Page 15 of A Mate For Matrix
“You know you are talking out loud, don’t you?” Matrix commented.
Jana squeaked and jumped in surprise, dropping the lettuce she was holding. Matrix stepped forward, closing the space between them before she realized he had moved, and caught the lettuce midair with one hand—and her chin with his other. She blinked when she felt warm lips against hers.
His kiss was brief, burning, and left her rooted in place like he’d flipped some cosmic switch inside her.
“I’ve never had a female tell me that I can make her panties sizzle before,” he muttered in a gruff voice before he stepped away. He gave her a crooked smile, then turned away. “I need to check on our transport and scout the area.”
“Okay,” Jana whispered, watching as he placed the lettuce on the counter before pushing open the screen door and stepping out.
“He likes you,” K-Nine commented as he stepped into the kitchen.
Jana turned and scowled down at the wolfhound. “Where are the kittens?” she asked, deciding to ignore the question glimmering in K-Nine’s eyes.
“Sleeping in their bed in the living room,” he replied. “Do you find Matrix attractive?”
Jana paused as she set the items she was holding down on the counter. She stared at the picture hanging above the sink, Follow your heart and you’ll always be at home. She swallowed and nodded.
“Not that it matters. I doubt he’s staying long, and I don’t think a long-distance relationship would work.” She snorted, but then her gaze softened on the back door and she continued. “Still, he’s different. Duh, right? We are literally worlds apart. But I do wish…” She shook her head, clearing her throat. “I’m just an ordinary girl from the backwoods of Michigan. How could someone like him be interested in me?” Her lips twisted, and she glanced back down at K-Nine.
K-Nine released a soft sneeze and walked over to the door. He pushed it open with his head before holding it in place with a broad shoulder. Turning his head, he looked back at her.
“You are perfect the way you are, Jana,” K-Nine replied. “You are also the first female ever to knock out Matrix. That might be a first for a Zion warrior. I can’t wait to share that with the rest of the unit.”
“Go help your friend,” Jana scolded, turning away. She glanced over her shoulder at the huge wolfhound who was anything but normal. “And don’t you dare tell anyone about me knocking him out. Something tells me that he might not appreciate that very much.”
Jana ignored K-Nine’s gruff chuckle. Instead, she turned back to the task at hand. She gently ran her tongue over her lips, remembering the feel of Matrix’s firm lips against hers. A grin curved her mouth as she began preparing their meal.
He could make my panties do more than sizzle. He could melt them right off, she thought as she began to hum under her breath.
Chapter Eight
The Crawler moved underground, snarling in frustration when she became entangled in the roots of another large tree. She snapped and clawed her way through, driven by instinct and fury. She’d sensed the beacon’s pulse the instant it ignited. It had pulled her away from her intended course: toward the life forms a short distance away.
She had fought against the pull, but she had been programmed to seek and destroy the beacon. It meant danger—the seekers were here. She could not feed until they were eliminated. She surged upward through the choking mix of dirt, roots, and stone.
Using the dozen enormous legs attached to her underbelly, she pulled herself out of the hole and shook. Her six enormous eyes scanned the area and documented the terrain. The hard, interconnecting plates that made up her back rolled together.
Turning her head, she scanned slowly from side to side. Her head froze when the signal from the beacon pinged against the sensitive receiver embedded in her skull. She barely had time to lock onto the signal before it disappeared. No matter; she knew the direction now. She calculated it would take at least a day to tunnel beneath the tangled forest.
She would need to be cautious. The seekers always traveled in pairs, her internal memory informed her. The emergency signal meant the seekers had become separated and could not communicate. The signal usually showed that one of them was injured. It was her chance to terminate it before she began feeding. Once she had eaten enough food to sustain her, she would lay her eggs.
She remembered the guards were always in pairs and always alert. She had learned that when she killed one guard escorting her. Others had quickly come and drugged her. At the place with the dark rock, she could not dig to escape because the ground there was impenetrable, but here, she would have the advantage.
Twisting around, she crawled toward the hole she had created. She closed thin, translucent inner eyelids over her eyes to protect them. Back in the hole, she began digging and ripping through the ground again. Soon... soon her species would populate this world.
“Admit it, you are attracted to her,” K-Nine said, following Matrix as he moved to the back of the transport.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been with a female,” Matrix grunted, pulling open the cabinet.
“She’s different from any of the other females you have bedded. I could feel your instant attraction to her. Zion males instinctively know when they meet their life mate,” K-Nine insisted. “Jana has a beautiful heart. She took in the kittens, and she took care of me.”
Matrix threw K-Nine a heated glare. “You could have taken care of yourself. And for your information, it isn’t scientifically proven that Zion warriors immediately recognize their life mates. As with any other species, if we see something pleasing, we are bound to be attracted to it,” he retorted, gripping the medical kit in one hand and slamming the cabinet door with the other. “I can’t believe you were distracted by a… what did she call it?”
“A squirrel,” K-Nine said with a tilt of his head. “It was small, fast, and had been teasing me for quite some time. I would have caught it if that transport hadn’t come around the curve when it did.”
“You are lucky you have a reinforced frame and the repair bots could fix the internal damage,” Matrix pointed out.
“Changing the subject won’t work,” K-Nine said dryly.
