by Amelia Jade
“Sir,” she said, getting the major’s attention before he gave his verdict.
“Yes, Sergeant?”
As his aide she was the lowest-ranked member in the room, but her opinion was held in near equal regard by Von Kemp because of her excellence at her job.
“What about if we added something to the barbecue idea?”
“Like what?”
She forced herself to speak. “What about a talent show?”
The room was so quiet she was pretty sure she heard a cricket in one of the corners.
“A talent show,” she repeated. “My grandfather did two tours in the 70s, and at one point his base held a talent show, open to any and all acts. Fellow soldiers would judge, and the winner was given a prize. He won,” she boasted, unable to hide her pride at the man who had raised her as his own. He was why she was in the military now.
Lieutenant Smader scoffed at the idea, but couldn’t put forth any words to argue against it. Captain Lenard was nodding slowly, while the rest of the room waited on the major’s reply.
“Who would actually sign up for that, Sergeant? Isn’t it a little high-schooly?”
She bit down on a smile. They had a base full of mostly young men. A talent show would be just fine. If there was anything soldiers knew, it was how to learn new skills quickly in their spare time. But he was right—they would need to have at least one contestant already signed up. Crap.
“I’ll do it,” she found herself saying, hoping the cringe she felt wasn’t displayed for all to see on her face.
“You? Sergeant? What talents have you been hiding from me?” Von Kemp was smiling gently, letting her know he was happy.
“For that, Major, you’re going to have to wait and see.” This time she didn’t hold back her smile.
“Well, what are we going to do as prizes then? If we’re going to do it, then we must have prizes or nobody will give a shit.”
“Leave,” she suggested immediately.
“I beg your pardon, Sergeant?” Lieutenant Smader sounded like he was ready to tear a strip off her.
“Lieutenant, that’s enough,” Von Kemp said with a tired sigh. “She meant as a prize we give the winning soldier leave.”
“Oh. Yes, I can see how that might be appealing,” the lieutenant agreed, trying to weasel his way out of the awkward situation.
Idiot.
“It would have to be a good sized amount of leave,” she said, ignoring the lieutenant.
“Well, if we’re only awarding it to one soldier, why don’t we make it worthwhile? A full month’s paid leave.”
Linny’s jaw nearly hit the ground. She enjoyed Major Von Kemp as a boss, but he wasn’t very well known for his generosity. Base morale had been low, but even she hadn’t realized it was that low. For him to offer a full four weeks of paid leave was an unprecedented move.
“So two weeks for second place and one week for third?” she suggested, trying to get him while he was in a generous mood.
“Fine, done. For three soldiers that’s nothing.”
She declined to tell the major that groups could enter talent shows as well if they chose to. That would be a battle for another day. Once the prizes had been announced, he couldn’t back out. She’d get a shitstorm over it, but it wouldn’t matter.
The door opened to admit the current onsite dragon rep Aric and his mate and associate, Kaitlyn. She’d interacted with Kaitlyn several times, but only knew Aric on a formal basis.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I needed some extra time to debrief my team after today’s scenario.” His eyes locked on to her, but he said no more. “What did I miss?”
The major’s eyes swiveled her way as well. Linny tried to shrink into her seat, willing her face not to go red.
“We’re having a talent show,” she said, trying to get the conversation back on subject. “And we need prizes.”
“A talent show?” The dragon shifter and his mate slipped into a pair of empty seats.
With Colonel Mara in the field, Aric had taken to attending the meetings, though he rarely spoke up out of politeness to the major. He was simply present in case he was needed.
“Morale is low after the incident with the portal,” Von Kemp said, bringing Aric up to speed. “We need to raise it.”
“Right. Sounds good. How can I help?”
Linny thought the major was going to have a hernia all of a sudden as he hemmed and hawed over his answer, sounding very much like he wished to say something, but was too proud to.
“We’re currently exploring options, including a month’s paid leave for the winner,” she said, filling the gap. What the hell was Von Kemp doing? Was he hurt?
“I’d love to include a monetary choice as well,” her boss said at last. “But I don’t think we have it in the budget.”
Ah. Now she understood. He was hoping the dragon might offer to kick in some money. Judging by the look on Kaitlyn’s face, she got it too. This was so unlike the major, but if it was important to him, then it was important to her.
“Any ideas on how we could raise some funds?” She hated to beg, but there was no sugar-coating it; that’s exactly what she was doing.
“Sure, we’ll donate some money,” Kaitlyn said.
Aric’s face screamed “I disagree!” but an elbow to his ribs when he opened his mouth shut him up. “Of course. We’d be delighted to,” he said tightly instead. Kaitlyn just smiled.
Major Von Kemp turned to her. “Excellent. Linny, you organize it.” He waved off her protests. “Find someone to help you, since I guess you’ll want some time to practice your act as well, whatever it is.”
She grimaced, but nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“The base is in your hands, Sergeant.”
Great. Not only had she just been roped into running the show, but she was also expected to perform! It wasn’t the pressure from her fellow soldiers that weighed on her so heavily though.
I won’t let you down, Grampa.
Chapter Three
Rokk
She was out there somewhere, and he was going to find her.
To that end Rokk spent the next two days searching the base, eyeballing every woman he could until a Captain Lenard came up and informed him that he needed to back off, that he was making some of the women uncomfortable with his scrutiny. The captain, apparently head of security for all of Fort Banner, had been extremely polite, but also firm.
Now all Rokk did was wander. He didn’t stick his nose into every hangar, building, or office. He simply wandered the base, trying to catch sight or smell of his mate. That hundred grand was as good as his.
“Pyne doesn’t stand a chance.” His lips parted in a broad smile, revealing even rows of pearly white teeth that looked straight out of an orthodontist’s “after” pictures.
Taking another dragon’s money was sweet on several levels. Taking it when it was essentially freely given was just too good an opportunity to pass up! Soon he would have both his mate and a perfect present to give her as the beginning of his spoils. What good was treasure if he couldn’t spend it on his mate!
He slowed his leisurely stroll as he approached the community board outside the primary above-ground barracks. A soldier in a standard green utility uniform was using pushpins to put up a large colorful poster. Rokk usually had little interest in what the soldiers did in their off time, but this one was large, covering much of the board.
Other soldiers slowed as they went by as well, everyone slowly crowding in for a better look, though there was a conspicuous space around Rokk. If he noticed it he didn’t show it to them, walking over to study the sign up close.
“A talent show?” He tapped the shoulder of the soldier putting it up.
“Yes, a talent show.”
“What’s that?” He’d never heard the term before.
“How do you not know—” The angry retort died as the soldier turned to face the assumed idiot and realized who he was addressing. “A talent show is where people g
et together and compete against one another while demonstrating their own unique talents. Singing. Magic. Other more unusual skills. Anything at all, really.”
“Ridiculous,” Rokk muttered. “Sounds like a beauty pageant for grown men.”
The nearest group of soldiers snickered, some of them nodding in agreement.
“Any of you going to participate?” Rokk asked, looking around. “What are your talents?”
They all shook their head.
“Nobody is doing it. That’s about what I thought.”
Rokk was going to grill the soldier some more, just to make him pay for his initial attitude, but something on the poster caught his eye. “Is that true?” he stabbed a finger at the section in particular. “Did he really offer to do that?”
“I…I guess? I don’t know, dragon sir.”
“Just Rokk,” he said, waving the title aside.
“I don’t know, Rokk. I was just told to create the poster and put them up. That was part of what I was told to put on it.”
A smile spread slowly over Rokk’s face. Several of the soldiers nearby shifted uneasily and stepped back.
“Well then. If that’s the truth, where do I sign up?”
“Hangar 14A.”
Rokk lifted his eyebrows, and in response to the unspoken question he received a pointed finger in the direction he was to go.
“Thank you.”
He left the poster and soldiers behind, heading straight for hangar 14A, his face permanently pulled back in a smile. That big idiot! Now Rokk was going to take another dragon’s money as well. How much sweeter could life get? A hundred grand from his idiot twin brother, and then another twenty-five thousand from Aric? How the hell had they managed to convince him to put up such a prize for the contest?
It didn’t matter. That money was as good as his.
He entered the hangar to see a woman holding a clipboard addressing two other soldiers, before pointing for them both to go have a seat. Her back was to him, but he could see that she had a taller build, suitable to being a soldier. Her shoulders were broad, but even through the loose-fitting green uniform she wore it was obvious she tended toward a muscular build and not bulk.
“Is this where I claim Aric’s prize money?” he asked, coming to a halt a step behind her.
A brown ponytail shot through with red swished as the owner jerked her head. “Yeah. Take a seat over there. The presentation will start soon, and then after if you still want to participate you can formally sign up.”
Never once did she turn or look at him, but she didn’t have to. Rokk was thoroughly entranced by her voice. It was soft and smoothly spoken, reminding him of the feeling of velvet against his skin. Yet it was decidedly familiar too. He frowned in concentration, thinking furiously as he tried to locate the memory, to put a face to her name. She was bent over her clipboard and scribbling notes furiously and not paying attention to him.
That was rude, but for some reason he just didn’t give a shit about that. All his attention was wrapped up in her voice.
“You can go sit down now.” There it was, the same silky smooth voice, but this time it wasn’t soft anymore. She’d somehow hardened the exact same tone into a sword, wielding it like a master duelist. Rokk felt himself moving to obey without asking himself why he was letting a tiny human order him around.
“Anywhere in particular?” He answered with a question hoping to hear more of this magical, entrancing voice, but all he got was a shake of the head.
That wasn’t enough. He needed more. Craved more. “Are you giving the presentation?”
Nod. Scribble. Scribble.
“Then maybe I’ll sit in the front row.”
She sighed the sigh of a woman who was tired of such blatant male interest. Wrong move on his part. Still trying to decipher where he’d heard her voice before, Rokk moved to the seats. He initially thought about sitting in the front row, but didn’t want to seem too aggressive. Hiding in the back in embarrassment was also not who he was.
The second row it was. Enough to know he couldn’t be pushy, but still close to ensure she got the point that he wasn’t going to go away quite so easily. Not until he’d listened to more of her voice. He sat back, trying to see more of her face besides the light-skinned cheek and ear that were visible from his seat.
“Turn this way,” he muttered to himself, ignoring the look of the soldier several spots over and one row back shot his way. Look up. Please.
At some unspoken signal she suddenly slammed the pencil onto her clipboard and walked to the front of the rows of empty chairs. Then, and only then did she look up as she began to speak.
Rokk didn’t remember a single word she said, though he did find himself floating along with her voice, even if he didn’t know what it was saying.
The only word he could hear was the one reverberating inside his skull, chest, and between his legs all at the same time.
Mate.
Chapter Four
Linny
“All right. Listen up and listen good. I’m going to have to give this prewritten speech a dozen times over the next few days I’m sure, and that makes me mad. So I’m not going to repeat myself for any of you windbags who feel the need to interrupt. Got it?” She crossed her arms and glared out at the crowd, quelling any outbursts as she locked eyes with the ones she deemed the most likely to offend.
Most everyone knew who she was. Although she only ranked as a sergeant, her position as aide to the base commander gave her authority far above her position, especially in an atmosphere like this where it wasn’t strictly on-duty soldiers. Only one of them didn’t respond the way she hoped. The dragon sitting in the second row looked out at her, his eyes wide, jaw slack, and an expression of wonder plastered on his face.
Instantly her warning signs went off. Red arrows appeared in her imagination, pointing at him while screaming the words “Trouble!” at her.
“Since you’re all here, I’m going to assume you read the poster. We’re having a talent show. Anyone can enter as long as they can demonstrate some sort of talent. There are prizes to be won as well. Good prizes,” she added. “Anyone not read that part?”
A pair of hands went up.
“Idiots. Okay, real quick. Your choice is monetary or administrative. The former is a tier of fifteen, ten, and five thousand dollars for first through third. If you choose the other option, you have one month, two weeks or one week of paid leave available to you. Is that clear?”
All the heads except for one nodded. Again it was the dragon. He was still staring at her. The intensity of his gaze was starting to give her the shivers. She tried to look away from his face, but she kept getting pulled back. He had a square, blocky face with a strong, wide chin and prominent nose and cheekbones. Thick-looking skin and a large mouth gave him the quintessential Nordic male model look.
Which made sense because he was from across the pond. The hair was the only thing that didn’t portray the stereotype. The straw-blond coloring was missing. Instead, slate gray hair was styled upward with a soft product that didn’t’ make it appear too spiky.
He was gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful, and Linny had to fight hard to keep her gaze roving, because it always seemed to move back to him, like a magnet that wouldn’t let go. Blue eyes glinted out from underneath thick eyebrows.
“The rules of the contest are as follows…” she went on, already tired of giving the speech even though it was only her second time.
She wondered who the dragon was. It wasn’t Aric; she knew him because of his recent stand-in for Colonel Mara. That meant he was one of the others, the twin brothers. She came up with the name Pyne fairly quickly, but the other kept eluding her. She tried to focus on it, to remember what it was, but it escaped her.
Either that or I can’t focus on anything but his face. I should know this. I ran the exercise with them the other day too!
She finished explaining the rules. “Now, has anyone not signed up with me?”
The on
ly hand that went up was the dragon’s. Dammit. Why hadn’t he had the decency to come at a time when she was busy and could have just handed him the form and had him fill it out while she did other things?
“Very well. The rest of you, get practicing. Competition starts soon. You,” she jabbed a finger at the dragon. “Come see me to fill out your information.”
He grinned. Not a smile of agreement, but a full-fledged grin, eagerly showing his interest in coming to see her. She could read him like a book; it wasn’t even hard for her. Great.
“Name’s Rokk,” he called out in response. “But okay.”
Rokk. Now she had him placed. He was the twin that had given her attitude in the simulator the other day. How could she have forgotten his name?
Her eyes met his as he approached, giving her a vivid reminder of why her brain had lost its normally ordered approached to everything. Great. Every time he even turned his head in her direction she made a fool of herself by forgetting everything, including where she was. Now he wanted to sign up for the talent show. Which meant dealing with him more often.
“Lucky me,” she said under her breath.
“Why are you lucky?”
Oh for… “Listen,” she growled. “Just because you have super-hearing doesn’t mean you should use it to intrude on other people’s private conversations.”
The big man frowned, looking to her left and right before peering over her shoulder. “Who are you having a conversation with?”
Linny grit her teeth. “Never mind.” She had to force the word out.
“Okay then, Sergeant…” he peered at her chest. “Cantor.”
She wasn’t bothered by that action. There wasn’t anything there for him to check out. Linny worked hard for her career, but she’d paid the price. Her body was all hard edges and flat lines. She missed the softer curves she’d had before joining up, as wild as that sounded. Or crazy. Nobody believes me when I say it. They just dismiss me and say that I should be lucky to look the way I am.
