Page 1 of Sevan
Chapter One
Sevan moved slightly, getting a better angle on the beauty below him. He wanted to merge with her forever—become one body, one soul. She drove him that crazy. That mad with raw need. He spent his days thinking of her, wanting to be asleep so she’d visit his dreams once more. And he spent his dreaming hours in what could only be called a lucid state—feeling as if he were totally awake, but knowing better. He never wanted to wake. Not if it meant she’d be gone, and it always did. Anymore, he wanted to remain in bed, tucked away in his quarters.
His rank in the Commission as a captain and special operative guaranteed his private quarters were larger than most. He’d come a long way from the overcrowded barracks he’d first lived in when he’d joined up to serve. As he trailed a line of kisses over the woman’s neck and upper chest, he was thankful for the privacy he now had.
Not that privacy mattered much in a dream. Sevan didn’t want to think what it looked like to anyone who might be watching him sleep, especially with how erotic his dreams had been lately. He probably looked like a teenage boy having a wet dream.
The dreams felt real.
They always did.
He was very thankful his room was his and his alone. Every detail of his captain’s quarters was there, in the dream, just as in his waking hours. While he could smell the woman’s fresh scent, he could also smell his quarters, and could hear the faint white noise that pumped out over the sound system on the ship. It was designed to help him rest better. Hell, he could even feel the temperature regulator as it kicked on, heating or cooling the room as needed.
Yet, he knew he was dreaming.
The beauty beneath him, Lorelei, had visited him in his sleep now for months, and although he’d come to understand that he’d wake to find his bed empty and the raven-haired goddess only a memory, he still caressed her tenderly. It didn’t matter that he was dreaming. For the time being, she was his, and he’d use that to his full advantage.
He’d use her to his full advantage as well.
Never had he known pleasure such as this, and he knew he’d never know it again—outside of his dreams. He circled Lorelei’s belly button with his tongue as he looked up the length of her perfect body. Letting his gaze linger over her ample breasts and dark nipples, he could find no imperfection. She was exactly the type of woman he’d always wanted. As if she’d been made just for him—meeting and exceeding all his fantasies.
Your mind knows what you like, he thought. What your body craves.
The fates themselves must have taken pity on him, blessing his sleeping hours with a woman who felt like his mate in every way. Loving someone wasn’t an option for him or others like him—the ones who carried supernatural DNA. Thankfully, Sevan’s blood carried so little that the Commission’s rigorous screening didn’t catch it. Only he and his family knew the truth of the matter.
It had scared his mother when he’d decided to join the Commission. When his twin brother made the same decision, their mother had been beside herself with worry and fear. They were putting themselves at risk, but they still felt the calling to serve.
If Sevan or his brother, Jordan, dared to take wives, or mates as supernaturals called them, and attempted to have children, no one could be certain how much, if any, of their supernatural traits the children would receive. As Commission operatives, they were already on the radar of those who could do them harm. Having a family and serving wasn’t an option.
At least not for them.
Already one of their cousins who had even fewer traits than Sevan had given birth to a son who could shift forms, leaving the cousin and his family no choice but to go into hiding. Jordan and Sevan had helped to facilitate their going underground. They’d helped the family disappear so that they could live together. Had Sevan and his brother not intervened, the Commission would have taken his cousin’s family and, if they were lucky, they’d have been placed on outlying space colonies that weren’t fit for life. If they weren’t so lucky, and the truth of their DNA was discovered, they’d never be seen or heard from again.
The Commission’s reach was deep and their willingness to do anything to maintain full power knew no end. It didn’t help that their propaganda techniques had made most of the universe unsafe for supernaturals. That was the reason why Sevan and Jordan had worked so hard to become part of the division of the Commission that dealt with supernatural infringements. If they were the operatives handling matters they could lessen the risks to their kind. They could get the supernaturals to safety and fudge records. But they weren’t the only operatives and their ship wasn’t the only ship tasked with hunting supernaturals. And most Commission members could not be trusted because most didn’t carry supernatural DNA and live in fear as well.
It was a dangerous time to be different. Advances in science made it harder and harder to hide the truth. Sevan, like all born on Earth, had learned the tales of what had happened after the discovery that supernaturals were more than a myth, they were a reality. The year had been 2055 and shortly after supernaturals were discovered to be real, witch hunts began to rid Earth of them. It didn’t take long for war to break out.
And as always, there were no real winners in war.
Human numbers dwindled, as did supernaturals. In an effort to preserve life, the supernatural community banded together and agreed to leave the planet—to start anew on planets not under Commission rule that would support life and help them repopulate their numbers. The great exodus was remembered by many names. Some called it Project Exorcism because they viewed supernaturals as demons and had been happy to rid themselves of them. Others termed it Interstellar Alphas.
No matter the name, the end result had been the same. Five extra-large space vessels, each crammed past capacity, had set off from Earth, but only one arrived at its chosen destination. The others were thought lost during the meteoroid shower that occurred shortly after takeoff.
If humans learned their efforts all those years ago had not been totally successful in ridding not only the planet, but the Commission controlled part of the universe of supernaturals, there was no telling the lengths they’d go to. With over a hundred and fifty years having gone by since Interstellar Alpha occurred, space travel was no longer new, and the humans’ numbers were no longer small. The battle would be epic, and in the end, Sevan doubted there would be any survivors.
He sighed as he mindlessly kissed Lorelei’s smooth skin. As much as he wanted only to think of her, he could not shake the thoughts of mating from his head. He wanted what the dream was offering but in real life. A woman who felt like his mate and a chance at a family.
He’d never be that blessed.
Even if Sevan found a woman who didn’t want children, she wouldn’t be his mate, and he’d never be able to explain away some of his oddities. Like how at random times, or when under extreme stress, his eyes tended to shift colors. How when in heightened states he would growl or roar like an animal. He’d never be able to explain away his extreme stamina or strength either. All things a human simply did not possess—at least not to the degree Sevan did.
He’d been smart and had organized a crew for his ship that was comprised of many people like him—people who were more than human. There was an underground network that did their best to protect supernaturals. Sevan, his brother, and their crew were part of it.
The irony was, he wanted everything he couldn’t have. A wife. Children. A family. He longed for them. Longed to have one woman who was his and his alone. One who made him feel whole. Who made his beast feel sated. Just as Lorelei did. He wished she were real and that he could sire sons upon her and walk through the remainder of his life with her by his side.
That wasn’t to be.
For one, she wasn’t real.
