The range ran almost the full length of the building—nearly one hundred and fifty meters from one end to the other—though it was only fifteen meters wide. Its dark gray walls were constructed of a material similar to that found in mostcombat armor, meaning they would absorb and disperse energy from plasma bolts and physical projectiles rather than deflect them.
The stalls lined up on this end of the range were empty, their control panels switched off, and the chamber was so quiet that Drakkal could hear the faint rustling of his fur against his clothing. For some reason, this room had always seemed lonely to him. Perhaps it was its size—it suggested wide open space without truly providing any, and that tease was enough to rouse Drakkal’s old desires for fields and forests, for fresh, warm breezes and endless skies.
But none of that mattered now; Shay wasn’t here, which only left one other likely place. If she wasn’t there, he’d have to tear through the entire building one room at a time, disregarding the quiet, rational part of his mind that insisted such a search was impractical and inefficient.
He exited the range and turned left, settling his gaze on the entrance to the simulation control room. There was a sign near the entrance that indicated the individual simulation chambers with a square and a number in Universal Speech for each one. All twelve of the squares were red except for chamber one, which glowed green, meaning it was in use.
Drakkal walked forward and turned into the long corridor than ran along the shooting range’s outside wall. The doors and view windows to the simulation chambers were lined up along the right side. He stopped at the first chamber and turned to look through the wide, one-way viewing window.
Shay was at the center of the chamber, standing on an omnidirectional moving floor that was currently hidden by the holographic simulation she was running—a simulation which, for her, was fully immersive and surrounded her completely on all sides. The window allowed Drakkal a clear view, cutting outthe hologram that would’ve run along that wall from her perspective.
It was almost like watching a movie, though no movie had ever drawn Drakkal in as quickly and thoroughly as this.
His attention, not surprisingly, was consumed by her. Her blond hair was pulled up in a messy bun that barely kept the numerous dangling, rogue strands out of her face. Her skin glistened with perspiration, and her tank top—which revealed her graceful, faintly toned arms and shoulders—was damp with sweat. Its fabric hugged her body, molding to her breasts and her rounded belly. Her pants were just as form fitting.
Drakkal couldn’t help but notice there were no lines denoting the presence of undergarments beneath those leggings—the generous, natural curve of her ass was his to devour with his eyes. He groaned low, and his cock throbbed, suddenly straining against his pants.
How many times had he imagined taking Shay by her hips as he pushed inside her hot, welcoming body? How many times had he imagined her skin sweat-slickened like this as their bodies joined and their breaths mingled?
Fuck, how have I focused onanythingelse since I brought her here?
The answer to that was in his heart, nestled deep but not hidden—hehadn’tfocused on anything apart from her for a month now. Since the moment he’d first locked eyes with her, Shay had been his only concern, his only goal, his only drive, and everything else he’d done since that night at Foltham’s manor was lost in a fuzzy haze of memory. He knew he’d worked, knew he’d handled business, but he’d retained none of the details.
Oh, but I can recall every detail of her body beneath those clothes, right down to the tiniest blemish.
He’d seen Shay fight during her brief scuffle with thesedhi on the street corner days ago, but that had offered only a hint of her training and discipline. She’d said her father had taught her, that he’d been a military man. Drakkal believed it as he finally forced himself to watch not just her body but the way she moved.
She held a training auto-blaster at the ready, its stock tucked against her shoulder. The weapon couldn’t fire live plasma bolts, but it operated like the real thing within the simulation—and it could be modified both physically and functionally to mimic the feel and characteristics of real weapons. The auto-blaster looked natural in her hands, especially paired with her confident stride.
Though she remained in place at the room’s center as she walked, the holographic corridor moved around her—and now that he was paying attention, he realized that corridor bore a striking resemblance to the halls of this building.
A deep, pulsating ache ran down his arm from elbow to fingertips—down hisleftarm, which he’d lost a year ago in defense of his then-home. That place had been like this one in many ways, and Drakkal had been mistaken to think it secure. He didn’t want to consider the possibility of an attack on this building, especially not while Shay was here, but he had to. That was his job. If he ignored the worst-case scenarios, he couldn’t keep his people safe. He couldn’t keep Shay and her cub safe.
He absently flexed the fingers of his prosthesis and returned his attention to his mate. Though her movements were occasionally awkward—undoubtedly because of her rounded belly—he could see the muscle memory behind each one, the skill that could only have come from extensive practice. She moved through the holographic hallway methodically, checking her corners and keeping alert, eliminating threatswith speed and precision, often before her simulated foes could react.
And as minutes passed, her shoulders and chest began to heave, her reaction speed gradually slowed, and frustration hardened her expression.
She came to an intersection in the corridor, always a dangerous spot in combat situations, and paused for a second to catch her breath. The delay was a second too long.
Two of the doors directly ahead of her opened, and two featureless enemies stepped into the hallway. Shay raised her gun and fired. The simulated plasma bolts struck the enemy on the left side of the corridor, but the gunman on the right fired before she could take him down.
The gunman’s plasma bolts—a bright green produced by no real blasters—struck Shay in the chest. She flinched, face paling, and staggered back a step.
Drakkal’s heart leapt, and his body reflexively jerked toward the window, claws splayed. He stopped himself before he struck the glass. Tension had that quickly claimed his every muscle, and his thundering heart refused to immediately slow.
Just a simulation. She’s fine. Wasn’t real.
But it had looked real—real enough to push him to action based on instinct alone, real enough to heat his skin and twist his insides.
The holographic corridor flashed red a few times, and an alarm wailed briefly before everything faded away, leaving Shay in the center of a square, ten-by-ten-meter room with black walls and dull white overhead lights.
She shouted something Drakkal couldn’t make out—though the movements of her mouth indicated it had been the terran word forfuck—and bent forward as far as her belly allowed, bracing her auto-blaster across her thighs as she panted.Droplets of sweat trickled off her nose and chin and fell to the floor.
Though his heart hadn’t slowed, and his chest was still tight, Drakkal’s dipped his gaze to appreciate the way her position pulled the fabric of her pants taut around her thighs and ass. He didn’t have adequate words to describe her beauty. And even if it had been a simulation, even if she’d technically lost, seeing her move like that—seeing her fight like that—was fucking hot.
He couldn’t hold himself back for another moment; he stepped to the door and entered the simulation chamber.
Her scent permeated the air within, washing over him in a cloud of sundrinker perfume and sweet, tantalizing sweat, undoubtedly fraught with her irresistible pheromones. His cock, already erect and confined, swelled impossibly—and painfully—further.