“I have to believe they won’t hurt her,” Eve said. “These warriors are tough, but they’re noble and protective, as well.”
Lara hoped Eve was right. “You happy?”
Eve smiled. It was the biggest smile Lara had seen on her sister since they’d lost their dad so long ago. “I’m insanely happy. Davion is…”
When her sister’s voice trailed off, Lara nodded. “Yeah. I know exactly what you mean.”
“I never thought about love, Lara. Never found anyone who made me feel anything remotely like Dav does.” She paused. “A part of me always worried that if I did find someone, that they’d leave me. Like Dad. Like Mom.”
Lara nodded. “And I never wanted anything to do with love. After watching Mom—”
“You are not Mom,” Eve said emphatically.
“I know. But seeing what love did to her, how it messed her up, I just always thought love wasn’t worth the risk.”
“And now?”
“Caze is worth anything.”
Eve smiled, shaking her head. “The Traynor sisters in love.”
“Who would have thought? Wren will find it highly amusing.”
“She will.” Eve’s smile faded. “But we still have to deal with the Kantos.”
“Fucking Kantos.”
Eve’s face hardened. “We find Wren, then we show those bugs that they picked the wrong damn planet to invade.”
“Hell, yeah.” Lara looked forward to kicking some more Kantos ass. “And the Eon king is committed to helping us?”
“The new king is doing things his way. Dav assures me that he’s a good man. He’s made a treaty with us—”
“And made you Ambassador Eve Thann-Eon.”
Eve groaned. “Yeah, don’t remind me.” Then a wicked grin crossed her face. “You realize that you’re now Lara Vann-Jad.”
Lara’s mouth dropped open. Hell.
Eve bumped her shoulder against Lara’s before her face turned serious again. “With the Kantos attacking Davion and then stealing the sacred gems, King Solann-Eon is furious. He, Davion, and I’m sure Caze, are pretty damn motivated to shut the Kantos down.”
Good. Lara stared out at space. With the full might of the Eon Empire behind them, they could do this.
Again, her thoughts turned to Wren. We’ll find you, Wrenny.
The door opened and Davion and Caze strode in.
Lara’s gaze went straight to her man. God, he was so delicious.
“We’re so damn lucky,” Eve murmured, her gaze locked on her mate.
“I never thought we’d meet men like them.”
“Smart, easy on the eyes, good in a fight,” Eve said.
“And damn good between the sheets. And on them.”
The sisters laughed.
The men’s gazes sharpened on them. As Lara watched Caze stride toward her, she saw a man who loved all the parts of her—both the soft and the sharp ones. A man who respected her, supported her, loved her.
Eve was right. They were so damn lucky.
Caze wrapped his arms around her. “The look on your face is worrying me.”
Lara smiled. “Nothing to worry about, hot stuff. Just admiring my mate.”
There was a flash in his eyes. “I heard you left some warriors grumbling and tending their injuries.”
“They underestimated me.”
Caze smiled. “Then they deserved their bruises.”
“I seem to recall that you underestimated me once or twice.”
“I learned my lesson.” He stroked his fingers along her jaw. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”
“Where have you been?”
“Organizing a little surprise for my mate.”
Another gift? She smiled. “More lotion? Some new, scrumptious foods for me to try? Not more clothes, I hope. Our closet is already bulging. I don’t need more robes or lingerie, Caze.”
“Davion and Brack helped me install a bathtub in our washroom.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. Damn, she felt a burn in her eyes. Her mate, a man raised to be a warrior to the exclusion of all else, had just installed a bath tub for her on a warship. “I love you.”
He smiled. “I know.” He stroked her cheek. “I know you love having a bath and have been missing it.”
“You’re stuck with me now, Caze.”
“Then it is a good thing I love you and I’m never going to let you go.”
“That’s lucky, hot stuff. Because I’m holding onto you forever.”
Her mate wrapped his arms around her tighter and leaned down to kiss her. “Forever.”
It could be a day, a year, or a lifetime, and it didn’t matter. She knew their love was a solid, steady thing that would never break. It would sustain and support them.
As Caze’s mouth meshed with hers, it made Lara realize just what forever felt like.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed Lara and Caze’s story!
Eon Warriors continues with Heart of Eon starring computer expert Wren Traynor as she faces off with the Eon warrior whose warship she’s hijacked, War Commander Malax Dann-Jad. Coming April 2019.
For more action-packed romance, read on for a preview of the first chapter of Gladiator, the first book in my best-selling Galactic Gladiators series.
Don’t miss out! For updates about new releases, action romance info, free books, and other fun stuff, sign up for my VIP mailing list and get your free box set containing three action-packed romances.
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Preview: Gladiator
Fighting for love, honor, and freedom on the galaxy’s lawless outer rim…
When Earth space marine Harper Adams finds herself abducted by alien slavers off a space station, her life turns into a battle for survival. Dumped into an arena on a desert planet on the outer rim, she finds herself face to face with a big, tattooed alien gladiator…the champion of the Kor Magna Arena.
* * *
Just another day at the office.
Harper Adams pulled herself along the outside of the space station module. She could hear her quiet breathing inside her spacesuit, and she easily pulled her weightless body along the slick, white surface of the module. She stopped to check a security panel, ensuring all the systems were running smoothly.
Check. Same as it had been yesterday, and the day before that. But Harper never ever let herself forget that they were six hundred million kilometers away from Earth. That meant they were dependent only on themselves. She tapped some buttons on the security panel before closing the reinforced plastic cover. She liked to dot all her Is and cross all her Ts. She never left anything to chance.
She grabbed the handholds and started pulling herself up over the cylindrical pod to check the panels on the other side. Glancing back behind herself, she caught a beautiful view of the planet below.
Harper stopped and made herself take it all in. The orange, white, and cream bands of Jupiter could take your breath away. Today, she could even see the famous superstorm of the Great Red Spot. She’d been on the Fortuna Research Station for almost eighteen months. That meant, despite the amazing view, she really didn’t see it anymore.
She turned her head and looked down the length of the space station. At the end was the giant circular donut that housed the main living quarters and offices. The main ring rotated to provide artificial gravity for the residents. Lying off the center of the ring was the long cylinder of the research facility, and off that cylinder were several modules that housed various scientific labs and storage. At the far end of the station was the docking area for the supply ships that came from Earth every few months.
“Lieutenant Adams? Have you finished those checks?”
Harper heard the calm voice of her fellow space marine and boss, Captain Samantha Santos, through the comm system in her helmet.
“Almost done,” Harper answered.
“Take a good look at the botany module. The computer’s showing some strange ene
rgy spikes, but the scientists in there said everything looks fine. Must be a system malfunction.”
Which meant the geek squad engineers were going to have to come in and do some maintenance. “On it.”
Harper swung her body around, and went feet-first down the other side of the module. She knew the rest of the security team—all made up of United Nations Space Marines—would be running similar checks on the other modules across the station. They had a great team to ensure the safety of the hundreds of scientists aboard the station. There was also a dedicated team of engineers that kept the guts of the station running.
She passed a large, solid window into the module, and could see various scientists floating around benches filled with all kinds of plants. They all wore matching gray jumpsuits accented with bright-blue at the collars, that indicated science team. There was a vast mix of scientists and disciplines aboard—biologists, botanists, chemists, astronomers, physicists, medical experts, and the list went on. All of them were conducting experiments, and some were searching for alien life beyond the edge of the solar system. It seemed like every other week, more probes were being sent out to hunt for radio signals or collect samples.
Since humans had perfected large solar sails as a way to safely and quickly propel spacecraft, getting around the solar system had become a lot easier. With radiation pressure exerted by sunlight onto the mirrored sails, they could travel from Earth to Fortuna Station orbiting Jupiter in just a few months. And many of the scientists aboard the station were looking beyond the solar system, planning manned expeditions farther and farther away. Harper wasn’t sure they were quite ready for that.
She quickly checked the adjacent control panel. Among all the green lights, she spotted one that was blinking red, and she frowned. They definitely had a problem with the locking system on the exterior door at the end of the module. She activated the small propulsion pack on her spacesuit, and circled around the module. She slowed down as she passed the large, round exterior door at the end of the cylindrical module.
It was all locked into place and looked secure.
As she moved back to the module, she grabbed a handhold and then tapped the small tablet attached to the forearm of her suit. She keyed in a request for maintenance to come and check it.
She looked up and realized she was right near another window. Through the reinforced glass, a pretty, curvy blonde woman looked up and spotted Harper. She smiled and waved. Harper couldn’t help but smile and lifted her gloved hand in greeting.
Dr. Regan Forrest was a botanist and a few years younger than Harper. The young woman was so open and friendly, and had befriended Harper from her first day on the station. Harper had never had a lot of friends—mainly because she’d been too busy raising her younger sister and working. She’d never had time for girly nights out or gossip.
But Regan was friendly, smart, and had the heart of a steamroller under her pretty exterior. Harper always had trouble saying no to her. Maybe the woman reminded her a little of Brianna. At the thought of her sister, something twisted painfully in Harper’s chest.
Regan floated over to the window and held up a small tablet. She’d typed in some words.
Cards tonight?
Harper had been teaching Regan how to play poker. The woman was terrible at it, and Harper beat her all the time. But Regan never gave up.
Harper nodded and held up two fingers to indicate a couple of hours. She was off-shift shortly, and then she had a sparring match with Regan’s cousin, Rory—one of the station engineers—in the gym. Aurora “Call me Rory or I’ll hit you” Fraser had been trained in mixed martial arts, and Harper found the female engineer a hell of a sparring partner. Rory was teaching Harper some martial arts moves and Harper was showing the woman some basic sword moves. Since she was little, Harper had been a keen fencer.
Regan grinned back and nodded. Then the woman’s wide smile disappeared. She spun around, and through the glass Harper could see the other scientists all looking around, concerned. One scientist was spinning around, green plants floating in the air around him, along with fat droplets of water and some other green fluid. He’d clearly screwed up and let his experiment get free.
“Lieutenant Adams?” The captain’s voice came through her helmet again. “Harper?”
There was a sense of urgency that made Harper’s belly tighten. “Go ahead, Captain.”
“We have an alarm sounding in the botany module. The computer says there is a risk of decompression.”
Dammit. “I just checked the security panels. The locking mechanism on the exterior door is showing red. I did a visual inspection and it’s closed up tight.”
“Okay, we talked with the scientist in charge. Looks like one of her team let something loose in there. It isn’t dangerous, but it must be messing with the alarm sensors. System’s locked them all in there.” She made an annoyed sound. “Idiots will have to stay there until engineering can get down there and free them.”
Harper studied the room through the glass again. Some of the green liquid had floated over to another bench that contained various frothing cylinders on it. A second later, the cylinders shattered, their contents bubbling upward.
The scientists all moved to the back exit of the module, banging on the locked door. Damn. They were trapped.
Harper met Regan’s gaze. Her friend’s face was pale, and wisps of her blonde hair had escaped her ponytail, floating around her face.
“Captain,” Harper said. “Something’s wrong. The experiments have overflowed their containment.” She could see the scientists were all coughing.
“Engineering is on the way,” the captain said.
Harper pushed herself off, flying over the surface of the module. She reached the control panel and saw that several other lights had turned red. They needed to get this under control and they needed to do it now.
“Harper!” The captain’s panicked voice. “Decompression in progress!”
What the hell? The module jerked beneath Harper. She looked up and saw the exterior door blow off, flying away from the station.
Her heart stopped. That meant all the scientists were exposed to the vacuum of space.
Fuck. Harper pushed off again, sending herself flying toward the end of the module. She put her arms by her sides to help increase her speed. Through the window, she saw that most of the scientists had grabbed on to whatever they could hold on to. A few were pulling emergency breathers over their heads.
She reached the end of the pod and saw the damage. There was torn metal where the door had been ripped off. Inside the door, she knew there would be a temporary repair kit containing a sheet of high-tech nano fabric that could be stretched across the opening to reestablish pressure. But it needed to be put in place manually. Harper reached for the latch to release the repair kit.
Suddenly, a slim body shot out of the pod, her arms and legs kicking. Her mouth was wide open in a silent scream.
Regan. Harper didn’t let herself think. She turned, pushed off and fired her propulsion system, arrowing after her friend.
“Security Team to the botany module,” she yelled through her comm system. “Security Team to botany module. We have decompression. One scientist has been expelled. I’m going after her. I need someone that can help calm the others and get the module sealed again.”
“Acknowledged, Lieutenant,” Captain Santos answered. “I’m on my way.”
Harper focused on reaching Regan. She was gaining on her. She saw that the woman had lost consciousness. She also knew that Regan had only a couple of minutes to survive out here. Harper let her training take over. She tapped the propulsion system controls, trying for more speed, as she maneuvered her way toward Regan.
As she got close, Harper reached out and wrapped her arm around the scientist. “I’ve got you.”
Harper turned, at the same time clipping a safety line to the loops on Regan’s jumpsuit. Then, she touched the controls and propelled them straight back towards the module. She k
ept her friend pulled tightly toward her chest. Hold on, Regan.
She was so still. It reminded Harper of holding Brianna’s dead body in her arms. Harper’s jaw tightened. She wouldn’t let Regan die out here. The woman had dreamed of working in space, and worked her entire career to get here, even defying her family. Harper wasn’t going to fail her.
As the module got closer, she saw that the security team had arrived. She saw the captain’s long, muscled body as she and another man put up the nano fabric.
“Incoming. Keep the door open.”
“Can’t keep it open much longer, Adams,” the captain replied. “Make it snappy.”
Harper adjusted her course, and, a second later, she shot through the door with Regan in her arms. Behind her, the captain and another huge security marine, Lieutenant Blaine Strong, pulled the stretchy fabric across the opening.
“Decompression contained,” the computer intoned.
Harper released a breath. On the panel beside the door, she saw the lights turning green. The nano fabric wouldn’t hold forever, but it would do until they got everyone out of here, and then got a maintenance team in here to fix the door.
“Oxygen levels at required levels,” the computer said again.
“Good work, Lieutenant.” Captain Sam Santos floated over. She was a tall woman with a strong face and brown hair she kept pulled back in a tight ponytail. She had curves she kept ruthlessly toned, and golden skin she always said was thanks to her Puerto Rican heritage.
“Thanks, Captain.” Harper ripped her helmet off and looked down at Regan.
Her blonde hair was a wild tangle, her face was pale and marked by what everyone who worked in space called space hickeys—bruises caused by the skin’s small blood vessels bursting when exposed to the vacuum of space. Please be okay.
“Here.” Blaine appeared, holding a portable breather. The big man was an excellent marine. He was about six foot five with broad shoulders that stretched his spacesuit to the limit. She knew he was a few inches over the height limit for space operations, but he was a damn good marine, which must have gone in his favor. He had dark skin thanks to his African-American father and his handsome face made him popular with the station’s single ladies, but mostly he worked and hung out with the other marines.
Touch of Eon: Eon Warriors #2 Page 17
