
strength, and she landed unceremoniously hard about thirty feet away.

Shocked by his uncharacteristic treatment of her, she remained
cautiously where she was. Knowing that nothing would appease
him once he was locked within this kind of unpredictable mood.

Rarely was he this out of control. The only time she had seen him
like this lately was usually because of something that the Palmer female had
done… but never had she sensed such incomprehensive emotions boiling so harshly
beneath the surface. It didn’t make sense…

Until she caught a whiff of the particular scent carried over from
her King’s direction. It was the swirling combination of both Howlyn and another female’s most intimate pleasures. The
unmistakable musk of mating…

And then she knew. She knew what had happened, and who it had
happened with, and an unexpected thrill of fear ran down her spine as she
waited to see what Howlyn would be next. Where he would redirect his primal and unforgiving rage.

Sandoval made a move like he was about to protest Howlyn’s treatment of her, but Juda’s
rather stunned gaze shot over to his in an almost panicked warning. Having
never seen that look on her face, he wisely stilled.

Howlyn
looked at them both in disgust, vocalizations rumbling loudly in his throat
before turning away moodily and stalking out of Command. Taking
with him the obvious scent of his lover’s unique musk. Tainted heavily with the imprint of their union. It clung to
him, tormenting him. Reminding him of the feel of her body wrapped so tightly
around his. The taste of her was still lingering on his tongue.

He had taken her as his mate, and then she had denied him. Running to ground yet again to escape him.

It was unforgivable. Unacceptable… and exactly what he should have
realized would happen. Exactly what he should have expected
from her.

So why did he feel like he was being ripped apart by the seams by
the lack of her presence?

The Mothership went quiet. All movement
stilled on board as if the few inhabitants present sensed their King’s torment
emanating from his personal Deck as he raged on in private. Even Ra-jel sat quietly in the corner of its cell. Eyes closed as
if listening to things that only it could hear.

But even those strange yet serene eyes finally opened as an eerily
frightening scream of a wounded creature pierced the heavy stillness. Echoing forcefully throughout most of the ship, and ringing
violently through its corridors. Making the blood of
those who could bleed run cold at the sound.

The Taelon turned its head to the side
slightly. Listening carefully. Hearing the extended
roar for what it was... The painful cry of an animal whose
mate had slipped away yet again into the dark of the night.

Those eyes closed once more, and the Taelon
slowly, almost sadly, shook its head.

~*~*~*~*~

((Two Weeks Later))

Renee lay stretched out on her bed in the Lair, as the glow from
the computer equipments’ suspended screens cast a strange glow around the room.

One hand laid at her side, comfortably
holding an energy blaster, the other rested over her stomach.

They had just uncovered and saved those people from that excuse
from a hospital, and, like most nights, Renee was having a hard time falling
asleep. But, instead of her common worries and concerns about the Atavus invasion and her people keeping her awake, thoughts
of another concern were keeping her from her much needed rest.

Thoughts of Howlyn.

She remembered everything rather vividly about that night in the
spa’s bathing chamber. Everything down to the slightest
detail. His touch, his taste, his smell. His
expression when he had entered her from behind… candlelight flickering over his
dark alien features in stark relief against her own human ones and the contrast
of their skin tones against one another.

His expression had been savage and primal. Her
own mirroring his.

This mark on her neck where he had tested her flesh still burned
and ached for his mouth. Street had given her a few raised eyebrows when she
had seen it.

Assuming what had happened, but never questioning Renee, she had
continued with her assistance to Renee. Both as a friend and
fellow Resistance fighter.

Renee had instantly felt panic when Street had told her that the
Spa was rigged to blow, but she found out later from Street that a transmission
from the Mothership had connected into the bathing
chamber, so Renee had known that Howlyn had managed
to escape. Not that she had expected anything less from him.

His species didn’t seem to understand the meaning of staying dead.

Renee was much more cautious now. She knew that all hybrids on
Earth had been instructed to watch out for her. That was why she had taken up
permanent residence in the Lair, and went out only when it was absolutely
necessary. Street, against Renee’s better judgment, went out for both of them
whenever it was necessary to pick up supplies.

Renee’s eyes glittered in the darkness as she remembered the feel
of Howlyn’s teeth in her neck. His
body in hers. His hands pinning her ruthlessly to the
wall. She had had some small bruising around her hips, and knew that if
he hadn’t been capable of regenerating, he would have been sporting her claw
marks on his forearm as well as shoulders and the back of his neck. Still, as
it were, she had a feeling that Juda hadn’t
appreciated Renee’s scent so blatantly painted upon Howlyn’s
skin.

Renee’s lips twisted in dark amusement. She would have liked very
much to have been a fly on the wall for that confrontation.

Renee knew that Howlyn’s fury had
reached a whole new level where she was concerned, as well as he desire to have
her completely.

She had thought to feed their black embers of desire, in order to
condemn them to dust, but now, they had been stirred into an inferno that
refused to go out. A fire that burned within Renee’s body
still, every minute of every day. She had almost gone to him so many
times, and had taken more cold showers than she would ever admit. But her body
still ached for his, and she knew it always would. She knew he was going
through the same thing. Probably had for over 3 million
years. That was why he had pursued her so intently. That was why he
didn’t want to let her go. That was why he had stalked her as an Atavus male stalked its unwilling mate...

With primal vocalizations, instinctive
responses, and animalistic reactions. But at the
same time, he had given her so much pleasure.

How could so many exquisite physical sensations, be wrapped up in
so much emotional pain?

The Resistance was slowly getting bigger in the other countries,
as well as in America.
An army was building, and it was preparing itself for War. A War in which her and Howlyn may have stood at
the head of, but it was on the two completely different sides.

But now, Renee had more than herself to protect. Her life had
taken yet another unusual turn… And it was one she knew was going to heavily
test her loyalties.

She was pregnant.

She was carrying Howlyn’s child. A link that connected both of their species. His child… and hers.

Renee’s hand caressed her stomach lightly. Knowing her baby rested
there. Nestled in her womb, completely oblivious to any of
the concerns on the outside. About what its life represented to both of
its parents’ species.

She hadn’t known if would happen. Hadn’t known if the Taelon radiation and been too much to allow nature to
slowly, over time, reverse the process, but, here it was. Their
child.

Renee’s life had just become increasingly more difficult. She had
to protect this baby at all costs. EvE>Even if it was against its
own father. Howlyn must never know she was
pregnant, or this cat and mouse game of theirs would become even more deadly.

How many of his own people would kill this child and her to keep
them from placing themselves at Howlyn’s side?

On the same token, if word got out that she was carrying a baby
that was part Atavus, her own people would consider
her a traitor, and she could very easily wind up dead. Her child locked away in
a lab, or worse, bait for its father. 

No… Atavus or human, no one was touching
her baby. Her child must live, as so must she. Her battle was far from over,
and her baby had just become an unwilling recruit.

Howlyn must never
find out, she vowed to herself. Not until she could find an alternative to this
bloodshed.

She didn’t know what would happen to her, or Howlyn,
or their child over the next few months, but she had to keep fighting. Keep
fighting and keep praying that she could stay one step ahead of Howlyn for as long as it took.

She knew that what she was hoping for was, in essence, praying for
a miracle. But she also knew, like the one fluttering with precious new life
deep within the safety of her womb and under her protective hand, that miracles
could happen every day.

~*~*~*~*~

Continue on to “Black Fire” to read the conclusion, but
before you do, please review and let me know what you thought!! (wink)