Lost souls 2, p.1
Lost Souls 2, page 1
Lost Souls
Book 2
Shawn Keys
For more information about the Author,
Visit:
https://authorshawnkeys.wixsite.com/website
Cover Art by:
Patrick Ventura, Concept Artist/Illustrator
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https://www.artstation.com/pxvx
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Edited by: Rose M. Reynolds
Originally Published by Shawn Keys
Copyright © June 2023
ISBN: 978-1-990164-29-3
Prologue
Tighe Collins let out a derisive sniff across the bridge of his heavy frigate. Since his prey was flitting over the horizon, his focus was primarily on the camera repeat. Their ship’s low-velocity drone was buzzing in an orbit over the hobbled corvette he was targeting. “You’d think they would have learned the word for ‘surrender’ by now.”
“We don’t know it in their language,” pointed out Nora Tallice from her vantage at his elbow.
Tighe glanced over at his executive officer. “We’re the conquerors. They learn our language, not the other way around.”
“Make all the multiverse Pravallus?” Nora asked with a slight smirk.
The captain caught the historical reference. It wasn’t from their world’s past, but he had heard the sentiment echoed in the history books from a dozen different worlds where ‘England’ had arisen and dominated the oceans for a period of time. “Misgivings on our mission?”
Nora wasn’t fooled by the casual way he slid that question into the conversation. She was too experienced an officer to show any surprise or visibly scramble to cover her mild gaff. With a deliberately mocking snort at the very idea, she replied, “Of course not. We’re within weeks of winning the war for this world. I’m just not looking forward to the months of integration and rebellion suppression. Always a grind.”
Although she was new aboard, Tighe had been impressed with the exec’s performance from the start. He decided not to dig any further. If he uncovered any fracture in her loyalty to the Dominion’s leadership, he’d be forced to send her for reeducation, meaning it would cost him another month training a new Second-in-Command. She’s willing to put forward a good front. That’s enough for now. At the end of the tour, I’ll pass a strong hint to the shore authorities. They can delve into her past then and consider if she needs to be removed.
The combat circuit to the CIC came active. “Captain, this is the OpsO.”
In true battle stations, Tighe’s proper place was down in the operations room where he could fight any opposition more effectively. But this was little better than pirate hunting. They were running the local corvette down, and their target didn’t have the technology to put up a reasonable fight. They would die from beyond the range of their own weapons. Tighe felt comfortable with the small communications lag that came from him being on the bridge where he could watch the action out the windows. He keyed the mic on his handset. “Go ahead, Cyrus.”
His use of first names was deliberate, meant to show he was at ease. It was a different sort of trap, and the OpsO didn’t fall into it. The officer at the other end of the line tried to be exactingly professional. A small undercurrent of genuine excitement still came across. “We have a flash update from DASER Watch Post 32. Relay has already been sent to the Flag Ship. But we’re the nearest unit, so we are copied on it with appropriate crypto privileges to read it.”
“Content?” Tighe inquired. His blasé attitude slipped a little. This was new. Anything new and out of the ordinary was good.
“Massive DASER signal recorded. Latitude and Longitude place it less than 200 nautical miles from our location.”
The OpsO’s unofficial qualifier caught Tighe’s ear. “Massive? That’s hardly scientific.”
“A displacement field somewhere between 1 and 2 kilometers at best estimate.”
Nora let out a low whistle. “That’s a monster alright.”
The details already had Tighe’s brain turning. I want this one. I always miss out on the best hunts. This one’s mine. I’m in the perfect spot for it! He growled into the handset, “Gun crews, stand by for sinking of our current target. I want an efficient fire for effect as soon as we are inside maximum effective range.”
“Missiles, Sir?”
“Save them. If I have my say, we’re going on an extended deployment.” He looked to the Officer of the Watch. “All ahead flank, Sublieutenant Coreman. I want to be sending out ranging shots within the next five minutes!”
The young officer gulped, then proceeded to give the orders and calculate the new intercept course at the higher speed.
Expecting his orders to be carried out, Tighe shifted to look at the comms desk. “Communiqué to the Flag. Send to Rear Admiral Faust that Larrawa will investigate DASER signature at indicated Lat/Long. Intend pursuit if warranted. Will leave marker buoys on each world to enable follow-up investigation. Message ends.” He waved. “Send it.”
“Yes, Sir!” the junior signalman chirped before getting ready to transmit. He took a few added passes at the structure to ensure it was right. An error while connecting a ship’s captain to the Admiral could lead to very bad consequences.
“We’re going?” Nora asked softly, keeping the conversation semi-private so it wouldn’t seem like a challenge to her captain’s authority.
Tighe returned a cold smile. “Chasing down rabbits is one thing. This is a proper hunt. We’re not going to pass this up. Talk to me about resources.”
“Our replenishment from the supply ship brought our food to full. Fuel at 93%. No large mechanical issues. We’re about as solid as we can be for a venture like this.”
“Tell the crew. We’re going to find this wayward monster and strip every bit of tech we can off it.” Tighe’s chill smile spread further into one fit for a shark. “If I do this right, a promotion and cruiser command are as good as mine.”
Chapter 1
James Rearden had always considered himself a spiritual man. He often had difficulty putting a name to his faith. In the span of his life, he had never been witness to a miracle or any sort of religious phenomenon to grant him insight beyond anyone else in the world. When he had first seen Vérène Monet naked, he had considered it as transcendent a moment as any mortal person could ever hope to experience. Now, with her straddling him naked, he realized he was wrong. This was far, far better.
The French woman emitted a throaty laugh as she finished sinking down on his shaft. Her fingertips traced up her own side and slid into her platinum blonde, pixie-cut hair. She played with the strands, closed her eyes and cooed in utter satisfaction as she felt him filling her inside. “Mmm, mais oui, c’est exactement ce que je désirais.”
He didn’t speak the language, but the melted silk of her purr mingled with the eager way she squeezed the molten silk of her sex around him was all the translation he needed. She was beautiful as she danced above him, rolling her hips in the first movements of their coupling.
Letting out a deep groan as he felt her clench all along his cock’s thick length, James pushed his own hips upward, plunging in and out of her as his hands grasped her thighs. Yet as lovely as he found her creamy skin under his touch, his focus never wavered far from the sweet perfection of her gently bouncing breasts.
Full. Pert. Firm. A natural bobbed shape that begged to be taken into his palms. He was fully entranced as Vérène arched her back slightly, an obvious effort to make the gorgeous mounds that much more prominent. It was a gift, and he took it willingly. Despite the view, he was unable to resist the urge to touch. His hands flowed up her legs, over her womanly hips and then along her trim waist until he cupped the ridges of both his thumbs and forefingers under the lower swell of each breast.
He paused there, enjoying the soft pleasure of her mounds smacking gently against the back of his hands, lifting and falling in time with her sensual rocking motions. When he couldn’t take it any longer, he swirled his hands to take more of her flesh into his grip.
That drew another satisfied purr from his French lover. Her ocean blue eyes opened, turning down to fix on him with simmering heat. “Do you like them, mon cher Capitaine?”
She was teasing him, he could tell, even as she was goading him on. His terse answer came in time with a grunt of effort as he thrust into her a bit harder, meeting her descending form with enough added vigor to prove he meant it. “Yes.” His fingers massaged deeper into her breast flesh, soft enough not to hurt, yet firm enough to ensure she felt each one keenly.
Her own hands washed down over her neck and covered the backs of his own, holding them in place against her. “Would you like to know un petit secret?”
Her use of French had grown more frequent as their play had become more intimate, and her accent had grown thicker. Once again, he figured out her meaning easily enough. “Mm, you know I would.”
“Those I’m with always like them.” Her naughty smirk wasn’t arrogant, merely aware of her own qualities. “But the truth is, I love to have them played with nearly as much as it must amuse you to do so.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.” Her hands squeezed his, encouraging them to keep up their fondling. Her already firm nipples grew harder against his palms. “They are so sensitive. It makes everything else sooo much better.” Her hips shifted into a slow, decadent swivel as she stirred h is cock inside her, emphasizing her point with her whole body.
Good Lord, she knows how to move. James sucked in a hissing breath as a powerful wave of sensation tore into him. It began in his cock but blasted up his spine and through his whole body. He fought off the urge to succumb, wanting this to last longer. She wasn’t making it easy.
James decided to fight fire with fire. She’d given up her secret. He saw no reason not to give her an immediate return on her investment. Tightening his abs, he curled his back until he was sitting and gathered Vérène in his arms. His hands made way for his head, and he took great pleasure burying his face between her twin, glorious mounds.
He set his mouth immediately to work, kissing in the valley between. His tongue drew heated lines from one spot to the next. Making no rush of it, he climbed to the tips and devoured one nipple after the other, sucking each between his lips and raking his teeth in love bites meant to spike flashes of pleasure-pain right to her brain.
She reacted exactly as he wanted. Her head fell back, surrendering entirely to his feasting mouth. She vibrated against him, shivering hard in clear proof that her breasts were every bit as sensitive as she’d been hinting. “Mon Dieu,” she moaned, wrapping her hands around his back and head to pin him to her chest. “Mm-hmm, like this. Keep doing this. Oh, James, j'en veux plus!”
Normally everyone called him Jim, but the sound of his proper name in her French accent gushing off her lips as Vérène came apart was poetry. She drenched his shaft in wet heat as she clung to him, every muscle tense as ecstasy swept her away on its wings. He held her close, pumping a few deep thrusts into her sex as his mouth played over her breasts for a few final seconds to prolong her joy.
She announced her return with a seductive purr. Her one hand gripping his head became a caress that wandered through his short brown hair cropped into a military style. “Perhaps you could remain here forever?”
“I just might.” He chuckled, then drew a nipple back between his lips for some affection. His cock continued to throb with her, demanding a return to the urgent business of finding release.
Feeling the pulsing member inside her, Vérène issued a sultry laugh. “He’s impatient, isn’t he?”
“He wants what he wants.”
“And if I offered to lay him between them?”
In his slightly sex-drunk state, it took James a few seconds to sift through what she meant. When he clued in, he pulled back, arching his neck to look up at her, searching for if she was serious.
Her wicked smile was his reply. “Would you like to finish between my breasts, James?”
He rumbled approval from deep in his chest.
Behind him, her hands snatched at the pillows and quickly built them into padding for his back. Then they glided to his chest and pushed him down. James went to his elbows until he was sure the pillows would brace his weight. That created some separation between them.
In that space, Vérène took up a bottle of oil lotion they had used for back massages in the early phases of their fun. She upended it and squirted a generous helping over her cleavage, which was already shining with the moisture of his mouth and tongue’s wandering. Capping the bottle, she discarded it and set about spreading the oil. She left a generous amount to run in thick rivers between them in readiness for what was coming. “What do you think?”
“Looks like heaven’s waiting.” Her whole act was another gift, and James accepted once again. His gaze never left her slick breasts as they all but glowed in the room’s low light. For right then, nothing else existed outside the bubble of light cast by the nearby lamps, and the center of that existence was his lover’s offered flesh.
Absorbing his worship as if addicted to it, Vérène flexed her legs and lifted herself off his shaft. She let out a soft sigh of regret as he departed her heat and then crept backward down the bed. Her firm breasts soon hung on either side of his cock, still slick with her cum and twitching with need. She melted down around him, bringing her hands to either side of her mounds so she could press them in and create the friction he desired. Those rich blue eyes of hers sought him again, piercing right to his soul. “Allez, James. Fuck my breasts.”
The texture of her wet flesh around his cock was already insanely good. He reached down to help steady her, grabbing hold of one shoulder while his other hand slid around her head. A single experimental thrust was pure bliss. Not merely for the sensation of his length gliding in her oiled valley. Her breasts were the stuff of legend, undoubtedly noticed and hungered over wherever she went. Having the privilege of having his cock nestled between them was like tumbling into bed with a movie starlet who’d decided to give a lucky fan the night of their life.
He went slow at first, sampling her reaction. But Vérène wasn’t about to let him get away with that. Her tongue swept out to moisten her own lips so they shone cherry red in the same light. “J’ai dit ‘allez’, James. I won’t break.”
“Yeah, but I might never be the same.” James returned a wry laugh and then yielded to the hunger she was trying to provoke. The second stroke was better than the first, and the experience only got better.
Vérène wasn’t passive. She adjusted as he found his rhythm, finding the best way to keep the friction tight while letting him glide smoothly through the tunnel she was creating. She began to breathe heavier, opening her lips in a lovely ‘O’ while emitting lovely pants of enjoyment as she drank in his building lust.
It was all crafted to wreck him, and it worked like a charm. He went over the edge like a train over a cliff, clenching his teeth and riding the bliss right into near oblivion. Vérène didn’t let it end quickly. As his body stiffened, she read what was coming. She used her legs to stroke up and down with her whole body, prolonging the sensation of being thrust between her breasts while adding the benefit of her body writhing along his.
When he surfaced again, his French lover remained stretched out along him. They were a joined, sticky mess of oil, perspiration and naughtier juices drawn from both of them, and nothing short of a long, hot shower was going to see them put to right. Neither of them seemed inclined to move. They clung to each other as their breathing slowed. That took longer than expected, as having her naked breasts swell against him again and again was enough to keep his passion lingering.
From her lounging chair against the far wall, Izabel Silva took a long sip of the white wine in her glass. She unfolded her lean legs on the ottoman in front of her and then recrossed them, a gesture with the sole purpose of dispelling some of the sexual tension that had built up inside her as she watched. “You two… are unbelievably sexy.”
Vérène gave a low, sleepy laugh. “Glad you read that invitation I left for you?”
“Glad that I believed it. I knew we all agreed to share Jim between us. I didn’t expect you’d be so generous on your first night with him,” Izabel admitted, one of her hands tracing idle circles over one of her own breasts through her silk blouse.
“Like I said, I like to be watched,” Vérène murmured, nuzzling into the crook in James’ shoulder.
He gave her what she obviously wanted, curling an arm around her to run caresses along her back. “Never thought I’d miss leaving an apocalyptic wasteland. But we’ve certainly embraced the idea of rest and relaxation.”
Izabel rolled her shoulder in an amused shrug. “I’d sign on for staying here if I believed I could advance my research without further data sources. But we need DASER jumps so I can see the variables change. I need to see the fundamental elements of matter and life in the various worlds so I can determine which ones are unique to each. That’s the only way I can match us to our home.”
There were times James wished he had never heard of this ship and its associated Dimensional Artificial Singularity Energy Reactor project. While his career in the Royal Australian Navy had hit a few snags, it had remained promising enough to give him hope for a reasonable future. Enough to be proud of his service for the rest of his life.
Even after being exiled by an angry fleet commander to an obscure duty with the United Nations, he’d been confident his road back into the good graces of the Admiralty was only a matter of time and good performance.
