I wasn't going to leave her alone. I was going to bother her, and I was going to enjoy it.

Godfrey lay on her bed as I entered the room. She was dressed seductively for a siesta. I wondered how many days she had waited on her bed for me. She wore a nightdress that left nothing to the imagination. The material shimmered and was transparent, revealing dark, large nipples and proof she was a natural blonde.

Her hair was down. I had never seen her looking soft and vulnerable before. She was a good military general, but right now it was easy to forget her rank. She was all woman, and I couldn't look away from her nipples, which had hardened into tight buds.

She wanted me.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to come here. I take it you've decided to show me your stamina?" Godfrey said, her voice sounding as seductive as her body looked. I had suppressed my attraction to her before, but now I let it rise, and felt my cock do the same. I was going to fuck her hard. It had been too long since Terra left, and my body needed a woman.

There was an unusual sensation at the back of my mind. Was it guilt? I was doing what Terra had done to me. Cheating. It was merely sex. It wouldn't mean anything. I didn't want to think about what would happen to our relationship if we both had sex with other people. Consequences were meaningless. Destiny called me, and nothing would stop me.

"I have," I said, moving towards her.

To my surprise, she backed away as if she wanted me to chase her. Did she wish to be prey? This human had never seen a Surtu hunt before. I stalked across the room towards her. Her strange, violet eyes grew excited as she stepped back away from me.

The room wasn't large. She soon reached a window on the far wall. It faced the paths leading to our dwellings. I grabbed her arms and lifted them above her head.

I pushed her against the wall beside the opening - there was no glass in the windows - and pinned both her small hands with my own. She gasped and arched her chest towards me.

I kept her hands trapped above her head, causing her ripe mounds to jut out at me, begging me to taste them. Feeling lust overtake me, I bent my head and sucked one pert bud through the thin fabric. Godfrey moaned and pushed her chest out for more. I circled the hardened tip with my tongue, making her pant.

"Yes," she whispered. "I've waited for this moment ever since I set eyes on you."

I felt satisfaction. I knew Terra was experiencing the same pain I had felt when she kissed the other Surtu. I was willingly pleasuring another woman, and that should rip her heart out, just as she had ripped out mine.

My other hand lifted Godfrey's thin nightgown and found her sex. She was soaking and slippery, and I found myself wanting to take her.

I lifted her up and set her beautiful round ass on the broad sill of the window opening. She unzipped my pants, and my cock sprang free, eager and swollen with need.

At that moment, I looked down to the path and saw Lucina staring up at me. It was obvious she knew what I was doing.

I ignored her and slid my finger up inside the slim blonde woman who constantly moaned now. She pumped her hand up and down my cock. I couldn't wait much longer.

My heart felt hard and broken. I was angry with Terra, and I wanted her to feel my suffering. But I still felt guilty about what I did with Godfrey.

Terra would never forgive me.

"Jidden, I need you to fuck me now," she said.

We were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ignore it," Godfrey said. "Put it me, Jidden."

She was desperate, but I froze as the knocking sounded again. Whoever it was, she was insistent.

"Fuck me, Jidden. That's a direct order," she said.

"You're not my superior, Godfrey," I said. I was surprised at how the wrong words from the wrong person could have a dramatic effect on me. I felt both my rage and my lust disappearing. I pulled my hand away from her, wiping it absently on my pants. I knew the knock was my chance to stop and regain control of myself. It was my opportunity to cool down and remain faithful to Terra. No doubt my encounter with Godfrey had hurt her enough.

Godfrey made a sound of frustration, but I couldn't help her anymore. I zipped up my pants and turned my back to her.

"I'm sorry, Godfrey," I said, walking away to the door. "I thought that I could do this, but I can't."

"You bastard," she spat out. "The Surtu are weak and cowards. You can't get me all worked up and then leave me."

I turned back to look at her.

"Yes. I can. I have to. You don't know anything about me."

"But..." she sputtered.

"You should answer your door. It might be an emergency."

She stormed off into her bedroom and was back in a moment wearing cargo pants and a cropped T-shirt. She threw open the door.

"What?" She bit off the word, and I pitied whoever was on the other side of that door. "What do you want?"

"Uh," I heard a soft voice say from the door. It was Lucina. "I was looking for Jidden. Is he here? He's needed back at his ship. There's a problem."

"You've got to be kidding me." I thought Godfrey's head might explode with anger. "Someone else can fucking deal with fixing his Surtu flashlight!"

"No, they can't," Lucina said in a stronger voice. "He's needed now."

I stepped forward.

"I will come with you, Lucina." I glanced at Godfrey. She stood silent but seethed with rage. "We're done here."

I followed Lucina onto the hover lift and down to the ground. I noticed she had combed and braided her golden hair, which was unusual for her. It appeared Lucina was making progress in overcoming her sorrows. I had seen her eating, and she had come to train with me three times so far.

Terra would be pleased. I didn't want to think about Terra and what I had done to her.

"You know Terra's going to kill you, right? She's an expert in Surtu assassination," Lucina said. Her anger displayed itself in her quick steps. I was not to have any respite from my guilt, but I was unwilling to admit anything to the tiny blonde who was Terra's best friend.

"What did I just do?"

"You just did Godfrey," she said, turning to me with flashing eyes.

"And how do you know that?" I said. My voice was cold and filled with steel. How dare she accuse me?

"I saw you, Jidden. Don't try to pretend you weren't having sex with Godfrey."

I forced myself to remain calm. Lucina was Terra's friend, and she was right. A moment earlier, I was about to fuck Godfrey. I had no right to be angry with her. Lucina had saved me from committing a terrible mistake.

"I was going to have sex with her, Lucina, you're right," I told her, determined to be honest with myself. "But I didn't."

She placed a hand over her heart and huffed out her breath. She closed her eyes in relief as her shoulders sagged.

"Thank goodness. I honestly thought you had cheated on Terra." She stopped.

"Well, I didn't. Thanks to you. You interrupted us just when I was about to..."

She held up one fragile-looking hand.

"I don't need to know, and I don't want to know," she intoned. "It's enough for me to be aware of what you didn't do, and up to you and Terra to decide what you will do together.

"What did you need, Lucina?" I said. "Other than to save my integrity from being compromised?"

Her demeanor changed from innocence to intensity in a heartbeat. "Come with me to Earth. Terra needs you."

I remembered the image of Terra in the arms of another man. If I had been with her, the incident would never have happened. She had asked me to come several times. If she were not a warrior, she would probably have begged me. I had sensed the constant conflict in her up until the day she left me.

"Come back with me on the next rescue ship, Jidden," Lucina pleaded.

Terra needed to follow her destiny, but she wanted me by her side, and I had stayed here alone. I abandoned my mate when she needed my help and support. What kind of a Surtu was I? Terra required me, and I hid at the refuge, looking for prestige when I should have remembered that my love for Terra was more important than having men to command.

I had lost sight of what was essential. Terra and I were light bonded, and we had sworn to stay together. I should never have broken my word to her by remaining apart when she felt the call to return to Earth.

I made a decision. I nodded, and I felt elated. Soon I would be reunited with my light-bonded.

"You are right," I agreed. "Yes, Lucina. I will go with you."

TERRA.

"I've got bad news, Terra," Daniel said. He had caught up to me in one of the tunnels of the outpost's caves. We stayed here with part of the resistance.

"What is it?" I said, my heart dropping. I tried to harden my feelings so additional losses wouldn't hurt as much. "Have they found Mom and Dad? Are they alive?"

"No," he said, forcefully. "I'm sorry to have worried you. It's not that kind of bad news. The Surtu have captured more Earth women. They plan to have a grand light bonding ceremony. Surtu males will join with many women simultaneously."

"Oh, no," I said, thinking of Lucina and Kalij. An asshole Surtu had claimed my friend, and being light bonded to him would have been a living hell. Although Kalij was dead now, there were other human women destined to be light bonded. Their mates would be aliens they didn't love. Many human lives would be ruined forever because the Surtu were a dying race, and their females couldn't bear children anymore.

"We have to stop it," I said.

"We will. That's why I brought it to your attention," he said, his face solemn.

"Where will it be held?" I asked, and Daniel named a city.

"Speaking of Mom and Dad, we have found them, in a way. The Surtu are holding them in the same town as the light bonding ceremony. Once we accomplish our mission, we can begin the search for our parents."

I couldn't speak as my heart filled with emotion. I thought with longing of the mother who had kissed me goodnight and simultaneously trained me to be a warrior. I hadn't seen my parents for a long time, but I would find them and rescue them, no matter where they were in the city. Once we saved the women, I wouldn't let anything deter me from my quest.

Our ships set down in the woods. The sweet smell of the forest calmed me as I prepared my mind for battle.

"Let's go, Terra," Bellona said. "You're with Juventas and me."

"I'll tag along too," Kylu offered with a smug smile. "Human women work best with a Surtu protecting them."

Bellona looked him up and down with disdain.

"The boy can come," she said to me. Then she looked directly at Kylu. "Try not to slow us down too much."

She stalked away into the fading light. She disappeared in an instant, always the assassin.

Kylu raised his eyes at me.

"Who was that?"

"That," I said, poking him in the chest. "Was the Red Assassin. You don't want to piss her off. Don't kid yourself - we don't need your protection."

"You could use a big strong guy like me, cupcake."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Kylu. You might come in handy. You can heal us if we get injured. Prepare yourself. The battle is about to begin."

My offhand remark was incorrect. We missed the fight altogether.

As we stole into the city, there was no sign of any ceremonies. We learned from a member of the network - the Surtu who were helping the humans escape - that the light bonding ceremonies took place the day before.

The members of the resistance gathered in a park, just as we planned it. We wore civilian clothes. Some of us were in groups, looking like we were having parties or picnics. Couple sat on benches and individual people read or lay on the grass staring up at the sky. We all had concealed weapons and were ready to fight.

Today, there would be no battle. "But we were told explicitly that the ceremonies would be today," I insisted. Our contact shrugged.

"I guess you got some incorrect information."

Bellona and I looked at each other. We slowly looked at all the members of the resistance and came to the same sickening realization.

Instead of being liberators, we were going to be conquered. It was a trap.

I gave a signal to retreat. My party started heading towards the entrance to the park. Slowly, to prevent attention, people began to leave. I knew they would continue a slow exodus over the next few minutes. Without drawing any notice to themselves, we would retreat, and meet back at a rendezvous point.

As we reached the entrance to the park, it suddenly filled up with Surtu soldiers. At the front was someone I had hoped never to see again.

It was Captain Fore, the man who had enslaved me.

"Terra Lynch. You're a difficult woman to find, but we managed to track you down. And you're with my son. I hope you're finally coming back to the right side, boy."

"Never," Kylu said, his voice tight with anger.

"I tried," Captain Fore said mildly. Then he ordered, "Take them out."

The Surtu had blasters, but we had numbers on our side, and my warrior sisters of the Fortuna were ready to fight. I was confident our combat training could turn the tide in this battle.

Without warning, the resistance fighters prepared for battle. They revealed hidden weapons and the Surtu had a fight on their hands. I was glad I would have a chance to draw blood. I had been hiding for too long.

I engaged with an unarmed soldier, and we engaged in combat. I thrust a dagger into his ribs. He died looking surprised, but I didn't spare him a thought; I was already looking for my next victim.

As I glanced around, I realized we were winning, and Fore was nowhere in sight. Perfect. The Surtu were quickly becoming overwhelmed by the resistance fighters. When I scanned the park, I saw groups of people fighting. Time after time, the battles resulted in resistance fighters defeating their Surtu foes.