Chapter 16 Craze

Our group doesn't speak for two days. We use hand signals to communicate, though it takes some time to find ones Titans and humans can agree on, and stay close at night. Navi sleeps inside the curl of my body. My brothers protect the other humans. Shavih and Jeela keep Eliana between them while Axe, RamBash, and Macabre take the outside of their cluster. And it seems Tangle's Tingle was more than a theory. Aeri has slept in his arms both nights.

We survive on welvir jerky, dried berries, and the canteens of water we fill in the mountain creeks. The wind is cold, but Navi keeps me warm with the occasional smile and a tap to check on Ranger. But there's not much progress yet.

I break protocol one time and ask as quietly as I can how long it takes for the reboot to happen.

She pulls me close until I catch the scent of berries on her breath. Navi presses her lips to my ear. "I wish I knew. I was unconscious. Shavih would update me after my sessions. My best guess would be three to four days. But that's for a splay. I don't know about a CyberTitan core. I don't even know if it will work, honestly."

Macabre hisses at us from around a boulder. When we are quiet, he points ahead. The building is dilapidated and looks forgotten. We haven't seen activity at it in two years, so it seems like a reasonable option.

We line up along a trail with a sharp drop off to one side. Macabre leads the pack to the place where the mountain's shelter disappears, then he motions for us to wait.

Macabre drops to all fours and slinks out onto the gravel pad surrounding the building then creeps around it. Minutes later, he steps out of the front door and motions us inside.

I scan the mountain path behind us, keep Navi in the shield of my body, and hustle across the landing with the group. The moment we're inside and the door is shut, everyone unloads their gear and slumps with exhaustion. I'm relieved to be protected by walls again and rest my brother, Ranger, on a desk.

Axe points out a small window toward the complex far below. He lifts a set of binoculars to his eyes. "They've got several crews out there. Looks like they're unloading crates of some kind."

While my brothers discuss the plans with Shavih and Jeela, I find myself zoning out and thinking about the female next to me with pale blue irises and a weary, almost dejected look on her face.

"You okay?" I quietly ask. "I don't want to go into this full force if you aren't ready."

She licks a lip and looks through the window at the compound. "I don't know."

I think there's something she isn't telling me, so I guide Navi into a neighboring room and shut the door. "What's on your mind?"

Navi pushes me back until I'm leaning on a desk. She swipes up a paper from a stack and hands it to me. "Everything could be a trap. Sevrin is psychotic, but he's intelligent."

The design plans are dusty and old but look similar to the new tower the Solcrue built. I notice a few blocked off underground passages around the complex that might serve as decent ascent options if RamBash is up to punching through.

As I study the diagrams, the buckle on my belt unsnaps.

I move the paper aside and look down to the tight feeling at my crotch. Navi glides a warm hand up my erection then nibbles my chin.

"What are you doing?" I whisper. "This is dangerous."

She nips at my bottom lip as she unzips my cargo pants. "All the more fun to think we might get caught . Besides, I don't want to run this mission without returning your favor, just in case."

"Don't say it." I'm begging because I can't stand the thought of losing the only person who understands my level of loss.

"Okay." She grins, pulls my rigid titanhood free of my clothes, and gives it a full length lick. The pulsing rush she evokes makes my ultromotor lurch into Burst Power mode. I grip the edges of the desktop to steady myself and try to contain my surging energy.

Navi sneaks a hand under my balls and gives them a gentle squeeze as she swirls her hot, velvety tongue around my tip. I flex in her grip as her other hand slides up and down my shaft with scorching effectiveness.

"Navi, you don't have to—" No battle or injury has ever left me as breathless as her touch.

She takes me into the heat of her mouth, pushing me closer to my tipping point with every massage of her full lips. I've never felt such consuming need before, and it makes me want to never let her be touched by another. It feels selfish, but I don't care.

Navi's fingers begin a rippling pattern in sync with each bob of her mouth over my swollen cock. She slips over me then sucks and tightens as she back off like she's trying to drink me in.

Fuck me.

It's too much.

I grunt as my balls tighten and heat surges through me.

"Navi—"

She deepthroats my cock, thrusting me into an orgasm so primal and invigorating that I know I never want another female except her. I strain to rein in my desire to pump too hard. Titans can be brutal on the battlefield. I do not want to hurt my tiny female as I gush into her.

Navi slurps me up like she's starving, squeezes my balls, and glides a thumb up my shaft, taking every last drop.

I pant as the jolts of climax ease, and Navi licks me clean.

"Ooh, wow," she coos as she straightens herself and touches her lips. "Really minty. I like that."

"Must be the nanosolution. Mine is really strong." Tucking myself back in my pants, I zip up and click my buckle back together.

I draw her against me and kiss her hard. The mint in her breath is strong. But when I try to remove her cloak, she giggles and leans back.

"What, you don't want me to give you another ride?" I ask. I want to. I'm already getting hard just thinking about it.

She takes my hand and guides it inside her cloak and down the front of her pants. As I slide my fingers into her folds, I discover just how hot and wet she is. Then she tugs my hand out. "Don't need it."

Navi got off pleasuring me? I lick my finger and savor her musky nectar. "Another time then?"

As she smiles, the wall behind her bursts. Concrete crumbles and showers the room. Claws of a hoverdrone cinch around her waist as I lurch forward, scrambling to hang onto her.

"Navi!"

"Craze!" Her fingernails claw into me. But the fear in her eyes is what tears me apart.

Flaming bullets pelt my chest and shoulders. My nanos surge to the front-facing panels of my synthskin, bolstering my natural armor. I run and hang onto her wrists, but the force of the rapid fire bullets is too great. I'm beaten back by hot, heavy rain.

I can't see through it to fire back, and I don't want to hurt the one I want to call my mate.

I should've asked her. But I don't need her permission to know she is the one I want. The only one.

I crouch in the dirt, arms covering my head as the assault threatens to bury me.

The hoverdrone races over the cliff, finally out of firing range. I get up and sprint after them, but the vessel is faster than I am. Navi is gone.

Her screams fade as she whizzes down into the valley, far away from me. Macabre slides to a stop beside me, out of breath, rifle humming and ready. Axe and Tangle are right behind him with weapons of their own.

"How did they find us?" Tangle swears a blue streak that reflects how I feel. "We were so careful!"

I look over the edge and consider jumping. I've taken a fall from much higher up with little damage. But the other patrols that converge on the hoverdrone below suggest I'm too outnumbered to make it far.

"I just want to know why they took her and not the rest of us." Axe scans the area. "Doesn't matter right now. We need to move. They know we're here."

"Where can we go?" Tangle asks.

"We need Jeela." I turn back for the building, where RamBash stands guard outside. "There are more buildings we can access. I saw them on the map."

"Brother, slow down," Macabre calls. "We need to get under cover and rethink our plans."

I pry up a board in the floor and find a vent shaft like I saw on the new compound's plans. I clear the area until the door is accessible, then hop down inside the crawl space of the building and lug the door open. Below is a series of carts. "Who's up for a rollercoaster?"

"What's that?" Jeela asks.

"Ancient human technology that was supposed to be for fun," Macabre explains. "Not sure that's as safe."

"Looks risky," Tangle mutters.

"It's an old terraforming transport system." Desperation knots my insides. I don't care how dangerous it is. "I'm going after her because she stood up to Tav. She faced her own death, fighting for her people, her friends."

I grab the release handle of the cart. "We need that kind of dedication if we want to win this war and take back our freedom."

Aeri climbs into the second cart. Tangle jumps in beside her.

Shavih glares down at us. "Fooling around takes your mind off of priorities."

"Yeah," I admit with more force than I intended. "It also gave me memories to hold onto and a more personal stake in this war."

"You—love her?" Shavih asks as the others load in the carts behind mine.

"I guess you could say I'm crazy about her."

Tangle grips my shoulder and gives it a reassuring shake. I'm with you. Let's go get your mate.

Axe and RamBash click that they agree.

"In or out, little lady." Macabre grabs the hatch door.

Shavih jumps down into the cart beside him. She crosses her arms and huffs. "We cannot get distracted when survival is on the line. We lost friends that way."

Macabre closes the overhead door, pins it shut, and props Ranger's body up inside the cart. "Many of our kind knew only servitude, Shavih. They died never knowing love. Do you really wish that for us?"

Macabre's defense of my behavior surprises me, but I agree with his point. I have fresh conviction and now know my place in this war. I am no longer just fighting because we are the losing force, because my Brothers are dying at the hands of the enemy. I do not hunt Solcrue because that is my job.

They have taken the one thing from me that matters more than any of the rest of that shit. They have taken my purpose, my female.

I engage the leaver, and the string of carts roll down the track, picking up speed. "I don't want to go back to knowing what life was like before her—without her. Just the thought scares me to death."

If I don't get her, I might actually lose my mind.