by S. E. Smith
Then Lukas’s smile faded. He narrowed his eyes, his gut taut, his focus on the hills from where the flares originated. Be there, babe. Please. Be there. With the burning hope they would find her waiting safe and sound, he and Bang-Bang sped off toward the black peaks.
From their perch above the savannah, the crew of the Starling cheered when the ship roared back skyward after blasting apart the last of the mud monsters between the Marines and them, allowing the ESF forces to do what they came here to do in the first place—get them the hell home. Wenn gave Carlynn’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now that was some fine flying. Kudos to the ESF Air Force.”
“You know what they say—When you absolutely, positively need it destroyed overnight, call in airpower.” She lifted a pair of binoculars to her eyes. Then her chest swelled to bursting with love and relief as the first of the ATVs approached, screaming across the soggy grasslands, and she recognized Lukas and Bang-Bang riding in it. Thank you. Thank you. She might be proud as heck to be in the ESF Air Force, but her heart belonged to a Marine.
Eight
The closer Lukas drove to the hills, the greater his terror. Was Carlynn safe? Was she gravely injured? Dead? He now understood the full extent of the threat she had faced. Those monsters. It had taken the full firepower of an assault ship to beat them back. Worry clawed at him. He was sick with it.
But the goddamned ATV could only go so fast. He had to steer around charred craters and still smoldering monsters, skirting pools of mud, tall green grass whipping the sides of the vehicle, until, finally, he reached the base of the hills.
He yanked on the parking brake so hard he nearly pulled it from the vehicle. In the pouring rain, Bang-Bang close on his heels, he stumbled up the steep rocky incline, weighed down by all his equipment and what felt like twice normal gravity.
“Lukas!” He jerked his head up at the sound of Carlynn’s voice.
“Baby. Aw, sweetheart,” he gasped as he ran closer. Those were not the words a Marine typically used on missions, but to hell with protocol. The love of his life was fifty feet away up the hill, slipping and stumbling down to meet him, looking just as drenched and filthy and overjoyed as he was. They slammed together, his arms cinching around her, her mouth honing in on the one sliver of his skin not covered by armor, canvas, or weapons. His lips slanted over hers, crushing her close. “Carlynn,” he said, as Bang-Bang ran in circles around them. “Oh, my girl.” They held each other for many long minutes, no further words needed, him soaking in the feel of her in his arms, trying not to crush her small frame, half lifting her off her feet.
Then, shaking with adrenaline and relief, he moved her back a few inches, gripping her sweet, upturned face between his gloves. “I could have lost you,” he said roughly, scraping his gloves over her dripping-wet hair to push it off her forehead, unable to get enough of seeing her, of feeling her, alive and safe in his arms.
“You didn’t. I’m here, Luke. I’m okay—”
“Thank God for that.”
Her coffee-colored eyes glowed as she gazed up at him. His Carlynn. His future wife, if he could manage a second chance with her. “I love you,” he said. “I need you. I never should have let you go.” She reacted with a soft cry, kissing his words away. “I thought I was past it—Glenn-Musk—but falling for you, I fought it all over again. I’m not past it. Accepting that was tougher than any of the battles I’ve faced. If anything had happened to you, and I wasn’t able to tell you that, I’d have spent my entire life—”
She pressed her finger to his lips, water streaming down her wrist and his chin. “Your life is gonna be spent with me. A long and happy life.”
A surge of intense relief flooded him with those words. Life rarely gave do-overs, but he had gotten one with Carlynn. The chance to be an “us” again. Then she kneeled down in front of Bang-Bang, laughing as he exploded into doggy ecstasy, kissing her exuberantly. “Oh my goodness.” She threw her arms around him to hold him still, but a pink tongue flicked over her ear, and that whip of a tail spanked the ground, splashing in a puddle. “Yes, yes, I missed you, too. You were such a good and patient boy, letting me say hello to Lukas first.” She hooked Bang-Bang’s collar and managed to keep him still. The look on the dog’s face was pure joy. “Thank you. Thank you for keeping our promise, making sure Lukas and I found our way back to each other. You’re the best dog that ever was.”
The ground rumbled, and Lukas felt it in his chest. The clouds lit up from within, then the huge, gleaming Maelstrom appeared out of the mist and descended with the falling rain. It touched down at the base of the hills with a spritely grace totally at odds with its hulking form.
“Our ride home,” he told Carlynn, pulling her to her feet. He hardly cared about the torturous journey ahead. He would jump a thousand times, a million, knowing she was safe and sound and back with him.
They picked their way back down the slope as a group, Bang-Bang scampering alongside. Rosalie refused a stretcher but gladly took hold of Sergeant Jones’s arm. The group radiated relief with a somber undertone. Despite Lukas’s bulky armor, he still managed to curl his arm over Carlynn’s shoulders. She acted so brave. Stoic even. Maybe a little too quiet. “We’ll work on things,” he said. “I give you my word. It won’t always be easy. You opened me up, babe. You opened my heart. But it’s opened up other things…”
“I know, Lukas. I know, and I love you. I watched someone die yesterday. You experienced that times fifty. I respect you so much more. I understand so much more. I saw some horrible things, Lukas. Things I never want to think about again. Or see again.”
He immediately stopped, steering her off the path. As the others tromped past them, headed toward the Maelstrom’s gangways, Lukas steadied Carlynn with his hands resting on her shoulders, his focus on her and only her, letting her know he had heard her loud and clear. “It’s still fresh. It’s still right there in your mind. It won’t always be.”
“But what if…I can’t stop seeing it?” she asked, her voice breaking. “Ever.”
Seeing her so cut up inside from the ordeal she had experienced tore his heart. You couldn’t “un-see” horror. He knew that firsthand. But everyone reacted differently to trauma. Her journey to get her life back would be different from his. But it would not be traveled alone. “We’ll get help. I’ll help you. Whatever you need. Whatever feels right. I’ll be there with you every step of the way. It’s no easy fight, Car, I can tell you that. You might lose a few battles here and there, but we’ll win the war. Me and you. We’ll figure this out.” Lukas knew this time they would.
She shuddered and leaned into him, her body relaxing, finally. He slid his arms around her. He knew then that he had said the right words. The words in his heart. “Consider this our hard reboot, babe. We’re back together. Forever this time.”
Tears freely flowing, she tipped her head back and smiled up at him. “Forever. And another forever.”
Bang-Bang jumped up and planted two muddy paws on Carlynn’s hip. She laughed through her tears, kneeling down to hug him. Lukas gazed down at the two beings in the world that had made all the difference in his life. Yeah, forever and another forever was right. And another forever on top of that.
Epilogue
Bang-Bang raced along the beach at full speed as a shadow chased him. The shadow grew closer and closer, bigger and bigger. At exactly the right moment Bang-Bang leaped high off the sand, pivoting in midair to catch the disk his Tall Ones had named Frisbee.
“Woo hoo! Good boy!” his Lukas yelled, before the voice drowned out in the cheers of other Tall Ones. There were so many of them here today for the gathering. By now he had learned all their smells, and which ones were the most reliable for giving treats—the miniature Tall Ones. Many of them surrounded his Lukas now. They were the Tall Ones’ pups.
Bang-Bang had always loved puppies. Their happy noises rang in his ears as he raced back to the group with Frisbee.
“He’s tired, let him rest a moment,” His Lukas said as B
ang-Bang leaned against his leg, panting to cool off, his mouth sandy and salty. His Tall One scrubbed him behind his ears. Both his Lukas and his Carlynn looked different today. His Carlynn wore a fluffy white covering that hid all of her legs and partially her hair. It sparkled like the beads of water on the sides of his drinking bowl. Earlier, his Lukas acted so happy seeing her dressed that way that moisture came out of his eyes—and then hers. His Lukas wore what Bang-Bang recognized as a rarely used covering he had seen stored in their faraway den, one decorated with many shiny objects that his Lukas seemed to value very much. But now the top half of that covering had come off, and his Lukas wore his sleeves rolled up, and the bottoms of his leg coverings, too.
Even Bang-Bang sported a new item for this special day. “You’re the most handsome dog in the galaxy, Mr. BB,” his Carlynn told him when she fastened the new collar around his neck called a “doggie bow tie”. He wore it proudly, prancing to show it off. It was soaked now from the salty water, but his Tall Ones did not seem to care.
Showered by patting, petting, persistent small hands, Bang-Bang followed his Lukas back to the dry area, and to tables piled high with more food. Bang-Bang decided that he liked this new place named Earth.
He nosed the air, detected the flowery scent his Carlynn had used to disguise her own much better smell, then trotted over to her. Her loving hands brushed sand off his fur then she turned to his Lukas—her Lukas now, too—and started to brush sand off him. But his Lukas caught her fingers, and Bang-Bang knew what would happen next. It had happened even more today than usual, the kissing, one time even causing the many Tall Ones gathered here to cheer and clap. “They’re married,” one of them told Bang-Bang. “What do you think of that?”
Bang-Bang thought a lot of anything that made his Tall Ones this happy. Still panting from the exercise, he sat down and watched as his Tall Ones came together, again, their mouths touching for many long minutes.
“I love you,” they told each other. Then they turned to him. “And you, too, Bang-Bang,” they said, beckoning to him. He threw back his head and let out a spontaneous exultant howl that made them laugh in surprise.
Once, Bang-Bang was all alone; he was small, afraid, and hungry. Once, his Lukas was, too. But now that they had each other and their Carlynn, there was warmth, joy, love, and, best of all, hope. He could not wait to see what adventures came next.
Don’t miss The Puppy and The Prince, the companion novella to Stray, featuring Trysh Milton, Vash Nadah Prince Rornn B’lenne, and the starving little street puppy that hid with Bang-Bang under the car. Coming soon to online bookstores everywhere.
Want more frontier space adventure on Barésh and Bezos station? Readers love The Champion of Barésh, a full-length stand-alone novel, available now!
Recipe for Puttanesca Sauce
PUTTANESCA SAUCE (from the kitchen of Cris McKone)
Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti or the pasta of your choice
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 (2 oz.) can of anchovies, minced
Generous pinch of hot pepper flakes, (more or less to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil as needed
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can of Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano), hand crushed, including the juice.
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons capers
1 cup pitted, chopped Kalamata olives
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese to taste
Directions
Boil the pasta while making the sauce but try to time it that the sauce is done first. Better the sauce simmer for a few extra minutes waiting for the pasta than the reverse. Remove the pasta just a little before it is done so you can finish cooking it in the sauce. Sweat the onion, anchovies, hot pepper, salt and pepper in a generous amount of olive oil until the onions soften and the anchovies disintegrate somewhat. Go easy on the salt since many of the ingredients are already salty. Add the garlic and cook one minute more.
Next, add the tomatoes and their juices, stirring with a wooden spoon as you bring them to a boil. Add the tomato paste, capers and olives, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 8-10 minutes. Add the almost done pasta and cook until the pasta is al dente. Check for additional salt and pepper. Finish with the oregano, fresh parsley and cheese and serve.
Also By Susan Grant
Other books by New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Grant
Star World Frontier Series
The Champion of Barésh
The Star Series
The Star King (RITA finalist)
The Star Prince
The Star Princess
The Star Queen
The Lost Colony Series
The Last Warrior
The Borderlands Series
Moonstruck (RITA finalist)
The Warlord’s Daughter
Sureblood
Otherworldly Men Series
Your Planet or Mine?
My Favorite Earthling
How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days
2176 Series
The Legend of Banzai Maguire
The Scarlet Empress
Stand-alone Books
Contact (RITA winner)
Once A Pirate
The Day Her Heart Stood Still
Anthologies
Mission: Christmas (featuring “Snowbound with a Prince”)
Mysteria (featuring “Mortal in Mysteria”)
Mysteria Lane (featuring “The Nanny from Hell”)
Mysteria Nights (combines the Mysteria and Mysteria Lane anthologies)
Acknowledgments
Edited by Mary Moran
Proofread by Deborah White
Military advisor: Jose Clavell, US Army ret.
Stray is the best story it can be thanks to the brilliance and patience of my editor, Mary Moran, the tough love and support of my beta readers (Corey Collins, Carolyn Curtice, and KJ Van Houten), George Meyer and his 24/7 on-call brainstorming, Jose for keeping this Air Force vet on course with Marine Corps details, and Skye, my Border Collie, whose huge heart and almost scary intelligence made it so easy to write Bang-Bang. A special thanks to my wonderful assistant Melissa Deckman of Red Door author services for handling the myriad things that would steal all my writing time, and to Cris McKone for supplying the recipe and the fun history behind Puttanesca.
About Susan Grant
Susan Grant is a New York Times/USA Today bestselling, RITA Award-winning author of science fiction, time travel, and paranormal romance. As a jet pilot and global traveler, she finds plenty of inspiration to create action-packed stories featuring strong women and honorable men.
Visit her blog Come Fly With Me.
Learn more about Susan:
@flyerdreamer
Author.Susan.Grant
www.susangrant.com
Spark of Attraction by Cara Bristol
About Spark of Attraction
Memory: intact. Cognitive function: enhanced. Emotion: erased. After becoming a cyborg, Captain Dante Stone didn’t think he’d ever feel again, until a traumatized young woman and a ball of synthetic fur helped him to love.
One
“What’s the status on the colonists?” Dante asked Lieutenant Commander Lucille Brack when she strode onto the bridge.
“Eleven hundred and fifty-nine perished in the Tyranian attack,” his first officer replied. “Two hundred twelve were rescued from the planet’s surface.”
“We’re sure that’s all of them?”
“Yes, a bio scan has identified all humans, both alive and deceased.”
“How are the survivors doing? What kind of shape are they in?
“Some are handling it well, but others—” Brack shook her head. “Medical is doing their best. The colonists’ problems aren’t physical, but psychological. They’r
e traumatized, sir.”
“They never should have been on Verde Omega to start with. What were they thinking?”
“Probably that the inhabitable planet offered great potential.”
“But it’s too close to Tyrania.” Dante sighed in frustration. Did people have no common sense?
Verde Omega, while technically in Alliance territory, orbited on its far-flung edge, bordering Tyranian space. Everyone knew to avoid it, but the idealistic, live-and-let-live New Utopians were too naïve for their own good. Pacifism provided no defense against an enemy intent upon decimating an entire population.
This wasn’t the first time the military had had to swoop in and rescue the New Utopians. The colonists seeking to establish a homeland on Verde Omega hadn’t caused the invasion, but they could have predicted it. In choosing to establish a settlement, they’d ignored Alliance advisories. They should have known it was only a matter of time before the Tyranians would arrive.
Arrive they did. New Utopia had sent out a distress call, but solar storms had prevented the signal from reaching Alliance Command for nearly a month. The closest ship, the Crimson Hawk, had responded immediately, but it took two weeks to reach them. By then, most of the settlers had been annihilated.
“Keep them comfortable until we can deliver them to Space Station Outpost Fifteen,” Dante said. “SSO15 will have trained personnel who can facilitate psychological healing.” If possible. The aliens had been vicious; killing hadn’t sufficed—they’d tortured the colonists. Recovery would be long and hard for the survivors.
