by Celeste Raye
Talon said, “How is our healer?”
Marik lifted an eyebrow. “Do you ask about me or about her?”
Talon knew of the implant. He also knew of its necessity. “Her of course.”
Marik said, “She did well.”
They sat there not speaking. There was still much to be done on this trip. Marik said, “I never asked how long we would be staying this time.”
Talon cleared his throat. “I don’t know. The Rovers are getting worse, and I don’t want to abandon these people to them. On the other side of that…”
Talon’s eyes went back to Jessica. “I’m tired. So is she. I know she seems hard and tough and strong, and she is, but she’s just one person. I don’t know how much more either of us can take.”
Jessica murmured, “I can hear you.”
Talon laughed, “Of course you can. You sleep with one eye open and your ears always on listening mode.”
Jessica rolled over and then stood. She holstered her weapon and padded across the room. Marik saw that she had not removed her boots, and his heart ached yet again. None of the people sleeping along the walls of the room had removed their boots. If there was any one real signifier of just how dangerous the situation they were in was, it was that.
Jessica took a refresher bottle and a bar, and then sat down in a chair. There were lines of fatigue carved all along her face, and she looked over at Jenny and then back at Marik with a troubled expression on her face. “I heard her asking a lot of the patients earlier if they had seen someone that she seemed to know.”
Marik said, “Yes. She was to marry a man here, and she’s looking for him.”
Jessica and Talon exchanged glances. Talon said, “Marik, come with me to stroll around the roof to make sure the perimeter is secure.”
The last thing Marik wanted to do was check the perimeter. He sensed that Talon had zero interest in doing that as well and that his words were a ruse meant to get Marik out of the room and somewhere that they could talk more privately.
He took his weapon and stood. He and Talon walked out of the room into a small anterior staircase then went up it quietly. There was a door that led to the wide flat roof. There was nobody up there, and they went to the farthest edge where the wind blew the hardest. That wind brought more of the stinging grit and dust to Marik’s skin, and he winced. “I don’t really think I like this planet. I feel terrible for its citizens, but I really don’t enjoy this at all.”
Talon said, “You are going to like this even less.”
Marik asked, “What do you mean?”
Talon said, “The man that she is looking for may be a Rover. From what information Jessica gleaned a few weeks ago he may, in fact, be one of the leaders of the Rovers.”
Dismay hit. “Are you sure?”
Talon nodded. “It’s why Jessica was worried when she heard Jenny asking after him. She was afraid that Jenny may be betraying us or that she could possibly betray us if she finds him.”
Marik leaned against the small railing that ran around the roof. His hands wrapped around the cold steel and he leaned into the wind a little bit. His thoughts were chaotic. He couldn’t seem to focus, and he knew that part of that was due to his exhaustion and the other part was due to his concern for Jenny.
Talon said, “I know you feel for her Marik.”
Marik turned to him. “It would not matter what I felt for her as her heart seems to be taken already by him. Is there any way at all that we can prove or disprove that he is the leader of the Rovers, or even just part of them?”
Talon’s grin was humorless. “Yes, we can engage the Rovers in battle. Even if he’s not among them, maybe if we captured one we could find out for sure from whichever one we captured if he is or not.”
Marik spoke slowly. “You are talking about torture.”
“I am talking about interrogation. I don’t torture.”
Marik shook his head. “If he is, then what?”
Talon said, “If he is you will have to put her back on that ship and take her home. You will not be able to tell her what he is. You damn sure have to make sure that he never knows about her as long as she is here on the planet’s surface. Once she’s on the ship and headed home, there’s no risk to us from her.”
Would Jenny betray them for her lover? Did she love him so very much that she would be willing to give him information if he asked for it? Jenny didn’t know much, true enough, but what she did know was valuable.
Marik’s hands balled into fists. “I should have never brought her here.”
Talon said, “You had no way of knowing. If we had known when we first went back to our planet and you put her name in the hat as a healer to come here to Old Earth, then I would’ve told you then, and I damn sure would’ve kept her off my ship.”
Marik knew that the heat and Talon’s voice was due to his being concerned and angry.
“I only just discovered it as well. If I had known that she had someone here that she had been engaged to, I would’ve told you.”
Talon said, “You would’ve had no reason to tell us unless you knew who she was engaged to. And to have known who she was engaged to you would’ve had to have known that he may or may not be a Rover and may or may not be a Rover leader.”
Marik said, “Don’t do that to me. I know damn well that if you did not believe that information was correct and true, you never would’ve spoken up about it.”
Talon’s broad shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I really didn’t want to tell you this now, to be honest. I know how much you feel for her. I also know that she’s probably innocent, but I have to tell you, Marik, if she is captured, things will be bad for all of us. If I have to, if it comes down to the Rovers attacking us and then trying to take her…”
Marik’s hand shot out. His fingers closed tightly around Talon’s bicep. His voice grated along his next words. “Do not even say it.”
Talon said, “I have to say it. You are my brother, and I love you dearly. I know how you feel for her. She probably does not know because you, well, you have always been the silent one. You have always felt more deeply than the rest of us, and you’ve never voiced your feelings. You just hold them all in. I understand how you feel though, because I feel the same way for Jessica. But if it were Jessica in the same situation, I would draw down fire on her too.”
Marik hissed in a breath. “How could you even say that?”
Talon said, “Jessica would understand the reason.”
Marik’s ire spiked upward. “She is no Jessica.”
Talon’s laugh was rueful. “There’s only one Jessica. I don’t know whether to be glad of that or sad over it. She is one hell of a woman, but I am very grateful that she has decided to love me instead of making me her enemy. I don’t even want to think about what may happen if I was her enemy.”
Marik couldn’t blame him for that. Jessica was a killer. He said, “Maybe I should just put her back on the ship. Maybe I should tell her that this is too much for her. Maybe I could convince her to go now.”
Even as he spoke the words, he knew there was no way she was going to get back on that ship until she found her bridegroom–to–be. She had been dragged away from him in a horrible and terrible way, and it was obvious that she had never thought she would get back, but now that she had she was determined to find him.
Talon said, “There is one other thing we could do, but you’re not going to like it.
His shoulders went stiff, “What might that be?”
Talon said, “We could use her for bait.”
Marik snarled, “Over my dead body.”
Talon said, “I was pretty sure that was how you would feel about it.”
Marik looked over the ruined city. None of this was right or fair. Jenny had no idea what had become of the man that she was supposed to have married. There was no way she could have known any of that as there was no way for her to be in touch with those she had left behind.
He said, “I will never agree to
allow you to use her for bait.
Talon said, “I was pretty sure you’d say that.”
“We should get some sleep.” Marik yawned.
Talon nodded. They started off back down the stairs that led to the room where they had all slept. Marik’s eyes went back to Jenny. In sleep, she looked even smaller and even younger. A fierce wave of protectiveness hit him and stayed. No matter what, he would not allow her to be used for bait, and neither would he allow her to be taken by the Rovers simply so they could get information from her. Not even if it meant breaking her heart over the man that she loved. Not even if it meant that she would hate him forever.
The truth of the matter was that if she ever discovered the truth of that implant, and she would, it was all just a matter of time; she was likely not to be too happy with them anyway.
Chapter 7
The days had all blurred together. Jenny was exhausted one afternoon as she stepped into a blissfully empty room to catch her breath and try to gather her shattered nerves.
It had been a hard day. There’d been massive shelling on one end of the city, and the refugees had to fight not just those Rovers to get to safety, but the terra-rats, which had begun to break free of the sewer tunnels. There were crews out now, blasting the dreadful things into oblivion and repairing the tunnel holes where they had found cracks and lifted themselves into the sunlight, but if she never had to see another injury from one of those rats in her entire life, she’d be grateful.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Her head jerked up at the words. Marik stood in the doorway, his face as weary as she knew her own must be. She gave him a smile. “You’re not intruding. I was just catching a breath, really.
“Me too. It’s been crazy.”
He stepped into the door and closed it. Her heart beat harder and faster as he came toward her. He was so strong and powerful, even the way that he moved held power, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
She grabbed at a refresher bottle. “Do you want this?”
He came closer still. “Yes,” he murmured. “I do.”
She made the mistake of looking into his face as he spoke and her heart did a wild dance in her chest. Did he mean the bottle or her? She wasn’t sure. Her tongue touched her dry lips. “Here.” Her fingers trembled as she handed it over and he took it. Their fingers met, and that thrill she always felt when he touched her went spinning along her veins, making her heart pound even faster and her mind close down, making her unable to even speak.
They stood there. Marik tilted the bottle to his lips. Her eyes went to a tiny drop of sweat right at the base of his throat. That salty little drop called her attention to his throat and then her gaze lifted upward just as he lowered the bottle.
His lips shone with moisture, and his intense eyes were locked onto hers, and she couldn’t look away. She knew she should, but she couldn’t. Marik’s long fingers dropped the bottle to a table top, and she swallowed hard, her eyes going to the door behind him.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything. Her pulse lifted higher and faster, and she found herself frozen, rooted into place.
His hand came up and touched her cheek, an innocent little gesture that ignited every single desire she had ever felt for him. He stepped closer, and she sucked in a long breath that lifted her chest high and then dropped it as his mouth came down on hers.
Jenny reacted, her body pressing against his and her mouth clinging to his. It was wrong. She knew it was wrong. But when his lips parted and his tongue entered her mouth, her toes curled. All the thoughts that told her to stay loyal to Ben, to stop this right now, that her heart did not belong to Marik and neither did her body faded away into a stinging silence that was broken only by the sound of her breath shuddering out of her mouth as his tongue met hers.
His hands dropped to her shoulders, pulling her closer still. Heat flushed up and down her body, making her vibrate all over. Her skin puckered into gooseflesh, and her nipples stiffened. Her muscles tensed and coiled. Her fingers splayed out along the wide ledges of his shoulders, and her breasts flattened against his chest.
Wrong. It was all wrong, but it felt so right. His mouth tasted of water and the protein bars; his lips were firm and yet soft, and his tongue teased at hers until she had no choice but to follow that pattern he set with his tongue with her own.
His hands slid downward, riding along the flesh of her back. His fingers pressed into the hard and raised knobs of her spine and she whimpered, her body sagging against his. She’d been with a man before, but she had never felt what she felt just then. It was a heightened thing, a sort of elevation of her emotions and the reactions running through her body.
Ben. She had to think of Ben and how she was going to betray him if she did not break that kiss off.!
That thought went through her brain and died a sudden death. She wanted to be true to Ben, but the danger and Marik’s presence all around her was too much to look away from. Every part of her needed him, needed the touch of his body against hers and the kisses he was giving her. The kisses that stole her breath and her senses. The kisses that sent her senses reeling and made her body quake with a desire that was as high and deep, as deadly and seductive as the ocean back on Revant Two, and just like she could not stay away from that sea, she could not stay away from Marik either. She simply could not bring herself to stop the delicious sweetness pouring through her body, a sweetness that didn’t satisfy her but only whet her appetite for more—and more again.
His hands moved lower, cupping her ass cheeks and then lifting them. Her pelvis bumped against his, and the very hard maleness there made her gasp and her hips go forward. Her fingers bore down, clutching at him now as she ground against that hardened and stiffened flesh that she wanted, needed, inside her body no matter how wrong it was.
Her body arched toward him yet again. His fingers found her fastenings for the clothing she wore, and they slid away from her body, leaving her naked and exposed.
His hands lifted her body upward. Her fingers wound around his neck, and his head bent to her breasts. His lips closed around her nipple, tightening it. Her gasp was loud, and she stared down at his head, fascinated by the sight of his mouth bent to her breast her fingers tangled into his hair, and her ass shook as she tried to lift herself a little more. The head of his cock rubbed against her wet opening, sending her spinning even more out of control and her cries became frantic and desperate as she wriggled a bit, but his hands held her hips still and above that flesh she wanted inside her body.
Trails of heat traced down her skin as his hands eased her downward. Her wet flesh parted for his stiff member and his hips bucked upward, taking her flesh. Her inner walls clenched and shook around his cock as she raised herself, balancing above him before plunging downward yet again.
He moved inside her, hard and hot and thick and long. Her eyes closed and her breath came in hard and rapid gasps as pleasure spiraled upward and then spiked, raising her inner temperature and making her inner folds grasp and suck at his cock as the first waves of an orgasm began to ride through her body.
He shifted, his back flexing as his hips worked harder and faster. She moved a little, giving him a better angle of penetration into her depths.
His cry was hoarse and low, and hers answered it as he thrust deep and withdrew, and her body matched the rhythm, and they met and parted, his flesh piercing hers.
She came. Her breath stopped dead in her chest as her pussy milked his dick, squeezing and constricting around that hard muscle of his. Her eyes opened and closed, and her breath came in long and ragged gasps as she lowered herself yet again, pressing so hard against him that she could feel his heartbeat against her breasts and feel the thundering pulse of his orgasm inside her body.
Marik’s back met the wall. His hands tangled into her hair and he kissed her again, his lips seeking hers and then holding them captive. Tears came to her eyes. She wanted him. She wanted this, but she was given to a
nother, and she had to find out if Ben were even still alive.
He lowered her gently, and she found her clothes, donning them quickly. They had the dead and the dying, the wounded and the frightened, all around them and they had to tend to them, but all she wanted to do, at that moment, was make love to him again.
She took a few steps back. “Marik…I…”
The words would not come. She could not tell him she belonged to another even though she should. Had to. She had to tell him but she couldn’t because saying that would make it true somehow.
It was true.
It didn’t matter that she had no idea if Ben still lived. Until she knew for sure, she could not give him anything, and yet she had.
Her heart hurting and her spirit battered by her actions, all she could do was say, “I hear screams.”
His face crumpled into lines of disappointment, but all he did was fasten his trousers and give her a nod. “As do I. The work never ends. Come on, let’s…” He paused. “Jenny…”
Before she could answer, that scream she had heard before turned into an ear-splitting shriek. She turned, her feet already moving toward the door. He followed behind her and the moment was lost in the rush of caring for those who needed them so badly.
Jenny sat back on her heels, her eyes taking in the face of the man who lay on the floor. He had just come staggering to the door, his body huddled down and blood showing on the upper right-hand side of his tunic. She said, “I can’t believe that it is you!”
The man on the floor looked up at her with a big smile. He said, “I can’t believe it’s you either.”
Jenny stared down at Ben’s face. It had been such a long time since she had seen him and she expected to feel a rush of emotion. She expected to feel all the love that she had felt for him before to come rolling back in and sweep her away. Only she felt nothing but a gladness that he had survived the terrible atrocities that had been brought upon the planet. Fear started as she realized that she felt absolutely nothing but that gladness.
