Chapter 7

Octane

I'm vibrating with anger. My whole body is brimming with it. I want to shake her.

"What consequences? Are you going to hurt me? Kill me?" she yells.

I narrow my eyes. She still thinks so little of me, but I guess I can't blame her since I haven't given her much reason to trust me. "No! I might be a lot of things, but I won't hurt a tiny female, even if she is my enemy. Not even after you pulled something as stupid as this."

"I'm not your enemy, Octane. I don't mean you any harm, or your people, for that matter. I just want to go home. That's all! Why can't you get that through your thick skull?"

"I get it, but there are those among your kind who don't have the same outlook as you, Trinity. Do you have any idea how dangerous your little stunt was?"

Her eyes go a little hazy with confusion. "Um…I wouldn't hurt anyone. I would never—"

"For you!" I rasp. "Dangerous for you, I mean. You could've been hurt…or worse." Again, I want to shake some damned sense into her, but I refrain.

"I…um…I…no…I had to get away!" she finally stammers. I don't think she thought this through.

"What if one of the patrols had spotted you? I wouldn't have been able to save you. The penalty for trespassing is death. You would have been slaughtered." I look around us. "You could still be. We're far away from camp." My jaw tightens. My whole damned body tightens. This could still end in disaster. Trinity could be killed, and despite the fact that I didn't make her trespass, I would feel responsible. Then there's the little added bonus of how much shit I'd be in if I was discovered with a Red. I'd never get out from under the pile of crap that would be dumped on me. My main reason for being this pissed is that you can't question a corpse. I still want my answers.

"They don't know." Her eyes narrow as understanding dawns. "Your own people don't know what you are doing. That you have me. You would get into trouble for this."

"No. They would not approve." There's no use hiding it. "And yes, I would be in deep shit."

"Because it's wrong!" she throws back.

Because they don't want me to find out what she knows. Because HQ is up to something, or some of those in power are. Either way, they wouldn't like this one bit. I mean, why don't we ever question Reds? Why don't they want us to know what's going on? Because there sure as shit is something going on here. I'm going to find out what it is.

"It's not for the reasons you think," I tell her. "Come on." I start walking. "It's a long way back to camp, and we can't fly back. You couldn't have picked a worse day for trying to escape. Visibility for miles and miles and the fact that it's light out didn't help you, either. We just have to pray we weren't spotted." I wasn't exactly quiet in my pursuit, either. I was just so damned mad.

We start walking.

"It's not like I had much choice. The opportunity presented itself, and I took it." She shrugs.

I frown. "By opportunity, you mean Kim came along?"

"Yes, I overpowered her and took off. I hope she doesn't get into trouble for something I did." Her voice is small, and for the first time, she looks fearful.

"You can save it. I know she helped you escape."

"No!" She shakes her head. "That isn't true at all. She took me out for a walk, and I took full advantage."

"She helped you escape because you helped her the other night. I get it. It's fine. I think it's admirable…what you did. I mean, you went against your own kind to help a human female you don't even know." I'm not trying to blow smoke up her ass. I mean it.

She looks taken aback for a moment. "It was the right thing to do. Those males were out of line."

"Were you with them? Part of their group?"

For a second, I think she isn't going to answer, but instead, she shakes her head. "No, I just happened to be at the right place at the right time."

I don't quite buy it, but I don't push it. At least she's telling me something, and something is better than nothing, which is all I've been getting.

"We'd better get going." I give her the once-over.

Crap, this is bad!

"What?" She turns away a little, like she's shy, which is just plain stupid because I've seen her naked more than once.

"Your tattoos stand out like a sore thumb," I huff. "It'll take us a day or two to get back to camp, and I don't want you getting spotted. We're going to have to be really careful." I look up, half expecting to see a dragon or two. This is a shitshow.

"Can't we shift as soon as it's dark?"

"Absolutely not!" I look up again and scan as much of the sky as I can see through the trees. It's less sparse in this section of the jungle. "We may have been spotted already." I have an uneasy feeling inside me. "Let's keep going. The sooner we get far away from where we landed, the better." If we were seen descending, any patrols might come and investigate. I know I would.

We keep walking. The jungle is too sparse for my liking. We'll be safer once we get deeper.

We haven't gotten very far when a loud crashing sound echoes through the jungle, causing birds to scatter. We freeze in our tracks. My head snaps up; my eyes narrow as I scan our surroundings.

I put my finger to my lips, telling Trinity to keep quiet. Her eyes are filled with fear. She's right to be worried. This is bad. Worse than fucking bad.

Then I hear it…the sound of steps and claws raking the earth. It isn't long before there is the sound of cracking bones. Someone is shifting in the distance. They're at our landing spot. They'll scent us. See signs of us. Moreover, they're going to come after us. We don't have more than a couple of minutes to come up with a plan.

We have one of a couple of choices: we can make a run for it – but running isn't a good idea in the jungle because we would make far too much noise, or we could take a stand – but that would be noisy, too, and could bring more dragons who are in the area. Patrol dragons always fly in packs. Where there is one, there are usually three or four more. Then there's the pesky reality that this guard is only doing his job. I don't want to hurt anyone.

The third option… Shit! I don't like it at all. In fact, I hate it. It's risky, but we don't have a lot of options here.

"Lie down on your back," I whisper. "Do it now."

"What?" Trinity's eyes go wide.

"We need to pretend to be fucking. I'll cover you with my body and—"

"Pretend to…what? No!" Her eyes are wide as she whisper-shouts.

"I'll cover your tattoos by lying on top of you. I'm much bigger, so it should work. If they catch us in a compromising situation, they might not ask too many questions. We don't have many choices here, Trinity. You would need to play the part. I mean, seriously play the part, and it needs to happen right now."

"No…I…" She looks in the direction of the approaching shifter. We can't hear too much yet, but he will definitely be following us. Trinity sighs. "There are no other options, are there?" she mouths.

I shake my head. "None I can think of," I say under my breath.

She nods once. "We're pretending," she whispers back.

"Of course, yes. I wouldn't actually…" I shake my head.

"Fine." Trinity lies down on the moss-covered, leafy ground. We don't have much time here.

"I'm sorry," I tell her as I get on top of her, pulling her thighs up my body. "This needs to be believable," I add, slowly lowering myself until I am touching her. My body is flush against hers.

She makes this little noise like she is in pain. Then she starts panting a little. I think she might be panicking.

"I won't hurt you," I tell her. "Trust me." I look down into her eyes, which hold terror. I'm hoping she isn't afraid of me. That it is the situation. She relaxes some.

"Okay," she murmurs.

"I'm going to have to move…to pretend to fuck you," I say softly into the shell of her ear, feeling her give a tiny shiver.

"Yes…it's fine."

So, I start rocking my hips. My cock is flush against her pussy, but I'm not inside her. I instantly want to be, and I hate the thought. I put my chest to hers. Her tits are big and soft; they press up against me. The small curve of her belly does, too.

Her nipples tighten just as my cock thickens. Dammit! I can't help it. She feels good. I'm a male.

"It isn't real," I say, even though my reaction to her couldn't be more real.

Her eyes widen, and she sucks in a breath. She's panting hard. I'm not sure if it's fear or panic. It sounds like something else.

"Sorry," I murmur. "You're barely audible. Start moaning," I instruct her. "We're fucking," I remind her. "My cock is deep inside you, and you're loving it."

I rub my cock against her, my ass moving up and down so that it will look real to the shifter about to stumble in on us. I lift her legs higher on my body, pretending to drive into her.

Trinity lets out a long, drawn-out moan, followed by a breathy groan and another…and another. Holy shit, but my balls pull tight.

I grunt. I grunt again. She moans louder. It sounds so fucking real that I almost lose my load.

No! Shit!

I refuse to come. I can't! I have to be better than that. Why has it been so long since I was with someone? At least two years. Maybe even more. I've been busy. I've had other things on my mind. Right now, I want to slip inside her and lose myself. I want to make her come. To feel her tighten around me. To hear her cries.

I need to focus. I need to keep my cool and to stay alert. It's life or death for Trinity and possible jail time for me. I would be stripped of my position if I were caught with a Red. I keep thrusting my hips. I'm being as gentle as I can. My cock is rubbing up against her folds. It feels so fucking good.

She groans loudly. "Oh! Ohhhhh!"

Shit, it sounds real. I'm sure it is. I'm hitting buttons even if I'm not inside her. I'm rubbing up against her clit with my cock. Come to think of it, she's suddenly feeling wet as fuck. My dick slips and slides over her easily. If I'm not careful, I'm going to end up inside her. It would be an accident. A terrible accident.

Trinity groans even louder. It's so laced with pleasure that I grit my teeth.

"What the fuck is going on here?" a hard voice says from behind us.

I stop fake fucking and turn my head. I don't get up. I don't lift away at all.

"What does it look like?" I growl. "You're interrupting."

"You shouldn't be out here. Where are your riders?"

"We needed some privacy. Now, if you'll excuse us." I start moving again, sliding my cock over her sweet-smelling pussy. I'm sure the patrol guard will be able to smell it from over there. Musky, tangy, juicy as fuck. Sweet, too, like honey dripping straight from the comb. Golden and delicious.

I grunt loudly, wanting so badly to fuck her for real. "Now, unless you want to…" I grunt. "Watch us come?"

"No…fuck!" The guard sounds tense. "No…um…don't do this again. This area is restricted. You're breaking a whole bunch of rules."

"Sorry!" I grunt, stopping for a moment. "Surely you must understand?"

The male is young. I pray that he's at an age in his life where he would do practically anything for pussy. I know I was there once myself.

He grins and nods once. "Get finished and get out of here. I'd better get back to my rider."

"Understood," I grunt. "Sorry!"

I start moving again. I want him gone. Trinity is groaning with each slide of my cock. Her tits are rubbing against me. Her nipples could cut freaking glass. Her hands dig into me. Her heels are on my ass, urging me on. At least, that's how it feels.

The patrol guard mutters something about not doing this again, and then he leaves. We can't stop right now, though. We need to keep going. He could turn back. He could change his mind. It needs to seem real. I keep pretending to fuck her. My cock sliding over her hot, slick folds. Her fingers are digging into me. Her breathing is ragged.

As I'm about to stop, Trinity's whole body tightens under me, and she groans deeply, shuddering. I feel a gush of wet against my cock as she comes on a loud wail.

Holy shit!

Fuck!

It takes every ounce of strength I have not to come myself. I'm not sure how I even hold back, but I do. I roar with the effort of it. The patrol guard will think I'm letting go, which is a good thing.

I keep rubbing on her until the last of her pleasure leaves her. Her body is vibrating under me.

Then she pushes me off of her. "You bastard," she spits under her breath. "What the hell was that?" she mouths.

I hold both my hands up. "I'm sorry," I mouth back. I look behind me, half expecting the patrol dragon to have returned, but he doesn't. Instead, I hear a crash as he takes off through the canopy. He bought it.

Thank fuck!

Of course he did. The whole clearing smells of sex. Of her delicious-as-fuck pussy. And I'm one hell of a prick. "I'm really sorry," I murmur, looking up at the sky for a few moments.

"You're not." Her face is blood red.

"I swear. I didn't mean for that to happen." I guess my plan was flawed, but it was the best one we had under the circumstances.

"You knew…" She swallows thickly. "You knew I was coming. You knew, and you kept…you kept going until I was done."

"You didn't stop me until after. You could have…should have." I didn't know she was that close. I rub a hand over my face. "You held onto me. You wanted me to keep going. Tell me I'm wrong."

"No, I did not want you to keep going!" she whisper-yells. "I didn't want any of it."

"You wanted me to keep going. Fuck! I didn't know you were going to…go there…I swear. It happened so damned quickly."

Her whole face turns even redder, and she looks away, her jaw tight. I regret the statement.

"I shouldn't have said that, Trinity. It doesn't matter. I really didn't know you were…there, and then you held onto me, so I let you finish. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have. It was wrong! A mistake."

I feel like the biggest prick alive.

"I…" She makes a noise of irritation. "It's just that I'm more sensitive now that I'm pregnant. Everything is just… I… It's also been a while since I last had sex," she blurts. "The combination of a dry spell and being pregnant made me…it… I—" She groans, sounding frustrated. "That wouldn't have happened otherwise. I shouldn't be angry with you. You were trying to help me. I'm embarrassed, that's all. I hate that we had to do that. I hate myself."

"Don't be embarrassed." I shake my head. "It was a normal reaction… It had to look real and…" I frown. "Why has it been a long time? I thought you said you were mated."

"I am! Of course I am," she splutters.

"Why has it been a long time, then?" It is none of my business, and I'm half-hoping she tells me so, but she doesn't.

Instead, she shakes her head. "I…it's… He isn't attracted to me right now. That's all. I mean…" She touches her curved belly and then cups her ripe-as-fuck tits. "My body is changing."

"What?" I growl. "Are you fucking serious? That can't be true. I refuse to believe it."

"It's because I'm pregnant. He's afraid of hurting the baby." I can see that she's lying.

The prick won't touch her because he put a baby in her belly. His baby. It makes no sense to me.

"What the fuck bullshit has this prick fed you?" I push out. "I really hope he tries to rescue you. I will beat him fucking senseless and then torture the fuck out of him for answers. You know he doesn't deserve you, right? You don't have to answer that because he doesn't. You are beautiful and so fucking sexy. I very nearly came all over you not so long ago." I turn and walk away, running a hand through my hair. "Everything I just said is completely out of line, but I needed to say it, anyway. I'm sorry… No!" I pace back to her. "I'm not sorry. I'm glad I gave you an orgasm. You needed it. You would never have come for me if he was doing his goddamned job."

"Let's please forget it ever happened…please." She folds her arms across her chest.

No fucking way I can forget.

I nod, anyway. "We need to go."