by Anna Hackett
“You know who the Vega-Lyrans were?” he asked.
She lifted a shoulder, this time deliberately letting her robe slip, baring her skin. She saw hunger ignite in those ice-blue eyes. “Some mythical psionic race.”
“I have access to some recently declassified military records.” He was watching her intently. “They weren’t mythical. They were an advanced psionic race who were incredibly powerful.”
“Really?” She kept her tone bland but almost choked on the berry.
“It was said they’d started out as a minor telepaths but used advanced genetic engineering to enhance their abilities. And over the centuries they succeeded. It’s said they could control the minds of thousands of people at once. They could move objects and create fire. And I mean large scale—they could move starships in space and burn down entire cities in an instant.”
“Sounds like a fairytale.”
“They were hunted down and exterminated. People were afraid of them.”
Relda looked toward the window and the moonlight filtering in. Sadness was a weeping wound in her belly. “That’s usually what people do when they’re afraid.”
“Why do you have a Vega-Lyran artifact?”
She looked at him now. “I never said I had it.”
“You also haven’t said you don’t. These people targeted you for a reason.”
“I don’t know why.” She dropped her gaze, feeling so tired. When had she gotten so sick of lying? Or was it that she just hated lying to him?
“They’ll keep coming whether you have it or not. Those girls downstairs aren’t safe here.”
Infinite energy, he was right. Her hand circled the necklace, worrying the diamond orb at the end. “I need to get them out of here.”
“And you should go too, until—”
“No.” She intended to stay right here and face these bastards. She’d vowed over the broken body of her mother to never be a victim.
“You want to be bait.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you have some Vega-Lyran blood, I feel like you’re reading my damn mind all the time.”
He laughed, a gruff, masculine sound. “I’m reading your face and body language.”
She scowled. She was good at hiding her true thoughts and wasn’t used to anyone seeing through her.
He moved closer, tipping her chin up. “Don’t pout, beautiful. I spent over twenty years in the Galactic Special Forces, and interrogated a lot enemy combatants. I’m also Predian.”
Her stomach clenched. So he had some abilities of his own. She wasn’t surprised he’d spent so long in the Special Forces. With their enhanced senses and strength, Predians made exceptional soldiers.
Hunt’s thumb brushed her lips. “Don’t worry, you don’t give much away. I’m sure regular people just see a gorgeous woman.”
His fingers on her skin were so warm, big, protective. She swayed toward him.
“We need to send the girls away.”
She pulled back and nodded. “I have a small house on Lake Gameelah. They can go there until this is sorted out.”
“Good. Then we’ll wait for your admirers to make their next move.”
We? “I don’t want you here.”
“Tough.”
“This is my house—”
He stood, towering over her, his eyes glittering. “I will keep you safe, Relda. One, because it’s my job and two—” he caught a strand of her hair, rubbing it between his callused fingers “—because I don’t want to see you hurt.” His knuckles brushed her bruised cheek like the kiss of butterfly wings. “I already hate seeing this. I won’t let those bastards add any more.”
Damn him. Damn him for being a good, noble man.
And cracking the stone shell around her heart.
She tried to shore up her defenses, but Relda worried it was already too late.
***
Hunt paced Relda’s apartment, checking the windows, monitoring the street for anything out of the ordinary.
They’d moved the girls off to the lake house—all of them protesting vigorously. They were all very protective of Relda. He could see why. She loved them, even if she wouldn’t admit it, or let them get too close to her. She cared for them, had saved them, and given them all a better life.
He stopped at a window, glancing down to the empty street below. No shadows were stirring. Everyone was in bed.
“You think they’ll come tonight?”
He glanced over his shoulder. Relda had changed out of the skimpy, sexy robe, thank the Gods. If he’d had to watch it sliding off her shoulder much longer, he would have just dragged her to the floor and been on her like a rutting beast.
Even now, his cock was hard, pressing against his trousers. She’d changed into tight black pants and a loose, white shirt, but it hadn’t helped dampen his desire much. “Yeah. I think they will.”
She nodded, her fingers clenched around the delicate chain on her necklace. She moved up beside him and he smelled her. Smoke and spice temptation.
“You can see Souk’s trojan moon tonight.” She pointed at the bright spot, smaller than the main moon but larger than a star. “Khan.”
“Home to the Phoenix brothers.”
“The wild treasure hunters.”
“As long as they stick to the law on Souk, they aren’t my problem.”
“I’ve seen them in the market a few times. Handsome devils, all three of them.”
The appreciation in her voice made Hunt scowl at the moon above.
“I met two of their wives today. My impression of the Phoenixes is that they jump into adventure and maybe skirt the law when it suits them, but they don’t blatantly disregard it. They live life to the fullest.”
Hunt glanced sideways at her. “Do you live life to the fullest?”
“I told you, my life is exactly how I want it to be.”
“Right. People held at a polite distance. Lovers who are visitors to Souk and only share your bed once.”
She went rigid, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. “Excuse me?”
“I told you, I checked you out.”
“And my love life was included in that, was it?” Her voice made it clear she’d like to flay him alive.
“You don’t let anyone really get close to you.” He leaned down until their noses brushed. “But you’d like me close, wouldn’t you?”
She hissed out a breath. “Arrogant, insufferable—”
He kept talking. “You find some attractive visitor, use those flirting skills I see you flex every day, seduce him, give a pleasant evening of tempting delicacies and silk sheets. Skin sliding against skin, gentle sighs and moans. Everything is under your control, exactly as you want it, followed by a slow, easy orgasm for you both.”
Her mouth tightened but she stayed silent.
Hunt stepped closer, and she took a step backward. He kept moving, backing her up against the wall. “That’s not how it should be, Relda. It should be hard, a little rough, hot and sweaty. It should be desire taking over, stripping away the control.” He leaned down until his lips brushed the side of her neck, right below her ear. “I’d touch you all over, until you were sobbing for my cock. I’d lick you between your legs, lap up your sweet honey until you came on my tongue. Then I’d slide my throbbing cock inside you and take you hard, my fingers digging into your hips. It’d be skin slapping against skin and your screams of pleasure filling the room, Relda, until we both exploded.”
She was panting now, her eyes closed, a light sheen of perspiration on her forehead.
“Are you turned on right now?” he murmured.
Her eyes opened, shining a deep, vibrant green. “I thought you military guys were all strong and silent, and hopeless at stringing sentences together?”
He smiled. “I’m a simple man. I just say it as I see it.”
A small smile flirted around her lips. “Simple, my ass.”
“It’s a mighty fine ass.”
She laughed now. “True. And yes, I’m
turned on.” Something wicked flashed in her eyes and Hunt’s gut tightened. Uh oh, something told him Relda was about to flex her claws.
She pressed into him until he felt the hard nubs of her nipples against his chest. Gods, it felt good. She went up on her toes, her mouth brushing his jaw. “My panties are completely soaked because of you.”
Desire was like a hammer to the gut. His cock, already hard, got even harder and he groaned.
“Do you know that old Earth saying, Hunt? Tit for tat.”
It was his own fault. He couldn’t do anything right now, not with unknown assailants out there waiting to attack. Her safety came first…but once this was over… “Yeah. And now I’ll suffer just as much as you.”
Her smile was satisfied. “Good.”
“And I will keep you safe, but you have to help me.” He stared into the eyes of the woman he knew in his gut was his. He was planning to keep her, even if she fought him on it. “Where’s the Trojan Moon, Relda?”
She gripped her necklace and held up the jewel at the end. “Here.”
***
Relda’s blood was still pumping hard and fast from Hunt’s little seduction. She took him more for a man of action, not words, but his dirty talk…well it had worked, big time.
She watched him study the diamond. It was now pulsing in time with her heartbeat and almost all the blue was gone, the entire stone now a rich red.
“Where did you get it?”
“It was passed down through my family. Yes, it’s fantastically valuable, but I’d never sell it. It’s a piece of history.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s a Terran diamond. The Trojan Moon was said to have been crafted from a large blue-gray diamond that once belonged to Terran kings. It’s been known as the Hope Diamond, the King’s Jewel and the Tavernier Blue. It was revered for years by the people of Earth and kept in museums. Some legends said it was cursed, others that it was snatched from the forehead of a statue of some long-forgotten Terran goddess.” Sometimes, in the dark of night, Relda wondered if the jewel was cursed, if it had been the reason all she’d loved was destroyed.
“You wear it?”
“Sometimes.” She’d never again wear it in public. “I guess someone must have recognized it.”
“I couldn’t find an image of it, but maybe someone else did.”
“I think—” It was then she noticed the fog.
It was drifting into the room from the small cracks around the window. It looked like dark gray smoke.
“Hunt—”
“I see it.” He drew his laser pistol and pulled her back toward the doorway.
But from the gap beneath the door, more of the eerie gray fog was also drifting in.
“Poison?” she asked.
“Don’t think so. It doesn’t seem to be affecting us.”
The fog coalesced in the center of the room into a whirling mass. As it moved faster and faster, Relda frowned. “What’s it doing?”
It started taking on a vaguely humanoid shape.
Hunt swore.
“You know what it is?” She looked between the fog and him.
“I think it’s a nano-droid.”
A droid made up of tiny microscopic droids. They could form just about anything. “I thought only the Galactic Security Services had nano-droids?”
“You can acquire anything if you have enough e-creds. Whoever wants the Moon has some serious money.”
The fog merged together to form an all-gray droid. It looked like someone wearing light body armor—except the face was smooth with no features. The effect was downright eerie.
“Stay back,” Hunt said, his gaze never leaving the nano-droid. “When you get the chance, get out.”
Right. She was just going to leave him to fight the thing. Relda grabbed the baton clipped to his belt. She gave it a shake and the baton extended to a lethal length.
Hunt shot her a dark look before taking a step forward. “I’m Marshal Calder, you’ve illegally entered—”
The nano-droid moved so fast Relda only saw a blur. It was suddenly in front of Hunt, swinging at him.
He held up an arm to block the droid’s hit. She saw him grimace. But then he was punching at it with his other arm.
His hand passed straight through the droid. Its body separated and once his hand pulled back, the droid re-coalesced.
Relda darted forward and swung the baton at the droid’s head. Again, it passed right through, the droid’s head dissolving into mist. She almost lost her balance but Hunt grabbed her and dragged her back.
“I said to stay behind me.” His tone was hard and biting.
She ignored him. “What do we do? It can hit us but it’s impossible to hit it.”
Hunt lifted his weapon. She saw the silver-blue glow in the barrel of the laser pistol.
Holding the weapon with both hands, he was all cool composure as he shot at the droid. The whine of the laser was loud in the confines of the room.
The laser hit the droid and she saw it glow silver-blue with each impact.
Then it moved toward them again. Unaffected.
It aimed at Hunt, a fast chop and two kicks. Hunt blocked the first blow, shuddered under the impact of the second and the third sent him flying back, hitting the wall hard.
“Hunt!” Relda raced to him. By the time she reached him, he was on his feet.
“You need to get out of here, Relda.”
“We need to get out of here.”
A muscle in his jaw ticked but he nodded. Together, they inched toward the door.
The droid moved, blocking their way.
Hunt ran at the droid, tackling it to the ground. It broke apart into maybe twenty smaller droids with armored, lizard-like forms. They had large curved claws and slashed at Hunt, over and over.
“Relda! Go!”
He was struggling, bleeding from a thousand cuts, blood soaking into his clothes.
If she didn’t help, he was going to die. They’d both die and someone would take the Trojan Moon.
The thought of Hunt lying dead, all his beautiful clean, pure energy gone, was intolerable.
Relda squeezed her eyes closed for a brief second. She knew she had to do this, but she also knew Hunt wouldn’t look at her the same afterward.
That hungry desire would turn to wariness and fear, or worse, awe.
But her choice was to reveal herself or let him die. It wasn’t really a choice at all.
She opened her eyes.
The Trojan Moon changed colors, the red brightening until it filled the room. It amplified her powers and she felt the sweet sing of fire through her veins, energy pouring into her in a rush.
Damn, she’d missed this.
Now, she just had to control it long enough to save Hunt and not destroy the entire planet in the process.
She raised her hands. She felt the energy all around her. Powering the equipment, lights and homes of Medina, the neighboring towns, the entire world. She felt it in the deep molten heart of the planet. In the gravitational pull keeping Souk in orbit around its sun. In the solar flares on the sun. In all the spaces of the cosmos.
All of it was hers to command.
Her sense of being Relda flowed away. She was part of the flow of energy in the galaxy. The small lives of people mattered little. Life or death mattered little. Everyone returned to the flow of energy.
Her gaze fell on the man bleeding on the floor and the machines hovering over him.
“Relda.” The human male looked at her. Such a fierce look in his blue eyes.
She pushed her hands out.
The machines started to writhe, the smaller parts moving in an agitated swirl. With her power, she lifted them up.
Then she clapped her hands together.
The nano-droids slammed together into a twisted metal ball.
It fell harmlessly to the floor.
Chapter Five
Hunt stared at Relda and slowly—very slowly—got to his feet.
He didn’t feel the pain of the cuts on his skin. Or the aches from the other wounds the droid had inflicted.
All he could see was the fire burning in Relda’s eyes and the way her hair rippled back off her face, despite the fact there was no wind in the room. And it was hard to miss the fact she was hovering half a meter off the floor.
The Trojan Moon, nestled between her breasts, was the same color as the flames in her eyes.
“Relda?”
Those eyes were focused on him, but he saw nothing of the intelligent, sexy woman he wanted. Instead, he just saw deadly power.
But he knew his Relda was in there somewhere.
He strode closer.
She tilted her head, watching him like he was a bug that had done something interesting.
Hunt felt the pulse of energy in the air around them. It raised the hairs on his arms. He stepped closer, until only a wisp of space separated them.
“Relda?”
“Names really matter so little.” Her voice was melodious and smoky. “We are all just energy.”
“Time to come back to me, beautiful.”
“Back to a world that wants to kill me? Where I have to hide what I am?”
“You never have to hide from me.” He kissed her.
At first he just touched his lips hers. He expected her to feel scorching hot, but all he felt was a warm tingle.
She stood motionless, her hair still waving around her head.
But he felt a growing tension in her body that hadn’t been there before.
Hunt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body flush against him. He opened his mouth and poured everything into the kiss.
It happened slowly at first, but centimeter by centimeter, she started to respond. Her lips moved under his, and when her lips parted, he took advantage, sweeping his tongue inside.
He dragged her closer, lifting her up. Suddenly she came to brilliant life, her legs wrapping around his hips. She moaned against his lips, kissing him back like her life depended on it.
And maybe it did.
Hunt tangled a hand in her hair and pulled her head back, tearing his mouth off hers. “You back?”
She undulated against him, driving a spear of undiluted lust to his already hard cock. Her eyes were brilliant green.
